Summer Break

We had such a nice summer break this year. In the weeks leading up to the end of school, the girls had a hard time with fighting/arguing a lot. So when school let out, I sat them both down and we made a plan for the summer. We talked about what was going to be expected from them each day. At the top of that list was that fighting was not going to be allowed this summer. At the time, I was just hoping that maybe we would get a day or two of peace from this rule, but to my amazement it has stuck throughout the whole summer. Not that there has never been arguing, but I just call out to them, "Remember girls, we are not fighting this summer." And we have gotten pretty good results from this.

It also helps that I laid out exactly what we were going to do schoolwork-wise and chore-wise every day. It really does help everyone be happier when they have some structure to their day. Although, I am sure they would insist that they would be happier if they could do whatever they wanted 100% of the time. In reality though, that leads to arguments and grumpy kids/mommy.

We still had lots of time for play though. There was lots of arts and crafts time. One day the girls were painting (paint blots were a big hit this summer) and the paper towel Eliza was using to clean her paint brush became a work of art to her. She left this note for me. "I'll blot out the bad things for you!" What a sweetie!

Of course we also had swimming lessons. This was actually a huge blessing in my life. Right at the end of the school year, Eliza connected with another little first grader at school. The little girl told her that we were neighbors and that she had watched her learn how to ride her bike. This is surprising because Eliza doesn't attend the school that we are zoned for. Coincidentally neither does this little girl. So pretty soon they were arranging play dates for themselves, and we had little girls showing up at our door to play. No big deal, until Eliza and Miriam wanted to go to her house. I knew that I should let them go play, but I didn't know anything about the family other than a extremely brief conversation with the mom. And since she was so laid back about the whole thing, I felt awkward trying to invite myself over to get to know them better. So I let them go play at her house one day for just a few minutes and nearly had a panic attack. 

So how this relates to swimming lessons is that we went to the first day of swimming lessons and miraculously this little girl is in Eliza's class. This meant that her mom and I were free to chat and get to know each other for an hour every day for two weeks. Exactly what I needed! What makes this more miraculous is that these swimming lessons aren't at our neighborhood pool or even the closest city pool. They are across the freeway in a different city. Not to mention there are several different time slots for classes. So this mom happens to sign her daughter up at this really random location, in my daughter's exact level, and at this exact time. If it weren't such a tender mercy in my life, I would call it almost creepy. As it was though, we were able to get to know each other, exchange phone numbers, and even make friends. What a blessing!

The swimming lessons themselves were really successful. We also took the children swimming a lot this summer, and between the two activities swimming really clicked for both of the girls. I am sure it helped that Miriam got so much one on one time with her instructor. I love those small classes (the reason we signed up for swimming lessons at this random location!).

One day Miriam told me, "I just want to learn to swim really good so I can teach my children." She is so funny.

Eliza had a night and day difference compared to last year when we had so many swimming lessons, and she was just terrified of the deep water the whole time.

One of the photos shows her doing an obstacle course in the diving pool. Her instructor was amazing. Miriam took the level Duck for the fourth and fifth time this summer and finally passed by the skin of her teeth. She can swim freestyle but has a hard time swimming on her back. Holland was my little buddy at the swimming lessons--spilling cheerios, trying to eat stray feathers (gag!), and whatever else she could do to stay busy. We brought our spray bottle again and had a good time sweltering in the sun.

Our summer also included lots of magformers and legos. Of course we have girl legos at our house. 

There were also many, many performances. Lots of dancing and tricks. That aspect of Yosemite really stuck with our girls. It was a wonderful summer!

Miriam is FIVE!

My little Miriam is five years old. This was a hard one for me. In my mind Eliza is still five years old or at least was five for a very long time. Maybe it is because some of Eliza's clothes are still size 5T? Well, whether it seems possible or not, my little Miriam is now 5 years old!

What a darling, vivacious girl she is! We all love her so much. And she loves us too. I remember when she was a baby, I would joke with John that no one has ever felt so passionately about me as my baby Miriam did. She would cry a broken-hearted wail whenever I left a room. She would only want me to hold her. Well, that has tempered over the years, but I think she is still a momma's girl.

