Happy 4th of July!

This year's 4th of July celebration was a fun family day, as usual! Canby has a General Canby Days celebration that is always fun to see friends and support the community. Traditions are what make every holiday great, right?

This was how we started the walk to the parade. Sydney had taken an early nap but Seoul didn't take a nap because it was an early afternoon parade.

The girls were very excited waiting for the parade, especially anticipating the candy they might receive! We had time to kill and the girls had fun together. Sydney's favorite part was the kettle corn Grandma had - haha! Seoul practiced her waving skills.

Let the parade begin! Always love seeing our American Flag upheld by those in uniform. We are so lucky to live in a country where we have so many freedoms! The girls showed their patriotism by waving their flags. The animals were a hit, of course.

Ella was in the parade with her dance team. She did so great!

          

Mindee "walked" with the float for her ward, and had a beautiful smile!

This was Seoul's face when she saw what floats were coming up...

After the parade we walked around downtown to see all the various activities and booths. Some friends had a hand print flag activity, which was super cute. It was pretty hot so we didn't last long... as you can see Seoul is sleeping soon after we started walking.

For dinner we had a BBQ meal of hamburgers and corn on the cob. I believe this was Sydney's first experience with it and she caught on quickly. Yum! 

The girls have fun trying on mommy's shoes, and these were my festive shoes I wore on the 4th of July. Sydney had fun with those while Seoul has on my flip flops in the background.

Seoul wanted to watch fireworks tonight but Sydney wasn't making it. So, I took Seoul and we went over to meet up with my mom and Mindee. It was quite a wait to make sure we got seats since I didn't know how early I needed to be. Of course kids were setting off their own fireworks all around us, which spooked Seoul a bit. With the noise, sounds, and late hour Seoul didn't make it. I convinced her to stay for at least a couple displays but then she started yelling that she wanted to go home and just be in her bed. Alright, maybe next year.

super martian robot girl

Sweet scene: daddy with his girls getting ready for bed time by reading a book.

The book Five Sweet Strawberries is a favorite here. The last page is when Strawberry Shortcake is harvesting her strawberries and sharing with her "berry best friends" and it's become tradition to "pick" the strawberries and share. That is what Sydney is doing - holding out a strawberry for me.

Haha - not sure if Sydney is loving or hating this love from Big Sis.

Yep, eating on her own is a messy adventure every day. The girls love the Danonino yogurts.

Remember how Sydney loves her helmet? I wasn't kidding. No, she doesn't have a head injury :)

We have beautiful nieces/cousins! This is after the big, annual dance recital. Sydney danced along to the music, mostly the hip hop, jazz, and tap. Seoul is more interested in doing ballet or contemporary.

At bed time Seoul likes to crawl into the crib with Sydney. This was the scene we encountered one night after it had gotten quiet. How do you get mad at that?!

Sydney loves to be a big kid... trying to ride the scooter, bike, or do any other big kid activity. I think she is "growing up" faster than Seoul did in some respects, which makes sense since she has someone to look up to.

We love hanging out as a family and being silly together!

Daddy and the girls resting after church.

Kelley pointed out the girls are wearing matching outfits in 90% of the pictures. Yes, Seoul loves to have their matchy outfits on. I love it also... it's so cute!

Sydney is the daredevil one trying new things much earlier than Seoul.

Baby Toot-Toot is another one of our kids, in case you didn't know...

Stylin' in Seoul's Tangled sunglasses.

The girls love play dates, especially with their friends Grace and Isaac. The girls all played dress-up (while I played trains with Isaac), and then we moved outside to play Duck Duck Goose... a new favorite game. Even Sydney hits people on the head (literally) and says "duck." She hasn't gotten the hang of saying "goose" to choose someone but she does run around.

Seoul has discovered the high bar and enjoys hanging for some reason. Goof!

I love my sweet Sydney girl!

Helping Grandma weed her garden. The girls were SOOO dirty by the end but they had so much fun!

Any kind of carousel is a hit with the girls...

... and Sydney loves to have her own little "car" (which is always what Seoul doesn't want - haha!)

One of Seoul's spontaneous, silly moments at the Lego Store!

The girls and I with sweet Great-Grandma Salway. It's always neat to visit with her because she's such an inspiring and uplifting lady. (Sydney is looking down at her little dog Charlie, a Toy Pomeranian).

[June 2012]

Big kid Seoul!

Our friend gave us a toddler bike and Seoul loves it! One day I'd like to paint it but realistically, it may never happen. I will get a little basket for the front, though! We got some training wheels and a bicycle helmet... and now Seoul is a riding machine. She does so well... she even rides all the way to the park and the library!

We couldn't leave Sydney out so we got her a helmet also. Now she runs around saying "helmet" all the time and wants to wear it often. She also loves to sit on Seoul's bike and try her hardest to reach the pedals.

[June 2012]

Relay for Life

Each year our ward participates in Relay for Life, which supports such a great cause. We kick off the ward activity with a BBQ, and people can set up tents to camp overnight. Not yet have we been brave enough to camp with the girls. Our family participates by walking and making cookies for the fundraiser. People are so involved and put so much effort into prep and execution and other fundraisers. The kids love to participate in walking/running the track, and it's some of the younger ones that set the record for the most laps!

This year it was icky weather but everyone had fun just the same. The girls enjoyed walking around the track, and of course we buy cookies to support the cause and sample somebody else's yummies!

Oh yeah, this year the girls were eating their hot dogs. I moved to get some chips, and when I turned around Sydney was looking sadly at the dog eating her hot dog. It was pretty funny!

[June 2012]

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best man in our life! He is a fantastic husband, and such a loving and compassionate father. We are so lucky to have him in our lives to love us and provide for us! The girls love speaking with him on the phone in the morning when they wake up and then at lunch time. Oh my, how they love their daddy to pieces!

After church it was all-about-Kelley day. He napped while I made his requested dinner of homemade chicken strips and french fries. Plus cherry pie for dessert! Gifts were simple but they will make lots of memories... a bat and some balls, a bird house (that Seoul picked out herself), some peanut butter M&M's, and of course the traditional hand print craft. This year we made {rather popular} cards found on Pinterest. [Seoul wrote her entire card herself even without letter prompts from me. I was so proud of her! Then she glued it herself, which explains why the thumbs are both pointing the same direction - cute!]

It's so fun to celebrate such an important person in our family, and show him our love and respect. Love you Kelley/daddy!!




Kelley loves baseball, and wants to pass on that love to the girls. They are getting into playing catch with him, and it is a good time to introduce the bat. We did have one oopsie moment when Seoul nailed Sydney in the side of the face. Syd is a tough cookie and took it like a champ.