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.

Some Granby Time

My mama came for a quick 24-hour trip. She arrived yesterday early afternoon and we just put her on the plane a few hours ago. It was quick, but fruitful. She came to see her older sister, who is suffering from some heart problems. We enjoyed the loveliest afternoon yesterday visiting her. Some of my mom's other siblings also came to visit yesterday and we had a great time talking about all manner of things and eating a yummy meal. I'm so glad my mom got to see her sister. After the visit, my little family got to spend some time with her. The kids were beyond excited to have a houseguest overnight (people don't typically stay with us because of our tiny house) and made my mom feel like a queen--making up her bed, bringing her goodies, and creating all sorts of pictures for her. It was great. They especially loved hearing her stories and songs at bedtime. Grandparents are just great! My kids adore theirs (and this includes Marian and Allen too!!).

This morning we headed up to the Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point to play and then had a good lunch at the deli there.

Rachel was being a stinker and decided to pout instead of smile. Kinda funny in the picture, though.

It was a super fun day and we were sad to see her go, but we will see her again in about a month. We love you so much Granby!

Baby's First Birthday

Little Maxwell had his first birthday yesterday! The kids were super pumped about it. Max really could care less. :) We had lots of family and friends over for cake and ice cream after dinner. It was low-key and fun. Max was pretty sober and thoughtful the whole evening. I don't think we got one picture of him smiling. I think he thought we were all crazy for paying so much attention to him! He did LOVE his cake, though. First time he had cake and he had a grand old time devouring it and smushing it everywhere. It was pretty fun to watch! My grandma was the first to arrive at the party and wanted to hold Max. This was Max's reaction. I think it's so funny!

Here's what you've all been waiting for.....the cake pictures! Isn't he so funny? I love that he opted to shove his face down into the cake instead of pick it up. So cute.

Luke asked to hold Sarah's sweet baby, Alyssa, and then Rachel had to have a turn too. So cute!

I made this cute timeline of pictures of Max's first year.  Thank you, Pinterest!  It was so fun to see the progression. He's changed so much, especially in the past 3-4 months.

We have this funny cake hat and of course, we HAD to put it on Max on his birthday. Luke did the honors!

It was an awesome day! Max got some of the most darling clothes and cutest toys. Thanks for sharing your love with us, everyone! The kids were so funny (i.e. annoying) with the present-opening. Rachel and Luke decided they would take turns "helping" Max open the gifts. It started off great and then quickly derailed as Luke and Rachel frantically tried to beat each other in opening the next gift. Oh well. That's what you get with siblings, right? And it's all recorded for them to laugh at when they're older. :)

Here's what's up with Max these days:

• He knows how to boogie!  Whenever we turn on music or ask him to dance, he can shake it and it's pretty darn adorable!
• He has a very small appetite (except for in the above cake pictures!) and doesn't eat too much at meals.  He's also begun to be a bit finicky in his eating.  
• He loves the vacuum!  Isn't that strange for a baby?  He chases it around and laughs whenever I vacuum.
• He loves to just roam around the house and explore.  As long as we close the right doors (like the bathroom) he's totally fine going up the stairs, going down the stairs, in and out of rooms checking stuff out.  He rarely sits and plays, unless someone sits and plays with him--and even then, it's only for a few minutes before he's off again!
• He's got four teeth--two on top, two on bottom.
• Can pull up and cruise around, and has even stood alone for a few seconds, but hasn't taken any steps yet.  
• He's quite small, especially for my babies.  He still easily fits into 9-12 month clothes.
• He loves to climb!  Stairs, chairs, stools, ladders, people.  :)  
• He loves to roll balls back and forth.
• He can wave and clap his hands now!  Although his claps are more like little fist bumps.  So cute!
• Loves the game peek-a-boo and loves to be chased around.
• Likes to play with his siblings and be around them. 
• Can say "uh oh", "ma ma", "da da", and "Emma"  (Emma is thrilled!)
• Is a quiet, thoughtful baby.  Don't get me wrong--he can shriek and scream like the best of them, but generally, he's pretty quiet and doesn't smile a ton around other people.   

We love our little Maxi so much!  He is so sweet and loving and an absolute joy in our family.  We are all a bit sad that he's growing up, but at the same time, we are loving his cute little personality that develops more and more every day!  Happy birthday little buddy!

Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day daddy! 

Ben is well-loved by these kids. Emma loves to learn things from Dad (databases was the latest topic!!), Rachel loves to snuggle and read with Dad, Luke loves to wrestle and work in the yard with Dad, and Max loves to play Dad's guitar and be tickled and chased. Donning all of the cute homemade Father's Day ties the kids made for him during Primary last week. It was so cool to see all of the dads at church wearing their kids' ties. So heartwarming! Ben got lots of other cool gifts from the kids, including treat necklaces, goodie bags, and sweet cards.

It was a good day. We love you daddy!!! Whatever would we do without you?!

Brothers

Is this not the most precious sight? My heart melts... My boys are the cutest brothers. Luke loves to be with Max. He plays with him, shows him toys and books, lets Max climb all over him, and shares his food with him. And Max loves Luke equally as much. I can't wait for them to get bigger and really play together. They are the cutest!

Last Day

Emma's cute friend from class, who happens to also be named Emma. :) She moved the day after school let out. Emma was so sad! The great Mrs. Deaver! Emma enjoyed her as a teacher and was sad to leave her on the last day. Emma had a fantastic year in second grade--had a lot of fun, made many new friends, and learned some amazing things. Can't believe she's on to third grade--halfway through elementary school!