First Day of School

One of these days I am going to get on top of things in my life...until then I will have to try and do a little catching up.

Jonathan started Kindergarten this year. Here he is outside of his classroom with little Emily. You can tell by the size difference that Emily will have to wait quite awhile until she goes to Kindergarten.
He is in Mrs. Clark's class and seems to be enjoying himself. He goes in the afternoon, which is a change for our family.
All dressed and ready to go. He was very anxious to start school because he had to wait a week and a half after the other kids to start.
Here are my big kids all ready for school. Laurel is in 5th grade this year. Evan is in 2nd grade and Lindsay is in 4th grade.
I was comparing the pictures of the kids from last year with this year. They have grown up a lot in the last 12 months. They are great kids and I am so grateful for each of them.

Higbee Family Reunion Pictures Part I

Grandpa and Grandmommy were so generous in helping to provide a great reunion for all of us. We love them and wish we could see them more often.
Jonathan and Isaac enjoyed playing together during the reunion. They are very handsome boys.
This is where most of the kids sat for meal times. It was totally amazing how much food it took to feed all of us.
Jonathan and Evan slept in the "boy room" of the large house we all stayed in for the reunion. The room had bunk beds and a rock climbing wall.
This is up at Alta ski resort close to where we went hiking. It was hard to believe that it was the end of June while looking at this much snow.
All of the Higbee cousins except for Emily who was eating at the time. This was just before we started the hike up the trail.
Lindsay, Emily, and I got a little bit of a late start but caught up with the group in time for lunch. It was amazing how much snow was on the ground. There were a lot of little and big streams of water on the trail where the melting snow was running off the mountain.
Evan and Jonathan pose for a picture. They were a little grouchy about eating sandwiches for lunch. Jonathan his holding one of his "stuffies" named Tinsel in his hands. He always has a little stuffed animal friend with him wherever he goes. I am not sure how that is going to work when he starts Kindergarten in a few weeks.
I carried Emily for a little while but then it was Daddy's turn. Emily loves to be outside. She points at everything and makes the same "unh" sound to know what it is or to try and touch.
What a good-looking couple, right? We might not be as young as we used to be but we are definitely getting wiser and more grateful for the little things.
The girls did a little bit of "skiing" when we stopped for lunch. We couldn't hike any higher because there was too much snow. They even got mom to ski down once. Evan also "skied" down several times.
Here's a picture of Laurel giving it a try. She also was nice enough to give several of the smaller cousins a ride down the snow hill.
Baby Emily enjoyed trying to drink water out of a bottle. She was actually pretty successful.
Uncle Joseph gave Evan a lift after he fell down while hiking down the mountain. He scraped up his knees and got a couple of bruises. In this picture he is giving his brave face for the camera.
This is Lindsay and Grandmommy at the baby blessing for cousin Daniel. Don't they both look beautiful. I love this picture of both of these lovely ladies.

Fourth of July

This year for the Fourth of July we did some fun things. In the morning Michael and the kids along with Joey and Angela and their kids tried to see some hot air balloons, but the weather did not cooperate. We watched some of the parade and enjoyed a BBQ and fireworks at night. Auntie got off of work early and came over for fireworks and strawberry shortcake.

Auntie Lindsay helps Emily enjoy a sparkler. She was mesmerized by the sparkling lights.
Evan loved doing sparklers with his siblings and cousins before it started raining.
In the afternoon the kids played in the backyard with their cousin Isaac. It was very hot and humid, especially for Utah. The rain held out until that night during the fireworks.
The kids were trying to rig up an invention on the playground.
Emily was working on standing up in the grass while holding onto the red bouncy ball behind her. My guess is that she will be walking within the next 2 weeks.

Laurel's Swim Meet

This summer Laurel joined the city swim team. She has gotten up early to practice all summer long. Michael took some video of her meet last Saturday. I think that the first video is of her butterfly race and the second is her last relay.

First Solids

We absolutely love her cheeks. They are so much fun to kiss!
Her hands tend to get in the way more than anything. She probably would like to grab the bowl or my hand but that makes a big mess.
The shirt she is wearing has an angel on the front. It is one of my favorite outfits.
I love this picture. She is a happy baby most of the time and we really enjoy her.
Emily is already 18 pounds and we decided that 5 months old would be a good time to try out solids. The pictures above are of her first feeding of rice cereal. She did really well. If you notice her hand is next to her ear. She has been struggling with ear infections since before Christmas.

Valentine's Day

These are the flowers Michael had delivered to me for Valentines Day while he was gone on a camping trip for work. They came through UPS in a box and were all closed up. It took about 24 hours for them to open up but then they lasted for 2 whole weeks. They were gorgeous.
These pictures are of Emily in her new dress from Grams and Grampa. She loves to have her feet in the air, in her hands, and sometimes even her mouth.
She has a great smile and loves to be around people.
This is a good wide-eye shot of her. These were taken the day before Valentine's Day so she was almost 5 months old.

Evan and Laurel's Birthdays

It is pretty hard to believe that Laurel is 10 already. She chose to have a bunny cake again this year. We had Grams, Grampa, Auntie Lindsay, and Uncle Ryan celebrating with us so I actually made two bunny cakes.
Emily loves to chew on her fingers. She is growing so much and loves to interact with her siblings whenever she gets a chance.
The kids have had so much fun playing the Just Dance for Kids Wii game. I tried it out with the kids one Saturday. It is a workout and always a good chance for a laugh.
Evan chose a chocolate cake with caramel and chocolate chips in it with chocolate frosting. He has a great appreciation for what is good when it comes to dessert and chocolate. It must have started with the Oreo his Uncle Jason gave him when he was less than a year old.
Evan turned 7 and has a great love of Legos. He discovered Bioncles on a birthday date with Grandmommy and now has quite a few. He loves to build the Lego sets and Bioncles whenever he gets a chance.