Emily Walks!

It’s been a busy day. I still hadn’t recovered from Shelly losing all her hair – and I was in the middle of texting Mark to tell him I had done it (he was rather shocked – I hadn’t even hinted that the idea was in my head and all of a sudden it’s done. This is not normal in our relationship) and the next thing I know Grandma and JB are cheering Emily. I’m distracted and not sure what’s going on, so they try to show me again and I missed it, again. Apparently Emily had taken 2 and then 3 steps all by herself! I’m super excited and get my camera ready to take pictures, and then she decides she’s too good to walk on film. Or was that too grumpy? I sometimes get those confused with that girl…

Well, she’s done it, but I have no proof, and only a tiny memory. I guess that will have to do until tomorrow. It’s bed time and walking or no walking, she’s going down. :-)

Shelly's Hair Cut

So, I’m not entirely sure how this happened. One minute I’m telling my mother-in-law that I’m tired of having Shelly’s hair always be a mess and I’ve been thinking about cutting it, and the next I have a pair of scissors in my hand and I’ve realized that I will never be a professional hair cutter, for the pony tail of Shelly’s that I cut off was horribly uneven. She lost about 8 inches today. It used to almost be able to tuck into her pants (sopping wet and with effort to keep it from curling up) and now I’m not even sure it would get her shoulders wet if it didn’t drip. I think it is that long, but only just barely. I’m still waiting to see what it does after a bath. It only seemed to curl around the bottom today, but it’s been a few years since that top hair hasn’t had any extra weight on it. I guess I’ll just have to wait. I hate being patient!

4th of July Picnic - from Grandma's Camera

Here's some more pictures from our 4th of July picnic. These are ones that Grandma took.

Shelly at the park

Jason on the swing

Emily on the blanket

Lots of us on the grass

Julibeth on the grass

Boys and kids on the rocks (are we sick of this theme yet?)

Ethan on Grandpa
(too bad, cause you got one more :)

Not sure what the kids found, but it entertained them

Emmie-Sue found a ball

And some chicken...

Sparkler Adventures

JB got some fireworks for us to play with! The kids had way too much fun with the sparklers. They enjoyed the others too, but it was too dark to take pictures by then.

Just waiting for the fun to start



Even Emily got to hold one



More, More!!

Blowing on a sparkler doesn't work. Shelly found this out for us. Getting once clean clothes and shoes filthy - that works though

It's really too bad he's not having any fun...

No kids, the gravel is not prone to catching fire, but good luck trying

4th of July - Hot Air Balloons and a Picnic

It was fun to get to be in Utah for the 4th. We got to go see the Hot Air Balloons! The kids were wary of waking up so early, but once we got there, they had a blast and were in awe of how big those balloons were.

Shelly watching the first couple take off (I have no idea who dressed her, but I'm sure it wasn't me... :)

Still in awe.

It's hard to tell from this angle but that coke balloon was twice as tall as it's neighbors (it's in the same line as the yellow and blue ones to the left). It decided not to take off because there are very few places in the valley that it can land because of how large it is.

Up they go!

Even Emily was watching them.

Shelly got her face 'painted' while we were walking around waiting for the parade to start.


Then we got together with family and had a picnic at the park.

Emily got some chicken

She was a happy camper - or is that picnicker

Want to guess who stayed with the camera and who went off to play?

Playing at the duck pond

More food for the baby. A nearby family gave us their left over cake.
Emily was not too bummed about that.

Can't forget the liquid. Thanks Aunt JB!

Water Rats

Water must be tempting for kids. I'm sure I used to have those urges, but I confess that's it's been a while. Here's some of the water adventures from the last month.

Slip n Slide

The ever popular Mud In The Grape Arbor

With the hose



Or with a bucket - and a hose

Wow. Apparently it was time to dump the bucket out - all over Shelly! I'm sure she loved it

Jason loves to turn the water on, and then play somewhere else. Either that or the other kids love to turn the water on and blame it on Jason... I think it's the first one. He doesn't like to get wet like Shelly and Ethan though.

I have no idea how she can sit in the mud like that. It's a skill (or desire) that eludes me.

Ethan even buries himself in the mud!

See, he's dry. I suspect he's the reason the hose is on though.

Gross!!!!!

I think I need a few more exclamation points in there... Gross!!!!!!!!!!!!

*For the record - I did not take these pictures. It was her Grandma. I would not have been able to wait long enough to get a camera before stopping her. This might be the kind of thing that will be fun to have pictures of in a few years, but for now - I just want to give her a bath. And then take a shower myself. Gross!!!