aaron.anica.emily.isabel.claire

SYMPTONS: FREQUENT VOMITING, EXCESSIVE FATIGUE, NAUSEA, LACK OF MOTIVATION SIDE EFFECTS: HOUSE TURNS INTO A PIG PEN, FAMILY MEMBERS WEAR DIRTY UNDERWEAR FOR SEVERAL DAYS, MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY ARE ACCUSED OF HAVING EATING DISORDERS FROM MALNUTRITION, YOUR BED & COUCH HAVE A PERMANENT INDENT, AND THE CARPET FROM HERE TO THE BATHROOM HAVE A WELL WORN PATH, PEOPLE THINK YOU HAVE FALLEN OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH My friend recently told me there's a chance she "might" be pregnant. When I asked what might meant, she told me it could just be the flu. I laughed at her until I started experiencing the same symptoms. Even after a positive pregnancy test I worried that it might be all in my head. Thank heavens for a trip to the doctor, he confirmed that: WE ARE HAVING BABY NUMBER 2 !!!!!! I apologize to any of you who have asked recently when we are having more kids or why I am sick, and I didn't give you a straight answer . . . well now you know!

Emily and her teacher Miss Clark Emily started preschool and I think she is enjoying it. After the first week I asked her if she liked preschool and she said, "I hate it!" When I asked her why, she said it was because I dress her up like a girl each time. She has finally come to terms with the fact that she's a girl, but insists that she's a "tom boy", so apparently I'm interfering with the image she is trying to portray. When I asked her if she had any friends in her class she listed several boys names. I asked if she had any friends that were girls and she said, "No, I don't like girls, just some moms and you." Glad I made the cut! She also told me how she flooded the toilet in the boys bathroom. I probably should have been concerned with the fact that she flooded the toilet, but I was more curious as to why she was using the boys bathroom. When asked why, she simply replied, "I thought it would be cooler in there." . ....

We made it home the first part of September after a fun 3 day road trip across the country. We drove through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and into Utah. Em was surprisingly good and kept us entertained as usual. We were able to make a couple of stops for some tourism. We spent some time in Santa Fe which was pretty cool and really artsy and we also went to Mesa Verde in Colorado to see the ruins. It was pretty amazing how they built they're dwellings right up in those cliffs. All in all we had a fun little trip. We enjoyed our first camping trip of the summer last weekend and we're looking forward to going to the dunes with my family this weekend, so it's good to be home in the mountains again.

So we've been home for about a month now and I've been a slacker. We did some fun things our last few days that I just wanted to share. We love and miss our friends in Memphis!

We had stopped at a gas station to fill up the car and Aaron said to me, " Do you want to run in and get some drinks? I'm gonna need a soft drink." A little voice piped up from the back and said, "Yeah . . . and I'm gonna need a hard drink!"

We went to the National Civil Rights Museum here in Memphis and I left with a new appreciation for this period in history. Abolishing segregation was something I always thought of as being a long time ago and half way across the country, but seeing all the history behind it brought it much closer to home. After spending the summer in the south, it has opened my eyes to the racism and bigotry that is alive in our day. It is extremely sad the way people treat each other and the intolerance and injustice that goes on. Racism does not affect only minorities, but all races. I have a great admiration for Dr. Martin Luther King and the work he did to progress in creating equal rights for all races. The museum was actually built around the hotel where he was assassinated. I didn't realize this until I was standing in the room, which was left in the same condition as it was April 4, 1968, and looking out the window to the balcony where he stepped outside and was shot. They also had ...

Emily starts preschool when we get back to Utah so we've been doing some school shopping and we even did a little fashion show where she posed for the camera. Oddly, she's NOT excited to start school. She seems to be having some pre-separation anxiety which I cannot relate to seeming as how we've been together aaalllllll summer:). I'm sure when she starts preschool and makes some new friends, she'll appreciate a good break from me. We've had lots of fun together and I might even miss her a little when she starts preschool:)