Summertime

July has slipped away from us and before August progresses much further it is time for an update.

Father's day morning was blessed by Kassie cooking up some amazing breakfast burritos and I got some new clippers to keep my balding head looking fresh. The clippers I bought my my mission have fought a good fight and I am excited to have some high quality blades! We decided to pull the trigger and buy another vehicle. It has been quite the balancing act with one car to manage business meetings across the Wasatch front, playdates, grocery shopping, film shoots, etc. - so we hope that the small hatchback Suzuki Reno ("Lil' Blue") can make it a little easier to grow business and do the things we need/want to do at this time. Buying cars is stressful. 

Addie's growing confidence and abilities

Addie started really reaching for things and acted like she might be thinking about crawling. She is always bending over, lunging for buttons or small items within reach. She rocks back and forth with gusto when she knows it is eating time or senses that one of us is going to come pick her up. It is really cute! 

Hinckley started testing our boundaries a little. He would get a devious grin on his face then does some thing that he knew was not good (swinging a bucket around his head at top speed, smacking Addie in the face, dumping food on the ground) and then we get to decide how to handle it! It was (and is) remarkably frustrating, probably not too different to how Heavenly Father feels when we do our favorite sins. Just this afternoon he had a hanger and was trying to snag Addie's on it and lift her up! After I reacted quite dramatically he went to his room in tears and said a prayer. He cam out saying that Heavenly Father (he says it "H'av Fauddah") was sad. He is a tender boy even when he pushes the line.

3 year old birthday suit (with Dad's shoes)

Near the end of June we went out to Payson and did some Cherry picking. We had a pleasant time plunking the berries in the bucket and sampling from each new tree we picked from and it was fun to be outside together. 

July began with us going down near Wasatch Elementary and setting off some fireworks. Hinckley sobbed like crazy at the loud bang of the tank firework, and it took us an abnormally long period of time to light the sparklers (which he was also quite terrified of). He really liked the flower fireworks though, especially the changing colors. It was pretty hilarious actually to see him with the fireworks. He was much more interested in playing with a small toy train on the trunk of a tree then seeing the patriotic ritual a few feet away. Needless to say, that was the most fun I've ever had lighting fireworks! We stayed up and watched the show from the Stadium and were joined by some Sorensons and Grandpa H. Hinckley was exhausted at church the next day, but a solid nap after brought him back to full power. Addie took it all in and was able to go right down for bed early in the night as we stayed at my parent's overnight to make it easier on her. Good times! Also we went to the Scera grounds (did you go last year and see the stampeding mass crowds when Grandpa Halvorsen dropped a few candy bars?) and it was significantly more tame this time around. Again, Hinckley was more interested in the every day joys of playing on the playground than listening to live music, shooting blanks from a machine gun, viewing one the largest collection of WW2 vehicles in the country, or making his own soap to the tune of a young bagpipe player. Addie chilled in the stroller and had a blast people watching. Regardless, it was still fun. 

Late night speech composition and waiting for fireworks
with Grandpa H and Nana 

Mom and Hinckley by a "big truck"

On the morning of the 4th we eagerly got ready to go out and see the hot air balloons, but it started raining! It stopped fairly quickly though but we had already passed that up. We walked over to "the spot" and watched most of the Provo Parade with Nana and Grandpa before we decided to head home for nap time. Hinckley loved listening to Nana tell him "volcano stories" which I suspect he liked more than all the floats and motorcycles combined. Addie had a great time too listening to the music and grinning at Grandpa. We love being in Provo for the Freedom Festival, even if we can't participate in all the events we'd like to. 

Volcano stories and the parade - with Nana

Donut fingers with Grandpa

Parade! 

July was rough for Addie's sleep schedule as she has been learning to crawl and is sprouting more teeth. We installed a child gate at the top of the steep narrow stairs (it took about 500% longer than we anticipated), so we feel more confident about letting her roam the carpetscape. Hinckley continued to be very imaginative. Lately he has been talking about his imaginary dog. I asked him a few days ago what his name was and he said it was “Monster Truck”. Hilarious. Also, he gagged himself and then threw up on his blanket so Kas had to wash it. Today and yesterday he has been talking about how warm and nice it is (it was warm out of the dryer when she gave it to him in his bed the other night) and he is constantly snuggling it. He continues to ask "why?" and is very sweet with other kids and gets very sad when they don't play with him at the splash pad. He had a great 3 year old birthday!! It is hard to believe we have a 3 year old on our hands. He had a fun day trying not to swipe licks of the icing off his cake or open/destroy any of his presents. 

