July

Annika got a new car seat, which is always an exciting thing at our house! We bought it used from Mary Ashton for $20:) It's actually the same one I was looking at buying new. It should last through a few kids before it's too far past expiration for my standards. :) 

Bense had to try it out too:)

One morning, during Benson's nap, we took silly pictures to text to daddy. We both thought it was pretty fun.

giving water to the thirsty boy. I'm always telling them not to do it because that pool isn't very clean. But, it's one of their favorite pool time activities.

Othello 4th of July Parade! I seriously love all of the little parades that Othello has. We are able to walk over to Main St and we always see people we know. Annika loved all the candy they threw out too! And I feel so much more emotional after having kids for some reason... I started crying when the Vietnam Veteran "Welcome Home" truck went by. I was very moved thinking about their service for our country and I'm proud to welcome them home. (apparently they didn't receive a warm welcome when they came home in the 70's)

We saw the Raab's at the parade. Ashlyn and Emily are such cute girls and we are going to miss them when they move in a month!

Heather and Nathan were in the parade with their kids for Sloan-Leavitt Insurance. They came over after for an hour. They don't come to our house very often since we usually just meet at Glenn and Kathy's. So, it was fun to have them in our home.

Brynlee was in there first and Benson just shoved his way in. Little stinker. He looks quite proud of himself.

We went to G and G Stocks on July 3 for dinner. Bambie, Candy, and Dillon were visiting with their families. And Blake and Julie came too. It was so fun to see them! I wish Candy and Natalie lived closer to me. I could be good friends with them.

Bambie, Grandpa, Grandma, and Blake

reading books with daddy- one of my favorite things to watch.

We had Beusy and Grandpa over on a Sunday night. Annika hadn't taken a nap that day. We didn't hear her for awhile. Around 7, we walked in the other room to find her sound asleep:) Nothing more precious than a sleeping child.

morning cuddles. Benson doesn't like her arms around him for too long. I was pleased to capture the moment. They truly adore each other. It melts my heart over and over again when I see things like this.

more silly faces for daddy :)

We went to a Beus extended family reunion at David's Uncle Don and Aunt Quella's house. They have a huge yard. There were a lot of people there. I probably knew about 30% of them. But I had fun anyways. Annika was very friendly and more independent than I have seen her in a public setting before. She just went up to these kids and got up on the swing with them. And she went on the in ground trampoline with a bunch of stranger kids too. I went up earlier in the afternoon with the kids to run a few errands. It was my first time shopping in Tri Cities with the kids by myself. It went well. Maybe I will do it again sometime:) 

This babe is so yummy!

I went on our Stake Trek this year! It was so fun! I was really worried about leaving my family behind. But, I was able to get about 80 hours towards my nursing license, and I knew the kids were in good hands. Kathy watched them during the day. David went over there every day for lunch. Kathy brought the kids to our house to take afternoon naps. Then, she went home at 4 when David came home. They went out there for dinner every night too. I was so grateful to Kathy and Glenn for doing this. 

Kelsey Roylance and I were the female half of the medical team. I really enjoyed getting to know her better. 

Ethan Washburn was the medical team leader. He is an interesting duck.

We tried to take a selfie every day:)

Matt Walker was also on the med team. This was our selfie in the awesome gator we drove around. Ethan took it for two days and Matt for one. They would go back and forth along the trail and pick up people who needed medical assistance. Kelsey, Matt, and I manned the medical stations that were set up along the trail and at Zion Camp (base camp). They started hiking around 1 PM on Tuesday. After standing in the sun, waiting to start for a few hours, 2 or 3 people need attention before they even started hiking. By the end of day one, we started IVs on 4 people and 1 person went to the hospital with extreme heat exhaustion. We were pretty worried about our stake and having enough IV supplies if this kept up. President Christensen had an email sent out to everyone in the stake, asking for prayers in behalf of all those participating in the Trek. With those prayers and some major changes in the hiking and camping location logistics, there was a huge turn for the better the next day. We didn't start any IVs for the remainder of the trek. We did lots of blister care and nose bleeds. I had a blast working with the med team and among members of the Stake. I missed my family but I would definitely do this again for the experience and the hours.

