Tiny Toes.

I know I have posted lots of pictures this month but I just had to include these last few for the month of August. I took a picture of Sophie's little feet and then I was playing around with the Microsoft Paint program. I know it's pretty basic but it still allows you to overlay text with pictures and play around with the background, etc.

Sophie is almost supporting her own head now, so we put the swing up another notch from the reclining position. She loves to look around and watch what everyone is doing.
I was trying so hard to get her to smile but she was just fascinated by all the funny sounds Sydney and I were making instead (to get her to smile). She just kept staring at both of us (like we were kind of weird!). Oh well...she has cute cheeks.

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Crayons.

I don't even have to explain what is in this picture because she drew everything so well! Sydney LOVES to color. It would be a state of emergency around here to run out of coloring books, paper and crayons!
I looked at what she was doing and she said "Mom, I drew a tree!" Yes that is definitely a tree. It doesn't look very much like the trees I drew as a kid...but it looks like the trees Sydney sees all over the place here! I just had to laugh at her concept of a tree.

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More Swimming.

Last Saturday we decided to take Sydney swimming at a pool close by. There was a whole lot more than just a pool there! Sydney loved this place and it was only a few dollars to get in. She probably went down the blue slide in the picture about 50 times. This part of the pool area featured a zero depth entry pool with a playground structure and lots of water cannons and spraying fountains of water. Then there was a regular lap pool with a diving area behind this pool. And then just to the left of this pool was some big waterslides and a lazy river.

This is more of the pool area. There were two bigger slides for older kids and a lazy river that went around this part.
Here's Mark and Sydney on their tube on the lazy river. For some reason Sydney wanted to go with Mark on his tube instead of the littler white tubes they had for kids.

Just in case you were wondering what Sophie and I did...we just sat in the shade and melted. I sprayed her with my mister every few seconds and she didn't really seem to mind just being out in the heat. She loved watching all the kids playing. Next year it will be so much fun to all go swimming (hopefully I'll be able to find a swimsuit by then)!

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Cotton and turtle gates...

When we were in St. George, we went to see the St. George temple. While we were walking around the grounds, someone pointed out these huge planters filled with cotton plants. There are a few fields of cotton in Tolleson...but of course I have never really paid too much attention to them. I thought these plants were kind of cool though. You could practically pick a cotton ball out of each one of the "flowers" once they open up.Here is a close up of the cotton "flower" which is basically a good sized cotton ball sticking out. Maybe I should plant one of these in my backyard so that I can remove nail polish outside without having to go hunt down cotton balls!
Another funny thing we saw while driving around St. George were these short fences (only about 1 1/2 feet high) that bordered many of the roads. They are called turtle fences and they keep the turtles or tortoises off the road. There must be a lot of turtles residing in the area to warrant building these fences everywhere.
I just found this picture online of a desert turtle...when I got out to take a picture of the turtle fences I certainly looked around to see if I could find one...but they must have all been hiding from the hot sun. Oh well, I'm sure most desert turtles look pretty much the same.

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Reunion!

Last weekend we packed the kids into our car along with all our kid gear and drove up to St. George for my college reunion. We almost decided not to go because it was going to be such a short trip and a bit of a hassle with Sophie still not sleeping well at night. She did about as well as I expected and we were very tired when we made it home Sunday evening. However, it turned out to be so much fun to see all my old friends and I only wish I could have stayed longer than the day. This is the view from Bekah's cabin just outside of Zion's. Pretty amazing!

Not all of us could attend but this is a picture of most of us plus a few extra kids (Mark was taking the pictures)! I think we are all pretty cool girls still. We have grown up so much since all our escapades at Liberty Square. Everyone was so nice and friendly and has become the kind of person you would always want to hang out with all the time. I was really nervous to see everyone again because it really has been awhile for most of us. Turns out I worried for nothing though because it was just so easy to talk to everyone and it didn't seem to matter that so many years have passed and we are all spread out all over the U.S.A. pursuing our own paths. Ok...and we are all lots prettier too (not that we weren't in college, maybe because we are just that much better at our own unique styles)! Mark and I just drove up for the day on Saturday to see everyone. We mostly just hung out and chatted and took some pictures and ate lots of yummy food and then Tara pulled out some funny stuff from her scrapbook that we used to say and do. She also had saved these papers we had to fill out on what we would be doing in five years. Those were fun to read through.
In this little room off of the living room was a piano that Sydney spent some time playing on when she wasn't chasing Bekah around.
Here is Sydney and Bekah trying to hide! Sydney loved Bekah and kept shouting for her to come chase her. Bekah also took her down to the edge of the property to look at the creek and to see the dogs. Then when we were doing all the girl stuff from Tara's scrapbook, Bekah let Sydney video tape some people and then let her borrow her cell phone to take about a million pictures! I guess Bekah probably has more pictures on her phone of the cabin than she could ever imagine!
We were almost to the I-15 to drive back to St. George and I looked back to see Sydney fast asleep. I think Bekah wore her out (or maybe it was the other way around).

