Thanksgiving Point and Lagoon

We have been having a fun summer. This month we went to $2 Tuesday at Thanksgiving point. Annie had a great time playing on Noah's Ark and than running around with her cousin's Adam and Brandon throughout the gardens. We have come to this same thing for the last three years and this is the first time Annie really got involved and played. She is growing up so fast.

Our stake Lagoon Day was on August 4th and my mom came with me so that we could ride some rides, but have another adult to watch the kids. Annie went on a couple rides, but since she didn't get a nap that day, she was too tired to really enjoy it. I got to go on Wicked and Blast Off, my two favorite rides in the park.

Ellie is Three Months Old

Our sweet little Ellie is three months old today. We are so happy she is a part of our family. She is such a sweet child and so mild mannered. She started to smile a lot this month and she also babbles a ton. Sometimes she reminds me of Annie and other times she is so different. Annie has also started to play with her more this month. Before, Annie would pretty much leave her alone, but now she tries to calm her when she cries and she tries to get Ellie to laugh sometimes. They are really cute together.

Ellie has stopped screaming during her bath, she actually seems to like it. This was after a bath and she was being so funny.

My mom got these matching dresses for Annie and Ellie, and Ellie didn't like being held by Annie too much. They were really cute dresses though.

Ellie alone in the dress my mom bought.

When I was giving a bath to Ellie the other day, Annie ran in and asked to help. I love how intently Ellie is looking up at her. Annie kept wanting to wash her eyes, but I said only to wash her belly. She did a great job, it's fun to see her be a little mom.

This is a picture of Ellie smiling, it's so cute when she smiles, laughs, and coos.

Ellie wore this dress to church on the day she was blessed (I didn't want her wearing her white dress all day), she was exactly two months old that day. Annie wore this same dress when she was four months old and it fit them the same. It's a six month dress. I still can't believe how much bigger Ellie is than Annie was at the same age. I wonder if Ellie will get bigger than Annie at any point.

Independence Day Activities

My favorite part of July 4th Activities is the fireworks and we got to see some at my mom's house on Monday night. She bought some and my brothers lit them. Because of the new legal fireworks we also got a great show watching all the neighbors who paid for them. We also did some other fun activities to celebrate our independence. Dan ran the centerville 5k, along with about a thousand other people. My sister in law and nephew also ran. The winner of the race ran it in 15:40. It was amazing. Dan is going to run in some other races this summer, it's run to support him in that.

Annie and Ellie were such great supporters for Dad in his race.

Dan came in at about 28:30, as you can see so did lots of other runners.

This is Annie with some friends at the Farmington Parade.

Annie got tons of candy at the parade, but only a couple pieces made it home.

I am so grateful to those that came before me to insure the freedom of this land.

I feel blessed to live in the United States of America.

Ellie's Blessing Day

On Sunday July 3rd we blessed Ellie because most of both of our families were in town. Ellie wore the same dress that Annie wore (my mom made it). It was so incredible to watch my husband give Ellie a name and her blessing. He is such a great man and I am so proud that he honors his priesthood and is worthy to give such blessings. Ellie did great during the blessing, she didn't cry at all. After church we had a dinner with all the family. Since it was such a warm day and we don't have shade in our backyard, we had the dinner at the pavilion at our church. It was perfect for the amount of people we had. I got pictures with all the grandparents and Dan's grandma. We appreciate all the support from family on Ellie's special day.

Me, Dan, and Ellie
Grandpa and Grandma Warren (my dad)
Grandma Warren (my mom)
Mops (dan's grandma)
Grandma and Grandpa Cluff, Mops, Dan, Me, Annie, and Ellie

Ellie sleeping

Last night Ellie slept for 9 hours. This is the third time she has done this and hopefully it will continue. The first time she was only 3 weeks old and she had nursed then drank four ounces of formula. I couldn't believe how much she had drank and not thrown up. I knew that was not going to last. The second time was three nights ago and she had eaten at 7:00 and then again at 8:30 and then slept all night. Last night she ate at 9:45 after crying for the previous 4 hours. She got her shots and I think they were bothering her. It's always scary the first time my baby sleeps that long, I always think something is wrong. Ellie has been such a different baby than Annie. Annie didn't sleep through the night until about 6 months and it was hit and miss for the next three months until I finally let her cry it out for a couple nights and then she was pretty consistent sleeping through the night. Another difference is that Ellie always has a fussy time at night, where Annie never had a fussy time. She cried some, but not the same time every day. The last difference I will mention is the way they reacted to car rides. Annie would scream when she got in the car seat and cry almost the whole time we drove in the car for about 2-3 months. We didn't got places often because of it. Ellie on the other hand falls asleep almost instantly when we start driving. We love both of our girls and their differences. I hope they are best friends when they get older.

Garden

Every year we plant a garden in our backyard and we try to do different things every year. I love fresh tomatoes so we always so those. We planted three plants this year and they are already getting so big. We have a few flowers on the plants and can't wait till those flowers turn into bright red juicy tomatoes.

We planted peas back in March and they are finally coming on. They look so good, I just need to be patient as they plump up and become snap peas.

Right now our peas are pretty small, but the grow noticeably everday.

We are trying straight-neck yellow squash this year, the only problem we have with squash is we leave it on the vine too long and they get hard. I need to really watch them this year.

A couple new things we are trying are: two different kinds of cucumbers, melons, and banana peppers. I only planted one of each of these plants, so we probably won't get too much of one thing, but it will be good to get some new things.

The last new things we are trying is cilantro. I have never done herbs or spices so I didn't know if I would like it. I have already cut off all the cilantro twice and it's ready again. I didn't know how much this plant produced, but I love fresh cilantro so I am so glad that it has done so well.

Dan rigged up a sprinkler to water the garden this year (usually I do it by hand and forget a lot of days), and I am loving it. Now I just need to get out at least once a week to weed.

Do Annie and Ellie look alike

These are pictures of Ellie and Annie at about six weeks. Everone tells me they think Ellie looks like a little Annie. Right at birth I thought they looked nothing alike, but over the last couple weeks I have started to see some resemblance. What do you think?