September randoms

Here are a few random pictures that have been floating around:

Natalie loves to climb on top of this playhouse and spy on the neighbors!  Too bad they're never outside.

The girls and Evan in their pirate gear.  He wasn't super happy.

Who doesn't enjoy an impromptu puppet show while they're prepping dinner? Especially by Snow White and a ballerina.

Natalie is slowly starting to read (she doesn't love it yet).  However, she was very proud when she wrote her favorite word: Dad.

 Our swimming has become less frequent as the weather has cooled.  But we sure love our swimming time at grandma's!

I just have to add this so I don't forget.  We don't wear a lot of socks around here since it's almost always sandal weather.  But every time I mop Anna goes and gets socks on so she won't slip.  So here she is in her socks, trying to put her hands in her pockets for the picture.  She cracks me up.

Evan 5, 6 and 7 months

Oh this boy of ours is growing by leaps and bounds.  He adds so much joy to our daily lives, it's incredible.  No matter anyone's mood, Evan can cheer them up. I truly understand the term 'momma's boy' now!  Love him!

Around 5.5 months he tried some cereal.  It always take awhile to catch on to spoon feeding but he thought it was fun to get all the focused attention!  Of course he had to wear a princess bib. :)

Cyrena likes to sit and read in this chair so a lot of times I put Evan next to her while I'm doing dishes or something else.  

We had a pirate day at preschool so the girls wanted Evan to join in.

We are trying to encourage sitting up; he's not cooperating. But he does always have a contagious grin for us.  He loves to have his diaper changed.  I think he enjoys the one on one time with mom or dad-something he doesn't always get. 

 To celebrate Evan's half birthday we went swimming and ate cupcakes at Grandma's!   Evan slept through the cupcakes.

 
First time wearing a hat

You can see he's a little better at sitting up but he still throws himself over!  His hair has grown a lot as well.  He doesn't love eating the pureed baby food and being fed with a spoon.  He will clamp his mouth shut and turn his head away.  But if you hold up a cracker or cheerio, he opens right up. It's funny.

He is still a good sleeper but sometimes takes time to settle in the evening.  I'm pretty sure that's due to big sister commotion.

I had to include this picture because this is the face he gives me a lot.  I call this his kissable face-look at those lips!

7 Month Stats:

Weight: 16 lbs. 9 oz (25th%)

Height: 26.5 in. (25th%)

It's very strange to have a small baby.  Every time I go to pick him up I expect him to be heavier!  It will be interesting to see if he is always small.

Family Campout...downstairs

In the middle of the night in August, while Evan was awake throwing up (he was really sick for about a week), our upstairs air conditioner decided to go out.  It got hot. Fast.  We quickly notified the home warranty people and they came to diagnose it the next day.  It needed a new compressor (an $1800 part).  Luckily the warranty covered it but there was a lot of back and forth approval, ordering, etc.  So it didn't actually get fixed until the next Thursday.  

We went a week with only downstairs air conditioning.  That's no good here in AZ.  The girls camped out in the playroom, Evan in the laundry room and David and I on the couches.  It was fun...sort of.  It got old fast. 

 The girls were on an air mattress in the playroom

It was ok but then around 10 p.m. while we were 'going to bed' on the couches, Anna would come out in different getups to make us laugh....it was hard not to.

Another School Year Begins

Another school year began for Cyrena 3 days after we returned from our summer trip.  She was thrilled and not one bit nervous.  Her teacher this year is Ms. Shephard and I have been so impressed with her.  I know she will push Cyrena!

A couple weeks later we started another preschool year.  Natalie, Anna, Evan and I are joined by 8 other 4 year olds two mornings a week.  Evan usually sleeps during it and Anna joins in with us.  It's a great time, I love teaching my kids.

Again, why can't Natalie smile?

Summer is over

Well we accomplished what we needed to this summer.  The kids learned a little, played a lot, saw some movies, made memories with family, swam a lot, etc.  And the biggest accomplishments of all is that Anna was potty trained and moved out of her crib.

She's on the floor in the big girl's room.  That sometimes (or most times) makes for a chaotic bedtime so we've been trying to put her to bed alone early while the older girls have book time.  But oh how she loves being with her sisters.

Sometimes she sneaks into their beds without them knowing

The girls also have a traditional 'monsoon dance' with David.  We love these warm summer rains.

FHE Cyrena style

Every so often Cyrena takes it upon herself to plan Family Home Evening.  I'm more than happy since her lessons are usually more comprehensive than mine!  And she always plans a fun activity.   

However, this lesson on prayer took the cake.

 She made and gathered all the supplies in this basket.  

 She wrote the topic on our chalkboard and read a story about prayer from The Friend

 Then we played a game throwing a ball to someone and saying things we could pray for-everyone got a chocolate covered cherry when it was their turn 

 After the game she gave each of us a prayer chain.  She told us we could add a paper link every time we prayed throughout the next week.

It.was.awesome. 

 David and I were very impressed with all the planning and preparation she put into it.

Guess whose chain was the longest by the end of the week?

Summer road trip part 4

After saying good-bye to Bear Lake, we headed further into Idaho to our next destination; Burley.  This is where David's Dad grew up and his extended family was having a reunion.  It had been way too long since we had seen Grandpa and Grandma Dean!  It was a wonderful reunion and even though we were together less than 24 hours, it was memorable!

We got to the reunion site around dinnertime and then stayed in adjoining rooms at a hotel.  That worked out great so the adults could stay up late chatting while the kids slept.

 

 I couldn't be more thrilled that I got my little David.  He's what I always wanted.

Three generations of Dean HANDSOMENESS.

 

 Cyrena was the photographer!

 Evan is a sucker for a grandma's arms and he knows Deb is a wonderful grandma!

 After breakfast we headed to see where Grandpa Randy had grown up.  His parents owned a restaurant called The Frosty Spot (I think; I need to verify this again!) and he spent MANY hours peeling potatoes in the kitchen!  His family lived in a house in the back of the restaurant.  It wasn't connected to a liquor store back then.

Here he is telling the girls all the different things that were on the menu.  It is still a restaurant now but was closed while we were there.

 We parted ways mid-morning and got back in the van for the next stop: Salt Lake City.

 We love to visit David's Grandmother Gerstner.  We didn't have as much time with her as we wanted but it was great to see her.  Evan was asleep the whole time--he was getting so worn out from traveling!  Natalie wasn't loving the picture taking.

 Anna had to be in her own picture with Grandmother

After leaving Salt Lake City we continued on to Alpine to grab some things we left at my parents house and then continued to Hurricane to stop for the night. We stopped here to check out the Navajo bridge and eat our pb&j's.  It spans the Colorado River.  We could see tiny rafters down there!

 

Natalie just canNOT smile in a picture.  Either the sun is in her eyes, she's cold, or just not lovin' life at the moment.

Our happy traveler; he was a champ!

We headed to Mesa from Hurricane the next morning and there ended our summer adventure.  We had a great time, made a lot of memories and put a lot of miles on our car! I LOVE spending uninterrupted time with my family, especially David, so I treasured every single minute.