Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated how truly wonderful this daddy is on Sunday!After church we had both our dads over for dinner and some presents.Talia helped Papa open his card.And Eliza helped Grandpa open his. She was very excited about this card...it was a Mr. Potato Head which she knows Grandpa likes. When she saw the card at the store she knew she had to get it for him!

We sure do love our dads. They are both wonderful men. Amazing examples of what we would want our sons to be one day (we might have sons...you never know)! They are both outstanding grandpas too...our girls couldn't be more blessed!

And to our daddy...we love you so much!

Thank you for being the best gardener, wrestler, princess player, dancer, sports watcher, swing pusher, bike rider, puzzle doer, smoothie maker, swimmer, movie watcher, story reader, and story teller there every was! We couldn't ask for a better daddy!

Take me out to the ball game!

Eliza went to her first "ball game" Friday night. She's been keeping up with the Mariners with Daddy so we took her to a Dust Devils game to see what she thought.She was just as excited about Dusty (the mascot) as she was to see the "baseball guys!"The food was a plus too...even though she didn't eat much of her hot dog she sure was happy to be getting one.She did really well the whole time and didn't start asking to go home until about the 7th inning. By then we thought we might as well stay through till the end to see the fireworks.Eliza does know the words to Take Me Out to the Ball Game but gets very shy when we sing in public! She enjoyed the fireworks, the game, the food...but mostly we enjoyed just having some time with Eliza. I'm sure there will be more games in her future! Go Dust Devils!

At the lake with friends...

We had friends join us this last weekend up at Cocolalla. We had so much fun with the Prices and the Petersons! Most of us went up on Friday to enjoy the afternoon. That night we got to see lots of animals!But the highlight was the moose! We watched him saunter into the yard, scratch his head on the electrical post, and then sit for a rest. A rest that lasted over an hour! While he was hanging out we saw several deer come in and out of the yard...and a skunk even scurried across the yard!

The bad eagle even made an appearance! If you look really closely you can see him up at the very top of one of the trees to the left...that little black dot!The next morning we had a yummy breakfast and the men made their way down to the shore to put in the dock. We appreciated them helping us with that SO MUCH! Eliza tried out her fishing pole but didn't have much luck...we'll keep trying this summer!Later in the afternoon the sun really came out and we enjoyed some time outside.Boy are we looking forward to some good boating time this summer!Eliza and I went on an adventure in the kayak. (That's her little head behind my leg!) We found a few turtles in the inlet but no fish. Then that night we had a fire...complete with roasted marshmallows.

Bailey, Toby, and the back of Mason!Katelyn, Alaina, and Justin.

Thank you Prices and Petersons for joining us! We loved having you up there with us!

Some girls can do it all...

...and that girl is Eliza!I personally think if you can take a stroll down the street...in high heels......and ride your scooter...in high heels...then you can pretty much do everything. But then maybe I think that because I can't even seem to walk around the house in high heels! Who is this girl?

Happy Birthday...to me!

I always feel a little silly blogging about myself but it's for posterity sake, right? My birthday came and went...another year older. It was a good day to spend with my family! Eliza and I made pancakes for breakfast, daddy came home from work for lunch, we took naps, went to the park, and had dinner, cake, and presents that night.Grandpa and Grandma joined us for the celebration......as did Nana and Papa. I was showered with gifts and felt so loved. It was a nice day to be recognized but an even nicer day to spend with those I love. Happy Birthday to me!

Talia

Talia Brooke...8 months old.

Reminiscing...

I guess some pictures remind me of other pictures...Eliza is on the left (around 7 months) and Talia on the right (around 8 months). My cute, sweet girls.

Bath time and teeth time!

We have another fish on our hands! Talia has discovered splashing in the tub. It's fun to splash with her hands but even more fun to lean back, slide on her bum so she's laying down, and splash really hard with her legs. Much more effective! And also the reason that my arm is ALWAYS behind her!If you look closely you can see the two bottom teeth she's had for while now, one that's broken through on the top left, and one that's very slowly trying to break through on the top right. And with those teeth comes a pretty mean bite!

Weekend...

...means a movie, pjs, popcorn, smoothie, and a snuggle with daddy. Doesn't get much better than that!

Nice and cold!

First popsicle...bring it on. Barely a flinch from this girl.

Trip to Portland!

We took a weekend to visit Portland. Dallin and Cassie have moved there for the summer for Dallin's internship with Intel. So we decided to visit them and the zoo! It was forecast to rain but it didn't until we left the zoo! Talk about luck!Dallin and Cassie with an eagle in the background.Elephants! This was the animal Eliza was most looking forward to seeing. And that's the best picture we have...those darn snacks are hard to beat sometimes!The animals put on quite the show for us...here's the lion in all his glory.And the rhino......and hippos. Who ever gets to see hippos on the move?Talia had a good time...she just had to sneak in a couple cat naps.Everyone in front of the zebra. (Darran's taking the picture and Talia's asleep.)Monkeys......and giraffes.This girl can't get enough of her Grandma!Family at the zoo!And of course bears...they were fun to watch all running around.After the zoo we went back to our hotel for a little swim. It was Talia's first time...once she got used to the water there was no stopping her splashes!And Eliza is always good for a swim. After swimming we had dinner and then it was time for bed.One fun day = very tired girls. This was about 15 seconds after laying down. (I know, I know...still has a pacifier. We're working on it!)Ahhh...the sweet baby asleep.

What a fun weekend! We loved the zoo!

Cinderella

My little Cinderella.Always a good helper (and good example as little sister Talia watches her). And of course it wouldn't be complete without high heels...and she really did start singing Cinderella songs. A princess in every moment.