One of my favorite things right now is that she wants me to tuck her in every night. I often am nursing Holland and putting her to bed while John helps the girls get ready for bed, reads scriptures with them, and actually gets them in bed (isn't he the greatest?). Well, after I get Holly in bed I will go in each of the girls' rooms and say good night to them. Miriam wants lots of hugs and kisses, lots of "I love you's." It is so sweet, except for the nights John can't get her to go to bed because I am at a Young Women's activity, and Miriam is distraught because I am not there to say good night to her. I actually promise her that I will come in and say good night when I get home. But she is normally asleep and can't remember me coming in. (This tucking in ritual is really cute with Ellie too. She gets really chatty about what is on her mind. I love it.)

She is such an affectionate little girl. One of the first things Miriam memorized how to write is "I love you." I have received hundreds (really!) of cards from her. She wants to hug me before I nurse Holland every time. She loves to cuddle even when it is really hot. She adores her baby sister and wants to hug and wrestle her. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a lot of self-control about how hard to hug the baby so as to be sweet and not too rough.

I tell Miriam that if she wants to wrestle to come wrestle with me. And she does and she LOVES it. She loves being tossed in the air or spun around. She loves being 'flown' on my feet.

The other day on the drive to the first day of school (more about that on another post) Miriam told me, "Mommy if you die, I want to you to give me poison too, so I can die with you." Oh, sweet Miriam.

She still does talk about death a lot. Maybe it is normal for a kid to often think about death, but this has definitely been an enduring theme of Miriam's. "Mommy, you know why I like scorpions? It is because I want them to kill me so I can go to Heavenly Father." Another day, "Mommy, even if someone eats you, you will still get to go to heaven, okay?" Another day when she was concerned because she got poked in the eye, "Why this is such a big deal is because everyone in the world has a glass layer in their eyes and if it breaks they will die. I know it is true because Ellie told me." Thanks Ellie...

Miriam definitely has some spunk in her. On our trip to Yosemite, she kept commanding Ellie, "Don't touch bears! Don't laugh when I am talking!" The other day when we were making dinner Miriam threatened Daddy, "We better have hot dogs or chicken nuggets, or I am going to call the police!"

Miriam was complaining one day that we never go to McDonald's, and I told her that it is bad for our bodies and expensive, and we would just be going there for fun. There are other things we could do that are fun that are better for our bodies and don't cost as much. She replies with, "What, buy a wheelchair?"

Oh the drama...one day I was trying to convince her to wear capris instead of shorts. Eliza needed the shorts, but Miriam replied with "They are so hot, I won't be able to survive!!!" Oh, if I could have gotten that on film. It was just her wail of despair. This was another good one--"I hate Saturdays because we have to do our cleaning. That's the worst thing of all. And all of us dying, that's the other worst thing. Those are the two worst things."

Oh I love her! She is so loving, funny, and adorable! She still loves it when I play with her. She is my helper. Sometimes she gets in her helping 'zone.' She wants to sweep and clean up everything, help put food away after dinner, just do anything she can think of to help. It is so sweet.

At her 5 year check up she weighed 35 lbs 2 oz (18%). She was 42 inches tall (41%). It was funny because I took her to the dentist just a week or so before this check up. At the dentist she heard that she shouldn't drink sugary drinks (juice, soda, chocolate milk). She definitely took this to heart and mentioned it several times after. Then at the pediatrician she heard the same thing, and boy it is law at our house now! Yesterday (a couple of weeks after her check up) I bought some orange juice concentrate that was on sale. Miriam got so upset because she "can't drink juice!!" I reassured her that we would be most often putting it in things instead of drinking it normally. This made her feel better.

The other things the pediatrician said stuck too. It helped that there was a bold printed handout that Miriam read herself. "Daddy, how long do I sleep? Do I get at least 9 hours?" "Mommy, do you think I have been exercising for an hour yet? I am supposed to be exercising for an hour every day." (It had been maybe...three minutes. :) )

This girl was thrilled to have her birthday finally come. She was so thrilled with the idea of presents but didn't really having anything too concrete in mind for what she wanted.

