July

July was a lot of fun! Between the 4th of July, going to Bear Lake with my family (posts on both of those to follow), quilting like crazy, throwing my SIL Natalie a baby shower. and just enjoying the sun, it was a pretty good month!

I got recruited to make a quilt for our friend's Jack and Jaime for their wedding. Jack's mom had wanted to make one for him but was running out of time so she asked me to make it for her to give to them. The quilt is made out of all of Jaime's jeans and Jack's favorite Hawaiian shirts growing up. My mom helped me design and stitch some of the embroidery for the center. The four squares are stick figures of them of how they met, first date, engagement, and their wedding. The quilt was way more work than I expected, and I had only a few weeks to complete it, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I hadn't quilted in awhile so it was fun to get back into.

I threw my SIL Natalie a Dr Seuss themed shower. I may have had way too much fun with tying Dr Seuss into all the little details... from the invites, to making her a quilt, to the foods, decor, games, etc.

Food: We had green deviled eggs and ham, pink ink drink, oh the places you'll go jello, and many more. The table was decorated with truffula trees all over too. My SIL Kristen also brought a fun Cat and the Hat candy jar (I may have gotten a little too busy to be a good picture taker) that everyone had to guess how many candies were in it, as well as there were a few other games related to Dr. Seuss books and such. 

The quilt I made. I fell in LOVE with the fabric I used for the back. The fabric addict in me kind of wishes I would have bought a yard just to have on hand for myself:)

We took Daphne swimming one Saturday. She had a ball, sporting her sunglasses, and spending the whole time jumping into the pool, getting back out, and doing it again. 

My parents were nice enough to watch Daphne overnight while we went camping with Mike and Julia in Lava Hot Springs. Lesson learned: Don't trust pictures of online campsites. I rented one and when we got there, the place was super overcrowded and I swear our space was smaller than our living room. Needless to say, we got a refund and found an awesome place down the road with only one other camper in the whole area. It was awesome. We had fun enjoying the good company, campfire food, and hot tubs.

Daphne was so excited to see her Grandpa Crandall in town. We were so happy to see her that way as well because she has had a general fear of men since birth and it took her a long time to warm up to him with him only visiting every few months.

We took Grandpa Crandall to the Bountiful Handcart Days for the 24th of July while he was in town. It was pretty small but we had fun. Aunt Nat joined us as well. Everything was around 50 cents to a dollar to participate in, so we won Daphne several prizes, she rode the swings, and Dan and I rode the spinney ride pictured on the left. Mostly little kids were riding it so once we got on and realized we could make it go ridiculously fast, we did! We were moving so fast that I couldn't even lift my head up off the seat. Lol. It was a lot of fun, we definitely both felt a little sick afterwards, but it was worth it.

Uncle Mike babysitting Daphne. She loves to share food if you can't tell. Too bad she doesn't feel the same about toys. We have always thought she looks exactly like me but seeing the two of them in the picture on the right, makes us realize she has some Crandall in her too!

Oh the joys of lots and lots of car rides...

Daphne is obsessed with chairs and climbing. One day I found her trying to get her chair into higher and higher locations and climb into it. She first put it on top of Dan's Hmong stool. Later on I found her in it on top of her rocking chair. Silly girl.

Boston, Dan, and Daphne during our "daylight fireworks" at Boston's house. We attempted some fairly lame fireworks while it was still light out as it was already past the kiddos bedtime. We at least had great company even if our firework show was a little amateur, especially with it being light out.

Just chillin' at the Splash Pad.

Just taking care of baby

 Left: I told Daphne to smile for daddy so I could send him a picture, and well yeah.... 

Right: Butter, a.k.a Peanut Butter, addict!

Left: Who doesn't need a princess to join them on a shopping trip? Right: After Daphne pulled the bike off the shelf and tried to scoot around it while it was still in the box, we realized we probably should invest in one ourselves!

Reading stories

Dan and Rueb helping build my parent's new deck.

June

Excerpt from Christmas letter:

In June, Daphne had quite the eventful month. She got tubes in her ears due to chronic ear infections and fluid in the ear. She still has some ear troubles, but they have helped immensely! The biggest changes we saw from the procedure are that she begun to talk and walk within the few short weeks following! It’s quite crazy to go from having a 16 month old who had never even said “momma and dada” (she only spoke by barking like a dog prior) to one who can now speak in sentences and runs so fast we can’t even keep up with her!

