Summer Fun

The summer is going so fast.  We love the summer!  Here are some highlights:

On Memorial Day weekend, we took a day trip to Silver Lake, up Big Cottonwood Canyon.  It was beautiful.  We were surprised that there was still snow.  We went on a trail as far as we could go and not get stuck in the snow. David tried to go in the snow but we soon learned a stroller doesn't go very well. It was a fun outing.

 

 

 

This is probably one of our all time favorite pictures of Clarissa. 

In the first part of June my family always runs in the Art City Day's 5K run.  It is always so much fun.  I think this is our 18th year running the race.  It is such a fun family tradition.  We look forward to it every year. 

 

 

 

The end of June was our 12th Anniversary.  We celebrated by going camping at Crystal Hot Springs.  It was so much fun.  It was our first camping trip with Clarissa.  She did so good.  Swimming in the hot springs was such a blast.  The hot springs were heavenly. We didn't want to come home. 

 

The Joys of Motherhood

Motherhood is a journey to be enjoyed and I am trying to learn this lesson every day.  Some days I have to laugh or I would cry.  Here are a few of those moments:

Clarissa is taking every book off the bookshelf for the tenth time of the day.  She seems to relish in making a mess.  Her expression shows her glee as she tosses the books out!  No amount of persuasion can deter her from her task at hand. 

 

Clarissa broke the cupboard safety lock for kids on our pantry door.  (Go figure!) So now it was free game to pull everything out.  She proceeded to empty the cupboard, spilling out about 10 pounds of sugar, mixed with other spices and grains.  I didn't say anything but left to go get a camera.  When I came around the corner, I think she thought I was going to be mad as expressed by the expression on her face.  Her face is priceless. I think she knew she did wrong as she had the broom out trying to sweep it up. 

I was doing laundry and I normally put the clean clothes on the bed to fold them.  Well Clarissa likes to climb on the bed and take all of the clothes and shove them behind the bed post.  It ended up that 90% of the clothes were behind the bed instead of on the bed.  She just laughed as I fished them out. 

 

Clarissa loves to climb on things.  She likes to get on the desk and run from side to side as fast as she can.  It about gives me a heart attack as I know it is just an accident waiting to happen.  I try to not let her get on the desk but she pushes the chair from another room to the desk and climbs on it. 

Motherhood isn't all crazy as these moments.  There are tender sweet moments that melt my heart.  I love seeing her interact with her cousins. 

 

 

She has also started to say a few words.  One of the few words she says is "Pa Pa" meaning Grandpa.  She really loves my dad.  This is a tender moment when we were going for a walk and she only wanted to hold Grandpa and Daddy's hand. 

She loves the park and the swing. 

This is the one and only time she has let me do her hair.  Normally she won't let me put anything in her hair and if by some miracle I get a bow in, she immediately pulls it out.  She looked so cute.  I wish she would let me do it more often.

 

Spring has sprung!

I am SO excited that spring is FINALLY here!  I just love when the spring flowers start to come out!  It has been a long, wet, cold winter.

Although I am so excited for spring, I am a little sad to see our cute little Clarissa put away her snowsuit.  It just makes me smile every time she puts it on. 

 

 Clarissa has become quite the little "purse girl".  She loves my purses and she will fill them with her stuff and carry them around all day.  I like purses too, but did she really get this from me??

 It has become quite a pastime for Clarissa to jump on our bed.  She begs to get up on the bed and then she jumps and jumps.  It is so cute.  How do you stop something that is so cute?  I guess I will have to learn this whole discipline thing.  But for right now I am enjoying the fun moments. 

Valentines is always special, especially sharing it with my two favorite people--David and Clarissa.  David gave me these beautiful flowers. 

 Say "Cheese!"

Christmas and New Year

Christmas and New Years came and went so fast it almost seems like a dream now.  We just love Christmas!

This Christmas was a little different for us.  David's parents are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Las Vegas, Nevada.  We were able to visit them for Christmas.   David's sister Michelle and her family also were able to go to Las Vegas as well.  It was a very memorable Christmas.  We loved every minute of it. We did not want to come home. 

 

Here we are with David's parents, and his sister and their family, all dressed up for church.   

I am so excited to have a little girl to dress up.  For years I have made things for the "Members of the Uncle David Club" and have loved it, but it was really special for me this year to be able to make something for my little girl.  This is the Christmas dress I made Clarissa.  She seemed to like it. 

 

 In the afternoon,we visited "The Strip"  and saw a few of the attractions there.

 

Clarissa was a good sport in her stroller as it was fairly cold.  I was a little surprised at how cold it was.  I was hoping it would have been a little warmer as I don't like the cold, but at least it was warmer than at home in Utah. 

In the evening we acted out the Christmas Nativity with the kids.  David's mom has made these adorable sheep outfits for the kids.  The kids were so adorable in them that I just couldn't get enough of them.  It was a very precious moment that we won't soon forget.  It really brought in the Christmas Spirit to act out the Nativity.

 

 

 

  

 

And then we had to say goodbye....ahhhh!  We were so sad to leave but we had such a wonderful time.  On the way  home we stopped at the mission office where David's parents serve and got a tour of the place.  It was really neat to see where they serve and what they do.  We are proud of them but we can't wait to have them home again as we miss them a lot.

 

We arrived home safely only to discover a "white Christmas" at home.  It had snowed a lot while we were gone.  It was really pretty to come home to a beautiful snow covered house and yard as when we lef,t it was brown and not so pretty.  David was so excited about the snow he took Clarissa out in it to play. They both had fun.

 

The holidays were great except shortly after Christmas all three of us got the flu.  It was miserable.  On New Years Eve all three of us were on the couch with high fevers moaning.  We were a sight for soar eyes.  We didn't know who could take care of who.  Thank goodness we are feeling better now.

 

Catching up

This is what you get when Daddy dresses Clarissa--

A little Mermaid. 

Clarissa decided she liked her hat.  She wanted to wear it all day long.  If I took it off she would get upset.  So here she is with her hat, coat and little duckie pajamas on. 

David and Clarissa enjoying the first snowfall of the season.  I think David was having more fun being a kid in the snow than Clarissa. 

Halloween this year was so much fun.  Clarissa dressed up as Piglet from Winnie the Pooh.  She seemed to really like being the center of attention.

 

David's parents were able to come home from their mission in Las Vegas for  the birth of a grandson( David's sister Lisa's baby)and it happened to be Thanksgiving weekend.  It worked out perfectly. They were able to be here for both events.   It was so good to see them again.  We really miss them.