We let Eliza pick out a present for her. (A notebook I think?) We also gave her some more Magformers and a scooter. The scooter has yet to be taken outside because of the heat. So they ride it around the carpet at home.

We also gave her some Barbies and accessories that we got hand-me-down. Pretty cheap birthday really. It was a big hit though.

I am glad it didn't disappoint. Although we probably could have gotten away with less, because she didn't have any clear expectations. Darn it, now we have set the bar. :)

This little one wanted a variation of Eliza's newest recipe for her birthday treat. Instead of cherry dumplings, they are chocolate dumplings. A chocolate variation is always a good idea.

Oh we love her. How is she already five?!

Earlier in the day with the streamers and birthday sign (in lieu of the balloon car wash we tried streamers this time. It was well-received.).

Anticipating those presents....

The thing she really wanted though was a birthday party with her friends. Since she has never been to preschool she only had friends from church to invite. To make it easier we decided to do a tea party. I saw an idea online to make these fascinators, reminiscent of the fancy English hats. I loved them. We also pressed cookies, read stories, and played Uno.

All the girls with their fascinators on!

Holland was at Miriam's party too, but she mainly wanted to play with toys.

As did some of the guests.

We pressed cookies. The wedding gift that keeps on giving...

We used the fancy linens and dishes. I love having little girls.

We read stories and played Uno (Miriam's favorite game).

And of course we had fancy food. Sometimes I am reminded about how not picky my children are when it comes to food. It makes me love them even more.

The sweet birthday girl!

We did streamers in the front room this time. It was a huge hit with our little girls.

Yay for finally doing a birthday party! Every three years is okay, right? We love you Miriam! Happy birthday!

Yosemite and Utah

For Christmas last year (2015) my parents gave all of their kids and grandkids a vacation to Yosemite National Park. I suspect that I had something to do with that as I said I would like to take my family there and suggested it as a destination to my mom as a place we could all go. Well Yosemite certainly didn't disappoint! Those dramatic cliffs and beautiful forests. The huge waterfalls and gorgeous weather. We loved it.  Here are a few (a TON) of our favorite photos.

Yosemite Day 1

(For some reason this day's photos uploaded in backwards order.) We ended the day up at Glacier Point. Wow! What an amazing view. You look down on Yosemite Valley and see the cliffs and waterfalls from above. 

Glacier Point

It is amazing to consider the variety of landscape, vegetation, climate, etc. that this world has to offer. One day of driving and we are in an area quite a bit different from what we see here in Phoenix.

You can see Nevada Fall (larger) and Vernal Fall (smaller).

My little girls were freezing at the top of these mountains. Poor little ones. Not quite the climate they are used to.

It was so fun that all of my siblings were there. My girls were in heaven with all of the little cousins.

On our drive from Arizona to Yosemite it was the promise of playing with cousins that eventually got them to take a nap. We had gotten them up before 4 am, quickly put them in the loaded car and took off. This was all with the intent that they would go back to sleep in the dark car and we could get a couple of hours behind us before they were really awake. We should have known that there was no way they would do that.

Holland didn't ever go back to sleep! Well eventually she did. She took a brief 20 minute nap around 11:30 am. Oh that was painful when she woke up again so quickly. The older girls were told that if they didn't take a nap they wouldn't be able to stay up with their cousins and play at the house that evening. So around 4:30 pm they finally dozed off. More than 12 hours later.

Even though they didn't go right back to sleep that morning, they were quiet and still, which allowed us to drive for a few hours in relative peace. We tried a route that bypassed Los Angeles, which worked but we wonder how much time that added. It did take us through a beautiful part of CA though. One area we drove had large white rock formations along the road. A sign said that it was called "Mormon Rocks." I am not sure what made them Mormon, but I enjoyed seeing them.

