just hanging out

diane in the johnny jump up

madeleine begging me to put that camera away

i haven't posted in a while, but we haven't done anything too exciting lately and i haven't taken many pictures. i've been busy gearing up for a couple of big trips and we are back and forth from sandy while we house sit. expect fun posts from our upcoming trips.

kennecott copper mine

yesterday, we headed up to the kennecott copper mine. my sister-in-law is in town with her kids and invited us to come along. i've lived in utah almost ten years* and have never been before. it was fun to see the mine up close (you can see it from quite some distance away) and learn more about how they mine/refine the copper.

the view on the drive up

view from the visitors center. that is one big hole. apparently, it's such a big hole, you can see the mine from space.

calli, diane, and madeleine in front of the huge tire at the visitors center. this is a tire like the ones they have on the trucks that haul the excavated materials. the trucks are the size of an average two-story home. i wish we could have seen one of them closer up. but this tire gives you a pretty good idea of how big it is. each tire costs about $25,000. coincidentally, the tire also provided some of the only shade outside the visitors center. an ideal place to take a picture.

madeleine and kim. yes, it was really hot up there.



diane



madeleine could always be found with calli, kim, and lainey



lainey, calli, madeleine, diane

*what?!?

look alikes

diane, five and a half months old

madeleine, five and a half months old

i saw this picture of madeleine today while looking through old photos and diane happened to be wearing the same dress, so i put her on madeleine's quilt and took a picture. look familiar?

summer

i am loving...

the smell of sunscreen soaked into my babies' skin, fresh hose water on the pavement, freshly cut grass, and tomato plants in the garden.

the sight of brightly colored towels draped around children and over the rail to dry, beans creeping up their trellis, and the sun setting on the mountains.

the sound of thunder clapping during a summer storm, water splashing in (and out of) our little pool, and madeleine singing herself to sleep at nights.

the feel of heat radiating from a sunburn, diane's still soft baby skin, and water stinging my skin as i run through the sprinkler with my two year old.

the taste of kabobs off the grill, fresh limeade from the farmers market, and a dozen fresh fruits and vegetables that come straight out of my backyard.

summer.

peter rabbit

as part of our date night the other night, randy and i went to the king's english up in sugar house. it is a locally owned bookstore that i have heard great things about from several people and wanted to check out myself.

we enjoyed walking around and it is a great bookstore, but we especially enjoyed the children's book selection. i still think that byu has the best selection in town, but this is the second best we've seen. we ended up buying a couple of books for the girls. for madeleine, we got "peter rabbit, " by beatrix potter. i forgot how much i love these books until i read it to madeleine that night. i love the size, the story, but especially, the artwork. fantastic watercolors.

which reminds me, i love the movie, "ms. potter." haven't seen it? you should.

baa baa black sheep for the common man

madeleine's version of baa baa black sheep:

"baa baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
one for the little boy who lives down the lane.
baa baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
yes sir, yes sir, three bags full."

how very proletariat of her.

i'm not sure where the other two bags go.

reunion day four - fourth of july

to prove that i am not a complete holiday grinch, we started out the day with a fourth of july photo shoot, although, admittedly, aunt marte bought the shirts.

"get your hand off your face..."



"a little too close..."



"no, look at the camera..."



"madeleine, look at the camera..."



"hand out of your mouth..."



"all the way out..."



i give up. but there is some serious patriotism there.

we played some croquet. i won the first game, and the second game was delayed (without ever resuming) due to distracting children. i'm not sure what i'm doing in this picture. some kind of ballet croquet move.

randy, with more conventional form



lots of playing with cousins and hanging out in the backyard













these two were inseparable all weekend, in case you haven't picked that up yet.





we had a delicious fish fry dinner



with dutch oven cobbler for dessert, made by kyle.







we had a bit of a talent show in the evening



with dancing by calli





and a recital by randy

it was getting late, and i wasn't willing to stay up late with the kiddos (okay, so maybe i am a bit of a holiday grinch. but in my defense, randy tried to keep madeleine up to see fireworks during orem days a few weeks ago and when he took her outside at 10:30, she looked up and said, "oh. can we go back inside?" i wasn't doing that again), so we did some early sparklers with madeleine (see? her fourth was not completely devoid of fireworks) before heading home and getting the girls to bed before it was even dark out yet.

reunion day three

after river rafting all morning, everyone was pretty tired and took it easy the rest of the day on saturday. in the evening, we went over to jeanie's cousin, lee's, house for dinner.

kyle



lainey, kim, and madeleine



"sleeping"



madeleine could not get enough of her cousin, lainey, and her aunt, kim, this weekend