The past month

Lots to do when we got back from our trip. We had church bright and early the next morning!

Blade practicing his photography skills. He's getting better. 

They are such a cute pair!

Our regular stop at the Layton temple after church. Still can't see much but lots of digging.

First thing Monday morning, I started mowing. There was quite a jungle to tackle. I took a picture of this last unmowed section but you can't really see how long it was. Over a foot for sure. My socks will never be the same. 

Time to harvest! The end of the peas and the beginning of the green beans. My faves!

Next up- cleaning up the dirty car. Time for a carwash! Blade was horrified. 

Nothing a little planking can't fix. 

Dixie tried out her new fishy jams from Aunt Meagan. She was a fan. 

Every night when Blade comes in to say goodnight to me and Dixie, he runs and hides under the animals until Lance finds him and drags him out. He thinks it hilarious. 

Time for this girl to learn to sleep without a swaddle! It was rough for a week or two before she really accepted it. She does ok now though.

Watching Stuart graduate from his training program and my cousin Michael become a judge is a bonus of coronavirus. Everything is digital now!

So much snuggles around here.

National Ice Cream Day with Lance's parents at Aunt Meagans's in Park City. I made chocolate frozen yogurt and it was pretty good, although a little tangy. 

Dixie is 4 months old! It does not get cuter than this happy chubby girl.

At 4 months, she weighed 14.5 lbs (60th percentile) and was 25 inches long (75th percentile). She slept around 11 hours at night and stayed up for just over an hour at a time normally. Wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes and size 2 diapers. Not quite rolling at this point. Loves everyone and everything.

She has this new squinty-eyed smile that is my favorite. 

Keeping an eye on the growth of her dermoid cyst. 

We tried out some new sleeping arrangements. Didn't last long. 

Finally getting our anniversary date- only 3 months late. Happy 10 years and some change to us! We tried out a new restaurant and Tiburon was incredible! We even went and saw a movie after- Megaplex was showing old movies and we saw Dunkirk. So nice to get some time out together. 

Lots of trips to the skate park with the kids so Reagan can work on her skateboarding. They love to ride around. 

Meagan, Grace, Gigi and Granddad joined us for Pioneer Day.

We took the kids on a little walk by the river. It was hot but the shade was nice.

Then back to our house for some pool time and grilling.

And last but certainly not least, fireworks!

And homemade cherry pie and ice cream to round it out nicely. Doesn't get better than that!

Dixie loves to lay out an get some sun with me. And by sun, I mean shade. 

Daryn is big enough to come on bike rides with Reagan and I. Yay! It's so cool to watch them grow up and experience things like this with them. 

Dixie is still a good sport about our daily walks, even though they are getting pretty hot. 

(We're still enjoying them too!)

And she's starting to learn to sit up!

She loves to nap in her carseat, too. She never wakes up when I carry her out of the car. Have I mentioned she's the easiest baby ever? The other kids can be a bit of a challenge...

Maddie won a prize drawing for completing the city's bingo game that we did together. So many fun things! My favorite is Laytonopoly. 

One day, I took the kids down to Payson to check out a hike I'd been wanting to do with them- Grotto Falls.

It was hot and the kids were so excited to get to the water and cool off.

Blade approached the whole thing cautiously. 

The girls, on the other hand,...

Some even went back for round 2!

Heading back, just a little soggier. 

After lunch at park, we started our temple tour! 10 temple sites between Payson and Salt Lake, that we don't normally get to see. The kids took turns taking pictures in front of them.

Payson

Provo City Center

Provo

Orem temple site

Saratoga Springs

Mt Timpanogos

Draper

Oquirrh Mountain

Jordan River

Taylorsville temple site (this was supposed to be Dixie's pic, but there was nowhere to park).

And our updated temple pics from the Layton site the next day. 

It was so cool to see all these different houses of the Lord. We are SO blessed to have so many temples nearby. I think I have been inside all of the completed ones before, at least for the open house.

Dixie has been working on her crunches and rolling over. Can't stop this girl! She flips onto her tummy non-stop now and get furious. Works great for naptime. 

After non-stop begging from the girls, we finally got a pet. Meet Slick, whom I found in the garden one day. 

 We built him a little home and he seems quite happy. 

Blade lost it one day when he didn't get vitamins with his sisters (he already had his earlier that morning). It's hard to take his fury seriously with an outfit like that.

Reagan and Daryn did a mermaid camp and had such a great time.

Dixie found her toes! A built-in toy that never gets lost.

Reagan started cross country with the city and is trying to decide if she hates or loves jogging. Maybe both.

 Dixie is besties with every one.

But mostly me. I'm super obsessed. 

 

 Selfies! They could be twins.

I asked Maddie to put the load of dirty towels in the washer. A few minutes later I found this. Yes, she folded them all first. A little type-A coming out.

 

These two are a little goofy too. Daryn showing off her bat and Lance enjoying a "little" snack.

We bought some early reader books from Daryn's old preschool teacher. So nice to see Miss Chelsea and catch up.

Speaking of catching up, it was the best to talk to Marissa at the park for a few hours one day. I miss her so much! There's never enough time. 

Blade is still super into books and he loves to read to Dixie too. 

Today the kids were doing nursery and they came in doing a train. Cutest little engines ever!