Summer has arrived

This week the temperatures got into the high 90s. I'm not sure if we actually got up to 100 or not, but it was HOT. I debated on getting a little wading pool for the kids to have in the back yard, and finally decided it was a must. They absolutely love it. These are pictures of Thursday, the first day we had it, we have used it every day since .

Memorial Day

We enjoyed a fun family day at the Desert Sonoran Museum on Memorial Day. It is basically a zoo of several animals native to Arizona. The kids had a blast.

Family photo opp in nature.

Bryan and the kids inside of a cave. They are up in a little passageway that was quite an adventure for them to go through.

I honestly didn't know cactus bloomed until I saw these! Aren't they beautiful!

Look! Feet!

Emma will be 14 weeks tomorrow. She has recently passed a new milestone - she found her feet! At this point anytime she can reach them, she grabs hold, and I think there are times like when she is in her swing that she wants to grab them and can't and so she gets frustrated! I caught a little foot grabbing action earlier today so thought I would share.

Our Darling Emma

Emma is a very alert little baby and she is smiling all the time now. Here are a few good shots we got the other night.

She is looking at Rebekah in this picture. She really seems to like Rebekah - sometimes if Emma is fussing and I can't get to her at that moment I will ask Rebekah to go "cheer Emma up" Rebekah loves it and I think Emma does too!

A cute little yawn - almost bedtime.


Here come the smiles!

There were probably 15 more pictures - but I decided to spare all of you! :)

Our Charming Alex

This is a video of Alex singing a WILD version of Happy Birthday and then a cute little phrase Bryan has taught him to say - he is becoming his own little person these days, it's fun seeing his little personality come out!

Rebekah's Birthday Part 2

Here we go - the big celebration on Saturday was a huge success! Rebekah had an absolute blast! I think I mentioned in the previous post that it was a Princess themed party - so here she is with her Princess cake. PINK just like she asked for!



This is the doorway curtain I got to cover the entrance into the party area. The picture on the package showed this curtain COVERING a front door - so I thought it would be pleanty big to fill in a doorway. I would say that was some major FALSE ADVERTIZING! Look at how dinky that thing is! Bryan had to put it on a shower curtain rod and then it still didn't even touch the floor! (yes, the size was printed on the package, but who looks at that!?) The kids had a great time running through the curtain though (great video of that later) so it served its purpose!

Coloring Princess Pictures, they also decorated princess crowns and wands.

Here are the princesses and one prince - Alex was SO excited about EVERYTHING!!

Bryan wrote "PRINCE" on Alex's crown and made him wear it backwards so it wouldn't look princessy.

Musical cushions.

Everybody find a cushion!

Pin Cinderella in her window.

Opening presents

Marissa gave Rebekah a kiss after Rebekah opened the present from her - we had to have them re-enact it three times to get this picture!

CAKE!!!

The king and the jester! Bryan went to a renaisance (that can't be spelled right!) store and got a king and queen hat for him and I to wear - you will see my lovely hat in the video.

Grandma JoAnn made Rebekah and her doll Abigail matching dresses.

The main gift from Mommy and Daddy was a "Princess Room" complete with wall stickers, comforter and sheets and a lamp. She was thrilled!

She's quite the little "mommy" with her new highchair from Grandma Melissa.

Video of the day for your enjoyment.

Princess Party

Today we had Rebekah's Princess Party. She was SO excited for this event and has been anticipating it for WEEKS now! It was everything she hoped for and that made Mommy and Daddy pretty happy. Here she is with her princess friends Marissa (left) and Faith (right) with the princess crowns and wands that they made. More pictures of all the festivities will come soon (I hope!) Just a note, Marissa is Rebekah's very best friend from preschool that she absolutely adores - it is so cute to watch them together - there's nothing like a BEST FRIEND.

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

It's hard to believe just 4 years ago our little Rebekah was born. This is a picture of her at 3 months old, one of my all time favorites!
And here she is now - all "grown up"! We are so blessed to have such a beautiful daughter. In this particular picture you will notice she has dressed herself and all of her "babies" in blue - she was quite proud of that!


Rebekah is really starting to become her own person. She is so imaginative - always pretending to be a princess, or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and most recently Alice from Alice in Wonderland. She runs through the house yelling "Rabbit! Rabbit! Stop! Where are you running to?" It just makes me smile. Another thing she is starting to understand more about is God, the other day she said "Mommy, I am so glad I have Jesus in my heart!" What a joy for a mother to hear those words. I pray that as Rebekah grows she shows a true understanding of the love of Jesus through her service to others and becomes a woman of God.

Thank you Lord for our beautiful girl.

Alex and the dogs...

This is almost a daily occurance at our house. Alex gets a snack after his nap - ususally it is a granola bar. Most of the time he will go into the den and watch TV while he eats his snack. Before long Duke will come and hang out right at Alex's feet waiting for the ineveitable crumb - or more to fall.


And then when Alex does finally drop something - here it is the wrapper - Sammy comes in and gets it before Duke has the chance. This picture cracks me up - Alex has decided Sammy will make a good seat for watching TV.

Miles of smiles

Emma was in a great mood yesterday morning and I got a bunch of great pictures of her smiling! She will hit the three month mark (12 weeks) on Saturday!


Enjoy!