Travels and Changes

Well, lots of changes going on around here lately. Changes like Basil starting to smile and coo at us, Pyper saying all sorts of things (like "I'm starving!"), Claire and Summer starting swim lessons next week, but most of all, Rhett starting a new job in downtown Spokane at a firm called Lee & Hayes (which deserves a post on its own--next time!)

For now, here are a few pictures of the girls with Basil:

We've been working on closing drawers after the girls put their laundry away. One night, I was a bit frustrated, and I said, "Girls, what is wrong with this picture?" (pointing in the direction of the dresser). After a moment, Claire answered, "The girl is falling in the water???"

And I captured some of the good moments on our road trip to Idaho:

Are we there yet???

 We had a fun time in Idaho--got to visit all my sibilings, their spouses, and their kids at our first Searle family reunion. Can you imagine all these kids running around the cabin for three days??? It was so fun to see them playing together. They all got along so well. (This picture was taken the morning we were getting ready to leave, so there are a few tears in their eyes . . .)

 At one point during the visit, many of the family members went boating and fourwheeling. Summer stayed with me, my Grandma Kirkham (aka Grandma Bob), and a few others. Grandma Bob gave Summer a tour of their RV, and then played a travel size game of some kind. I loved it. I remember doing this exact thing with her when I was little. It was special for me to watch it.

Another cute thing that happened was an interaction between Pyper and Kirk (Angie's youngest). This was while my Grandma and Summer played games. Kirk was a little fussy because he was teething. Pippy disappeared, and then came back with a blue binky. She popped it in his mouth. He just kind of stared at her. And then she noticed his nose was running. So she went to the bathroom, grabbed a chunk of toilet paper, came back, and wiped his nose.

After she put the toilet paper down, Kirk picked it up and wiped her nose!

Here's an action shot:

We also got our family pictures taken by my AMAZING sister, Katelyn. These are just a few. Can't wait to get the rest of them! They turned out so great! Thanks Kate!

If you want to see more AMAZING pictures (plus a great one of Basil which I can't figure out how to load here), check out my sister's blog. 

We had a fun visit with Rhett's dad, Blake, Sable, and Holly and Mark. We also got to go to Rhett's ten-year class reunion. It was fun to meet up with friends and see how everyone is doing.

There were a few tears on the way home from the girls, asking if we could stay eight more days (not sure where that number came from), but we made it home safely. We had a great time seeing family.