Beach

Found a hidden piece of heaven the other day. Ten minutes from our house. Wow.

 Utah just got some major bonus points in my book. Wow.

Dentist Visit

I know, a dentist visit probably shouldn't get a whole blog post in the journal of our lives. But kids are so darn cute when they're at the dentist (when they're not crying and screaming, that is). I just had to post these pics.

Porter wasn't so sure about the chair until they showed him the video games on the ceiling. He sat there like that, smiling, for 2-3 minutes before any of us adults looked up and realized the game hadn't been started yet!

Lucy stayed stiff-straight through the whole cleaning and even when the hygienist put the chair back in the upright position. It was so funny!

My Little Swimmer

We put Porter in swimming lessons this year. I loved the opportunities it gave him to face his fears and make himself do hard things and feel successful.

First, he was so scared to actually go. We signed him up a month before the lessons started, so he had a month to tell me how scared he was and how he didn't want to do it. When the lessons started, he was so nervous and he held my hand so tight as we walked to the pool. But after his first lesson, he was in love with it and didn't want to leave.

One of the things he had to master was putting his head under water. On the first day, when his teacher asked him to do it, Porter got scared and said he couldn't and started walking toward me at the side of the pool, ready to give up. But with a lot of encouragement from me and his teacher, he finally made himself try and he stuck the tip of his nose in the water.

The next day, he tipped his head the other way and got his ears wet. The next day, he stuck his whole face in the water. And finally, the day after that, he bobbed his head all the way under the water. He did it again and again and again. He was so proud of himself!

 I'm so incredibly proud of this boy!

Long Lost Photos

My memory card filled up the other day while I was snapping photos, so I desperately started searching through my camera bag until I found another card hidden in one of the pockets. When I popped it into my camera, I discovered a whole bunch of hidden gems from over a year ago.

I'm always so overwhelmed with how cute she is right now, that I often forget how cute she WAS.

I love those two little teeth.

She is the cutest.

Cascade Springs

We took a little day trip today up into the mountains. The drive was beautiful. Our walk around the springs were heavenly (minus a little bee sting incident where I may or may not have overreacted a little bit . . . I have a very low pain tolerance!).

My mom and sister joined me and the kids on our excursion. For some reason, Brian doesn't like me taking the kids into the mountains and other remote places to hike on our own. Crazy, right?! ;)

I'm so lucky to have such great family around who like to do these things with me and my crazy kids.

I love little trips like this. It's so nice to get away from all the stores and houses and cars and people every now and then. And I love every chance I get to put my kids in nature. I so wish they had more chances to play in woods with sticks and mud and wildflowers. That's what childhood should be, in my opinion.