More kitchen messes

The last couple weeks have been spent trying desperately to get the appropriate help in finishing our kitchen and failing miserably. As a result, my kitchen is torn apart, spewing its messes into the far reaches of the rest of my house, with very little progress being made.



We managed to get help to get the island painted on Saturday. I love the color and am extremely anxious to get the rest of it done. Joe is a pro with the spray gun!




In other news, Joe and I celebrated our 8th anniversary by a round of golf and dinner at a local restaurant. Joe tried to make himself look good by adding 10 strokes to my score, but I wasn’t having any of that.

Peggy made a comment about how Brooklin seems to fall asleep wherever she's laying just like Natalie. I thought it was funny that Natalie fell asleep in almost exactly the same spot as the picture of Brooklin I took.

AJ and Natalie Look-alike-Meter

Brooklin

July 4th

Joe and I are very grateful to live in this beautiful country and have the freedoms we enjoy and for those who freely serve our country and protect our way of life! We're also especially grateful for family and good friends to share our lives with.


We spent the morning recovering from AJ's party, and then hung out with our friends, the Gimmesons, for most of the rest of the day, with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson thrown in there. After another BBQ at Aaron and Melissa's house, we watched the city fireworks from the Stake Center lawn. The kids were pretty pooped by the time we went home last night.

AJ is 7!

We were still feeling guilty after promising AJ a pirate party (because we live on Pirate Lane) last year and not being able to pull it off (because we had just moved, and I was pregnant and tired). So this year, we got it done right.

Friday evening, AJ's and his cousins/friends got to make their own pirate flags, fish for pirate gear (swords, eyepatches, etc.), and run an obstacle course with water balloons. There was the necessary water wars, and even the adults didn't escape. After games, we ate dinner and cake and ice cream. AJ got some great presents this year. He's really excited about playing LEGO Indiana Jones for the Wii.




We're really grateful to have AJ in our family. He's an awesome kid, and we love him so much!

Brooklin can eat real food

Brooklin is experimenting with solid foods. Mostly, we just mash up whatever we're eating and give her a bit. I've heard someone say that it takes at least 3 tries for your palate to get used to and like or dislike foods, which makes feeding babies interesting. Here's Brooklin trying peaches. By the way, she ended up really liking them. She's also very fond of bananas, potatoes, and ice cream. However, the Reese's Piece that got dropped on the floor in front of her, which she promptly put in her mouth, was not a winner. She spit up chocolate and peanut butter all over her clothes.


This baby likes to be outside, especially in the grass.