Hail Storm

This has been such a crazy weather year. It rained until June, last week one of our big trees was blown over in a wind storm and this morning, hail. We woke up at about 6:00 with a crazy sound on our house, it took us a minute to realize it was hail along with huge thunder and lightening. If I wasn't so worried about our house, it would have been neat to watch.

We went out and saw these huge hail stones. It looked like snow in August. The storm woke up Bella who was pretty nervous about the thunder, but Junie just slept right through.
Can you believe this? Unfortunately, it destroyed what was left of our garden. At least everything else was safe.

New Parks!

A new park was just put in down the street from us. It is a great little park, built by the community. Unfortunately, Bret and I weren't able to help, but we sure are enjoying having a park so close.

It is a perfect one for June, lots of slides!

Bella loves that there are always so many kids around to play with! I am sure we will be spending many hours enjoying!

The Rainbow

With summer quickly coming to a close, we decided to brave the threatening skies and try to get a little hike in.

We started up the Catherine Pass trail. There were already puddles in the parking lot.
June insisted on walking!

We made it a bit and then the drops started. So back down we went. We wanted to try and swim for a minute, but the weather did not cooperate.

We did get to see a great rainbow back at Grandma's house.

The girls put on a little rainbow dance for us too. Hopefully, fall doesn't come too early this year and we can make it up the canyon a few more times!

Emmaville

After visiting the temple quarry and seeing the historical marker there, we decided it might be fun to try and find more of them around. It seems like a good way to learn a little history as we go.

We found this monument for Emmaville up on Wasatch Boulevard as we were heading up the canyon.
Hard to believe this was once a separate town of 500 people instead of the suburbs that it is now!
Keep watching, we will add more markers as we find them!

Kindergarten

My baby is starting kindergarten! She is so excited!

I just can't believe she is already this big.

Junie wanted in on the action, but is sad to see Bella go. (She cries for her when I drop her off, I need you Bella Baker!)

In front of her school. She was so excited to get there the first morning, not even a bit sad! Just ready to go!

She quickly found some friends from the neighborhood at the playground while she was waiting to go in.

She found her bear and put it in the important person chart on the wall.

She found the drinking fountain!

She was very excited to get to sit at her table and get to work.

With her teacher, Mrs. Venning. She loves school so I am very excited for her. Thank goodness it is only half the day, because I sure misses having her around! She came home the first day and her favorite part was recess and her teacher. She can't wait to go back!

Fashion Show

After taking pictures of the babe, I thought it would be fun for the girls to show off some of their back to school clothes with a fashion show.

Junie started us off in her favorite Minnie outfit with her Minnie back pack.
Holly knows how to strike a pose!

Bella sporting the latest in chihuahua sparkle!

Lily in an outfit she choose herself, tres chic!

Bella in her next number, brown and purple are the colors for kindergarten this year. I wish you could see the cute brown and purple shoes that go perfectly!

June refused to change her outfit, but her she is modeling another pair of shoes! A girl can never have enough!

Bella told me this outfit made her feel like a little girl in Paris, oh la la! Notice the Twinkle Toes! She adores them!

Lily putting on the sparkle and shine!

June modeling yet another pair of shoes.

The grand finale, look at these cuties!

Baby Rocco

Janine had Bret come up and take a few pictures of Baby R. These are just a few of my favorites.
Little Old Man Face, I love it!

Checkout all that dark hair!

Strong little guy!

Look at those big beautiful eyes! We love the Rocster, as Bella calls him!

The Snack Stand

Bella has been begging to have a lemonade stand all summer, so when my parents decided to have a garage sale, we asked if we could set her up. She had a great time selling lemonade, popcorn and rice krispie treats. She even made about $20! We went directly from the sale to the mall for some Twinkle Toes!

The Zoo

It was the last Friday before school, so we wanted to get out and do something fun. The girls decided on the zoo. As soon as we got there, we knew this would be the shortest zoo visit ever. It was hot and very crowded!

We parked up top, and started with the tiger. June is still too afraid to get near the statue so Bella posed. We made it through the reptile house where Junie loved watching a bunny. Bella loved the owls.

Next on to the carousel. June was very upset about only one ride.

We tried the elephants, but the girls were done, so off home we went.

Minnie Mouse

Junie loves her new Minnie Mouse shirt. She insisted on wearing it today. She also insisted on wearing the hat.

Notice the shoes, these were also her idea! She understands the need for a complete outfit!

The Scarf

You may have noticed in more than a few pictures that Bella is always wearing this scarf. This was mine when I was about her age. I wore it with a one piece light blue denim jumpsuit. (Yes, it buttoned up the front and had elastic at the waist. Heather had a matching one, but her scarf was blue.) I wish I could find a picture of me in it. I recently took everything that I had left in my parents basement to my house and this was in one of the boxes. My mom made sure that Bella received it and she has worn it almost every day since.

Junie's Party

We celebrate Junie's Birthday with a swim party. There was lots of splashing and fun. She loved having her Baker cousins around to play with!

Swimming with Daddy is always her favorite.
She did not like the lit candles on the cake. She hid her head the whole time until her cousins helped her by blowing them out.

Aunt Natalie enjoying an ice cream treat!

Junie liked having a little ice cream too. Actually, I think she just liked the sprinkles on the side.

Bella helped her figure out how to eat the giant cupcake- start with the frosting. These two were being quite silly together!

She had the frosting gone before you knew it! It was especially good when you dipped the balloons in and licked it off!

Present time was great with lots of helpers! She loved her new fancy nightgown and wanted to put it on immediately!

She also loved her new Minnie shirt and fairy wings from Aunt Natalie. Once everything had settled down, it was the perfect time to read a book with Mucker.

These girls sure helped to make her birthday fun. Thanks everyone for coming! Happy Birthday to our Junie Bug. We sure love you!