Best Friends

Tonight while Jim was golfing with the Elders' Quorum the Lewis' came over to play and have pizza. Ashlin asked me if Ally had a photo book. Unfortunately, because her mother is a terrible scrapbooker, Ally does not have a photo book which is what I told Ashlin. She told me that I should get her one and put a picture of the two of them on a page with the title 'best friends' at the top of the page. I thought it was so cute. I got a picture of the two of them tonight so here it is....

BEST FRIENDS



Cameron and Jayce had fun pushing Vanessa around the yard in the Barbie Jeep which she loves. Stacie and I always joke around about how one day Vanessa will marry one of those two. It's going to be a difficult choice for her though since they are both so sweet to her.

Happy 4th of July

This year we celebrated the 4th on Saturday and Monday. Saturday my parents and Kelly and her kids came over for a barbecue and fireworks. I didn't get any pictures of that day but will post some once I get them from Kelly. The kids had a lot of fun on the slip and slide and watching the fireworks.

Monday we went to the movies with Jim's family and had a b-b-q and fireworks at his sister's house. The kids got to play with their cousins while we were at the movies. Vanessa was so worn out when we got back to the movies she passed out on Jim.



I love seeing the two of them like this.



My brother-in-law Dave is a firework freak. Every year he goes all out with set up and his lighting technique is extremely entertaining.



Andrew loved the fireworks and hanging out with his cousin Steven. Everywhere Steven went, Andrew went too.



Ally is still very hesitant around fireworks.



She hid up on the porch and would slowly creep down to watch some more.





Vanessa didn't love the noisy fireworks either but it was a really fun night.

We had a lot of fun with each of our families. I love holidays and the time we get to spend together with family.

Summer Art Camp

This year I registered the kids for classes at the city art camp. Andrew LOVES Legos so I signed him up for a Lego art class which he really enjoyed. Each day they had a different subject to create and could make it exactly how they wanted. He would go on and on about each project every day when I picked him up. It was fun to see him enjoy it so much. He told me he wants to take a regular art class next year too. He's such a sports freak, I'm glad he's enjoying art so he gets a variety of activities in his life.

I signed Ally up for a Let's Play Music class so she could be introduced to music. She really enjoyed her class and the songs she learned. A few days she would sing her conversations instead of just speaking. It was really cute. Her class did a mini performance the last day of class to show parents what they had learned in the two weeks they were in class. We enjoyed watching her do one of the things she loves to do. I wish I had signed the kids up for a few more classes, I now know for next year.

Loving Chocolate Chip Cookies

For Father's Day we had dinner with my family. It was very yummy food and even yummier dessert of homemade strawberry ice cream and chocolate chip cookies which Vanessa LOVED!!!






Ally really enjoyed the food and cookies too.



After dinner with my family we went and spent time with Jim's family. I love living so close to family especially for holidays.

Freedom Festival Baby Contest

I decided yesterday to enter Vanessa in this year's Freedom Festival Baby Contest. My sweet mom bought her a super cute outfit!! I really didn't know what to expect having never done anything like this before and can I say it was really quite interesting!! Jim was sweet and kept Ally and Andrew home and Kelly came with me and Vanessa. Some people went all out with costumes and everything!! I was disappointed in the judges 'cause they just said 'hi Vanessa' and then gave her a little puppy dog which she just sat and played with. Maybe I am wrong but I thought they would be a little more interactive with the kids. The good thing is that I entered her just for the fun of it and didn't care if she won or lost. She had a ton of fun playing with all the other babies her age and made a lot of new friends.






No she didn't win but it doesn't matter 'cause to me she is the cutest baby!! And, all in all it was a fun day.

Vanessa Loves Fruit!!!

Vanessa loves to eat fruit! Any kind of fruit! It's great! The only problem is the way she eats it and what it does to her skin and clothes. She is independent and has to feed herself which means by the time she is done she is a messy, sticky mess. But she sure is happy with herself. It really makes me happy that she eats so well.

So Many Books, So Little Time

One of Vanessa's favorite things to do is pull things out of their place. She loves to tear all the baggies out of the drawer, her clothes out of the drawers, dishes out of the cupboards, the list goes on and on. The other night she pulled out all of the books in our front room. She and Ally then sat in the middle of them and 'read.'



It's so fun to see them interact when Ally is playing with her instead of mauling her. Ally loves her so much and tries so hard to be a good big sister, sometimes she tries a little too hard and drives Vanessa to tears but her heart is in the right place. Every once in a while, like the other day, she gets it right. They had a lot of fun together.