Ogden Temple Open House

On August 2, we went to Ogden to tour the newly remodeled Ogden Temple with Chelsea and her kids. It is BEAUTIFUL! It was an awesome opportunity to take our kids before they re-dedicate it.  

 We were cracking up at the big booties on the kids' little feet, so we had to take a picture (they put booties over everyone's shoes to help keep the temple clean.) Check out Rachel's feet:

  The kids loved the fountain:

 Our crew in front of the temple. It was so bright!

 Michael was fascinated by the piano that played all by itself.

 I meant to get a picture of Amber and Rachel in their matching dresses, but Rachel fell asleep on the way back to Chelsea's house, and Amber had changed before Rachel woke up. So, this is the next best thing:

And, as part of the tour, the took a complimentary picture and emailed it to us:

Thanks for getting us tickets, Chelsea. It was awesome!

A Very Rachel Post

On July 22, Rachel officially turned 18 months old, and so on July 28, she had a well-child appointment and got her last shots until kindergarten (I think). She weighed in at 19.44 lbs (10.13 percentile), and she was 30.5 inches tall (11.96 percentile). In typical Saville form, her head measured in the 52.51 percentile. That's because we have such incredible brains around here :) The only concern we had was her very small vocabulary. One of the questions on her questionnaire asked something like "Besides Mommy and Daddy, does she say more than 8 words?" I couldn't get up to 8 counting mommy and daddy. She babbles a ton--she ALWAYS has something to say. We just don't understand any of it. The doctor said she was probably okay, but referred me to Kids on the Move just in case she didn't improve before her 2 year appointment. A few weeks later, she started saying TONS of things. None are as articulate as Michael's words were at her age, but she is still adorable talking. She's started repeating simple prayers before bed--the words are gibberish but she matches the tone. We love it. She is a delight, and we're so grateful to have her fun little spirit in our home. 

Here are a few pictures:

 Eating a cupcake after Danny's swimming birthday party.  

 Sitting on Daddy during scripture study. If we sit/lay on the floor, she thinks we're her seat. This makes it hard to do my crunches or bridges, which is why I don't do them very often.  

 She's finally letting us read her books!!! This is HUGE! Michael always let us read to him, but Rachel hadn't let us until recently. Yay!

 She's getting to be quite an independent eater. She does a great job with her spoon and fork, but if we don't pay close enough attention, her plate ends up being a hat,

 which means she is occasionally using ranch dressing as leave-in conditioner. 

Her hair keeps getting longer, and I've even tried braiding it a couple of times! 

 And every time, I hear my mom's voice saying, "If you don't hold still, you're going to end up with a crooked braid." Yup, totally get it now, Mom! 

 If one of us has been a way from her for over an hour, when we return, she comes running as fast as her little legs can take her screaming, "Hiiiiiiiii!" Best welcome home ever. And she blows the sweetest kisses.

 And, like her brother, she loves yogurt! Good thing she's good at feeding herself!

One day, she was playing in Michael's room alone, and I was enjoying the extra time to work on a computer project. Finally, she came wandering back to find me: 

 Apparently she's going to audition for the sequel to Avatar. We never had this problem with Michael. I always put my markers where he couldn't reach. Michael on the other hand...

I love Sundays because we get to dress her up for church. I'm loving her curly hair and cute dresses. We just can't get enough! Speaking of church, she's now a legit nursery goer and is so good at helping clean up toys because of it. I hope it lasts!

 And when she wants to sleep, she can SLEEP! If her nap lasts less than 2 hours, something is wrong. 

  She plays hard, but she loves to go to bed when she's tired. Often, she'll bring me her blanket and say, "Night, Night!" This is her waiting for me to put her in bed. 

Remember how I said she lets us read to her now? Yeah, it's awesome. On this particular Sunday, she had just woken up. She insisted on having her blanket and her baby. She had pink eye, and I enjoyed every minute of reading her books and snuggling with her. We have yet to welcome a real snuggler into the family, so these moments are rare and, therefore, precious. 

