here puppy, puppy

This little backpack is a glorified lease to keep kids close at hand. Chloë loves to wear it and let Sam & Liv walk her around. It is hysterical to see!

what does Sam love

Sam loves BIG pieces of watermelon. I will have to scan another picture similar to this one of Sam when he was a baby!

Sam also figured out how to climb this wall in our front patio. He will just sit up here and look around. It is so cute.

Lauren's first birthday

The kids got out the playdough and ended up making Lula a birthday cake.

They were both very cute. Lula wanted to play with them.

After our cake-making party we opened gifts. Barbie got each of the kids a present to celebrate her birthday. The kids had a great time opening the gifts. Chloë was especially excited. Thanks, Mom and Happy Birthday to You!

you're right!

A few months ago my mom was in town visiting. We were driving down the road and she told me to slow down b/c there was a flashing sign on the side of the road that said I was going 15 (more or less) over the speed limit. I told her, "The sign does not say how fast over the speed limit is, it just blinks the speed you are going to get your attention." My mom said, "Alright, but I think it said how fast over the limit you were going." Of course, I disagreed and the conversation was over. Then later that day I had a vision that she was right. So I told her she was right and that I was wrong. My mom thanked me for acknowledging it.

Well, a few days ago I told Olivia not to put the butter in the microwave for too long or it would melt. She said ok and we kept cooking. Then out of no where she said, "Mom, I know you are right, I just heard what you said and I know that you are right!!" I thanked her for acknowledging my knowledge about butter and quickly remembered my conversation with my mom.

It all came full circle. I am grateful for all that my mom has taught me. It must have taken a lot of patience and humility to raise me. Especially because I was always right, and according to Olivia I am still right!

discovery museum

We went to the museum today. It was one the first times I took all four kids out to play (other than the park) by myself. We did pretty good.

HPTB summer baseball game

It was an AWESOME afternoon for a baseball game.

Daniel's firm once again hosted this great event.
Here are some of the people in attendance.

We had a yummy dinner and way too many treats while we watched the game.


You can sort of see our fresh churros. We walked way out to the first base out field to watch them make the churros. It was SO GOOD. Super hot and still wet in the middle!

Father Daughter campout

The father daughter campout is something Olivia looks forward to all year.

She and Daniel both had a great time. The had dinner, which consisted of hot chocolate for Olivia. Then some of the dads shared campfire stories.

MY BABY

Growing up I was the baby of the family. I did not mind that, but I have always told Olivia that since she was my FIRST baby, she would always be my baby.
Well, my baby has lost her first tooth. Daniel was a little upset by the whole incident. He thought she was too young to be losing teeth. Olivia did not seem to be phased by the event. And I was just shocked. Apparently, she was climbing into bed (the top bunk) while holding her bunny stuffed animal in between her teeth. She fell forward on her pillow and out popped her tooth! It was no big deal for her!

The next day we made her a special pillow for her tooth so the Tooth Fairy can find it. She and Chloë really like the pillow we made.

What do you do...

What do you do when it is 115 degress outside? Play with grandpa, eat an apple, or swim. Chase and Andrea came down while the rest of their family was at boys camp.

Or when it is hot, just sit and eat an apple!

We did not want to leave Phoenix. Sam and Olivia cried for 30 minutes because they were so sad! Sam and my dad became good pals. (the popsicles did not hurt the situation)

dad's arrival

We were all very excited for dad to come to Phoenix. We had a great time swimming. When fairy tales are made, they come from evenings like this one.

115*

You won't believe it, but we went to the Phoenix zoo when it was 115 degrees outside. Yes we are crazy! But we had fun. Here are Chloë and I enjoying a camel ride. She was very observant as we rode, thinking about each step the camel took.

Sam, Kira and Olivia thought it was great. In case you were not aware, the camel's hump is made of fat, and it is very hard.

Mostly we went to play at the water park.

So we aren't that crazy.

We love the sun!

Goggles & Flippers

Barbie gave Olivia a goggle and flippers set. She loves them. During this visit to Phoenix, Olivia was able to swim down to the deep end of the pool.

Sam has a similar swim tube as you see Chloë wearing. Both of them perfected the art of "bicycling" around the pool. Sam was able to bicycle down to the deep end. A great feat for most young kids. I finally understood why they were afraid to swim to the deep end. It is because of the POOL CLEANER. Apparently, it is very scary!

Lauren Bell and Barbie celebrate

We can't be together on their real birthdays, so we decided to have a birthday party a month early. As you can see, it was nothing but fun! Actually, we did have a nice time until Lula decided she was tired.

Olivia loves to hold her newest cousin Madeline. Madeline's right eye looks a little funny here, but she is a cute baby.

Here are the birthday girls. Thanks, Mom, for sharing your birthday with her. Mom almost got to share her birthday with her grandfather, but she came a day early.

Birthday cake everywhere!!!! Turns out she was not so tired once she got her own cake to eat.

my childhood

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip because it reminds me of my childhood. For some reason or another my dad would be using the soldering iron. So he would let me practice soldering. It is really fun for a child to do.

So Olivia and my dad made her a bracelet. She was very proud of it all week!

just us

We had a great weekend. Olivia stayed up late and we watched the fourth of July firework shows from the eighth story of our building. We made sandcastles at the beach, went swimming at the pool, flew our kite, played dominos, rested, walked down to the pier and even learned how to play chess.

I don't want to hear anything about my hair. It looked worse 2 weeks ago. The man that cut my hair can be very emotional. I won't be going back to him!

Most of all I loved spending time with Daniel.

Back to the Beach

We were home long enough to see some friends and watch Dad play in a baseball game.

The we drove down to San Diego for our first family vacation. We celebrated the fourth of July with our own little family. Of course we went to the beach and had too much sun.

Happy Birthday Mandy

Another one of my great friends is having a birthday. We had a little get together at Mandy's mom's house in celebration of Mandy and Miles' birthday.

It was the perfect gathering for the children and the adults.

Chloë followed Fiona around playing with her.


We have a great group of friends in this area. I feel so blessed as I see each of them and learn from their great examples of parents, friends, and spiritual leaders.