One happy 3 year old!

We went on a very fun and special trip to Zion National Park and the kids had a blast with their cousins. We went hiking for one day and then spent the other day close to the place we were staying. Hinckley talked non stop about it for the remainder of the month and neither of them got sunburned. It was great to see family and be around so many good folks. 

The Zion shuttle (one of the biggest highlights
for Hinckley)

Hanging out (and throwing dirt) with Logan and Sadie in Zion

For Pioneer day we decided to hike up Payson canyon (the grotto is a beautiful and short hike which is great for kids). The growing Pioneer day tradition of the temple to temple walk/run has grown to a massive tune of 12,000 + people stampeding through the streets of Provo, so as we walked up the quiet and shady path (vs the loud and hot road) of our hike I couldn't have been more happy! We came across a cow but thought it was a bear at first. We all got a little scared and Hinckley was pretty worried as you can imagine! But, we survived the cow crossing. 

We had the missionaries over and Addie showed off some of her new crawling tricks and Hinckley listened to most of their spiritual thought before climbing under his chair to make a variety of animal noises. At church, as we were doing that unique dance of trying to entertain Addie as she dove for everything though never being fully satisfied and keeping Hinckley stocked on snacks and activities without getting out any loud words across the congregation, it hit me that the next 6 months will be that special time of toddling with Addie before she goes into nursery. She is getting more curious and developing her own little personality of smiling at everyone while always looking for something new. Today was the first time I had to take her out in the all just so she could crawl around and not bump her head! 

Let the exploration of the church halls begin

Kassie's mom Naomi came to visit last week. Hinckley was so excited to have Grandma over and they enjoyed spending some time together at the farmer's market and reading lots of books and playing with toys during Kas and my race. We had a great run down AF canyon for the Timpanogos Half. It was so beautiful and exciting. We exceeded our expectations for our final time but we acknowledge the help (and the huge pain in our bodies for many days afterwards) from the down hill slope that the first few miles is made up of. 

Kas and I with our medals of honor

Hinckley and Addie have been having a tough time sleeping lately because Addie will start screeching with delight while looking over to Hinckley then he will start squealing and then they will both start laughing and it goes on and on. So we started bedtime with Addie in our room, and after I put Hinckley down he popped out like he so often does, but with the most pathetic sad face ever (verge of tears) with his hands out to either side and he was stuttering “Bring Addie back into my room!! Put Addie back!” He sure loves his sister. He started swimming lessons this week and has been doing really well. Kassie said many of the kids cried the whole time for the first day or two, but Hinckley has had a lot of courage to try new things - his only meltdown being when the instructor pretended to be a shark and he went nuts. She apologized more times than Kassie could count. 

Hinckley filled up his pom pom jar (our current reward system thoroughly rooted in behaviorism . . . ) so he and I went to get Frozen Yogurt which was fun for us both. He is so hilarious, always talking about “his pinchers” (his fingers that he talks to like they are his pets) and he was even doing some shadow boxing today, mimicking our kickboxing workouts from Fitness Blender. Addie has really started crawling and is ever so curious about shoelaces and anything shiny. She gives me the biggest smiles and laughs when I come home at the end of the day and it just melts you to pieces. 

Hanging out at the duck pond

Hinckley and I went to the Provo Pioneer Village while running an errand. He was very interested in the well, and the bear skin on the bed in one of the homes. He chatted the whole time and was much more aware then I thought he would be! Yesterday he built a wall using all his toys and possessions (including water bottles and Kassie’s library book) so that he could hide behind it and giggle like a mad man. Addie loves watching him and playing peekaboo with him and it is just so hilarious. 

Kas and I are coming up on 5 years of marriage! We celebrated this week by going to test out some kitchen knives, ate some Thai food, and watched South Pacific at the Scera outdoor theater. Dad was able to watch the kids and got first hand experience with Hinckley's resistance to sleep and peculiar actions when running on no rest whatsoever. We are grateful to have grandparents so close!