I Am The Luckiest

The Girls

2012-02-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

A Lost Tooth

2012-01-27T19:12:00.003-07:00

Sophie's first tooth in was also her first tooth out! I've heard that you loose your teeth in the order that you grow them, and so far it's the truth. Now, if she looses them in the speed that she gains them, she will have 13 teeth gone by October, so let's hope that's not the case.

We first noticed that it was loose the week that Mary was born, so this has been a long time coming. It was finally ready to come out last week.

Attempt #1: Gripping it with a wash rag (fail)

Attempt #2: The Pliers (fail again)

Attempt #3 (the next night): Rag Again

Success!

3 Months

2012-01-24T09:55:00.001-07:00

Mary is 3 months old now! She is looking bigger to us, but is still tiny when compared to her 2 cousins, who both like to keep their cheeks nice & chubby. She has big bright eyes that we still cannot figure out the color of, but my guess today is that they are green. She as the cutest little bobble head, and the comment we get the most about her is that she looks like a little doll.

Unbeknownst to any of us, the 3-Month-Olds had coordinated their outfits Sunday night.

Mary's Blessing

2012-01-03T16:28:00.005-07:00

At the beginning of December, Jake blessed Mary at our church. It was great, and we got to spend the whole day with our families.

Earlier in the day, Hazel was also blessed by Ben, so we decided to celebrate together, and had a big extended families dinner. Lots of food, lots of kids running around, and lots of fun.

Here is Mary in her blessing dress. This dress was made by her great-grandma Grace back in the 1950's. She made several hoping that her daughters could use them for their baby blessings, but she never had any girls. So it was packed away and not discovered until a couple of years ago when she died. I feel so lucky to be able to finally use one how she wanted!

2011: Year in Review

2011-12-31T08:00:00.005-07:00

2011 was eventful year at our house.

Here's a recap of my year:

January
We sent Sophie off to DISNEYLAND
with her grandparents

February
We enjoyed great WEATHER outside

March
Sophie learned to ride a 2-WHEELED BIKE

April
Sam's HAIR got a little out of control

May
We regained control of the HAIR

June
The POOL was removed

July
We went to the BEACH

August
Sam turned TWO

September
Sophie started SOCCER

October
Two GIRLS celebrate birthdays

November
We just looked at HER all day

December
Was spent with FAMILY

And here's to 2012!
How was your year?

(visit my 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, & 2010 if you wish)

Christmas Morning

2011-12-30T15:45:00.004-07:00

We had a pleasant Christmas.

I hope yours was nice too.

Camoflauge Take 2

2011-12-15T16:34:00.006-07:00

The problem/fun with having a 2nd girl is that she gets to wear all of Sophie's old clothes. Which reminds us of things we did when Sophie was a baby. It also helps that girl #2 looks a lot like girl #1

See the original post here.

Pajamas

2011-12-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

Does your house get excited for footies season too?

Before & After

2011-12-01T08:48:00.001-07:00

Mary & Hazel - 1 Month Old

2011-11-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Mary and Hazel finally had a chance to hang out together when one of them wasn't sleeping, eating, or crying. So we put them on a blanket so we could see them side-by-side.

I think they might have the same nose.

And the same tolerance for picture-taking:

Decorate

2011-11-29T14:30:00.005-07:00

We set up Christmas decorations on Saturday.

I put Sophie in charge of setting up the Nativity.

I think she did a good job.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T10:01:00.009-07:00

Steve & Blue

More Mary

2011-11-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to a church rummage sale, which are my favorite things to go to to get things I don't need - but really like. This time, it was this vintage chevron throw blanket (among other things).

Since it's soft and comfy, I let Mary snooze on it while I took her picture.

She's soft and comfy too.

Sweet Miss Mary

2011-10-23T15:04:00.009-07:00

Mary Louise
born October 20th, 2011
6:08am
7lbs, 5oz ~ 20" long

I'm back home now with our sweet Mary girl. We started Thursday morning bright and EARLY - having to be at the hospital at 4am. The 2 hours from 4 to 6am were excruciatingly long, and I was super nervous for my surgery the whole time.

But at 6am, we were finally ready to have the baby. I layed on the operation table, with Jake by my side. I could hear the doctor and nurses working, and then I heard them all exclaim that the baby has lots of dark hair. Jake stood up so he could watch, and it got quiet again as they continued their work. After another minute, I heard the baby start to cry and Jake looked down at me and said softly "it's a girl."

It was such a sweet moment.

And then right away I got to see her.

She looks a lot like Sophie did, but definitely has her own look too. We're just in love with our teeny tiny dark haired little girl.

Mary Lou got to wear the pink pajamas home

Mary's cousins came to visit
Evelyn (left) is 6 weeks older and
Hazel (right) is 8 days older

Enjoying my new baby
(I told you she's tiny!)

Headed Home

We're glad to be home and we're glad to have our baby girl.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

2011-10-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

We're packing both of these up for the hospital.
Which one do you think the baby come home in?

9-Month Belly Shots

Eclairs Are a Breakfast Food

2011-10-17T08:55:00.002-07:00

Right?

Miss Sophie Turned 5!

2011-10-10T13:16:00.008-07:00

If you live at our house, you know that Sophie turned 5 on Friday, because she's been counting down to it daily for like 3 weeks. She was SOOO excited. On her birthday, she said to me "I'm 5 now! And tomorrow I'll be 5 too!"

The Birthday Girl

On about the day after her 4th birthday, she declared to me that she wanted a piñata for her next birthday party, and she remembered all year. She also requested a chocolate cake with pink frosting. So we decided to host a party for her with some of her friends from the neighborhood, complete with her requests.

Thanks to a week of gorgeous weather, I decided at the last minute that we could have the entire party out in the front lawn. Outdoor games, pizza on a picnic blanket, a dog piñata, and a chocolate cake with pink frosting. She had a great time!

A Shower for Baby Hazel

2011-09-19T08:07:00.007-07:00

I'm all about parties this summer. This past weekend, it was for Cathy and Baby Hazel. We went with a literal "shower"/picnic theme to complement Cathy's gray, pink, & turquoise nursery.

Check out our yummy picnic spread!

It turned out really cute! Thanks to Stephanie, I didn't have to climb up onto my parents' dining room table in all my 8-month-belly glory to hang up the decorations.

