Happy Father's Day!

It's great to have a day where we can spoil Dad a little bit. And it's extra fun as the kids get older and more involved in showing their appreciation.

We gave him gifts and cards:

A key chain from London, a hand-picked tie from Chelsea, and a golf shirt from Brighton

Siena picked out a gift with an ulterior motive-- a swimming towel :)

A new grill from me

We made him some of his favorite foods:

Breakfast in bed, and Brighton made the fruit salad all by himself!

And Dad's favorite dessert, strawberry shortcake

We let him have some R & R:

A little nap with London

And we spent some good quality family time together:

We sure love our Dad!

Three Weeks

London is 3 weeks old now. I can't believe it's only been that long since she joined our family, it's already getting hard to remember what it was like before she was around. She has gained about a pound, grown a half an inch, and she usually only wakes up once in the night to feed. She's a pretty good baby, and super cute. Her siblings constantly fight over who gets to hold her next, and I have a hard time handing her over because it's fun to hold a newborn, and she is already growing too fast! I think she is already a daddy's girl because she will be perfectly content in her swing or bassinet, but as soon as Dad walks in the room and she hears his voice she starts fussing-- it's like she knows that's what she needs to do to get him to pick her up and hold her. How quickly they learn :)

This is the picture we used for her birth announcement-- her big brother and sisters truly adore her

RSL Soccer Camp

Brighton enjoyed his RSL soccer camp experience so much last year that we decided to do it again this year. And Chelsea was old enough to join him this time.

Getting ready to leave on the first day

"I'm open!"

Chelsea was the littlest kid there and only one of three girls, but that didn't intimidate her one bit!

Taking a breather

How cute is this little soccer player? She was a hit with her coaches

One of the highlights was that Kyle Beckerman (captain of the RSL team) showed up on one of the days. The kids were so excited!

Brighton talked to him about the World Cup

Chelsea told him "I'm your biggest fan!"

And Siena was so hilarious-- she was the first to see him getting out of his car and yelled out "Hi, Kyle Beckerman!" and ran towards him

Pretty exciting stuff

On the last day, with their coaches, Taylor and Tyler

It was just a week-long day camp, but I was impressed with how much they improved in that short period of time. And to top it off, they had so much fun!

Thank you, Aunt Rachel!

Justin's sister Rachel came to visit us for a few days and help me out as I transition to having four kids at home. We always love having her around. The older three were especially loving having Aunt Rachel here to take them swimming, and to the park, and to the library, she played games with them and made cookies with them, and did so many other fun things. She was also such a great help to me-- she would take London from me after her early morning feeding so that I could get a couple of extra hours of sleep in the morning, she prepared and cooked all of our meals, kept the older kids entertained, and helped out with all the stuff that needs to be done around the house.



It was so sweet of her family to let us borrow her for a few days, and I don't know how I will go back to life without my personal nanny/cook/housekeeper and grown-up-person-to-talk-to. We had so much fun with her and we will miss her! Thanks Rach, you're the best!

And check out this adorable quilt she made for baby London-- it matches her bedroom perfectly, and is already hanging by her crib :)

Brighton's Weekend Away

Brighton just got back last night from a weekend away from his family. He was invited to join Grandma and Grandpa Allen and the Millers on a camping trip to the Four Corners area. Since neither of his parents are big campers, this was a great way for him to be exposed to the great camping experience.

Here are just a handful of pictures from the 150+ pictures he took with his little camera:

With his best buddy and cousin, Bennett

With the Miller cousins

He was pretty excited about roasting hot dogs over an open flame

On their last night they stayed in a condo in Telluride, and apparently the highlights included a swimming pool and a gondola ride

With his second favorite baby in the world (the first being London), his cousin Campbell

With Grandma and Grandpa

and the cousins

The first person he wanted to see when he got home was baby London

It was so nice of Grandma and Grandpa and the Millers to let him tag along on their trip. He had such a fantastic time and has told us all about the fun things they did.

But it is great to have him home, we missed him.

Pictures at Home

We've had a nice low-key and relaxing few days at home with London. We all just can't get enough of this new little baby.

A little nap in the swing

I don't know if it will last, but so far she has blue eyes and reddish brown hair

Her first bath at home

She gets plenty of attention from her siblings

Siena loves that she is about the same size as her doll

The girls are constantly checking on her all day long

And want to hold her as much as they can

They are just loving her to pieces!