1st Movie in a Theater/Thanksgiving Break

This is Leona's unofficial, official photo face, especially if she's in snow gear.

Over Thanksgiving break we made Christmas ornaments, like always.  This year dad made a "face book" to represent his internship; mom made a "Keep Austin Weird" tie-dye ornament; Eliza made Y mountain; Clara made a Christmas tree; and mom also made a Mudbud Superbuddy ornament for Leona for the year. Aunt Cambrie and Uncle Bryce came over and made ornaments as well which made it even more fun.

It also snowed during break so everybody got their snow gear on and played in the snow.  It was a nice, relaxing break.  For Thanksgiving dinner we went up to Bountiful to eat with Great Grandma and Grandpa Roueche along with Cambrie, Bryce, a few of dad's cousins, and their kids.  Also there were Uncle Jacob and a couple of his roommates whose arms were twisted into coming to eat with the extended Roueche clan rather than eating MREs.

One of the fun things we did was go to the movies.  We saw "The Secret Life of Pets", which was not awesome but the kids liked it and the candy that we ate during it.  Leona was enthralled by the giant screen and loved everything about the experience.  A bonus was that when we came out of the theater it was snowing like crazy, which the kids loved.  

Dance Devotional

Earlier this month we went to the BYU Dance Devotional. Leona was mesmerized by the dances but a couple of times complained that the music was too loud.  I'll remember that when you're a teenager Leona.

1st Trip to the Dentist

Leona went to the dentist for the first time this month. She loved it because they turned "Superbuddies" on for her on the tv screen above her head. :) No cavities!

Halloween 2016

Most enthusiastic Halloweener ever. Last April when we went to visit G & G Smith in California I checked out a random movie from the library that I thought the kids would enjoy, and man was I right.  The movie was Superbuddies (Shown below) a straight to DVD B-movie that is a spin off of AirBud. We have since discovered that it there are many "Buddies" movies and have also seen: Snowbuddies, Treasurebuddies, and Spacebuddies. Leona was Mudbud, the green puppy.  She told anyone who would listen that "I am Mud-a-bud." Really adorable.  She wore her costume all day on Halloween and has worn it many times since.

Eliza was Officer Judy Hopps from Zootopia and Clara was Rosebud, the pink Superbuddy.

Fire Station Visit

The Orem fire station puts on a pretty great Fire Safety event and we went this year.  Leona was interested in two things. 1)The free cotton candy they were giving away and 2)Touching all the things she wasn't supposed to touch.

Gymnastics

Back in October I signed Leona up for a tumbling class at the Rec Center.  It's the same one that Clara took last spring but for two year olds.  Since it was 16 two year olds each kid had to have a parent help them with the activities.  It was fun to do the one on one time with her twice a week. Almost without exception her favorite station each week was the bar.  She LOVES swinging on the bar.  She also liked just about everything else too, except the parachute.  She did it the first time (shown below) and found it terrifying when they all went underneath it and the parents shook it over them. With about three or fours sessions left she abruptly decided that she loved the parachute after all.

Toothbrush

I was trying to get ready and Leona came in the bathroom and struck this pose.  Then she said, "Look mom. I'm brushing my teeth." Then she giggled.  I see a great future of puns for this one. :)

Hiking

We went on a couple of really fun hikes at the end of summer/beginning of fall.  We went on one with Jacob that I can not for the life of me remember what it was called. Everybody had a great time.  When people got tired of hiking Jacob recited marching chants to pep people up.  

The following week we hiked Stewart Falls with Cambrie and Bryce.  Leona got carried about 75% of that hike by me, Clara got carried about 50% of the hike by Bryce, and Eliza got carried about 10% of that hike by dad.  It was a beautiful hike.  

Raspberry Picking

This is the face of a child who has eaten so many raspberries that she says, "Belly hurting." while her mom and uncle are trying to pick enough raspberries to make jam with them. Yep, still happy about life.

Cute Things Leona's Been Saying Lately

"OK"
This might be my favorite thing that Leona has said, ever.  She has moved out of the "No" for every response- Hallelujah!- and has started saying "Yeah" or "OK" in response to most things.  "Leona would you please take your shoes off?" "Ok mommy."- even said in a cheerful friendly voice.  I LOVE IT!  So adorable and wonderful, all in two letters.

"Snake in mouth!"
Anytime Leona gets a hair in her mouth, which is not infrequent with 4 girls in the house, she makes a terrible face and runs over to tell me that there's a snake in her mouth.  Hilarious.

"_________ naked!"
This one is not as cute as the others but it's her go-to joke lately.  She will say it in her mischievous voice with a mischief face so you know what she's going to say before she says it. "Clara naked." "Eliza naked." "Mommy naked." "Daddy naked." "Jaybob naked." No one is immune.  She will sometimes be her own foil if you try to ignore her and add "_________ has clothes on?" afterward before moving on with her day.  Generally though she will keep saying people are naked until you acknowledge her shenanigans.

Camping

We had an action packed few weeks as far as camping went.  Before Uncle Jaybob abandoned us for Idaho we convinced him to come camping with us.  We also got Aunt Cambrie and Uncle Bryce to come along.  We went camping up a mountain close to Payson Lakes.  It was a lot of fun, with s'mores galore and loads of candy brought by Uncle Bryce.  Unfortunately being up a mountain was also really cold.  Leona and Clara compensated by burrowing down into their sleeping bags all the way but the rest of us were pretty chilly all night long.  We got to go on a walk around the lake the next morning, which was fun.  

