Miles Swims!

For two summers now, Miles favorite and only way to swim is with his blue pool noodle. But recently, he jumped in the pool from a fairly high wall and lost his grip on the noodle. It could have been disastrous but he didn't panic. Matt just encouraged him to keep swimming and keep his head up. And he did! I was so happy he didn't get scared, and instead was able to turn the situation around. He was so happy! I think he was also showing off a bit for Claire and our friends, since he kept jumping in over and over. A little too brave now maybe...?

She Proved Me Wrong

I am pretty sure Penelope could have been walking for weeks, but just in the last day she has really started walking and getting up from the floor herself. Finally! This video was after a few long walks so she was getting grouchy with us. 

Who Wrote the Book of Love?

Claire Bear did, and she gave it to me :) 

Here are some other works of art from the kids this summer. These are from Claire:

And Miles' latest creations - this first one is Arthur from the PBS show:

A dragon

Kid Quotes

We went to the library the other day and as we were walking in from the parking lot Claire said, "I'm cooking out here! It's like I'm in the oven next to a turkey!" Miles said, "Yeah, I'm like next to a hamburger!"

These temps are brutal, that's for sure

I asked Miles if he wanted to go get a haircut tomorrow. He said how about now? It was 8 o'clock at night, so I said sorry, it's closed. Miles said, "Well, tomorrow it is then." I don't know why but that struck me as a funny and grown up thing to say.

Look at this face!

Claire recently noticed that she had a new freckle - she doesn't have as many "spots" as I do, so she can find them easily. She was looking in the mirror and said, "Welcome freckle! (dramatic pause) Welcome home."

Notice her bling and sparkly accessories - she can pull off this look

Summer Luau

We were invited to a church luau with my aunt and uncle, complete with hula girls, warriors doing the haka dance and fire dancers. The dinner portion of the evening was inside, but the show was out in the parking lot of the church.

I was all set to bail if it was too hot - I get all sorts of grouchy when I'm sweaty in the wrong setting and I turn into a party pooper. If I'm playing basketball it's OK to be sweaty. But sitting in a metal chair outside in 100+ degree heat with my regular clothes on? Sweating is just wrong. I have decided that in Las Vegas you are either freezing cold or sweltering hot in the Summer. Can a girl find a happy medium please? But once the sun went down, it wasn't too bad outside so we stayed for the show.

Every time I see a performance like this, I think, "What is my culture? What will I pass on or teach my kids? I don't have a traditional family dance or food or musical instrument. I guess my family has our own traditions, music, favorite meals, and of course I have religious history and teachings to teach my children, but it's nothing exotic. Maybe I need to study my Swedish roots and find some interesting cultural facts. Stay tuned. :)

Fourteen Months...

and still not walking... stubborn little thing. Matt tricked her the other day by placing two plastic sticks in her hands. She thought for a second that she was holding his fingers and she took a few steps toward me. She realized the swap and looked down at her hands and got so mad! And promptly sat down.

Escape from the Heat to Cedar City

We took a quick trip up to Cedar City, Utah  to visit with James and Monica Noonan and their family. They live in Illinois but were visiting family in Utah - a much closer drive for a visit. Matt and James served together on their missions - Houston, Texas, Vietnamese speaking. All of the missionaries had Vietnamese names - Matt is Thanh and James is Kien and they still use their names. It gets a bit confusing but Monica seems much more versed in Vietnamese than I am.

We visited the Shakespeare Festival on Southern Utah University's campus, where we saw a free pre-show. The weather was amazing and we were instantly glad to be out of Las Vegas.

Then we went to Canyon Park near the road up to Brian Head. The kids were entertained for hours playing in this small stream that ran through the park. We were actually outside - in July! We even had a bit of rain on Saturday and just sat outside and enjoyed not feeling like we were baking from the inside out.

Monica's family has four-wheelers that we took for a spin on the off road trails near their house. I have never  driven one before, but I had fun driving around with Claire. She wanted me to go faster - apparently I'm not as daring as Dad. And of course, there are no pictures to document that I actually rode one. :)

Matt said he went a fast as he dared go with Miles as a passenger, but Miles kept yelling - Faster! Faster! That boy is going to be the source of all my gray hair, I just know it.

The Fourth

We had a pretty mellow Fourth of July, starting out with breakfast at our favorite spot (Egg Works) and of course, red, white and blue outfits.

The Perks of Being the Third Child

You get to drink things like grape soda as a one-year-old when your siblings had to have milk. Judging by her reaction, I think she liked it...