July 2007

This is called Baby in a Towel. Eli gets a big kick out of rolling the girls up in whatever is handy, and then hanging onto one end and swiftly unrolling. The girls don't seem to mind, but I think it works better with cats.

The next 7 pictures were taken on July 4th. This is the first time the girls have ever been in Utah for July 4th. The last time we were here was in 2003, 3 weeks before Sydney was born (not the smartest thing to travel across the country in a car 3 weeks before your due date; call me crazy). We had a great time. There is always a big party at my grandparent's house in Orem, and it's tradition to go to the Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah. We've gone for as long as I can remember.

This is a classic pout look/pose from Claire.

This is my entire family. The only one you can't see is the baby girl inside of Amber's tummy; at least you can see the tummy though. It was fun to have everyone together for a few days.

The following two pictures go together. If you look at Claire's face, it's got a lot of expression. She really enjoyed this part of the Stadium of Fire. First there were jets that flew over, and then an airplane released sky divers. Claire was fascinated. She was still talking about it 15 minutes later. Anything that flies fascinates her.

Sydney and my mom were matching at the Stadium of Fire. They both inherited their shirts from Andrea, my sister, the giver of all fine clothing.

This is Sydney and Claire with my father's parents. They are also in really good health. They came to visit in Ferron. We stay at their house whenever we go to Utah county. Sydney calls them Grandma Great and Grandpa Great. They are pretty great!

This is Sydney with her second cousin Jaxon. They get along really well. Sydney doesn't have too many friends that are boys, so it's interesting that she gets along with him so well. They are about 1 1/2 months apart in age. In the following two pictures, you see them getting ready for their "camping trip". I don't know where they were going camping, but they were ready, walking stick and all.

My grandma Ault did a pie baking demonstration for all her granddaughters. She makes excellent pies, and I think she's somewhat appalled that none of us know how to make pies. It's not that I haven't tried, because I have. One Thanksgiving eve I stayed up until 1 in the morning trying out 4 different pie recipes, and I didn't get one of them to work right. My mother-in-law suggested going with the Jiffy mix, which is what I have done, but not anymore. My grandma, being the excellent teacher that she is, successfully taught us how to make good pie crusts from scratch. I can even make a pretty good filing. This picture shows my coconut cream pie that I made. Since this demonstration, I have made a cherry pie, lemon meringue pie and a key lime pie, all from scratch. If anyone would like to venture down to Ferron, Utah, I'll make you a pie too.

This picture doesn't really need a description. It sort of speaks for itself.

This is our moon plant. It only blooms in the evening, and the blossoms last until about 10 the next morning. It's really neat to watch it bloom, and the smell is just wonderful. There are several varieties of moon plants.

Sydney has always been a little monkey. She really likes hanging on things. She's pretty strong too. Claire was anxiously awaiting her turn.

I don't know what we're going to do when we have another child. Eli is running out of places for the girls to hang on.
We weren't sure if Claire was ready to laugh or cry when this picture was taken. We were watching an Apache helicopter take off and it created a pretty big wind storm until it was a little higher.
Here's an update picture of our garden. It looks really good. Amazingly enough, I kept it alive while Eli worked out of town until the end of June. The growing season is shorter here than it is in Kansas, but we've still really enjoyed our garden. It's fun being able to grow something that you can eat. Look back at the Catch Up post to see what our garden started out looking like. It's quite the contrast.

Some of you will remember seeing Eli carry Sydney like this when she was little. It's amazing that Claire is already big enough to be hauled around like this. Eli likes to carry them this way because they get to where they are strong enough that he doesn't need to hold them. He really likes working in the garden with them on his back.
This is Sydney, now barely able to fit on his back.

For Sydney's 4th birthday, we made her breakfast in bed. She was really excited. She ended up eating it at the table, but we woke she and Claire up by singing Happy Birthday and handing her the breakfast plate. It was fun. Sydney had a good birthday. We went up to Provo canyon where she was able to ride horses and have lots of fun with her cousins. She also had a little party at our house the next week with her two friends from next door. She likes being 4. She already seems to be acting older, and she'll tell you that she's happy to be 4.


Claire really loves my dad (she calls him pa pa). All kids seem to love my dad. It must be because he's just a big kid.
The following two pictures were taken 7 minutes apart. It's the same plant; it's another variety of moon plant. This one is at my grandparent's house in Orem. It's right by the road, and every night, they have a little neighborhood gathering and everyone watches the flowers bloom. While we were there, Eli met a boy that was in one of his classes at BYU-I; small world.