I made dinner tonight. I haven't done that in a long time. Woot! Do you do that? Do you go ages without actually preparing a meal for your family? Probably not. You're all Martha and Betty and whoever the perfect mother is rolled into one huh. I think so. Just admit it, you are. I'll try to be more like you.

P.S. I made sweet and sour chicken and it was SO good and SO worth it!

A Sunday Adventure

Today after church we wanted an adventure. So we packed a lunch, hopped in the car and drove.
We ended up at Strawberry Reservoir.

Spencer made this fire without any matches or a lighter.
He's such a good boy scout!

Perfection. (#2)

Free Sham Wow

Do you have one of these?
(The Sham not the guy.)
I do.
It's the greatest invention for anyone with kids or pets.
(I have both so it's used daily around these parts.)

Here's a link to a little freebie. ***http://www.avoniablue.com/offer5_entry.php*** You just fill out a small survey (seriously small) and give them your address and email. They don't want any credit card info or anything. They say they are sending you the free Sham Wow for filling out the survey but I'm thinking the way they can give it away is because they sell your information. Not a really big deal. A little more junk mail. One thing I do is I have two different free email addresses (gmail, and hotmail). I use one for regular emailing and the other just to sign up for stuff or order things online. Then I don't get any junk mail in the email account that I use daily. It works well for me. Anyway I thought I'd pass this on because

everyone NEEDS a Sham Wow,
and anything that is FREE is good!

Bear Lake

PERFECTION.

The Big One

My baby is

Can you believe it?!
We've gone from this

to this

in one short year.
We celebrated with cake

and Nara's favorite

FIREWORKS!

Can you tell?

Inara is such a bundle of joy! I can't believe how lucky we are to have her in our family! Her personality is through the roof. She smiles at everyone. Even strangers at the store will stop to say hi when she gives them a toothy grin. She can wave and she can clap. And she sings when we're driving in the car, and always dances if there is music on. It is so sweet to see her grow up and become her own person. I'm so proud of her and how good she is when putting up with Aliah. She's always just a sweetheart no matter if she's getting loved or shoved. Inara is such a blessing. I couldn't wish for a sweeter baby. She's perfect, and I love her more then I can even understand.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BIG BABY GIRL!

What I Love About Summer

You know what I love about summer? I love how everyone is out doing things and not home blogging about them. Don't get me wrong, I love reading blogs as much as the next girl, but there are always fewer posts through the summer. It makes me feel less guilty. Here's what we've been up to lately!

The 4th of July was so much fun. Of course we camped out for the parade like we always do, but this year was great because Lisa and Jon camped with us. It made it so much fun. They are the funnest couple! Plus we got a fantastic spot right at the start of the parade that was shaded the whole time. Awesome! Aliah killed time by practicing to be a model. (Which she is plenty gorgeous enough to do!)



And here are my little firecrackers at the parade.




We've been doing lots and lots of summer activities. We're always hiking or riding bikes or playing in the water. I'm so grateful to get to share most of these activities with my best friend Sarah. She's the best and always up for whatever, whether it's going to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point, going to the petting zoo at Gardner's Village, or splashing in the water at Bridal Veil Falls. Aliah and Micheal are best friends. (Aliah says so every time you ask.) I love to see these "2nd generation friends" become so close.

Waiting their turn on the pony ride at Farm Country.

Looking like buddies at Bridal Veil Falls. (This is before Aliah pushed Michael into the water.)

The biggest event this Spring/Summer was Aliah being potty trained. The first part was easy-peasy. It's the not having accidents when we're out that is still a struggle. But she is getting better and better. (She's got to be if she wants to start preschool in the fall.) I love seeing her tiny bum in panties. It's just so cute. Now all her pants fall down and one day she told me, "Mommy I need to wear two panties so my bum be big and my pants no fall down."

This picture is to show off Aliah's panties. She and her cousin Tavia wanted to wear all the leg warmers at once, so Aliah thought she needed her pants off so we could see them all.

Sometimes I feel like Aliah always gets center stage because she's at the age where she does so much and is learning so much. But this girl...

...deserves so much attention too. Inara is so grown up now! She crawls, she says Mama, Dada, Baba, and Nana (food). She has 5 teeth, and she eats everything! Inara is such a sweetheart. She loves to cuddle and most of all LOVES to play with her big sister, who she addores. (We aren't sure why because basically Aliah just beats up on her most of the time.) The funnest thing about Nara right now is that she gets really mad and just yells at you if you are eating in front of her. She will not let you go without sharing. Her smiles and laughs just melt your heart, and something that's fun about it is that Aliah never really laughed at this age and it's such a sweet sound that we were missing out on until Inara came to our family.

This next video is one that I've been trying to post for months now but couldn't get it working. We've started a family band. Here's your exclusive sneak peak!