Rachel turns SIX!

Our Rachel Marian turned the big 6 last Saturday. I think she was quite possibly the most excited child EVER about her birthday. Seriously. She has talked about it for months and the days leading up to the big day were almost unbearable for her. Alas, September 29th came and we celebrated a bunch over the weekend! Pictures to follow, but first--a bit about the birthday girl. This picture below pretty much sums up Rachel. She is a very joyful child, hopping and jumping all the time and getting excited about even the smallest of things. We had just bought these cute polka-dotted rain boots for her and she was over the moon about them. When the rain came, she was ready! She and Emma were just about to leave for school, but she HAD to spend a few minutes dancing in the rain. Her sheer joy made me pause amidst the morning craziness and bask. I love it. 

 

More about Rachel:

• She loves to write notes and letters to people.  All the time.  
• She can still be quite shy around kids her age and has a hard time approaching them and asking to play sometimes.
• She really does not love sweet stuff.  She likes her pancakes and waffles plain, no syrup.  Not too much honey on her PB sandwich.  And she sometimes says "this is too sweet" when eating something and won't eat the rest.  She does like dessert and cookies, but only in small amounts. 
  
• She and Luke are best buddies.  They play together all the time and have a ball (mostly).  I love seeing what creative ideas they come up with.
• Rachel and Emma are enjoying reading chapter books together right now.  They cuddle in Emma's bed at bedtime, reading a few chapters of Junie B. Jones and giggling at Junie B's funny-ness.  :) 
• She is pretty good about picking up her stuff at the end of the day without being reminded.
• Her reading has taken off in the past few months.  She can read many picture books now, only needing help on the big words.
• She loves to tell stories aloud about the pictures she draws.  So adorable.
• Her favorite song is "I am a Child of God" and she will belt it out.  It's quite a spiritual experience to sing this song with her.  
• Her prayers are remarkable.  She is very thoughtful as she prays, even praying for her enemies and asking Heavenly Father to bless the bishop to divide up the tithing to all the poor people that need it.  Amazing.
• She loves steak, Wendy's, macaroni and cheese, apples, sandwiches, and cereal.
• She really is a ray of sunshine.  We just can't get enough of that huge smile!  Love you Ray Ray!

The birthday celebrating started two days early with a special great-grandparents date to Wendy's and a movie.  So fun!

We took a family trip to the zoo on her birthday.  It was super crowded and many of the exhibits were closed, but we still had fun.  The elephants, giraffes, and tigers were the favorites. 

So hard to get a good pic of all four!  I have to laugh at all of our attempts.  :)

Opening presents later in the day.

On Sunday, we had a big party for her and invited family and friends over for hamburgers with all the yummy sides.  Daddy made her birthday cake this year, much to the relief of her mom, who is somewhat cake-impaired.  He surprised her with this darling kitty cake and she was one happy girl!  Look at that face!  What a sweet daddy.

With Aunt Sue...

...And Grandma

I had to get a picture with the birthday girl too!  She was so hyper and excited at her party, it was amazing she ever settled down for bed. 

Here's to a great year, Rachel!

School Days

School has begun! Everyone has finally had their first days of school and we are in full swing now. Here they are in all their first day cuteness. Emma: 3rd grade

Rachel: Kindergarten

Luke: 1st year of preschool

All of the kids love their teachers and love school. And I am loving all of the walking we are doing this year! The girls walk to school with friends. And Emma walks home with friends. I walk Luke to and from preschool, which is right around the corner for us this year. I love it! It is wonderful to not have to load everyone in the car and start it up multiple times a day. And I love just sending the girls out the door in the crazy-busy a.m. Plus, there is just something about walking to school. I did it as a child and I have such fond memories of it. I think it's a good time for kids to either gear up before school or decompress after school before transitioning back to home. Here's to a great year for my little munchkins!

Random

Emma and her best friend did a volleyball camp in July. It was a good way to break up the summer.

Max's first popsicle!

Lots of park time (mostly in the evenings or on overcast days).

The American Fork Steel Days Car Show was a fun event. I personally loved the really old cars from the 1930s and 1940s.

This kiddie pool has been the most surprising hit of the summer! I bought it mostly for Max and maybe Luke too, but all of the kids have loved it, especially when it is placed at the bottom of the slide. It's funny to me because the past few years we've had a little pool, they haven't really gotten into it. I love this picture!

We took a day trip to Park City one Friday as our "vacation" this summer. The Alpine Slide is always a favorite.

We had a family reunion and my uncle's beloved parachute was brought out.

