Erik's project is scheduled to finish early November. I am very sad to be leaving here. We all are. Kansas City has been a good place for our family. But we are also looking forward to finally returning home to family and friends and living in a house for the first time. Bittersweet.

Here's Julia catching up on some light reading. Julia's hair is growing fast (in back). You can't really tell because it's so curly. Don't mention it to Alli though unless you want to see her evil side. She's very jealous and always asks me to cut J's hair.

We are trying to potty train Julia before we move into a house with carpet we actually care about. We've had a lot of accidents but overall she's taking to it pretty well. We call it "tinkle tinkle" but I've overheard her calling it "twinkle twinkle".

With this fabulous weather we've spent more time outside and I've discovered what a bug girl Allison is. She needs a backyard.

She cannot resist picking them up and tries to sneak them home to keep as pets. The other day at the park with their friend Wyatt the three of them dug up a nest of beetle larvae. They must have been playing for a half hour before Wyatt's mom and I went to see what was so interesting in the dirt. We found Wyatt and Allison each holding some kind of a large acorn and when they opened it up we saw 5 or 6 wriggling fat beetle larvae huddled together inside the nuts. There were more on the ground beside them.

We didn't think to take a picture but this is about what they looked like. Allison saw this picture and confirmed it, "Ya mom, it was gray on that side and had orange on the head. Yep, you're right."

What would we do without the nasty creatures?

City of Fountains

With over 200 fountains, Kansas City is supposed to have the second most fountains in the world (just behind Rome)! They are everywhere - even our apartment complex has a few of them. The other day we were driving through North KC and saw this. Click on it to get a larger view. It's a mom and 4 children leaping, pole vaulting(?), catching a ball, and doing flips across the water. It was amazing in person!

Summer Swimming

We did swim lessons for both girls the last month of the summer. When we started Allison was terrified of the water. She clung tightly to the side and on some days bawled every time the teacher came to peel her away. Progress was slow. The last 2 weeks were devoted to bobbing their heads under water. By the end Allison had successfully bobbed her face (not head) while holding her nose plugged with her hand about 3-4 times. She received much praise from her exhausted teachers. But the day after swim lessons ended we were at the YMCA and it finally clicked. In and out of the water she went over and over and over, without holding her nose! It was a triumphant end to a challenging few weeks. And a triumphant beginning to our future all-star swimmer! Here she is that day at the Y. Hooray girl!

Julia turns TWO

Our sweet little Julia turned two! We invited her two best friends Grace and Afton over to celebrate. She felt very spoiled and very loved. Wish I'd caught some better pics but here's something.

We love you Julia! You make life absolutely delightful. Happy Birthday, I wish you'd stay this age forever!!

Erik and I had our anniversary and ate at the Texas Roadhouse. I'd never been there before. As soon as we walked in the hostess handed us a bag of peanuts to munch on while waiting. And everybody just threw their shells on the ground so the floor was covered in peanut shells! The servers did a lot of dancing and I wondered how they ever got anything done. It was really unique and a lot of fun.

We also recently took a Saturday to visit the St. Louis temple 4 hrs away. There are some advantages to being this far from a temple, like 12 hours alone with your husband without the kids. Not bad at all. :)

I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. I fall deeper in love every day! I'm especially grateful we've been in the traveling group this last 3 1/2 years because it's made us so much closer as a couple and a family. Life is just good.

Sista Love

The Various Moods of These Two Sisters

Eclectic

Resourceful (capes also function as swimsuits)

Throttled

and Chomped

Giddy

Precious

and DE-pleted!

Joy School Graduation

Allison graduated from Joy School!! Here's the graduation ceremony. Someone felt purdy special. This was a really good experience for all. We were fortunate to join this group - great moms, great kids.

And here's one with the 4 younger siblings who were completely neglected on their mom's week to teach. Little troopers that they are. Each of the families has two kids about the same ages as ours.