Bria

Bria loves her babies. She takes such good care of them. 

This one is my old cabbage patch doll Audrey.

Bria loves to dress up, but for some reason on this day

she was having fun climbing in the dress up bench. Silly goose!

Bria loves puzzles. This mosaic game is a favorite too. 

Bria loves to swim and she loves baths! 

She likes this picture because her hair looks like mermaid hair.

We love Bria!!!

Slip and Slide

Spencer got a slip and slid for his birthday from Uncle Max. Luke loves it and so he makes is hard for everyone else because by the time they move Luke and back up to get a good running start, Luke is back on the slip and slide and they have to put on the brakes or crash in to him. It's so funny!!! I get to be the bad guy and keep Luke off long enough to let the kids have a turn. 

Swimming Lessons

The kids did a session of swimming lessons this summer. 

Drew was in Sea Otters. He was the most improved of my kids because he went from being terrified of getting his face wet to diving for rings and attempting to touch the bottom of the 12 ft. deep-end as he held on to a pole the instructor had.  

 Bria was in Sea Sprites. She loved the first week, then she decided she didn't like getting her eyes wet. She still had fun singing, "I'm a little pancake round and flat..." and doing all the other fun things they did as long as the teachers respected her wish to not get her eyes wet. And she was firm and unyielding! 

 Spencer was in Swim Stars. He got to learn all about the different strokes and floats. He enjoyed teaching them to Travis and I at Aunt Karen's pool. He probably loved swimming lessons the most. All in all it was lots of fun!

 

Birthdays

We just finished birthday season at our house. Since I'm so far behind I figured I'd put all the recent birthdays in one post.

First, we have beautiful Bria. Bria is our little princess. She lets her personality shine even though she's surrounded by all these boys. She loves dresses that spin and things that are pretty. Bria has a talent for organizing and likes things to be in order. Every night she asks me to make her blankets beautiful. Bria's favorite things are horses and chicken nuggets. 

 Next is daring Drew. Drew has the sprit of an adventurer. He loves to play anything with good guys and bad guys. He dashes around the house with his swords, making as much noise as he can get away with and play-fighting with any one brave enough to take him on. He loves stories and cuddles but NEVER kisses!

Third is loud and lovable Luke. Luke is such a joy. He is so noisy and so busy! Watching Luke at Spencer's baptism my mom commented, "It's like taking a monkey to church!" That is exactly what it's like! He jabbers away as he darts around the room. He even loves bananas. He isn't walking yet, but has taken a few steps and has super balance. His favorite things are his older siblings, Papa Lenny and Papa's music toys.

Fourth is Silly Spencer. Spencer is a great big brother. He has been teaching Drew how to count to 100 recently. He loves silly jokes, drawing, making up games and reading. He catches on to new ideas quickly and loves to have late night conversations about nearly anything. Of course his favorite things are cards (club penguin, pokeman....) and LEGOS!

Spencer is super excited to be a cub scout too!!! 

And finally is nifty Nana. Nana is nifty because she loves us all so much. She loves a good story, especially a good mystery or fantasy, but never anything sad! She loves to help others and most of all she loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and her family.

Well, that does it for birthdays around here for awhile, although Max has one coming up pretty soon....

AZ Museum of Youth

Travis and Spencer went to Southern AZ for the big end of year field trip so the other kids and I decided to go on a field trip of our own. We were lucky enough to score a culture pass (free tickets from the library) to the Museum of Youth. We stayed for over four hours, mostly playing dress-up. The theme was "Once upon a time." We went around to all the stations, read fairy tales and dressed up as the characters. There was also a baseball exhibit, several craft centers, and of course Artville. The museum has chairs that spin and these are probably the all time favorite thing to do at the museum. The kids all took turns getting spun and spinning Luke.

Ewan

Drew's friend Ewan came over to play. They had so much fun together. Ewan was a pleasure to have over. Bria wore him out chasing him around the house. Ewan kept saying, "Great, I think she likes me!" It was so funny. His mom says he has lots of little girls at home that do the same thing so he's pretty use to it. Bria still thinks he's the greatest!

And where was Drew during all the girly chasing?

One tough cookie

Lately, Bria has proven over and over that she's got what it takes to thrive in the midst of older brothers. She is stepped on, fallen on, tripped over and knocked over so many times a day it's unbelievable.

She got this one falling out of a camping chair onto the sidewalk. It's still unclear if she had help from brothers or not.

Bria loves to watch the bugs in and around the garden.

Dirt is plentiful at our house and Bria revels in it!

At the end of another day romping in the backyard.

Bria is the only one that willingly let's me take pictures these days! But since she's adorable it works out fine!