Independence Day

You're probably expecting this post to be about the 4th of July. We did have a great independence day. We went swimming and ate lots of good food with the Bakers. Then some of us took a hike up the hills to see fireworks. A certain little girl was exhausted after staying up until 8 PM, so I took her home and put her to bed.

Lavender has always been pretty independent, but here are some pictures to document her growing strides at becoming a "big girl."

I made little missionary name badges for the kids when I taught Primary a few weeks ago. Lavender was thrilled to have one for herself! When the sister missionaries came for dinner the next week, she was so excited. She sat next to them, got chocolate on them, talked incessantly and finally took charge of the lesson.  They showed us a video about fathers and then asked each of us questions about our fathers/fatherhood. Then Lavy jumped in and asked each of them to tell us about their fathers. I have a feeling she will be a great missionary some day!

Cousin Alyssa is an amazing dancer and is teaching a preschool ballet class at the studio. Lavender is so independent that she chooses her own moves or gets a drink of water instead of following her teacher. Hmm. Still working on that one!

We know she's happy when we hear her singing and playing with her
animals. Here she is taking them on a train ride. She's a good little mommy.

We went to the beach one evening and Lavender played in the sand while we played frisbee. It wasn't long until she took charge. She grabbed the frisbee, buried it in the sand and sat down on it. She was so proud of herself and we couldn't stop laughing.

She dresses herself every day and is perfecting the art of putting on her shoes.

Lavender accompanies Jenny and me on our morning walk. She loves taking selfies and I especially like this one that captured those of us actually getting some exercise. One day the stroller got a flat tire so we walked around the track at the park while waiting for John to come over. Lavy walked with us for about a mile. She moved those little legs to keep up with us!

Here's another app she loves. She captured her sassy side with this one.

We sure love our independent little big girl!

Wedding Extras.

In a previous post I mentioned the wedding we attended while Evan was receiving his awards at the fair. Our good friend Josh was married to the beautiful Rachel in the San Diego LDS temple. We have known him and his wonderful family for 19 years. It is always a joy to see a young couple starting their life together by being sealed for all eternity. It is also a great opportunity to reunite with friends you don't get to see very often!

I apologize for failing to get a photo of the bride, but here is a picture of the groom and his handsome groomsmen. Aaron has been friends with most of these guys since he was four years old.

Here are Michael, Meryl, John and Aaron. Four friends enjoying the wedding reception. These awesome young adults (and Josh the groom who was probably busy dancing, cutting cake, kissing the bride or something) were all homeschooling buddies and grew up together. Meryl was the first to get married early last year and she and her husband now live in our ward! John also recently returned from his LDS mission to Texas and he spoke at church on Sunday (which also happened to be Father's Day). What a weekend!

But it wasn't just the kids who had a reunion.  I loved getting to see some of my best friends. I didn't get any pictures at the wedding or reception, but here are a couple from the beach on Monday.

Jenny, Sheree, Angela and I homeschooled our kids together and worked to create a new commonwealth school where our teens met for weekly classes. These women are awesome mentors who helped me raise my kids. I love any excuse to get together with them!

I think you are officially middle aged when your social life revolves around weddings. How many years before funerals become the big events?!

Letters

Aaron installed new blinds in a couple of our bedrooms. I haven't really worked on teaching Lavender her letters yet, but I know she recognizes her favorite letter "L." So I showed her this box and asked, can you find the "L"?

She pointed to each letter in order and explained:
L - That's an L
E - That's an F
V - A "W"
O - "ahh"
L - An L
O - Another "ahh"
R - And RYAN!!

Pretty darn close!

A Prize Winning Trip to the Fair

So Evan took a textile screen printing class at the community college this semester. He made several cool shirts, some tote bags and even pillowcases. He entered a couple of them in the fair and he won! He also got an "A" in the class to boot!  

The award ceremony was scheduled for a Saturday morning in June. Evan received tickets for free admission to the fair, but John and I weren't able to go because we were attending a wedding. Evan decided to take his two favorite girls to the fair and they were probably more fun than mom and dad anyway.  

They all wore the awesome shirts that Evan made for our family. Don't they look great?

Here is another shirt that Evan made. He also made tote bags with this design for the girls in my Eternal Warriors class.  Evan is an Eternal Warriors graduate who loves the program.

 This shows the certificates and ribbons he received. He made the white shirt behind him.

He also made the black shirt above him. It is kind of hard to see, but it's a cool design.  He shined a bright light through a glass blown vase and photographed it. Then he edited the photo to create his design.

Wish we could have been there with him on his special day!

Lavender was excited to get to feed the cow . . .

 . . . and the goat!

She had a great time walking hand in hand with her big brother and sissy. They rode down a giant slide, ate corn dogs and fries and had a great time.

So much fun that she and Peter had to take a nap on the way home! A big thanks to Evan for a great trip to the fair!

When Three Year Olds FaceTime

Lots of silly faces, laughter and very little conversation--especially when Leighton pulls her favorite trick of clicking the mute button! These girls sure do miss each other. They always ask if we can come over tomorrow. When I say it's too far, Lavender has an easy solution. We'll just go to the airport and get on a plane. No problem! Life is pretty simple when you're three.

Why Wait?

In some places, school is already out and summer has begun! Around here, school is still in session and the weather has been cool and rainy. I took advantage of this "May gray" to try out a new chili recipe and make some of our favorite soups. Soup may not seem like summertime food, but I think summertime is the perfect time to break out the crock pot and avoid heating up the house. That means you don't have to wait until autumn to try out these delicious sweet potato recipes.

Sweet Potato Chili

1 pkg ground turkey
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14 oz cans tomato sauce
1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
2 large sweet potatoes peeled and diced
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt (add 1 more if you like, we are low salt, GF and dairy free here!)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp oregano

Brown meat and then add all ingredients to crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Enjoy!

Moroccan Curry Soup

3 cups chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato peeled and diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 Granny Smith apples, diced
7 oz can diced green chiles
1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 14 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 14 oz can coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours

Before serving add:
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 cups baby spinach

First Love

This afternoon Lavender gave her big brother Aaron a hug and then asked me, "When we grow up, can we get married like you and daddy?"

"You can get married when you grow up, but not to Aaron. You will marry some who isn't your brother. Someone tall and strong and good like Aaron."

"How about Evan?"

"No. Evan is tall and strong and good, but you can only marry someone who isn't your brother."

"I know! Ryan!"

"Ryan is your brother too. You can't marry him. You can marry someone who is little right now, but when you grow up, he will be big and strong and good. Doesn't that sound great?"

"No!" She gave me an exasperated look and snuggled up to Aaron.