I also set up a craft table for the guests to make something for Cathy. I used the same hair clip materials that I had used earlier this summer for Pia's shower, and also set up a onesie-making station (no pictures of the completed projects, but they turned out really cute).

Serious Soccer Business

2011-09-15T15:16:00.005-07:00

Sophie is one lean, mean, soccer ball playin' machine.

With her white jersey made to fit an 8-10-year-old tied in a knot behind her back, her oversized black shorts pinned at the waist and then rolled up a few inches, and her pink velcro shoes on, she's all business.

Don't mess.

Don't mess with this guy either.
Cause he's cute.

Fall, Please

2011-09-14T15:05:00.003-07:00

This summer seemed especially unbearable. Did anyone else feel this way? I don't know if it was because of this belly:

Or the record breaking heat we've been experiencing. Probably a combination of both.

But I am sure ready for it to be over.

I just went out to get the mail and felt my body go tense as I stepped out into the sunlight, just waiting for that 100+ degree heat to hit me, and was pleasantly surprised to find it's only 90 degrees right now. Very tolerable when it was 25 degrees hotter than that just a short time ago.

Fall weather, please. (pretty please?)

Our Walking Advertisement

2011-09-09T09:55:00.003-07:00

Sam should be getting paid by Disney for the amount of Cars promotion he does. It just makes him so ridiculously happy that I can't help it though. When we open his door in the morning, the first thing we hear from him is "Cah Shoooooooo?" (Cars shoes).

We're expecting our check any time.

We Went on a Shelving Spree

2011-08-28T09:54:00.005-07:00

Inspired by our finally-finished new laundry room, Jake and I were motivated to get all the shelves we've been wanting installed throughout the house.

First came the front coat closet. Previously, all it had was a coat rack with a shelf above it. And since I don't even own A coat, let alone many coats that would necessitate an entire rack, what am I gonna do with a coat rack? I knew this area was being under-utilized.

So we put an IKEA bookshelf in there, cut the coat rod in half, and reinstalled it (you never know if we'll have an especially chilly winter. Like in the 40's or something). I may have also painted the back wall to make it prettier. The bookshelf has more than enough room for our cleaning supplies and paper goods.

I also added a couple hooks on the wall for dusters & umbrellas. The leftover floor space holds the vacuum, and the upper shelf (which was untouched) holds lightbulbs, vacuum bags, and our indoor tool box.

Another great feature of the closet is the over-the-door shoe rack that holds all the stuff that you need but can never locate in your house (flashlights, extension cords, a level, febreze, etc). That's actually been there a while, and I got the idea from Jake's mom.

Our paper towels and TP used to be in our linen closet. But since they moved to their new home, our linen closet suddenly had room to hold all of our linens! So project #2 was adding more shelves here, and our towels and sheets can live comfortably together now, instead of crammed into one small space.

And finally, since we have the smallest 2-car garage in the history of garages, we (I with my ever-growing belly) couldn't get in and out of our van while it was parked in the garage. We needed to get rid of the shelving/work bench we had on the side of our garage. So Jake installed upper shelving to hold camping equipment and other garage-worthy items.

So now we're shelved as shelved can be. And very pleased with our new-found storage space.

Love

2011-08-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Belly Update

2011-08-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

7 Months

Sam's Cake Party

2011-08-20T09:24:00.001-07:00

Instead of having a full-on birthday party for Sam this year, we just invited our families over for cake. I made 2 cakes for Sam to accommodate all of his in-town relatives, and they both turned out quite delicious.

Sam's cheeks full of air as he blows out his candles

Sam got some great gifts too. Cars cars (which, unfortunately, he opened first and wouldn't put them down while he opened the rest of his gifts), a dump truck, a Buzz Lightyear rocket (see his awesome expression when he opened it below), clothes, books, and a new car duvet to go on his bed when he transitions out of a crib.

We had a great day all day. I'm convinced Sam knew it was a special day for him. He was in a good mood, and he would just grin whenever we said "Happy Birthday" to him.

And today he either has to have all 3 of his new Cars cars with him or his Buzz Rocket. He's a happy camper though.

Laundry Room Makeover

2011-08-19T09:50:00.008-07:00

I've always been frustrated with how big our laundry room was, but how really non-functional it was too. So after doing lots of space planning, and being inspired by this room, I finally decided it was time to do something about it.

I bought my paint a while ago, but painting a functioning laundry room is not an easy task. It involves painting a wall, moving large heavy items, painting, moving, etc. Lucky for us, we had a pipe burst in there about 2 weeks ago, which forced the contents of the entire room to evacuate, and we took full advantage of the situation.

I didn't take "before" pictures until the furniture moving process had already begun.

SEMI-BEFORE .............................. AFTER

View from the door

We removed our old (dumpster diving finds) metal shelves and replaced them with wall-mounted wooden shelves. These act as an extension of our super tiny kitchen pantry. We also painted and added a new rug.

The upper shelves that run across the whole room are all higher than 7 feet off the ground, and are for our longer-term food storage. Jake built all of these and he did an AMAZING job.

Washer & Dryer Area

We (Jake again) added some shelves above the washer for detergent and basket storage. I also made new charcoal & white curtains (that match the new rug)

View out the door

Here you can see our new drying rack and another view of the upper shelves. We also added an ironing board hook on this wall.

The only other thing planned for the room is a small chest freezer that will go next to the dryer.

Yay for completed projects!

Sammy Boy

2011-08-18T08:55:00.001-07:00

This is Sam.

Today he is 2.

And he knows it. He's been practicing his 2-year-old behaviors for about two weeks now, and he's got them down. My sweet, quiet, snuggly baby now has OPINIONS. And he lets you know about them LOUDLY.

His strongest opinion: Food should not break into 2 pieces (ie: crackers, sandwiches, etc.). Why? Because it is DEVASTATING. That's why.

Also, sisters should not take things from his hands.

Another 2-year-old behavior: His sweet "Nah" to say 'no' to something is now "NO!", and used a lot more frequently.

The good news, is that I can still see my sweet boy under all that two-year-old stuff. I can still get him to snuggle me, he still loves his nap and his blankets, and he loves to climb on my lap and read books. His current favorite is "Hey! Wake Up!" by Sandra Boynton.

