Happy 4th!

It has taken me a while to get to this but, better late than never. We spent the 4th of July up in Idaho Falls with my family. Idaho Falls celebrated on the 3rd and we froze at the parade. We had seats in the shade which is usually a great thing but when there is a cold wind, it isn't so great. I had luckily brought Anna's jacket and I borrowed a quilt from my parents so all was well. After the parade we went to a bbq at my Aunt's house and had fun with my cousins. "The girls" as we call them had fun running around the yard and playing together. The mom's of course had to pull out their camera's for the typical group picture. Anna also tested out her driving skills. That night we went to the 2nd best firework show in the nation. Don't believe me? Check out this website. http://blog.ratestogo.com/best-4th-july-fireworks/ We didn't make it home until close to midnight but I had taken Anna's pj's and so we just took her from the car to the bed. Sunday night, the 4th, we went to a patriotic celebration which was really good. We also got to meet Quinn and Emily's twin boys, Tanner and Tyden, that weekend. Cute little guys. Then last week we met Shane's little girl Mia. That takes the grandkid count up to 9. We will see what next year brings.

Anna loves to help water. In this picture she is helping Matthew water his sister Karen's flowers. She is just as helpful at home.

Parade of Homes

This year I took Anna and we went to the Parade of Homes with my Mom, two sister-in-laws, 1 nephew and 1 niece. It was a lot of fun and we saw some cool homes that covered all spectrums! The kids held up incredibly well and luckily we went on weekdays so there weren't as many people and they could run more. That was some of the fun - keeping the kids where they were supposed to be.


One time Anna and her cousin Peter decided to look in the neighbors mail slot - luckily the townhome hadn't sold.







And sometimes they just got tired of walking.

After all the time spent in the car over two days - the girls still wanted to play in it when we got home.

It is fun for Anna to have her cousin Jerika so close now.

Silly Mom

So the past two weekends we have spent time doing something I never thought I would do...enter my kids in a baby contest. After doing it I don't think I will do it again. I guess you have to try everything once.
Two weeks ago I entered Anna in the Orem Summerfest baby contest. We went, had a picture taken, and then they did an "interview" with Anna. Since Anna isn't the most outgoing kid, she didn't do so well with that.

Right before the Orem contest I had entered Anna in the Provo Freedom Festival. After Orem I wasn't to excited about Provo but we had paid the money.... So last Saturday we spent some time at UVU at that contest. There they don't take pictures - they just interview. Oh dear. After shaking the judge's hand Anna proceeded to try to get away by crawling over my shoulder. It was fun times. I did take a picture before we left so I have something to put in her book.

So, this is what I have learned from the experience. If you don't have an outgoing, social child - you aren't going to win. Even if you have people tell you all the time (even in the stores) that your child is cute - if they are not outgoing they won't win. On the bright side we did get a photo (Orem) and a participation ribbon and cookies (Provo). Experience is a great teacher and even if she isn't outgoing, we still think she is beautiful!

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We spent the last week of May in Portland with Matthew's parents. We helped them do somethings around the house and had a good visit. We drove both ways which made for intersting times but we (Anna specifically) survived it. As per usual it rained all but one day that we were there. We took some time during a break in rain to go down to feed some ducks and geese. Anna thought it was fun until one of the geese came towards her (Anna had the bread in her hand) hissing. She did okay as long as they just ate from a distance.

Today Anna and I went out to garage sales. We got some really good deals and Anna is a great shopper. The best purchase of the day though was a stroller for her doll - a whopping $0.25! She had a great time pushing the stroller up and down the driveway and sidewalk. She can't drive straight though and kept running into the lawn and cars in the driveway. As she hit them she would giggle and giggle. Funny girl. The good news is she can't get her drivers license for another 15 years and hopefully by then she will have learned how to go straight.

She has really started talking. She will talk into her play phone and walk around the house and talk. She will yammer to me acting like I can understand everything she is saying. She is a joy to have around and keeps life interesting.

Happy Easter!

Anna celebrated Easter a day early. Orem City had an Easter egg hunt. As you can tell by her attire it was cold. It was a successful 1st Easter egg hunt though.

That afternoon we went to my brother Shane's house and Anna tormented her older cousin Peter. It was fun watching them together.

Obedient?

Anna loves to color! She also thought it was fun to do some taste testing on the crayons. I have told her a few times that she can't put the crayons in her mouth. I thought we had the problem taken care of but Anna just found a way around it. I just had to laugh and get out the camera.

Hope of Summer

Even though we have been getting a little snow this week the results of my fall bulb planting gives me hope that summer will eventually get here.