A Few Pictures...

After the cherry orchards we all headed over to the park to snap a few family pictures. I was the only one that was smart and decided to where my family picture outfit the entire day, so it was quite lovely taking pictures after getting all gross and sweaty at the cherry orchards.

It also so happens that I am the worst person when it comes to taking group photos. My unphotogenic ways always leave me blinking, looking the wrong way, or making various other expressions that ruin pictures that everyone else look marvelous in. It is a true gift/curse I guess. In this picture I was much more intrigued with a little family trying to walk around our photo and get across the little stream without using the bridge we had commandeered; apparently Bailey, Hazel, and Will also found them interesting. 

Just our little family of four...

And then we jumped over to the lawn so that Grandpa Braden could get a shot with all 6 of his grandchildren. How many adults does it take to prep for this picture? 

 And more importantly, how many adults does it take to act like fools and get everyone to look and smile? I'm not sure because we obviously did not have enough. Who would have guessed that Bailey would be able to scream so loud while keeping that jelly bean in her mouth?

 For any aspiring models out there...Sam is taking on a few new lucky clients. He has got the cowboy thing down pat...

 And don't even get him started on the Hawaiian theme...

In our house the girls way outnumber our one and only Sam, but when you add in the rest of the Braden clan the boys definitely have the numbers, so the girls have to stick together...

A special thank you to our photographer/babysitter/friend Cameron (especially since Hazel gets her nails cut once in a blue moon and that little pointer finger feels like a little dagger). 

 Quite a successful photo shoot for a quick hour of chaotic work. Good work guys!

The Cherry Orchard

Saturday afternoon a group of us headed out to Emmett to pick some cherries in an orchard.

Bailey must have inherited the hard working gene from my Mom or someone that is not me because the child was non-stop running around picking every cherry in sight despite the scorching hot weather. I on the other hand resorted back to my old BYU pruning crew days and maybe picked 1 or 2 cherries the entire time (which goes right along with maybe cutting 1 or 2 branches the entire year I was on that landscaping crew). Hazel and I just mostly followed around the little monkey and held her bucket o cherries.

 Hazel attempted to help by trying to grab and eat a few leaves. I am pretty sure she also didn't make a single peep the entire time we were there despite it being so hot. She was such a trooper with her pink flushed cheeks and all.

 

Sam was also a little hard working trooper taking all the pictures and scoping out all of the trees with the yummy yellow and light red/orange cherries and raiding them.

The two of them were quite the sight breaking into a huge sweat by the time we were all done. 

 And when her and Will resorted to picking up the cherries off the ground we finally called it quits. I had to bribe the little rugrat to come back to the car with me so she could replenish her bodies water supply and sit in the air conditioned car. 

 Grandpa Braden was so sweet and picked up the tab for everyone's cherries.

 Thanks so much for the fun outing everyone. 

Grandma Pam's House

Saturday morning we all headed over to Grandma Pam's house for a few hours of visiting so we could see how much chaos we could create in Grandma's house with all 6 of her grandchildren!

A few very significant lessons we learned from the morning: 

Under no circumstances will we ever be able to handle triplets...

It doesn't even matter how cute Sam looks with 3 little babies all piled on top of him or how content they all were sitting on him for quite awhile watching the older half of the cousins act crazy; there is absolutely no way we would survive.

 Uncle Quinn is much nicer than both of Bailey's parents put together...

 Playing musical babies is hard work. Especially when little Jack is way too advanced for his age and likes to crawl under chairs...

 

Hazel and Jack will attack each other if you leave them on the floor together for too long.

 And taking a picture with one cute Grandma and six little grandchildren is hard work that requires plenty of jelly bean bribes, lots of crazy adults jumping around acting like fools and as many cameras going as possible to try to get at least one good shot. 

 Contrary to what the photos may tell you, Bailey really does love her sister, Grandma and cousins.

 Thank you so much for having us all over Grandma Pam. You have the best house in the world. Bailey was in heaven wandering from room to room pulling out every toy, book and trinket you own. And for the record, one of my children did steal one of your cookie monster figurines. It will be returned one day, hopefully. Love you so much. 

The Never Ending Car Ride...

