Memorial Day and Beyond

We had a great Memorial Day...we spent the morning at the Long Beach Aquarium, where we had a picnic lunch outside by the water, and then the girls ran around looking at fish and petting sea creatures...of course it ended with almost everyone having a fit and us hustling to the car...but still a fun morning...we then BBQ'd and swam with my parents and half their ward...the girls had a blast running around with the other little kids, and we relaxed, ate and chatted...





Photo ops in the park...the weather has been awesome this past week, and we spent Sunday afternoon in the park with my camera...








A long overdue shout-out to my friend Megan for creating these fantastic stitchings for Charlie's walls...his room is a constant work in progress...guess that's what happens with the nursery the 3rd time around...I've seen her stuff on her blog and love it, so I basically commissioned her to make something for Charlie, and I love the result...the 4 frames add a splash of color that the blue and brown needed...I'm working on some photography for the other wall, and then maybe by the time he's 2, it'll feel "put together."



Just some fun in the high chair...he's becoming quite a good little eater of solid foods...he wasn't so sure for the first few weeks, so I sort of started to feed him "whatever"...mustard from a hotdog, sauce from the pizza, crackers, Cheerios, all the Graduate products...I realize that it's probably a bit early, but I think he just needed to get used to a taste other than breastmilk...once he got accustomed to other flavors, he's pretty chill about anything I offer him...his 3rd tooth cut through yesterday...the first one on top...I can't get enough of this baby...

Back Log...

Some pictures from my April trip to Utah to celebrate my Grandma Purcell's 80th birthday...my mom and her siblings threw a big bash and invited all of Grandma's friends and family...many drove from other states, and it was nice to see so many people show my grandma how much they love and care about her...

After the party my Uncle Lynn offered a ride in his plane!  I flew on a tiny plane during one transfer on my mission, but this was smaller...only 4 seats...my brother and cousin also came...it was very cool and not nearly as frightening as I thought it would be...Lynn flew me from Tremonton over the mountains to Logan, where my dad picked me up from the little airport...it was beautiful flying over the valley...

2 is NOT a good age...Kate spends A LOT of time in this corner in our dining room...

The oranges out front are looking good...can't wait to start enjoying our heavenly pitchers of fresh squeezed OJ this summer...most mornings I find orange peels on our lawn...people like to pick the oranges, peel them, and then leave the peels on our grass...you think they'd hide the evidence...our tree is the envy of the neighborhood and I always get asked, "is that your orange tree?!?" by visitors...yes, it is!  I think the oranges are far better squeezed for juice than peeled...

Recent trip to the Arboretum to feed the water folk...

Allison and baby Tessa came with us...I can't tell you how I'm going to miss these peeps when they move this summer...we've rented a beach house with the Riries and some other friends in a few weeks...sort of a last hurrah...

We love our Charlie...

For those folks that believe in re-incarnation, you don't want to come back as a rolly-polly in the Hyer's backyard...Kate will find you, become your friend, carry you around in her pocket, take you in the car, take you to Church functions, bring you in the house and lose you in the carpet, push you around on her bike, drop you a million times, but ultimately end up squishing you, only to find a new "friend" the next day..."but mom, they're my friends!"

Fun with finger/body/concrete paints...

The girls LOVE the slip and slide...there will probably be A LOT of naked pics of Kate in the backyard this summer...the girl can't seem to keep her clothes on.

This is a good shot of our 2 bougainvillea bushes behind the swing set...they are the only flowering plants we have in the backyard right now, but they are stunning...

When we moved into the house last summer, the previous homeowner had already picked every single apricot on the tree...so I had no idea what kind of "crop" this tree would yield...holy cow...there are so many green little apricot rocks up there just waiting to ripen...not sure what we're going to do with so many apricots...

He does cry occasionally...not often, but every now and again...

This was awesome...

I should have zoomed on Lauren's face...

Kate at a recent birthday party...she's eating a cupcake cooked into an ice cream cone and then frosted to look like ice cream...very cute idea.

I think it's hilarious when the girls do this...they ride around the yard "taxi style" and of course, the chauffeur is naked...

A rare moment when Kate has her hair pulled out of her face...I always tell her she looks like an orphan and that she should let me do her hair...it doesn't usually work...

Mother's Day dinner at my parents' house...

Sarah and Megan came to visit last week and the kids had a BLAST...

Funny story...we 3 moms were sitting in Charlie's room, engrossed in our conversation...Andy was sitting in the family room watching TV--he could keep an eye on the kids...at least 30 minutes went by, and I hear Kate screaming...I'm still thinking that Andy will handle it...finally I come out and Andy is NOT in the family room, and the kids are in the back with the hose spraying full blast, flipping around like a snake, and the patio and side grass are FLOODED...there was water sheeting down the patio into the drain, and the little pool, wagon and all the toys are over-flowing with water...Andy was in the office!  We had to strip the kids, put clothes in the dryer and warm everyone up for the ride home!

Kate stole a cookie from the kitchen and ran...I found her eating it under the piano in the living room...can you also see the pink PERMANENT marker on the wall behind her???

Trash to treasure...Andy's co-worker gave the girls this little picnic table...I LOVE IT...it needs a coat of stain, but I can see many, many picnics and art projects at this little table this summer...

An ode to my brother...

My kids scored in the "uncle" department...Uncle Michael loves to play with our kids. Andy and I often drive away from Sunday dinner praising my brother for having the energy that we lack on a Sunday afternoon. After dinner, they are usually all out in the front or back yard kicking a ball, wrestling, or playing piggy-back...or in the house chasing each other through the halls.





And there's often some of this...

Thanks for loving our kids Michael...Lauren is looking forward to an encore of rocket ship this summer...