11:00 at the Griffiths

 

Out for three hours, dreaming big.

 

He calls the orange pillow a carrot; he's been down for two hours.

She made everyone a little card before she turned off her light and drifted off about 9:30.

 

And this one?  He's still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  He's got miles to go before he sleeps.  Every.Single.Night.

The Cat Story

Here's a fun little story from my childhood.  It's probably Floyd's favorite and today is his birthday so instead of a tribute to him, here's something to make him laugh (when he reads it in a month or so).  

 

When I was about 3-years-old, my parents brought home two baby kittens.  My sister and I promptly gave them the names Kelli and Katie, which probably not coincidentally, were our own names.  That's what happens when you let 3- and 4-year-olds choose the names. We loved those cats!  

    I'm on the right.  And I really love my knee socks.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that the names became a problem.   My mom took us to watch my dad's baseball game.  As we pulled out of the driveway, she hit a cat.  The cat was injured, but alive, so she quickly drove to the baseball field a few blocks away.   

When we got to the game, she hurried to the fence and called to my dad who was the first baseman.  He was likely unimpressed that she was interrupting the game, but his emotions changed when she said, "I just ran over Kelli."  In a panic, he said, "Is she okay?"  (note - my dad is not really known for being calm in emergency situations while my mom, the nurse, is totally professional).  My mom replied, "Oh, I don't know, she's home on the driveway kind of flopping around.  I think I broke her leg."   

My dad was terrified and stricken and as he tried to process this information, my mom continued with, "Do you think I should just back over her again?"  It was this startling statement that made him  realize it was Kelli the cat, not Kelli his daughter who was injured.   

We learned our lesson and named our next cat Goblin.  

Cookie Comparison

What Halloween Sugar Cookies look like on Pinterest:

What Halloween sugar cookies look like at our house:

 

 Almost a match, right? 

I hope our cookies don't hurt anyone's feelings.

And yes, I'll save you one.  But it won't have any candy corns cause a charming little 3-year-old sneaked them all off this morning.  Sorry.

Snowbasin

It was Astronomy Night at Snowbasin last weekend, so we took a little gondola ride to the top of the mountain for a little hiking and viewing.  Photography conditions were far from ideal, but it was still a picture-perfect nigh.  The moon was just-past full, the kids were well-behaved, and there was a nice hint of fall in the air.  

 Annie was a little scared of the Gondola - Ben wanted to ride it all night long.

I love it at the top of the lift.  The peeks are so close and the sky is right out of your reach.  It really feels like you are in God's temple.  Mountains are incredible.  

We hiked down the trail, had some dessert, and peeked at the sky through the telescope.  But I'm afraid my children's favorite part might be the fancy bathrooms.  Go figure.

Yellowstone {and Island Park}

Labor Day weekend found us in Island Park again.  We all arrived late one night and the first thing on the agenda the next morning?

A dip in the hot tub with Gramps.

The kids were frequent hot tub patrons, but no one broke the "no hot tubbing without a grown-up"rule, so that was good news.

Also on the agenda for day 1:

Learning to crochet.  This was an Annie-only activity, but she took right to it.  Yesterday, she even took the time to teach me how to make a chain.  She is quite a crafter.  I hope she always remembers Grandma Donna taking the time to teach her how.  They sat out on the deck for a couple of hours together.  It was sweet.

 

 

The afternoon found us making our way to Mack's Inn for a little river fun.  We skipped the long float this year and just played around on the paddle boats.  

 

 It looks like Grandma Rose taught Cole how to wave in pictures!

We finished off the evening roasting S'mores and Starburst and Swedish Fish around the campfire.

 

 

On Day 2 we made our way to Mesa Falls and Warm Springs and what do you know, our kids found their way into the water again!

 

 

The kids also found a new pet at Warm Springs.  Josh named him Rufus and he and Ben quickly became fast friends.  I hope I can always hear Ben's sweet little voice telling him "good job, Rufus" when he would fetch the sticks Ben tossed him.

And you didn't think we'd make it a summer without a trip to Yellowstone, did you?  Of course we made it there.  We watched Old Faithful (of course we did - we are as faithful about visiting it as it is at erupting).  Ben gathered all the sticks he could find.  I guess he thought Rufus might come back.

Ben laughed every time we said "stink pots."  He has a great laugh.

Some of the group went on a hike to Mystic Falls...

...and others in the group "waded" while the others hiked.  It was Sunday, so no swimming.  Riiiight.  We just "waded" up to our shoulders.

 

And then we went home.  Sniff sniff.  It was a quick trip this year.  Here are my two favorite pictures of the trip:

My Girls.  They kinda like each other.  

 

And this classic.  He's pretty awesome, even in purple sunnies.

School Days

I don't know why my children think they need to grow up.  Like this little guy?  He is perfectly charming and delightful just how he is.  I'd like to freeze time.

But.  He loves friends and loves learning, so school it is.

Meanwhile, I'm secretly looking for reasons why he shouldn't go to school yet so I can keep him all to myself.  A baby hoarder - that's what I am.

Dos

Someone had a birthday last week - the big 2-months!  I really and  truly can't believe it has been that long and at the same time can hardly remember life without our little Molly Dolly.

Life with Molly means:

-Lots of smiling.  Everyone in the house loves making her smile and she likes to smile right back at all of us.  She's got a good one.

-A fair amount of arguing over whose turn it is to hold her.

-Swinging.  The girl loves her swing.  We may have to search for an extra large model when she outgrows it.

 

- Bathtime.  She loves getting bathed and just grins at you the whole time.

-Lots of talking to strangers.  People sure like to stop and admire babies.

-Laughter.  She makes all of us laugh and has been working so hard to be able to laugh along with us.  She has been able to get a few little giggles out.  I love seeing her work her entire body to be able to laugh.

She's a happy little gal and seems to like life with us.  She sticks to a schedule pretty good, but doesn't get too bothered when we have to change things up (which is often).  She was a 10 pounds even and 23.5" long at her 2-month check.

We get asked a lot if she looks like Annie, so here are pictures of both of them in their blessing dresses.  Yep.  They look alike, but not exactly like twins.  I guess time will tell.

Annie

Molly

We sure love you, Little One.