He's also got a major obsession with cars. It started before we even had cars in our house for him to play with, and has only gotten more intense as the cars have come in. His favorites, of course, are the Cars cars. He can spot that merchandise anywhere - near or far, big or small - you can count on Sam to point out cars wherever we are. (Wait until you see what he gets for his birthday. I'm pretty sure that every single thing we got him has a car on it.)

So we will endure the 2 stage. Luckily, I've been told by my kid-twin* that it doesn't last very long, and that he'll come out of it better than ever.

So happy birthday little boy!
We sure do love you.

See Sam's birth story here.
See Sam turn 1 here & here.

* A kid-twin is someone who has children with identical personalities to yours, but like a year ahead of you. They're super convenient to have because you always know what to expect with your own crew. Sam's "terrible 2s" phase was forewarned to us months ago (although very hard to believe back then).

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

Sophie was anxious and ready for her first day back in preschool. She's in the same school, same room, but with a new teacher. Luckily her bus driver was the same as last year, so getting to school was very familiar.

INVENTING . . . a Duet!

2011-08-11T11:44:00.004-07:00

Sophie says "inventing" instead of "presenting" when she has a big introduction to make. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of the words "introducing" and "presenting".

So without further ado, INNNNNNNNVENTING: A DUET!

Fire House

2011-07-29T10:16:00.003-07:00

We took a trip to the local fire house yesterday for a tour. The firemen showed us all around the station, and the tour concluded in Sam's most favorite place ever - a room full of big trucks.

Sophie Writes a Book

2011-07-26T16:02:00.004-07:00

Sophie wrote her first book. She drew all the pages separately, showed me the order they go in, and helped me add a front & back cover.

Sophie and Sam Melt
by Sophie

Sophie and Sam melt.

Sophie and Sam melt and melt.

Sophie and Sam melt and melt.

Sophie and Sam melt and melt.

Sophie and Sam melt and melt.

Sophie and Sam melt and melt.

Sophie & Sam get tiny.

The End.

Vacation Recovery

2011-07-25T09:53:00.015-07:00

We're back from a WONDERFUL vacation to San Diego, and now we're in recovery mode. Catching up on sleep, doing laundry, sorting through everything we managed to stuff into our van, and figuring out exactly what we did with our time before last week.

We stayed for a week at one of our favorite locations: Coronado Island. Jake and I vacationed there by ourselves 3 years ago, and had decided that it would make a great place for a big family vacation. So we recruited Jake's whole family to come along with us this time and all stayed together in a big beach house.

Part I: The Beaches

Coronado has 2 beaches: A "kid beach" in the bay, where the waves are small and the water is slightly warmer, and the main beach that faces the ocean. We went to both.

Part II: SeaWorld

Part III: Balboa Park

An afternoon with nothing to do found our family of 4 at Balboa Park. While it's not an action-packed place, we all had a really great time. The scenery is beautiful and the kids loved looking at the flowers and fish, and playing in the fountain.

Part IV: Family

I'm 30

2011-07-16T21:01:00.005-07:00

So, I'm no longer in my 20's. I'm a thirty-year-old person. It's strange.

Anyway, I had a great birthday. I got some gift cards for restaurants and shopping, a cuckoo clock (something I've been looking to get for about 2 years now), and even a gift card for my very own orange tree! (you'll have to wait until winter to see it purchased and planted)

Jake also got me some light reading material:

so I can be a pro using my new camera. I'm a lucky girl.

A Word on Goals

2011-07-08T09:42:00.004-07:00

My birthday is next week. And I'll be 30.

If you recall, last year I made a 30x30 list - a list of 30 goals I wanted to complete by my 30th birthday. I've been working on them all year, and I've been updating my list on the blog as I went along, for anyone interested in my progress --->

Well, I've come to the point where I'm as done as I'm going to be before my birthday, so I thought I would do a little review.

So here's the list:
(all CAPS = completed; red lower case letters = didn't accomplish)

1. GROW MY HAIR LONG

2. PLAN A BEACH VACATION (Heading out soon!)

3. PLAN A BIG PARTY (Jake's SURPRISE 30th Birthday Party)

4. READ 5 BOOKS

5. GET A BACK-TO-SCHOOL PLAN (Pretty much figured out that now is not a good time for me to go back to school, and I'll revisit the thought in another decade or something)

6. BUDGET FOR A CAMERA (This involves next year's tax returns and using up all of our Christmas budget for me AND for Jake. Don't feel bad for Jake, I did it a couple years ago when he wanted a big TV)

7. WEEKEND GETAWAY WITH JAKE (Scottsdale resort over Memorial Day)

8. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON

9. Make a good friend. Here's the first goal on my list that I didn't complete. BUT, I do have some good once-a-month girls night girls, and Jake made a good friend this year, which I think counts for something good.

10. MAKE & SELL SOMETHING (new art listed in my shop)

11. VISIT GRANDMA WEEKLY

12. Write a book. Non-finished goal #2. I worked on this a little in the spring, but nothing good came to me, so I put it on hold.

13. DECORATE MY MASTER BEDROOM (seen here)

14. Be stronger. #3. There's no excuse for this. I started an exercise program TWICE in the last year, but I was lazy and gave up both times.

15. Plant an orange tree. #4 - Our back yard was never ready for a new tree in the last year. It's getting closer. The pool is gone and we are brewing up great ideas for the space. We just need the funds for it.

16. PLANT A FLOWER GARDEN (Oh, I planted it alright. I worked really hard on it too. That doesn't mean anything grew.)

17. HAVE ONLY ONE MORTGAGE

18. ATTEND THE TEMPLE REGULARLY

19. GET LIFE INSURANCE

20. HAVE A WILL

21. PLAN A 3-MONTH SUPPLY MENU

22. TEACH THE DOG A NEW TRICK (Ah, no more dog jumping up on the bed at night. Next "trick": stop barking when the doorbell rings!)

23. HELP SOPHIE READ A BOOK (She's a smarty pants. This one was easy.)

24. EAT AN EXPENSIVE DESSERT (Crème Brûlée from Ruth's Chris. Mmmm)

25. BE PREGNANT (I'll be 6 months along on my birthday)

26. BUY A SCANNER (thanks, Jake)

27. EXPAND MY BUSINESS (They're both doing great)

28. SEW SOMETHING AWESOME (new pregnancy skirt)

29. Find Temple Art. And #5 of the non-finishers. But believe me, this one was not for the lack of trying. I have SCOURED the internet looking for something I like. I wanted art, not photography. I almost bought this a couple of times, but I think I can do better. This is nice too. I need a talented cousin or something to come up with a solution for me. Or try something myself.

