Fruit & Stream

On Sunday we went to the park with D'Ohgee first thing in the morning. We tried to go before it was too hot but the ground was super hot, the slides weren't bad though. We all had fun on them, even D'Ohgee. She went down the slide all by herslef. It was a little scary she was really clumsy.

It was pretty hot. Gk had been playing in the spinklers and was soaking wet when we left but he dried up fast and we were wishing the park had a sprinkler there too. So we sat in the shade and took some pics.

The plums on a tree at my parents' are ripe. Gk & I climbed up the tree to pick some. Patrick even climbed up too! Then we went out back & picked some raspberries. While we were there we decided to go to Smith & Moorehouse because they have raspberry bushes everywhere and it is a little cooler up in the mountains.

We had fun walking around and exploring but there wasn't a single ripe raspberry, I think we will need to go in about a month. Gk had so much fun watching the fish swim around and throwing rocks in the river. We went by the lake and he got really muddy so we stayed by the river.

When we were done we went to Adam & Lyndsey's for a bbq. My camera battery was dead but we had a lot of fun. We played volleyball and ate a lot! It was really fun. Darin and C'aira even came and it was fun to hang out with them too.

...And they walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked...

For Pioneer day we went to Brandon & Jenn's for a way fun party. They are such great hosts. The food was really good too. Gk loved playing with little kids his age, especially Avery, she is such a doll. I was really fun to hang out with Jenn & Brandon's families, they are so much fun and such amazing people.

The sprinklers turned on right after Jenn ran home. I was getting food, and the first thing I thought of was to take some pictures. Brandon thought I was crazy, but I knew that Jenn would want some. Then I ran to stop the sprinklers ,after the food table had gotten soaked (but I took a picture!). Patrick ran to turn them off. It was so funny, we were all laughing so hard. Gk & Avery started running through the sprinklers, they were delighted!

Everyone went swimming, I had to go feed Bentley, when I went to the pool Gk was freezing but did not want out. We went to watch some sweet fireworks and eat some homemade gelato. Gk Loves Brandon's dad and sister Lindsay.

We had so much fun! Thanks Jenn & Brandon, I hope this is a tradition!

Guess Who's 2?!

On July 23rd GK turned the big 2 years old!! I can't believe how fast he's grown up. He is so much fun! He is really talking a lot lately. He is so much fun to watch playing "sports" he can drop kick a ball better than me and for sure shoot the hoops better than I can. He loves his little sister, it's amazing that adapting was so easy for him. Gk is so curious and a typical 2 year old. He hates shopping but does really well ( I often bribe him.. said I never would!). He gives the BEST kisses! He still takes naps, usually 3 hours! He is a super good eater most of the time, sometimes he is too busy playing. I just LOVE this little man!

On his birthday we took him to The Original Pancake house. Of course Jenn & Brandon came, it wouldn't be the same without them. Gk got the smiley face pancakes.

He had a lot of fun there. He loved riding his bike around.

We stopped at the store then went home for a nap. He says "Happy day" for Happy birthday. When we put him down it totally broke my heart, he was in bed crying saying,"happy day, happy day" while he was jumping around. But he really needed a nap!

We had a party at the park by Lyndsey's house. It is a really fun park, and no one is ever there. We of course, had lots of candy. Gk was just happy to play with all his cousins.

The poor kid was throwing ice and bumped his elbow against the hot charcoal grill. I'm sure he has 3rd degree burns on his elbow, but the grill was really clean and it looks really good. There is an imprint of a phillips head screw . I am so glad it wasn't very deep and not on his hands or feet. He forgot about it being on his elbow.

We had a pinata, I think this was the first time he understood (kinda) what was going on. He didn't want anyone else to use his bat, he got really mad! But when the candy came out it was the cutest thing ever! He got SO excited, jumped off my lap and ran for it shouting "CANNY" (he so takes after me!) He got way too many presents and we had so much fun.

And on the same day Bentley turned 1 month old! She is changing so much. She holds up her head really well and is so patient with us. We are so lucky to have these 2 kids and we are very very grateful!

walks & swims

I love to go for walks. Gk hates sitting in a stroller, so I try to get him to walk. It took us 30 minutes last week to walk down 3 houses and back...

Juli had a race last week so her kids were just up the street with their Grandma & Grandpa. They invited us to come over and go swimming. GK and I were very excited! Gk misses Kaycee & Jackson. They are such fun swimmers GK just watched for about a half hour. They really had a blast! Kathy is amazing with babies. Bentley just slept the whole time.

Last weekend Patrick went out of town, I've been wanting to see how GK would do in a movie and Jenn & Brandon were going to see one so we thought we'd tag along. The movie was all sold out so we played at some games then got some chocolate & ice cream. On the way home I picked up some popcorn and The Fox and the Hound... It's a good thing we didn't go to a movie!

On Sunday I woke up Patrick really early (after he got home really late) and it was a hot day we decided to go up the canyon for a picnic. We drove to Snowbird and they have a fun playground but it was still really hot so we cooled off with some ice cream!

That night we met Jenn, Brandon, & Yogi for Yogi's birthday party at the dog park. Jenn had cupcakes for the dogs, I missed it. D'Ohgee swallowed it without chewing. I wish we went to the dog park more, it is such a fun place. GK loved it, he really wanted to throw rocks the whole time. Bentley loved just being held!

Growing

I just can't believe how fast these kids are growing. They really need to slow down.

This was GK when he was just over a month old. Sometimes I think Bentley looks nothing like he did, then I think they look identical.

This was me when I was a little older than GK. My Dad came across this picture while we were moving things around. If Gk had brown eyes we might be twins.

