Do we have a model in the making?

We got Harlee a new dress for church and I wanted to take a few pictures of her before we left. So I was asking for her cute smile and she just kept posing, having a great time. Maybe this could be a career in the future? I took a few cute pictures of Luke too- enjoy!!!

Friday FUN Day

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE Joey's summer hours? Every third Friday he works all day but the others he is off at 11:30am. It is the best. This Friday I was able to take Luke and Harlee to the Draper pool. They have been wanting to go all summer. Since Joey is not really a fan of the pool he offered to stay home with Nash. We had a blast. It is so great to watch their two different personalities come out. Luke ran in, got his life jacket on, and he was gone. He just loves to go and swim all over. He talks to every one and makes friends. Then there is Harlee. She gets her life jacket on and then stays as close to me as possible. We went out in the water together but she does not want to get out of my sight. It was so fun to watch them have fun. Then when we got home Joey took Luke to play tennis. Never mind the fact that it was about 100 degrees, they had so much fun. They took their waters and a bag of tennis balls and returned with Luke's face as red as can be. Luke was very excited to tell me how good he did at tennis! Then I went to pick up Cafe Rio for dinner. What a great way to end a fun day!

Scootin around

Nash is no longer the baby you can leave upstairs in front of a good Wiggles episode and not worry- he is mobile and loving it! He is not quite crawling but scoots all over the place. The other night, Joey would put something a few feet in front of him and he found a way to get to it. I am so happy for him, not so much for me, but he is growing and developing so much. We just love our little Nash and he is motivating me to start the baby proofing! Way to go Nash!

Luke's First Talk

Today Luke gave his first talk in Primary. He did such a good job. I loved to watch him as he sat at the front of the room waiting to speak. He sat there with such excitement telling everyone who would listen that he was giving a talk today. What a different attitude than his parents! His talk was on "I Will Strengthen My Family." We colored a some pictures that I held up as he spoke. Here is what he said:

"I will strengthen my family by: Reading Scriptures together, by having Family Home Evening, by having family prayer, by being kind to my brother and sister, and by having fun together. I am thankful for my family."

He gave his talk almost by memory and knew the exact way to end it also. Joey had to teach today so he could not be in there but we were both so proud of him.

Date Night

I must admit that is a title I did not think I would see for awhile! Besides Don's wedding it has been at least 7 or 8 months since we last went on a date. I was really excited to spend some time with just Joey. Don't get me wrong, I love being all together as a family but I feel it is super important to have the one on one time also. So the long overdue date was made possible by Don and Charity. They were so nice to agree to watch the kids so we could go out and not worry. We stopped and grabbed a quick dinner at Wendy's to eat on the way to the Gallivan Center. During the summer they have free concerts every Thursday night. We both love music so these concerts are so fun for us. Last night Jenny Lewis and Bon Iver (one of Joey's favs) were performing. It was so much fun to be together. I have to admit though that I do not know which was a bigger show, the concert or the people. We are not sure where all the crazies come from but they sure provide an extra bonus of entertainment. Thanks Joey for such a fun night and here's to our goal of 2 dates a month!! Love it Joey!

P.S We had Luke take our picture before we left. He was very pleased with his new photography skills and so were we! Thanks Lukie!

Good Examples

In our stake we were asked to work on 3 family plans: temple worship plan, spiritual/temporal plan, and a missionary plan. We were asked to come up with ways to incorporate the above into our family. For part of our spiritual/temporal plan we decided to have family scripture study followed by family prayer every night. I was a little hesitant since they are so little so we decided to read one story from the children's Book of Mormon each night. I get so happy to see Luke on one side and Harlee on the other side of Joey as he reads. The kids love this so much and remind us every night to do this. On fourth of July we were up so late that we did not get to the reading. When we got home from fireworks at 11pm Luke said that we needed to read. It was so late but Joey promised we would read the next day. First thing Sunday morning, Harlee went and got the book and reminded us that we needed to read. What great examples Luke and Harlee are. I know that we are raising stronger spirits than ourselves and I am so thankful with their diligence in our family plan. Thanks for keeping us on track Luke and Harlee!

