Dress Up and other things

Lucy's favorite things are shoes and playing dress up. She is such a girl! She finds anything made of fabric (her clothes, someone else's clothes, laundry, dishtowels, etc.) and tries to get it to stay on her head or to put it on her chest. Here she is trying on some little shirts. She prefers the blue one apparantly.

We've been loving all the beautiful thunderstorms we've been getting this past month. We took these pictures back in July when we still had porch steps. Our foundation is being fixed and we've been without steps for over a month now. No matter, now we just enjoy the storm from the garage. The boys love to ride their bikes in the sprinkling rain (when there isn't lightning, of course).

 Lucy brushes her teeth for the first time and thinks it is pretty funny.

 The boys out watching the action as workers jackhammer out concrete and dig around the perimeter of our home to fix the foundation. It was a very noise few days. Soon it will be sealed and all fixed!

Summer of the Stink face!

Lucy has learned a new trick. We call it the stink face. We think she may have learned it when she saw Uncle Grady for the first time in a while. Poor Uncle Grady is the happiest and friendliest person I know, yet Lucy was not pleased to be around him. After she came up with the face, she would give it to everyone. A lot. Soon it became a game. After several weeks, I thought I'd better capture it on camera. Here she is just getting warmed up:

 Sometimes it's hard to keep a straight face:

 Almost...

 And there it is, in all it's glory! Sometimes with the lips and sometimes without.

Summer Fun

I typically dread summer when it gets so hot that we can hardly go outside. The kids say the "b" word all too often... "bored, bored, bored!" But surprisingly, the boys have kept themselves pretty busy. When we're home, they play lots of Minecraft (which I've recently set a rule of no playing until 4 p.m.), watch a show or two, and play lots of Legos. We've been trying to keep up with reading and Nolan has even done a little journaling. The boys have done pretty well with chores, too. It's been nice to have help with emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the bathroom, and vacuuming. Here are photos of what we've been up to.

We had an outing with our cousins to a new park and the train museum.

 Lucy gets so excited to ride on swings!

 Ezra made it into the picture just in time. Travis was with us but he was too busy to be photographed.

One night the boys built a little cozy place where they could all sleep with Lucy. They really wish they could snuggle her all night long. Instead, I told them that they could stay as long as Lucy would lay there... it lasted about 4 minutes. 

 Helping Lucy to do new things is always fun. As of 13 months old, she is too cautious to try walking but is finally using her walker toy.

 Justin's Dad, Kathy, and their 3 boys came to visit for a day. Nolan and Ezra were so excited to hang out with their uncles, Brandon, Evan, and Dylan.

 They wanted to play and talk about Minecraft most of the day.

 Daren's family came as well and we had a barbecue. After lunch all the boys went for a truck ride. Our truck's first owner was actually Justin's Dad. Then it got passed to Grandpa Moulton, and then to us years later. It's great for entertaining! After our truck ride we had a good time at the park in Daybreak and then headed to City Creek to eat at the Blue Lemon. Cheesecake Factory had a long wait... no surprise there!

 The 4th of July parade really wasn't great at all this year. It was terribly hot and we had already been to a pancake breakfast that was quite crowded. The first 5 minutes were okay... that's when we took some pictures. But then Ezra decided to lay on the ground and cry about having no water and not being able to catch enough candy. And considering how little of interest is actually in our local parade, it is so long! But you can't not go to a parade on the 4th, so I'm sure we'll go next year, too. 

 She has so much pride in her country!

 We also had a quick visit from Jodi and her 3 boys, Rocky, Jack, and Ryan. They were in heaven playing together and we also enjoyed going to Jump Around Utah for a couple of hours and to lunch at In 'n Out. We also took them on a truck ride because that's our thing!

One Sunday, Justin decided that he was tired of my brand new pressure cooker not being used. I received it years ago for my birthday but am too scared to use it. He made us some authentic Brazilian rice and beans. It was delicious! These kids sure love their Dad.

 Pulling out the slip 'n slide is always a good time. 

 Except for Lucy. She didn't find any enjoyment in the cold water.

Nolan did a tennis camp and had a good time. Sometimes Ezra and I would play, too.