Summer Days- June

One of our family's favorite treats is when Thunder makes his own caramel popcorn from scratch.  He makes it so warm and sweet and it is sooooooooo good.

UDOT is doing a large construction project near our neighborhood, creating a new freeway overpass and a new highway out to Saratoga Springs.  The overpass is getting two new bridges and they used a new technique of building the bridge off the side of the freeway and then moving the whole darn thing at once during the night.  My friend M and I went to watch them move part of the second bridge.  It was crazy windy but really incredible to see the giant bridge slowly move along on the 336 wheel machine.

We have a trail with lots of plants behind our house.  The kids are in heaven every day as they get to run around and explore.  They make up all sorts of games and love the neighbor kids.

When they're inside, they love to play games on the iPod!  We now have some strict limits or they would be on that thing all day.  We have no screen time (TV, iPod or computer) before 10 AM and their beds are made, rooms picked up, they are dressed and have their teeth brushed.

Here is Sunrise.  See, he eats!

He is cruising all over the place now, pretty solid on his own two feet.

This summer the kids are in a summer program at a place called the McKee Language School.  It is a fun camp where they have crafts and sing songs, but it's all in Spanish!

They have been having a really fun time, and it's pretty neat the words and phrases they have been picking up.

Here is the front room where they sing songs and play games.  They also have a snack room and a craft room.

Ahhhhh, life with four kids!  Tiring!

We took a short trip down to Yuba Lake.  It was a bit chilly for us wimpy adults to go swimming, but the kids jumped right in.

Thunder saw the double rainbow omen and thought it would be a good time to fish.

Remember Cousin Itt from the Addams Family??

Sunrise made a growling buddy in Sky.

It was nice to get away, even if it was cold and rainy!

Every year, our city of Lehi has a big parade.  Our ward designed a float this year with a safari theme.

The kids loved all the attention.

 Give out candy?  No!  I'll just shoot you in the face with water!

There's my cute little explorer!

Summer Days (or Daze?!?) of May

First is a picture of our house.  I don't know about you, but I always forget what people's homes look like, so I decided to post this shot of ours!

The kids have all LOVED riding their bikes around the neighborhood this year.  Tornado still has his training wheels, but doesn't let that slow him down one bit.  We also now have a paved path behind our house that they ride on.

Cloudburst and Sunshine both finished their first few months of piano lessons.  They have both done so well and had a good time at their recital.  It is hard to find a good time to practice because they both like to have me help them, and then Sunrise is running loose around the house, and Tornado is whipping up a storm somewhere else.... but they both love being able to play songs.  Sunshine especially loves The Ode to Joy.

Two handsome men!  Love those blue eyes.

And here are two friends enjoying the fruits of a big storm!  Cloudburst and her friend T. were in the same class at school and were also carpool buddies.  This is how they celebrated the last day of school!

And yes, Cloudburst is missing her two front teeth.  They've been gone for 2 months now.  We're hoping for an appearance of some teeth soon!  She wants to eat corn on the cobb!

On Memorial Day weekend, we got to have Nana and Papa come and visit.  They are always so fun!  The kids love it when they actually get pushed on the swing, or someone to play a sit-down game with them.

And here is a fun addition to the family!  Thunder found this online and the kids LOVE it!

We even got a few of the adults to go down....

... and the kids didn't want to come out even though they were freezing!

We really enjoyed the time and are looking forward to the next visit.

And if any picture could sum up our summer so far, it would be the grill!  We love a good BBQ.

Sunrise's One Year pictures

Sunrise turned 1 back in May, but I'm just getting around to posting his pictures.

Perhaps I have been procrastinating on purpose...

... because when I post this, I have to admit he's not a little baby anymore.

Gosh, I love this little guy.

I swear he eats, even though he looks so petite.

He hasn't grown too much since his 9 month check up, but the Doctor isn't concerned since he's learning all sorts of new tricks....

like walking...

talking...

and just generally getting into lots of mischief!

He is a very curious little guy.

He is 29.25 inches tall ( 40%ile)...

and weighed in at 19 lb. 4 oz (8 %ile).

His is head is small (44.4 cm, 5 %ile), but look at those eyelashes!

He is always on the lookout for something new.

He took his first steps a couple weeks after his birthday and now tries to walk everywhere he goes.

Sunrise was getting a little annoyed with posing for the camera...

... and then broke out into tears...

... until I brought him inside to the piano!

He loves to sit down and listen to the plunky music he can make himself.

And these days I spend my time chasing after him and cleaning up messes.

He is really starting to discover the big wide world out in front of him.

And he somehow figured out how to open candy bar wrappers by himself.

I'm weaning him of nursing right now, and it's very bittersweet.  It's so strange to think he is our last baby, and that we are moving on to the next phase with our family.  I am so excited to do "big kid" stuff and get to know my children as they develop their own little personalities. But babies bring such an innocent spirit into a home.  I don't mind too much when Sunrise wakes up every so often in the night, because I get to steal an extra hug and breathe in his sweetness.  I know our kids won't be little forever and I desperately want to hold onto all these good memories.  It's going by so fast!

Let the games begin

Both Thunder and I have some serious baseball history in our families, so we knew it was just a matter of time until our kids got sucked in. It's been so fun to watch! Sunshine is in T-ball and Cloudburst is in softball.  Even Tornado got to play Itty Bitty Baseball.  It's the first year for them. They are still getting the hang of when to run, where to throw the ball and when to actually stand up in the field and pay attention. All the little kids are so darn cute. So here's to the next 10-20 years watching baseball and softball!