We stopped for lunch at sketchy park in Bakersfield. Really the park wasn't so bad, and there was a fun playground to play at. What creeped me out was all of the people loitering around. Seriously, people, don't you have someplace to be? It was really nice to get out of the car and eat something besides fig bars. (This was the special snack that the girls picked to eat on the drive. They turned down fruit snacks, granola bars, everything else in the snacks section at Costco in favor of these fig bars. They are pretty good though and pretty healthy, so I didn't complain.) We ate a lot of fig bars on the trip.

Half dome!

So because of our circuitous route (oh yeah, and our children and bathroom stops!) the estimated 9 hour drive was more like 14. But it really wasn't too bad. The girls played with pipe cleaners, read books, listened to an audiobook, and watched just a couple episodes on the tablet. They stayed pretty content. And really I wasn't too worried about them. I was mostly nervous about Holland. We brought a whole bag of toys and lots of baby books for her to look at. As a last resort we used the "Wee Sing" songs. And somehow, she was okay. Our take away from all the driving on this trip (three big legs: Phoenix to Yosemite, Yosemite to Utah, Utah to Phoenix) was that driving really is do-able. Kind of painful, but do-able.

This view was fabulous. The most dramatic was looking down the cliff 3,200 feet above the valley floor! Whoa!

Here is John with Yosemite Falls in the background. They made a big deal about how if there is an 's' at the end of the 'fall' then it is a system of waterfalls. If there is no 's' then it is a single waterfall. Hence Yosemite Falls has three waterfalls in its path down the cliff.

So shivery!

Holland was there too, but she was mainly in the pack most of the time. Love that Ergobaby!

 Earlier in the day we visited Yosemite Falls.

Aw.

Visiting Yosemite Falls that morning was easier said than done because getting that many people out the door takes a ridiculously long time. Then there was a long, windy, windy, drive to get to Yosemite Valley. Then there was the chaos of trying to find a place to park (turns out you should never visit a popular national park on a weekend in the middle of tourist season unless you want to deal with major crowds and full parking lots). We just parked on the road and walked a ways. Which of course wasn't a problem, but then we had to wait and meet the rest of the family. Good times.

Poor Suzette (who is 4) threw up during the windy road drive and had to put on 18 month sized clothes. Good things she is so tiny!

It was well worth it though. It was such a lovely walk through the forest. My girls held hands with their cousins and ran all over, which was fun and a little stressful for the mama, but mainly just fun.

What a beautiful waterfall though. And seriously those trees just go up and up and up. We were hoping to be able to visit the Sequoia grove and the see the giant, giant trees, but we ran out of time. Hopefully there will be a next time, and we can see it.

These tree were quite tall though, especially compared to what we are used to.

The kiddos enjoyed climbing around the rocks at Glacier Point.

Yosemite Day 2

So because of all of the windy driving the day before (and everyone else who came from Utah had to drive through the park on those roads the day they drove to Yosemite) they were ready to take a break on the second day. So we played a lot at the fabulous vacation home that my parents rented for us. It was awesome and fancy. Indoor basketball court, pool and air hockey tables, fire pit, and just fancy everything. It was so nice. And it was so amazing that we could all have our own rooms at the end of the day. You just kind of need this in on a vacation where you are around so many people. 

So besides playing at the house on Day 2 my mom came up with something for us to do (of course). We drove to the very edge of the park where there was an old time village with a stagecoach ride. We called it a carriage ride and the little girls were thrilled. Kayla and Cortney didn't want to drive even as far as the park entrance (which in all fairness was still a pretty long, windy drive) and Marc and Miriam wanted to stay back too, but Anna still wanted to come. So we had Anna, Eliza, and Jane in David and Patti's car for the drive. Apparently they really rocked out to the tunes on the drive. Miriam and Suzette rode in the Grandma and Grandpa's car and according to Grandpa and Grandma they just shrieked with laughter. My dad said it hurt his ears so bad that they couldn't ride together in his car again. Well, it turns out that neither of my parents glanced back at the girls to see what they were so vocally happy about. When we all arrived it was apparent what they were laughing so loud about. Suzette had a marker and she colored all over herself. Even on her back, which seems impossible because she was in a 5-point harness car seat and was wearing a dress. I suspect that my sweet little Miri girl had a lot to do with that feat.