An awesome view from above the women's pull. They did the women's pull on Thursday. It was there last day of walking. Kelsey and I drove up to the top with the med team. But, as women, we wanted to help the women. So we walked down a ways down the hill and we each helped push up a handcart. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life to think about the pioneer women of our church doing this while their men were off helping fight in the Mexican American War. I was very touched to watch many of the young women park their carts at the top and then run down to help the other women push and pull their handcarts.  

Ethan and me watching for the trekkers to approach the women's pull.

We helped daddy wash the car! The kids loved it and it was one of my favorite summer time memories. It's so fun to do things as a family when everyone is happy. :)

Annika brought out her little broom to dip in the water and "wash" the van. She didn't like getting sprayed by the hose but Benson did.

This boy loves going down the roller coaster!

cute buns daddy!

both of the kids think Pam's Playground is the DisneyLand of Othello!

Potty trained girl! I put her in underwear about 20 minutes after I got home from the Trek. She has been ready for underwear for a month or more, but I didn't want Kathy to have to deal with accidents while I was on the trek.

She has had her eye on these giant suckers for many months. I kept telling her she could pick one out when she was potty trained. She picked this 25 cent one out at Leprekon and was a happy girl!

my beautiful babies at Lion's Park

Benson whines at the door the whole time while Daddy is mowing. He couldn't stand to see him so excited and sad at the same time every time he went by the glass door. So, he put him in the backpack carrier! Benson looked pretty stoic the whole time. But, I know he loved it!

pajama babies!

One of Annika's awesome outfits! And her shopping cart is packed to go.

Annika in her Mallorca dress from Papi! He saw this and said he just had to get it for her. I love it when she wears white. And she's getting good at pulling these funny faces for the camera!

One of Benson's favorite spots :)

Benson found another perfect sitting place in the empty toy basket.

Annika's bathrobe. She loves this thing!

doing a little penmanship practice at the bench. I'm pretty sure she has underwear on...

David had an AP training in Spokane. He had a room at the Davenport to himself so we drove up and stayed with him on the last night. It was really fun! The kids were so excited to see daddy! We picked him up at a HS where the training was held. The kids loved the hotel room. We took the shoe rack out of the spacious closet to make room for Benson's pack n play. Annika thought it made a perfect elevator. We had her pack n play in the bathroom area. With a sound machine on between them, they slept pretty well. I think they woke up around 5 and went back to sleep until 6:15. 

We went out to eat at The Onion. I'm pretty sure I ate more than David. Whoops. Benson threw a fit during most of our stay. He wouldn't eat anything and he was loud and unhappy. I was happy to be done and leave. But the food was good!

Annika was stoked to go swimming at the hotel! We didn't swim for long, but it was fun to give Annika the hotel pool experience. I think this was her first time swimming at a hotel.

Our view from like the sixth floor. Annika enjoyed sitting in the window sill and looking out.

The next morning, David left early for his training. I walked down to Riverfront Park to find the giant wagon slide! I will say I was a bit nervous more than once. There were some shady people walking around. I was very relieved to make it back to the van and pull out of the crazy parking garage. Other drivers do not take those corners very cautiously! We took a 10 minute drive to Stephanee and Corey's house. We met there 2 week old baby, Jonah. He was precious and it was neat to watch Stephanee be a mom. They are both so tender with that baby boy and very attentive :) I'm sure David and I were the same way with Annika. Both of the kids slept the whole way home. yay! I had the Primary songs playing in the car. About 45 minutes into the drive home, "If you're Happy and you Know it" came on. I was amused to hear some little clapping from Benson's car seat. I promptly changed the song and I didn't hear another thing from him until we pulled into our driveway. 

She found an "A" near the wagon. We also fed the ducks some tortillas we happened to have with us.