Swimming, Tom's birthday, Carnival, 24th, BBQ...summer madness

This has been a pretty awesome and busy summer!  

Here's an update and a billion or so pictures!

SWIMMING

We went swimming to the Payson pool and Jade loved it!  She especially loved floating and kicking on her own around the lazy river.  So that's what we did pretty much the whole time!

 TOM'S BIRTHDAY

This blue-eyed babe husband of mine turned the big 31 last week!
We went on a birthday date the night before to our favorite restaurant- Carabbas!  MMMMM! And then did some shopping

 Then Sunday morning Jade and I made him breakfast

 Later that afternoon Michelle and Larry came to visit and see the birthday boy!  And had I known so many pictures were going to be taken, I would've actually gotten ready....oh well.
They spoiled the girls with new books and Tom with a Fit Bit!

Michelle brought her nice camera and they snapped a ton of pictures so here is a mix of both!  I love them...lots of candids of just hanging out.

Rolly pollies all day everyday!

How cute is that....

We made my mom's enchiladas, spanish rice, and his favorite fruit salad for the birthday boy!

Then it was time for cake!
Jade helped me make the cake and put in the candles!

Lainey was napping...

Then grandma was sweet enough to show Jade how to use her camera and the rest of the day Jade was a little photographer!  SHE LOVED IT!  She made us look at each picture after it was taken and any that came out blurry, she would call "soft"  hahaha we don't know where that came from but we would keep hearing, "whoops!  That one's soft!"

 Here are some of the pictures she took! (Michelle don't kill me haha)

Pretty good right?!  And here are a few we took before they left......

Thank you so much for spending Tom's birthday with us!  It meant a lot to all of us!

 A random picture of Jade's little dance class practicing their dance.  She wouldn't wear her dance clothes this day

 CARNIVAL

Spanish Fork has the best celebration for Pioneer Day!  All week long there are festivities for Fiesta Days!  We went to the carnival with friends and seriously had a blast!

This is on our way over..

 I mean, look at that pure joy!  Who cares if the carnival cost a small fortune!?

 Look at these cute dad's manning the strollers while we rode the ferris wheel!

 We shared a seat with Jenni and Swayz

"I can see the whole village!" haha

 Our people....

 Oddly enough, the only ride she was nervous on was the carousel!  Silly girl

 It was such a fun night!  Thanks for making it happen Steph!

24th / RESERVOIR

After living here almost 8 years, we finally checked out the Spanish Fork Reservoir thanks to Jess! Tom had to work on Pioneer Day:( but the girls and I spent the day at the Res.

Even though it was cold, Jade LOVED it!  

 Unfortunately, Lainey was not a fan... she was so fussy from teething and very tired.  But she loved Jess and gnawing on the outside of an otter pop

 That night the Jone's came over and we watched some neighborhood fireworks.   Then we walked over to where we parked our truck by a nearby field to watch the city fireworks!

 

It worked out perfect and will now be our awesomely convenient new spot!

BBQ

 Brady and Lindsay Wood were in Utah and we haven't seen them in almost 3 years so we had a big Barbecue with the Delta gang!

 "toss it way high"

Stacy trying to educate the boys on how terrible these energy drinks are haha!  I've tried for years!

 It was a perfect night with food, great friends, and lots of kids!  So much fun!

Some recent pics!
Jade was back at it with the sprinkler under the tramp the next day!  (Our poor water bill :( )

 Lainey loves her some cooked carrots!  It's a staple in her lunches!

 Look at that cheeser!

 She started taking steps on July 12th, and right at 11 months she started walking all over the place!  It hasn't become her main mode of transportation yet because she can't stand herself up from sitting yet.  But if she has pulled herself up or is in a standing position she walks from there!!

 When I put her in this shirt I remembered a framed picture we have of Jadelyn right at 11 months as well in the same shirt!  So here is a little side by side comparison!  Definitely sisters!  They actually look a lot more alike than I thought!

 Update on Lainey:
*Walking
*Still takes 2 naps but will soon be Transitioning down to 1 nap
*Very forcefully and matter of factly says some form of "La-goy", "duh-goy", or "the-goy!"  ALL THE TIME!  It's become our families joke, Jade even mimics it.   It's something we will definitely miss when she starts talking for real
*Will look at and point with her whole arm to our star decorations when we ask, "where's the star?" and she tries sooo hard to say it "dar dar!"
*Learned to "hug" her toys, "toss it way high" (put her arms straight up in patty cake), and tries to say doll "goll goll"
*Is ALWAYS on the move and busy.  Follows us all everywhere.
*Is so quick to grab anything in your hands

Update on Jade:

*Her emotional drama has improved immensely over the last few weeks!  Terrible 3's is a real thing:)

*So friendly to everyone she meets!  (like too friendly haha) "Hi, I like your hair.  Where do you live? I love you!"

*Has a great imagination and makes up games to play all the time.  Her latest one is Tom or I have to pretend to be the bad zookeepers and she is the hero that saves the animals after she locks us in an invisible box with a snap of her fingers and only lets us out if we promise to be good zookeepers :)

*She loves playing with Lainey and it's great!

*She is loving dance, tumbling, swimming, and playing with her friends

Some funny things she has said

1)  Daniel Tiger show has a song that goes something like, "When something seems bad, turn it around, and find something good." 

So the other day she spilled a whole cup of water all over the kitchen and while we were scrambling to clean it up she asks, "What's good about this water I spilled?"

2) I asked her if her and Lainey were best friends and she said, "Yeah we're best friends and we stick together like glue!

3) She went potty and was sitting there on the toilet looking down at the floor, waiting for me to come  help her.  When I came in she jumped and said, "Oh! I only saw your feet!  I thought you were a wild animal!"