Goodbye Paci

This week we said goodbye to Dillon's pacifier!

Anyone who knows Dillon knows that this is a big deal - Dilly loves his paci!

"Paci Yes" was a phrase we heard alot around our house.

I am so proud of Dilly - he has done SO well without his paci - he has only really asked for it a few times. (We expected it to be worse because it was way worse when we got rid of Ava's paci!)

It is easy to distract him with bubble gum when he really wants his paci (we decided bubble gum is kind of like baby Nicorette gum).

Way to go Dilly!

Painting

Before I finish my summer vacation posts, I wanted to post a few quick pictures of our painting yesterday!

I had to go the the craft store to buy some fabric for some new throw pillows for my sad couches and Ava & Dillon each picked out something to paint. This is how it went..

Dillon surprised me at how thorough & patient he was. He insisted on using a tiny paint brush & he was pretty good at painting almost his entire train. He kept stopping to say 'Ta Daaa'!

Ava painted this rainbow - I need to frame it because it makes me so happy everytime I see it hanging on my fridge!

Dilly's painting

Summer Vacation (Part Two)

These are just a few pictures of some of the highlights of our time in Raymond with my Dad, LuAnne & Claire...

We were in Raymond over July 1st - Canada Day. Raymond is a really fun place to be on Canada Day - they have a great parade, softball tournaments, a street carnival, fireworks etc. I remember doing all these things as a kid, so it was really fun to be able to be there with my kids.

From the parade... (I think Brian will tease me until we die about when I told Ava to look at the 'cute little quarter horses', which are actually Shetland ponies...)
Brian, Ava & Dillon / LuAnne & Claire watching the parade
Dillon running while we waited for the parade to startAva (in red t-shirt) waiting for candy to be thrown at the parade & then going for it! She figured out that if she clapped & cheered for the floats going by that they were more likely to throw candy her way - so she really cheered!Claire, LuAnne, my Dad, Me, Ava & Dilly in our Canada red after the parade. (Brian took the picture for us since he was in blue).
After the parade we went to a Wolsey family reunion picnic. It was so fun to see my Grandma Wolsey and Aunts, Uncles & Cousins that I haven't seen in so long! At the picnic, there was a huge hill that the kids couldn't resist rolling down.There was also a big waterslide that started at the top of the hill & went all the way to the bottom. I wasn't sure Ava would go for it because it was really big & the water was so cold, but she loved it! She kept running up the huge hill & sliding down until we made her stop because her lips were blue & she was shivering! This is what Dillon did while Ava was sliding...
Brian, Ava & Dillon at the picnic
Me & Bri Bri at the picnic
One of the kids favorite things to do while we were in Raymond was to help LuAnne in the kitchen! She so patiently let them help at almost every single meal. They got a big kick out of the aprons that they got to wear that were just their size.

We were so happy to be able to go to Claire's High School Graduation. We have been to a few grads this year, this one was a class of just about 50 students which I thought was pretty cool.

We were so lucky to be able to spend time with both of my Grandma's (this is my Grandma Wolsey, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of my Grandma Blumell this trip). Ava asked me how she was so lucky to have so many Grandmas! She really is lucky!

I drove around the town of Magrath a little bit one day after visiting my Grandmas & it was a total trip down memory lane for me! I have so many good memories of playing at the fish pond, the old tennis court, & my Grandma & Grandpa's house with my brother & sisters & cousins. Anytime that we drove anywhere, I was so amazed by the beauty that surrounded us! The endless prairies & farms of green & gold, and the huge blue sky full of the biggest white clouds. You could see the mountains in the distance. It is such a different beauty from the desert we live in. This is a picture (from the car) of a golden canola field, (which was Brian's favorite).
The last highlight for me from our time in Canada was our trip to Waterton National Park. Of course I took so many pictures that I will do a separate post from Waterton!

Summer Vacation (Part One)

We just returned from our summer vacation. We spent a couple of weeks in Raymond, Alberta, Canada, and another week in Utah. We had the best time visiting family, and we were so glad to beat the Arizona heat. We came home to 110+ degree weather!

I have lots of pictures from our trip, but I will break them up a little.

These first pictures are from Writing on Stone Provincial Park near Raymond. LuAnne took me, Ava & Dillon. I was sad that Brian couldn't go with us - he would have loved it!

It is such a cool place! As you are driving to the park, you are driving through beautiful prairies and farms, and then all of a sudden you come across this valley of rock formations & sandstone 'hoodoos' near the Milk River. It is called Writing on Stone because there are many pictographs & petroglyphs on the rocks from the Blackfoot Indians. (We didn't actually take the time to go see any of the petroglyphs... we just hiked through the rocks).
After we hiked & climbed, we walked down to the river where there is an actual sandy beach! Really, really soft clean sand. Dillon & Ava were in heaven - they played in the sand for hours - they would have stayed all day! The river is really shallow, so we had fun walking almost across it.
My sister Tash said she remembers going there as a kid, but I didn't remember it. We loved it though!

Ava & Dillon at our picnic before our hike...

These are the hoodoos that we hiked through & climbed on...

Dilly was such a trooper! He hiked & climbed everything - all on his own!

Dilly & LuAnne / Ava on top of a hoodoo...


Me, Dillon & Ava at the beach...

Ava in the sand...

Dillon on the beach...

Ava's sand castle...

Dilly's sand castle - he decided it was actually a birthday cake & he is blowing out the candle!

Chase

It was my nephew Chase's 12th birthday on July 15.
I love Chase! He is such a crack-up! He has always made me laugh!
He has always been so full of energy and kind of dramatic! He has been known to say, 'this is the best or worst day ever'!
One of my favorite family memories ever has got to be playing bingo at Tasha's cabin with Chase as the bingo caller - no one before or since has called bingo like Chase!
Chase is all boy, playing video games or sports, but he is so sweet & tender hearted.
He has recently acted in a few school plays - he might have found his calling in acting!
He is always so sweet to Dillon & Ava. A few months will have passed since we have seen Chase, but it takes about 5 seconds before Chase has them laughing like crazy and having so much fun with him!

We love you Chase! Happy Birthday!

Livi

I am so late on all my birthday posts lately, but hopefully late really is better than never....

July 2nd was our niece Olivia's birthday.

Livi is truly one-of-a-kind!
For starters - she has the most unbelievable hair with the best natural curl ever! Livi is funny, she always has been! I remember laughing at the silly things she would do as a tiny little girl. She has always had boundless energy.
She has a beautiful singing voice, she is always singing. She sings in choirs & in plays. She is an awesome soccer player too.
Livi has conviction. She knows what she likes & what she believes & she sticks to it. I have heard many stories where she has expressed & defended her opinions & beliefs - something that isn't always very easy for a teenager to do.
Livi is so sweet with my kids - she is so patient with them! We were at her house during her birthday party and she let my kids, especially Ava, hang out with her & all her friends the whole time! (That made Ava feel really cool). She is always willing to watch the kids so that Brian & I can go out with her Mom & Dad when we go to Oro Valley to visit them.

We love you Livi!

Claire's Graduation

Belated Congratulations to Claire who graduated from Raymond High School at the end of June! We were so glad that we were able to be there!