Pioneer Day

We spent the morning of the 24th with Jeff's parents at the Parley's 3rd neighborhood breakfast. After bacon, eggs, pancakes and our fill of chocolate milk, Emily followed the neighborhood firetruck around the block in a parade. Then the firetruck parked and sprayed the kids and street for a good 10 minutes. The kids loved running around getting sprayed. Of course Jeff kept quoting - "You get to drink from the firehose!"
That night we had dinner at my parents house. My parents were watching Nick & Stacy's kids so Emily got to run around with Jackson and Lucy. They played on the water slide, rode their bikes and jumped on the tramp. Cameron and Jacob were enthralled with each other and kept giving loves. It was cute. Those two boys are going to have so much fun together in the coming years.

Then the next day we had Sunday dinner at my parents house. Emily and Jackson got to play again - but this time Sara was there. All those kids have so much fun together. They rode bikes and Emily took charge as usual and had Jackson, Sara and Lucy all lining up and taking turns with things. Cameron, Jacob and Grace had fun with the Duplo's inside. It was fun to see Jacob interacting with his cousins - but unbelievable at the same time to think that he's big enough to sit on the floor and play with them.

Once it got dark enough we pulled out some blankets and fireworks. Jacob was jumping all over and loving them as much as last time. Emily and Sara were in their own world playing princess and who knows what else while they watched the fireworks. Grace bounced around from blanket to blanket and eventually wanted to hold "the baby." It was funny to see her try and hold Jacob - who weighs as much as she does, if not more. It was a fun, festive weekend, made even better by the time we got to spend with family.

Our Little Fish

We decided it was time Emily learned how to swim so we started swimming lessons for the first time this summer. We ended up doing 3 sessions - one being with a friend from preschool. Emily learned a lot and is still timid when it comes to putting her face in while doing a stroke. But she'll actually go all the way under and loves it when I count how long she can do it for. It was fun to watch her learn, but I must say that I was definitly ready for the lessons to end after six weeks.

Twins?

I've had several people tell me I have cookie cutter kids. What do you think?

7 Months

Wow! Where does time go? I can't believe the year's half over, July is half over, and that my little guy is already 7 months old! It has been so much fun to have him around and to experience all of his first holidays. Jacob is still such a happy baby and will smile at anyone and anything. He's starting to become a bit 'shy' sometimes though and will bury his face in my shoulder or chest after a big smile at someone. I love it. He's also starting to show a preference for someone and will lean towards them when he wants them to hold him.
Shortly after turning 6 months he learned to blow raspberries. That new love didn't last long though because he quickly learned to scream. And when I say scream, I mean scream. It wasn't a little squeal. It was a high pitched, ear ringing curdle. It drove me nuts! After listening to it day in and day out for a couple of weeks and trying everything I could possibly do to get him to stop, I prayed for inspiration on what to do. The next day his screaming diminished and he started blowing raspberries again. Oh, I never thought that I'd be so happy to see spit coming out of his mouth!

(A sample of some mild screaming--doesn't come close to doing it justice)

Jacob also loves to move. Since mastering his rolling skills he is now taking after his sister and rolling every where he can. Emily is quickly realizing what it's like to have a somewhat mobile sibling and that if she doesn't want him playing with her Barbies, she better move them. When being held Jacob likes to jump, twist, squirm, bend, slide and any other possible movement he could possibly do while in your arms. When placed on his hands and knees he will now hold the position. I'm thinking it'll only be a matter of time till he becomes completely mobile. Ahhh! I don't know if I'm ready for that stage again.

Long Lost Friends

The other night we met up with the Lloyd's for dinner at the park. We used to do something with them about every week - till they moved across town. Now we're lucky to see them twice a year. How sad is that? Why is it that if you're not family and you don't live within 10 minutes or so of each other it's so hard to get together? Well, even though it'd been a couple months, Emily and Hayden had no problem picking up where they last left off and having a good time. They ran around the park chasing each other and playing prince/princess and jail (take a wild guess at who picked what game).
Jacob got to try out a slide, a swing, and dad's shoulders. He seemed to like slobbering all over Jeff's head the best. :)

(The Prince & Princess...and little Xander tucked in the corner)

4th of July

With the 4th on a Sunday this year we had several celebrations. Saturday evening we went to my parents house. We had pizza and then spent the night relaxing. Emily played on her slip-n-slide and we just sat out back watching (it was gorgeous weather and the perfect temperature). Jacob loved the hammock. He was so relaxed I thought for sure he'd pass out, but I guess Emily was too intriguing.

After giving the kids baths and getting them in pj's we had dessert - a yummy strawberry trifle. Then we headed out front for some good 'ol fireworks.

We weren't sure what Jacob was going to think of the fireworks. We were hoping he'd be ok with him, but we weren't expecting him to love them as much as he did. He was so enthralled. Even with being extra tired and way past bedtime, he was quiet as a mouse and wouldn't take his eyes off them.

(Emily's first sparklers)

Sunday Jeff's parents hosted us all for a yummy bbq dinner. My parents and brothers came and so did Niki & Mike. After dinner we played games, hung out, and ate Dave's homemade root beer ice cream. It was SO good. Then we headed off to the country club for fireworks. While waiting for it to get dark enough we played football, frisbee, and soccer. Then we all snuggled in for an amazing firework show. Again, we wondered how Jacob would do with the noise of the big fireworks, but he loved them. He didn't move at all and just stared up at them. It was so cute. It was a great weekend and I'm glad we got to 'big' fireworks. I just love going to the club every year. It's such a fun tradition and Jeff and I are glad we can share it with both our families.

Summer Fun

It's been a busy summer with some fun outings. We had Ally's baptism the first part of the summer. It was really nice and we are proud of Ally. And it's always nice to get together with family - especially when Jenn plans the menu. Mmm, everything was delicious.
Jeff's work lagoon day was mid June. My mom and brothers came and so did Jenny with her kids. Emily was very excited to go, became timid once we got there, and finally warmed up and had a blast once the girls got there to play with.

It was a cooler day and rained a touch but that just meant it wasn't very crowded. It was a lot of fun and so nice to go with Jeff's work. It's really nice not to have to worry about lunch and dinner and of course the discounted tickets are nice too.

We've been waiting for a windy day to pull out the kite and a few days ago was the perfect night. We ran over to the park and I played on a blanket with Jacob while Emily chased the kite all over the park.

We also went to the park a few weeks ago and Jacob got to go down a slide and swing on the swings for the first time. He of course was content to just be outside and he wasn't quite sure what to think of the playground. He did enjoy watching Jeff and Emily run around playing.

We've also spent some time out on our back patio. I let Jacob sit in Emily's car the other night and he loved it. And I love the angry driver face I happened to catch on camera.

I also filled up the pool last week. It was a lot of fun to see the kids playing together. Jacob LOVED splashing around and Emily loved sliding into the pool on her slide.

I can't believe we're already half way through the summer. There are so many things I planned on doing and we just haven't seemed to be able to fit them in yet. I guess I better figure it out quick or before I know it we'll be back in school and getting ready for all the holidays.