Towards the end of last month, on the 24th to be exact, it was Pioneer Day. Honestly, I'd never even heard of the holiday until we moved here to Utah. Even then, it was a while before we knew it existed. A couple days after the 24th some family came over and we decided to have some fun with fire works. Our cousin Nathan and his wife came over. Nathan had bought some "kid friendly" fireworks (meaning: they didn't make much noise). Our cousin Kristy was also there with her two boys. Her, the kids, and me had fun with the sparklers.
I don't think the kids were as excited as we were about the sparklers. Lol! Oh well, I'm sure they'll appreciate them a little more as they get older.
Kristy's sweet little boy Brandon enjoyed taking a sip from the hose. Melanie LOVED watching every little thing he did. Brandon is a little older than Melanie so naturally she had to follow him around and copy everything he did. It was pretty cute. She was his little side kick.
I love how we have cousins who have children close to Melanie's age. It's fun to watch them all play and grow up together.
In the end of July, After Pioneer Day, Squish had her 18 month appointment with her pediatrician. She had to have 4 shots :( She did pretty well though. She is in the 90th percentile for her weight, 70th for her height, and 60 something for her head circumference. She growing perfectly. :)
Here is a "BEFORE THE SHOTS" picture...
So happy... :(
Then BAM! She got poked twice on each leg. Didn't cry with the first one, but the other three she did.
Poor thing :( But holding up like a champ.
I got her this little light up stretchy ball thing as a reward for doing well at the doctors.
Melanie after the appointment. Just sitting in her car seat holding her baby.
My poor baby girl :( I had shots. Good thing it's over....
The following evening she was feeling a whole lot better! No fever, no sore legs, no waking up in the middle of the night. Yay! She did great!
Melanie sure is such a girl. She loves when I give her "manicures." Hahaha!
Last month (July), there was the HUGEST rain storm I have ever seen. Seriously, it was pouring rain! There literally were floods! People couldn't walk on the side walks without having their feet submerged in water. My sister in law Lindsey and I went for a quick grocery trip and we got SOAKED! On our way back home, I had to pull over and take pictures of all the water!
This is me trying to be "artsy"...
Cars diving over huge puddles of rain! It looks like a wave!
Lindsey and I got crazy and played outside when we got home from the store.
We walked over to this park and literally in the middle of the field was this MASSIVE pool of water. Pool of water isn't even the right description for it. It was a flippin' LAKE!
So what do we do? Of course we walked right through it to see how deep it got. This is me standing in the middle of it. It went a little passed my knees. Hahaha! I couldn't believe it!
Me trying to get artsy again with a snail. Good thing snails are slow, because I took forever with this one. Hahaha! Not too bad for a picture taken with my phone... If I do say so myself.
I seriously love this little girl with all my heart. One morning after Dallan had left for work, Melanie had gotten up way earlier than she normally does. She was calling me from her room, "Mama.... Mama....Mama..."
I went in to see what was wrong. I think she may have not been feeling well because she was super snuggly and still very tired. I was tired as well, so I put her in bed with me and we both went back to sleep. This is what I woke up to...
You cannot tell me that this picture does not just melt your heart.
This sweet little face sure melted mine. :)
Melanie and her Nana having a tea-party! Squish sure had a lot of fun doing this :) She LOVED it!
Thanks Nana!
Just relaxing in a box at Nana and Tata's house.
A couple days ago, I decided to surprise my dad at his work. Melanie and I went and had some fun with him. We got to see his office and meet some of his coworkers. Melanie absolutely loved playing on her Tata's computer. Haha!
"Ummm...Let's drag this item over a little bit."
"Not now Tata, can't you see I'm busy."
Hahaha!
Melanie had a good time and it was nice to hang out with my dad during the day and surprise him at work. :)
After visiting my dad, my good friend Madi and I had lunch date with our kids.
We had our lunch and head afterwards, headed over to the one and only... IKEA! We are pretty much in love with that store. This time, I went there with a purpose. I wanted to get Melanie a little table so that she can have a place her size to sit at and color.
After breaking the bank... Just kidding. The table was dirt cheap. Hahaha! We let the kids have an ice cream for doing well while their mommys shopped.
We told the kids to say cheese so that we could take a picture. They both leaned in closer to one another and smiled. It couldn't have been a more perfect of a pose. Hahaha! Cuties!
The little table was a SUCCESS!
She LOVES it!
The week before our trip to California, we had family pictures taken. Our TALENTED cousin Natalie took them. She is an amazing photographer. She captured some great photos! :)
Here is one of all of us.... The Hopes.
Here is our little family.
I LOVE this one.
Dallan and I can't get enough of this kid. She is just too precious.
I absolutely ADORE this picture. Natalie did such a good job with all of them.
This one is by far my favorite though. Melanie's expression in this one is just pure joy and she is holding our hands. One of my most favorite things in the world is to hold my husband's and little girl's hand. :) This picture is perfection.
I love my little family.
Next up.... CALIFORNIA!