Pictures from the month of June:

Having fun while out to eat

Learning how to use a straw

The Treehouse lets you get in up to 5 people with your military ID for free in the summer so we took Cami and Boston along one of those times! We thought they were too cute in their Guatemala outfits not to capture it on film:)

Riding the donkey

I love how the chess pieces are almost as big as they are

Chinese Babies!

Studly king with the grumpy queen

Ride 'em cowboy

Can't go to the Treehouse without getting a picture of her on the horse

 Daph's obsession with water continues....although we learned splash pads 

aren't her thing. She likes to be in charge of the splashing!

Playing with Rueb before my cousin, Dustin's wedding. She wanted nothing to do with being inside and near everyone for the event.

We went to the cutest little petting zoo in Eden with several mommies and kids in the ward. It was super hot, but fun nonetheless. I would definitely go back again.

We rode to the petting zoo with the Frandsens. Ada and Daphne weren't too thrilled to be sharing a stroller, little did they know just a few months later they would be best friends.

Daphne is becoming quite the little helper... she loves to sew and garden

Left: The first time I gave in and bought what Daphne wanted at the store. 

The look on her face was totally worth the 2 dollar balloon. 

Right: Enjoying the warm weather. Too bad she didn't mow the grass while she was at it.

Pictures from when Daph got tubes in her ears. To say the least, it was a traumatic experience for her. She cried from the second we walked into the building until we left. This experience, as well as several since, have left her with quite the fear of hospitals and doctor offices. That being said, we are go glad she got them! Yes, she has had a few ear infections since, but nothing like before and thanks to them, she talks and walks as I mentioned at the beginning of this post!

Kristen and the kids came to Utah for a couple of weeks in June. I helped with the kids one day while Kristen was spending time with her Grandma, who passed away shortly after. I got the crazy idea to take them all to the Treehouse museum. They had fun and I felt like I needed a nap. 

 Dan ran the Ragnar relay with his brothers, cousin, and dad for the first time. They all loved it. It made me want to participate just because of how much fun they had. Too bad it would require me to actually run, so yeah, it will never happen:) Daph and I had a sleepover with Cami and Boston, which was fun while the boys were away. We tried to make it to the finish line to see them, but to say the least, we didn't quite make it in time. It was still fun to be there though and see them hanging out near the finish line. Plus, the boys have decided they want to run it again, so we will work on making it there next year!

 
I also got to go with my mom and her friend, Cindy, to the Quilt Walk Festival for a couple of days in Panguitch, Utah. It was such a fun experience and nice to have such quality time with my mom. I hope we can go again next year. We stayed at Cindy's second home in a teeny tiny town called Hatch, right outside of Bryce Canyon. We took quilt classes, went to the quilt show and trunk show, and best of all, the play and dinner where we learned the history behind the quilt walk. When Brigham Young first had pioneers settle Panquitch, they had quite the rough first year. They planted crops but didn't realize how short of a growing season they would have due to elevation so their crops were ruined. The town was basically starving to death and decided to send 7 men 40 miles to the nearest town in hopes for food. They knew when they sent the men away that if they didn't make it back, the whole town would perish. The snow was so deep that the men had to leave the wagon during their trip as it got stuck in the snow. The men tried to walk on foot but they would instantly sink waist deep in the snow, so they put a quilt down to kneel and pray for a way to make it to the nearest town. While praying, they realized they didn't sink into the snow, so they walked on quilts the whole way to the next town and back with wheat in tow. The picture of the quilt shows the men walking along the snow. Anyways, it was a super neat experience to hear of how these men were able to save everyone by walking on quilts.

Julia was nice enough to watch Daphne for me while Dan was at work. She hadn't seen Julia in awhile, and had never been babysat by her, so she was a little mystified as to why she was there the first day. Come the second day, they were best friends! Daphne had so much fun playing with her dog, Scout, and doing fun things like going to the Dinosaur Park.