Pioneer Day! I took the kids down to the Pioneer Village in Provo expecting there to be a few extra events for the holiday, but we were amazed at the sheer amount of stuff going on. There was live music and make-and-take crafts and lots of vendors selling stuff, but my favorite (and my kids' fave too) was the volunteers dressed in pioneer style demonstrating pioneer duties. Weaving, tool-making, spinning wool, rag rug making, etc. It was awesome.

We decided to go to Heritage Park one day last week to play in the river and to our utter surprise and disappointment, the river was bone dry! So the kids just ran around and played in their swimsuits. I love this picture of my younger 3. Check out Luke's hand on Max's little head!

Only 12 more days of summer. I am both sad and excited. It always seems that summer comes to a close and we still haven't done a lot of the things on our summer bucket list. Maybe we'll have to pack a bunch in next week. But back-to-school season is in the air and I'm so excited to have 3 of my kids headed to school this year. They are going to love it! And I'm going to love just having Maxwell for 3 mornings a week. Whatever will I do with all my free time?! :)

The Fourth

The Fourth of July was awesome this year! We loved spending it with our good friends. The food was delicious and it was so great to just relax for hours and enjoy the night. Bill did a great job doing fireworks for us as it started to get dark and then we had a nice view of the city's fireworks show after that. I love this holiday so much. It makes me so grateful for our lovely country and the immense freedom we enjoy. Sarah always makes these darling festive fruit kabobs every year and all the kids love 'em.

The kids played a lot and had a great time while waiting for the fireworks. Jump roping, chasing, scooters, bike-riding, paper airplanes, Bill's binoculars, laughing. This is a train the kids formed. So cute!

Ben made dessert. Homemade ice cream and this delicious trifle! Pudding, whipped cream, cake, and berries. So so good!

Love the Fourth of July!

Luke REALLY enjoyed the dessert--can you tell?

One of my favorite pics of the night--the kids love baby Alyssa. You can just see the adoration in their faces!

Thanks to Lauren, Max enjoyed the trifle too!

There's just something about dads and babies. I love it.

Chilling on the blanket before fireworks

Happy Independence Day!!!

The Joys of June

Max continues to get into stuff. One of his favorite things to get into is the dishwasher. He listens for the sound of me opening the dishwasher and speedily crawls over to climb into it and throw stuff out of it (this is bad when the dishes are dirty!!). I usually have to get one of the girls to carry him out of the kitchen and entertain him upstairs while I load the dishwasher. But doesn't he have the cutest happy face?!

The annual cherry-picking. We picked, pitted, and froze several quarts this year and left the rest for the birds to eat. Go Ben! The kids helped with the picking quite a bit. It was a family effort.

Strawberry Days! We loved watching the parade with the Familias and Max did so good completely missing his morning nap! We also got strawberries'n'cream another evening and rode a few rides at the carnival. Love the candy-green tongues! Kinda gross, actually.

Ben's nephew got married one Saturday. We were all invited to the wedding and dinner, but it was being held 1 1/2 hours away and I didn't feel up to hauling ALL of the kids down there (namely, the baby). So Ben just took the girls and I stayed home and played with the boys. The girls had a fabulous time and Nikkie looked beautiful.

Our beloved Sam left Utah forever to head off to medical school and the military. He was the kids' best playmate during Sunday family dinners and he was always a good sport to wrestle, chase, tickle, and talk with the kids. He will be missed!

We tried to get out of the oppressive heat one weekday and headed up to the mountains for a picnic and exploring. It was very fun and very dirty! We were only there for a few hours and the kids looked like we'd been camping for days.

June also means swimming lessons!!! I look forward to this tradition every year. The kids love learning to swim and playing in the water. I love sitting in the shade and chatting with Sarah. It's a win-win. All of the kids really learned a lot this year. Luke's teacher was named Keven and was super enthusiastic with the little boys in his class. He got Luke so excited about the water and helped him lose some of his fear.

Emma did particularly well. She learned all kinds of strokes and even learned how to dive! It was really fun to watch her swim so well.

Rachel was so proud that she actually went down the slide this year! The past two years, it was a no-go. She loved that her teacher was named Nancy (like Fancy Nancy). There was only one other little girl in Rachel's class and they had a great time together.

The last big event of June was Emma's piano recital. She played four pieces and did wonderfully. Her teacher decided to hold each of her student's recitals at the student's home so it would be more personal. This was really nice and we loved watching Emma make beautiful music. She did so great introducing her songs and welcoming and thanking everyone for coming. It was super cute. Unfortunately, the recital was on a weekend when many of our loved ones were out of town, so only a few relatives were able to come. Oh well! Her teacher brought yummy treats to enjoy at the end and it was a nice afternoon. Go Emma! Here she is with her new trophy and her wonderful teacher.

Thanks for coming, Grandpa!

Whew! That wraps up June. Summer is always so busy and fun. I love it.