30. FINISH THE FILING

And there you have it. My 30 by 30 list. Too bad I'm not turning 25 this year, cause then I would have completed it. Oh well, 25 out of 30 goals is not bad. And I did TRY to complete all 30, so I think I did pretty good.

Here's to my 30's!

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-04T12:36:00.002-07:00

A Shower for Baby Evelyn

2011-06-26T10:03:00.008-07:00

This weekend, I put on a baby shower for my sister-in-law Pia. With inspiration from her nursery colors and a little help from my new friend Pinterest, I was able to put it all together.

We had a buffet table full of orange and pink treats including a large assortment of fruit, candy, pretzel bites, and the biggest hit - cake pops.

I also set up a craft table where guests could make felt hair clips for baby Evelyn and take some home too. They all turned out really cute!

Yay for baby Evelyn!
Now stay cooking for a couple more months please.

Going . . . Going . . .

2011-06-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I mentioned on facebook that we were considering taking out the pool. I got an OVERWHELMING response to it - more facebook comments than I've gotten on any post before. And nearly 100% of the responses were telling me to keep the pool. Funny, a lot of the responses were to the tune of "we like that YOU have a pool".

However, we didn't receive any positive responses in the form of monetary contributions, so it just wasn't possible. We'll have a pool someday, just not today.

Going . . .

going . . .

going . . .

(Sam's permanent location for the past week)

going . . .

going . . .

gone.

We thought long and hard about this decision, and we know it's the right one for our family right now. Now who wants to play in our dirt?

Three

2011-06-09T10:28:00.002-07:00

For those of you (like me) who don't always watch videos when they're posted on blogs, you may have skipped over this video about 2 months ago, which may mean you don't know about this:

Baby #3
20 weeks (1/2 way there)
Due in October

Swingset

2011-06-07T16:20:00.003-07:00

Last week, we found a swing set on sale for a great price, so we decided to try it out.

And it's been awesome.

Slippery

2011-06-04T11:45:00.003-07:00

Somehow, we're still able to be outside in June. So we're taking advantage of it while we can. (105 degrees is still very manageable to an Arizonan)

Slip-n-Slide Modified

Teacher Appreciation Gifts (With a How-To!)

2011-05-26T11:06:00.004-07:00

Extra special teacher appreciation gifts take a lot of time, talent, money, and crafting skills.

First, get some Thank You cards. Cards left over from your wedding thank-yous work great.

2nd, have your student write "Thank you from Sophie*" in each one. *Please note in this step, you will substitute your own student's name for "Sophie". If you have a Sophie, leave it the same.

3rd, insert a gift card.

4th, seal the cards up in envelopes and have aforementioned student write each teacher's name on the fronts.

5th, let her (him maybe?) go to town with stickers.

6th, take pictures at weird angles and extremely close up to make a How-To blog post. A really good blogger would have a super nice camera and stop her student at every step to get action shots along the way.

(having the picture focused in the front and blurry in the back is a sign of a good photographer)

7th, blog. Oh, and make sure they make it into her backpack for school.

Troublemaker

2011-05-24T12:07:00.003-07:00

When the house is suspiciously quiet, and the boy is nowhere to be found, this is what I usually find:

Sam reading quietly to himself. He does this in his own room, in the playroom, and most recently in Sophie's room since we got her a new bookshelf.

Such mischief.

Over the River and Through the Woods

2011-05-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

We decided to take advantage of the last bits of nice weather we'll have this season before we all head into hibernation, only to reappear again in October.

First, we took a trip down the road to the river. The river isn't open for floating yet, so the water was really low and the crowds were nowhere to be seen. It was perfect! The kids could play anywhere because the water was so shallow.

Sam's favorite thing to do in any type of water is lay on his stomach and stick his ear in it. Don't ask me why.

Sophie liked exploring and working on her rock skipping skills.

And then, the next weekend, we headed up toward Payson and spent the night camping. We found a nice little spot that we had pretty much to ourselves, and had a great time as a family. The next day, we packed up and headed over to Natural Bridge.

It's quite an awesome sight, and has 4 easy trails that any family could do. We had a picnic lunch there, and walked to all the viewpoints to see the bridge.

Yay for family fun weekends! Now onto laundry.

Basement Sale - Take TWO

2011-04-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sophie recently suggested to Jake that they buy me a dryer for Mother's Day, because "I like washing clothes". I think they may have better luck finding something I would like here:

I'll be there again, along with:

Mimi from Yasmin Photography

Amy from Folding Chair Designs

Mindy from Laurel Lane Designs

Debbie with her vintage stuff

Kathryn and Marily from I {heart} Mesa

Elyse and Ceri from Ellie and Fern

Beth from Le Petit Cheval

I bet you'll find something there too. See you there!

Wanna Buy a Pair of Cars?

2011-04-21T15:01:00.003-07:00

It's time for our family to say goodbye to our matching cars.

Not only are we selling one, we're selling BOTH. I think we should sell them as a set. One to drive, one to keep around for parts. So handy!

We've moved on to something bigger for me, and something smaller for Jake.

Thank you, double Prizms. You've both been great.

I'm Flattered, Sam

2011-04-16T14:52:00.009-07:00

Sam is really big on imitating right now. He loves to watch me carefully and do what I'm doing. He tries to eat with a fork when I do, dips his chips into salsa, and even fixed his hair in the mirror on the way out the door the other day, just after I had done the same thing.

But this is my favorite thing that he imitates, which he does every morning:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Blockade

2011-04-14T09:26:00.002-07:00

Sam has been Brother Blocked from the playroom this morning.

Second Friday

2011-04-08T09:43:00.001-07:00

Today is the second Friday of the month, which means Mesa is holding it's Second Friday event. And guess who's going to have a booth there?

Yep, me.

With this stuff:

So come visit and say hi! (please?)

The best part? It's Sci-Fi Friday, so I'm hoping to see plenty of people in full costume.

A Saturday Hike

2011-04-06T12:00:00.007-07:00

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed into the Superstition Mountains for a little family hike. We chose the Hieroglyphics Canyon Trail. It's about 1.5 miles long with great desert scenery, nice city views (we could see all the way to the Phoenix skyline), and pretty cactus blooms.