Fourth of July

I always love holidays because it means that Joey is home with us. Because he is on summer hours, he was off for half day on Thursday and then all of Friday. We spent so much time in the backyard laying sod and working hard but we did find time for fun on Saturday. After working in the yard, we rented a few movies. The kids watched Furious Five downstairs and Joey and I watched Passengers upstairs. We planned on driving to a lower neighborhood to watch the Thanksgiving Point fireworks so we were all waiting for dark. Around 9pm Mindi called and invited us to watch the fireworks with them in front of Cabellas. So we brought some treats and they cooked hot dogs and we had a blast. I love to watch Luke and Harlee interact with their cousins. It was a great time and I think it will become tradition.

Day of "Firsts"

Yesterday was a day of "firsts" for our little Harlee. It started out with a good first and then ended with one I would not mind if it never happened again. Harlee got to go to her first birthday party. I could not believe that I was dropping her off for her 2 hours of fun. Good thing it was for Brooke and Dane and I knew Jenny would take great care of her. It was a Dora and Diego party. Brooke and Dane dressed up like those characters and they had a great time. When I picked Harlee up she told me that she ate "tate" aka "cake" and had ice cream. She also told me that they played "Dut dut doose". It took me awhile to crack that code but she was thrilled when I guessed "Duck Duck Goose"! She had so much fun and came home with lots of little treasures. The next first that happened was not so fun. She came home and spent sometime out in the dirt so I put her and Luke in the shower. I went to get their pjs and ran back in when Luke was screaming. He said that Harlee had fallen. She was bleeding so much and I found that the blood was coming from her chin. So I quickly dressed her and we were off to the ER. She was so brave. They checked her and confirmed that she would need stitches. They gave me the option of sedation or strapping her down in a papoose to do the stitches. I called Joey and we opted for the sedation. They tried to do it by spraying medicine in her nose but after 10 minutes of no effect they needed to give her a injection. Tears filled my eyes to watch her go through that. After about 10 minutes she was out of it. I thought she would fall asleep but instead she just stared at me blankly. She was out of it but by the time they went to stitch her up she was a little more aware. My heart was breaking to see the fear on her face. But she held my hand and was so calm as they put in the 4 stitches. I was so proud of her. The doctors gave her 2 cute stuffed animals and everyone commented on what a cute girl she is. I just pray this is the only time we have to go through this. I don't think there is anything worse than watching someone you love in pain. I know that this was definitely not the worst thing that could have happened but I would be OK to not experience it again.

Backyard of our dreams

I am so lucky that I have a husband who not only has a landscaping background but is the hardest worker. He made our last backyard look amazing (we actually still miss it and drive by often to see how it is growing!) and now he is doing the same at our new house. He is teaching Luke and Harlee the importance of work and I love to see them working together. I have to mention Harlee's outfit- love the footed jammies with the shoes and the beads around her neck. Still girlie in all of that dirt! Thanks all of you for working so hard. I cannot wait to see it when it is done!

Nash's 6 month checkup

My how time flies when you are having fun! I cannot believe it is 6 month checkup time already! Well Nash made us proud. He is growing faster than normal. His weight is 20 lbs and 1 ounce which is 90%. His height is 29 1/2 inches which takes him off the charts. He is such a big kid! The doctor said that he is advanced in his development. The fact that he is rolling all over and starting to scoot puts him ahead of most babies his age. Does not surprise me, he is following in the "advanced" footsteps of his brother and sister. I would almost bet that comes from their Dad!! Over the next few months the doctor said he should be scooting more and start to crawl. He threatened him that he better not be walking by 9 months and I second that threat! I am not ready for that just yet! What a dream baby Nash is and we are so glad that he is finally healthy!

Love this picture

Because all of our kids are movers it is hard to come by a picture of all three of them together, let alone being still. I just love this picture of them. I love how they are holding hands- too cute! I hope that they always stay this close. I pray they become great friends and look out for each other. It is so crazy to me that we have been given the opportunity to know and love these three beautiful children. Heavenly Father must have a lot of faith in us and I pray daily that we make Him proud.