Cousin Fun!

We went to spend a day with Devyn and the girls and we all went to this fun little waterpark in their neighborhood. The girls had a blast playing with the fountains and running around like crazy people. It was actually hard to get good pictures because they wouldn't stop moving! Can I just say again how grateful I am that we live so close to each other and that we all love each other so much!! Go family!!!

Summertime...

This is pretty much what our banister looks like all summer long...you know you're jealous.

Faith in God!

Connor has managed to make us feel even more proud of him than usual...he does that all the time! Last month, he finished all the requirements to earn his "Faith in God" award at church. This is an award that you start working on at the age of 8. There are 5 different categories and you need to do at least two of the requirements from each category every year. Then when boys turn 11, they do some special requirements having to do with the Priesthood. Our little guy has worked on this diligently since he turned 8 and finished over half a year ahead of schedule! We are constantly amazed at Connor's diligence in any task he puts his mind to. And we're especially proud that he has such a desire to learn and grow spiritually. We love you Connor!

Coolest overnighter ever!!

Lily's Girl Scout troop earned a lot of money selling cookies (thanks to everyone who helped out on this)! With part of their earnings, they got to participate in a Camp SeaWorld overnighter. I was lucky enough to attend as a chaperone. The girls got to go to some really awesome behind the scenes demonstrations and activities. They learned a lot and had fun doing it! Our group got to sleep in the Wild Arctic exhibit with the Beluga Whales. Can I just say--freezing!! But so worth it, because it was one of the most amazing experiences we've had. I'm so glad Lily got to participate, it's something she'll remember forever.

This is where we slept. It was so amazing to wake up to this sight!

Feeding seals!

Participating in an activity that demonstrated the use of "blubber". The girls first put their fingers in a tub if ice water and held them there to see how fast it gets cold with just the fat under their skin protecting it. Then they put these molds around their fingers (I think it was model magic) to act as the blubber and insulate their fingers from the cold. Learning in action baby!

Our troop and our older sister troop. They got to dress up one of the girls as a polar bear, while learning all about them. Super fun and cute too!

Rite of Passage

We're all familiar with the many rites of passages our children go through--first smile, first tooth, first steps....this year, Lily had an important rite of passage for our family--her first Comic-Con!! We all went down this year to preview night, and the kids had so much fun looking around at all the cool stuff. Lily was so excited to be old enough to go with everybody else....she wasn't so excited about how crowded it was. My little junior hoarder loved all the free swag and she spent a lot of time picking out the exactly perfect shirt to purchase--we had to criss cross to 3 different booths (all on opposite ends of the convention hall) to find the exact Justice League shirt in her size, but it was worth it!!

Lily and her "new favorite" superhero. She's outgrown The Flash and has decided that The Bats is her new guy! Mommy couldn't be any prouder.

Her awesome Justice League bag that's as big as her...filled to the brim with swag. She loves "stuff" and pretty much picked up anything that she could, even if she had no idea what it was.

Not the best picture, but...the only one we got. This is us in front of the Tardis. For lame people who don't know, the Tardis is the spaceship that The Doctor flies around in on our family fave show "Dr. Who". My kids were super stoked to see it, but it was so crowded we couldn't get the whole thing in the shot. Upon seeing it, Lily said "Oh my gosh, wouldn't it just be so amazing if David Tennant walked out of there right now?!" David Tennant is our favorite actor to play the Doctor in the show. Yes, we raise nerds.