New Hike

 I feel like I've pretty much canvassed the Ogden area and hit most of the major hikes. In fact, I have not gone on an entirely NEW hike for a long time. Until last Monday. I went with Andrea and her kids, it was the same trailhead, Fernwood, as they take for another hike, but this one led up and onto a completely different mountainside. The recent rain combined with being early in the season, the green was AMAZING!

This tree was later the spot for the incident Where Emeline Falls Out of a Tree. It led to a quick ending of the hike. 

Grandma Cindy and Uncle Ethan's Birthdays!

Cute, cute picture of Ethan. 

I love you, Jenny.

Two handsome boys, with adorable piggy tails.

Make a wish!

Best part of this awesome party? The COOLEST Star Wars card EVER that we gave to Ethan. It was the best. EVER. Jenny was so entranced she kept playing with it until Ethan told her she was going to break it. (Which she wasn't. But birthday people get a little over-protective of their new gear.) Also awesome, the steaks that Sterling helped grill that were divine. MmmMmm.

Pig Tails, Cheese Crackers, and Daddy

This smile just is Ruthie---I thinks its the eyebrows. That girl has some enthusiasm!

I love this picture. I am fascinated lately with how she gets things into her mouth. Mostly she sticks the whole fist in, and hopes the food stays there while she pulls the fist back out. Haahaa.

I've never liked dirty-face-with-food-all-over-it baby pictures. I think the fact that her mouth is full of cheese is adorable, but that might just be-and probably is-because I am her mother.

Ruthie wears mostly hand-me-downs(she has a cousin almost exactly one year older that was somewhat of a surprise, so we get all her clothes). Unfortunately, her cousins were a size bigger in their bottoms than she happens to be now. But isn't this the CUTEST outfit? It is my favorite- I love, love, LOVE it!!! We'll just keep putting size 18 mo shorts on...even though she wears size 9 mo. Still adorable.

Sweetest picture EVER.

I took this picture before work today. Today was one of those wonderful mornings where your baby wakes up with the absolute SWEETEST coos and smiles and hugs and warm, slobbery kisses. And it was cut MUCH too short by my having to leave for work. Some days, going to work is MUCH MUCH harder than other days. Who wants to leave a baby that smiles every time you look at her??? So, I had Sterling bring her to visit me for lunch, and she was the hit of the office. Of course, the standard, "she has RED hair, not just red, but REALLY red!" and then, "Your baby is absolutely beautiful." I thought it would help. It didn't. Not at all. Oh how I wish I could stay at home! Don't worry baby girl, in a few more months (about 12 to be exact) daddy will be applying to medical schools and we will be finding out where we are moving and we'll be taking out LOADS of student loans and so, we'll take out the few thousand measly more that I would make working two days a week and I will STAY HOME with you! AH! I cannot wait. (Who thought education was a good idea, anyway? Oh. Yeah. Thank you, father, for encouraging(?) me to get a good education, even for telling me that I'd need it to put my husband through school. You were exactly right. Although, I did just get a fortune cookie fortune that read 'You will spend many years in comfort and material wealth.' Ahhh...medical school, here we come! )

Hero

I have a new-found hero. George Albert Smith. I think all the prophets of my church are a hero of mine, but I just heard the GREATEST story about George Albert Smith that just really made him shine in my eyes a little more. I tried to find it online, but couldn't (I didn't try too hard) but I did hear it from a stake president, my boss, who is pretty stickler on references, so I believe it.

