We Miss You Steve

Every time my brother inlaw Steve and our camera were in the same room, we would find pictures like these...

Now that Steve is on a mission in Spain for two years, it seems that our own sweet Katie has filled the surprise self portrait void...

Trying to Get Pictures of the Matching Babies

By the end McKenna looked like she might hurt Brooke if I didn't stop.

Hidden Treasures

I know this picture is hard to see, but can you read it?

I found this treasure written on our couch cushion.

I didn't know whether to be mad or proud that she could write their names without any help.

Like most of my interactions with her, I was really confused on how to react :)

Strong Girl

And she has also discovered her toys recently. Happy Day!

Bridal Veil Falls

These Girls Make Me Laugh

Yes, McKenna is reading a book in a box...with a pillow and her blankie.

Our Summer

I think these two pictures sum up our summer nicely:

No How's That for a Coincedence?

Look what showed up outside our house this morning!!!

For a second I thought they were coming to our house to check why our fire alarms went off so many times last night. When I realized they were only checking the fire hydrant, I could breathe again.

Plus, how would they know if our fire alarm went off?

Would they????

Fire Safety

Tonight for Family Night we learned about Fire Safety. Or at least our basic version of Fire Safety. We learned 4 things:

1.) What we do if there is a fire in our house
Get out of the house and meet at our designated meeting spot (aka: the light pole at the end of our driveway)

2.) What we do if there is a fire on us
Stop, Drop, and Roll of course!

3.) How many fire alarms are in our house
5 - it was fun letting the girls find them and count them

4.) What the fire alarms sound like
I could've done without this one, but it was a must

I can't even tell you how much fun we had!

We would practice going to our meeting place by each hiding in a different room. We would take turns being the person who would yell "FIRE!!!" and then everyone would get out of the house as fast as they could and meet at the meeting place. The girls got a kick out of it. McKenna would even yell "Fire! Fire!" the whole time until she reached the light post.

Then we practiced our Stop, Drop, and Rolls out on the grass. Katie was a little Ms. Smarty as usual. When I asked her what she thought we should do if there was a fire on us, she gave me LOTS of logical answers like "Put water on it!" or "Blow it out!" or even "Take off your clothes!" (She thinks like her dad - always can think of many logical answers on her own) Finally she did think that the Stop, Drop, and Roll was the most fun answer because her and McKenna could practice over and over again.

Our Fire Safety: Lesson 1 has been completed.
And quite successfully I might add!

Brookie

Mostly for Grandmas and other family members that haven't met our little Brookie yet, but also for those of you who just love babies! Here is a short video of her doing what she does best - just hanging out in her swing and be as sweet as can be. Maybe she will be a singer like her sisters?

Oh I just love this baby!

4th of July

We had a GREAT 4th of July this year!
We started the morning watching the hot air balloons fly over Provo!
It was so much fun! We really wanted to be there to watch them all take off but we didn't quite wake up early enough. But we had a wonderful view of all of the balloons from the Smith's parking lot and had a lot of fun watching them. There is a pink piggy bank hot air balloon that we look for every year, and sure enough - it was there!

After watching the balloons, we headed over to the parade. This was the first year that we have gone to the parade and we had a blast! It definitely helped that our good friends invited us to share their spot. People go a little crazy around here and spend the night on the parade route just to get a good spot. Maybe that's why I've never really wanted to go. I just assumed we wouldn't get a good spot and I definitely wasn't willing to spend the night sleeping on the sidewalk just for a parade.

But we sure did have fun - thanks Browns!
Here are some shots from the parade:

McKenna was a little afraid of this one ("Doff Bader")- being the first character in the parade I was afraid we weren't going to make in when she was already asking to go home...

This is Katie motioning and saying "Don't Shoot!" to the Minute Men firing their muskets.

And I enjoyed lots of Mom & Kid time sitting, waiting for, and watching the parade.

That's my kind of holiday...

No parade is complete without a Captain America!

Or a tank

Or a pirate :)

When we got home from the parade, we all passed out - ALL of us - and napped until lately afternoon. Again, my kind of holiday...

Later that evening we had some friends & neighbors over for a BBQ and fireworks.

We busted out the pool and I am happy to report that McKenna is not as afraid of the blow up whale pool as she was of the pool at Gearhart. Phew!

And we had these YUMMY kabobs (our new favorite grill item) and hot dogs, plus all sorts of yummy BBQ sides, including homemade ice cream. Yum.

Sweet Brookie enjoying the summer evening

And nothing cures a fear of loud fireworks quite like a Daddy hug...

The evening was completed with a latenight movie on Mom & Dad's bed while Mom & Dad cleaned up.

I Know I Know I Know...

I know I have a lot of catching up to do, and I PROMISE it is coming...
I'm just not sure when.
Perhaps this weekend...

Just know that we are happy, healthy, and having a fabulous summer.