Here we are getting ready to start

Sam is happy to be where he is

And here is what the end result is:

(photo credit)

Unfortunately those aren't my pictures, because we didn't make it that far. I would guess we got about a mile into it before Sophie was just too tired to go on. So we stopped at the highest point of the hike, before the trail leads into the canyon and called it good.

It was still a good first experience hiking as a family, and as you can see here, everyone had a REALLY fun and exciting time.

Spring Cleaning

2011-03-23T09:40:00.002-07:00

Saturday at our house also brought new toys! We got a big yellow bin full of Duplos and a box full of cars. Both have been well-loved by two cute kids ever since.

And since we brought stuff in, I figured we should get stuff out of here too. So Sophie and I went through the playroom and picked out all the toys we didn't want anymore.

Look what we're getting rid of!

Out with the old, in with the new.

Spring Training

2011-03-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, our family went to a Diamondbacks spring training game.

It was great to sit on the lawn, watch the game, let the kids run around, and see the new stadium.

The Brave One

2011-03-21T11:31:00.003-07:00

Last week, we had some days with 90 degree temperatures. Since Sophie has been asking when she can go swimming for about 6 weeks now, we finally said she could. We sure weren't getting in there with her (Jake has about another 3 weeks before he's brave enough to do it, I have about another 3 months).

Let me tell you, the girl was EXCITED.

I don't have pictures of the full event, but she did get all the way in and swim around the whole pool in her blue floaty. Crazy girl.

7 Years

2011-03-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful groom.
7 years of wedded bliss.

Look Ma! No Training Wheels!

2011-03-05T16:25:00.005-07:00

Sophie got the idea yesterday that she was ready to ride "a 2-wheel bike", so she has been asking Jake to take her training wheels off since he got home from work yesterday.

He did it this afternoon, and this is what we had within about 10 minutes:

She's a pro! I think we have the no-pedal wooden bike that Cathy got her (for her balance skills) and her next door buddy Tommy (for the idea) to thank for the quick progress.

Go Sophie!

Looks Like We're Not Going Anywhere Today

2011-02-17T10:54:00.002-07:00

Home Tour Wrap-Up

2011-02-01T09:08:00.006-07:00

We've all been sickies around here - everyone with something different. So today I just wanted to wrap up my home tour with a few random pieces of art that have been added recently.

Fabric World Map
(discovered in my parents' attic)

Yellow Framed Art
(by Duane Armstrong, found at a thrift store)

Art Gallery
(a work in progress)

Home Tour Part VIII: Master Bedroom

2011-01-25T08:31:00.002-07:00

I finished decorating my master bedroom. When we moved into the house, we had a bed and 2 stools to put in the room. Shortly after we moved in, we bought a set of dressers. But that was it for a long time.

I was on the lookout for nightstands, a full-length mirror, new bedding, and SOMETHING to do with the walls.

BEFORE:
AFTER:

BEFORE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AFTER:

We found the mirror right away (this one from IKEA), which we promptly knocked over and broke. It was the fastest way we've ever blown $50. Luckily we found a replacement a couple of months later at an auction in Phoenix.
The nightstands were a lucky find at an estate sale. They match the style & color of the dressers perfectly.
The lamps were next - they came from Marshall's.
The artwork above the bed is a Sophie original. I'd like them in larger frames, but these will work for now.
The other art is an original oil painting we scored at a thrift store.
And the bedding is a damask print set from Ross.

And then it was on to the walls. I got the idea for the wall from this blog. It's a stencil pattern. I couldn't find the design I wanted in a price I could afford, so I did my favorite thing. I went to etsy, found an artist I liked with prices I liked, sent them pictures of my ideas, and had them make something custom for me. This is who I used. You can see my design for sale now in his shop here (except I had my stencil with the pattern repeated 4 times for easier use).

The application was surprisingly easy and fast. I used silver paint - the same color as the wall but with a metallic finish. It looks lighter than the wall in some lights and darker in others.

Starting the stencil process

Here's what it looks like

My dresser

Jake's dresser & the replacement mirror

It's so great to have the room DONE! Plus, I get to cross it off my 30 x 30 list -->

Someone Went to Disneyland (not me)

2011-01-23T09:21:00.004-07:00

Jake's mom is either a really super nice grandma or a real sucker for a certain 4-year-old girl.

(this one)

She has been dreaming of the day when Sophie would be old enough to take to Disneyland unaccompanied by parents.

We decided that day was here in December. Sophie, her grandma, her grandpa, and her aunt and uncle all flew to California on a late night flight, went to Disneyland in the morning, back again to Disneyland the next day, and flew home that afternoon.

And they all loved every minute of it. It was Sophie's first trip to Disneyland where she was old enough to ride most of the rides, and she was fearless. In fact, she officially changed her favorite ride from the Teacups to Tower of Terror.

Seriously. The ride I can only convince myself to ride once per trip is her favorite ride. She loved how the falling elevator lifted her off her seat and made her feel like she was flying. But don't use the phrase "feel like you were flying" around her, because she will quickly correct you. "NO! I was REAL fwying. I PWOMISE! Yike a Shupa Hero"

She had an awesome time. She still talks about it all the time, and I'm really glad we let her go. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Am I Taller Yet?

2011-01-18T13:04:00.002-07:00

Over the summer, Stephanie posted about a growth chart she found on etsy, and so I decided to copy her. I mean, it's from a shop called Abbie's House - how could I not?

So I finally got it all put together. I did mine a little different - I bought a 6 inch board instead of 8 inches, and had it cut to 7 feet tall instead of 6 so that I can have taller children. I also asked the wonderful shop owner if she'd make me an additional cutout that said "The L_______ Family" to put on the top of the board. And she did. For FREE. How great is that?

And now Sophie can ask me daily if she's taller than 41 inches yet.

Someone Got a Haircut (not me)

2011-01-04T14:11:00.003-07:00

I finally cut Sam's hair. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it for a long time, so i just let it keep growing. Like this:

Super handsome, I know.

But last night I turned it into this:

Luckily, he's still cute.

2010: Year in Review

2010-12-31T04:50:00.007-07:00

2010 was a quiet year at our house.

