Zoo Fun

My friend Jennifer and I decided we needed to get together to do something fun and what better place is there then the zoo right? We both have 2 girls and they are all right around the same age. All the kids had so much fun seeing all the animals and playing on the slides. Savannah even sported her princess sunglasses all day, she was pretty cute. Savannah's favorite animals were the giraffe's, kimono dragon, lions, tigers, and penguins. I was so proud of Savannah too, she was perfect all day! The poor thing had to walk the 3 hours we were there and never once complained, she always held onto the stroller or walked right next to me. She was obedient, kind, and just all around perfect which made the day even better.

Here is my angel playing at the tiger exhibit.

Savannah actually fed a goat as well. If you know her at all this is HUGE!

Here are Savannah and Maddie, they've been friends since they were born and always love seeing each other.

How could I not include a picture of Miss Olivia. If you look close you can see her top tooth and the other is just coming in. She also has the two bottom teeth as well but she keeps them pretty well hidden with that tongue of hers.

It was just a great day with great friends. Plus Thursday's is half off admission and both the kids were free. Its a good deal. They also have a butterfly exhibit going on right now but the line was soooooooooooooooooooooo long, did you catch that it was soooooooooooooooooo long that we got out of it. I know Savannah would have loved it but oh well maybe next time, my mom is coming tomorrow so we might try to go while she's here too. Maybe for Olivia's birthday next week...all kinds of ideas are forming in my head as I write.

Sand vs Rock

So how many of you remember or know about the parable between the wise man and the foolish man? The wise man built his house upon the rock while the foolish man built his on the sand. When the water came in the foolish man's house washed away while the wise man's stood firm. I've been thinking about a lot of different things lately so I have a whole mess of thoughts in my head. They mostly surround my family and what I want for my family. I feel like I bounce back and forth between the wise and foolish man, that my foundation is sometimes built on the sand and its being washed away. Do you sometimes feel that way too? I'm a busy person, I like structure and I enjoy being productive but sometimes I wonder if I'm busy with the best things. What am I really doing to fill my time? I remember when I was working and I'll just make it clear that I have always hated having to go to a work place and have what some view a real job. To toot my own horn though I am a fantastic worker! I always put everything into my job, I go above and beyond, and I'm always thinking of ways to do even better. When I've had a job outside of my home I've felt productive while working and when I've come home. You only have a limited time to get stuff done if your working away from home all day. I feel like I've had more days since I've been home that are putting things off because I can always do them tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, being a stay at home mom is a 24/7 job, you are always on call and you rarely get a brake. It is also the best job I've ever had and the most challenging and fulfilling. Last night I was lying in bed for quite some time thinking about all this. I really am happy with my life, I'm so blessed to have an amazing husband who loves me and works so hard to take care of me and the girls. I am beyond blessed to have 2 amazing children who are constantly keeping me on my toes and teaching me new things. I have what I need in this life. My goal though is to start building my house on a rock, I'll still be busy and productive of course doing things I want and need to do but I want to do better at doing those smaller things that are so important but seem to get pushed aside. I want to get back to where I felt I was on top of strengthening my family, that we read the scriptures daily both individually and as a family, we had family home evenings, we work out, we spend less time watching shows as Savannah calls them and more time doing activities. I know I'll still go between building my house on the sand and rocks but I'd like to be getting closer to the rocks then the water.

Best Week Ever!

This past week has been fantastic! My youngest brother Mark came out for a visit, his first time back to Idaho in 4 years. We were so excited that he got to come especially Savannah! When we went to pick Mark up at the airport last Monday Savannah just ran to him and wouldn't let go until she had to get in the car. That is something she's only done with Jacob so Mark felt pretty special. We did a few fun things but most of the trip was spent running errands and going out to lunch. It was just fun to have him around, to see how our family is and for him to spend time with the girls. Saturday was our big day of fun, we started out the day going to Black Canyon for some more swimming and playing in the sand. The water was warmer then it was last week but it was still pretty cold. We went earlier in the day too so there weren't as many people there and it was just way fun. We all took turns going in the water with Savannah, her phrase of the day was, "you want to go swimming me?" If she was walking towards you, you could bet that's what she was going to say. Olivia once again hated the water with a capital H, I really think that's funny to because Olivia loves taking a bath. As soon as I started walking towards the water with her I could tell she was getting nervous and sure enough when I put her feet in the water she started screaming! She did have fun playing with the sand and kept trying to eat it. Overall it was a really fun morning.