But we all arrived there and had a fun time riding the stagecoach around. I am amazed at how many people would travel great distance in those things to see Yosemite. The closest major city was San Francisco and it still meant a week in that stage coach. Talk about bumpy and dusty. We are blessed with such comforts and luxuries.

Apparently they recently had this stagecoach made and it cost $60,000! Whoa.

We also discovered the blacksmith shop with it exorbitantly priced wares.

 

Darling girls.

They also discovered the old jail.

The carriage bridge and house.

So much dust! How did people survive if they were like me and had horse allergies. I guess they wouldn't. Survival of the fittest! I wouldn't have made it!

After we returned from the village, we decided to visit the lake right next to the vacation home. Bass Lake is beautiful. And although it is isn't nearly as warm as the pool water we are used to, I was surprised how warm it was. Even my little cold sensitive girls could (mostly) handle it.

What was not handled well was when the waves came by. Miriam got sad that she couldn't swim like normal. At least Holland had a good time. Although she didn't actually get in the water.

There was a log in the water that was fun to climb on and conquer.

Beautiful!

There was a flock of geese that got nice and friendly with us. We had to shoo them away.

My girls favorite part of the trip was the performance on Saturday night. They were so cute about this performance. They posted a sign above the dining room table. And most of their free time they could be heard saying, "We need to go practice for our performance!"

We all had to go down the the basketball court. Miriam dimmed the lights and Suzette, James, and Jane gave a dance performance. Then they had a talent show by Ellie, Anna, and James. Ellie balanced on her tummy on a basket ball. And rolled around the room. Pretty cool. :)

 

After the performance the kiddos announced there would be refreshments served. Fortunately the parents complied. :)

Mosquito bites! :(

I love seeing my family!

Yosemite Day 3

The next day Marc and Miriam took off (they had to leave a day early so Marc could get back to work). John and I (and my parents) visited Bridal Veil Fall (not Falls--Bridal Veil Falls is in Provo Canyon and also where we had our first kiss ;) ). 

Bridal Veil Fall

Those dramatic cliffs and vistas--gorgeous. It was named Bridal Veil Fall because the wind in the canyon often carries the falling water and mist and makes it look like a bride's veil getting blown by the wind. It was interesting to see how the water starts out so condensed at the top of the cliff but as it falls and the wind carries it, it really does spread out quite a bit.

Once again we were reminded to not go on a weekend. The crowds made it is really...well...crowded. Despite all of the people, it was a fun little walk through the woods. The trees are so tall and the little stream was fun. 

We particularly liked this little bridge and rock scrambling off the trail.

Listening attentively!

Late nights and no regular nap times make for tired girls (even the older girls). Fortunately everyone stayed pretty happy.

That afternoon we went on an open air bus tour. It might have been my favorite part of the trip. I just have to do a little aside here and talk about Miriam's poor bug bites. The first evening we were at the vacation home all of the little girls wanted to play outside on the cool decks and in the little flowery meadow next to the house. Unfortunately it was dusk and the mosquitoes went after those sweet girls. Miriam particularly had bad luck and had ten huge mosquito bites on her face, neck and the top of her arms. Miriam just can't leave bug bites alone and despite medicine they blew up like welts on her skin. The swelling and redness eventually went away (like two weeks later!!), but Miriam still has a scar (it is a month later now) from the one between her eyes. Poor thing. 

Anyway...we went on this open bus tour and it was fantastic. The weather was pleasant. The views were amazing. And I loved hearing interesting facts about where we were visiting.

It was warm(ish) and so the ranger giving the tour passed around two spray bottles for people to mist themselves. Well, our family commandeered one just ourselves. Okay, it was mainly Suzette who never really let one out of her hands. Well, Miriam jumped right on board with that idea. They were pretty soaked by the end of the tour.

Miriam and her spray bottle on the bus tour!

