new baby and sleepovers

Ok, the final great things about the summer….(although I could go on and on I’ve got to stop at some point).
That “baby” in the title is my sister-in-law’s new baby, not ours, darn it! My “baby” dwarfs her. We were so lucky to be in Utah when little Ella arrived. She is so tiny and adorable and with such a huge mop of beautiful hair. I loved getting to sit an hold her and soak her in while we visited. It’s always fun to see how the Parkinsons keep up with life too. Julie is so organized and on top of things…even with a brand new baby. It was fun to stop by their house twice to meet that sweet baby…one time we got a bonus and got to see Nana, Ryan & Laurie and family, and Carol Lynn as well as the Parkinsons.

Claire wishes we could live a little closer to cousin Ava!Two great sleepovers…one was with “Grandma Great” (or “Grandma Grape” as Claire calls her). Man do we love her. We went out to eat, did puzzles that I remember doing when I was young, stayed up late to talk, visited the temple, cooked some zucchini from her garden, etc. My Dad ended up coming with the kids and I, which made it even better to reminisce about the old days and tell the kids about how he and Grandma lived day-to-day in that great house my grandparents planned out so well. Much to their delight, Max slept in Grandfather’s old bed and Claire slept in his old crib.

We are so thankful for that trip.
We love you Grandma!

And then there was our second annual high school girls sleep-over. Once again we stayed up all night talking and catching up. Marie got a lady to come give us pedicures the next morning and we went out to a beautiful breakfast. I love these girls. They have molded so much of who I am, and we’ve had so many years of memories together. We don’t get to get together that much, but when we do we pick up right where we left off.

Oh, and I have to just put in one more picture of some serious chub…Lucy and her cousin Elsie. It was fun watching their cheeks jiggle together over the summer.