Here's a recap of my year:

January
Sam tries FOOD for the first time

February
I finish my ALPHABET Wall

March
We SIT around

April
Sophie goes to SCHOOL for the first time

May
We (finally) have our HOUSEWARMING PARTY

June
Was spent in the POOL

July
We head to BOSTON

August
Sam turns ONE

September
Sophie gets her CAST off

October
A BEE and a MONKEY

November
Thanksgiving with FOUR GENERATIONS

December
Was spent with FAMILY

And here's to 2011!
How was your year?

(visit my 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2009 if you wish)

Boutique Success

2010-12-30T09:05:00.006-07:00

My first boutique was a success! It gave me motivation to look for more real-life sales, instead of just selling online. It was a lot of fun, I met a bunch of great people, I had a lot of good friends stop by to say hi, and I look forward to doing it again soon!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T11:00:00.005-07:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.
I hope you all enjoy this holiday season.

Basement Boutique

2010-12-16T21:24:00.003-07:00

I've been crazy busy. Ridiculously busy. Business, family, extended family (more on that later), Christmas decor, last week of school stuff, sending Sophie off to another state for a couple days (more on that later too), and finally, preparing for this:

Basement Boutique Vintage Sale

Be there. It's gonna be awesome.

Four Generations

2010-11-25T23:22:00.003-07:00

My Mom, Me, My Daughter, and My Grandma

We're the only 4 in the whole family that can claim 4 generations of women.
Aren't we a good-looking group of girls?

Accessories

2010-11-23T11:33:00.005-07:00

What can I say?

The girl likes to accessorize.

gloves
beanie
scarf
hooded sweatshirt
umbrella
rain coat tucked under her legs (just in case)

Four-Wheeling

2010-11-22T12:39:00.002-07:00

Teamwork

2010-11-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sam and Louie have a system going. Louie parks himself under the high chair during any meal, and Sam gives him whatever he doesn't want.

Macaroni

It Was Nice Out

2010-11-10T09:00:00.001-07:00

It was nice out.

So we enjoyed the weather.

Laying down on the grass
Staring at the leaves
Eating popcorn.

Sam's Cute. And Growing.

2010-11-08T09:08:00.004-07:00

Sam now gets that life is not fair. Sophie used to be able to take something out of his hands, and he was happy she was looking at him. Now though, that was HIS toy! And when things become unfair in Sam's world, the drama begins. BIG crocodile tears. LOUD sad screams.

And my favorite:

THROWING himself to the floor.

It's so dang cute. Poor kid. He's trying to prove a point here but it's just so fun to watch.

The State Fair

2010-11-06T20:37:00.004-07:00

Sophie braving the giant slide

We headed to the state fair today. We went first thing on a Saturday 2 years ago and decided then that it was the only way to do it. The place is totally deserted. We went straight to the petting zoo, and had the animals all to ourselves. We got to pet llamas, goats, wallabies, donkeys, big fat pigs, and ducks. And I kinda want a goat.

Sophie's favorite part: Feeding the goats
Sam's favorite: When he almost got to kiss a goat (that boy will kiss anything)
My favorite: Watching a wallaby jump over a mama llama. Awesome.

Sophie petting a goat

Here's Sam admiring a wallaby still resting in his pouch (in this picture you can see the wallaby's head, 2 feet, and his tail)

A Bee and a Monkey

2010-11-01T11:12:00.005-07:00

Did Halloween last all week for anyone else? Sophie was sick of her costume before Saturday. Story time, office parties, trunk or treats, carnivals, my goodness.

But it was fun and our little monkey got lots of compliments. (we found this costume for $1 at a garage sale FOUR YEARS ago, and couldn't pass it up. So we bought it and my nephew Oliver wore it then.)

And now, yay for November! Maybe we'll get out of this 90 degree weather!

Greener Pastures

2010-10-28T10:19:00.003-07:00

Our winter grass has come in.
It's soft and bright and we like it a lot.

Sam & Paige's Wedding

2010-10-23T07:55:00.004-07:00

Jake's youngest brother got married yesterday. My camera didn't come out much, but I did take a couple pictures. Everything turned out beautifully and it was really a great day.

All is Well

2010-10-21T09:13:00.003-07:00

We're doing fine here. The weather has cooled to the 70s for the weekend, and Sam is wearing pants, which makes him look like a little boy and not like my baby. The nerve.

In other exciting news, Uncle Sam is getting married tomorrow AND our winter grass sprouted in last night's rain. (yes, both those news items are equally exciting)

She's 4

2010-10-07T11:56:00.004-07:00

Sophie has been counting down months, weeks, and days 'til her birthday. And now that it's finally here, we have one proud girl on our hands. The first thing she did this morning was ask Jake to take the training wheels off her bike, and she dressed herself from the box in her closet that holds clothes that are still to big to wear.

For her birthday this year, Sophie asked for the following:

Drum
Pogo Stick
Clock
Umbrella
Tree House
Guitar
Footie Pajamas
Sled

She got/will be getting 5 of those things.

Happy Birthday Sophie Girl! We love you!

Welcome, October. Thanks for the Weather.

2010-10-05T14:18:00.006-07:00

For the first time since the beginning of May, I was able to tell Sophie "yes" when she asked me if she could go outside and ride her bike this morning. The Phoenix area was all about breaking heat records all through September and let me tell you Phoenix, no one was impressed.

But this morning brought cool breezes and cloud coverage and so we enjoyed the outdoors.

And then this afternoon, a quick 30-minute hail storm rolled through. It flooded the streets, banged on the windows, and howled through the air. And then it was gone and now, 20 minutes later, the streets are dry and the the sun is back. But we'll take what we can get.

30x30 Update: #26

2010-10-04T11:17:00.006-07:00

It looks like I may be able to expand my business pretty soon. I started by ordering more bubble mailers from CSN (which came in less than 24 hours AGAIN). I'm very pleased with them. Professionally packaged, quality product, fast shipping.

I also almost have enough revenue to place another order. Hopefully before Christmas!

And, I started selling a lot of my flowers in earring form at GoodieJar. They're all super cute, just ask my model.

OK, I think that's enough links for one post.

Home Tour Part VII: Sophie's Room

2010-09-23T10:42:00.010-07:00

I have decorating on my mind. I've been thinking of ideas for my master bedroom (see #13 on my list --->) and have a few things going on now. It's exciting.

