Dear Aunt Jody...

Happy Halloween, finally.

now if you saw all that 'cannee' sitting in front of you I'm sure you'd be able to smile with only your bottom teeth too. Just try.

Be honest...

Have you ever thought your child was a genius?

Today I did...

genius moments around here usually make us laugh.



Who dares to compare?

I'll tell you who...

starts with a T then A then M & M then Y

You'd think she was my pediatrician who makes house calls & today's phone call came while she was at work b/c a friend of hers had a baby 1 week after Reid & she tells me that baby is about ready to crawl so "what's Reid doing?" My reply..."he knows how to lay on his back reeeal good"

I've learned not to expect much from my babies (from a few previous experiences)

even Reids baby girlfriend Ninna is only 2 weeks older & is crawling all over the place!

Although there is one thing I forgot to tell my sister...

Reid can READ

(but we'd like to keep it a secret for about 5 years)

What a difference a year makes...back then his Mom was in control

 but these days,

the two year old wins and he even wears a medal to prove it.

I saw someones competitive side come out...or twinitive side.

 Summer was first at having a loose front tooth but as it dangled she was too afraid to have me pull it & all of my great ideas could not sway her but Tessa did not want to wait another day & allowed me to tie dental floss around her front tooth & was sooo happy to lose it 4 hours before Summer!

but for the 2nd front tooth Summer was 1st to wiggle hers out & I told Tessa she had a few more days until hers was loose enough. Nope, she wiggled 3 straight hours at church & pulled it by the end of primary. 

Almost six months old

My baby's got blue eyes

 now that I'm getting normal sleep I am really appreciating his littleness & my favorite thing is changing his diaper b/c for the past couple months he giggles when I wipe his adorable little buns

and he's got

his daddy's long lashes



finding this little treasure really shows the heart of this girl...

 they went to vacation bible school during the summer and as I was giving the room a deep clean I came across this item & threw it in the trash until I decided to double check if it had been used and sure enough...

 "My prayers book. I am just an ordinary girl but I can be a missionary."

(I love how she drew the girl kneeling)

 "I pray for the homeless man that he can find money and be blessed."

"I hope I get a teacher that's the nicest."

I know her last prayer was answered & still remember the day we were driving around and answering her questions about the man on the corner (I guess our car looks like a space shuttle) Summer is a thoughtful girl & this will always remind us why we love her to pieces

Here were the happenings in the first week of August when Laura and Mia came to visit all the way from their mountain in Colorado. Went swimming for the day at Laura's friends house

 went swimming some more at our neighborhood pool

 these boys are getting bigger by the day so I must smooch them as much as possible

 Amelia had swim lessons and no longer requires flotation devices! Here she is with her buddies Tessa and Abby

 more swimming at Lake Tahoe where we met up with Laura's BYU freshman roommate and her family

(they felt the lake was at least 1 degree warmer than when they went last time)

 yes, they are running from a lake 'wave'

it may be time to hit a real beach :)

Is this Eliza annoyed that she has to share this moment with her sisters (she thinks Mia should be her very own cousin since they are the same age...sorry missy!) or she could just be focusing on trying to keep her eyes open for the picture...either way we are just happy for time we got to play swim!

Once upon a time there were four little girls who skipped off to school thinking they were all so cool with their fingernails painted a lovely shade of blue. Lunches packed, plus a snack

but there was just a little piece of info that the mom lacked...

 the last little girl has to wait one more week for kindergarten (strange, I know) so back home with me she went. A friend clued me in the night before thank goodness

 we still all enjoyed our back to school dinner to celebrate our theme this year...When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Lemon pepper pasta from Trader Joes was also tasty 

 just remember not to let anyone sour your day because it's up to you to sweeten' it up.

 cheers!

 

 

A sweet visit all the way from St. Louis!

Surprise to our little friend Brynn...she thought she was visiting some long lost cousins until we opened the door (Lori wins mom of the year for planning her daughters 9th birthday)

 Lori's mom & brother were generous enough to drop them off to us

Can't wait to see what these girls are like as teenagers, oh wait...here's a glimpse

 after spending the evening at the lake we had to top off her birthday by having cake at 10pm...best Friday ever!

 
 Lori was up for a Sunday walk but to me it felt like a walk-a-thon. I am such a wimp compared to this montana raised chick

• loved getting super tired from late night chatting
• loved getting lost in my own town just to find a store to use my stupid groupon coupon (by the way I still love the wallet we got)
• loved having you for the weekend