Amelia and her Pants

In the past week Amelia has become much more interested in her clothes. Sometimes I give her the choice of two shirts and let her pick one. Today she was very interested in her pants, or lack thereof. I dressed Amelia in a little summer dress with a diaper cover. I don't know if she was cold, or if she just wanted to wear pants that day, but she kept trying to put a pair of pajama pants on. So I finally took off the diaper cover and put her in a pair of jean shorts. Apparently this wasn't good enough for her! She REALLY wanted to wear these particular pants. As I watched her, it was so funny that I finally took a video. She was SO determined to get those pants on!

I think she probably kept trying to put those pants on for at least a half hour. I guess she is working on figuring out how to get dressed by herself, so she can wear whatever she wants to! Oh boy, am I in trouble!

Second Swimming Session

We have started our second session of swimming lessons and so far things are going great! The first morning Jacob was really nervous about having a new teacher at swimming lessons. He was even a bit nauseous that morning, but I he didn't have a fever so I was pretty sure it was nerves. I sat down and talked to him about it and assured him that he didn't need to worry. He may have a new teacher, but he would be learning the same things. Besides, he loves swimming!

Sure enough, after our first lesson he came and told me all about his new teacher and how much he likes her. His teacher's name is Alicia and Jacob is one of the better swimmers in his class.

It amazed me how good Jacob is at putting his face under water. That is something that I never really got used to growing up. Maybe he will be a super swimmer like his Daddy.

Ephraim has a new teacher as well. Her name is Jessica, and she seems really nice.

Sometimes Ephraim can be a little over-enthusiastic, so it is nice when he has a teacher that can relate to him. Ephraim is doing really well at putting his face in the water too!

Jacob is getting really close to being able to swim by himself.

His teacher will often let go of him to see how well he is doing. It totally impresses me that he can swim so well by himself!

Ephraim is getting better at following directions, which is really great.

After swimming lessons today we went to the splash pad in Alpine again. The kids love it there, and I figure they are already in their swimsuits so they may as well get wet.

Plus then Amelia gets to play in the water. She is really enjoying the splash pad this summer. She is not taking a second session with me, so it is fun for her to get to play in the water too.

Actually today the boys mostly played on the playground that is right next to the splash pad. They had a great time.

As you can see, the playground is a little atypical. It has different equipment than what we are used to. Instead of steps and slides, it has cables to climb, a donut-shaped merry-go-round thingy, and poles to twirl on. Maybe the kids like it because it is so different.

I can let the boys go off and play, but I have to keep an eye on Amelia. Although she is mobile, she doesn't have enough common sense yet to know what things may end up with her getting hurt. Luckily when she stays at the splash pad I can keep my eye on her!

On the drive home we actually saw some deer!

They were just hanging out in somebody's yard right off the side of the road!

The boys were pretty impressed to see the deer so close up! Of course we had to stop and take a few pictures, which I think turned out pretty well!

I love the look of the velvet on the deer's antlers.

By the time we got home it was nearly 3 pm. We had a fun and busy summer day, but I think that is the best kind.

New Portraits of the Boys

We have had quite the family pictures fiasco this year. I think I mentioned back in May that we were going to have our family pictures taken, but they got cancelled due to rain. Then we rescheduled for Monday, July 2. I got everyone dressed and we went to the location.... and waited.

My friend Janna (a professional photographer) was taking our pictures, so I called her to see what was up. She said her husband cleaned the car and took her camera out, and she didn't notice until she was almost there. So she went back for her camera.

So we waited. Ten minutes later I got another call from Janna. Her daughter was sick at the babysitters, so she had to go get her. I had to go to work that night, so family pictures were a bust. I was SO disappointed! We were all ready and then it didn't happen. I rescheduled one more time, and we got cancelled due to rain.

Finally we rescheduled for July 13th in the evening. So of course the weather was rainy... but we did the pictures anyway. I was pretty sure I couldn't talk Joe into putting it on his calendar yet AGAIN. In spite of the rain, we had a decent place to take pictures. Unfortunately Amelia was being a pill. She did not want to hold still and she would not look at the camera. *sigh* So we will see if Janna can work miracles with Photoshop so I can end up with decent pictures.

