A fun day at the ZOO!

Well, since we have a membership to our local zoo, we couldn't have the kids come for a visit without taking them to the zoo. I love that membership. It's only $65 for the whole year and we can take our family plus one guest an unlimited number of times! It's great. The kids had fun and so did we. They had a special event for zoo members only yesterday and we were allowed to enter the zoo at 7:30am instead of the normal 9am. This was great because we were able to see the animals before it started to get too hot (which happened around 11:30am) and they were much more active when it was cooler! It was a blast. Hope you like the photos!

Well, look at this, Miss Sarah finally decided that Braden's no one to be jealous over and is giving him a little smooch on the cheek, right in front of the elephants! Isn't she sweet? As soon as Sarah saw those elephants, she kept pointing at them, saying, "ELL-FAN, ELL-FAN, ELL-FAN!" It was adorable!

In our new Asian Highlands Exhibit where the asian cats exhibits are, Sarah of course, pointing at her Baba and not the least interested in Mama with the camera!

Awww, look Mama...it's a baby, like me! I must give her kisses!!

Oooh...those giraffes are really tall, Mama!

Weeee! This ride is much more fun that sitting in the boring old stroller!

Here's my cutie and her Baba waiting for the Free flying bird show to start

Here's our family in front of the giraffe exhibit

Happy 24th of July everyone!

Well, for those of you who aren't from Utah...yesterday was Pioneer Day in Utah. It is a day to celebrate when the pioneers arrived in Utah. They have lots of activities...a parade...lots of fireworks...and fun activities. So, we went to the store and bought a few sparklers, little ground flowers, battling tanks and some fun stuff to light off in the street with the kids. Bailey & Braden had a ball...Sarah...not so much. She was scared of the lights and noise that they made. She just kept backing up into my lap or between my legs as I sat in my lawn chair. It was cute. Finally, she got Troy's attention (since he was the one lighting them all off for the kids) and he helped her with some sparklers. She was really nervous about them at first, but after a little while she was having fun with them and her Baba.

Uh...yes...Baba? I'm not so sure that glowy shiny hot thing is a good idea!

Heehee...maybe it's not so bad when Baba sings to me and waves it around! I love you, Baba!

Look, Mama! I decided that I like sparklers! They're lots of fun!

Yeah, I have some confetti...you want some of this?

See, here's my confetti stuff that came out of that thingy that went, "POP"

Bailey is enjoying her sparklers!

And, of course...so is Braden!

A Very Busy Week!

Wow! I never knew how busy having 3 kids around makes you! It's been pretty insane around here the past little while! A big sorry to My Mom and others who are eagerly awaiting to see my precious little Sarah's photos. I took a few this week at the pool and around the house.

Bailey & Tati having lots of fun!

Look Mama, Wa-wa! (That's Sarah for water)

Uh-Oh Sarah, it's too deep for you down here!

Whew! Here ya go, Sarah...nice and safe!

I love my sandbox! It's the best!...Thanks Lao Lao!

Here's Braden riding his water noodle!

Fun at the Park

Today we went to the park...well every day we've been going to the park. In Salt Lake County they have this amazing program all summer long. Any children under 18 get a free lunch at the park, you don't have to sign up or anything...just show up and they feed you. So, since Troy's kids are here, it's been saving my grocery bill a TON of money! Not only that, but it's nice to get them out of the house and playing in the park. Another bonus is that Sarah is exhausted when we get home and goes to sleep IMMEDIATELY! I love that about getting her all tired out at the park! Today, I took the camera and got a few cute photos of the kids just before some older kids plowed Sarah over and she hit her face on the metal steps and started bleeding all over the place from her mouth. I wasn't able to see what was bleeding cause there was too much blood in her mouth but it looks like it's just a fat lip. I don't see anything else in there and besides after I wiped her off and she calmed down, she just wanted to go back and play on the slide so I figured that she was okay. Here are a few park pics.

Look Mama, Bailey is helping me go down the slide! Catch me, Mama!

WEEEEE! The slide is definitely my favorite!

What do you want Mama?? I'm trying to play here!

Mama...here's a kiss for you! I love you!

The Kids are here!

Heehee...Baba found me going for a ride in this cool basket and reading my POOH book. I love sitting here, it fits me perfectly!

