September Stuff, Including Groundbreakings And Forehead Breakings

It's that time of year again when life starts to just go, go, go, until January...so hopefully this "grab-bag" blog post will get you all caught up on our family's life (those of you who care, anyway). Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the news--and possibly post more analysis-type commentary filled with my patented snark that I'm sure you all love.

Anyway, our September was eventful and kind of hot! This is the time of year when I wish it would just cool off already; weather-wise, it's my least favorite month of living in Arizona, because I am just ready for autumn by now. Nonetheless, there were many other nice things about this month, of which a few are listed below.

Celeste had her first preschool field trip--to the local (Green Valley) Fire Station:

As you can see, Aurora came too--and they both loved walking through the large fire trucks & ambulances parked at the station!

Lorelai reached a major milestone in September as well; she started losing her baby teeth!

By the end of September, both her front-bottom teeth had fallen out, her two adult teeth were on their way in, and Lorelai was $2 richer, courtesy of the "Tooth Fairy." She was very excited & proud of her "accomplishment," and Nathan & I were happy too...and a little sad, at the same time. Lorelai is just getting bigger and bigger, and seeing those baby teeth pop out reminds us that she is not our little baby anymore!

Another big event in September was the groundbreaking for the new LDS Church stake center, just a few miles from our house! Although the Sahuarita Arizona Stake was formed more than two years ago, our stake is still making do with a small handful of undersized buildings. No longer! (well, "no longer" as in "a year or so hence".) On September 15th, representatives from the Sahuarita Stake presidency, Sahuarita town officials, and construction company supervisors all spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony, and many members of the church showed up to celebrate this happy occasion.

While my children didn't listen to much of the ceremony, they sure had fun crawling all over the heavy equipment!

I am very excited for the new stake center to be built; the LDS Church is growing fast in this part of Arizona, and this new, larger building will help everything church-related run much more smoothly here. It will be interesting to watch it grow!

We also took a family weekend trip to Colossal Cave, but since I didn't have a camera, I don't have any interesting pictures to beguile you with. I personally enjoy the cave, but I think the children weren't quite ready for that kind of outing...Lorelai and Celeste were alternately scared of/bored by the cave. Also, Aurora tripped and bit her tongue in the darkness, bleeding all over our shirts, screaming, and annoying our tour group in the process. SIGH. Luckily there was a treasure hunt to do at the ranch further down the mountain from the cave. The kids enjoyed that. I think we will go to Colossal Cave again...in another year or two, when the kids can appreciate it more.


Besides those events, September was packed with the usual--dance classes, preschool classes (at my house this time), church business, piano lessons, school, playdates, and the like.

The month of September did end with a "bang"...

...to my youngest daughter's head, that is. On the way out the door one morning, Aurora tripped on the driveway and smacked her head into the metal edge of the sliding door of our van, which was standing open at the time. She also hit her head on the sidewalk in her fall. I didn't see any bone, thank heavens, but the cut was quite deep, and the blood was profuse...it was pretty terrifying for wimpy ol' me.

Luckily we were able to drop Celeste off at preschool, then run to the nearby urgent-care center and get poor Aurora all stitched up (while strapped into a mummy-wrap, poor thing!) She screamed bloody murder the whole time, and I felt a little sick to my stomach, but luckily no permanent harm was done; the doctor said the scar should fade almost completely.

The injury seems like a distant memory to Aurora now; she is a real trooper and has rebounded nicely from the experience. I wish I could say the same; seeing that much blood come out of your child can't be good for your heart in the long run! Still, I am grateful everything turned out all right. I am hoping the rest of the year will find Aurora happy--and safe!