Never a dull day at our house

 

They grow up so fast.  Cori can sit up by herself, swing in the swing, and eat rice cereal now.  She is getting close to crawling too.  She gets around pretty well just rolling and wiggling.  She also sleeps in the crib now because Eli is back in his big boy bed.  So, we can put them to bed at the same time in the same room.  It’s great!  In other growing up news, Eli is potty trained!  He wore his last diaper on Sept. 13th.  That was a Monday morning and when I got him dressed I put underwear on him and he has pretty much been in them ever since, clean ones every day of course :)  There have been just a few accidents, but not many and in the last few days he has even started telling us when he has to go.  I am super proud of him.

Labor Day Weekend

This year, Eli had the full Henryetta Labor Day experience complete with parade, turtle and frog races, fish scramble, a carnival ride, and fireworks.  His favorites at the parade were the Shriners and of course the candy.  He also loved the tiny turtle he saw and driving the motorcycle at the carnival.

The whole fam was at Mom & Dads house, so we had lots of fun there too.  There was lots of football watching, swinging, swimming, and of course eating.  Derek and the guys did get in a lake trip too and he did a surface 360, woo hoo.  Derek and the uncles also had fun throwing Eli around in the pool, literally.

Cori loves to swing on the swing and sing songs with Grandma and Papa.

Derek is a Citizen! (and other stuff)

Derek is officially an American now, but he is still very proud of his heritage (even if they have been stinking it up on the rugby field).  Go Springboks!

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Cori always looks so cute on Sundays with her dresses and bows, but I feel like hardly anyone gets to see her.

Cori is a super happy baby.  She likes baths, loves to suck her thumb, and thinks Eli is hilarious.

Eli loves playing outside.  He usually just helps us with yard work, but he likes his new sand box too.  One night after his bath he wanted to wear his towel like Daddy.  We are working on potty training.  Some days are better then others, but I can definitely see progress.  Yesterday he used the potty 5 times.

8 ↓ 5 Lake Extravaganza

July 22-24 we went to Grand lake with the Southward’s & Christiansen’s.  Altogether, we had 8 kids under 5, so it was pretty crazy, but we had lots of fun.  A few of my favorite memories are: 3 Moms on a tube, wake surfing, Cranium, Eli and Sam in girls shoes the whole time, and nursing with a view.

The first night the kids stayed up way too late.

Lots of tubing!

The boat was pretty full.

yummy watermelon!

We never finished bag game, but it looked like Heather & I were going to battle to the death.

Youth Activities etc.

We put on a ward youth conference July 9-10.  The theme was M.U.D.  (M ormons U niting to D o good).  We did two service projects on Friday along with games and a fireside.  The girls all stayed at our house, which was fun, and then Saturday we played in the Mud at the Toland’s and had a testimony meeting.  Everything went well and I really enjoyed getting to know the girls better.

 

We also had a youth ski activity at the Toland’s the following week.  Eli played in the sand, “skied,” and drove a 4-wheeler.  He had a blast and didn’t want to leave.  Bro. Toland taught me to slalom ski, so that was fun.  Cori slept in the shade under a tree most of the time.  I think the youth had fun too : )

We went to the library for summer reading program.  There was a guy making balloon creatures and Eli requested a frog hat .  It was pretty cute and Eli thought he was big stuff.

4th of July Weekend

Well, let’s start at the beginning.  Friday night we went over to Cleveland and spent the night with the Southward/Gustin clan.  All the girls went to watch Eclipse while the guys watched the kids.  It was fun and I think I’m team Jacob now.  Then Saturday morning we drove to Henryetta for the rest of the weekend.  Aunt Mary had a fish fry on Saturday with lots of yummy food.  We were supposed to go to the lake in the evening, but it rained so we went bowling and played games instead.  The whole fam was at Mom & Dad’s plus David & Joey had girls with them (Gracie & Bethany).  I placed third in bag game, which was pretty fun.  Nick won and Joey got 2nd, but Kira was the most graceful.  Sunday we went to church and the farm.  Then Monday we all went to Gentry Creek.  It was lots of fun.  My brothers even convinced Derek and I to get on the tube.  Apparently we were having too much fun to take many pictures.

Derek’s Birthday etc.

The pancakes say Happy 30th in case you can’t read it.  Derek is a great Husband and Dad and we love him.  We didn’t do much on his birthday cause it was in the middle of the week, but we saved up our fun for the 4th of July weekend.

   

Eli got a smiley face.  He liked it, but he kept wanting more chocolate chip eyes.

Cori is growing up fast.  She can sit in her Bumbo chair now, she sleeps through the night pretty much always, and she laughs a lot, which we love.