Utah- Lagoon

Alyssa and Samantha

Savannah and Rianna

We got to Utah on Sunday and we went to Lagoon with the big girls on Monday. It was fun. We went with Mike’s sister Noelle and her girls. They were so excited to be together. Alyssa prides herself on being the dare devil of the family. She rode pretty much every roller coaster. She said she enjoyed them, but I’m not sure she was being entirely truthful. Savannah is much more cautious than her sister. She rode a few of the big coasters, but not all.
I was the only one of the group that wanted to ride the Samurai. Mike came to say “goodbye” (he was flying back to GA). He walked with me down to the ride. We watched it run a few times and he was more than surprised that I still wanted to go. He said, “It makes me sick just watching it”. After I got off, he kept asking me if I was O.K. Did I want to sit down? How on earth could I be walking straight after riding that? I liked it.
So actually, I’m the dare devil of the family!

If I have any say…

Enough said.

Day at the lake

The next cover for the "Lake Lanier brochure"

Logan LOVES the boat

Emma Grace caught a "Schishy"

Professional fishermen

Savannah's catch of the day. (Look really close)

One of our favorite things to do during the summer is spend the day with the Daltons at the lake. They have been working super hard to get the lake house up and running. It was a nice day. The girls are awesome. They don’t mind swimming in nasty lake water, they enjoy fishing and even caught a few, and they love the rides on the boat. Emma Grace just loves hanging out the “the boys”. Logan wasn’t feeling super great (ear infection). I spent a big chunk of the day driving around Gainesville so that he could sleep. But we did get to take a boat ride together and Logan enjoyed that.

Swim team

I’m just a summer behind in my journal, so I’ll try to catch up. Every summer my girls join a swim team. This year we chose a team in Grayson. The girls were excited and LOVED the new coaches and friends.

Savannah and Gabby

Savannah and Megan

Alyssa and Emily

Megan, Savannah, Natalia, and Alyssa cheering for Gabby

It's a good thing I have kids, they help me make my best friends

They had a great year. Savannah’s relay team qualified for county, and Alyssa was a rock star. She qualified in 4 individual events and her relays qualified as well.

Swimmer of the Year

Unfortunately their county meet was to be held on a Sunday. It would have been a hard moral dilemma to face, but we were spared as we were flying to Utah the same Sunday. We are proud of our girls. They’re real go getters. While not super competitive, they love to be active. I’m so glad. It’s never a fight to get them to go to practice. They love being busy.
Maybe the best part of being on a swim team is the high quality “human murals” that are created in support of team spirit. I just warn the parents of the kids that hang out with mine. They had better make it VERY CLEAR if they don’t want their beloved to be covered in graffiti.

Alyssa's team spirit

Savannah's team spirit

Phantom of the Opera

Yesterday I got to go to the Fox to see The Phantom of the Opera. It was so great! I brought Jessica Dollar and Lisa Turner with me. I hope they had as much fun as I did. We went to lunch first and it was great. Our waiter was hilarious. He wasn't trying to be, I think that if he knew I said that it might hurt his feelings. Poor guy. When we asked for his suggestions he always raved about the stuff we would never order. scallops, lobster, ect. But he tried hard. We actually heard him sing Happy Birthday to another customer in Italian all by himself. He wasn't half bad.

Walking to the theater I warned my friends that I might cry when the overture begins. I don't know why but I get so excited and when the music starts it's kind of overwhelming for me. I usually cry. I love it.

I bought my $10 program. It's my tradition. I think I have 3 or 4 other Phantom programs, but they're all different and I love them all. Our seats were perfect. The music was beautiful and I was drawn into the story of the poor Phantom.

I have mixed emotions about the Phantom. On one hand he loves Christine and wants to be with her. He just doesn't know how to express it without freaking her out. She has compassion for him and could, if given the chance, could have loved him back or at least befriended him. On the other hand he's a terrible control freak that doesn't know how to control his temper. Who wants to be stuck with someone like that for eternity.

