For Cortnie

... in lieu of her comment on the last post. (And yes, I know you have seen all these pictures, Cortnie, but they are our recent favorites. If I had the software, I'd photoshop Julia in place of a cherry tomato. Instead, these will have to suffice. Thanks again for the family pics, Matt!)

Success!

Every time I pick produce from our garden I am amazed that it grew in our own backyard. I must admit to a slight lack of faith when we planted the seeds. But now I am a believer! We can grow things. And so we will. Can't wait to plant beets next year. I love those, even though they taste a little bit like dirt.

Grass

Last weekend, Jonny, with the generous help of neighbor Shane and friend Chris, put the sod down on the previously unfinished 1/3 of our backyard. It is so nice to look out our sliding kitchen door and bedroom windows to see lovely green grass instead of a desert wasteland. When I suggested we "just lay sod in the back and leave the front flower patch project for the spring," I had no idea how much work this entailed! For Jonny, that is. He seemed to keep happily busy many August evenings in the back while I occupied myself otherwise. (Sometimes gardening or cleaning, but sometimes reading or blogging, I will admit!) After raking and moving piles of rocks, putting in sprinklers, buliding retention walls around the window wells, hauling and raking topsoil, and actually laying the sod, the project is completed. Thanks for all the hard work Jonny, Shane, and Chris. We love the grass.

Quick Lunchtime Post

So about a month or two ago Julia started saying, “Dada” all the time when she wanted me.  Well, Dada soon began to mean everything and everyone.  So, yeah I was a little bummed, naturally.  But this week Julia started saying “Mama,” and she only says it when she means Melody.  “Dada,” as well as “Ball” means everything else still, but I’m very happy about the “Mama” thing and here is why.

I love Melody and knew that she would be a great mom.  But I didn’t know what that meant.  I mean, it is hard work and even though Melody would say differently, she is doing a wonderful job.   Parenting isn’t all peaches and cream, but man, do I ever love my Ju-jus and I absolutely adore her mom!

just a little more Julia

I know, I mostly post about Julia. But hey, she is pretty much what is going on around here. And she is looking so much older these days. So I thought I'd share a few pictures of her grown-up looks.

dancing (and a few other things )

Julia has taken up dancing. She loves to push the button on her ball-popper toy, providing some obnoxious circus-like music, and jam out. Twirling and head shaking are very popular. Here is some footage caught after a fun race we ran last weekend. (I think the camera is shaking at the beginning because Jonny is dancing too!) When she's not stuck in her stroller, she has even more sweet moves.


Oh, and here is a rare picture of active Julia. This is how I found her one morning after our run. She's not sleeping, just resting in the middle of the kitchen.I might as well post a clip of Julia loving the ducks at the Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. She didn't care much for the other animals, but the ducks were fascinating. Maybe because "duck" is one of the few words she can say??


Okay, one more picture. This is Julia's new way to walk. (Our trips to the mall and other stores are even more limited now!)

Just Be Cousins

Over the summer we tried to get the three families of Utah cousins together once a week, along with their Grandma and Grandpa. (We REALLY missed our Maryland cousins - Jeff, Ethan, and Jane - each week. We love you three!) Mom had the idea to call this time "Just Be Cousins," based on a song she wrote that the older cousins in our family used to sing together. (And were you a touring group with that name as your title? I thought I heard something about you guys singing at Malls!? I need more info on that.) The kids loved our weekly events - especially Julia who adores her cousins. We had picnics, played tennis, hiked, went to the aquarium, played in the sprinklers, worked on Giant Journals, swam, had outdoor cinemas, had sleepovers, and more. Let's do it next year, okay cousins?

P.S. Jonny always liked to ask "Why?" when I told him of the week's outing, trying to trick me into answering "Just Be Cousins!"

Toward the end of the slide show you will see pictures of the Allyson and Julia Exclusive Just Be Cousins. I think this was Julia's favorite one - she dragged Ally around all day!