Anniversary

Well, we're coming up on two years since we left Seattle. Two years of student-life. Two years of official unemployment. A lot has changed. We now have a Gretchen.

Ella has recently waxed nostalgic about her former life in the Emerald City. I'm surprised how much she remembers, considering she was only two years old (one month shy of 3 when we moved.)




What Ella Remembers
I liked the tree on the wall in my room. There was a sun on the ceiling. We had wooden floor. I had my pink sparkley pony there. I had my toy shopping cart and it broke one time. I want to see Lucy Jane.



I recently had a dream that the new owner of the old house tore it down & all that was left were our beautiful granite tile counter tops. I was so sad. I'm thinking it's time for me to let it go. What do you think? (Ella decorating Colby's birthday cake circa '07 below).



By the time Colby graduates school, Ella will have lived half her life in Nevada. Gretchen has never lived anywhere else but with Grandma & Grandpa. (Ella is already upset that we won't live with grandparents forever. She told Grandma that when she grows up and gets married, she's moving in with them. Ha ha.) And though I'm looking forward to having our own place, not feeling like such a sponge taking advantage of the in-laws hospitality, and Colby getting a REAL JOB (WOO HOO!!!), I'm also already getting sad about leaving Reno. People, what is wrong with me?

One more thing, Colby's taken up the Gentle Art of Ju Jitsu. Ella is SUPER EXCITED for when she's five and can start learning the Gentle Art of Ju Jitsu herself. She asks Colby every time he leaves when she can learn. This week she also asked, "You're going to Ju Jitsu? Are you going to do a lot of tricks there?" I hope he's learning tricks like this:



Ella want's y'all to know her phone #. She typed it just for you:
rrhvbgthghdijoigtghbgtfhknkhbvcfr435699098656544hreuhrgrjfdkjgjddfinbhffjgg,bhmggkmk;
,gjb,bh

No longer a Stott... technically

Chris and I got married!!! Finally after 5 1/2 years Chris and I tied the knot on July 22, 2009. I'm now Katrina Ann Green. Here are some pics. Just wanted to give the fam a heads up that there will be a reception September 26th here in Utah. Well be sending invites out at the end of August. Love you all!

Kindergarten!

Have I told you that Ella is starting Kindergarten in about a month? I KNOW. We're playing "school" right now in an effort to prepare her. It's also the only way I can get her to look at the workbooks I bought. Oh, my well-intentioned naivety.

PLAN IN MY HEAD: Can't you just see it? We're sitting in the afternoon sunlight at the table, her hair perfectly braided, me showered and dressed. She practices drawing a "5" and exclaims with joy at her new found skills. We laugh, full of knowledge and the thrill of discovery.

REALITY: Mom, I don't want to do my math book. I want to color in my princess coloring book. Mom, that's not how I want to do it (because I'm obviously coloring the picture in wrong). Mom, can you get Gretchen out of here?

So we play.

Ella - When is snack time at this kindergarten?

Me - Kindergarten is for big kids, and it's not long enough for snack time. We don't have snack time in kindergarten.

Ella - (pause...) Well they should.

Me - Well, are you sick of coloring? Do you want to have recess now?

Ella - Yeah. I'm going to play with Pretend Kyle.

(Five minutes later, when Ella is frustrated and sitting on the floor...)

Me - What's wrong, you want to work together on something?

Ella - No, Fake Kyle doesn't want to play.

Luckily she has a playdate with Real Kyle tomorrow. She's super excited. I'm sure he'll want to play the whole time, and not be all moody and demanding like that annoying Fake Kyle.

Strict Standards

Ella is home sick today (not that we had anywhere to go, that's the glory of Summer!!!) She's trying to pick out a movie to watch, but it's hard. There's so many reasons NOT to watch a movie.

Monsters Inc. - The Secretary is mean and slams the thing down on the green guy's hand. That's mean.
Toy Story - The neighbor boy is mean and the weird toys are scary.
The Incredibles - The big ball and the big monster are scary.
Nemo - Cause of the big white shark.
The Polar Express - No Thank you.
Elf - She doesn't like that he eats the gum off the railing. That's gross.

She really really REALLY want's to watch Mary Poppins, but we can't find it. ARGHHHH!

Summer Lovin'

-Last week we went to Utah with Auntie Angel. 5 kids, 2 moms and 10.25 hours later we made it to SLC. We didn't even leave anyone at a rest stop.
-I'm pretty sure we stopped at every rest stop.
-Seriously. Two hours longer than usual.
-Ella actually had to use the bathroom every time we stopped. We only let her have one juice box. I don't know where it all came from.
-We went to a Family Reunion and I actually knew some of my family. When we walked up to the pavilion where everyone was gathered, my nephew Christian said, "Aunt Apryl, WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?" He didn't believe they were all related to him.
-They were.
-Ella, Gretchen & I got to spend the weekend at my Aunt Jo's house. It was super fun. Gretchen and Ella were in love with all her dog statues. They went around patting all their heads.
-I got to see Janeece & Ken at Aunt Jo's!!! They came over to visit cause they just HAPPENED to be visiting Utah the same time I was. YAY!
-Mom and I drove back to Reno. It only took eight and a half hours.
-We had to stop in Fernley for Ice Cream. Gretchen was loosing it. LOOSING IT!!!
-Fernley is only 1/2 an hour from Reno. But we still had to stop.
-I really want to see Harry Potter this week. But I still haven't seen Star Trek OR XMen. I'm so behind the times.
-Being poor sucks.
-My mom has all the good pictures from our trip on her camera & I forgot to copy them before she left.
-Uncle Tyler & Auntie Meghan came with Baby Kate this weekend. Baby Kate is super cute. She also sounds like she's been smoking for 60 years. It only adds to her charm.
-Yesterday our ward had a "Pie & Ear" party. For Pioneer Day. I didn't get it till yesterday. And I made the posters for the party. (Get it? PIE-N-EAR DAY!)
-Colby and Gretchen entered the Pie Eating Contest together.
-They didn't win, but not because they didn't try.
-Auntie Meghan has all the good pictures of the Pie Eating contest on her camera & I forgot to copy them before she left.
-The sprinklers just came on while Auntie Krista was pushing Gretchen on the swing.
-Ha ha!
-I think I'm going to return my camera because it sucks.
-That's what you get when you spend $100 on a digital camera.
-I hope you are all doing well, that you have lots of tomatoes in your gardens and cash in your accounts.
xoxo

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