Lily at two months

It's hard to believe she's been around for two months already. It's also hard to believe how much she has changed in those two months. She has been sleeping through the night on a regular basis for a while now and like her brother is always good for a smile. She has also turned into quite the talker and will coo at you for extended periods. Very cute. So pretty much she and Jack both love speaking anything other than English. Last week while standing next to Jack and his cousin Porter (3) Jack pointed at something and did the usual "gishkkkk uukkcurrlll". Porter then looked at me and explained "He can't talk very good."

Lily was a champ at her 8 week Doctor's appointment. We held her back a week so that she would excel physically over the other infants. Very similar to why I was "held back" in kindergarten. That second year not only could I hang on the monkey bar for 4 seconds longer than anyone else but I could also count to 20 in Spanish faster than anyone else. She was 11 lbs. 6 oz. and 23 inches long, both in the 75th percentile. I can't remember her head size but it was in the 50th percentile.

We've been extremely blessed so far. At some point nearly ever day since Lily was born I have wondered to myself how we could ever stop having kids. That's how pleasant it's been so far. I'm not an idiot, I realize they won't always be this easy going. Jack gave us glimpses over the weekend when the word "no" replaced "ut-oh" as the phrase of choice. I'm just trying to convey that we love them and are very thankful for them.

Anyone who can make it is welcome to attend the Midway 1st Ward this Sunday, August 3rd for Lily's blessing. We'd love to see you. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. and we will be having lunch afterwards. Mixed grill, "yummy" potatoes, raspberry jello, and watermelon have been mentioned. Directions to the church can be found here.

El Rio

The second week of July we headed to another part of California lovingly referred to as The River. Beth's family has a house across the river from Parker, Arizona. If you didn't already know where it is that probably doesn't help. You can see the place here. It is the L shaped dock in the middle. We look forward to this trip every year and it always delivers. This year was no different. Lots of fun, good company, water-skiing, swimming, reading, sun, and just relaxing. Most of the family went down a month earlier but we were unable to make it with a two week old. Same situation for Beth's brother Kurt whose boy is two days older than Lily so we planned to come once the babies were a little older. Caroline, Paul, Ben, and Kate joined as well to help fill in the beds. It was a blast.The fam damily sitting on the back of the boat.
Sleeping was a major part of the trip. Lily enjoyed sitting under the deck and sleeping in her stroller. The 104 degree weather and noisy boats were conducive to excellent naps. Jack too was a champion sleeper. He would go down for monster naps during the day, a couple times exceeding 5 hours. Which was a welcome relief to me for more than the obvious reasons. With Jack awake we were always on Red Alert 5 because you never knew when he would decide he wanted to swim and would just walk off the dock or climb down the steps. It wore me out.
Jack loved putting on his swim diapers. If you tried to put on a regular diaper he was ticked because he knew it meant he wasn't going swimming. As you can tell he also enjoyed not wearing his swim diapers. Here he is filling up the pool after I emptied out. Or maybe he's just watering the grass in this one. The Johnsons stopped by for a day on their way home from Pheonix. We witnessed Porter dropping his trunks and peeing into the pool while Jack laughed and laughed. I am fully aware that kids pee in the pool all day every day but to actually see the stream was cause for a refill.
Jumping off the dock never gets old. Literally you do it and love it no matter the age.
Sitting in the shade with mommy.
Here's another instant classic. Lily (red) and Kru sleeping in their life vests. I'm sure we'll plenty more photos of those two together over the years.

July update

I'm doing the Executive MBA at BYU and just finished the first year. The program goes year round for two years except they give us the month of July off. As soon as class ended the end of June we packed up and headed west for what turned out to be 2 1/2 weeks of fun and sun.

We made it home in time for Brian and Jackie's open house in Irvine. My mom did a great job of getting the house ready and organizing the event. The cake wasn't Portland good but it was way above average. We got to see lots of family friends and meet more of Jackie's family. The newlyweds were a big hit but as a proud papa I'm going to go out a limb and say Lily may have been just as big. My cousin Melissa is holding Lily in this picture. The beginning of the next week I had to attend to some business in San Antonio and left Beth and the kids in Irvine. I understand there was plenty of play and shopping time.

