Officer like Daddy

Grace wants to be an officer like her Daddy.  She says she is so proud of him.  She pretends all the time, mostly to be an officer or cop, but sometimes, she is the bad guy that gets put in the car.  She mostly says she just wants to shoot bad guys.  We have been trying to teach her that Cops do a lot of great things.  She now wants to watch them on TV whenever we go by them.  She and her Daddy like to watch and talk about whats going on.  (in ration of course)  She thinks it is so cool! Here they are watching cops.

I think it is great she is so proud of her Dad.  I am too.  We love him very much!

Olympics and Activities

It has been raining a lot and Grace has enjoyed jumping in Muddy Puddles-one of her favorite things to do.

 We went swimming at Seven Peaks in Provo for Miahs Birthday Party.

 We have been watching the olympics.  Grace tries to do what they do a lot.  Especially the gymnastics. It is too cute to watch. 

 (being silly for the camera before she performs)

 and excellent extension move.

 She wanted to draw brother a picture and insisted that it be on my tummy not on paper.  So I let her. 

 She was so proud!

 And she didn't miss a spot.

 She then wanted it done to her too, so we did.  (I hope this doesn't become a pattern she thinks she can do anytime...we'll see)

 We also made some delicious monster cookies. It was a great weekend together because we have really been missing our time.

Washington DC

I went to Washington DC last week for a work conference.  I was very nervous to leave as Grace wouldn't be coming with me.  I really don't like going out of town without my family and I was really struggling.  We spent the day before I left together though, painting:

 And playing bardies:

 And then before I left, we posed for a picture shoot.

 In Washington DC, this is about the extent of the sites I got to see. This sandwich is known as a Muffaleta and it is delicious. 

 I saw the National Mall only through my taxi window. Which was dark going in and out.

 I did get to hear the yellow jackets perform in person.

 Sue and I presented to a full room which was over capacity by about 20 people who sat on the floor and in the hallway.  It was very humbling and I think we did a really good job.

 The US Secretary of Education spoke to us as well. 

 I missed some of the other speakers as travel didn't sit very well with me.  I pushed myself a little hard I am afraid and ended up spotting a little so I spent an entire day on bedrest in my hotel room.  There really is nothing good on daytime television and I wanted nothing more than to be home.  I missed visits to the Capital and meetings with Senetor Hatch and Congressman Matheson.  They would have been great experiences.
I did send Grace a postcard.  This was her reaction when it came (she cracks me up)

 She drew pictures for me and put a sign to welcome me home. She was waiting on the porch when I got there.  Grandma Box came into town to help take care of Grace while I was gone.  Grace did pretty well and we got to skype a little, but we missed each other a lot.

 I brought her a sweatshirt which she thought was pretty cool-as well as a tshirt and silly snow globe.  I caught a few "stress ball" busses at the conference, no surprise they ended up being her favorite.

It turned out to be an experience to show me that I can do it if I need to, but I really didn't like and I just wanted to be home with my family. 

New Job

This email went out this afternoon after I accepted the position of Assistant Director with our GEAR UP Grant. This is a pretty huge opportunity and I will be working down at UVU in Orem as the Assistant Director of our 26 million dollar grant-pretty big deal! I am very excited and honored that they selected me.

 

All,

We are very pleased to announce that we have hired MeriAnn Boxall as our new second Assistant Director for the statewide GEAR UP program. MeriAnn has provided exceptional service to her GEAR UP students at West High School, and we are excited to now have her work with all of us in administering the grant.

Thank you,

Laurie

I took the afternoon and went to the park with my girl, where we pretended to fly while having underdogs on the swing. 

 

Rain Rain go Away

We finally had some major rain yesterday.  It will hopefully do wonders for all of the fires.  It came down so fast and so hard we ended up with a river or two around the house, one of which filled up our window well and ended up in our basement.  It was not a happy time. 

But this little cutie thought it was pretty cool to play in the rain and listen to the Thunder.

She even did some dancing and catching of raindrops on her tongue with Kaelin earlier in the day.  What a doll!