emma

I sure enjoy this girl. Wasn't her post about Nashville so adorable? I should have her guest-post more often. When I told Spencer I wanted to take her with me he was worried that I wouldn't be getting a "break" from the kids. I assured him that having her would surely be a break, and it was. I have no complaints at all. I love that I can already take my daughter somewhere and feel like I have a friend with me.

We went to Utah for conference last week. She's a couple months shy of being 8 but we cheated and took her to conference anyway. I was thrilled with how excited she was by the thought of seeing the Prophet. While we had to sit up on the balcony (Spencer's first time up there, EVER - haha) she enjoyed taking it all in and experiencing it.

When we were in Provo I had her jump out as we drove past her very first home. Funny how it looks the exact same as it did 8 years ago. We have such fond memories of this basement apartment. Our rent was $360 a month, which made the shock of paying $1600 when we moved to Boston oh so painful. I loved that house; we had very few cares and she and I spent so much time playing, walking, and swimming.

We also made a detour through Pine Valley. Emma's first time there was at 5 months old when Spencer and I were still at BYU. I wanted my kids to go there again, to be with my grandparents in their element and in their favorite place. I loved watching Emma play the exact same games with my grandma that I used to play with her. It was a wonderful 20 hours that we spent there, especially since my grandpa rocks the dutch oven. Yummm.

Emma reads to Tyler every night. Not only does she read to Tyler, but she reads to Tanner. Thank goodness for that, as he has suddenly developed an obsession with books. After reading what seems like 300 books to him during the day, I just can't do it anymore. Emma is always happy to oblige.

I thank my lucky stars every night that I have to make her put her books down and go to sleep at night. Some kids don't want to go to sleep for obnoxious reasons; I think Emma reading too much is a great problem to have. I love that I see that part of myself in her.

She asks me every so often if we can have another baby. Because of the pattern we've had, she's pretty sure it would be a girl, and she would have the opportunity to have a little sister. She's tried different ways to convince me, even trying to figure out a way for me to have a baby "like other people do." But to appease herself, she has taken a liking to dressing Tanner up in one of her t-shirts, tying it with a sash so it looks like a dress, and putting a flower in his hair. I guess I will sacrifice Tanner's future pride if it makes her feel better...

I thank my lucky stars for this girl.