Either way, their voices were amazing, the costumes were incredible, and the Phantom lives on.

Dear Tooth Fairy

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I know it has been a long time since you had a tooth from the wonderful mouth of Savannah Baugh, but you do now. You will have a molar in a couple of weeks, maybe even days. It is hard to lose my teeth now because I have a lot of metal in my mouth. If you want to see just open my mouth and take a look. I have wiggled it all though church today and when I was cleaning my expander from drowning in potatoes at dinner I noticed there was a hole to pull from. I pulled it out with ease. I really did not even pull I just made it go up. Well we had company at dinner so I was sitting at the bar with my friend Everett sitting next to me and every one at the table next to me and I busted out “I lost my tooth!” My mom immediately came over and said “Was it your molar?” I told her no and showed her which one it was.

That is the story of my tooth.

LOVE,
Savannah Baugh

Write back A.S.A.P.

Savannah wrote this letter to the tooth fairy tonight. She printed it before she brushed her teeth. While she was brushing I heard a scream from her bathroom. She had lost the molar! Two teeth in one night! The Tooth Fairy will be so excited. I wonder if she pays double or if she figures it's a buy-one-get-one-free deal. I guess we'll find out in the morning.

Sunday adventure

This past Sunday I went to church without half of my family. Mike stayed home with the babies because they both have noses that are running faster than our water facets. After Sacrament meeting I came home to swap him out so that he could teach his lesson. Our babies love to play in the car. So, I left the Sequoia running with the air blasting and two babies playing while I turned to wave goodbye to my husband.
When I turned back around the doors were locked.
Logan, playing with the buttons, had locked them inside the car. Obviously, I had no keys to unlock the door. Logan was clueless when I told him to unlock the door. He just smiled and said, “K.” and then turned back to what he was doing. Emma Grace was no help. I knocked on the window to get her attention and then pleaded with her to open the door. Her response was, “Don’t do that Mommy. No, No, No.”
To say that I was upset is an understatement. I ran inside to check for a spare key. No good. Called Mike’s Cell. On the counter in the kitchen. Tried to think of a solution. Chuck and Jen were at the lake. No other neighbors around. I kept telling myself that it was fine, the air conditioning was on, they weren’t going to suffocate. If they put the car in gear I would bust the back window and save the day.
I didn’t start to REALLY panic until Emma Grace found the permanent markers that the big girls use to decorate themselves for their swim meets. It was at this point that my blood pressure rose to unsafe levels and the tears began to flow. Now I have to pause here in the story to say that they did find a notebook and they TRIED to color in it. Try as they may they’re still babies. Caps didn’t get put back on, every attempt at paper did not succeed, and gestures during conversation are permanently recorded on the beautiful gray leather in my SUV.
I was helpless. One last attempt for help. I texted everyone I could think of at church hoping that someone had their cell phone on. One of my young women, who is also in Mike’s class, received my SOS. I assured her in the message that she wouldn’t get in trouble, but to please send my husband home NOW!
Waiting for help I sat there and watched as my babies had a party in the car. I had the thought come to me that this must be how our Heavenly Father sometimes feels. A loving parent places His children in a safe comfortable environment, the kids out of ignorance lock Him out, He has to stand by and watch as his beloved children graffiti all over their lives making a permanent mess. He stands there hoping that His kids will open the door and let Him in. If not a door at least crack the window, which is exactly what happened in my version of the story. Emma Grace cracked a window. I think I scared her half to death when I yelled at her not to move or touch anything. I put my arm through the window and unlocked the door. Both babies were bewildered by my reactions. Emma Grace asked why I was hugging her so tight. Why was I crying? Why were you scared Mommy? Logan just let me hug him and rubbed my back. That boy knows how to snuggle. I think my reaction to the open window would be very much like our Father in Heavens reaction to a cracked window. Thank heaven for repentance to help us clean up the messes we make in our lives.
Now, if anyone knows the trick to cleaning Sharpee off of leather I would sure appreciate it.