As I've been on the lookout for decorating ideas (blogosphere), cheap bedroom furniture(CSN), and lighting (Ross, TJMaxx, etc), I remembered that I never posted Sophie's bedroom pictures, so I thought I'd do that today.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

If you thought the guest room needed lots of work, you were right. But, Sophie's room was the worst. It wins for the room needing the most coats of paint, thanks to the pink and green floor-to-ceiling diamonds, lime green closet interior, and bright pink ceiling. Also, I had to spend time sanding down the edges of the pink diamonds so that they wouldn't show through.

We painted Sophie's room a light pinky salmon color and accented it with pinks, corals, and turquoise. Later, we found a bright yellow headboard at a thrift shop that we couldn't pass up, so it was added. I initally planned on painting it, but I think it looks good as is, so for now it's staying yellow.

In one corner, she has all of her doll supplies. She has a thing for dolls right now, and has 5 favorites (Elo, Ia, Alopsio, Algo, and Fairy).

(picture descriptions below)

Top Left: Two vintage Sunday School posters found at a thrift store framed in garage sale found frames, sprayed turquoise. Pink painted chandelier taken from my parents' new house when they replaced their lighting

Top Right: I made this quilt. I couldn't find anything I liked for the longest time, and finally just decided to do something myself. I combined 2 Amy Butler blanket patterns and I love how it turned out.

Bottom Left: Mirror recovered from my parents' bathroom re-do, sprayed turquoise & hung at Sophie-height

Bottom Right: Thrift store art with pink painted frame & coral curtains

300 to 30

2010-09-17T08:30:00.006-07:00

I decided that I was going to make a "30 by 30" list. It's a list of things I'd like to do before I turn 30. It doesn't have anything too dramatic on it like a trip around the world or learning a foreign language, as we're on a budget and I'm already 29 and don't have much time to complete the list.

Coincidentally, today marks 300 days until I turn 30, so I thought I'd post the list now. I still have a couple more things to add to it though. I just need to think of them.

30 by 30

1. Grow my hair long

2. Go to the beach

3. Plan a big party

4. Read 5 books

5. Develop a back-to-school plan

6. Find a budget for a nice camera

7. Go on a long weekend with Jake

8. Read the Book of Mormon

9. Make a good friend

10. Make and sell something creative

11. Visit Grandma weekly

12. Write a book

13. Decorate my master bedroom

14. Be stronger

15. Plant an orange tree

16. Have a flower garden

17. Have only one mortgage

18. Be a regular temple patron

19. Get a life insurance policy

20. Have a will

21. Plan a year supply menu

22. Teach the dog a new trick

23. Help Sophie learn to read a whole book

24. Eat an expensive dessert

25. Buy a scanner

26. Expand my business

27. Sew something awesome

28. Prepare for my BP

29. Find temple art that I like

30.

Any ideas?

Louie

2010-08-30T08:36:00.009-07:00

We decided that we're ready for a dog. Not a puppy. A dog. So we've been going through craigslist, petfinder.com, and various animal shelter websites looking for a match. We wanted a small to medium dog, at least a year old, one that doesn't shed too much, and a with nice temperament.

On Friday night, we found him.

Meet Louie.

He was a stray rescued by the shelter from animal control. He came in completely matted and had to be shaved down to the skin. The people at the shelter had him for over a month, and described him as really mellow, kinda mopey, and not into toys or balls or anything. He just liked attention and loved being a lap dog.

He spent all of Saturday and Sunday just following us around quietly, and jumping on our laps any time we attempted to sit down.

Turns out he was just depressed.

Louie Yesterday . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . Louie Today

On Sunday night, he finally figured out that he was home for good, and warmed up to us.

And he ran! And he was excited! And he can fetch! And he DOES like toys!

But lucky for us he's still a good lap dog.

How To Save on Your Energy Bill

2010-08-27T07:53:00.007-07:00

Are these hot summer days taking a toll on your energy bill? They were mine. Until I discovered the secret to a low bill. And it was so simple!

Step one: Turn off your A/C completely.

Step two: Watch your energy usage PLUMMET!

(Step three: Spend thousands of dollars replacing your air conditioning unit)

Think of the money you'd be saving! You can't afford NOT to do it!

Sam's 1st Birthday Party

2010-08-22T09:23:00.017-07:00

For Sam's 1st birthday party, we threw him a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" family party.

We served all of the food from the book. Apples, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges, chocolate cake, ice cream cones, pickles, swiss cheese, salami, lollipops, cherry pie, sausage, cupcakes, watermelon, and a nice big green leaf salad.

Sam's first year of growth

The guests

Sam's gifts

The goody bags

Sam got some really great presents.
Cathy & Ben's handmade gift may need some closer inspection:

It's Sam's Baby Walker. Patent Pending.

And now, the cake.

Happy birthday Sam!

Sam's First Year

2010-08-19T12:43:00.003-07:00

Luckily, It Wasn't Sprained

2010-08-17T20:37:00.003-07:00

Last week, Sophie decided to perform an amazing feat of athleticism for her uncle just 10 minutes before her bedtime. She claimed that she was "trying to do a somersault off the chair" but what it looked like was a dive from an arm chair to the carpet.

Accompanied by a "POP".

And then a screaming 3-year-old.

We consoled her as best we could and sent her to bed. She had obviously hurt her wrist really bad, and could not calm down or sleep. I wrapped up her wrist and forearm in an Ace bandage, and that seemed to help the pain a little, but she was still up every 30-45 minutes all night that night.

The next evening we took the bandage off and she had no swelling, no bruising, and had full rotation in her wrist. She exclaimed "I think I'm all better now!" And she felt great all week, with just the occasional mention of her arm still hurting a little.

Well, by Sunday, we noticed that she was still really favoring that arm. She wouldn't put any weight on it and didn't use it to do normal things like climb into bed. We decided it must be a pretty bad sprain and an x-ray was in order.

Yeah. It's broken. So this afternoon it was off to the pediatric orthopedist.

Doll in tow. Elo (the doll) was allowed to go everywhere today. Sophie was super brave and very calm the whole time. She got to pick her cast color too. Any guesses?

It hasn't seemed to phase her at all. On the ride home, she said "My arm is locked!" And the only time she got sad was this evening during dinner when she realized that she wouldn't be going swimming for a while.

The day exhausted her, and she fell asleep on our way from the doctor to Yodipity. We'll have to save that for another day I guess.

