Brea gets a haircut by Dallin

Dallin decided to give Brea a haircut today. I was shocked when I came out of the shower to see Brea with NO HAIR. She said "Look Mom, Dallin cut my hair like a boy" (in a very happy voice). Luckily Jeff was home, we were leaving in 20 minutes to go to a birthday party. I left Jeff to deal with Dallin and rushed Brea to Kiddie Kutters. They did a great job, and gave her a cute SHORT haircut. It will be easier to do this way (Stay Positive!). Luckily she is such a cute girl that she can get away with short hair.

My first REAL sewing Project

This was (for most) a simple sewing project, adding fabric to a T-shirt - But it was a big deal for me. I do know how to use a sewing machine for basic sewing, but I do now know how to do fancy things like others can. Jeff got me a sewing machine for my birthday this year so I am trying to make more. The girls were thrilled to have matching dresses. Brea wears hers almost every day. They are good for summer dresses, but not quite good enough for church or anything fancy. It was a good experience, and I learned a lot making them. I also made each of the kids a crayon roll. They turned out really cute and were easy (just strait stitches). I am excited to start creating more.
My big One year old Alyssa. Hers was the only one that I actually gathered first, and then sewed it on.
My darling Jackie, so photogenic. I tried to add a ribbon to hers, using a fancy stitch that my sewing machine can do. But I did the stitch in white, and you can't even see it against the white ribbon, unless you look really close.
Brea picked out the fabric with me and was so excited that I finally made the matching dresses. She is such a girly girl and loves to wear dresses.

Fun with Friends at Nature Center

We are enjoying our Summer, a time to be outside and spend time together with family and friends. We went to the nature center with our good friends the Stulls this week. The kids had lots of fun together. Here is the whole crew in the tree together!
Jackie and Katie got these cattails out of the swampy water with sticks. They carried them all through the hike and were sad when we only let them bring the sticks home in the car.
They all want to see what is in that murky water.
Elly is getting hold enough to start playing with Brea, so cute!
Johnny and Brea are quite the hilarious pair. We gets lots of laughs from watching them.

Dallin found a cactus on the hike. He remembered that we told him once that you can eat the inside of cactus. So he GRABBED it trying to get to the inside. He came running to me with his hand full of thorns - OUCH. There was probably 30 thorns in his thumb alone, they were all over his hand. Luckily they were small and soft, but some got in pretty deep and those hurt to pull out. He was a trooper, and helped pull them out himself. I don't think he will try that again.

Celebrations

Last Sunday we celebrated Fathers Day as well as Alyssa's Birthday. Jackie made this amazing hat for Dad to wear. I was impressed she could twist them together without popping them. He felt pretty special in that hat. Dallin blew up about 13 balloons, for the celebration. He asked me to blow them, and I said I couldn't, so he did it himself.

He got another hat to wear - "The world's Greatest Dad" with a matching shirt. He is the greatest. When Dallin saw this shirt at the store, he said we had to get it for Dad. Along with one that said "Coolest Grandpa" for Grandpa. He said "We have to get these, because they are true for our Dad and Grandpa". So we did, and Yes they are True!

We have a tradition of playing the HOT/COLD GAME to find presents. The kids love it and are so hilarious in giving their commands. Brea had no clue what she was saying, she would say "warm, cold, HOT, cold, warm, HOT" for no particular reason. But luckily, with a little encouragment, Dad was able to find his presents.
The Birthday girl gets kisses from the "world's Greatest Dad" - pretty special!
Mom with her 1 year old. Can't believe my baby is now ONE. We love our Alyssa. She has a great personality, with lots of laughs. Some how the kids can get her to laugh so much better than Mom and Dad. She can sign "more, all done, and pacy (we kind of made up that sign). She says Mama, Dada, something that sounds like More (yes she loves to eat!). She crawls super fast, but has no interest in standing or walking. That is fine, it can wait.

Birthday cake/Fathers Day cake. Alyssa did very well with her first cake. She wasn't nearly as messy as I imagined she would be. She did enjoy it though - YUMMY!

Hugs for Daddy. Alyssa is usually not real cuddly, but she does give great HUGS, which we all LOVE!

