4th of July

We had a really fun 4th of July although I missed the Vernon Hills Parade- it's a slice of Americana you know :) So we had our ward picnic on Saturday and the kids had fun swimming and playing in the Malcolms fabulous backyard. Sunday we had church, dinner at the Stokes, and fireworks at the Berretts. Everything went according to plan until Linc touched a sparkler to his face and got a nasty burn on his forehead (you turn away for one second and that's what happens!) Of course I forgot my camera for fireworks but here are some cute ones of the kids at the picnic.

Mom and Ray Ray

Linc played in this castle for the entire party- he cried when we had to leave it behind!

Dad and Reagan enjoying the picnic

On the Lake

We are so lucky to be friends with the Berretts, I have truly never met two people who were as kind, thoughtful, and generous as they are. What would my life have been like if I had never met Carroll?? She really is the sister I never had. So not only are they awesome people but they also have a boat. Now Nathan and I have never been boating people- it just isn't in our genetic makeup- but the Berretts have shown us the error of our ways. They took us to Pine Flats in April and we got to enjoy a beautiful day on the lake. We thought Linc would be terrified of tubing but he was super excited to get on it and loved every minute. He kept saying "faster, faster"- he is always full of surprises.

Nate and I went out first- so fun!

Nate with Linc, he wanted to go faster than Dad did!

Concentrating on keeping the front of the tube up- great face!!

Reagan chilled out the entire time in the boat. At least she looked good!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

So we have a lot of catching up to do, starting with our fabulous visit from my parents in March. We enjoyed showing them around Clovis and making a trip up to Sacramento to see David, Kelly, and their babies- Bear and Ripley. We also got to take Lincoln and Reagan to the California State Railroad Museum. We were so happy that Mom and Dad could visit- we don't get to see them often enough.

Almost everyone (we really missed Matt and his family)

David and Kelly and their babies

Linc loved watching Uncle Dave play his bagpipes

Nate really enjoying the museum

Our Family

Lincoln couldn't get enough of the Thomas Trains!

Grandpa showing Linc the kinds of trains he played with as a kid

Doesn't that just say it all??

Our kids are so lucky to have two grandparents who love them so much.

Love you mom and dad!

Kites, Leprechauns, and Bunnies!!

We have had quite an eventful few months here in Clovis and I just finally got around to downloading all our pictures from the new camera to the computer. We had a great time when Aunt Hedder and Jordan came for a visit. The weather was great and Heather and Jordan took all the kids on a picnic at the park. They even surprised the kids with kites to fly and, of course, Jordan took amazing pictures of the whole outing...

For St. Patrick's Day we started with a breakfast of green applesauce and french toast and then we organized a Leprechaun Hunt with some good friends (I copied the idea from my uber creative cousin Lacey- gotta give credit where credit is due). The kids followed shamrocks around the yard and found little surprises that the leprechaun had left for them until they finally found his pot of gold! I think they had a great time and I enjoyed celebrating our kid's Irish heritage!

Easter was a little hectic this year but the kids had fun so that's all that matters. Lincoln woke up and found not only his easter basket but also his sisters (Reagan slept through all the excitement). We tried to scale back on the candy this year since the past few years we have had a ton of candy lying around for months afterward and who really needs that? After baskets we had brunch at the Devlin's, then a fabulous easter egg hunt at Carroll's dad's home, back home for whirlwind naps, and then back to the Stokes for dinner. We were all a little exhausted by the end of the day. I think Lincoln liked the egg dying the most- we almost didn't do it but I'm glad we pulled it out in the end (even if it was at 9pm the night before!)

My parents had a wonderful visit this past week, I will try to blog about all the fun we had before the end of the week!

Some better news...

All is not lost! Our wonderful friends the Healys informed us that there is another 10k race in Morro Bay the weekend of July 17th so now I can still compete in the race (hopefully with Megan, hint hint:) and I won't be interrupting Nathan's school work! Yea- I love when things work out.

P.S.- A big apology to Nate Healy who had already taken off of work to go to the race on Apr. 17th, I will forever be sorry for that but maybe we can convince the Berretts to go to out on the boat that weekend!!

Some bad news...

So I had grand plans to be in Morro Bay on the weekend of April 17th to run a 10k. Unfortunately, nobody explained that to Fresno State University and they scheduled Nathan's comprehensive exams (7 very long papers) from April 5- 30. So I can't exactly ask my very kind, loving, and patient husband to skip out of town with me for a weekend so that I can run in a race while he has hours and hours of writing to do. So we are postponing the race for a little while...I guess we will see what comes up this summer.

8 months old already

My favorite picture of Reagan- notice all the fat rolls and the awesome hair!

I was really good at writing about Lincoln's life every month during his first year but, as is always the case, I have two children now and Reagan has been neglected. So today she turns 8 months old and I thought I would finally get around to writing about her many talents and new discoveries. Reagan...

...can now roll over both ways

...will go from a sitting position to her stomach, but she screams when she realizes she is on her stomach

...hates being on her stomach so much that she will probably never crawl

...has two teeth on the bottom and is currently getting her two top ones

...loves her solid foods, as long as it is fruit- she makes a funny face and spits out any vegetables we try to feed her

...wants us to do everything for her, anytime we try to get her to hold her own bottle she puts her hands behind her back and looks at us like, "no- that's your job"

...LOVES paper- especially her brother's coloring books and her dad's textbooks

...is very happy and smiley as long as there is someone paying attention to her

...is the best snuggler

...is so great about letting me play with her hair and she doesn't even rip her bows out (although I am sure that is coming)

...weighs a whopping 22lbs

...is so much fun to be with everyday!

I just can't tell you how much we love our little girl. It is so much fun to watch her grow and learn. Love you baby!!