Two weeks later we went on the ward campout to almost the same location and had a great time again.  That time though we brought additional blankets, which made the sleeping much more enjoyable.

Wacky Leona

This was a candid shot of Leona being a creeper.  I moved to a different spot in the room and she still planted herself right behind me.

"This is the face of ultimate suffering!" (Princess Bride reference) This photo was taken right after we dropped Clara off at school for the first time.  Leona sat in her seat and wailed, "Everybody at school!" It was so sad and pathetic.  When we got home and Leona realized that she had free reign of all the toys she perked right up.

This photo was taken during scripture study time.  We were in the middle of reading and I looked over at her and this is what I saw.  Glad to know that she's paying attention.

Back in Utah

To celebrate being back in Utah (and out of the car) we went for a hike at Bridal Veil Falls. After doing the Greenbelt hikes in Austin this summer the girls were a little surprised when they got it the water and it was ice-cold. Everybody had a great time. 

Trip Back to Utah

This was our last morning in Austin. We finally fulfilled the girls' wish and went up to the 20th floor of the apartment complex. It was a little underwhelming as far as the view went- a construction site and the roof of a Whataburger- but it was still a fun last hurrah in the elevator. The drive was pretty uneventful. We picked up Uncle Jaybob in Flower Mound and he rode with us all the way to Utah. Everybody took a turn being carsick thanks to the windy, mountainous Colorado roads but we didn't end up on any dirt roads so life was good. 

On the stopover at G&G Roueche's house we got to play with them as well as the  Harrises from Houston (Ella, Wyatt and "Baby Brynn". It was an uneventful trip, which is a good thing and our house in Provo was waiting for us when we got back. It was nice to not have to do a total move. 

I didn't realize this totally over the summer but being in the temporary living situation must've been really stressful on all the kids even though we did tons of fun things. As soon as we got back they were all much more relaxed. They were troopers over the summer with all the driving, the sadness of the miscarriage, and having to be quiet all the time in an apartment. We had a lot of fun too and it's hard to say goodbye to summer but we have a good year ahead of us!

We ate at Wendy's a couple times on the trip since most small towns have one. Leona was fascinated with the logo. She kept pointing to it and saying, "Princess Hairdo!" So there you go if you're looking for a fancy updo go for pigtails. 

Leona's "Back to School" Blessing 2016

"Leona Elise Roueche, (Leona repeats her name) by the power of the priesthood I put my hands on your head and I give you a blessing.  A blessing to believe in Jesus, a blessing to help your family. (Leona at this point has slumped down in the chair and is melting towards the floor and away from dad's hands.) Leona, Heavenly Father loves you and Jesus loves you and you will be able to... (Leona escapes.) In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Austin Duck Derby

I know I've mentioned how awesome our apartment's location was but seriously, it was so fantastic. There was something going on every weekend right next door to us.  This was our last weekend together in Austin so we went to the Austin Duck Derby.  Pretty much it was an excuse for Leona to wander around quacking and for the girls to do the inflatables.  Which speaking of the giant inflatable balls, Clara made Eliza go on them.  Eliza didn't want to go at all but then Clara just marched on up like she owned the joint and Eliza couldn't be left behind.  It was hilarious because Clara very matter-of-factly hopped in the ball, ran to the end and hopped back out, leaving Eliza stuck at the end trying to get out of her own ball.

Botanical Gardens or Leona Meets Cactus

These photos can be considered the BEFORE photos at the Botanical Gardens.  The AFTER photo was not taken due to emergency measures being taken instead.  We went to the Botanical Gardens to relax and run around outside, which we did.  We had decided that it was time to head home but Clara wanted to see one last thing so I had agreed to 5 more minutes.  Literally as I am saying, Ok guys time's up, Leona runs off the trail and falls into a cactus.  It was horrible.  Her adorable chubby hands and wrists were COVERED in spines.  She started to clench her little fists because they hurt and I was trying to figure out what to do.  Is this the kind of thing that you go to the hospital for? Should I somehow try to get her home and then take out the spines? Where could I even find tweezers here? Should I call Collin and have him come get the other two girls or hold Leona's hands so that we can get her home? I felt so powerless.  

Just then this kind young woman came over and asked if she could help.  She helped me herd the big girls to the visitor's center and procured tweezers while I slowly walked holding Leona's arms and saying "Open handies" on a loop. She stayed with us for over an hour while we took turns pulling spines out of Leona's hands, wrists, and forearms.  She stayed even after I told her a couple of times that I could handle it from that point.  She was an angel sent to help.  She has become a metaphor for the kind people of Austin who helped me this summer even when they didn't know me. I was so grateful for her help.  At one point while we waited for the Elmer's glue to dry on Leona's hands in an attempt to remove the hairlike spines Leona looked right at her and said, "Jesus dies." So then I explained to her that Leona had been a bit obsessed with the topic ever since Easter.  She told me that it was ok, she's Catholic, and I told her that we were members of the church.  Leona even worked a missionary moment into her fiasco.  Well done.

Random Photos

Leona's favorite hiding place.

Leona's Budding Sense of Humor

Leona: (Hearty fake laugh) "Naked! Funny!"

Glad to see that her sense of humor is developing on schedule.