Una Vida Hermosa

We went to see Kung Fu Panda for the second time this week. Our good friends Jo, Maya, and Aidan joined us. Salem's favorite character is Tigress.

We celebrated Kaden's 6th birthday on Friday. Here are all four Salem grandkids helping blow out the candles. Kaden is an amazing cousin, nephew, brother, son, grandson, and friend. He's thoughtful, kind, loving, adventurous, intelligent, and an incredible math whiz! Happy Birthday Kaden! We love you!


Thanks to Ana for sending this sweet picture of Kaden, Salem, and Kardin.

Kardin and Sutton having fun at the birthday party.

How many men with graduate degrees does it take to put together a birthday present for a 6 year old?!?!?!

The present is finally assembled and Kaden gets to enjoy the inaugural ride!

The biggest kid of the group also got to enjoy a ride (the weight limit is 180 lbs.).

Salem enjoyed a ride too (although she can't quite reach the peddles).

We ended the celebration with some fun sparklers.

Aaron and Becky joined us for a nice picnic at Drue's soccer game this week. The soccer player in the picture is Wade, Drue's older brother. They've been playing on the same soccer team for over a decade now.

A cute picture of sweet Salem.

We went to a fun country festival with Aaron and Becky. It was a beautiful summer evening with music, good conversation, and great company. Sutton was persistent for over an hour and taught herself how to stand up independently! As you can see by the expression on her face, she was quite proud of her accomplishment.

Salem getting a swinging blanket ride from Drue and Aaron.

Salem giving Sutton a ride in the new sled we bought at a garage sale. They're already looking forward to snow sledding, but we're hoping to have several months before they can use this sled outdoors.

We attended a bug show at the library today. Here are Salem and Kaden checking out all the bugs. They had tarantulas, scorpions, praying manti, roaches, millipedes, and many others.

5 Things We're Thankful For Today:

• 1. That the temperature here in the mountains is 10 degrees cooler than in the valley (now that Salt Lake has hit the 90 degree weather).
• 2. That the girls are capable of napping in our laps so that we could go to the movies during nap time and enjoy watching Iron Man.
• 3. White peaches. We just discovered these last year, but we're now hooked. They are sweet, juicy, and delicious.
• 4. That we have so many fun activities nearby that we can enjoy.
• 5. Watching Salem develop frienships of her own. Seeing Salem and her buddy Maya interact brings a smile to our faces.

Wise (or mostly silly) Words From a 2 Year Old

• Maggie: "Salem, who's my big girl?"
• Salem: "I'm not your big girl Mommy"
• Maggie: "why aren't you my big girl?"
• Salem: "I'm not your big girl Mommy...because I'm your PRINCESS"
• She's absolutely right! She is our sweet princess. After reading her bedtime books with Drue at night, she likes to end her evening by having Maggie tell her a story about Princess Salem. We adore our Princess Salem!!!