One of the interesting tidbits that we learned about was the giant sequoias. They are not native to Yosemite valley and are generally found at a little higher elevation. But some people about 100 years ago loved these huge trees and planted them around the valley as well. So now there are baby sequoias in Yosemite valley that are hard to distinguish from the other normal pine trees. They are "babies" but are still huge trees. Giant sequoias are the most massive trees in the world. Not the tallest, but the biggest. Unfortunately we couldn't find the time to visit the grove of the giant sequoias, but hopefully someday. We did see the baby ones in the valley though. You can tell a sequoia from the other trees (cedars?) because of the elevation (not relevant in this situation), the sponginess of the bark (sequoias have more give on their bark), and the sequoias also flair out at the bottom of the trunks.

Holland was just a doll on this tour loving all of the attention and being held the whole time. My older girls loved it too. We sat on the only row that had two benches facing together, but they still spent the entire drive facing forward on their knees (on that hard plastic!), attentively listening to the ranger. It was so cute!

One of our favorite stops was at the overlook "Tunnel View." There was a long tunnel going through the mountain just as you come into Yosemite Valley (it was a straight tunnel, which a nice break from the windy, windy road!). Right as you come out of the tunnel there is this beautiful vista. 

Beautiful vista at Tunnel View.

Half Dome is so sheer!

One famous feature of Yosemite is "El Capitan." It is especially famous for rock climbers. Most climbers take 2 to 5 days to go up the face of it. They sleep in harnesses on the cliff. The ranger told us to look for flashes of light on the cliff at night or reflections of light during the day to find any climbers. We didn't see any though. She said the longest ascent was 40 something days long. The shortest was 2 hours and some odd minutes. Crazy!

El Capitan!

Nursing the baby at one of the stops.

A different view of Bridal Veil Fall.

Ellie lovin' on that spray bottle.

A couple more photos from Tunnel View.

Holland's face in this photo cracks me up!

After the tour we saw a deer next to the visitor center. Someone was excited!

The last night there we did a sleep over with all of the girls in the bunkbed room.

Beautiful picnic area!

Yosemite Day 4

We had to pack up and leave this morning. On our way out of the park, we stopped at Olmsted Point, fed the baby and went on a little hike. We could see half dome from another angle. It was much higher elevation there. and we enjoyed seeing the different types of vegetation.

We love cousins!

That vacation home was awesome! I wish I had taken more photos of it.

Everything is so green there!

Five pairs of feet!

There is a beautiful lake looking this direction.

We had fun playing on the rocks!

We really enjoyed this unplanned stop. This was the only point during the trip that we got sunburned. It was just me and Holland that got burned. I wondered if it could have been because of riding on the same side of the car and getting sun burned through the window on the long drive back to Utah.

There is half dome in the distance again.

We met up with Mom and Dad at the Tuolumne Visitor Center and caravanned with them for the rest of the drive. We went up and up and eventually over Tioga Pass which is at nearly 10,000 ft. And then very, very quickly we descended down into the valley.

Here is a close up of that lake!

We drove on a fun rollercoaster road through one part of Nevada. The girls loved it.  They even taunted John to go faster over the big bumps saying, "C'mon Daddy. Don't be a scaredy cat!"

We loved the sunset on our drive to Utah.

One funny moment was at one of the gas stops on the drive. There was a poster in the window advertising a meeting to discuss the alien sightings. Awesome.

The kiddos listened to a couple of audiobooks. Their favorite audiobook that we checked out for the drive we didn't actually listen to until we got home. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had them thoroughly engaged. John and I listened to one of the last books in the Wheel of Time series. Those books are long so despite the many, many hours of driving we didn't even get through one (or half) of the books.

We arrived in SLC around 1 am. Getting there that night was rough for me. We were exhausted from a long, long day of driving. When we go downstairs at John's parents house we noticed two things. First, it is freezing. So cold. Second, there is a bed made up for Holland on the floor, which was so nice of them to prepare something for us, but she really needs some kind of crib. She will just crawl away from her bed and into... well... anything she is interested in. She needs containment. Well, fortunately we packed some jackets which we were able to use in the basement (the only time during the trip that we used them!). Also, we were able to use some sleeping pads to barricade her as a make shift crib. So we made it. :)

Holland barricaded in her bed at the Pearson house.

