Playing catch up

Whoa! August is sure flying by! It feels like I never get a moment around here to have the computer to myself. I'm constantly having to fight off boys and their friends or as soon as I sit down to catch up Anna starts screaming. It's late and I have a few moments of quiet so I thought I'd do a major recap!

We finished up swim lessons and the boys all passed with flying colors! (Thank heavens. Last swim session no one passed because we missed too many days. Nice waste of money.)

Within one week's time we had both a broken window and a broken couch. Boys are EXPENSIVE.

My miracle girl just keeps getting cuter each day.

And she even started to SMILE at us. REAL SMILES....not gas smiles! haha Unfortunately all I had was my crappy phone camera to capture these sweet first smiles.

This was the scene in my bed for about 2 weeks straight while we watched the Olympics every night. So much fun, yet we were SO sleep deprived!

Just this past weekend I decided that I was finally feeling up to a road trip....just the kids and I. The baby did so well in the car. She is a GREAT baby. We've been so lucky to have a baby that just rolls with everything. Anyway, we ventured over to Boise for some friend and family time.

Saturday we spent the day up at the lake. We kept singing the song "Smoke on the Water" because there was SO much smoke in the air. Parker has been wanting to go boating ALL SUMMER long. He tried so hard to get up but couldn't do it this time. He was pretty frustrated. Poor guy.

 Landon gave skiing a try but forgot that you had to LET GO of the rope if you don't get up. He was dragged under water a good 20 feet. It was so scary. He's now scarred for life. Oops.

 Trying to avoid the smoke. I found a new way to use the hooter hider! Hehe

Baby LOVED the boat. She slept for the first 2.5 hours we were there.

Sunday we went to visit my sweet friend Nikki and her family. It was a little surreal to go back to the old neighborhood again. The trees have grown so much and I didn't recognize many faces at the park. I did see a couple familiar faces though....my sweet neighbor and her family were outside. So fun to see them.

 Nikki and I were so excited to set our babies next to each other. They are 3 months apart! We've talked about our little girls meeting since becoming pregnant last year.

 Buddies reunited!

 Monday we met up with more friends over at the fountains at the Center on the Grove:

 Em finally got to meet and hold my Anna. I think she was pretty much in love:

 The Koppings met us there as well. SO much fun to hang out with friends. Miss these girls so much.

We've got a couple more weeks of cramming it in before school starts. I'm starting to get excited about the boys going back to school. I'm looking forward to some structure and routine again and am surprisingly excited for some cooler weather.

Anna's Birth Announcement

Cousins and MUD!

Grandma Leelee, Grandpa Ric and the Pitcher clan came up to see us this weekend. Nate's bike team was hosting a century ride (100 miles) so Ric and Justin decided to join him in the ride.

The rest of us decided to head up to Cress Creek trail head becuase the ride was passing right by there and we wanted to cheer them on and then do the hike with the kids.

 Go Dads! And Grandpa! ☺

After cheering on the men, we walked up the trail to the little stream. I told the kids to avoid the mud but Dallin "didn't hear me" or some other lame excuse. He stepped into some deep mud and pulled his foot out minus his flip flop. SO...how was Dallin supposed to hike down the trail with NO shoe on?

Mom to the rescue! I pulled my shorts up and proceeded to climb into the stinky, cold GOOEY mud.
(Actually, it was secretly fun!)

I searched and searched:

And then.....lo and behold.....I found the darn thing! WooHOO!

We had a great time with the family. We're so glad they came up for the day and we're looking forward to going down to UT in a couple of weeks to spend some more time together!

Oh yes, and baby looked SO cute today at church so I'd better throw that picture up on the blog as well. ♥ this tiny girl!

 Her FAVORITE place to be: Daddy's chest!

One month!

 Anna is one month old today! How did we EVER live without her? She is so sweet, loves to be held, makes the cutest "girly" noises when she eats and cries. We absolutely love and adore her.

Relationship drama.

Anna and her older (by one week) boyfriend Mr. Jake spent a day at the lake. Jake was loving life....Anna, not so much!