Evelyn at 7 weeks

 Evelyn loves to snuggle while she sleeps

 7 weeks old-- it goes by fast!

 Things get pretty cozy with more us snuggling in bed on a lazy morning! 

Working on that smile!

Still have that startle reflex

Layla's Baby Blessing

 We were excited to be able to attend Layla's baby blessing. Shad and Jen had a yummy lunch at their house afterward too. Cora and Violet loved being able to take turns holding Layla. 

Evelyn at 6 weeks

Most of Evelyn's picture-taking faces now vary from bored to resigned, yawning to fed up. What a cutie-pie anyway!

 I love the way her cheeks squish up against the bed! And I love these swaddle blankets, they keep her nice and tight!

 My little muchkins... Luke loves to hold Evelyn! 

Mountain View Corridor

 We did the 1 mile fun run/walk on the brand new Mountain View Corridor this morning! Kevin got to run with the girls while I pushed the bike stroller and Luke, with Evelyn strapped to my front uphill and against the wind (does this sound fair?? It's good for me though). If you come to visit us, this is the road to take now-- the other one will be closed. So exciting! I made it home from the library in less than half the time it used to take me!

Cora and Violet were so excited to run! They also liked the cotton candy and popcorn in the park after the race. 

And here's us in a picture from the KSL website

Daddy Donuts Day 2012

This year in Violet's preschool Daddy Donuts Day we met at Home Depot for their craft project. I have enjoyed taking the girls to this in the past and this was no exception. I may have to do this more often as Violet was very proficient in doing her own work. Well, okay, I did start the nails out but she did a great job finishing off the work.

The finished product. She made an organizer. They had paints and stuff there, but I wasn't too keen in having drying paint in my car. So we will have to do that later.
And of course after the project we enjoyed a donut together. Thanks Amanda for getting us out to that fun event.

A Night with the Cowboys

The girls and I had a fun night at the Rodeo. I kept them out a little later than normal (okay a lot later) but I think it was well worth seeing the barrel racers and Big Bulls.

The girls spent the first half of the Rodeo down just at the fence. They had fun running up and down for a handful of popcorn. We enjoyed having some friends nearby who would soon join Violet and Cora in this parade up and down.
Cora was definitely more interested in the events than Violet. BUT I do think that both were more excited about having fun with their friends. (At the very least it let me have time to enjoy the events.) About halfway through the event the announcer asked the kids to return to their seats as people were having a hard time see the event through them. Go figure, kids don't make good windows?!?!

Violet was a good trooper. She enjoyed the muttin bustin but the rest was a little to hard for her to understand what was going on. All the events are real quick and by the time she processed what just happened the next contestant was competing. Needless to say she enjoyed the popcorn and cotton candy the most and we fast asleep in my arms before the Bull Riding event began.

Cora enjoyed watching the horses and cowboys. We about left earlier in the evening but I knew that once we got to the barrel racing that she would really enjoy it. She was very involved in all the events and loved to scream and cheer for the riders. I think toward the end of the night she began to get a little punchy. She was making a lot of the spectators around us laugh during the bull riding competition because of her LOUD laugh after the cowboys would be bucked off the bulls. She thought that was pretty funny. She let out the same boisterous laugh when the clown would be out doing his stunts and theatrics.
It was a success and I am looking forward to taking them to the next one. Cora says she wants to sign up for the Muttin Bustin competition. We will see if she feels the same way when she is mounted on top of a woolly sheep.

Basement Mischief

Violet says it was all Luke but.... someone opened that baking powder can! So much destruction in 20 minutes. Wow! 

Food storage items lovingly placed in a random box, baking powder is great for making footprints, and who doesn't need applesauce at the bottom of their slide?

 Notice the brown sugar opened and freely distributed, as well as a pack of ramen noodles.

All in all, it could have been worse though. And now the kids know that playing with the food storage is definitely not ok. 

May Roundup

Violet is usually a bit timid with climbing... so she surprised me at the park when she went right up the wall! 

 She was so excited and proud of herself! 

 Of course, lots of pictures and a video were in order.

Cora has been working super hard in gymnastics. This month she got her back handspring and front walkover-- two big tricks!! She gets nervous if she thinks about what she's doing too much, but she's doing a great job! I missed seeing them in class, but her wonderful teacher took videos on her phone and sent them to me.

The last unit Cora had at school was all about animals. She had to pick an animal, study it at the zoo, research about it at home, make a visual, and present it to the class. Man, I don't remember doing that when I was in kindergarten! She was pretty excited to learn about the ostrich and did a great job with her presentation. She did all the cutting out, lettering, drawing, coloring,wording, and choosing pictures for her book so it really was her own project. 

Her books says:

This is an ostrich.

Ostrichs live in the desert. The desert is dry. 

Ostrichs eat seeds, plants, roots, and lizards.

The Mom and Dad both sit on the eggs.

The adults protect the chicks under their wings.

An interesting fact about the ostrich is that its kick can kill a lion. 

There, now you too know more about ostriches!

Cora writes in her kindergarten journal two days a week for her homework.  It is so fun to read and see more of what she is thinking and what is important to her. At the end of the year her journal has lots of Evelyn updates!

Evelyn sneezed in her elbow. She has the hiccups after she eats. I hope she smiles soon. Her eyes sparkle. 

Kindergarten is fun but I will miss my friends and teacher. I had so much fun learning about the world.

Cora loves to draw at home too, I thought this picture of our family and the temple was just perfect. Especially the initials of each family member's name on top of our heads!

Violet's Preschool Update

Violet, Evelyn, and I had a special field trip date to Discovery Gateway. It was fun to be there with her preschool pals! 

 We also got her class pictures back-- what a bunch of cuties! 

 And one special cutie in particular, of course! 

Downtown

We've had a lot of fun playing at City Creek since it opened.. it sure is handy to be able to visit Kissie and Pata and be steps away from lots of fun! 

This is the closest Luke was willing to get to the fountain this day. 

    

 Luke is always so thrilled to see Kissie and Pata. He asks almost every single day when we will see them next. 

 We caught the very tail end of the spring flowers at Temple Square this year!

  Luke going to great lengths to play on the computers in the Visitors Center.

Cora's Kindergarten Graduation

Cora's kindergarten graduation was o-so-cute! I love the picture she drew of herself on the graduation invitation-- graduation hat and everything.

I also LOVED that graduation was for each individual class, so we celebrated with 25 kids instead of 125. 

The kids did a little program and sang a few songs. Short and sweet!  

Pata was able to come celebrate too.

(Kissie was up in Blackfoot helping Grandma Ellis move into an assisted living facility)

Pata helping to keep Luke quiet and happy

Cora walked across the stage so fast my picture of her receiving her certificate is just a blur. But here she is afterward.

Cora and her teacher's aide, Mrs. Rasmussen

Cora and Mrs. Proud. She was fabulous! I'm so happy Cora had such a great first experience with school.

Cora's official graduation photo and her regular school photo too. Aren't school photos lovely? 

I think she was nervous for them. 

 

One of the songs the kindergarten class sang-- to the tune of the Mickey Mouse song. Cora is in the front row on the left side.