Goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you you...

Yesterday we went to the zoo to see the new Polar Bear Exhibit, "Rocky Shores" and we LOVED it.  The funny thing is that I didn't get one picture this time of any of the animals - besides these cute ones...

The Shirley Girls hangin' out on the Rhino.

Mama bird and her babies.

Sora sucking the juice out of Bryan's apple :)  She would grab his hand to put the apple in her mouth.  I think she liked it. :)

Daddy Bear and cubs.  We had a good time at the zoo - the girls were out before we got to the freeway!

Special Delivery.  I love to kiss and squeeze and suck on those cheeks!  Sora has 2 teeth now and can sit up all by herself (although sometimes I think she falls on purpose).

Chillin' at the local splash pad.  The funny thing is that the girls would only run through the middle of the water...trying hard NOT to get wet.

First Day at Smarty Pants Preschool

Tori is a preschooler now, and she is so excited to go  - she helps pick her clothes out the night before.  Look at this smilin' mug ready to go on her 1st day!

Breakfast of Champions - no, not Wheaties this time...Cheerios!  She was SOOOOOOOOOOO excited for preschool.  I called her from work to see how it was and she LOVED it!

Heading out the door with her backpack and everything.

Laeni posing for Tori's 1st day of preschool.  Cute lil' stinker.

Getting ready to walk in to Smarty Pants Preschool!

 

Just throwing this one in there although it wasn't taken on the 1st day of preschool.
This is the progress on the Payson Temple.  Oh yeah baby, the elevator shafts are almost ready!

Good Bye Summer

In no particular order (just the order the computer and I happened to pick the pics and accidently moved them around)...here are the goings on this summer  - very briefly.  Next post will show Tori's first day of pre-school, but that will be for another day.

 

This Labor Day, the girls and I loaded up the car to watch Tori dance in a parade and young people's talent show for her dance class.  The children's parade was calcelled due to lightening (and a LOT of rain, but the weather cleared up for the talent show and carnival rides.  This is a photo of Laeni screaming her head off on the first ride.  I can't help but laugh.  All the other kids are having a blast...she has informed me that she is never going on another ride again - E-V-E-R!

 

Bryan and I went on a date to the Melting Pot and then to the musical Wicked.  It was a LOT of fun to dress up and go on a date.  Can't remember the last time that happened - maybe right after we got married and we went to the Nutcracker (almost 5 years ago)?

Sora is getting SOOOO big.  She can almost sit up by herself - actually she can all by herself for a couple of minutes before she starts to topple over.

Tori before the Labor Day parade.
(She was in one other parade, but didn't post those pics)

Father's Day we made Bry breakfast in bed and the girls were having so much fun!  They really wanted breakfast in bed too, so I suprised them and brought them a tray of food as well...they were in heaven.

LOTS of summer days with friends and popsicles.  The girls (both sets of sisters) just wait for the other pair to get home so they can play. 

Cami and her family came through town and we let the girls have a sleepover in the same bedroom - they LOVED it...maybe until we turned off the lights, then Kaylin probably didn't like it so much, but she never complained.  My girls were in heaven with their cousins.  Here they are in the cottage loft watching "girl" movie.

Our GIANT holly hocks this year.  Our friend told me she would just drive past the fence to see their beautiful blossoms stretching over the fence.

Tori's first day of dance class this year

Our trip to Washington, just for fun...and it was FUN!  Can't go home without a trip on a ferry.  Tori and Laeni didn't want a "fairy" ride, they wanted a "princess" ride.  Here is pop with all but one of the girls - Kaylin was on the other side of WA.

Bryan's first trip to Sequim and the wild game animal farm.  Here he is feeding the buffalo a slice of bread and trying to film the whole thing.

The Peninsula.  The best day we had on our WA trip...but of course the weather has been beautiful every day since we left.

Good bye summer.  We had a blast with you this year.  See you on the flip side.

Smiley Sora & 1st camping trip of the season

A few weekends ago we went up the canyon to go camping.  It went very well - all girls slept through the night and Max enjoyed a little freedom he hasn't had for a long time.  Bryan almost left Max up in the mountains...the dog had better learn to "come" when called or he may not be around very much longer!

Bry's new tent (Anniversary, Father's Day, Birthday, etc. gift)

The view from our fire pit.  The photo doesn't do the scenary justice.  It was a beautiful view!

Having a little dinner.

Max and Sora's 1st camp out.

Sora is by far our smiling-ist baby ever...

Here she is laughing.  What a cutie...I can't seem to get enough of her.  I think I make her smile and laugh so much that she gets tired of it.  Luckily, her memory is still VERY limited :)  I have tried a half a dozen times to upload a video of Sora laughing, but I think my new camera takes such big pics and video that it hasn't been able to download once...I have been waiting for it this time for almost an hour...so, sorry, no video which is a bummer since she is so funny.

Sora's blessing

Can you guess which one is Sora??

If you guessed the second picture, you won! While getting her dressed, I told her it was her big blessing day and she smiled real big (not captured in the picture above).



After sacrament meeting, we had our family over for lunch and Laeni was being a stinker!  She can throw quite a tantrum for just about anything!

Our lil' family!

Cute squishy Sora in her car seat - I think she looks so cute with her soft monkey harness things, but this picture captures what she feels about them :)

Here are the pics of Sora's "Owl" room.  I broke down and actually picked pink - it'll be funny when she turns out to be my only girl who DOESN'T like pink.  :)

Tori turns 4, going on 16

Tori's b-day was a lot of fun.  We had a little tea party for the girls and one of Tori's favorite people, Sister Brown, came and brought games.  Here are some of the tea party treats... 



The cake...Tori's "Tangled" cake
Yeah...a little big.

Some of Sister Brown's games.

The only problem was that not everyone got prresents...and not everyone wanted to sit and watch Tori open all the fun stuff...and Tori did NOT want ANY help...see her face?  It says it all.  Not sure, but Laeni's other arm may be in wind up mode for a big hit...

Kristen made this b-day ladder decor - Tori was so excited for her b-day.  She got herself dressed and waited for the girls to arrive!

Her new bike - see video below.  It seems huge, but she seems to manage.  We were going to get her a 12", but liked the 16" design better - so she's sporting the 16 quite well.

Laeni did end up benefitting from the party, as she got Tori's old bike.  Not sure why both of the girls are doing a "sexy" pose with their bikes??

Other things we have been up to include watching General Conference - they actually stayed like this for all but 10 minutes of the Sat am session.  Didn't have a great mom moment during the prayerI spanked them for not being reverent...yeah, how reverent was I???

Tori making a FHE dessert for us (almost all by herself, using this recipe book that used to be mine.

Grandma Francis came for a visit and Sora loved all the 1:1 time...so did the other girls.  While my mom was here, she sewed, mended, tended and decorated Sora's room...I guess all the pics I have were taken with my phone, so I'll have to post those pics later.

Sora - Easter weekend.

Laeni opening her loot Easter morning - "mom, the Easter bunny DID come"

Tori Easter morning -"mom, look, my very own.....umbrella!"  She has been wanting an umbrella, but this is a kite.

Easter egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Shirley's house with the cousins.

Sora chillin...