The Gabrielsen Seven

The Gabrielsen Seven

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Alice's last week as a 1-yr-old

 One of Grace's classmate's dad is a firefighter. He came to visit the class last week.
  Grace's class in front of the fire truck.
 On Monday, Alice and I took Grace to school on the bus, and Paul worked at the Sentinel. Alice and I did laundry, and worked on animal sounds, then I did the calendar and budget. When we went to pick up Grace from school, it was 97 degrees! Thankfully our Chilean neighbors gave us a ride home. I gave Grace a piano lesson and read scriptures with her, then she did her chores and started a skeleton workbook. When Alice woke up from her nap, it was 100 degrees. I couldn't think or move - we have no cooling system at all! The power went out at Paul's work because they were using the A/C too much. When he came home, we had FHE on sharing, and got out the Halloween decorations. The girls always love that lightning ball! Paul's first 2 articles were published on the newspaper's website that night, and in print the next morning.
 Rough night that night due to the heat. I was miserable all day in the 100-degree weather. Alice was good playing with the Halloween decorations, and Paul had class. I made homemade sweet and sour chicken for dinner, then we all got on our swimsuits and got in the cold shower/bath together. When we got dressed, Grace asked if her clothes had just come out of the dryer - that's how hot they were just from sitting on the bed! I went to Relief Society that night, and Paul did tons of homework.
 On Wednesday, it was a hot night/morning again. Paul got a flat tire on his way to the news office.I babysat our neighbor, Maria. She and Alice loved it, though they didn't actually play TOGETHER, and they don't even speak the same language. It was pretty quiet, and I was able to get stuff done.

When it was time to pick up Grace, the sun was blazing down on us. Then as the bus headed toward the school, I saw across the field what looked like smoke billowing in. It was fog! When we got off the bus, it was freezing and dark and misty. The sky was totally white. So fun! Grace loved telling us all about her teddy bear picnic she had at school that day, and the girls had great fun riding the bus home with our Chilean neighbors. Grace and I made a dancing skeleton in the afternoon, and we went to the food pantry. When Paul finally got home after writing an article and getting a new tire, he spent some time with the girls before putting them to bed. I went grocery shopping while Paul did homework.

On Thursday, I was really sick and nauseous all day. Paul had class, Alice liked the fish at Grace's classroom, and Grace loved doing her show-and-tell using her monkey puppet. Paul made dinner that night, and I made a ton of M&M cookies for the next day.
 Friday is Paul's day off, so he did homework all day long. He also helped with the laundry, and let me take a nap (or two). I took Alice to playgroup to celebrate her birthday with her friends. She played in the sand.
 She played on the slide.
 She shared M&M cookies (and got super embarrassed and covered her face when they sang Happy Birthday to her!).
 She swung on the swings.
 She loves all her nursery friends!
 What could be cuter than this?
 How about this?

Or this?
 After picking Grace up from school, I made tons of pepperoni rolls and potato soup, and we had our Chilean neighbors over for dinner. They loved the food (thanks to Sarah for the suggestions), and then our girls and their girls ran upstairs and played while the adults talked. It was a nice evening. Paul and I watched BYU beat Utah State that night.

On Saturday, Paul got up early to do homework. We had a nice day watching General Conference. Grace even watched a lot of it. In the afternoon, we got a huge package from Mom/Dad Gabe for Alice's birthday. We decided we could open some of it already, so we gave the girls their Halloween socks, and dressed the monkey puppet in Charlie's onesie!

When Paul went to the priesthood session, the girls played out back.

Alice loves that beach ball!

She really loves any ball. Check out that outfit! I let Grace pick out her clothes since we weren't going anywhere.