After our family picture debacle, I had to do something to make myself feel better. So I took my boys out and did their portraits on Saturday. Of course we did not have time to do them on Friday and the weather was yucky, but I wanted pictures of them in the clothes I picked out for family pictures.

I think they turned out pretty well.

Jacob is getting to be a natural in front of the camera. These tires were already sitting next to the doors at one of my favorite photo spots, so we went with it. I think they turned out pretty well.

Isn't he a handsome boy?

Ephraim is a little less patient with the picture taking process, but he did pretty well. I got a couple of pictures that I really like.

He is such a handsome boy. These two pictures are pretty similar, but I like them both.

I love Ephraim's smile!

Here is one more nice one of Jacob.

I really like the setup of this last picture of Ephraim, but he smiled so big that his eyes are a little squinty. Oh well! It's still cute!

I have been looking at a lot of tutorials online and have been getting better at taking portraits. I would still love to take a digital photography class. Maybe I will have to take one a semester at UVU when Joe isn't teaching. I know that there are still lots of ways I can improve my pictures, but it is nice that I can take pictures that I like enough to hang up.

I plan on taking Amelia's pictures sometime soon. I knew that I would need to take her to do photos by herself because she is easily distracted. Plus she doesn't ever hold still! We will see what I can come up with.

Let me know which of these you like (grandparents!). I am planning on having them printed and would happily make extras in any size (wallets, 4X6, 5X7, etc.).

How does your garden grow?

Summer this year started off a bit cooler, so it took a while for our garden to take off. This weekend I took a look around the garden and we are finally getting some good produce!

Joe has picked quite a few zucchini and squash. Just look at how big they are!

Ephraim and Jacob were happy to hold my veggies so I could take pictures. They are both wearing the new shirts we got on clearance at Kohls. On Thursday after story time we went and had lunch with Daddy. Then I took the kids shopping. Definitely not my favorite thing to do, but Jacob really needed some shorts his size. He only had 2 pairs that fit and he had still been squeezing into a couple of size 4, which just won't work anymore. So we bought Jacob 3 new pairs of shorts, both the boys got a shirt off the clearance rack, and I just couldn't pass up a shirt and shorts for Amelia. By the time we tried on all that stuff, Amelia was DONE. So I didn't even get to look and see if they had any cute clothes for me! *sigh* We had to head home.

Anyway, back to the garden. This year we actually decided to try to grow a cauliflower and broccoli. When I looked this weekend, this is what I saw:

That is a cauliflower down there! We were starting to wonder if the plants were going to grow anything! I really need to spend some time in the garden weeding, but that gets hard with three littles. I really should pick some of the yummy raspberries and strawberries out there.

Maybe I will have to start working on it during Amelia's nap time. The problem is that we are trying to get her to only take one nap now. When I put her down in the morning she tends to sleep too long and then she won't take an afternoon nap. But I guess I will just have to do it in the afternoon even though it's hot!

The Lorax

This week we decided to go to the movies! We were actually going to go to the splash pad again on Wednesday, but the day started out kind of cloudy and dark. Turns out it was party weather, and partly due to a new fire down by Beaver. So instead of having the kids outside in the haze, we decided to go to the theater.

The movie theater near our house is now a $3.50 theater, which means it is much more reasonable for us to go see a movie. This time we didn't even have to pay for our movie because we had free ticket coupons from the Summer Reading program at the library! Hooray.

We decided to go see the Lorax. I had the boys stand under the sign so I could take their picture. Amelia thought this was hilarious, so she had to go stand against the wall too (and make a funny face at me).

Since we didn't have to pay for our tickets, we bought the large popcorn, which was only $3. It was gigantic! Can you believe that we ate the whole thing?

Ephraim thought some parts of the movie were scary, but I actually thought it was pretty well done. Amelia did really great for the first half hour of the movie. Then she got bored of eating popcorn and wanted to roam around. I almost thought I was going to have to leave and take her out, but we made it through the whole movie.

The boys loved going to the theater, and we are definitely going to have to go back again before the summer was over. Especially since we have a couple more free movie passes!

Alpine Splash Pad

What a fun day!

