July 4th

The Fourth of July is a fun holiday at Pepperdine. It starts in the morning with a kids parade, in which Evelyn rode her bicycle, and Marianne pushed the stroller (in the same dress Evelyn pushed the same stroller and same doll in 2 years ago in the parade). After the parade, there are popsicles. Evelyn even got to spray the fire hose!










Before the parade, Evelyn helped me make an apple pie for the potluck that evening, we used Nana's pie crust recipe!

Evelyn went to her first vacation Bible school this summer. This picture is from the moon bounce at the party on the last day...


Marianne liked the bounce house too!


Evelyn loved singing the VBS songs with hand motions...She tries to teach Marianne and Emma cat the motions at home, and sings them all of the time!

June Update

This Saturday we had a free weekend and took the girls to Underwood farms. Evelyn's favorite part was probably the moon bounce....


and Marianne definitely enjoyed it too.


Although both girls enjoyed the tractors (for climbing and for rides), all of the animals, the animal show, and the fresh produce too.

Evelyn loved the pony ride - Marianne was not up for trying it this time. Her pony's name was Marshmallow.


This slide was very fast. She loved it.





Brian gave Marianne a whole cupcake, and this is what happened.



Evelyn's last day of preschool and her last day to be a sea star. They had an ice cream social and she had her face painted. She has loved preschool!






A few weeks ago we made an unexpected trip to Oklahoma City. Brian's Grandma Fisher passed away. She was a very special lady, and we were so thankful to be with her and Brian's family during her last few days. It was a very special trip. Evelyn and Marianne love being with their Nana, Papa, Meme, Papa and Aunt Becky and Cousin Ty.

Marianne is 16 Months Old (For a few weeks)

Marianne reached the 16 month mark on June 5. She is talking a lot...she learns lots of new words everyday. She tries to say Evelyn (a mixture of an onion sound and ellaa) and she can say Marianne. It is pretty cute. She can count to 10 (she misses the number 8 but chimes back in with 9 and 10). She also chimes in on the ABC song. She now has 5.5 teeth! Her back right bottom molar came in at 16 months, and the front bottom right on the side is on its way in too. She is sleeping about 12-12.5 hours a night and takes 1.5-2 hours of nap (1 or 2) each day. She has now fallen into a swimming pool 3 times, twice into the kiddy pool and once in the big pool. We are always right there beside her - she likes to walk around and she just topples into the pool. She likes to swing and can climb the ladder to slide by herself. She likes to put things in and out, again and again and again. If Evelyn is crying or upset, Marianne will look up and say "Happy? Sad?" and make her cute faces.
The weekend she turned 16 months, we took a Saturday morning hike to the ruins at Solstice Canyon. We had a great time. The wagon crossed the creek twice and it was a little bumpy at times, but it worked out.

Evelyn was very proud to have climbed this rock by herself.

Brian and Marianne by the waterfalls. She loved looking at the falls, but did not understand why she could not climb on the rocks by herself (remember how she seems to just fall in the pool? We were cautious here).

Here is a picture of Brian and Evelyn at the same spot when Evelyn was 14.5 months old...Good memories.


I know I am behind on posts, more to come!

New York City

Brian and I spent 3 full days in New York City to celebrate our 10th anniversary (1 year late - we will hit #11 this summer!). My parents took care of our sweet girls, and I think they had a good time together.

The last night in NY, we took a dinner boat cruise around Manhattan. The skyline and lights were beautiful. They had live music featuring the big band style I like so well, so we were able to enjoy some ballroom dancing too.

A view of the Empire State Building in black and white...


Our picture with The Statue of Liberty in the background. It was tricky to get good photos of the statue at night on a moving boat. It was lovely to see, though.






The Brooklyn Bridge in the background

Where the WTC would have been

Thursday morning we walked around the financial district and Battery Park, where you can view the Statue of Liberty from land. Brian also found a Ukrainian district - where we ate lunch. It was the best borscht I have ever eaten...

We visited the WTC site and memorial preview. This sign was in the church nearby.

After we saw a Broadway show (Wicked) on Wednesday night, we happened to watch the end of the Thunder game in Times Square (they lost, unfortunately).

The Empire State Building

Our first night there, on Tuesday night, we found a live big band for some swing dancing! The live 10 piece band was so good, and we had a great time!

Times Square

At the Gershwin Theater

Wednesday morning we walked and walked and walked through Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We saw many lovely works of art there, but I was touched by this sampler in one of the American Wing period rooms.


We had a great time, and we appreciate our parents, who made it possible!