Grace loves the beach ball too. When Paul got home that night, we made donut dough, wrapped birthday gifts, and looked through the new book Mom/Dad Gabe sent us about the unexplained. We LOVE it!
 This morning, the girls were a little less interested in General Conference.
 Between sessions, we made corndogs, complete with our own batter!
 They were a hit, along with the tater tots. (Can you tell we're having a fry day?)
 We didn't have skewers, so we had to use forks. Alice demonstrates the problems that arose from that decision.
 Then we cut out the donuts.
Grace loves helping in the kitchen! It's been a great Conference weekend. Wish us luck on the donuts.
Happy birthday to Sarah today, and to Alice tomorrow!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Paul's first week as a journalist

 Alice flipping through the Book of Mormon after her bath.
 Pretty dang cute.
 Alice reading Tag books.
 On Monday, I was sick most of the day after a bad night. It was Paul's last day off, so he took care of the girls and hung out with me. We had no internet or phone most of the day. We had FHE on reverence, then went on a family walk around the complex. We found this cool area of trees that you can walk in and have a hide-out! I cut Paul's hair that night.
 Tuesday was Paul's first day of school. It was actually just orientation, but it lasted from 9-4, so it seemed like his first day of school. He was SO excited, with his backpack all packed and everything! He took Grace to school on the shuttle, then continued on the shuttle into campus. Alice and I went to my doctor's appointment.
 In the afternoon, Grace and I did a craft, and Grace read the Lizzy McGuire book she got from the school library. I made good Filipino food (pancit), which even the girls liked! Then we went to the grocery store and the new dollar store. Alice was really bad. Paul spent the whole evening on homework, but he's really excited about his program. I'm so glad he loves it! We prayed for Dad after his heart "episode" that day.
 On Wednesday, I took Grace to school on the bus, but the bus was late, so we were late too. Alice was good all morning. We let her sleep in when it's feasible, and it's totally worth it. She just grabbed a stack of Tag books and entertained herself for an hour.
 Here's the owl craft Grace and I made the day before, as well as an owl decoration from the dollar store.
 Paul started his internship at the newspaper office that afternoon. They immediately gave him a desk and assigned him a story. He called people for interviews, and wrote most of the article that afternoon. It's about a tennis court. Alice and I got Grace from school, then Alice and I napped while Grace entertained herself. We had no internet or phone that afternoon. Grace and Alice played for a while at our Chilean neighbors' while I made dinner.
 On Thursday, Paul walked us to the bus stop, then walked off into the dense fog to class. Grace cracked jokes with her friend Sophia the whole way to school, and Alice was good all morning while I made potato salad and did dishes. We had Grace's friend Catalina (our Chilean neighbor) over for a play date that afternoon. They had a great time. Paul got home around 3, and we had a nail clipping/painting party with the girls. Then we went to a potluck at Paul's program director's house. The girls and I all dressed in pink hooded sweatshirts. The party was pretty late for a school night, so we ate and visited a little, avoided all the alcohol around, and left somewhat early, but the girls still got to bed late and were tired the next morning.
 On Friday, Grace slept in a little, and Alice slept in a lot. Paul has no school or internship on Fridays, so he spent all day at home doing homework. He has A LOT of writing to do, and every assignment comes with lots of research to do first. Alice was good reading books and playing with shapes, so I started on the Flake Family yearbook, and made delicious toffee. Grace had a play date at Catalina's house that afternoon, and I had a nice talk with her mom when I went to pick Grace up. We had pizza for dinner while watching the beginning of the BYU/Hawaii game, then we went to Alice's friend's b-day party with a bunch of our friends from the ward. The girls got to bed late again, and Paul and I watched the end of the game.
 On Saturday, Paul and the girls slept in until 8:45, but I couldn't sleep past 6:45. Maddening. Paul went to the farmers market in the morning to get some interviews about organic food. Paul did homework all afternoon, then he took the girls to a neighbor's birthday party while I went to the relief society broadcast/dinner.
 Grace liked climbing trees at the birthday party.
 And there's always a pinata at these things.
 Today we had a little photo shoot in our backyard before church. Grace and Alice love their baby brother!
 Cute kids!
 Sister love!
 Alice is very serious.
 Possibly the last picture of our family of four, thanks to the tripod.
 35 weeks pregnant.
 We got the family pictures from the Bear Lake reunion this week. Here's Paul and all of his Poulsen cousins (on his mom's side). He's the oldest.
 Our little family.
 The Gabe Gabrielsens.
 Grandma Lu and her descendants.
Go cougars!