Daisy wearing a dress I used to wear

I don't know if Daisy looks like me in it; I'll have to see if I can look up some old pictures.  But isn't the smocking beautiful?  My mom made all kinds of beautiful dresses for me when I was little.  I'm glad we still have some of them!

Thanksgiving Point flowers

I haven't had the camera with me on our last several visits to Red Butte Garden, but there are plenty of pretty summer flowers around!  We went to Thanksgiving Point with Beth last week, and it was HOT, but beautiful. 

They said they wanted a picture with the windmills, but then it was too bright to look up!

Running down hills was about as exciting as it got (since the Noah's Ark fountain was way too crowded)

Here I was worried they would never make it back up without help (but they did!)

The flowers are so bright!  They almost hurt your eyes to look at.

Seb's birthday

Sebastian's birthday dinner request this year was Eggs Benedict with avocados and tomatoes, with sausage AND bacon on the side (a very rare treat).  And volcano cakes for dessert.  He carefully arranged his second plate (and wanted me to "take a picture so we can remember how nice it was") thus:

Perhaps on his next birthday he will have some front teeth!

He's such a happy, funny six-year-old.  We set goals this week of things we could do to increase love at home, and Seb's was that he would be Abraham's "Morning Servant."  As he related to me, this means he would make Abe's bed for him---get out Abe's clothes---pull Abe from room to room on his beanbag (so Abe wouldn't have to walk)---give Abe Honey (his bear) when needed---get drinks for Abe---and whatever else Abe requested.  He was so pleased and excited about it (as was Abe).

Sebby is also my best sous-chef---he loves to help with anything in the kitchen and especially likes to taste and adjust seasonings.  I always try to let him help with things that need to be adjusted because he's so SERIOUS and meticulous about it.  "A little more cayenne pepper, Mommy---but just a BIT.  And a little more sour cream to balance it out."  He's usually right, too.  He must have a well-developed palate. :)

He's so outgoing and friendly, he wants to talk to everyone we meet.  I loved the man-to-man talks he had with the workers when we were having our basement finished, asking them if they liked their work, asking them to explain what they were working on, telling them about school and what he wanted to be when he grew up ("I might be a worker like you, but I'm still thinking about it.  I might also be a carwash man, or a sprinkler man, or a physicist, or an artist.  I haven't decided yet for sure.").  Everyone who meets him, likes him.  And we like him the most of all!  Hooray for Sebby!

A tea party with Miss Daisy

The boys have little porcelain dish sets (which they call their "tea parties") that Daisy is always getting into and breaking.  So it was to everyone's great satisfaction that she got her own (plastic) "tea party" for her birthday. Here are some pictures of her playing with it (after playing outside in the carwash, thus the swimming suit) the other day.

Oh yellow bunny, you are so funny!

Drink this, white bunny!

She decides this is a fancy event, requiring hats

This used to be a baby hat, but someone has now stretched it out

But Mommy is NOT allowed to wear this hat

\

"VVvvvv!" (mixing and pouring noises)

First day of school

Abe and Seb headed out the door

Daisy and Malachi yell "Bye-bye! Have a good day!"

Summer fun

We're so sad that summer vacation is over already!  The boys went off to their first day of school today.  Here are a few more pictures of things we did this summer:

Junie bites Daddy's head

Waterfall on new Botany Pond trail

Battle Creek Falls hike

Ky tiptoes close to a duck

Rivertrail

Playing in the carwash

Woohoo, Two!

Daisy has seemed astoundingly grown-up ever since Junie was born, so I didn't experience the disbelief I sometimes feel on birthdays.  She is a talkative and capable two-year-old who keeps up admirably with her older brothers.  She still calls me "Mimi" (I love it!) and she loves babies, bunnies, monkeys, Daddy, doggies, and froggies.  If you were to hear her describing those things it would sound like: Beebee, mummy, mumpy, daddy, doddy, and fff-doddy (she gets that "f" sound with prompting but then finishes off with her preferred "doddy").  Her pronunciation is slowly improving, thank goodness, because she chatters at us constantly, so confidently and so expectantly that we often feel like we must be the ones speaking the wrong language!

Both her grandmas gave her stuffed doggies, as it happened---she loves them both (one is "baby doggy," and one is "doggy purse," into which she carefully zips and unzips her chapstick)

This is quite a characteristic expression (like she's trying to hide a smile)

As is this---reaching and asking for something plaintively (here she wants her blanket, which she refuses to call anything but "na")

She has always had such bright eyes!  They still look quite blue---but not, I think, as blue as they used to

I love how rosy she gets when she is hot; it makes her look like a little cherub (or "Arab" as I called them when I was little)

We love this smart, sweet little two-year-old!  Happy birthday, Daisy dear!

Cedar City

We had a great time on our overnight trip to Cedar City.  Jane and Abe were so nice to babysit the kids so Sam and I could go to a play (Noises Off; we LOVED it; we laughed so hard we couldn't breathe).  The kids  had a great time with Gwen and said it was their favorite part of the trip.  We also had a fun time swimming, hiking and exploring up the Canyon and near Cedar Breaks.  It was gorgeous!

There were wildflowers everywhere.  I guess the cooler air in the mountains must allow more flowers to grow.  They were SO pretty.

This was a beautiful hike (with view of Zion National Park there in the background).  The kids (even Daisy) are such great hikers.  They love it just like we do!

Red Daisy

The hike ended at a waterfall which came out of a hole in the rock and then spilled down the hill like this.  Spectacular.

This is the lake the waterfall comes from.  (Water goes through a sinkhole in the lake and comes out below to make the falls.)  Navajo Lake, it's called.

I thought one of the most amazing things we saw was Mammoth Cave.  It was formed by lava flows (there are huge lava fields and a bunch of old cinder cones in the area) underground.  We went in and explored with flashlights, and it was SO interesting.  You climbed down from above, like this:

And then there were several different chambers/tunnels to explore.  This one was really tall (way above my head when I was standing) and went on for a long way.  (Picture isn't great.  It was pitch dark in there; only so much the camera and the flashlight could do.)  It was cool to imagine these chambers being lit by glowing rivers of lava at one time.