Today we decided to go check out another splash pad and play in the water. This time we went to the splash pad in Alpine, and the kids loved it! This splash pad was much more interactive than the one in Highland. Instead of just fountains, this splash pad had what I would call, "water toys".

There was a fun water bucket that collected water and dumped it out when the buckets got full. The best part is that the kids could spin the buckets around too (see Ephraim turning it in the picture?).

There were also some fun water guns that the kids could squirt each other with.

Of course Amelia could not really reach any of those toys, but there were some fun little water spouts for her to play with.

She also just loved running around and didn't mind at all that she kept getting sprayed with water! Most of the time we were there she was soaking wet- and happy!

Besides the water guns, there were several other water features, like this fun spraying fountain. The kids called it the umbrella.

When you sit near the pipe, you don't get wet!

You can also see behind the umbrella is an upside down U that is kind of like a car wash because it sprays towards the center. This pole also had a fountain on the top which came on and off sporadically.

Doesn't this splash pad just look fun? The boys kept telling me that this splash pad is awesome, and I agree!

The really great thing is that there was the splash pad AND a play set nearby. So the kids would run from the water to the playground.

The play equipment was not your typical play set, and the boys loved it. There was also a pavilion and some nice picnic benches in the shade, which was great for me! I think next time we will bring our lunch and stay and play even longer!

Uruguay Mission Reunion

Our busy week last week finally came to a close!

July 5th we woke up to a rainy day! We actually didn't mind because we knew it will be so good for the wildfires. I was a little sad because we were going to do family pictures that evening, which didn't pan out... again. *sigh*

The rainy day didn't stop Joe from being busy. I will have to post the pictures I took of all the projects Joe has been working on. Even though we were busy last week, we did manage to have fun! On Friday Joe took a break from all of his projects to go to the swimming pool with us.

We went to the Lindon pool, and it was a blast! We were having so much fun that I did not even take any pictures with my cell phone like I intended. The Lindon pool has a pirate ship with small water slides for the kiddos, a lazy river, and a big water slide. Jacob absolutely loved the lazy river. I think he must have gone around it at least 8 times! It is only 3 feet deep, so he can touch the bottom and loved floating down the current. Both of the boys went down the big water slide three times, which was awesome.

The kids were SO sad to leave that we had to promise that we will go again before summer is over! I definitely want to go again because next time I want to bring some flotation toys. The Lindon pool allows them and I think the lazy river would have been more fun for Ephraim if he had a pool noodle. Plus it would be nice to put Amelia in something to let her float along instead of having to hold her the whole time. She did have fun splashing in the shallow pools though!

Saturday morning I canned 3 batches of apricot jam. It is one of our favorite flavors, and Jacob and Ephraim helped me out quite a bit. Joe was working on the gate at the rental house (aka. Devereaux South) and the boys were bouncing back and forth being helpful. I had Amelia in her stroller because I did not want her to get involved in my canning project or touch anything hot, so the boys took her on walks back and forth between Daddy and me. It was kind of cute.

Saturday afternoon we all drove to Bountiful for Joe's mission reunion. This is the first one they have had earlier in the day, and I definitely think it was more family friendly. They held the reunion outside, which was fun for the kids. We ate dinner and then I played with the kids while Daddy visited.

President Gardner has and enormous house with an even bigger yard. So the kids had fun running around. Joe was smart and brought some fun airplanes that he got at Costco and the boys had a great time launching them and running after them. Before long Joe had a crowd of little boys around as he showed them how to shoot off the airplanes.

Amelia had fun going up and down the rock steps in the side of the hill. I don't know if I enjoyed it as much as she did, but at least I got in some exercise!

The boys also had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing on the play set in the back yard with the other kids. We even walked down to the river that borders President Gardner's property. The boys had fun throwing little rocks in the water and just goofing off.

Amelia enjoyed the trampoline too, when there weren't too many big kids on it! It is built into the ground, so she could just walk right out onto it. She thought it was fun to bounce on.

And yes, that is a tennis court behind the trampoline! I really should have taken a picture of the house and yard so you could get an idea as to how big it is! Maybe next time.