7 peaks!

On July 15th Dyllan turned 8! I promised him a long time ago I would go to 7 peaks with him on his birthday, well I didn't think I'd have a newborn and that I wouldn't be able to go swimming. But I made a promise (and I really wanted to go)! I had my sister Wendi and her son Braden meet us there to help with GK, it worked out perfect.

Bentley looked so cute all ready to go swimming!

We got there just in time for some yummy lunch.

We really had a lot of fun!

S'mores!!

I really miss having our fire pit. I didn't realize how much we used it. Patrick bought these monstrous marshmallows and I really wanted s'mores. So Jenn & I planned on taking the dogs up the canyon, making tin-foil dinners and roasting marshmallows. Well we didn't get the dogs up there but everything else worked out perfectly! It was so fun, I wish we could do this every night. I would be huge though, I couldn't stop eating s'mores!

Patrick was on coal duty, we really wanted a fire but Patrick insisted that coals would be better because we didn't have enough time for the whole fire experience. He was right but it just doesn't feel right.

The dinners were delicious!

The s'mores were really good, but the marshmallows were actually too big and I usually eat 2 marshmallows per s'more. We had some strawberry marshmallows too but they're not as good as the original.

GK had so much fun! Patrick & Brandon kept going into the "forest" to get more sticks and he would love to follow and play with them. They both would take him to the river and throw rocks in (why is that SO fascinating??). Jenn would take him for little walks over the bridge, he loves bridges! It was so much fun. I can't wait until we go again.. I got some coconut covered marshmallows to try out but they might be gone.

Soccer & Play time

We went to Brandon & Jenn's house to watch the World Cup Game between the Netherlands and Spain. It was a lot of fun. Jenn & Brandon made us fajitas (Spain) and scones (Netherlands)... We brought some wings (for Patrick). It was fun. Gk Loves playing over there. He was a little tired from the reunion so he wasn't on his A game. Brandon got GK a hockey set that is SO cute. Gk's temper came out and he threw it so we put it away until next time...

On Monday we met Patrick @ work because we had a meeting, after we had a little picnic at the Riverton City park. It was really fun. I am so excited for when our house gets built and we can have lunch together more often!

GK has really been a great big brother. He loves to give Bentley hugs & kisses. He really likes her feet too.

Bentley has grown SO much. She is starting to fill out and get a double chin and her little legs are starting to chunk too. She has been so much fun. There is nothing like holding a newborn baby. I wish I could just hold her more often, but it's so fun to play with Gk too.

Fam Reunion

The Astle family reunion was last weekend.. We had debated whether or not we should go with a 2 1/2 week old. It was at Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville. I love it there. The water is kinda gross but the water slide is a blast! I can't go swimming for a few more weeks but Patrick and Gk needed some play time so we decided to go for it.

It was SO much fun, I'm so glad we went. Bentley was an angel and Gk had a blast playing with all his cousins. The food was amazing and it was really nice to hang out with family. A lot of people we only see once a year at the reunion so it was really good to catch up.

Gk was obsessed with Kaya, Sid's dog. He kept playing with her, it was a good babysitter!

There were a lot of games and the kids all had a ton of fun toys.

I think everyone got a chance to hold Bentley. I was kind of a nazi about people using hand sanitizer. When we pulled into the campground there was a lot of dust in the air from all the cars and I got really nervous about having her there but she was such an angel. I can't wait until we can go camping!

Getting to Know You

We have been having a lot of fun getting to know Bentley! She has been really patient and sweet with us. Gk has adjusted just fine, it's really been pretty natural for him. A couple of times she has annoyed him or he has wanted our attention but for the most part he just wants to play.

We tried to play in the sprinklers about a week ago... D'Ohgee was the only one really into it, Gk just wanted to play basketball! We'll try again though I'm sure.

The school by my parents house has a perfect playground in the kindergarten area. It is only 2 blocks away and I don't have to worry about Gk on anything. Bentley loves going for rides in her stroller, Gk is a good pusher.

5th in Lewiston

I think we invited ourselves up to Lewiston this year! It is SO much fun and it's tradition (although I do want to try out Lander one year too!). We woke up the kids and packed them in the car, we hoped GK would fall back asleep because he'd been out so late all weekend, but not a chance. We got there JUST in time.

The parade was awesome, not too long but TONS of candy! All the girls on the floats were beautiful, Anthony hooked up GK with a shirt that would fit the poor kid.

(I had made GK & Bentley matching shirts w/o trying them on. Gk's said it was a 2T/3T, well he was sporting his bare midriff! Lesson learned!)

We went to the carnival and waited 45 minutes (I'm sure I'm exaggerating) for a pony ride.

GK Loved it!

Then we went to the red, white, & blue party. It was a blast & there was so much good food. GK had a blast in all the blow up toys & balls. Bentley slept the whole time!

Jenn & Patrick tried to teeter totter, but she's no match for Patrick so Brandon hopped on to help and we all heard some cracking of the wood and Patrick was off that thing before you could say "Liberty"!

We all headed back to Anthony & CeCille's for a much needed nap. Even Yogi took a nap.

Then on our way out of town we stopped at the farm to give Trevor his birthday present and check out the cows. Gk was so funny. Brandon took him into the pregnant cow place and GK was "casting the demons out". The were totally shy of a little 2 year old boy! We walked over and saw som

e more cows and some horses too.

But I think GK's favorite part of the farm was when Garrick brought out the tractor. I wasn't sure how he would do. He loves to look at them but he gets kinda scared. Brandon went with him and said he loved it. GK cried and ran after it when Garrick was putting it away.

Thanks Hall family for putting up with us again! We just love your family!