In our last week's staff meeting Zully and I were talking about how poorly some people treat assistants---often, I get mistaken for an assistant. I had a patient that day who was very concerned that I was putting him on a prescription fluoride treatment, because he lives in Davis county and they have fluoride in their water. (GAH! What is WITH people and thinking that is so much fluoride??? It should be EVERYWHERE!) Anyway, I reassured him that I was giving him a mouth rinse, used topically, so he wasn't even ingesting it. There would not be a problem. He then demanded to know if I was certain of the safe percentages that a person could have of fluoride, and I went again to reassure him when he interrupted "Do you go to school for this?" "I did, I have a bachelors...." Interruption again, "What is it in? Dentistry?" (this was seriously sneered-shouted to me) "Yes actually, in dental hygiene, and we learn all about fluoride." After that, he seemed somewhat ashamed of his rudeness, but there you have it. Some people and their fluoride. So that is what started this conversation, and our boss piped in with the statement that he has always thought that people who treat everyone the same, whether they are waiters or doctors, are the most respectful and good people he's ever met. And then he told me this story:

George Albert Smith was the prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints during/after WW2. He was instrumental in huge relief efforts around the world after the war, and worked closely with the president of the United States. He was a very well-known and respected man. When he passed away, there were 2 people that responded immediately in consoling the family. The first call was the President of the United States, letting the family know what a wonderful man he was, and sending their condolences to the family. The second? An 11 year old paper boy, rang the doorbell, and through his sobs told the family that he had just lost his "best friend." President George Albert Smith had taken time every day to talk to this little paper boy about his little life and dreams while getting the newspaper. The family let the little boy be a pall-bearer at the funeral. I cried when our Dr. told the story, I cried when I told Sterling the story, and I cried just now typing it up. It would be my biggest aspiration to be the kind of person that takes the time to treat everyone that equally and kindly.

Hilarious

One more snippet from my recent work retreat:

Freedom Riders

Sterling and I have been a part of an organization called Freedom Riders for the last two years, and I participated in it a year before that(before I met Sterling). I learned about it through Weber State's Community Involvement Center when I was trying to rack up 350 service hours (non-religion related, even though I was serving on institute council half that time) for a service scholarship. I fell in love with it. Every Thursday evening throughout the summer we get to help cerebral palsy kids go horse-back riding. There have to be a LOT of volunteers to make this happen. Because of the children's capabilities, there has to be a person on either side of the horse (side-walkers), and person leading the horse, and two people that take kids on and off the horse. As well as a plethora of volunteers that stand in the middle of the arena that the horses walk around and encourage the kids to play games like tossing bean bags at stuffed animals, while on the horse. Or "driving" the horse with a frisbee in their arms...or my favorite, singing songs with them. There are also cones that they can pull flowers out of (tall cones, they pull out the flower while on the horse) and put them back in at the next cone, and pull a new one out(all while on the horse). We also have "races"--at the beginning of every race the lady yells "This is a WALKING race! No running, loping, galloping, dancing...and other hilarious forms of movement until all the kids are giggling. It is not only therapeutic for the kids' muscles to sit on the horse, but therapeutic to have the attention, and for the parents to see the kids so happy. Last year, when I was pregnant, they gave us a baby-sized Freedom Riders shirt for Ruthie to wear, so on Thursday, we got to try it out:

I'm not much use there anymore, because Ruthie keeps my hands full and she isn't allowed in the arena when kids are riding anyway, but Sterling plans on continuing to go every week this summer. After all, he has service hours to fill for medical school applications, and what better way to carry on the tradition? (I was going to post pictures from previous years, but they are all boxed up for the move. Sorry)

Moisten the eyes

We had to read a book called the Energy Bus at our work recently, and we just finished this week, and then had a three day Work Retreat. In the book there was a line that said something about how we interact with people, and if we aren't having experiences that 'moisten the eyes' they aren't important enough. So...watch this video. It's my favorite from all the videos they showed us throughout all the presentations.

Decorations

See all those ribbons in the background hanging? I helped tear those(well, some of them). While we watched The Time Traveler's Wife. Good times.

Sterling was very proud of this arch...because he helped scavenge the wood out of some family friend's backyard ditch.

I painted this sign!

They had crepes and a whole big bowl of nutella to put on them. Pretty much heaven.

And I helped glue on some of those ribbons around the mason jars.

And I painted this sign...and another one. Sterling was tired of me pointing out all the signs and telling him how I painted them. Haahaa. I was pretty happy about them.

The Cake