In the afternoon the boys went shooting, Jacob was so excited to take Mark he had been talking about it since I told him Mark was coming. Two of my brother in laws went too and they all had a good time. Mark even shot a few things, Jacob was proud of him and Mark said he had a lot of fun. When they got home we had dinner and then headed down to play some mini-golf and to let the boys drive go carts. This was also Savannah's fist time playing mini-golf. We'd help her hit the ball and then once she was near the hole she'd pick up her ball, put it right on the edge of the hole and then hit it in. It was pretty funny, her favorite part was actually looking at the water. She's also really been into her butterfly/fairy wings so she had to wear them while we were there too. About halfway through golfing she decided she didn't want to wear them anymore but I didn't feel like carrying them so we put them on Olivia. When we took them off to get her in the car at the end of the night she kept trying to find them and was pretty sad we took them off her. After golfing the boys rode go-carts while the girls and I cheered them on. Savannah was spitting out a constant stream of, "woo-hoo's, "that's my dad!", "its Mark", and "yeah!" the whole race. Even though she didn't get to ride she still had a blast.

Tomorrow we take Mark to the airport and I'm not looking forward to it. Whenever I have family visit its so bitter sweet. I love seeing them but the time always goes by so fast and then they have to leave. I won't have time to be sad though cause Tuesday night I have 3 of my nieces and their dog coming to stay with me for 4 days. This will be an adventure not because of my nieces (they're fantasticly wonderful!) its the dog...Olivia is terrified of dogs so this will be her time to get over her fear. Plus its a little wiener dog, how can you be scared of that? It is probably the same size as her though, she's pretty little. Then after the girls leave I have my mom coming the next week for Olivia's first birthday. Like I mentioned before July is the best month ever! Stay tuned for all our adventures this month cause we're going to have lots.

We had a super fun 4th of July, we started off going to the Middleton parade which was so fun! Savannah had so much fun. She loved seeing all the horses, cars, and firetrucks. She would clap and cheer for anyone that went down the road, it was super cute. She didn't do so good at getting the candy that people would throw at us. There were quite a few kids and she just wasn't aggressive enough to get any. Some of the kids were nice with the prompting of their parents to share some of the candy they got. After the parade we went to the car show and walked around for awhile. After that we headed home to rest up because later that night we went to pick up my little brother Mark from the airport. He came out to visit for the week so we'll have more on that later. Then that night we took the girls to see the fireworks in Middleton, one word...AMAZING! They were so good we all had so much fun, Olivia and I had to watch from the car because we were so close and they were a bit loud and Olivia refused to wear her ear phones. Savannah kept saying wow and yelling "look it!" after every one. Over all it was a fantastic 4th of July and this week should be just as fun while we hang out with my brother. Hope you all had a great 4th too.

Eleven Months

Can you believe that in just eleven short months Olivia has gone from this to this?

I can't! Its just gone by so fast, even faster then with Savannah it must be because there are two of them. I'm amazed by all the things Olivia can do, she can now pull herself up and will even start to walk along the sofa. She has finally fallen in love with her dad, she loves to play with Savannah, she always wants to eat what your eating, she sleeps through the night, waves, has 3 teeth, loves to play with her toys, can play by herself, has started throwing mini temper tantrums if you take something away from her, and so many other things. We love Olivia so much, she is such a joy. Olivia is so tame in comparison to her sister and they really are a perfect combination. Olivia still loves to be held and cuddled most of the time too which I love. She still takes 2 naps which I find to be heavenly since Savannah started taking only 1 at six months. Its so fun to see how different and similar both are girls are and I can't wait to celebrate Olivia's first birthday at the end of the month, time really does just fly by.

Saturday Adventure

Well yesterday we decided to take the girls to Black Canyon for some swimming and just some plain old fun. The girls had a great time and Savannah was beyond ecstatic by the whole afternoon. The water was pretty cold, Olivia who loves water screamed when we put her in so she actually never really got wet past her feet. Savannah on the other hand braved the cold water with whoever would take her in. She took turns going in by herself and walking around or getting in Olivia's pool toy and having us pull her around. Savannah and I built towers in the sand and finally we moved our spot into the grass to get some shade, poor Olivia was just turning red (don't worry she didn't get a burn.) When it was time to go Savannah was so disappointed but comforted by the fact we said we'd come back again. Overall it was a huge success and I'm super excited to go again.

A New Favorite Activity

This is how you can find Savannah a lot these days. She always wants to color and ever since daddy brought home a roll of paper she wants a huge piece to draw on. Yesterday we made and outline of her body and she got to color it in. Do you remember doing that in elementary school? I know I do. Even now she's asking me go color, she's such a cutie.