August 2011

This summer has been super fun and obviously wore us out a little bit.

(See the flashlight? haha)

We had some fun trips to the zoo to see the dinosaur exibit.

Lovin our cousins...

Look at these cuties...

Oh Aunt Jacqueline you're so silly...

And Etta started school!!! I can't believe it!!! We decided to put her in preschool this year and after much research and consideration I decided Kids Village was the place for us...and we LOVE it!

She was so excited for her first day of school! (And a little nervous)

She's loving her teachers and new friends. She goes to music, art, cooking, and science. Then she has a general class everyday where she learns reading and other preschool basics.

Rob went to Argentina with the Youth National Team. It was such a cool experience. He spent a little over a month during the summer training the team before they went to Argentina for the World Championships at the end of August. They placed very well for the USA team and he had an awesome time...

As you can see in this picture. The man loves him some volleyball. Or maybe rather competition at a high level and working hard to accomplish something.

Then Rob started the school year along with the EMBA program and here we go again!

His name is Liam and Liam is his name.

I have a little boy and his name is Liam.

He is the sweetest snuggler...

he loves putting things away...

he loves eating, anything...

and he's all boy.

Every last drooling, snotty, caked on food, dirty, no pants wearing, ball loving inch of him.

And we are absolutely nuts about him!!!!

How on earth could you not be?

Rain...check!

We had some really fun storms this summer that were great for splishing and splashing!

This one in particular was crazy!! In a matter of seconds it went from drizzly to torrential downpour. Our side walks, grass, and streets were flooding almost immediately.

So of course Etta wanted to suit up and have some fun.

Liam some how got the shaft and made it out there with no gear.

It was super warm though, so don't feel too bad for him.

Pretty quickly Etta thought it would be more fun sans her boots...

But they were a little tough to get off!

I told Etta to put her arm around Liam for a cute picture and this is what ensued...

I always try to explain to her that when she's gritting her teeth she's crossed the line.

Am I a bad mom for not putting down the camera at this point?

Help me...!

Poor boy...always getting beat up by girls. Well we dried off a little and got better equipped and spent the rest of the morning enjoying our freakish weather.

Some July Happenings

This fall we enrolled Etta in preschool at Kids Village (first day of school picks coming soon). As part of their summer programs they do various summer "camps." We sent her to one titled the Enchanted Kingdom!

So we got her all fancied up and she loved it...as is not evident by this picture.

Or this one...

This is more like it, holding her goblet (with pinkies up of course) shouting skumps!

While she was at camp me and this little boy hung out...

Oh, come on...

Love you my sweet darlings!

Strawberry Days

Man, we did so much fun stuff this Summer it's taking me forever to catch up!

These pics are from Pleasant Groves Strawberry days back in June. The kids, Julia, and I had so much fun scarfing strawberries and cream, riding rides, shopping, and getting our faces painted!

I'm not sure what in Etta's thought process made her think she'd like this ride but when she asked I was all about it. Needless to say as soon as it got going she regretted her decision which was much more true to form. Poor little bug was terrified the whole time, I only wish you could see her face better. In her defense this was probably the worst first roller coaster experience, it was the jerkiest thing I've ever been on.

Etta was so excited to get her face painted...

She sat sooo still and never opened her eyes, she did awesome!

And this lady did the best job I've ever seen!

She couldn't stop looking at herself and shyly smiling.

Sooo cute!

Trying to get a pic of all of us looking these days is impossible!

My sister and I got two buckets (like 40 balls!) and of course the 3 yr old with 5 balls is the one who gets a fish!

She was so excited she hardly knew what to do...

Unfortunately "Fishy" (as she so creatively named him) passed away just this morning.

As far as I'm concerned he had a full life being loved here at the Neilson home for over two months...not bad for a tiny fair gold fish.

Etta was sad but not overly upset. For a while she tried to convince Rob and I (via skype) that she "had an idea how to make him move again!" It did not work.

Farewell our Fishy friend...I will miss cleaning your nasty bowl every three days.