A busy week

Tuesday we went swimming: no pictures

Wednesday I tagged along with some friends in a neighboring ward to go berry picking. (I will most definitely be going back in a couple weeks, for anyone who wants to join me!)We drove with these two lovely ladies.

Livia ran wild in the strawberry patch
And ate a green one because I specifically asked her not to.

Playing with her friend Sarah during lunch

Livia did pretty well with the olallieberries, and picked only the really ripe, black ones. She may or may not have eaten more than her share straight off the vine. Whoops!

Thursday was swimming again. Here she is lounging with her friend, Ty.

Friday we went to the beach with a bunch of friends.

Initially terrified of the frigid waters, Livia finally overcame her fear and had a blast playing in the waves with her friend, Miles.She kept running back to tell me "I do it! Livia do it!"Saturday (after an extremely disappointing game in the world cup) we headed out as a family to a local park.

Say hello to the "cauliflower trees"

Livia picked out her own outfit that day. Not bad, eh?

It was fun. We took good, long naps every day. Here's to being busy and spending time with friends!

Life with Livvy

Snug as a bug in a rug (one of her new favorite games) Father's day with Daddy

Reading to her baby

Spinning at happy hollow. This video makes me dizzy just watching it!

Cousins

This is for my wonderful in-laws, Rich and Cheryl. It's so fun to watch Livvy and Ella play together!

Wowza

This is what I have to contend with every morning and every afternoon after naps. Is it a wonder Livia runs away at the sight of a comb??

Brilliant

Today I was in a bit of a funk. Livia woke up before I did, and something about having to be responsible the second my eyes open in the morning makes me cranky.

And so we had breakfast and played together, but all the while I kept looking around the house and seeing all the things I wanted to clean or organize, and I confess I wasn't the most eager playmate for Livia.

I especially wanted to wash the windows. That's been on my to-do list for two weeks now. And then suddenly I had an Idea.

Livia helps me dust all the time, so why in the world couldn't she help me wash windows? After a quick lesson in Windex use (you squirt only windows. ONLY windows!) we set to work. And besides being a little trigger happy and squirting the same few inches of glass about 20 times, it worked out really well!

I kept asking her if she still wanted to help or if she'd rather go play, but she insisted on helping and we made it through every set of windows in our apartment in less than an hour.

And then I was left to wonder, "why didn't I think of this before??"

In the end I was happier, my windows were (mostly) clean, and Livia was pleased at having been such a good helper. My day is looking brighter! (literally...hahaha...)

Lately

In the past several weeks we've gone...





Swimming:





Hiking:

(I still think we live in one of the prettiest places ever!)

To the beach: (Livia and her friend Cameron both sampled some Santa Cruz sand Ü)

And spent time having fun at home.


(So I uploaded a bunch of recent videos of Livia, but now they keep saying "error." I'm going to leave them on here just in case they decide to start working, but you'll have to do without captions, cuz I have no idea which video is which)

David

None of us were surprised when my mom became pregnant with David. After Emily was born more than one of us felt very strongly that a little boy was missing from our family. That's right, I specified "boy." My mom never found out the gender before any of us were born, but none of us had the least doubt that this last child would be male. I was lucky enough to be present when David was born, though I hid in the adjoining bathroom during the actual delivery, because I did not particularly want to watch that process. Still, I was able to hear his very first cry, the "it's a boy!" announcement, and to be there for all the tears of joy. (And that's more than I can say for my delivery with Livvy! I was completely unconscious for the first three hours of her life.)

David is one of the most naturally funny people I know. He's been cracking jokes since he was 3 years old. Jokes that were legitimately funny to us adults! He's clever, this one, and never fails to make us laugh.

David is somewhat obsessed with video games. I think he would spend all his free time with a controller in his hand if he were allowed to. He's pretty good at it too, and can give most of us a run for our money though he's only 7 years old.

He's a smart kid, an excellent reader, and a sensitive soul. He may be scared easily, and he may not particularly like the outdoors, but David is one cool kid. He's also got some wicked cool dance moves.

He wasn't even 2 years old before I moved away to college, so I don't know David nearly as well as I should like to. I'm grateful we don't live too far away from my parents, so we can visit a few times a year. Also, skype. Best invention ever.

I am so excited to see more of David's personality and talents develop! Love you Squeegee!

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And there you have it. My family. I feel SO blessed to be a part of it. I love and respect each of my family members, and am so happy to be sealed to them for all eternity!

Emily

When my parents announced that we were going to have another addition to our family, we were all shocked. Jon was nearly 10 years old at the time! We may have been surprised, but my parents were not, and though the growth of our family necessitated a move out to the middle of nowhere, I was SO excited!Emily is the one girl in our family to have inherited the athletic gene. Laura and I are both rather hopeless, but Emily both excels at and enjoys sports. She's quick and coordinated, and I think she'll become a rather accomplished athlete someday.