Construction Sophie

2010-08-14T16:17:00.002-07:00

First Day of School!

2010-08-12T11:16:00.004-07:00

Today is Sophie's first day of school! She was totally excited to go. I drove her today, and she was too shy to go in by herself so Sam and I tagged along for a bit, but I'm hoping she did better after I left (I'll find out in an hour).

Her new car seat arrived this week (this one that I talked about here), so the ride to school was her first time using it, and Sam's first time in his big boy chair. Boy was he happy to be out of that infant seat. It was just too reclined for his taste, and he enjoyed this seat much more. And Sophie loved her chair "that looks like Ellie's". She liked how it was lower than her other one and I like that it's still nice and padded for her.

Also, it being the first time in 3 months I've been without 2 kids, poor Sammy Boy had to endure a chain of errands with me. I have a list of places I've been putting off going to until school started up again.

He didn't quite make it home conscious.

Yay for Monsoons!

2010-08-04T14:42:00.002-07:00

Here in Arizona, we tolerate the ridiculous summer weather for a couple months anticipating the relief that monsoon storms bring in. They're a nice half-way point to our summer.

This week, we were even lucky enough to have some daytime showers. Here's hoping we get more this weekend!

The Boy is Turning One Soon

2010-08-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we pretend that our neighbor's front lawn is our yard. Thanks Mimi!

Sam will be one this month (!), which puts me on the hunt for a car seat (Happy Birthday Son! Here's your new car seat!). Actually, we're giving him Sophie's convertible seat and we're planning on switching her to a 5-point booster. I think I'm going to go with CSN stores again since they were so good to me before (remember, they have baby stuff, dining room sets, shipping supplies, you name it). Also, a lot of their more expensive items come with free shipping.

I'll let you know how it goes.

New England Part VII: Boston

2010-08-01T09:03:00.002-07:00

And finally, our last full day in New England was spent in Boston. We drove to a train station about 20 miles from where we were staying, took the train in to town and then the subway into downtown.

When we emerged, we found ourselves right near Boston Common and a downtown art fair. It was lunch time, so we started looking around for lunch. I knew I had found my meal when I spotted a street cart with a line of about 10 people waiting. It turned out to be an Armenian chicken kebab place and it was DELICIOUS. As in Jake-regretted-his-meal-choice-and-also-wanted-to-go-there-for-dinner delicious.

We ate our lunch in the park and then headed to the playground to let the kids run around. Unfortunately, it was sprinkling on us, so we didn't change them into their suits to play on the splash pad or in the frog pond. The rain was a nice relief from the humidity though, so we were glad to have it.

After the playground, we walked over to the Public Garden and rode the swan boats.

Sophie and me making silly faces at Jake

Well, two of us rode the swan boats. The boys stayed ashore because of this:

Afterward, we tried to follow the Freedom Trail for a bit, but then changed our minds and walked over to the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood. It's full of beautiful brick and brownstone homes and brick sidewalks. This is Acorn Street. It's a working cobblestone street and it was quite lovely.

Our vacation was just awesome. Every day we did something new and exiting. We're so lucky to have been able to go on this trip. Thank you Mom & Dad for being so generous and for letting our whole family have this experience. We'll never forget it!

New England Part VI: The Beach

2010-07-31T09:03:00.004-07:00

We decided to spend one afternoon at the beach. Sam was sleeping as we were getting ready, so we didn't get a chance to change him into his swimming suit before we arrived. He woke up just as we set everything down on the sand, so I stripped him down to get him ready. Before I could stop him, he was in the sand testing it out. Apparently it's delicious because the next several minutes had him doing this:

Hand over hand sand eating. Crawl a little, grab a handful of sand to eat, crawl some more, eat some more. There was no stopping the kid.

Eventually Jake took him down to the water to get rinsed off and we were able to get a suit on him.

Some exciting local news took place the day we played in the ocean. 150 people were simultaneously stung by a gigantic jellyfish just down the street from where we were.

Luckily we were all safe and didn't even hear about the incident until we were safely back home. After we had been at the beach for a while, Sam decided to get some alone time. He crawled away from me all on his own, and then just sat watching the water for a while. He frequently likes to be by himself, so I just let him enjoy it.

New England Part V: Canobie Lake Park

2010-07-30T09:03:00.004-07:00

Our funnest day of the trip was our day at Canobie Lake Park. It's an amusement/water park in New Hampshire, and it was just FILLED with things that Sophie loved to do. There's an entire Kiddieland section with rides only for kids 48" and under. She loved going on those, telling us that we were too big for her rides.

Kiddie Cars

Dune Buggy

Flying Rooster (Sophie yelled out
"This ride is TOO FAST!" the whole time)

Spinning Cars

Caterpillar
(Sophie & Jake appear at about 14 seconds)

We spent several hours in the early afternoon riding all the rides, and then changed into our swimming suits to go on all the wet rides and into the water park area.

Can you spot Sophie in this picture?

We were so glad we decided to go. Both kids were fast asleep the second we got on the road home (one may or may not be asleep in this family picture). It was a great day!

New England Part IV: Candlepin Bowling

2010-07-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

On Monday, all of my siblings and their kids went candlepin bowling. It's different from regular bowling in that the pins are thinner, the balls are smaller, and you get 3 chances to knock down your pins instead of 2. Oh, and it's awesomer in that with my high score of 82, I beat everyone else there.

We Interrupt this Vacation Recap . . .

2010-07-28T14:24:00.001-07:00

. . . to give you a hair cut.

Sam Before:
Sam Now:

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

New England Part III: Reunions

2010-07-28T08:42:00.001-07:00

While in New Hampshire, we got to attend family reunions from both sides of my dad's family. We met new people, got reacquainted with our cousins, and just enjoyed socializing.

And these girls couldn't have been happier together.

This was Sophie's favorite part of the reunion:

She somehow convinced Granddad to come into our cottage, sat him down, and read an entire book to him. Luckily, I think Granddad enjoyed it too.

New England Part II: The Cottages

2010-07-27T08:00:00.009-07:00

After visiting family in Massachusetts, we jumped onto the Seacoast highway and headed north to New Hampshire. My whole family stayed in separate cottages with views of the ocean.

Our closest access to the water was at a rocky beach, but it was still fun to explore. We walked over there several times on our trip to get wet, play in the waves, and for some of us, pop salty shells in our mouth.