Nine!

Whitney turned 9 years old on Sunday! She has been looking forward to her birthday for month's! She created a gift list a few weeks ago to give me some ideas on what she might like to receive from Chris and I. They included things like new bedding, music, clothes, gift cards, etc. Our favorite item on her list....a roll of tape. Yep, Scotch tape. She loves to create things and is always asking Chris for tape from his office. Guess she finally realized this was a way to get some without having to spend her own money like Chris suggested. :) (She received multiple rolls and is Thrilled!!)

We had cake and ice cream on Sunday evening and opened gifts from family members. Big "THANKS" to Nana & Papa, Grandma Great, The Jefferies, Grandma & Pops, and The Campbell's for the wonderful and generous gifts! Whitney enjoyed her birthday and appreciated all the phone calls and birthday wishes! Whitney's favorite birthday surprise...a sleepover in her new Roxy bed with her cousin Abbie!

Happy 9th Birthday Whitney!! We love you!!

(click on photo to enlarge)

Whitney was privileged to go with Shaylee and Kristen to have pictures taken for her birthday. They treated her like a princess and she loved the attention! Thank you girls for making her day special and capturing Whitney's personality at this age. We love you!!

Things I love about Whitney...
A loving and tender heart
Helpful
Organized
Talented
Smart
Beautiful inside and out!

Things Whitney loves...
Arts and Crafts
Dance
Her Siblings and Family
Shopping (Justice is her fav)
Otter Pops, Popsicles, etc
Swimming and outdoor activities
Golf with her dad
Chicken Pillows
Zucchini
Playing with friends
Her ipod and music
Collecting things...like zhu zhu pets

Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing! The weather has been down right HOT this week and it's only the last day of June! YIKES! We've been finding ways to keep cool...and busy, but still keep some sort of nap schedule for the little kids. I LOVE the days when I can get them napping at the same time (yet Lindsie rarely cooperates with me on a nap at all!) and I am NOT ready for her to grow out of "rest time." Even if she just plays quietly in her room for an hour, I'm happy! :)

We are extremely grateful for a community pool so close to home on these warm summer days. Whitney is a fish when it comes to the pool, and Lindsie is becoming less fearful every time we go. Colin will usually watch for a short time and then is ready to crawl around and get wet. Needless to say, I DO NOT get to relax much at the pool! It's much more work than I originally thought it would be, so we don't get there as often as Whitney would like. :)

-Lindsie in her new Ariel swimsuit and goggles. The goggles were a prize from her "potty jar"...she only wore them at home for this picture BEFORE we even made it to the pool.

The kids have enjoyed going to play at a few of the different parks we have close by. Colin is becoming much more active and no longer content to just watch from the sidelines in his stroller. It pains me to watch him crawl on the sidewalk or in the bark, scraping his knees and SHOES, but hey...he's happy! (He prefers the sidewalk to the grass too! Crazy kid!!)

I'm looking forward to MORE summer fun activities including

Fireworks

Boating

BBQ's

Family reunions

Yummy summer treats

and MORE!!

Time

Wow! Where has the time gone? I can't believe that my last post was Colin turning 9 months and now his birthday is in 2 weeks! Well, needless to say we have been BUSY!

Mid May we traveled to Southern Utah to Zion's Park for the annual Dermatology Conference. We had a great time hiking in the canyon with some friends and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Before heading home, we stayed a night in St George and had the opportunity to go see Chris' grandparents in their new home. The girls LOVED seeing grandma's miniatures in the basement and Chris was honoured to bring home some of grandpa's homemade grape juice.

Memorial Day Weekend we visited the Hogle Zoo! We had a great day with our Fry family cousins and look forward to more zoo days with our annual pass!

Whitney finished school the first week in June. She completed 3rd grade with straight A's and we couldn't be more proud of her accomplishments! Whitney also finished her first year as a member of the EDP dance company in June. The "EDP Mini's" had a very successful competition season with 9 of 10 dances receiving First Place trophies. Whitney has become a much improved dancer this year and we enjoyed watching her team perform their Jazz, Lyrical, and now Hip Hop routines at the year end recital. Whitney looks forward to trying out for next year's dance team in August.

Lindsie and Colin continue to grow like weeds! Lindsie soaks in everything she hears...and then repeats it! We love to hear some of the things that come out of her mouth! She has a very funny personality and loves to make us laugh. Her favorite thing right now is to dress up and dance for us. She copies what she's seen in dance competitions and counts "5, 6, 7, 8, 1 " before she walks "on stage" and then again after she's danced and is exiting. It's so funny! She loves for us to clap and cheer and then will do it over and over. This is a short clip of some of her dancing. Her best moves have yet to be caught on tape. :)

Colin has changed so much in the last 3 months! He pulls himself up on the gates and furniture and can walk on his tip toes with help. He loves to push strollers, toys, boxes, etc and practice his walking. He's into every kitchen drawer, the plants, dog food and even the dishwasher. He would love to play all day on the stairs...He can crawl up, but has no concept of how to make it down safely. He babbles "ma ma" and other cute sounds and we love to hear him say "uh oh" when he drops things.

Colin: 9 months

I can't believe my baby boy is 9 months old! He is growing up so fast and reaching many new milestones. He now has four teeth, is "army" crawling EVERYWHERE, loves to stand up with help, and is such a happy and care free little kid (as long as he's not tired or hungry). Now if I could just get him to sleep through the night!!  :D
Here are his stats from his Dr visit today...

Height: 28".....40%
Weight: 19.8 lbs.....32%
Head size.....43%

The best part of our doctor visit...NO SHOTS! Yeah! All caught up on his immunizations! Lindsie was thrilled (she hates that part), but LOVES to have Colin's sucker when we're done. :)