July and August

On the Fourth of July, we decided to head up to Provo and check our the hot air balloon festival. We had to wake up SUUUUUPER early but apparently, it wasn't early enough. The big Coke bottle was the only balloon we saw get inflated. Bummer. (Surprisingly, the coke bottle really can function like a hot air balloon.) It was still fun seeing all the other balloons in the air and watching to sun rise over the beautiful mountains.



Sophia liked looking at the balloons, but mostly liked looking at people that wasn't her dad trying to take our picture. :)

After the festival, we wanted to eat at a restaurant that makes great breakfast. I knew it was in Provo somewhere - Magleby's Fresh - but I didn't know where. So we decided to just drive down State Street and hope to find it. Eventually we did run in to one... not the one we were looking for, but I felt so lucky to have just bumped into one like that. It did not disappoint. My french toast tasted like dessert. Just the way I like it. :) The rest of the Fourth of July was fun also, but I didn't take any pictures. My favorite was when our cousins lit off those fire crackers with parachutes inside and we all tried to catch them. I also loved playing the "name game" with 4th of July theme words. Good times!

In the car, Sophia turns her head up (like it is in the picture) so she can see me in the front seat and sometimes she'll say "Hi" to get my attention. I love it when she does that. On this drive she fell asleep watching me. It was so sweet.

 

Lately Sophia has a new obsession... stuffed animals. I took her to the Church History Museum with Becky and our friend, Lily, and Sophia gravitated toward these hens.



At home with more stuffed animals.

One day while I was visiting my mom, we went out on the boat for a really quick ride. Sophia has never been on a boat, and once she got used to the life jacket, she loved it. These pictures crack me up because she wouldn't move her head at all. Only her eyes would move. Rocco has his life jacket on too.

 

 

 

 

She finally got used to the jacket and we put her in the water with Grandma. She LOVES swimming, but Rocco, not so much. We threw him in and he was dog paddling as fast as he could right back to the boat.

 

This month, has been super sad because Becky and John and the kids moved to Arizona. While they were packing, I watched Brooklyn for a little bit and her and Sophia were having a lot of fun in the rocking chair together. Aren't they cute!! We really miss having them right next door. I'm counting down until they come back to visit.

Rich found this little cart in his parent's house and brought it over for Sophia to play with. She loves it! I see her sitting in it everyday. She also likes putting all her toys in it and then taking them out again.

 

 

This is Sophia playing peek-a-boo with me. She thinks that's pretty fun!



Yesterday at the store, I decided to get a package of straws for quiet play time in church. I opened them up to see if she'd be interested in playing with them at all. I think the pictures speak for themselves. :) 

 

 

 

Have a great day!

"I'm one!"

Happy Birthday to my little girl! It's amazing how much can happen in one short year! This is Sophia on her birthday. We had her party the day before, so on her actual birthday, we just sang to her and gave her a cupcake. (Ok, she didn't even touch it... this was just for the picture!)



The day before her birthday, we decided to have a little lunch at the church with some family and close friends.

I found this "Sophia-sized" chair at the stage and she sure liked it!

She pushed it all around the church... I barely even saw her. She was so busy!

Here she is, opening her gifts.

She sure loves looking at books!

This was my first attempt at making cupcakes. The frosting was seriously a magical process! If you need a good recipe... use this one.

 

Sophia didn't really "eat" her cupcake. She mostly just threw it on the floor (hence the reason I didn't give her one on her real birthday!). It was a really great day and a lot of fun planning it. Thanks so much to everyone who came... we love you!

Father's Day

This was Rich's first Father's Day as a dad. We didn't do too much. I just made him breakfast, then we went to church, and then that night, we went to Jeannette's for a delicious dinner. 

 

Rich is such a great dad and Sophia sure loves him! When she hears him come home from work, she always crawls- quick as she can- to the door to smile at him. It's so cute. I love watching these two play together and nothing makes me happier than to hear Sophia cracking up at something Rich has done. Thanks for all you do, Rich, and thanks for being such a great Dad to our sweet smiley girl!

More misc.

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but she loves to be outside. She loves standing at the bar in our front yard and just looking around. This picture shows what she does anytime someone leaves. She stands at the door and cries because she wants to go out too.

She is a crazy sleeper!

Sophia loves it when Brooklyn comes over to play. Lately she has been climbing up on Brooklyn and Brooklyn HATES it! She doesn't even like it when Sophia touches her, but when Sophia pulls herself up using Brooklyn's shirt, it drives her crazy!

 

I love this picture! Poor Brooklyn is so annoyed but Sophia is so oblivious about it. Hopefully someday their relationship will be mutually benificial!

The Park

The other day, we decided to go to the park with a kite, a frisbee, and a blanket. Sophia loved just sitting on the blanket watching what was going on.



I was just relieved she wasn't trying to put dirt, rocks, grass, or leaves in her mouth! 

I love this picture of Rich! He is running toward us so fast and he looks so happy! I wish I could zoom this picture in so you could see the joy on his face. :)  Sadly, that was about as high as the kite would go. I think it's time for a new one. 

 

What we've been up to since the last post...

 

Rich and I were able to go up skiing this spring and oh man, was it fun! We went to Rich's favorite ski resort, Deer Valley, where they only allow skiiers. It was a beautiful day and not too crowded. It was so nice to get out and enjoy the snow before it melted.

Rich is an excellent skiier. I was lucky to keep up with him. We did some super steep runs that made my legs burn... what a work out!

It's always my fear that I'll eat it right as I'm skiing under the ski lift. This has happened to me many times in the past, but this time, I was pretty lucky... all my crashes happened out of the sight of strangers.

Such a beautiful view!

Relaxing in the Stein Erickson Lodge

Sophia went through a cuddley phase. Normally she is just too busy to give us loves, but there was a phase (too short of a phase!). Here she is hugging mom.

Here she is cuddling in a blanket with mom.

  

This is one of the last days that she cuddled with me before going back to her normal busy self. *sniff, sniff!*

Here are just a few random pictures.

She LOVES playing with the keys. The toy plastic keys don't do it for her, she wants the real deal!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter! Ours was a lot of fun. Sophia and I stayed home from church because we were sick but I still dressed her up in her new Easter dress and took some pictures. She was a good sport!

Then we went over to Jeannette's (we were feeling better... but probably got everyone else sick... SO SORRY!) It was so much fun because the guys hid the Easter baskets and the kids had to find them. I was surprised at how tough some of the baskets were hidden. (I saw one kid digging in the sand box for his, and I saw a basket hung at the very top of a light pole!)

Sophia found hers!

And one more of Sophia in her Easter dress just because I took about a dozen! (And thanks to the Bowens for a really fun Easter!)