In order to keep our kids guessing which bed, house, and toys are actually their own and to have a greater appreciation for not sitting in their car seats all day everyday we made the journey back to Utah from California and then reloaded the car up the next day for Idaho.

Isaac's baby blessing calls...

Fourth of July

Fourth of July rolled around and we still found ourselves in California. We had to do a little bit of a wardrobe swap to make sure everyone was decked out in the correct colors. Hazel got to wear one of Bailey's shirt as a dress...

And Bailey got to sport my shirt as a little dress. We had to scrounge for a ribbon to tie around her waist for an impromptu belt to keep the outfit intact, and somehow it miraculously lasted through her crazy day.

We all piled into the highlander and headed up to the Ronald Reagan library for the festivities. Luckily this year it was a beautiful 75 degree day unlike last years blistering hot 100 degree weather.

My dad pulled up to the front so we could all pile out of the car and then he headed back down the hill to find a spot to park. We decided to skip the stroller with the idea that we outnumbered the little ones 5:2 so we could just pass them around, and they still gave us a run for our money.

Our first stop was to the arts and craft tables to decorate some american flags. Bails did some coloring and I am pretty sure that our flag was way prettier than Rachel's even though Bails did pick Rachel's as the favorite. 

As soon as the popsicle stick got stapled onto the flags Bails had them both in hand and proceeded to dance in circles around the courtyard. Marching, dancing, waving her arms about and humming songs is a regular past time with her these days.

Next up was the games. She attempted to throw the balls through the holes in the wooden board. She has a good arm, but this just wasn't her year. 

At this point we let the goose loose on the field and she just continued her dancing, marching, humming, and arm waving as she meandered around aimlessly. She could care less that any of us were around. Although my Dad did say that every once in awhile she would check to make sure someone was following her around, but beside that she was just a happy wanderer.

Dancing in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall...

Two things made her angry this trip. Trying to pick her up or redirect her to a path that she didn't feel like taking and trying to convince her to get her face painted. Sam tried to go first to show her that it didn't hurt. Unfortunately for him she backed out when it was her turn so Sam was the sole face paintee in the group. 

Our final pit stop was listening to the LAPD officers orchestra, which definitely ensued more dancing by little Bailey...

and kept angel Hazel quite intrigued.

After the Reagan library adventures we were returned home for some yummy chocolate cake for the adults and an ice cream cone for Bails.

We also made a little appearance at the neighborhood block party. Bailey had the time of her life jumping in the bounce house. It only took her about a half hour to work up the courage to actually enter it (even when it was empty). She started by making me hold her hands while she jumped on the front entrance and then she finally inched closer and closer until she made it inside; and then it became quite fun to convince her to leave. Then we ended our night with a little fireworks show. Hazel sat in the car with Grandpa and was in heaven playing with the steering wheel while Bails pretended she was one of the big kids running around and barely seeing the fireworks through the fog. Another great fourth of July celebration!

Campfire...

The backyard was Bailey's favorite thing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The waterfall, rocks, two hoses, the spa, the fire pit, the vegetable garden, a million flowers to smell and pick, rabbits, lizards, Rex, and of course more fruit trees than she can count.

The clementine tree was by far her favorite. It seemed like just when she found the last one to eat someone would find another one hidden away somewhere and she would get beyond excited all over again. 

I am also starting to wonder about this child's taste buds. She found the lemon tree and brought me a lemon to peel for her and eat. She wouldn't relent so finally I just gave in and peeled it so she could try it. We all sat there in anticipation for her to get a crazy sour face or spit it out....and nothing. She just ate it. Not quite as quickly as the clementine, but still. Sometimes I wonder where this little girl came from..

And of course she loved her melted starburst and smores, but who doesn't?

Hazel's Picky...

Baby food has been the bane of little Hazel's existence. So far peas, carrots, green beans, and prunes have been a major bust. If you can manage to get the spoon into her mouth, the food will just get spat back out. However, more often than not you will be received with tightly pursed lips or her personal favorite, a tongue sticking out.

Don't let her good looks and smile deceive you, this little one is a naughty eater. Apparently prunes are better on the face than in the stomach.

At least I still have one perfect eater.