The Snarl

I posted this on Facebook awhile ago but wanted it here too. Emery is queen of the snarl face. 

It makes me laugh every time I see this picture. 

The Littlest Fashionista

I can't get enough of this spunky girl. She loves shoes, dress up, tea parties, bags (ohhhh the bags!!!), painting her nails and all things baby. We got her a train set for Christmas and despite my encouragement she's just not interested. Unless she can put all the train tracks in a purse and carry them around--that's her kind of game! 

Here's a few snapshots of our girly girl:

These last two couldn't quite capture how hilarious she looked. Her tutu was stuck up in the top of the dress making it look like she had this flabby, saggy back. It was so cute!

The Best Stuff on Earth

Whitney gathered all the Houston girls together for some strawberry jam making. I now have a freezer stocked with the most delicious substance known to man! It was so much fun making it together.

Not a bad haul of strawberry freezer jam!

Gettin' it done! Sarah, my cousin's wife and these girls' sister-in-law (life gets confusing when you marry your cousin's brother) had to make a grocery store run for more pectin so she missed the blurry photo shoot.

 If the whole world ate homemade strawberry freezer jam on toast for breakfast every day that all the world's problems would be solved.  Not the store bought stuff though, blech, that stuff is not delicious. 

The Lake

Before we left to Idaho some friends invited us to Lake Somerville for the day to play and ride their WaveRunner. The lake was a perfect temperature--refreshing but not too cold. It was a much needed getaway and so relaxing.

When we pulled up I looked at the shore and thought, "Oh no, look at all those sharp rocks!" But I was happy to discover they were chunks of clay that were very soft. It was so fun to walk on them because they felt so different than they looked.

We even brought a kite to fly! Gavin got it up for awhile but these $1 kites must be  "one flight only" because it never did fly again.

It was so much fun! I loved the WaveRunner. I was being a super big chicken and didn't want to drive it because I was so scared I'd flip it (which would not be the end of the world but for whatever reason I was terrified). But Gavin made me do it, and I was so mad at him for it. It was the most un-rational 15 minutes of my life. I turned back to the shore after driving it for 2 minutes but Jason waved me back out saying, "Not long enough!" So I went back out, finally stopped worrying about it, and ended up having so much fun. Sometimes fear turns me into crazy person. It's better than a jet ski for me because it's bigger and way more stable. On the way home I started googling used WaveRunners--that's how much of a shift I had. I want one! 

Meridell Park

Gavin's sister and her husband manage an event center and homestead in Pocatello called Meridell Park. We were so excited to get a tour while we were there. It was beautiful. The event center is gorgeous and a fun piece of Pocatello history. They have a huge orchard and garden, but the best part (according to Emery) was the animals! We met chickens, their goat Ginny, turkeys, and a duck with her little ducklings.

 Emery liked feeding the goat through the fence:

But wasn't too sure about Ginny once she was out of the fence:

She did really like the chickens and the chicken coop. She was telling me all about how the little chickens will run to their little house and say "Momma! Momma!" if they get scared and will race in there and lots more stuff I don't remember.

We also had fun playing in the grassy fields and running around with cousins. Here's a few pictures of them:

 It was such a fun morning. Thanks for hosting and giving us the tour Rob and Lauren! Meridell Park is a beautiful place! If anyone in southeast Idaho needs an event center, definitely check it out! Plus I think they are doing a pumpkin patch this fall! www.meridellpark.com

Princess on a Bike

So my last post I mentioned how much Emery loved playing with Olivia's toys. Her BIKES were especially fun for Emery. Olivia has a little one that is a perfect size for Emery, but no, she always wanted to ride the big girl one. I snapped this picture the first time she rode it because her face is so cute. She was so proud of herself for being on that big bike but she's trying to act all casual about it.

"No big deal, Mom, I'm just chillin' on the big girl bike."

Natalie was super patient to push her around on it for awhile. What a great aunt! Moments like these where we've just enjoyed dinner together as a family and the cousins are all having fun make me sad we live so far away. 

Splash pad with cousins

It's time to play catch up on the blog. We took a wonderful trip to Idaho for a few weeks in July and had such a great time. We celebrated the 4th of July "Cornwall Style" (that's my mom's family, they know how to patriotically party!), camped a few times, stayed up way too late (it doesn't get dark in Idaho until 10 pm!), slept in every day, played with cousins, and made memories to last us until next year. It was a busy and very full trip but I felt like we accomplished a lot.

Here's some pictures of our trip to a splash pad with my nephew and niece. My nephew JJ is so adorable, he has the BIGGEST smile ever--it lights up his whole body--and he is ALWAYS smiling. What a sweetheart. He loved the water!

And here's the always spunky Olivia, posing for the camera! Emery loved playing with all her stuff and Olivia was so patient to share it.

So much fun! When we left Idaho Emery kept asking if we could go back and play at Olivia's house. Thanks goodness for Facetime. We miss them already.