Back to School & Rachel's almost 4 months old

Swim team and the lazy days of summer gave way to preparing for school to start & one final camping trip. Rachel is 15 weeks old now, full of smiles, and speaking her own language. She's bulked up to nearly 15 lbs., loves to stand with our help, and is grasping and bringing toys and fingers to her mouth. She has taken a casual liking to her thumb.

Camping adventure took us to Strawberry, AZ and Fossil Springs. Rachel was a trooper on the 8 mile hike, safe in her daddy's Hip Hammock. The girls had fun on rope swings over the water.

Madi is so happy to have her braces off. She has a beautiful smile & now just has to keep up with her retainers.

Last week several Lakes families spent 9 hours at the Grand Resort Water Park. Kids had a blast. See Rachel all tired out in her bikini.

Today was the first day of school and our first day at Ward Traditional Academy. Both girls like their teachers & are excited for this new experience. Our neighbor, Matt, also made the switch to Ward, as well as a few friends from our previous school.

Mark turned 40 on Sunday. The ol' man's got some grey, but other than that, you'd never guess.

Temps dropped below 105 the other day which got both Mark and I out for spins on the road bikes. My bike, of course didn't recognize my big butt which hasn't ridden in 10 months.

4th of July

Rachel is now 11 weeks old. She is delighting everyone with her smiles and little "conversations" with herself. She's very vocal when she awakes in the morning. We are now have her pukies under control even since I removed all things dairy from my diet. Rachel jumped into the 90th percentile for weight & height at her 2-month check up. She is getting so big and strong; she really focuses on people's faces & objects now; she is grasping--she loves to hold her burp rag. She went to see the new Harry Potter movie with us yesterday; slept through the whole thing.

We had our last swim meet yesterday. Thank goodness, as the heat is taking its toll on all of us parents who aren't swimming when it's 95 degrees at 7:30am. Madi took 3rd in butterfly and Julia took 2nd in breaststroke. This season Madi has turned her worst stroke into her best--butterfly. We love the Lakes Swimteam season as it gives us a chance to spend so much time with people in our neighborhood. From all this, I have found a caregiver for Rachel. Her "pool nanny", Cara, will be taking care of her when I return to work in August. Cara is dubbed the pool nanny because she would hold Rachel everyday at swim team practice. "Where's that baby" is her favorite line.

We escaped the heat for a week and drove to Telluride, Colorado for the 4th of July. We stayed with our old friend, Dave Johnson. It's a beautiful little town with an awesome traditional 4th of July parade and celebration in the town park. We enjoyed the best fireworks show I've ever seen, a day trip to the hot springs in Ouray, hikes to waterfalls, walks down Main Street, and, of course, the cool weather. A big thanks to Dave for putting up with us 5 for a week.

We just celebrated Julia's 8thh birthday with the usual, a pool party. We had ice cream sandwiches and bobbing for apples in ice water.

Madi gets her braces removed tomorrow. Both girls are excited to start their new school. I'm so grateful to have this summer to spend with them.

Six Week Breakthroughs!

Baby Rachel is now 7 weeks old. We had a few breakthroughs during week 6. She is now sleeping through the night, smiling, and having conversations with herself (cooing)! We also got her little corner-of-the-room set up with her crib, cute bedding, dresser and some photos. A big "thanks" to the Reichman family for passing down Nathan's crib and dresser to Rachel. And a shout-out to fab photographer, Colleen Hayes, for beautiful "parts of Rachel" gift that brought me to tears.

The little one is now the chunky one....fat folds everywhere...arms, legs, neck; milk gut. I'm guessing she weighs about 12 pounds now. She is the spit-up queen, but something must be staying down as she has grown so much.

Rachel slept through another swim meet. Madi took 1st place in back- & breaststroke and Julia won the breaststroke this weekend at Las Sendas Club. I'm posting a few photos and a video from a few weeks ago. Madison also attended Valley Christian HS's basketball camp last week. They worked them hard for 4 hours each day; Madi earned Outstanding Camper-runner up and best 3 on 3 player honors.

AH! The Spa

Grandma Diane and I gave the girls a mini spa day this week to ease the effects of constant exposure to chlorine. They enjoyed manicures, pedicures, salt scrubs, avacado masks, and hair conditioning. And don't forget the virgin mimosas!

First Swim Meet of '09

Madison & Julia have been attending swim team practice for about a week and half now. So far, no one has complained about having to get up early during summer break. Today was their first swim meet at the Lakes. Each competed in all 4 strokes. Julia earned 3 first place ribbons & 1 third. Madi fought the bigger kids for 2 seconds, 1 third, and a fourth place ribbon. We are so proud of the girls' hard work in the pool!