Summer Outings

Thanksgiving Point
We love going to Thanksgiving Point with Grandma! One time we went, it was Cow Days, so we did a lot of cute little activities about cows, including making homemade ice cream, and riding on a cow ride.

And while there, we got a tour of uncle Aaron's work at the glass art area. That was really cool to see!

The Gardens are so beautiful!

And afterward the kids made clay sculptures at Grandma's

Church History Children's Museum
We joined up with Grandma, Seth and Soren to explore and play at the CH museum. Millie was a beautiful dancer!

Bees Game

There's something magical about a summer evening at a baseball park! The atmosphere is fun and relaxing. Paul is the only one of us who really gets in to the game. For the girls, it's about the company. So we lucked out to have a lot of friends there this night. We met up with the Ormes, Squires, Burgesses and Tibbits families. 

Enjoying Ivie

This little gal has brought so much happiness into our home!

At just a few weeks old, she began to smile and try to talk with her sweet little "coo" and "goo" sounds.

Now she has a big dimpled smile for everyone, and she often tried to go in to full conversation. As you can see from this picture, we LOVE talking with her! She will have a lot to say one day. No doubt about that!

She seems very patient and content with life, even when her sisters are playing with her.

Gracie has SO many kisses for Ivie! She makes sure to keep Ivie doing "tummy time" on her chest each day, with the earnest excuse, "she just keeps pushing me over!" Under much supervision, Grace has learned how to pick Ivie up, and even carry her around a bit. She is becoming very helpful! And she loves the rare privilege of feeding her a bottle.

Claire holds Ivie a lot.  She sings her songs (Claire's way of expressing love) and just enjoys her. She has tried to pick her up and walk with her  a couple times (yikes!), so we have to always be on guard.

When Claire isn't holding Ivie, she is taking care of her "white baby" doll named Cali. In the last few months, her "motherly" instincts have kicked in even more. Nowadays, she holds Cali all day long. She feeds her, changes diapers, bathes her, puts her down for naps, takes her on walks in the stroller, and brings her anywhere and everywhere we go. She reminds us, "I'm a good mommy!" quite often. I love this age!

Millie loves talking to Ivie in her baby language "Goo goo goo goo goo!" and pushing Ivie in the stroller. She sits by her in the car to help offer the binki over and over again. And she is always willing to hold Ivie when Mommy needs a hand. She knows how to keep her happy!

Ivie is hardly ever left alone. We love her to pieces!!

At bedtime, Ivie often rotates around to each sister's bed to hear a bedtime story.

 She is a "binki baby" through and through! Thank goodness for the binki...and the binki clip.

Ivie gets woken up A LOT by her anxious sisters who promise me that she was already waking up. Like any newborn, she sleeps with her eyes a bit open, and stirs from time to time, so lucky for them they can often find a reason to think she is waking up!

Claire usually asks us to take a picture of her holding Ivie. We're glad for the reminder, especially when we can get a smile out of Ivie or some funny pics for a good laugh...

Here's Ivie when she met Grandpa Thatcher. She will love him! He is always so good with the grandchildren. Ivie is grandchild number ____on the Thatcher side.

Here's a welcome sign Grace made for Ivie to go above her bassinet. I broke it down into pieces to get a good shot of all Gracie's characters. Amazing!

Summer Classes

Gymnastics and Dance
It was fun to spend a few weeks over the summer back at Flips for tumbling and Dance with Miss Mo.

"Balls of Fun"
We decided to try something new this summer and enroll Millie and Grace in a sports class. They were a little hesitant, but it helped that we got some close friends (Brynn, Brooklyn, Kylie, and Maylie) in the class too. And even though they might not admit it, I think the girls actually had fun learning some new skills.

Art Playdate
For a few weeks this summer we did a fun little art playdate with some friends. We took turns each week having the class at different homes and the younger kids at a different home. It was a great way to do an art class for free, and to inspire us moms to do more fun art with our kids at home. Here are some pics of our marble art painting. We also did stain glass windows out of crete paper, melted crayon art, and impression painting. Fun times had by all!

Bunnies, Bunnies, and More Bunnies!

We waited long for this! Tessa and Templeton were married last summer for the sole purpose of bringing us some baby bunnies. But winter came and we had to wait. Then the first litter all died. Finally on Mother's Day, Tessa had 3 cute little babies (the runt died in the end). This was almost as exciting as when Ivie was born. They provided a lot of entertainment and learning for our family, and the neighborhood kids. Since then, we've had yet another litter. I can't get over that 28-day gestational period!

Here they are at the peak of their cuteness: Blackie and Brownie look just like their parents. They were SO loved! At least once a day we'd find Jane and Claire holding them. That was a little scary, but somehow they survived until they were given away.