Baby Heidi

Jeff's brother is in town for a couple of days to bless his little girl Heidi. Yesterday we got to see her for the first time. Emily was very excited about it. Emily loves babies and was so happy that Heidi would hold her finger. They blessing was very nice - Heidi looked beautiful in her dress - and it was fun to visit with family.

Jeff's family (minus Brad & Heather's family)

Bear Lake

Well, I would say our first camping adventure with Emily was a success. We headed up Wednesday afternoon and spent the evening setting up camp, etc. Our first night wasn't the best - I was constantly waking up and every time I looked at Emily she was off of her pad and out of her sleeping bag. My neice also didn't sleep at all and kept most of her family awake. The next night everyone was exhausted and all slept soundly - thank heavens. We decided to sandwich Emily in between the tent and our air mattress and it worked perfectly. Emily had a blast riding bikes and running around with all of her cousins. When I told her Saturday morning that we were packing up and going home she said she didn't want to because she liked camping.

Riding the KOA Train

Our first morning there all the guys went golfing so we didn't make it to the beach till around noon. The kids still had a blast. Jeff, Emily & Ally made a sandcastle and we all splashed around in the water and rode the waverunners.

Nick & Stacy came up Thursday night with their two boys. So the next day Jackson joined Emily & Sara in the water & sand. Of course I ended up snapping tons of pictures of little Gracie - babies in swimsuits are so cute!

Jenn was able to get her girls to sleep while we were at the beach (lucky her! I miss those days). Of course Cameron, being the good baby he is, did great with his naps.

Sara had a bit of a hard time while camping. She didn't really adjust till the last day. So we all heard a lot of crying from that little girl. She was so tired & cranky. On Friday we were all eating lunch and looked over and to see that Sara had passed out...

Notice the last bite of sandwich in her hand?

It was fun to spend time with the family & see Bear Lake again. However we were all glad we weren't up there any longer. Three nights with all those little kids was plenty.

The fam - minus the two who stayed at home

Bear Lake...

Here We Come!!!!

Lagoon

Last Tuesday was Jeff’s work Lagoon day. My parents and two brothers came, along with Jeff’s parents and sister –who also work there. So Emily would have more fun we decided to also bring along my niece Sara. The girls had so much fun together. I’m really glad Sara came. They rode every kid ride at least once. And on their favorites they would just giggle together as they went around and around. We love going to Lagoon with Jeff’s work because not only do we get discounted passes, but they feed us lunch & dinner. Amusement parks are the best when you don’t have to worry about packing a lunch or spending a fortune on food.

Sara's Favorite - the Carousel.

Riding with Gma's & Gpa's

Jeff, Emily, Sara & Gma Newman on the log ride

These girls were so cute & had so much fun.

Emily told Sara she was her best friend.

Ring Around Grandma - I love the squealing & laughing

Jeff really wanted Emily to try the bumper cars. I wondered if she was old enough to know what to do, but I let Jeff put the girls on it. And they were so funny. Sara just sat there - well besides the time she undid the seatbealt and Emily freaked out till she could get it back together. Emily would drive till she got stuck and then look to all of us to see what she should do. She would listen and turn the way Jeff told her to, but not correct in time and would just run into the side again. They went from side to side over and over and over again. It was hilarious. I only recorded bits of it, but hopefully you can catch a glimpse of how funny it was.

Gma & Gpa Newman with the girls

The 3 of us in front of the only ride I went on

Emily's last ride. And no, she wasn't scared. She kept yawning.

Sprinklers

Last week I took Emily up to my mom's to run through the sprinklers. I figured she'd have fun but I didn't realize how much she would LOVE it. Of course combining water and the tramp made it even better for her. Jackson didn't like the water on the tramp or getting it in his face from the sprinklers. So he spent the hour throwing balls, running around, and getting his feet wet. Lucy had a blast with the sprinklers though and kept trying to drink from them.

Showing us some of her dance moves

I Love This Girl!

A Day of Blessings

Last Sunday Jeff's brother in VA, blessed their little girl, Maggie; our good friends blessed their little boy at 11:00am in Sandy; and my brother blessed his newest at the same time up in Bountiful. Between church times and distance there was no way we could attend more than one so we ended up in Bountiful at Cameron's blessing. My parents (and brothers) have been out of town and their plane landed 40 minutes before the meeting started so the blessing was a mini family reunion. We were all excited for them to get home (although I think I might be the most excited because I become my parents fill-in when their out of town and last week was exhausting). Emily loves it when we go to church with the family because she gets to sit by her cousins and they go from one family to the next collecting snacks and toys. After church we had a yummy lunch at Nick & Stacy's house. I snapped some pics of Cameron and my family - unfortunately Cam was tired AND hungry.

