Happy 2nd Birthday Alex

I can't believe my baby is two. Time just passes so quickly. I'm sad to see him getting further away from babyhood, yet it's so much fun to watch him grow and learn new things.

He had a great birthday and is enjoying his new toys.

In fact, he's enjoying his new toys so much, he has had absolutely no interest in eating any cake yet! (I've made up for his share, though!)

Wouldn't you just love to squeeze this little guy?

Best buds....I love you Alex!

I love summer. I live for summer. Summer has been avoiding me. Until lately. After the first 3 weeks of a rainy June, finally the sun came a calling. The other day, Alex wanted to play with the water. Reluctantly, knowing the unavoidable outcome, I let him. Sure enough, it was a matter of minutes before he was soaked, but seeing the pure joy of a child running through the sprinker, feeling the sun on his back, reminded me of the pure and simple joy that summer brings me.

Dear Summer, I know that in just a few short months you'll be leaving me again. So I promise to enjoy every minute of you, go for lots of walks, go hiking, swimming, camping, and eats lots of ice cream.

Your adoring fan, Lana

A Smashingly Successful Surprise Seventeenth Celebration

We threw Steph a surprise party for her 17th birthday. We had the perfect plan...she was supposed to work at Raging Waters till 6:00, then by the time she arrived home her friends would be there waiting for her and we would barbecue and hang out in the back yard. Mother Nature nixed all 3 of those plans with the lovely rain we've been getting. Raging Waters didn't open, thus Steph didn't have to work. We also had to come up with plan B for food. A kid who Steve used to coach works for Subway, and he got us a 3 foot sub and huge platter of cookies for FREE! At least all that coaching sends us a perk or two occasionally. Anyhow, after a few lame attempts at diverting and stalling Steph, we finally allowed her to come home where her friends were hiding in her room. The picture above is when they surprised her.

Here is the long, lost Jordan (remember him?) with his girlfriend Taleena. My apologies to Jordan for taking his picture with a mouth full of food.

Some of Steph's friends..............

Steph's friend Colton gave her this cake (I think his mom made it). It was so cute, and the lime green and fuschia fondant was perfect for Steph. The actual cake was delish also.

Alex became good friends with this boy Tyler. Tyler and 2 other boys played outside (it had stopped raining by now) with Alex for the longest time, I love to see teenage boys who are cute with little kids. Alex kept feeding Tyler chips, probably to repay him for all the candy Tyler had snuck him.

On Sunday, Steph's actual birthday (she's my Flag Day baby), we were able to get together with a bunch of cousins for more celebrating.

What a nice sister...she let Alex blow out her candles on both days, so we expect he'll be a pro just in time for his birthday in two weeks!

"Take Me Out to the...Well Maybe Some Other Time."

Last week the softball team had their banquet at a Salt Lake Bees game. It was great, we had our own pavilion where they fed us a great dinner, and we got to watch a great game, make that a great inning...no, actually make that a great "up at bat". That's right, we saw one guy at bat, then it began and continued to pour for the next hour. By the time they got the field ready to play again, it was 9:00 at night and I had to get Alex home to bed. Other than that, it was a really nice banquet and all the senior girls got to throw out the first pitch of the game. Now maybe if it will ever start acting like summer here in Salt Lake, perhaps we can actually see a ball game sometime soon!

Alex's First Buddy

As you know, Alex lives in a world of adults and teenagers. Sooo.... you can see that he was so thrilled to have a play date the other day with his friend Roman (who is only 8 days older)!

Alex had a blast playing with all of Roman's cool toys (including the dog, another thing we don't have at our house!)

" This is how they roll.... " An adorable picture now, but look out in another 14 years when they're teenage drivers!!

A Junior at the Senior Ball

Last weekend Steph went to the Sr. Ball with her friend Kevin. She's always wanted to wear a "princess" dress to a formal, but those kinds of dresses usually cost at least 250-300 dollars. We found a fantastic place in Sandy that rents gorgeous formals for a decent price. What a life saver. This very bright pink, which many girls wouldn't have been able to pull off, looked gorgeous on Steph's skin. (She can thank her dad for that!)

I can't believe another school year has passed. I went to Kearns High's graduation today and got a little teary during the procession of graduates, just anticipating that in a year from now Steph will be walking out in her cap and gown. I'm a sap, I know. I'm just not ready for her to be grown up yet! Maybe she'll have senioritis so bad next year and will be such a pain in the butt that I'll be shedding tears of joy at next year's graduation! Just kidding.