Kisses on the Porch

Sisters

Look at that awesome milk belly.

I'm a much better wife when I'm not pregnant.

Trent was drawing a picture of his testimony and he drew this. "Trent, Hadley, Shelby, Logan, Nixon and Ainsley on rocks under a rainbow" (like his favorite primary song, I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain.) So special.

Sometimes I like these random pictures. They show an actual real life moment. Baby on the table to join us for dinner.

I took this picture to show my sister that I bought the same shirt as her and my brother that I was wearing the bracelet he gave me for Christmas.

We can't get enough of this girl.

Now look at all these pics!

I love this. She's pointing like she is telling us to remember something very important.

Hadley was reading stories to her dolly at gymnastics.

I LOVE being cheek to cheek with our baby.

Just a little moment at the house on an afternoon.

Hadley starts the day in a dress every single day. She wanted to go with mom on my morning "log" so I had to dress her up warm.

We had a great time on our jog. Hadley kept asking, "Is this the log mom?" (log meaning jog)

Trent did his hair all by himself! Agh! Too much independence!

Look at that belly! Almost can't find her face!

Oh my heck. I adore you.

I can't stop taking pictures of her.

These moments make me laugh. We do this to our children? We put headbands on them and then they're stuck like this when we turn our heads and until we find them again. Poor babies, all in the name of beauty.

Agh!!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!

This is a picture of our office wall, used for our most recent art. Trent will spend two hours at a time coloring and cutting out from his coloring books. He is really gifted at art and loves to cut. And I love it too.

It was such a happy reunion. The only thing that was missing was our daddy, Timothy, being at work. So he wasn't there when Papa and Nana first saw us at our first home in Boise, and especially when they first met our new daughter Ainsley. That was so sad. But what a happy moment it was. The kids first sat on the other couch, but before a minute was up had to join Nana and Papa on the little couch cause they wanted to be closer. They sat with them, cuddling, and many moments not even saying a word, for fifteen minutes or more. It was evident they felt so relieved and at peace that they were finally with their Nana and Papa. Now they could just sit on the couch and be happy.

Ainsley Bret met Papa Bret. Two special spirits. No words need to be said for this picture.

Of course Papa and Nana came bearing gifts, and Hadley was yet to get her birthday present. One of them was a "princess" for her to wear. She tried it on and showed it off for me. Posing naturally like this.

Oh boy. I've met my match.

The first night we were treated to a special dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for Hadley and Ainsley's birthdays. Good choice of restaurant (my choice, hehe)!

The waiter was amazing and made it SO special for us. He brought about ten waiters to sing to Hadley, and even catered to Trent's need to feel special too. When Hadley told the waiter it was her birthday, Trent said it was his birthday too…in January. So when it was time to bring out the cheesecakes, look what our awesome waiter did for us:

"Happy (Late) Birthday Trent!"

"Happy Birthday Hadley!" Now that's a great waiter.

The boys had to have some "man cave" time and hit the nicest course in town: Branbury.

I would say that swing looks very nice. And since no one is here to correct me, I'll say why, yes, I'm an expert!

Lookin' good honey!

Couldn't be happier…well, couldn't be happier doing anything else for their guy time.

Cuddle time!

Papa did Art for Trent on the tramp!

And played Cars on the Wii with Trent! Good move Papa Bret.

Trent had to teach Papa what to do.

Ainsley is meeting Nana with her eyes. I love those moments.

Nana was the best and let me sleep in and take naps. She also made my dreams come true and cleaned my house spic and span. Oh it was a gift that kept on giving!

What word starts with "L" and has "E" "M" "O" and "A"… We had a Lemonade stand!

Ainsley was a good, good girl.

Hadley lost interest after holding up signs for a few cars. Oh how my heart sang when a car would stop and buy a treat from my little kids. I will never pass up a lemonade stand again.

At home, we counted our money.

Since we didn't have to pay any expenses, on scholarship from Nana Jo, we made 100% profit! Not bad for our first business venture, eh?!

The Fourth of July we spent with Nana and Papa too. Martha Stewart Jo made us this beautiful fruit flag, and Papa made "Holy" Pancakes (Whole Wheat pancakes, but once I thought they called them Holy Pancakes so I'm gonna stick with that, cause they are probably the holiest and healthiest AND TASTIEST pancakes out there.

I can never get dressed on the Fourth of July without putting on all the red, white, and blue we have. The Fourth of July is my second favorite holiday!

We went and saw Brave, a story about the independent and free-spirited red-head. Fitting.

Then went to watch fireworks. Timothy and I purchased these nerf rockets as our "fireworks". They are sweet! They really do fly almost 100 feet in the air and are so fun to shoot and to catch! One time the rocket got caught in the tree and magical Papa was able to hit it down with a water bottle. The kids were talking about that for weeks and telling me that if the rocket got caught in a tree again that Papa would still be able to save the day. He was in Utah at that point, but they still believed magical Papa could make it happen. Papas are always magical.

Probably my favorite thing about the Fourth of July, sitting on lawn chairs and chilling. Truly. Probably my favorite thing.

Her red, white, and blue dress!

When Timothy and I were falling in love, we spent the Fourth of July together. One of our favorite pictures we took of when we were dating we just had to recreate this year. This year: 2012. Seven years later. And here below, the original picture. Oh snap. Look at how good looking he is! (When we were dating, I had to convince him to buy this red shirt. He basically wants no red in his wardrobe, or our family wardrobe, for life. Fun to think back on now.)

With the picture recreation, we had to throw in our offspring. Look what our love has bloomed into! Two little spirits who have joined our family, and another newborn on the side. Pretty amazing.

Nothing cooler than glow sticks. When I was a kid, oh if I could have only been so lucky as to have a glowstick!

And oh how grateful I am for the promise of a Grandpa. After Bret and Joyce had packed up the car and were about to head home, Trent reminded Papa that he had promised him he'd teach him how to play his favorite game when growing up, "Army guys". The memories they made in those few five minutes will last forever. I am so glad Grandpa kept his promise, dropped everything, and said, "Go get the army guys."