·

South Carolina in May

At the beginning of May, Daphne and I flew to South Carolina to see Kristen, Abby, Aidan, and Eli. Initially the plan had been to go keep them company as Spencer was deployed, while Dan was away for a military training. Well, the training got cancelled, so Dan spend 10 days as a bachelor at home, but it was sure worth the trip and a great way to use up my vacation before I quit my job!

The flight there was a nightmare- 2 hour flight, layover, 5 hour flight...all with an inconsolable baby with a double ear infection and rude passengers. It left me quite on edge the first few days in South Carolina as well as we neared coming home. I teased Kristen that I might just never leave. I wish I would have been better at shaking off the experience, but all in all, it was a great learning experience for me filled with tiny miracles in between like the sweet grandpa, who I didn't even know, who took turns holding Daphne for me when I just couldn't do it for one more minute. I learned an invaluable lesson from it all, Heavenly Father never leaves us alone. When I thought I couldn't handle it anymore, he always sent an angel my way. Despite the miserable flight there, it was so worth it to have such quality time with Kristen and for Daphne to get to know her Aunt and cousins!

For the most part, we just spent the week living their daily life. Kids had school; Kristen had work. It was nice to just live their life and be there to help break things up for a bit for them while daddy was away. Plus, it was awesome once the kids went to bed and Kristen and I got to sew and chat into the wee hours of the night. Daphne and Eli got to play lots while the the other kiddos were at school.

The week was filled with bubbles....

Shutting "doggie Eli" in his cage

Story-time with Abby

Lots of new obsessions, such as Eli's chair
(she lived in that thing), their doggie, and Eli himself:)

Another obsession: open the sliding glass door,
step out, close it, open it again, step back in,
close it, and repeat for hours on end.

New best friends. Daph enjoyed having a doggie to
feed and well, let's just say Chief was sad to see her go, he had
never had so much table scraps in his life:)

Trying a snow cone for the first time at Abby's softball game

Having fun at the playground with Eli. I had
to chase Daph through this tunnel about a thousand
times to try and catch her before she went down
 the slide by herself! What a workout.

We couldn't go to South Carolina without going to my favorite place on earth, a.k.a, the beach. First attempt was a bust! Windy, rainy, etc. Best part of it all though? It made for a memorable experience and all the kids passed out for the two hour drive home.

We brought a picnic lunch. All the kiddos picked out their
favorite types of chips. Aidan was quite proud of himself
that Daphne thought his extreme fire chips were the
best ones there. Unfortunately Kristen's couch got to pay for it
later when Daphne's tummy couldn't handle the chips
Aidan kept on sneaking to her all day ;)

Kristen was awesome enough to make the 2 plus hour drive again back to the beach just so I could feel satisfied and Daphne could really experience it for the first time. We went one morning while the kiddos were at school. We dropped them off at 7:30, drove to the beach with a screaming Daphne and a car-sick Eli, hauled all our gear to the beach, played for less time than it took to drive there, hauled all our gear back to the car, and drove home all in time to pick the kids up from school. It was a whirlwind trip but priceless! Daph loved eating the sand, she shoveled it in and showed no interest in the sandwiches, cookies, and chips we brought for lunch. Apparently, the sand tasted much better.

 

Kristen and I also took one day and got a babysitter for Eli and Daphne while the kids were in school and went to Charleston to go on a walking tour. I will admit, if I could pick any other time period and type of person to live as, I would be a Southern Belle. Yes, it would be a major adjustment for my "low maintenance- daily pony tail" personality but there is something about the houses, magnolia trees, and the lifestyle in general that makes me a little giddy. That being said, I loved the tour! I wish I lived someplace I could plant a magnolia tree. I fell in love with them when we lived in Louisiana and still dream about having one in my yard to this day. 

Church Pews- Kristen and I both agreed our church building
should seriously consider having ones like these. It would sure make
containing Daphne to our row lots easier (because let's be honest,
our social bug finds a way to visit every row within a mile
around us multiple times each Sunday).



My kind of watch dog.... lol

Dan and Spencer's kind of fence when our girls are teenagers.

...and last but not least, my beloved Magnolia Trees!
They weren't quite in bloom yet but there is one
flower on this one if you look real close!

Thanks again Kristen and kids for such a memorable trip!