It's Autumn Time

Autumn is in full swing, and I often find myself singing, "It Autumn time, its Autumn time, the leaves are falling down" to my kids. June, Jack, and I are having a ball just hanging out together and enjoying the outside when the weather permits. When we are inside the house June loves to watch Disney movies - Cinderella is a favorite (that is what she is holding up in the pic) Jack keeps growing and gets more sweet by the day. Morning times are my favorite with him. He just has all sorts of things to tell me, and is always full of smiles.

June likes to do whatever I am doing. Here we are making bread together. Wearing our aprons is probably the best part of the whole thing!

I have also been doing some canning. My lovely sister in law Lisa helped me can this beets one snowing day a few weeks ago. I think they turned out quite beautiful.

Over Conference weekend we took a quick trip down to Utah. We stopped in to see Brett and Margaret in SLC, and then headed to Provo and Spanish Fork. My dear cousin Kate let us stay with her for a few days and we had a great time.

More recently I got the good old Jumping Jack out for my boy. He has only done it a few times, but I think he is catching on pretty quick. June loves to help him - even though I try to convince her to let him do it by himself. Here she is giving Jack a little push. He doesn't seem to mind her "helping" him - Jack loves when she is around.

My sister turned 14 last week. I just love her, and my kids do too. She is growing up so fast. I remember the day she was born, and being excited to tell my 6th grade class about her. We have been staying with her for the past couple of days while my mom and dad are away and she is one busy girl. There is something going on every day!!!

And last of all is a sweet shot of my angel girl. I go in and check on June every night before I go to bed, and this is how I found her a few nights ago. I say - why not wear your church shoes to bed, some occasions just call for fancy.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Last week Sean turned 26. For some reason that sounds a lot older than 25 - good thing I am only 25!!! I made him a Transformers cake (yes that's right a Transformers cake for a 26 year old). I was a bit nervous to do it, but the cake turned out great. June loved to help her Daddy blow out all the candles and to help him open his presents.

My Jack man is as cute as ever and he is becoming so interactive. He loves when people get down and talk to him. He has been smiling for awhile now, but I finally caught one on camera. He also loves to blow bubbles and slobber.

I have tried him in his Bumbo a few times, but he's not quite strong enough to sit in it for long periods of time just yet. He does like it for the short time that he's in it though.

June impresses me with how gentle and loving she can be with Jack. She will sit down next to him and try to get him to stop crying, or just talk with him. It is so sweet to watch. How lucky I am to have her to help me.

Running the 5K

On Saturday morning my sister Rose and I ran in a 5K race. My dad is always looking for a new way to get involved in the community and he recently joined the board for the Snake River Animal Shelter and they are the ones who put on the race. It was called the "Mutt Strutt." Lots of people ran with their dogs, but neither of us have a dog so we just ran together. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it. We made it in pretty good time too (30 minutes). My mom and her friend walked the 5K and pushed my two kids in the stroller. June and Jack probably think their mom is crazy for all of the things I take them too. They are pretty good troopers though.

Flounder

Remember Flounder from the Little Mermaid? Well, June has a Flounder that she just loves that came with her Ariel Barbie, and lately the two of them have gone everywhere with us - including on our daily walks. This past Friday we stopped at the bridge over the canal just down the road from our house (we do this every day so June can throw rocks in the water). June had Flounder and Mermaid lounging by the canal side when all of a sudden she turned to me with a distressed look on her face and pointed down the canal and said "Flounder!" Sure enough, Flounder was floating away. At first I thought he was gone for good, but June was truly upset about it. Plus, knowing my daughter, I knew that I would never hear the end of it. I could just see her throwing a "Flounder Fit" and I didn't want to deal with that. I decided to go in after the little fish. I ran down the canal bank until I was in front of Flounder, ripped off my shoes, and took the plunge. I swam out into the middle and grabbed the run-away fish and then swam back to shore. I did lose both of my socks in the water, but I got what I jumped in for, so I'm saying I came out victorious. June was excited to have her beloved Flounder back as well. I had to walk the rest of the way home sopping wet, but hey, my June bug was happy and that's all that matters. In other news, our garden is doing quite well. We have enjoyed harvesting all of the vegetables. June spotted this carrot and dug it out with a little help from me. It is the biggest carrot we have had this year. Oh, and I love that June's shoe's are on the wrong feet in this picture.

And Jack turned 2 months old back on the 3rd. He is so sweet, and the best boy ever. At his check-up he weighed 10 lbs 5 oz and was 21 1/2 in long. He is in the 25% for both.

How can you not love this boy???

Camping 2009

I was brave and went up camping with my family last weekend. I was nervous about bringing my then 6 week old baby, but my good sister-in-laws convinced me that it would be alright. We ended up having a great time (especially the late nights around the campfire) and I'm so happy that I decided to go. My in-laws let us stay in their trailer with them so we didn't have to sleep in our tent. There was lots of 4-wheeler rides and June got dirty from head to toe. Below is most of the cousins just sitting on the 4-wheelers waiting for somebody to take them for a ride. Sean and I went on a ride and got so dusty. If you look closely you can see the dirt caked on our faces.

June had been crying about something (I think that the wrong person put her shoes on), but I couldn't resist taking a shot of the dirt and tear streaked face.

Jack was a champ and ended up sleeping most of the time. Here he is all bundled up ready to go home. The day we left it got pretty cold, so he needed his hat on.

Blessing Day

We blessed Jack on Sunday August 9th. It wasn't fast Sunday, but it just worked out better for all of our family to have it then. Jack was an angel boy as always, and Sean did a great job giving the blessing. We were blessed that so many of our family members and friends were able to be there. I am grateful everyday that this baby boy is in my life. He is too sweet and words don't do justis to how much I love him. Being a mother to Jack and June brings me so much joy - they are my everything, and I couldn't ask for two better kids

We had lunch out to our house after the meeting. For August, it was a pretty cool day (only in the 70's), but we had a good time anyways. Everything turned out great thanks to all of my wonderful family members. I really did marry into an amazing family, plus nobody is quite like my own mother - she can do anything and everything. With their help it was a successful afternoon.

We are also in the process of potty training June. She loves to wear panties, and not just one pair, but all of them at the same time!!!!

And in other news, my Dad surprised me one day and brought out this double stroller!!!! My dad is the best - always watching out for me - I love him like crazy. I have been missing going on walks everyday since Jack has arrived, and now I can go out with both my kids. Jack looks terrified in this picture, like I have strapped him into a roller coaster ride. June loves that she has a friend to stroll with now.

July has Come and Gone

I can't believe that July is already over. It went by so quickly. It just seems like yesterday that I was pregnant and hoping that my baby would come soon. Now my Jack is four weeks old and August is here.

June is a swimming champ - all she needs are her pink floaters and there is no stopping her. She loves the water just like her mama.June and her Daddy get to spend a little bit more time together now that Jack is here. They have a good time together as you can see from the picture.

My brother Stuart turned 23 - I'd like to say that he is older than me, but I am in deed the big sister. The rest of my family was on a road trip to Nauvoo for Stuart's birthday so I got to make him a cake and celebrate with him. He is single and headed to BYU this fall - know any young, pretty, smart girls that are in Provo??

And then there is my handsome baby boy. He is growing so fast. He is such a good little guy and I love him so much. Hard to believe he will be a month old on the 3rd.