The best part of the reunion starting early is that we left before it was dark. We did get home after bedtime, but I did manage to get all the kids bathed and in bed within a half hour or so of getting home. Go Mommy!

This year we had a good time at the reunion, and I hope they do it this way again next year.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July from my red, white and blue crew!

Would you believe that it took us 27 pictures before we got one where everyone is looking at the camera and mostly smiling?! Sheesh!

This week Joe has been home working on our rental house. I am not sure if I have mentioned that we bought the house next door (with Grandpa Devereaux's help!) and are fixing it up in order to rent it. I showed the house many times at the end of June, and we found a nice family to rent the house!

So this week Joe has been working on fixing the front gate, putting insulation in the attic, adding ventilation to the attic, painting, and all kinds of other projects. I spent this morning cutting in the paint in the hallway and the stairwell so that Joe could roll the rest of the paint out this afternoon. It seems we are always working on projects during the fourth of July! At least we have fun and fireworks to look forward to this evening!

Hot Air Ballon Fest at Provo's Freedom Festival

What a great morning!

For the past couple of years we have gone to the Balloon Fest in Provo that is part of the Freedom Festival. This year we decided to go on July 3rd so that we would miss the crowds on Independence Day. I am so glad we went because we had a wonderful time!

First of all, we had to get the kids up before 6 am. That means the sun was not even up. Here is a picture I took of the sunrise on our way to see the hot air balloons.

Isn't that gorgeous?! It almost makes me want to get up to see the sunrise more often. Almost.

We got to the field just after 6 am, which was just in time to see the balloons finish inflating.

It was so much fun to watch the silk envelopes fill up with hot air and rise up off the ground.

Before long, most of the balloons were filled. It was really neat to walk around with all the hot air balloons all around and above you.

Then they started launching some of the balloons to make room for the ones that still needed to inflate.

Before long, most of the balloons were slowly rising off the ground.

The best part was when the sun finally came out from behind the mountain and illuminated the colorful balloons.

This year the weather was really great for navigating the balloons. In years past it seemed the balloons just went up and drifted away rather quickly. This year there wasn't too much wind so they were able to stay near the field for longer.

I loved this because I seemed to be able to get tons of really great pictures!

This post may seem picture heavy, but not when you consider the fact that I took over several hundred pictures while I was on the field! Here is one of the kids' favorites: the chilli pepper balloon.

I love the colorful balloons and it is awesome to watch them fly right above you!

They are so beautiful!

I think one day it would be really awesome to take a ride in a hot air balloon!

One of the last balloons to inflate was the coca-cola balloon. That made for some really cool pictures, and I think this one is my favorite.

Of course the Smokey the Bear balloon was there too. I took this picture especially for you, Auntie Em!

In years past they have had a target on the field, but very few balloons made it back over the field to try to hit the target. This year there were six or seven balloons that managed to drop their targets over the field.

In addition they had several large balloons on the perimeter of the field, and the goal was for the balloonists to pop these balloons. We had never seen that happen before! This year several of the balloons got popped! Here is a hot air balloon that is about to pop the red target balloon.

So there was much more to watch at the Balloon Fest this year!

And there seemed to be many more opportunities to to take awesome pictures!

Another one of my favorites is this picture of three colorful balloons with the mountains in the background. So pretty!

This year the boys were watching for the coca-cola balloon to deflate because they knew they would get a chance to help deflate the envelope. Sure enough, when we went over there they got to roll on the coke balloon again!

By the time they roll the length of the balloon they get pretty dizzy! It is hilarious!

I think we stayed longer this year than we typically have in the past because we were having so much fun. There was so much to look at and enjoy!

Here is the piggy bank balloon, which my kids loved to see. I loved the multicolored balloons.

This "tropical island" balloon was one of my new favorites. It has a slightly longer shape than the other hot air balloons, which I thought made it look interesting.

On our drive home we got to see some of the balloons that had drifted north. Apparently the balloonists just find an empty field to set down in when they are done with their flight. We passed a field in Orem where they were deflating some of the balloons, so we stopped and watch that for a minute.

 The boys had a great time, and it was definitely worth getting up so early! I am sure we will go see the balloons again next year as it is rapidly becoming a family tradition.