No more baby bikes over here!

Guess who figured out her 2 wheeler bike? Ok, if you didn't already know it is because you aren't within Eva's view or range of her voice, because she tells EVERYONE about her new skills!

I'm telling you- that scoot bike is magic! Once they are proficient and can balance well on it, switching them over to a two wheeler with pedals is a breeze- or maybe I just have some SUPER coordinated girls on my hands!! Maybe I will brag and just say it is the second one!!!

Paul took her out one afternoon last week- took the training wheels off Liv's old bike, had her climb onto the seat and she was off and hasn't looked back since!
Are we going to ride it to and from preschool next week? You better believe it! And when you see Eva next time, ask her about her 2 wheeler bike riding skills- she will be more than pleased to tell you ALL about how awesome she is!!

2nd Annual End of Summer Tea

This year, as this season has slipped by- we once again needed to close out our blissful days and beautiful evenings in style. To commemorate the close of summer and usher in the new school year we nibbled, sipped, talked, laughed and played. Yes, we had the dishes of sugar cubes for dunking again, and so many wonderful finger foods to share paired with 2 kinds of lemonade- it was delightful! Due to request, we extended an invite to the mothers as well! This was so fun, and I loved seeing all these beautiful mother's and daughters together all dressed up. It was a joy to photograph each smiling face and beaming eye of merriment. Truly, I should edit these photos down, combine them into a collage- but I want each mother to grab a full resolution copy for themselves.


Click on them to make them big, then do a save as- Enjoy!!



Thanks for coming friends! Lets do it again next year- only lets invite even more splendid mother daughter pairs!!

The Dog Days...

Truly, I love summer. It is my favorite season, hands down. I love the heat. I love the freedom to do as I please. I love the pool filled afternoons and sun-kissed skin. I love the picnics and bike rides amid laughter and delight. This week I can feel it coming to a close. No, the weather doesn't have that crispness in the air, thank goodness, but we have been out school shopping. Filling our carts with pencils, markers, notebooks and lunch boxes. We have found "the outfit" for the first days of school (all three girls start on different days again this year) and we can all feel that our lazy nights with out a set bedtime are quickly slipping through our hands.

So today I share with you one of our ideal summer afternoons- it was a typical summer day filled with laughter and happiness, smiles and brightly colored tongues and lips.
These girls have some MAD hula hooping skills- much to the pleasure of the honking cars passing by! My girls love a good stage with applause!!
Can you really beat a Hawaiian Snow on a hot summer day? It is the idealized image of the American Summer Holiday and they both never last quite long enough.

My Family in Joe's Valley

Last week we drove down to central Utah to vacation with my family. Have you heard of Joe's Valley? Located by Orangeville? Well I had not and I quickly came to the conclusion that it is the best kept secret in Utah! It is so lovely- beautiful, calm and serene. I absolutely loved our week there despite the fact that we had no showers and we were sleeping in a tent. We spent most of our time out on the lake paddling around in the rafts, or swimming in the brisk waters, and lounging on the shore.

There was a lot of dock jumping too! We did take some evening hikes, after our bellies were full of my mom's scrumptious meals, to skip rocks, talk and laugh.
Despite the fish hook in the foot incident that Abby bravely endured and the running through a cactus in flip flops debacle of Olivia's doing (hey don't even look at her parents that way!) we had the most fun time. I love this next picture because it really depicts the chaos that is my family when we get together!!!It is also true that by the end of our trip Paul and I had decided that we also needed a pop up camper like the majority of my siblings- they are snazzy little getup's and we are now officially in the market. We have decided that next summer we need to have a camper caravan to Jackson WY and Yellowstone- or - travel up the California/Oregon coast, seeing the sites and smelling the salty air.

Plans, we always have plans in this family- thanks guys for the idea, plan and trip this year, Joe's Valley is a keeper!