Classic

Now who doesn't have a "drinking out of the garden hose in a diaper" picture? Mike goes out every evening to water our couple of dead spots on our lawn. Isabelle loves to follow and play in the water and get soaked. Then we sit and enjoy our back porch and watch the kid and dog play. Such a relaxing way to spend a summer evening.

Damping!

This is how Isabelle says "Camping." We've enjoyed the great outdoors this summer. She asks to go camping and hiking all the time.


This was a camping trip with some friends. Isabelle and Tyler had fun playing with the toys.


Don't ask me...I'm sure Mike had something to do with this.


She's so cute in her little toddler camping chair!

The Bird Reunion

Mike's mom's family does a great family reunion every year. This year it was up at Powder Mountain in Ogden Canyon. Mike and I had lots of fun with the yummy food, games, and hanging out with his cousins. There are a bunch of little girls Isabelle's age and she had a blast.

This is Raylee and Isabelle playing with the dolls and doll stroller. She was in the condo next door to us and they got to play a bunch.


Of course there was lots and lots of swimming. Isabelle is a little fish and would swim all day if you let her.


We went on a little hike to a beautiful lake. Isabelle was a little tired but enjoyed the ride.


At the lake there was a rope swing. Mike actually took Isabelle on a ride. It wasn't until after he realized she wasn't buckled in. No worries, she didn't fall out in the lake, but she was TERRIFIED!


It was a gorgeous view. In the background you can see Madison on the rope swing.

On the way back you could see for miles into the valley. The sunset was really pretty too.


Thanks for all the hard work everyone put in to make it so much fun and delicious! (There is always plenty of YUMMY food at Bird parties!) We had a great time. It's always fun to get together.

Happy Un-Birthday

Back in June....I'm finally blogging! This summer Mike's sister from San Antonio, Jeannie, and her family was moving to Ohio and spent a few weeks here in between homes. It was so much fun having her here. We did lots of fun stuff and all the cousins had a blast together. One thing we did was have an un-birthday party for some of the summer birthdays. Isabelle got included even though her birthday isn't until late fall. For the oldest grandkid in each family for their 2nd birthday, they get a wagon from Mike's parents. Since Isabelle wasn't going to get to use her wagon much she got her wagon this summer to enjoy early.

She couldn't wait for the wagon to get put together. Everyone was jumping in while Mike and his dad got it put together. Here she is with David and Chase and Collin looking on.


We sang and had "cake." We made clown faces using a doughnut, scoop of ice cream, and an ice cream cone. The kids loved the mess!


The wagon finally put together sitting by mom.


She had to take her babies on a ride in her new wagon.


Then she wanted a ride from daddy.


David took Isabelle and Annabelle on a wagon ride. He took it down the hill in Mike's parent's back yard. You can guess how that was going to end. I know, I'm a great mom standing on the deck with the camera instead of stopping the madness. It was just grass and no one got hurt. It was hilarious to watch. Unfortunately the picture is a little blurred, but too good to leave out!

It was such a fun evening, chinese take-out, presents for little ones, lots of sugar for everyone and great time together as a family. Isabelle asks to go on wagon rides almost daily and often more than once a day. It's been a great toy for this summer.

Jill's Wedding

At the beginning of July, my little sister got married! All 6 of us are now married. As I looked through my pictures, I realized I did a stinky job capturing much of anything. But here's a few things.

Here's the happy couple. I didn't get a single good shot of them. I'm really bummed!


My mom's parent's.



My dad's parents. They turn 90 this year and they're still pluggin' away!


This is setting up for the reception the night before. Isabelle really loved her cousin Nick. She kept trying to pick him up.


Isabelle and cousin Sydney playing on the little kid bench.


Sydney, Isabelle and cousin Jane playing on the bench.


After everything was set up, Melanie and I took our kids to a park to feed the ducks and let the kids go wild!


Here's all my siblings with my mom. I'm not sure why we didn't have Dad IN the picture instead of taking the picture. There were plenty of people even standing around to take it. Silly us!


At the temple staying cool in the shade. Isabelle with cousins, Samuel, Nathan and Jane


How do you get 8 small hungry children to sit still at the end of a long hot morning for pictures? Fruit snacks! Each kid had a pack of fruit snacks and no one moved for just enough pictures. Jill was such a great sport to let them have fruit snacks in her wedding pictures. She's the best aunt!


We had so much fun spending time with all the family. The wedding was perfect, although you can't tell from any of my pictures. Tommy's a great addition to our family. Isabelle had a great time with her cousins on my side. It was a great couple of days of wedding festivities!

Partners in Crime

This was actually a few months ago and I just downloaded the camera. Grandma got new carpet. Along with the new carpet came a new rule...no food in the living room. Isabelle and Sarah apparently didn't like this rule. They were the first to eat on Grandma's new carpet. You can't be mad at those two cute innocent faces.

Lots going on and some news....

Over the last 3 weeks, we've had lots of family in town, family reunions, and my little sister got married. I have tons to post about but in the mean time we got some good news too....We're having a boy! Mike guessed right. He's 2 for 2. I'm curious to see if he'll be right on all our kids. The baby looked great and he's measuring just right. It's always nice to see them and know everything's ok...for now. Hopefully when I get around to downloading my camera, I'll get some posts up, but until then, a pictureless post.

Adendum to both bed and shoes entries...

I went to get something out of Isabelle's room and found this. I think sleeping kids are so cute and funny at the same time. Here she is flopped in front of the door asleep with her shoes on, (which I did remove before laying her in her bed for a nap) complete with her blanket shoved into her mouth as much as possible.

Bed...Who Needs A Bed?

We've made the toddler bed transition. I wanted to have plenty of time before the baby came so we could go at Isabelle's pace. The first night I set it up and she jumped in and squealed in excitement. I tucked her in and left and nothing. I closed the door thinking, "That was too easy." And then 45 seconds later the shriek came. She's not much of a screamer, but man it was the most scared cry I had ever heard. I went back in to console her and I let her choose which bed and she chose her crib. I was going to let her choose for about 2 weeks and if she still preferred the crib, then I would take it down. After 3 nights of choosing the crib, the next day for nap she chose the toddler bed and she's been "in" it ever since.

Most nights I go in to put her back in her bed because she's somewhere on the floor in her room, but after 2 1/2 weeks, she's now starting to be in her bed when I go in and check on her. I can't believe how big she is!

The unfortunate event that comes along with this is she has figured out door knobs. Amazingly, however, she won't come out of her room until after she has slept. Naps and bedtime, she'll kick on the door or play, but never come out. Then when she wakes up she comes and finds me. I'm enjoying it while it lasts, I'm sure it won't be long before she realizes she can come out before she sleeps. She also hasn't started opening other doors in the house, ie pantry, bathrooms etc. Door knob covers are on the shopping list so I'm ready for the day that my life will change once again.

"Da-ye, I sorry"

We made a practical decision and sold the boat on Monday. It was a sad sad day. Sometimes it stinks making the practical choice. It's not always the fun one. We have had so many fun memories on that boat. That's actually how Mike and I met. We've gotten to spend lots of fun times with friends and family boating and camping. We always had a blast even when the weather wasn't perfect or something didn't go right. Isabelle enjoyed it the couple of times she got to go and has been wearing her life jacket around the house saying, "boat." We definitely will be getting another boat when we are done having kids and they're old enough to help out.

As we watched someone else drive off with our boat, Isabelle so sweetly from the backseat said, "Da-ye (Daddy), I sorry."