Later that night my parents came over to give Emily her birthday present. A few weeks ago Emily and Ally spent the night at Gma Newman's house and when Emily saw Ally's princess suitcase she turned to my mom and said, "I don't have one of those." So my mom searched all over and finally found one for Emily. She's been pulling it around the house ever since they gave it to her.

Emily likes taking silly pictures - This is my parents indulging her.

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with my parents and Chris

Happy 4th of July!

We started Saturday morning off with waffles bedecked with stawberries and whipped cream at one of Jeff's friends house. The afternoon was spent successfully resting and doing absolutely nothing.

Then that evening we hosted some of our friends for the traditional Independence Day BBQ. The kids had a blast playing outside and becoming as dirty as possible. We played games and hung out till it was time to go to fireworks. (And apparently I enjoyed myself so much I couldn't be bothered with the camera. So I only have a few pictures at fireworks).

Jaidyn, Hannah, & Emily - waiting for fireworks

We missed having our family close by this past week. Both my parents and Jeff's parents have been out of town. We've felt lost. We're glad we were able to hang out with good friends on the 4th though and that Jeff's parents let us entertain them at their house. Can you imagine 10 adults & 5 kids cramming into our place?

So You Think You Can Dance

The past 7 weeks Emily has been taking a dance class up at Skyline High School. When asked what she learned she would always say they danced liked giraffes, elephants & bears and that they also mixed cookies and skipped. That's all I could get out of her and we weren't allowed in the room to watch.
So we were pretty anxious to see her in her recital last Wednesday. It was so cute and so funny to see those kids run around - not sure what they were supposed to be doing. The class was for 3 & 4 year olds, but I figured Emily was mature enough to go. In the recital she was one of the few that did all the steps - which weren't very many. (Of course at the end she did take off to the wrong side of the "stage.") Her and her partner never left each other and were so cute skipping around. She said she loved it and wants to do it again. We wondered how she would be in front of all the parents and family members, but she didn't seem nervous at all. Because she did so well we took her to one of her favorite places after - Iceburg.

The Birthday Girl

Thursday was Emily's birthday. She has been so excited for it that on June 1st I made her a paper chain to count down till the big day. With how anxious she was for it I was completely shocked when I found her still fast asleep in her bed at 9:30 that morning. It actually took me 20 minutes to get her out of bed. I kept telling her Happy Birthday and trying to bribe her up with the fact that she had a present waiting for her downstairs. I even had Jeff call and talk to her - he told her that he had another present for her at work, but she had to get up to get it. It still took some coaxing after that, but she finally crawled out of bed. Once she was fully awake she was more than ready to open her present.

Emily with her Belle Polly Pocket

After getting ready for the day (and playing with her princesses) we went to Jeff's work for lunch and she got a Monkey George movie. After an attempt at a nap and more playtime, Jeff came home and we went out to dinner. And yes, we of course went to her favorite - Red Robin. We stopped by Jeff's parents house after dinner where she got presents from all of Jeff's family. Then we went home and she got even more presents from her great grandparents. Then we sang happy birthday and Emily got to eat her birthday cookie.Then on Friday we had a little birthday party. We had dinner at The Pizza Factory and then had cake & opened presents. After dinner we walked down the hall to Fat Cats for a round of bowling. Emily was so excited for it we could barely get her to have dinner, eat her cupcake, and open presents. She just wanted to bowl. She had a blast with all her cousins and family. She did really well - scoring a personal best of 105.

We just love our little girl and are so happy to have her in our family. She is so smart and has so much personality. She makes me laugh everyday. She is constantly singing or dancing... or both. She loves babies and is such a good mother to her dolls and stuffed animals. She loves being outside and playing with her cousins. She loves all of her grandparents and just adores her dad.

On her birthday, I went in to check on her before I went to bed and I just sat there and watched her for a while. I love how peaceful she looks when she's sleeping. I got really choked up about how old she is. I just can't believe how much she has grown up. She is SO not a baby anymore. She's lost that look over this past year and is truly a little girl now.

(Yes I'm a mother and usually emotional. But I think a lot of the tears come from my raging hormones too, because I got teary watching the end of Full House today when Uncle Jesse came back because he missed his neices).