Random

I'm just trying to finally get caught up on all the pictures I have floating around, so this is a photodump, that is definitely not super exciting or totally in order.

Starting with the day that Meili decided she wanted to make an apron. She cut these pieces of fabric and pieced them together the way she wanted them, and I just sewed exactly as she said, which means that she ended up with this very fashionable and durable piece of work...

 I told her that when life slows down we will make her an actual apron, and she is very excited for that day.

 Meili and I had to get our sleepover on the tramp in before the new baby came. Around the end of June, I decided that we were running out of time. After trying to watch a movie on the wall with treats and popcorn, we gave in and decided it was just too light outside-hence Meili and Grant squishing their little heads together to try to get a peak.

 After the movie, we sent Grant inside for some girl time.

 Even 8 months pregnant, I love sleepovers with this sweet girl!

 Somehow my ten-year anniversary with Josh just came and went this year. We have no money, and LOTS of other things going on currently, so I threw together this basket that had a card with it that told the story of our engagement. I also got him a keychain (because 10 years is aluminum or metal) that says, "I still do..."

Our marriage has been anything but perfect, but I will tell you that I've been teaching classes about relationships for the last 4 years, and the more I talk about my relationship with Josh, the more I realize that there is definitely a reason that we are together. He compliments all the areas in me that are lacking, and I couldn't find someone more patient and selfless than the man I chose to be with. Thank goodness for him, and I am grateful everyday for my knowledge of eternal families!

 I can't even tell you what Grant was eating but look at that cute messy face!

 Josh took Grant to Fathers and Sons, so Meili and I had our own campout in the family room. I wonder at what age you stop being able to sleep on the floor with nothing but a pillow a blanket. I have passed that age!

 Josh and I bought a new bed, that came in these boxes that were just screaming "Make a fort!" So this was family home evening one Monday, and I'm not even going to talk about how long it stayed up, before we finally decided it had been long enough.

 We watched my brother's dog while his family was at Disneyland. This is how Grant takes care of Wedge. (Notice all the things that it takes to make Grant happy in his mind: Yankee blanket, treats and trucks. Done!)

 And his face over in the corner! :)

 We have lived in our house far too long to not realize that we have perfect hammock trees, and we have a hammock! I can't believe I could have been relaxing all this time, and I've been missing out!

 The Monday before we had our new baby, I was out of ideas for Family Home Evening, so we made sock puppets. They were definitely homemade, and our puppet show went absolutely nowhere, but the kids keep finding them whenever I try to put/throw them away, so apparently they enjoyed their sock puppets.

Heritage Days

I mentioned in an earlier post that Meili was in a play for our town's Heritage Day celebration. They also have some other activities going on throughout the week, and I think they are great! The week before, Meili ran a 1 mile race. (I thought being 8 months pregnant, I would be able to keep up with Meili. Ha ha! No. I had to take a short cut, just so I could get pictures of her.)

 

 

Then the following week, there was a parade...

 With plenty of candy. Don't worry.

Jake and Kami, and Amy brought their kids, and Andrea came along to help me watch them all while the other adults went golfing later in the day.

 Meili was in the parade, on the float for the children's play. We were on the wrong side of the road, so I just barely saw her by running alongside the float for a block.

 After the parade, they had games at the park, including creating your own fake mustache!

 ...And pony riding

 ...Walking on stilts

 ...Racing stick horses

...And what would a carnival be without cotton candy!

Gymnastics

Meili has been involved in dance for the last couple of years. She likes it, but I wanted to try to gymnastics to see if you she liked it even more. I personally think it was a better fit for her, but I'm pretty biased because I practiced my Olympic floor routine in my parents' backyard for years, and used the hallway through their dining room, kitchen, and family room as a vault. (And the pattern on their linoleum was the perfect width for a balance beam.... ) Get my point? I may want to vicariously live through Meili.

 With that being said, I thought it was more successful than dance. It took her the better part of the year to figure out how to do a cartwheel, but she finally did get it (by watching a Barbie Ninja movie, if you can believe it!)

 Now we'll just have to decide whether she's going to continue this year. If I had it my way, she absolutely would, but she thinks she wants to try horse back riding lessons.

For their very last activity, they could choose whatever they wanted to do. Of course, it was this zipline! Who wouldn't choose that?