4th of July

On the 4th of July we went to the Heber firework show. We got there around 6 pm to sit around and wait until it was dark. I was a little worried about the long wait...especially having Sarah, but it was very relaxing. The kids ran around and played. Derek at one point was insistent that he was starving so I gave in and bought a bag of kettle corn...yummmy! I'm glad he was starving:)

Emily surprisingly did well with the loud noises. As long as she was held with her ears covered she was fine. At one point Sarah (grandma) said Emily was shaking but she didn't cry.

Baby Sarah did wonderful. I think she enjoyed being outside. For a long time she just laid on the blanket looking around. She skipped her usual evening fussy period and when we got back to the house she went straight to bed and slept a good 5+ hours (wonderful!!!).

There was a slow line of cars to get into the parking lot and we worried about getting out after the show, but amazingly we got out in less than 10 minutes, including the time walking back to the car. It was a fun time and I'm glad Darrell and I didn't turn around when we saw the line to get in (we almost did).

Snowflake

We spent the last weekend before the start of Darrell's school in Snowflake. This is Sarah relaxing and enjoying the nice cool weather...we are very envious of the nice temperatures. It is always hard to return home when temperatures are over 105 degrees for days.

This is Derek with his amphibian friends...he found 6 frogs and spent probably at least 3 hours playing with them in the pool. I can't believe they survived. When he was finished, he put them back in the hole where he found them...hopefully still alive and thriving in Snowflake:)

Here is Jeannie holding our little Sarah burrito. And yes the 3 children eating ice cream cones are eating their dinner...it was a busy day:) I suppose ice cream for dinner one night won't kill any nutritional needs;) There were definitely no fights over finishing dinner!

One of my favorite parts about visiting Snowflake is the kids are outside practically ALL day!! Emily loved playing in the sand and collecting pine cones. Jayden is pictured here trying to bury himself in the sand:) Emily was helping with the process too by pouring the sand on him and pushing his head in the sand while saying "down," every time he tried to get up. He didn't seem to mind too much though.

Bike riding was another favorite outside adventure. Sharing the bikes is a bit of a challenge but they managed fairly well. I don't have pictures of kids on swings, but that too was one of the lures of the outdoors...we did have a few tiffs over that. There are more than 3 bikes to share but only 2 swings...Emily and Jayden just didn't quite get the math:)

Last, but not least, who can pass up eating watermelon while lounging outside in chairs during the beginning of a storm. The terrified look on Emily's face in the first picture resulted frequently after each round of thunder. She is not a lover of loud noises.

More Sarah...

Sarah is growing and growing so quickly:) She is already bigger than Emily and Derek were at the same age. She is a cutie...although a little on the loud side (cries a lot). I don't know if she is more fussy than normal, or if I just forget what a baby is like...or a little of both:)

Derek and Emily love being able to touch Sarah...about a hundred times a day I have to say "back off," "too close," "don't touch her face," etc. Derek likes to carry her and has been reminded a million times to ask first...and I'm sure he'll have to be reminded a million more times...luckily no accidents so far:)

The picture above on the right is one of my midwives in the office. Since I forgot to get one on the delivery day I had to get one later. Mary is on the left and Nedra on the right. Mary was the only one who had time to make it to the delivery:)

As I get to know Sarah things are getting easier, although what I was told by many people seems to be true...3 definitely throws a wrench in the system. I have attempted grocery shopping and a trip to the library with no casualties, but came home exhausted:)

Compare and Contrast

So for fun I thought it would be fun to do a side by side comparison of our three kids in two similar instances. The first set from top to bottom starting with Derek is our classic shower picture. We started it with Derek and continued through Sarah:)

This second set is their newborn pictures. Aren't they cute:) Sarah and Emily look so similar it is funny...it will be interesting to see how Sarah changes.