Jake's iphone Utah pics - June/July 2013

I think this photo may actually be from the family camera, but Jake transferred it to his phone. I like it, so I'm posting it again.

We felt like this was probably going to be the last time we saw Grandpa Keith McCune in this life, and we were right. His health took a very fast downturn a couple of weeks after we left. What a blessing and tender mercy it was to have spent just a little more time with this incredible man. This is our whole family with him, including the baby in my belly. :)

 At the McBride family reunion --girl cousins:

 The swimming pool at Dad and Sandy's house:

 Tessa and Cole would have slept in this thing if we'd said they could.

 This picture is exactly what it was like for Paige at my mom's house. She LOVED being outside. She'd grab what we were eating and take off to walk and munch. She was usually a total mess at the end of the day, but she was clearly having herself a fabulous time.

 One more pic of the McBride cousins:

The Must-Dash 5k

The Saturday before Father's Day, Jake ran in the Must-Dash 5k. They handed out some pretty sweet mustaches to the kids and the racers. There was a mustache contest for those who took the time to grow one, but we certainly prefer the temporary kind:

 "My name is Inigo Montoya..."

 Tessa did not want anything to do with the sticky, furry, lip catapillars.

The kids played in the fountains afterward and had a blast doing it. Paige didn't really want to get wet, so she stayed on the outskirts. Cole, however, tried to find where the water was going to blast up so he could stick his face right in it. He provided some serious entertainment for  those watching.

May 2013 iPhone photos

Dad and son headed to the park.

Let's go fly a kite:

 We went for a family treat after Mama's ultrasound. The baby looked active and healthy. The technician never even glanced to see the sex of the baby since we wanted to keep it a secret. She didn't want to risk us seeing and knowing, so she avoided the tell tale area completely. Healthy baby! Those sonograms are incredible. We went for donuts. Clearly, Cole enjoyed one with chocolate frosting:

 We had a ward 5k at the Nature Preserve. Tessa ran a mile without stopping and ended up going two miles that morning. Way to go, kiddo!

 Diaper head:

Cole loved watching Tessa in "The Fabulous Flying Car", and we all sang "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for weeks. He was excited to give Tessa flowers after the show:

 Robot in the rain?

 Dad did a relay walk for fallen military/public servant heroes with some people from work. We went to have dinner with him, and the kids enjoyed work tattoos and oranges:

Lewbie's giggles:

iPhone April 2013 Photos

Too often I have Jake take pictures since he has his phone with him always, and we don't have the camera. But then I get backed up on here and can't seem to keep the pictures together that belong together when months later Jake uploads the phone photos. Ah, well. At least we have them.

So this was end of March/April phone photos:

Vampire baby: 

 Mom and Dad's quickly thrown together after church Easter egg hunt:

 Our awesome visit with the Blacks:

 A hungry, hungry hippo:

 Another tooth bites the dust:

The Best

I've found Cole and Paige looking at books together a couple of times as well. So sweet.

Vacation Safety School

For the last week in July, Tessa was signed up for Vacation Safety School, and Cole was signed up for Vacation Bible School. 

I'm awful and didn't get a picture of Cole this particular week, but he had a great time participating and came home singing all kinds of praises. We were sad that the two weeks overlapped because Tessa really enjoys VBS as well.

Tessa signed up for Vacation Safety School way back in the spring with her friend Anna. What an awesome program our city's police department puts on. Tessa came home every day spouting off exactly how we could be safer and what to do in emergencies. 

Along with all kinds of safety fun and games at the police station, she was able to tour a fire station, ride the DART, and have a bicycle rodeo. She and Anna had a blast together.

The gals with the city's chief of police:

Graduation cake!

Note Paige on the right side of the picture doing her own praise song and dance for bites of Tessa's cake. It worked.
Community programs for kids rock.

Cole's 4th Birthday!

Cole had his first friend birthday party this year. He was so excited to have people over to celebrate with him. It was going to be a water party outside, but, of course, it rained. So we improvised and made the most of the hour and a half long party. We had a pizza dinner, made paper airplanes and had a contest flying them, played "Statues", opened presents, had cake, and then passed out candy bags and popsicles as parents came to get their kids.
Here's our cute little group of goobers:
Anna, Tessa, Ben, Cole, Charlie (who may be the nicest four year old I've ever met), Isaac, and Julie.

My children naturally, and thankfully, have low expectations for their birthday cakes. Cole mentioned that he'd like an Ironman cake at one point, so I thought I'd find an Ironman toy and stick that sucker right on the cake. I didn't find one at the grocery store and was not going to make time to hunt all over for one, so I did my best to come up with something...

 Cole could tell what it was and was very pleased with my handiwork, so that made me happy too.
When it came time to sing "Happy Birthday", Tessa, Anna, and Julie had come up with a song to sing first. It's a shame I can't get the video of it to upload here, but know that the clapping medley they came up with as they took turns to sing to Cole was quite entertaining --and sweet.
Here are the two party babies:

Sweeties Emmeline and Paige.

 We actually had Cole's party the night before his actual birthday since our Saturday was going to be hectic with plans, so we decided to have him open his family presents that night as well.
Way to pick 'em grandmas and grandpas! A bowling set, Avengers outfit, Ironman, and a nice recorder:

 Paige gave him superhero underwear (because it's not embarrassing at their ages), and Tessa gave him a Superman cup and a new toothbrush.

 Mom and Dad went for a helmet and a scooter:

 My cutest four year old:

Cole can be crazy, but he sure is a riot because of it. He has a great sense of humor, a curious mind, some hilarious facial expressions, and  can be really sweet. I'm always surprised at how a kid this skinny and full of boney angles can be such an amazing snuggle buddy. He loves music, superheroes, playing with his big sister, cartoons, bows and arrows, bowling, the Wii, playing with friends, climbing, throwing things, and messing with stuff he isn't supposed to mess with. He has also taken up wearing  his bike helmet whenever possible --we just go with it, and have gone with it to Costco. :)

Love you my big boy!