Emily is also sensitive and caring. She loves Loves LOVES animals, and takes such good care of all her pets. With her athleticism and love of animals, I think she should be an animal trainer one day. Just a thought.

Emily is mature and responsible. Though just 9 years old, I can leave her to watch Livia with an easy mind, knowing that she will keep Livia both safe and entertained. For a long time my relationship with Emily was more similar to a mother/child than sisterly relationship, because she was only 4 when I went away to college. But I think we are quickly becoming good friends, and I enjoy hanging out with her every time I go home for a visit.

Emily loves shopping. A girl after my own heart! She also tries so hard to do what's right, and is such a good person.

I think Emily is one of the sweetest souls ever, and I so look forward to watching her continue to grow up and develop into an amazing young woman!

Jon

Jon is our missionary right now, taking the MTC by storm, I'm sure. He won't get to read this, so I can write whatever I want! Bwa-ha-ha! Jon is supremely self-confident without being conceited, which makes for a pretty cool kid. I was told once that he was the only 6th grader allowed to sit in the back of the bus with the 8th graders. He also wore gold lamé pants to high school once. That my friends, is confidence.

Jon is ridiculously smart, but admittedly rather lazy (which is exactly the combo that drove me crazy in school--those kids that never cracked a book but still aced all their tests. You know what I'm talking about?). He skated through high school, ending up as valedictorian without having to do much of anything, but his freshman year at BYU gave him a good kick in the pants. I think being a missionary will be reallllly good in getting the lazy out of him. Ü

When it comes to jobs, however, Jon was always hardworking. He'd never be late to work, though he'd sleep through classes without thinking twice. I don't know what Jon's going to be "when he grows up" but I can guarantee you that he'll give it his all.

Jon was also that 5 year old that gave such sincere, poignant prayers, that all the older kids and adults would open their eyes and just stare at him. He's a spiritual giant, that one, and I can't think of one circumstance where I felt he hadn't done his best to choose the right.

Jon is great at making friends. He's so easy-going, so artless in the way he interacts with others, that you can't help but want to hang out with him. He's fun, and entertaining, and just an all-around cool guy.

I can't wait to see where he'll go in life and the things that he'll accomplish!

Laura

My sister Laura is just two years older than me, and since we shared a room for pretty much our entire lives, we know each other very well. If I had to describe Laura in one word it would be Kind. Generous, truly caring, thoughtful, always aware of those around her, Laura is one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life! I can't count the number of handmade (and surely time consuming) gifts and cards she's given me through the years. She is ever willing to give of her time and talents, and is happy when those she loves are happy.

Laura is remarkably talented. She has a gift for creating beauty, in both her home and in the people around her. She brings out the best in others. Is that not a marvelous talent??
Laura is also musically talented, and always easily surpassed me in her skills on the violin. She is smart, quick-witted, and capable, excelling at most everything she tries.

Laura, probably even more so than my mother, taught me to be clean and organized. As I mentioned, we shared a room our entire lives, and my side was usually the messy side. Correction: the horrendously messy side. I would often have clothes piled up in a mountain on my chair, homework strewn all over, and a desk so covered in knick-knacks I could hardly use it. Laura's desk and dresser were always neat and clean, and eventually I realized that that's how I wanted my own stuff to be, and I changed my ways. There may have been a few arguments along the way to encourage said transition. Ü

Laura is extremely faithful in the gospel. She is always willing to follow promptings, even when it may not seem terribly convenient, or even make sense! One of the best examples I can give, and hopefully she won't mind if I share this, is when she was in her junior year at BYU and received a very strong prompting, mid-semester, to drop out and return home. She had no idea why, but the feeling was undeniable, and so she left. Shortly after returning home, my grandmother, who had been living with us for many years, took a turn for the worse and was put on hospice. My dad was at work all day, my mom was busy with a two and four year old, and so Laura took care of my grandma almost constantly for the next three or four months until she passed away. She then proceeded to serve a mission, and was able upon her return to go back to BYU, though she was not allowed back in her program and ended up changing her major. I think that experience is very precious to Laura, and she would not change it for anything, but I don't know that I, myself, would have had the faith to just up and leave college like that! I have deep admiration for my sister.

Laura and I didn't always get along growing up (a certain someone used to make me late everyday for seminary. Ahem.), but once out of the house we became best friends. We spent one summer together between semesters at college, and I think both of us look back on the summer as one of the best of our lives. We got so close, and had so much fun! The Self Sisters went everywhere together during those months, and I will forever be grateful that I decided to come home instead of staying in Provo.

Laura is nurturing, quiet, good, beautiful (obviously), good-natured, and service-oriented. I love my big sister, and hope we will be fast friends throughout the rest of our lives!