The Fourth started out early for the Irvine Stake Triathlon. More on that likely to come in a separate post. We spent most of the afternoon at the pool getting the kids tuckered out for their afternoon nap. Mom and Kristin volunteered to watch them while Beth and I went and saw Hancock. Luckily the first time leaving them went off without any tears (from any of the parties) and we can't wait to do it again. Hancock was just what I was looking for in a movie. Funny, Will Smith, some good action, and short enough to leave a still breast-feeding baby behind.

The Stake festivities continued that evening in the church parking lot with a few different bands and more good food and company. Jack did a little bit of dancing but spent most of the evening trying to jump the speed bump in his car.I realize I may get branded as un-American for admitting this but the day was punctuated perfectly by not attending the fireworks show. Maybe sometime down the road when the kids' attention spans are long enough to handle the epic shows we seem bent on having will I be able to sit and enjoy them again. Let's be honest, there hasn't been a lot of new technology in the fireworks arena in the last 10 years so you're not seeing anything new. And then it gets dragged on for at least hour, probably more like two. At least that's what it feels like. My ideal fireworks show would be 45 seconds and it would be the entire supply of fireworks shot off as fast as possible. Like a huge grand finale without the boring introduction.

Wedding Bells

I feel a little bad that this post is less about the couple and more about, well, Jack. But I figure the wedding has been well documented already by others, it's my blog and I'll write what I want to, and Brian and Jackie don't care. This is a pretty good shot captured as they walk out of the Portland temple. In fact I may go as far as saying it's the second best photo I have seen of a couple emerging from the temple. I'll give you a hint as to the first, it's somewhere else on our blog.
I also like this shot taken soon after. It went something like this:
Jackie (to older brother): Why are you wearing a platinum colored vest and tie?
Brother (to Jackie): That's what I was about to ask you. Why did everyone else get black and I have to wear silver?
Turns out Men's Warehouse was to blame. They did offer to let us come back and pick up a "similar" black vest and tie. Sure that's real convenient right before pictures.
A lovely family photo with Jack's blanket. Of course it wouldn't be anywhere else than in his mouth.
Family photo without the blanket. You be the judge.
The wedding party. The reception was later that night and was a lot of fun. There was singing and dancing, even from the newlyweds. My favorite part was the cake. It was seriously the best cake I have ever had at a wedding. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a cake I liked at a wedding. I'm sorry if I just offended one of you. The only way I can describe it is it was a lot like the lage kage in Denmark, delicious and fruity.Excuse me ladies. You seemed to have forgotten to invite me into your photo. No worries I can just back that thing up. Instant classic.
Jack also managed to find time to flirt with the pretty girls.

Portland, with a capital P

Before the wedding festivities began we did get out to see some of the sites around Portland. Portland is a very pretty setting. It's one of those really cool places to fly into. The seemingly out of nowhere snow covered peaks that surround the area automatically make it "livable" in my book. My criteria for "livable" is pretty simple. If it's flat then it better be next to the ocean. Sorry Midwest.
We drove out to the Columbia River Gorge Area (that's what Neverlost called it) and stopped by Multnomah Falls for a photo op. We left the sleeping kids in the car. Don't worry, we cracked the window.
Taken on the "Bridge of the Gods". At first I couldn't tell if this was up or down river but then I used my awesome deductive reasoning. Looking towards the sun, it was closing in on 5:00 p.m., the sun sets in the West, the Columbia River follows I84, even numbered interstates run East/West, picture down river.
Dam family photo. That is actually Brian's joke but it was sooner or later stolen by everybody else on the trip so why not me?
Dinner that night was at the Rheinlander. A restaurant Jackie worked at off and on for a long time. The food was excellent and the company even better. Jack got a little hungry while waiting and started in on the lemon slices. When it was time to eat he preferred to show off his toy to his Great Grandparents.