september

boy time flies in blogs. especially mine. :) here's september, just a bunch of busy nothings as jane austen says.

chillin in shades.

playing some tunes

cutie pants

ice cream!!!

greek goddess

shaving her feet. don't worry, the guard is on the razor. it's pretty scary how much she copies me!

august

this month we did some fun stuff. we went camping with grandpa, grandma, and nathan's family. nathan and ainsley.

hiking.

nathan's kids.

by the waterfall.

kate loved playing outdoors. the sleeping part could use some help and will be better next year i hope. she loved hiking too. it was fun to take her out and about during the day. she's such a nature girl it was so much fun to see her in her preferred environment. we even saw some wildlife. a big deer was eating by our campsite one morning and came almost within a few feet of me. we also watched a snake eat something. grant and meghan loved seeing the indian dyed figure in the rock cave. it was a lot of fun.

kate also started baking with me a lot more this month. she has discovered a new fondness for the fine art of stirring and cracking eggs. it's a lot messier but worth the fun!!

the rest of july.

how sad. i am just finishing up july on the blog and it's almost the end of the year. well, i'll work as fast as i can and finish out the year. the rest of july was a whirlwind of swimming, zoo, playing with cousins, and hunting out every bit of chocolate kate could find. playing with kate and her cousin ainsley

swimming at the steiner gym pool

i have no idea what this is. green frosting from grandpa's birthday cake i think.

chocolate. chocolate chocolate chocolate. with a smile that large what else could be all over her face.

believe it or not, kate is eating broccoli and peas. she's a great veggie eater so far...

the zoo:

kate's favorite thing at the zoo is the carousel. she cries like the world is ending whenever we get off. luckily she has many distractions in the animals. her cousins joined her once for a visit this year.

July 4th

Okay so i finally finished going through the july pictures. this is the fourth of july. my brother's family came up and we had a sleepover. the kids loved playing in the pool. we lit some fireworks that night and then everyone else went to watch fireworks over the valley. i was busy desperately trying to find an open store that sold kate's binkies. i did finally find one and even got to see some fireworks while i drove... ;)

meghan

grant

Swimmy Swimmy!

Kate LOVES being in the water. if she's not swimming, she's begging to play with the hose. "wa wa" is her favorite plaything. she has a little swimming pool in the backyard but she loves going to the big pool at the gym as well. these are a few shots from the backyard pool from a few different days.




kate loves copying me and that means a lot of cleaning so i got her her own little broom. she does quite well with it actually. she decided to take a breather from the pool and sweep up the deck...

A little hiking and a little dinner

we went for a nice little walk on a forest trail with grandpa and grandma and had a grand ole time. we saw an indian pictograph in a cave, threw rocks, and watched the raging river.



kate is a very coveted dinner guest. and she has no qualms - she loves seeing all her adoring fans and the very cool playgrounds at the various locales. ;)

The Entire Month Of June In Three Short Posts.

boy have i been a slacker with the blogging. summer always seems busier than any other time of year even though i have no child on vacation from school. the world simply runs differently in summer i think. so i have to play serious catch-up with my june and july photos. so here's june.

kate and i went to visit my friend jenny and her two boys. we had

a grand ole time. jenny has better wit than anyone i know and kate loves other kids so it was a lot of fun.

kate has decided that reading the paper is a rather pleasant pasttime in her off-tornado hours. I think she finds the news a bit shocking sometimes. :)

kate loves gardening. i got her a little pair of gloves because she kept trying to put my own on. she liked trying them but they didn't stay on long. i got her a set of tools as well. those on the other hand have gotten some mighty good use. now i must teach her the difference between flowers and weeds...

The "I" list

Just a fun little nonsense thing. I'll do it for Kate first as most of her typing is still unreadable by most English-speakers, then I'll do it again for myself.

Kate's "I" list
i am: stubborn, beautiful, independant, charming, the light of mommy's life
i know: what i want
i want: what i want, when i want it
i have: everyone wrapped around my little finger
i wish: these silly adults could learn my language
i hate: bedtime, being put down, clothing
i miss: my binkie. all the time.
i fear: lots of stuff for a minute, then nothing at all.
i hear: lots of people telling me how pretty and smart i am.
i smell: chocolate, poopy diapers, or soap depending on the time of day.
i crave: chocolate
i search: for mommy
i regret: nothing, yet.
i love: chocolate, dogs, mommy, stories, binkies and the kitties
i care: about my family
i always: adored
i am not: ignored.
i sing: to "old macdonald" and hymns
i fight: yes please.
i make: beautiful pictures
i lose: binkies. and my temper.
i win: when grandpa's around
i never: think i'm wrong
i listen: to no one
i am scared: to go to sleep by myself
i need: my space. and then mommy's arms.
i am happy about: reading, chocolate, binkies, swimming, showers, and mommy
i tag: mommy

Laura's "I" list
i am: stubborn, smart and loyal
i know: enough to recognize my ignorance. :)
i want: to travel more, to help my daughter grow, and to go to graduate school
i have: a beautiful little daughter/best friend
i wish: travel was cheaper
i hate: that i can't forgive myself. and the extreme cold of getting out of the shower.
i miss: old friends
i fear: losing loved ones
i hear: kate's book mooing.
i smell: fear. hah hah, actually i smell burritos at the moment.
i crave: chocolate
i search: for knowledge
i regret: a lot of past decisions
i love: my daughter, traveling, photography, gardening, family, reading, and medicine
i care: for the well-being of friends and family
i always: show up late at least according to "conventional" time. ;)
i am not: who i want to be yet.
i sing: in my car. loudly.
i fight: too often
i write: lots of text messages
i lose: my temper. and my patience. and my keys.
i win: people's friendship and respect and a shocking lack of contests.
i never: want to be in cold water. brrrr!
i listen: very well when i want to
i am scared: to not accomplish things i can
i need: love
i am happy about: it not being winter!
i tag: YOU!

my birthday

yes, i realize this is chronologically quite out of order. oh well, deal with it. i didn't do much on my actual birthday. i made my own birthday cake (lemon ricotta) and went with mom and kate to dinner at the bombay house. we ate the cake afterwards and kate decided it was her duty to put all the candles back in the cake. :) what a great birthday.

we went down to provo a little after my actual birthday to celebrate with nathan's family. they made dinner and we had strawberry shortcake and mom made a wonderful lemon almond cake out of nigella's cookbook (i'm soooo proud!). grant, meghan and ainsley took it upon themselves to place the candles just right.

the entertainment for the evening was provided by the girls doing their fairy dances.