Well, they made it! Troy's kids flew from Spokane on Saturday to visit for 3 and a half weeks. We have missed them a lot since they moved to Washington, but we enjoy the time we do get to spend with them once or twice a year. As soon as they got here Sarah woke up from her nap so they invaded her bedroom and she got a little overwhelmed. She just sat there taking it all in and staring at them. Sarah met them when they were able to visit us last Christmas but she was also still in the midst of the initial adjustment period herself. Sarah adored Bailey right away. She was climbing into her lap within minutes. She also didn't know what to think when she saw her Baba holding Braden on his lap just like he holds and plays with her. She stared at Troy holding Braden for a long time and then approached and got kisses, making sure of her place was still there. I think she's getting better with it, but she has been a bit more affectionate than normal since the kids have been here. We also went to the park today and they had a blast. Sarah just followed Bailey around and loved going down the slides over and over and over again. It was really cute to watch. Well, hopefully I will be able to come up with enough activities to keep these 3 kids busy for the next 3 weeks....(Pray for me!).

Look Mama's taking our photo so I can see the Baby on the screen! Aren't my new cute shoes from Lao Lao adorable?? I sure do like you, Bailey!

Awww, Baba's giving his boy some long overdue hugs!

Uh, Excuse me, Baba? Yeah, well, I just wanted to make sure my place on your lap was still available...I'm not sure I like the idea of sharing you yet!

Awww, Bailey loving Danny boy, he may be small, but he's a really old man! He'll turn 14 this on the 24th of this month!

Look, Mama, Bailey is my big sister and I think she's really neat. I like to sit by her and play with her.

Shhhh, Mama...I found Bailey's shoes, they're much more fun to walk in than mine!

Aren't her little fingers so graceful? OH...and those precious little baby feet that I met over 8 months ago...they're growing into cute toddler feet!

Shout out to my cousin, Sammy!

So, I've officially been a slacker this week with the camera and haven't taken any new photos, I thought I'd include these just for fun! Sarah was wanting to give a shout out to her cousin, Samantha back in Ohio that she was able to meet when we went there last December so my family could meet Sarah for the first time. Sarah's much smaller in these photos and has grown SOOO much since then!

This is Sarah and Samantha hangin' out and playing together. HI Sammy!! we miss you and can't wait to come and visit you in October!

This is my Mama's cousin, Christine...she's Sammy's Mama, I liked meeting her! I especially liked the bottle she was giving me!

Happy Independence Day a day late!

Well, I dressed Sarah in a cute outfit and Troy and I wore our patriotic colors and had a fun day off. Sarah spent quite a bit of time on the floor playing with her Baba, which has become one of her favorite pasttimes. We did a little shopping and a lot of relaxing and didn't really do much else. Sarah was in bed by 8:30pm and we were hitting the hay around 10-11pm. It's rough when I have to wake up at 5am every day for work...and with being so busy taking care of my little Noodle, Mama needs her sleep! Maybe next year Sarah be able to stay up later and will enjoy going to see fireworks, but I'll have to make sure that I don't have to wake up too early! We will have another opportunity to see fireworks since we live in Utah and July 24th is a big to do, hoo haah, fireworks watching Pioneer Day. Troy's kids will be here then too so maybe we'll make a big deal out of it. Both my dog and Troy's sister have birthdays on the 24th of July so we have PLENTY of reasons to celebrate!

Playing Hide N' Seek with Baba is one of my favorite games...see, Baba makes me laugh, he's so silly! He thinks I can't see him under my blankie! There he is!

Oh, just a minute Baba....someone is calling on my cool moo-cow phone I got from my Aunt Leanna...."H'looo, um hmm....uh...um.. hmmm....bye bye"

HeeHee...Mama, look at me, isn't it funny how I can climb up on the couch and be right next to you? I think it's a RIOT! :)

I took these photos on Sunday before the previous posted meltdown. Sarah LOVES to climb around on her Baba!

Dinner Time...this girl just can't help but take advantage of an opportunity to show you her FEET!
Baba was messing with his RC airplane and managed to get in front of Sarah just as I took the photo...but she had such a cute smile, I couldn't help but post it anyway.

A Good Cry

We had a little bit of a rough day today and even when she's crying, she's adorable. I couldn't help it but get the camera. She didn't want to take a long enough nap this afternoon and this kind of meltdown is what happens when my girl doesn't get enough sleep! You can't help but adore that little face!

Swimming with Mama & Baba

This morning we went swimming at the pool down the street. It was a lot of fun, Sarah had a blast. She loves the little inner tube floatie that her Lao Lao bought her and had fun floating all over the pool with it. She REALLY loved it when Troy showed her how to kick her feet. She laughed like crazy and then started to kick on her own! She's such a doll, I couldn't love her any more...it's just not possible.

Wee, I really like my little floatie tube.

Uh...Baba, what are you gonna do with my feet??

Huh? Mama, did you say something?

I'm learning how to kick my legs so I can swim by myself some day!

FINALLY, I let Mama put a waterspout in my hair...at least for a minute!

Since Sarah never lets me put her hair in the little "waterspout" on top of her head and I got away with it today...I just HAD to immortalize it!