Big Girl Bed

Hooray! Alison did it! She is sleeping in a twin bed. I wasn't really sure when to make the transition. Alison is not a huge fan of change or new things, but I decided that I better do it now instead of waiting until I needed the crib for the next baby. So, I packed up the crib this morning and put her in the twin bed for nap time. I laid on the floor in her room for about 15 minutes. I left because Emmy needed me, and Alison was just fine. She took a great nap. Tonight, Aaron did his regular bedtime routine with Alison and she was fine. He didn't even need to stay in the room with her like I did at nap time. When she wakes up, she goes to her door and knocks on the door until we open it to let her out. She hasn't figured out how to open doors yet. I'm so proud of her making this transition much smoother than I ever expected. Our next big adventure will be the pacifier. She only has it at nap time and bed time, but I'm worried it will be a hard thing to give up. One step at a time.

Temple Open House

Yesterday, we took our friends from Oklahoma to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was so beautiful. I think this is my new favorite temple; I just loved the colors and beauty inside and out. The kids had a wonderful time walking through the temple, and they loved the yummy cookies at the end of the tour.

Alison crashed on the way home. She fell asleep with her pacifier on her shoulder, safe keeping for when she woke up. :)

Prego Cousins

My cousin Sarah is having her first baby in a couple of weeks. I got to attend her baby shower this week to celebrate her baby boy. We had a great time.

4th of July Weekend

On July 2nd, we got to visit with some of Aaron's friends from Tulsa, Oklahoma and their families. Big Emmy brought awesome puppets for each of the kids and babies on the way. It was so nice of her.

After all of the gravel yard work and some very long naps, we headed over to a neighborhood BBQ with my dad in Stansbury Park. It was fun to see friends from when we used to live there. Here's Aaron with the girls; Aaron has 10 cherries stuffed in his mouth.

They had a very cool Polynesian dance show for the entertainment. Alison was entranced by the dancers.

Emmy got up with some other girls for little dance.

Aaron danced with the girls for the anniversary dance. I love this picture because of Emmy's dance pose I caught. She loves to move in all different ways when she hears music. The girls had a great time dancing with their daddy.

The girl at the face painting table had a huge line, so Aaron painted Emmy's face. She requested flowers and a butterfly on her forehead.

Aaron decided to paint a mustache on himself after he finished Emmy's face. It turned out pretty good for not having a mirror.

Aaron and the girls watching the fire dancer. Alison is looking very tired. It was getting late.

We did a few fireworks in the driveway. Alison hid in the garage as far away from the fireworks as possible. She is really timid with new things. Emmy had a great time.

Today, we went up to Park City for Jean Hopkinson's baby blessing. Emmy just loved playing with Jean and her older sisters Quinn and Addie.

It's amazing how much our families have grown. We sure do love the Hopkinson's, and we wish that they lived much closer.

There is my huge belly. I can't believe I have 2 months left.

Backyard Updates

Aaron found this bird's nest on the ground last week while he was mowing the lawn. It was really cool. Luckily there weren't any eggs in the nest when it fell.
Emmy found a grasshopper that would actually hold still on her finger. We don't really like grasshoppers in our backyard because they eat plants and flowers in our gardens. Emmy always informs me when she has squished another grasshopper in our war against these pests. This little guy was flattened right after I took the picture. We are nice to all other bugs in our yard. I promise!

My super awesome brother David came over with his friend Brian on Saturday morning to help us move gravel into our back yard. They decided to light a fire in our pit during a break. The girls just sat right down and watched the pyros go to work.

Aaron worked on this small paver patio most of the morning. We had to buy more pavers to finish the area. He did a great job.

We put in more gravel in front of the swing set, around the fire pit, and on the side of the house. It looks so much better. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. When we moved into our house 2 years ago, this whole rock area was a mess. There were weeds up to your knees; areas without gravel; and a horrible, homemade patio that was an ankle twister. We are happy with the improvements.

We also put in a new patch of grass next to the new gravel area. The new grass is in the shade of the tree. It's nice to have all of the dirt piles finally gone. David and Brian are my heroes; they hauled off many wheelbarrow loads of dirt in order to level the area for the gravel.

The 6 apples on our apple tree are starting to get big. Yummy!

Here's an updated photo of the garden boxes. The first two boxes are doing wonderful. Our new boxes are not doing as well. I have had to pull a few plants that died. I'm not sure if it was the unseasonable cool/wet June we had or the new dirt is lacking in something. I think it might be a combination of the two.

This is just half of my center garden box. I have 3 lettuce plants that are doing great. My 2 zucchini plants are getting huge. I have a lot of yellow and green baby zucchinis coming along. The best crop so far has been the spinach. Wow! I had so many strong plants that they kind of got really big on me. I can't seem to give the stuff away fast enough.

Here's the pathetic new garden boxes. The tomato plants are just starting to perk up. I think I have 1 big tomato so far. I have lost a few pepper plants, and I hope the remaining ones make it. I had to plant a new cucumber plant because I lost all three plants. It's back there on the right. I put a cage around it to give it a little extra support. We'll see what July brings for the garden. These plants all like super hot weather which we definitely have now.

The Spider

Alison loves to put everything in her mouth like dirt, rocks, toys, and this plastic spider. We were all laughing at her because it looked so funny hanging out of her mouth.

Emmy wanted to join in the fun and attention of putting the spider in her mouth.

Then Grandpa decided he needed a turn with the spider. Alison is not quite sure what she thinks about Grandpa having the spider in his mouth.

No worries, Alison got the spider back soon enough, and it went right back in her mouth.