The following days were pretty relaxing. We spent a day hanging out with John's parents. We visited Spencer, went chocolate shopping, and watched some movies. We hung out with Joe and his kids and ate pizza. We had lunch at Millie's house and played with her kiddos. 

We also went to Temple Square with Norma, Hema, Hendrix, and Matt. It was pretty warm that afternoon, but it was fun to be there when it was not freezing (the only time we have gone to temple square recently was to see the lights at Christmas time). The kids didn't really remember temple square very well, so it was a fun new experience for them. 

They also loved playing/shepherding their new cousin Hendrix around. He is a fairly new walker and so was amenable to be shepherded. In the Joseph Smith Memorial Building the kiddos found this fun fountain and as it was hot, enjoyed a refreshing splash. They were soaked. And because it was so hot, I didn't have the heart to make them stop.

Holland is actually about 2 months older than Hendrix, but he is bigger and more developed (walks, eats more solids, etc.). So I get my baby longer--win! :)

Those poor bug bites!

The flowers were gorgeous, and the temple is inspiring.

We made a little bit of a scene as they were leading Hendrix around in front of the people trying to listen to the presentation at the statue of Christ. Good times. 

Awww...

We also spent a day at Marc and Miriam's house. Anna and Ellie were so excited to see each other that they had to do what they loved best together...read some books. :) Miriam did a nice BBQ and got out the sprinkler that we all enjoyed!

Cousin book buddies!

"Look Mom, the sprinkler is my peacock tail!"

It was Anna's birthday in a couple of days so they had a Happy Birthday fancy dance party in the basement. 

So fun!

We woke up one morning to this note slipped under our door. "I counted to 2,000 in 16 minutes by tens! (That's my record!)"

Treasures!

Another baby cousin. Sweet Sammy. Yes, Holland is eating grass.

We discovered that Holland loves strawberries.

John and Marc did a project together of putting together this awesome slide. I can't believe how much work they have put into their house. This playhouse alone is jaw-dropping.

We were lucky enough to be in town to see Lindsey's (Millie and Ryan's daughter) baptism. We had a busy, busy trip so during Sacrament Meeting over at the VA home with Grandpa Lucas, Ellie dropped off to sleep on Grandma's lap. What a sweetie. That afternoon we ate a nice meal at the VA home with my grandparents. 

Ellie sleeping at the VA home sacrament meeting!

 

The following day was Independence Day. We took family photos over at the VA home because all of my Grandparents' descendants happened to be in Utah at the same time. (I hope I get a copy of that photo someday!) We also celebrated at my mom's house my Grandma's 90th birthday. There were water games and yummy food.

These are the people turning 30, 60, 90 this summer.

The July birthdays. It is a popular time to be born.

Check out these brightly colored, generously frosted cupcakes. Wow.

William and Camille's daughter Sadie and my little Miriam were unintentional twinners.

That evening we had a firework party. My mom went all out, spending hundreds of dollars on aerial fireworks. Wow, it was so fun to see them up close.

Everyone was thrilled with the fireworks!

Except Holland. We took turns going inside with her. It was still beautiful though.

The next day we took off nice and early to avoid traffic along the Wasatch Front. It was a long drive, but like I said earlier, it isn't pleasant, but it is do-able. We stopped in Flagstaff for a real meal at Subway. Holland was so happy to be out of the car and was being so funny and expressive in the high chair. 

We love our baby!

When we got home we were relieved to find everything well at home. It took me a few weeks to get acclimated to the hot, hot temperatures again. Since when did 81 inside our house feel so hot?! It was a blessing though to go spend time with our family. I don't think I mentioned that one of the reasons that we were able to spend a week in Utah after our Yosemite trip was that Honeywell employees were given a mandatory furlough for that week. So it was nice to be able to use that time well and have a relatively inexpensive vacation without having to take vacation days. Unfortunately he didn't get paid for those days either. $1600 down the hole. :( Thank goodness for a good job. Despite upcoming layoffs we have a lot of peace that things will work out. In the meantime, we were able to get away from this oppressive heat and make some good memories with our family. What a blessing!