Family Pictures: July 2013

Thanks again to my wonderful sister Katelyn for these amazing pictures! We love them!

Happy Fourth~Happy Birthday~Happy Summer

We had a fun Fourth of July--parade, fireworks, etc. But the best part of the day was when our neighbors set up a giant slip and slide at our beach access. It brought many of the people in our neighborhood--and from our ward--to come and try it out. Even us.

 The girls loved the slide. Here's Pippy going down with Rhett.

For Summer's birthday this year, we decorated with balloons hanging from the ceiling. Because she turned FIVE years old, there were five one dollar bills in five of the balloons.

 We thought Summer and Claire would have a blast popping balloons. But the one who enjoyed it the most:

While Summer and Claire were checking out Summer's new gifts, Pyper went around and popped all the balloons with a fork. She loved it! When the balloon actually popped, the air from it blew her hair back. She thought it was so fun.

Summer requested spaghetti, cherry jello, and a white cake with raspberry frosting for dinner. I could only find cherry frosting, so we did that with some raspberries on top. Usually I try to make less cake so we aren't tempted to eat it all, but this year we didn't cut back. There was plenty of left over, however, that I did not want sitting around in the house. So we took some to three of our neighbor families. Rhett and the girls delivered them. I got the report: at Lois', the raspberries were sliding off the wobbly cake; at Bridget's, her mother-in-law opened the door and as she took the tray, all four pieces slid off right onto her shirt all over; and at the Hymas' house, one piece fell onto the floor after said cake was handed over to neighbor. So much for our good service! But we were happy to share, and I think we'll share leftover birthday cake with neighbors as a new birthday tradition.

Summer got some wonderful gifts from family and grandparents. Thanks for thinking of her and wishing her a happy day.

Summer Age 5

Favorite Color: pink, purple and blue

Favorite Movie: Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Favorite Food: Icecream

What do you want to be when you grow up: Fairy Princess

What do you like to do: play, watch movies

What kind of pet would you like in the future: Kitty, like I have on the card.

. . . "And I want to get new flip flops when I grow up."

Fourth of July Conversation

Rhett: "Do you guys know why we celebrate the Fourth of July?"
Summer: "Yes. Because it's almost my birthday."
Rhett: "Okay, but do you know why we celebrate today?"
Claire: "Because there's a parade."
Rhett: "Okay . . . we celebrate today because it's the day the United States was created. Today is the day it was born."
Summer: "Are you serious!?!"
Rhett: (pleased that they are finally understanding): "Yah!"
Summer: "Are you for reals?!?"
Rhett: "Yah!"
Summer: "There's another baby?!?"

Ohhhhh boy.

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.

The Tube Fairy

So tonight the (ear) Tube Fairy is coming to our house!

Summer lost one of her ear tubes about a year and a half ago. Well, it was so small that it just disappeared on us, so we weren't able to have much of a celebration. But today, her second one came out. Wahoo!

The girls can't stop thinking about what the Tube Fairy is going to bring tonight.

Mom and dad can't either . . . hmmmmm . . . any suggestions?

New Pictures

Here are some more pictures:

Sweet, sweet Basil. (And that basket of laundry on the couch is a good indication as to why I haven't been blogging lately!)

We were driving somewhere and I turned around and saw Pyper with this hat on. I think one of the older girls handed it to her, and she put it on. She was pretty excited about it.

Love that tiny little body on the left and that handsome man on the right!

Got Basil's one-month pictures taken. Even though there's a reflection on the frame's glass, you can see how sweet it turned out. I love it!

And we have all four girls on the wall now.  

Claire, "babysitting" Basil for me while I make dinner.

She sure is a Barney girl, isn't' she?!?

Pictures of the Girls

Basil (a few weeks)

And Claire asks, "Mom, why is Basil grumpy?"

Claire (3 years)

Pyper (18 months)

We got a few baby foods to save up for Basil from some friends recently. The other day, I noticed Pyper carrying the jars around. Either it was by sheer chance or by strategic planning, she had divided them into two groups: the green foods and the orange/purple foods. I thought it was pretty impressive.

And I'm not going to mention who's been stealing Basil's binkies lately . . . 

Summer (4 years)