 She loves baths. She loves dumping water  over her head. And I love wrapping her up in her towel and watching her waddle off to her room to get dressed with her towel carefully wrapped around her. 

In the mornings, Michael usually gets Rachel out of bed, but she knows where to find us. Usually they play for a little bit, but then she wanders over to our room, knocks on the door, and calls, "Mommy! Dadda!" Our hearts melt, and we HAVE to let her in. Yeah, I know, I need to get up earlier. 

 Last Sunday, after a bath, I realized her hair was long enough to go into a back ponytail. So, I HAD to try it out.

It made her look so much older. 

 And we did it again a few days later, trying out a twist for the top pieces.

 She loves her baby, and she loves pushing her baby in the stroller. So, I let her push her on over to Sam's for lunch on Thursday. She's going to be such a good mama someday.

As of right now, here are some of Rachel's words: Mommy and Dadda, Hi (said very enthusiastically), Bye-bye, Go!, cracker, mih (milk), cookie, Gichael (Michael), Night-night, baby, all done, all gone, 'Ere go! (Here you go), clean up, Papa, please, uh-oh, ba (ball), doggie, amen, mine (thanks a lot Michael), and an endless supply of baby babble. 

Dance Party with Grandpa & Grandma

While we were at my parents' house in Idaho just before heading to Island Park, we were having a lazy Saturday morning. My dad headed over to his stereo, picked a song, and started doing this:

Michael needed in on the action too. Thankfully, he found a partner. 

I knew growing up that Dad would make an incredible grandpa, and I couldn't wait to see him with my kids someday. That day is here, and it is even better than I imagined. I love my parents so much. I'm so grateful for their influence in my life and their influence in my kids' lives. They're so lucky to have two sets of amazing grandparents and one set of awesome great-grandparents to love on them and spoil them.

Island Park Adventure--Savillian Style!

After two years of waiting, July meant that it was time for the Bi-annual Saville Family Shin-dig! This year, we went to a cabin in Island Park for a week. That meant super-packed coolers in a pretty packed car, airport pick-ups and drop offs, and a tons of freezer rolls. It was a blast. Here's the breakdown:

Day 1 (for us): Friday, July 18.  Pack and load cars. Try to leave house in decent shape. Caravan to airport to pick up Ben and Jenny. Worry that they'll be waiting for us. Wonder why we didn't think to split up kids so that both cars could take advantage of carpool lane. Wait in Park & Wait for delayed flight to land while breathing a sigh of relief that they weren't waiting for us. Help Ben and Jenny load our car. Give hugs and goodbye-for-nows. Desperately search for place to eat. Find said place. Scarf food. Drive to my parents' house in Idaho. Get tired kids in bed--3 hours past their bed time. Hang out with folks. Go to bed. 

Day 2: Saturday, July 19. Brian lets me sleep in.Kids bond with grandparents.

 Mom makes FABULOUS huckleberry pancakes. Hang out with folks.  Head into town (Idaho Falls) with Dad to get groceries and run his errands. Run late. Wonder who thought it was a good idea to send the two slowest people in the family to town on limited time.  Panic that we won't get out of the house in time. Remind myself that it doesn't matter. Brian reminds me that it won't matter. Scarf lasagna (thanks, Mom!) Load in car and drive to Island Park. Get there late, but an hour or more ahead of any one else. Scope out rooms, but don't dare pick one. Unload car and coolers.  Enjoy the outdoors. 

 Everyone gets there (except Ben & Jenny who came the next day). Greg and Shayne pretend to be twins.

 Day 3: Sunday, July 20. Go to church in Island Park in the A-frame cabin overflow building next to the church house. Marvel at special feeling that exists since most of the people there are on vacation and are therefore at church because they really just want to be at church. Go back to cabin. Hang out. Read book. Head to Big Springs. See moose (just left of  Julia's right pigtail).

 Tried to keep kids from getting in the water. Took pictures of kids.

