My girls are growing up!

These two little kiddos are getting big! Scarlett is understanding EVERYTHING these days. Alice and Scarlett love to play in the toy room/closet these days and make a disaster. When they are finished I hear her say "okay Alice now we put it all away". Scarlett puts everything away perfectly! Oh, I love it! She wants to be a big girl so bad. Her favorite thing is getting prizes for good behavior. She always asks "hey mom, if I play with Alice do I get a prize? Can it be gum?" How can you deny that? She is such a big help and loves to do anything to make me happy. These past couple weeks we have been talking about the Holy Ghost and how it can help you make right choices. I hear her say all the time "the Holy Ghost told me to be nice" or "the Holy Ghost is in my heart and I am happy now". Talk about adorable.

Alice is in love with two things her bottle ( the "ba") and babies. She LOVES babies. And by babies I mean anything that is fuzzy, cute, little, and soft. She always has to grab her babies before we go anywhere. Alice is also a "momma's girl" and has a hard time warming up to strangers. She is really nice and smiley to them until they try to touch her... freak out. I secretly love it:) When I put her down her to bed she loves to say "boo boo" and grabs a book to read. Her favorite is one about a baby sleeping and every page she has to go "shh shh" putting her finger over her mouth. She knows to be quiet around a sleeping baby. After the book is done she grabs her baby and blanket and puts her baby to sleep in the crib. She is such a smart little girl and catches on so quickly. How I love watching her grow and learn!

Such a typical Alice look.

Laguna Beach Vacation

Nick had no big tests or projects this weekend so we decided for an impromptu vacation to California. We had the best time playing at the beach, visiting family, and enjoying our kids. We got to Laguna late Friday night and then spent all day Saturday playing. We went to a seal rescue in the morning and the girls loved seeing all the sea lions/seals playing in the water. The best part... it was free! Then we went to a farmers market on the beach and tried all the delicious fruits and veggies. Our favorite was a Reed avocado that was the size of Alice's head. It was the most creamy deliciousness I have every tasted. The girls loved the fresh strawberries. Next we went to the beach and spend hours playing in the sand and checking out the tide pools. Scarlett loved looking for hermit crabs and got really good at spotting them (even better than me!).  She would say "Mom, look at my finger, right there. It's a baby crab!" For dinner we went to CPK in our our swimsuits and we had the whole outside area of the restaurant to ourselves. Out kids could be as loud and unruly as they wanted. Nick surprised us all and got a big brownie and ice cream for desert. When Scarlett saw it her face lit up and she screamed "oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Is this for me?" The waiter had a good laugh. It was the most memorable event of the trip! I am so glad we could get away with our little family and enjoy being together.

It took Alice time to warm up to the sand. She sat on that little chair for a long time. She would not even put her feet on the blanket because it had sand on it. Funny girl!

My favorite part of the beach is walking up and down the coast putting my babies to sleep. Alice took a nice long nap on my shoulder as I looked out at the ocean. 

The Still Small Voice

The spirit whispers in a still small voice. I have heard that more times than I can count but until this week I never really understood. I was at my parent's house with the girls last week. Their pool does not have a gate but it does have a durable cover that is sturdy enough to stand on. But... what happens when the cover is broken and won't shut? It leaves the pool exposed! As I was over at my mom's house I was very diligent at watching the girls and sitting by the back door making sure they did not go outside. As we were getting ready to head home I was gathering their shoes and saying bye to my brother. It was about 2 minutes of not having my eyes on them. I had a powerful thought go through my mind " go check the pool!" I dropped everything in my hands and went outside. Sure enough Scarlett had unlocked the back door and run outside. Alice had followed her and was about to jump in the pool. I literally grabbed her as she was falling in. That prompting saved my Alice's life.

Last week up at the cabin we did a lot of 4 wheeling. Because we were staying on roads and safe trails no one was wearing helmets. The last evening I went on a quick cruise up to Sugar Loaf mountain. I had a thought go through my mind to wear a helmet. I tried on a couple to find one that fit and then grabbed one for my sister as well. As we were driving back to the cabin our 4 wheeler flipped over pinning us underneath. The first thing that hit the ground was my head against a rock. The prompting to  wear a helmet prevented serious injuries. It really shook me up and my heart swelled with love for my Savior

Both of these experience brought about a love for my Savior and his protection. How grateful I am the gift of the Holy Ghost, and it truly is a gift!

Top of Sugar Loaf Mt.

July 4th 2013

We were so lucky to spend the 4th up at the cabin. To get away from Vegas and enjoy cool weather was just what this family needed. We spend all day outside riding ATVs, mountain bikes, going on hikes, going fishing and looking for bugs. For Scarlett it was the best 4 days of her life. Her favorite part was looking for plastic bugs that we would hide around outside. She also loved spending an afternoon with Nick catching a "little baby fishy" (actually, they caught 15!). It was the best family vacation we have had all year (well, the only one:).  To spend good, quality time with our family was so enjoyable. We met up with Caity, her friend Ryan, Clarah, Nate and Mom/Dad. I felt like I escaped for a couple days and hallelujah I loved it! 

Home of the brave land of the free. My little 'Mericans.

 

 

Looking for bugs!