For Mike...

This post is dedicated to my dear brother-in-law. I figure updating our blog is the least I can do for free medical advice. Here goes...

We've been having a busy and fun summer--hence the lack of blogging. I told my sister the other day, "I can either live my life, or I can blog about it, but I can't do both." I'm sure most people can relate.

We started the summer off with a bang by attending Matt's graduation. High school graduations are always a joy and bring back so many memories. My big 10 year reunion is coming up this year, so let's just say the nostalgia was in full bloom on this particular day. Enjoy the lovely pic of Matt with his two nieces (and Cathy).

"But you'd look sweet upon the seat of a tricycle built for THREE..."

I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JUNE!!! We had a difficult time deciding what to get my parents for Christmas this year. They've been wanting a sprinkling system for several years now and aren't getting any younger (haha), so my siblings and our spouses told them we would provide all of the labor for it if they would buy the parts. They took us up on the offer and after a few days of sweat and tears, their Christmas present was complete. (For the record, we all decided it would be much easier to just buy them sweaters next year.)

Grandpa Willy (Greg's dad) showed up to see his grandkids and got stuck helping. He was such a good sport and kept telling us, "This is fun. I love stuff like this." My mom said, "I feel bad that he got stuck working here, but I'm sure glad he is. I think he actually knows what he's doing out there."

Brian was too busy working to look at the camera.

Garrett enjoys any opportunity he can get for a "popso." Luckily, the Otter Pops were being passed around in abundance on this particular day, so Little G was a happy man.

My Uncle Ric also chose a really crappy day to come and visit on his way home from Casper's. Lucky for us, he stayed and worked for awhile and provided us with Cascos. What a guy!

Chels represented the womenfolk of the family when it came to doing manual labor. Em and I were busy chasing kids and providing nourishment for the fearless workers.

Self-portrait of Miss Brooklyn.

Garrett was too busy "helping" to have a nap that day. I finally made him come in and have a bath. He was out for the count before he even hit the chair.

Uncle Eric brought this darling little dress back for Abby Baby from New York. I love her little face in this pic.

Miss Abby is officially a mover and a shaker. She rolls all over the place these days and gets herself into some pretty interesting predicaments because of it. One of her favorite places to chill is under the coffee table.

Apparently Greg finally got through to Abby and has been successful in teaching her to rip off her headband and bow. She did this one all on her own.

My darling friend, Lisa, gave Abby this little outfit and I had to take a picture of her because it was just too cute! Oh how I love dressing this little gal!

I loved the way she had her little feet resting up on the bar while she played with the toys.

I didn't post anything on Father's Day, but I did at least get a picture of Greg with the kids. Not the greatest pic, but it will do. These two kiddos sure love their daddy!

Garrett loves his hat and now has to put it on himself, which means he occasionally looks like a gangster. Awesome.

Garrett has been sleeping in his big boy bed these days. He is currently obsessed with tractors, so we gave him a toy tractor for sleeping in his bed all by himself the first night. He loves it and it goes with us about everywhere we go.

The transition from crib to bed is going okay. He's getting more used to it all the time, but we still have our rough nights. It's taking him longer to go to sleep and sometimes he wakes up in the night, so he was pretty tired the first week or so and fell asleep in some pretty interesting places.

Garrett decided to help Abby put her headband on one day. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but it was pretty funny.

We enjoyed attending a lovely fireworks display at the park by Greg's parents' house. I thought Garrett would love the fireworks and Abby wouldn't be such a fan, but it was a complete reversal. It wasn't so much that Garrett didn't like the fireworks, but he happened to notice the playground and slide at the park and wasn't very happy with just sitting on a blanket with a new park to explore.

Abby, on the other hand, was content to sit on Grandma's lap and enjoy the show!

Greg and I enjoyed being able to sit back and watch the show while everybody else took care of our kids. (Such a flattering angle, I know.)

Abby enjoyed her first Oreo cookie with a little help from her father. Garrett was only 3 months old when Greg let him eat a Twix bar, so I'm feeling pretty good that Abby made it all the way to 5 months before Greg introduced her to one of the finer things in life.

We enjoyed a delightful Fourth of July weekend at my family's cabin in Bear Lake. Garrett and Abby were dressed for the occasion and just oozed patriotism!

Not such a fan of the hat, but isn't she just precious?

This picture doesn't really do it justice, but my friend Karen gave Abby the cutest little swimsuit. She didn't actually make it into the water this day, but at least she looked good!

The kids loved playing in the water!

The G-Man doing some wading in the kiddie pool.

Emmy and Brookie.

Garrett loved the waterslide at the pool. My cute cousins were so sweet to help him with it.

And that will do it for now! More summer fun to come...