 And everyone in our group.

 Head back to cabin. Make dinner. Wonder where Ben and Jenny are. Hang out with the family.

 Eat dinner. Send out search party for Ben and Jenny. Ben and Jenny arrive in swimming clothes with crazy story about going to the wrong cabin and hanging out in cabin's hot tub for an hour. Everyone has a good laugh. Michael wonders how our Elantra got there. Tell him that it missed us and came to find us. Get kids in bed. Stay up late talking.

Day 4: Monday, July 21. Decide to head to Yellowstone. Mack takes up new hobby:

Hang out some more while babies nap.  

 Finally get entire crew out the door and into Yellowstone Park. Meet at Old Faithful. Wait for Old Faithful to go off.

 Old Faithful goes off.

 Walk around Old Faithful. See lots of geysers and hot pools.

 See our first Bison. Must have been facing the storm.

 Rest for a snack.

 Walk some more.

 Break from group because kids are done (It stinks, Mom!) Wait for Old Faithful to go off again. Wait for 1/2 hour.

 Old Faithful teases us.

Give up and go into Lodge for ice cream. Goes off while we're inside. Meet up with the rest of the group. Almost lose Skyler when he wanders off. Happily rescue Skyler. Get into cars and head home with rainbows at our back. 

 Day 5: Tuesday, July 22: Hang out some more.

 Load up and head to Wade Lake, Montana. Rent two canoes. Play in canoes and water. Marvel at beauty of lake.

Head home. Back two rows are asleep in no time. 

 Eat Nana's famous spaghetti. And rolls.

 Have a camp fire and make S'mores.

 Day 6: Wednesday, July 23. Original 7 head to Rexburg for special temple sealing trip.

 

Kids and I head to Rexburg to meet Dad for lunch. Meet up with originals for a little bit. . Head back to cabin with just kids and I. Take the long way back and soak up Tetons and Idaho farmland (aka home!)

 Wonder if Warm River is really warm. Take 12 mile detour to find out.

 50 degrees not my definition of warm. Get back. Hang out. Take family pictures.

Realize why photographers charge so much for group photos. Have slight breakdown. Lea and Jenny cheer me up. Have a fun night with my awesome in-laws. 

Day 7: July 24. Hang out with crew. Have dinner for lunch. Finally load entire crew and head to Yellowstone Park for animal sight-seeing. See elk.  

 See Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

 Someone offers to take a group shot of us.

 See a bear and another waterfall.

 See deer. See Rachel.

 See herd of buffalo.

 Marvel at buffalo for a while. Take too many pictures of buffalo, but can't help ourselves. Officially decide that landscape photography isn't my thing. Go to Mammoth Hot Springs.

Day 8. July 25. Deliberate about what to do for the day for an hour or more. Send Shayne and Jared to rent jet skis. Bid farewell to Ben and Jenny. Get crew out the door and down to Henry's Lake. Discover that lake is leech infested. Throw rocks instead of swim. Rachel steals someone's cookie. Wonder where she got a cookie. A minute later, Hunter inquires after his cookie.

 Hang out while waiting for turn on Jet ski.

 Watch with envy those already enjoying the jet ski ;)

 Enjoy jetski.

 A little too much (my screams were heard all around the lake. Oops.)

 All too soon, head back to cabin. Have dinner and birthday party for Danny:

 Go for walk with Lara. Stay up too late. Start getting ready to head home.

Day 9: July 26. Pack up stuff. Load car. Help wash towels and clean up things we used. Laugh at kids playing outside while adults are cleaning up. Wonder why I wanted to grow up. Take pictures of twins.

 Take pictures of kids jumping in front of cabin. Laugh at Rachel's attempt to jump.

 Take more pictures of twins.

 Give lots of hugs. Get in car. Head home. Stop at airport to retrieve car.  Get home. Bath kids. Unload. Get kids in bed. Unpack everything by 7 p.m. (2 hour record for me!). Crash on the couch. Miss everyone so much.