Still Learning

I love that I'm still learning things everyday, but sometimes the things I learn make me feel dumb.

This week I learned that Mums (the flower) and Chrysanthemums are the same thing. Makes sense now that I think about it.

Other times I feel smart, like after I read about a character in a Little House on the Prairie type novel putting cloth out in the sun to bleach, I put one of Talmage's white polo shirts on the window sill and the sun "bleached" a stubborn watermelon stain out of it. Awesome! Who would have thought a children's novel could help me with my house work.

Anya also has been learning a lot. She is quite the animal lover and enjoys any chance we get to be near animals. She loves horses, goats, chickens, ducks . . . So she has decided on what she wants to be when she grows up. She wants to be a farmer's wife. She figures as a farmers wife she can do all the great things like feed chickens and collect their eggs (she has stock piled about 10 egg cartons now-- she has been collecting them for the last few months), milking cows, herding goats and sheep, and shoveling manure. She also wants her own horse to ride, and brush, and braid it's mane. We sure love Anya! We'll definitely take her to the county fair this summer and let her spend lots of time checking out the animals. We are in a good area of Utah for seeing livestock and smelling them too.

Not A Cute Baby

Anya loves looking at her baby pictures. I finally gave up thinking that I would put them in a cutesie scrapbook and let Anya make one of her own. She loves it. I gave her some paper, ribbon, stickers, and crayons and helped her glue the pictures on. It's in a nice binder with sheet protectors and everything. She is very happy with the results and now I don't have guilt about it. She takes her baby book out every once in a while and looks at it and shows us how cute she was. Then she usually pulls out Talmage's and Aaron's and checks those out too.

So the other night we were eating dinner and she asked me why I don't have a baby book. (I only have one picture of me as a baby and I don't think she has ever seen it. It must be in a box somewhere.) So I told her I don't really have any pictures of me as a baby. She looked at me for a minute and then said, "You must have not been a cute baby." A long discussion ensued after that about why I don't have more baby pictures of me. But in the end she still thinks it comes down to me not being a cute baby. Oh well. At least she has a baby book of her own and enough self-esteem to get her through high school-- hopefully.

Buffalo and Coy

Near the ranch were Tina keeps her horse, she has made friends with a man who owns a huge buffalo named Cheyenne and the biggest Japanese Coy I've ever heard of. Anya loves animals and has no fear of them-- even though she probably should.

Here she is petting the coy. There's no way I'd touch one of those-- yuck. Well maybe for a hundred dollars, but who'd pay someone to do that?

These fish would just come up and let her pet them, like they were dolphins at SeaWorld or something. Strange fish and strange little girl.

Here is Anya trying to make friends with Cheyenne. Big buffallo!

Anya wanted to feel how rough her tongue is but Cheyenne was in a bad mood.

So Anya tried feeding her a bottle. A bottle a day is supposed to keep her docile.

She checked out the bottle but wouldn't take it because she was in a bad mood.

So Anya contented herself with brushing her with a curry comb. She had no problem hanging out near Cheyennes back end on her side of the fence.

Talmage wanted to be part of the fun, but from the safe side of the fence.

Here Anya is having a little ride on top of Cheyenne. Even though she saw that Cheyenne was in a bad mood she still wanted to ride on her. Talmage took off for the car so he wouldn't be asked if he wanted a turn. I'm going to need to keep an eye on this girl or she'll run off and join the rodeo or the circus if they let her play with the animals.

Talmage's Dog Time

Talmage loves dogs. While in California we went to a ranch to ride Tina's horse. Talmage rode the horses, enjoyed hunting for and finding chicken eggs, he even shoveled manure, but the dogs were his favorite.

He'd love an old lazy dog (or two) to snuggle with and pet.

This is Tina's dog Chloe. He thinks she is the greatest dog ever because she is so fluffy and white. Anya liked her too but she liked the horses better.

Japan Town

Japan town was so much calmer that China town. Anya especially loved chasing the pigeons.

The kids loved running free in the square here because in China town it was so crowded that I wouldn't let go of their hands for fear they would get lost.

Here's Anya trying on a silly frog hat at one of the dollar fifty stores in Japan town.

We had a blast shopping for stuff Aaron has been pining for since his mission. He has missed the dollar store goodies you can only find in Japan. So when we found the $1.50 stores he was ok spending the extra fifty cents to get the stuff he can't find here. We bought ties, ear pickers (way better than Q-tips), Calpis (a non carbonated soft drink), Japanese pens and pencil case (Talmage is an office supply addict), origami paper, candies, little folding chairs for the kids, and lots more I can't remember. It was very entertaining and slightly educational!