As a side note for Fathers Day...the kids got to sing to their Dads during Sacrament Meeting at church. Usually Dallin does not like to go up front, and this was his first time. He jumped right up when it was time. They sang "Love is spoken here" which Jackie knows really well, it was fun to see them all sing. Brea and Dallin were also fun to watch, especially during the combined part as they tried to hear what they were supposed to be singing. The last song was "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home". For those of you that may not know, this song has actions to it. Well, Dallin was standing next to his friend Noelani. For the actions, instead of doing it themselves, they used each other. It was all fine and cute until the end...it says "and give him what - a great big KISS" and then they are supposed to blow a kiss. Dallin and Noelani (since they were doing the actions to each other) kissed each OTHER, on the LIPS in front of the whole congregation - WHOA! We were sitting on the same row as the Bess's and we were all cracking up. Oh, the innocents of youth. Dallin was so proud of himself when he came down . He said "Did you see me Mom, me and Nono did the actions with each other". I told him that I saw him and he did GREAT!

Happy Fathers Day

We went to a water fall close by and hiked up many many stairs to get to the top. The kids were great, they had more energy than us.
Coming down was as much fun as going up.
Happy Fathers Day Daddy!
Look Mom, we found a hole!
We took another hike close to the falls, that took us up and around to see a farther away view of the falls. We did a simiar hike 7 years ago when we first moved here. Jackie was a baby then, time goes so fast.
They love the rocks. We celebrated Fathers Day by taking a hike and spending the day together outdoors. It was wonderful. Jeff is such a great Dad, they love him so much. They still get excited every time he comes home. He braces himself for the rush of hugs he receives.

Family Hikes

We decided to start taking advantage of the many trails around us and go on a family hike once a week. It was been so much fun. The kids love being out in nature (although they would rather wander off the trail and explore). It feels so good to be up in the mountains away from all the "stuff" at home.
Brea didn't want to change out of her dress to go our hike. So there she is in the mountains and dirt, with her dress and fancy socks and shoes. Only a three year old can get away with that.
The BOYS doing what they love, climbing on rocks.
The Girls hanging out on the rocks.
And the babe, comfy and cozy in her stroller.

Hanging out in Utah

While Jackie was at Cousins Camp, the kids and I got to hang out at Matt and Susies house for a week. We had a great time. The kids played so well together. In fact, with the older siblings gone the younger ones never even asked to watch a movie/tv, or play a video game the whole time. They used their imaginations and played all sorts of games. We also took them to the zoo (twice). Dallin loved it because they had DINOSAURS!

The Long Neck in the Lake.
They found a dinosaur they could climb on. I love their faces in this picture.
Dallin was amazed at the "life-size" T-Rex. Brea on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with that Dinosaur. It was a bit too big for her liking, she hung onto my leg and would hardly look at it. She did like the smaller dinosaurs though.

This dinosaur was their favorite. He would randomly squirt water out of his mouth. It was amusing to stand back and watch as people would casually walk by. All of a sudden this dinosaur would spurt water out of his mouth, alarming those within spitting distance. There were lots of screams of alarms. Our kids, of course, purposely stood right in front of his mouth just waiting to get squirted.

Brea got it right in the face. I wonder if she realized it was just water, or if she thought the Dinosaur really spit at her, now that would be disgusting.

The zoo plumb wore them out. I couldn't believe that they both fell asleep together at the same time. It was so precious the way Eliza was leaning on Alyssa. They got along so well together, especially with as young as they are.
All of the kids LOVE bananas. With six young ones eating, we went through a lot of bananas. The two babies especially loved them.
The weather was beautiful while we were there. The pictures speak for themselves. Jaxine is basking in the sun.
Cute Evan, is such a sweetie.
Brea eating yet another banana.
I am not sure what Brea is doing here. They were having a water fight, and I think she must have wanted to protect her eyes.
I decided to try and crochet a flower while I was there. I have wanted to make some for a while. This was the first one I made and it turned out pretty cute. I
Eliza kept trying to feed Alyssa, which Alyssa loved. I usually just pulled Alyssa away, but I finally snapped a shot of it, so cute.
Evan and Brea enjoying some yogurt. They are a week apart.
Look at those BIG eyes, what a doll, even in her brothers T-shirt.
Ice cream outside - Yum and Fun.
Jackie returned and Jaxine was glad to have a big girl to play with.
This was a common scene that week. They loved handcuffing themselves together. What a fun time we had. Susie was a great host.