Next time there is a girl reunion I am definitely going to try and come for a bit longer!

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Me Makeover!

There never seems to be enough time or money to go and get my hair cut and colored. I am kind of impulsive as well, so when I do feel like doing something to my hair it is usually last minute and I always have difficulty finding a place to fit me in. However, there are a few occasions that warrant an update and makeover! This weekend I am going to a college reunion to see some old roommates and friends that I lived by at Liberty Square at BYU (before Mark and I got married). Liberty Square was the only place I ever had the opportunity to live off campus before getting married and I have to admit...I had the best times there! All of the girls were so much fun. How I miss those carefree days! Anyway, after being married for over six years and two kids later...I probably look a bit different. (Ha...maybe that's because I don't have hours to SLEEP, workout, do my hair, go shopping for cute clothes, and put make-up on in the morning.) After surveying the results of letting my hair grow out way too long, without any color for over two years, and hair that spends most days (ok everyday) in a ponytail, I decided I needed to go in for some professional help! So after a fortune spent...here are the results. Actually I really like my new cut. The stylist put lots of layers and cute BANGS, but they aren't that difficult to do. She also put some blond highlights and this cinnamon color in. Too bad I didn't take a before picture. I was so excited when I saw what she did. I guess it was worth it after all. Hopefully I look at least my age now or younger!

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All about Sydney!

So in case anyone was wondering about these pictures of Sydney and the other ones of Sophie in her pretty dress...I took them last week. I feel kind of bad that I still haven't taken Sophie to get any professional pictures done so last week I finally made an appointment to have them done. Then when the lady called me back...somehow she talked me into getting Sydney's done as well and doing some cute sister pictures. I tried so hard to figure out something cute for them to wear that would at least coordinate, but all the stores have moved onto their fall lines, and I just couldn't bring myself to buy long sleeve clothes just yet. (Actually, I was really hoping to find a few pairs of shorts to replace the ones Sydney has almost worn out...she usually wears shorts clear until December!) Anyway, then I got to thinking how much of a hassle it would be to haul two girls out in the heat and then try and get them to smile for pictures...and then I always feel like I have to buy the pictures because the photographer tries so hard...and I am super picky. On top of it all, I still didn't really have matching or coordinating outfits so on Thursday morning I found a big blanket and did an impromptu photo shoot with my digital camera. Surprisingly, I captured some pretty good shots (in my unprofessional opinion) and I decided at the last minute that these pictures are probably better or at least as good as any I would have gotten. So once again Sophie is without professional shots...hopefully she will still turn out! Seriously with Sydney we were always taking her to Kiddie Kandids to get pictures.

Obviously this is my blog so I can brag about anything I want...but I just think my kids are so cute! Sydney has the cutest smile when you manage to capture it on film. I know some people take pictures and store them in boxes...and I do that too...but I am always pulling out those old boxes or looking through folders on my computer, at all the old pictures of Sydney (and Sophie...although, those aren't very old)! I just love all the happy memories in them. Maybe I'll dig up some old ones of Mark and me when were just married and young and had time to get 10 hours of sleep a night! We look so young and we don't have any "tired lines"!
I think Sydney has a cute "model" face in this picture. She didn't smile too big but she just looks gorgeous. I wish I had pretty long ringlets like her.
Yesterday we took Sydney to a friends birthday/pool party. Keep in mind she has only had four weeks of swim lessons in the city of Phoenix program. But I have to admit it was the best $12.00 ($6.00 for a two week session...isn't that amazing) I could have invested in her extra-curriculars! She jumped in yesterday and suprised us by really starting to swim. She is like this little fish in the water. I don't think I could swim as well as her until I was about 8...so I was very impressed. She just loves going underwater and paddling around and floating on her tummy. I am so excited that she is really progressing in this area. It is very important to be able to swim in Phoenix!

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Sophie's Blessing

Sophie was blessed on July 29, 2007 in the Tolleson Ward! She is two months old now and is just starting to smile and make cute baby noises this week. We would like to thank everyone who participated in Sophie's blessing and traveled distances to attend.

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