Funny Kids

People have been asking me for recent pictures of my kids, so I took some today while we were playing. As you can see, Leah's hair still has the curl on top that I can't do a thing with. She is such a cutie. We really like her.

It looks like she is about to attack me in this picture, but it was the best smile I could get out of her on film.

Recently I scrubbed the tile in the kitchen and Shannon, of course, wanted to help. I gave her a sponge and a bucket with a little bit of water in it, and she thought that was very fun.

For some reason this picture uploaded sideways, but you get the point. The top is what it looked like before I scrubbed it, and the bottom is what the grout is supposed to look like (though if you look closely you can see that it needs to be patched, too). It was really dirty!

Shannon has really gotten into the pretend stage. She wraps her dolls in blankets and sings to them all the time. This was too funny, however, to not take a picture. This is her favorite stuffed animal. It's a teddy bear, but his name is Puppy. She did all of this by herself. I especially loved the "peek-a-boos" (sunglasses) that she put on him.

Finally, here is a video of Leah's army crawl. She is getting very fast and getting pretty much anywhere she wants to be.

Some Before and After

We aren't finished with this room completely yet, but everyone has been asking for before and after pictures, so since it is the room that is the closest to being finished I decided to just go ahead and post these. All we have left to do is paint the trim, which will just be a little whiter than it currently is. So, here is the before: and after:

Same room, other side. Before:After:

Honestly, I am having so much fun I can't stand it! My body hurts all over, but I can't seem to sit and rest for very long since there is so much to do.

Three!

Shannon turned three on the 18th of this month. We had the party in American Fork so that her Grandma could be there, as she is still bed-bound.All of my sisters are laughing at my horrible first attempt at a princess cake. It's a little small because I thought I had two cake mixes, but I didn't. Who cares, though. Shannon loved it! She looks terrible in the pictures because by this time she had been playing with her cousins and she was very tired. You can also see the nice hives she gets on her face from being around dogs.We invaded Grandma's bedroom to unwrap presents. She got some really fun stuff, but was too tired to get very excited.

This is her Tinkerbell dress that she loves to wear. The neighbors saw her in it the other day and asked if it was her Halloween costume. I guess they don't understand girls and dress-ups.

Personal Ponies

Last night as an activity for the young women in our ward we learned how to train and groom Shetland ponies. One of the Young Women leaders is involved in an organization called "Personal Ponies," where they train these animals, then gift them to children with special needs. They also visit hospitals and nursing homes, so they are very well behaved. I took Shannon and as soon as she saw them she yelled, "horsies!"

She even got to ride one for a little bit. Basically, it was a little girl's dream come true.

She wanted to sit by one of her favorite babysitters, Sarah.

This is her friend, Josh. They had a lot of fun together chasing each other and racing up and down the hill.

(P.S. Don't miss the other posts below. I got a little bit behind.)

Ward Party

Matt was sick, so I took the girls and went to help set up for our ward party last Friday. I didn't end up helping at all because Shannon was running all over the place, but that's ok. It was 100 degrees, so it was very unpleasant for both kids, but they actually handled it pretty well.

Shannon saw the camera and wanted to say, "cheese!" She is sweaty, has messy hair and food on her face, but she's still pretty cute.

Here is a video of Shannon playing with some geese we found on a pond in the park. The pond smelled like the Salt Lake and looked just about as dirty, but Shannon thought it was great fun. I think the geese thought she was throwing bread at them, because they were coming up to her, but she was just being mean and throwing dirt.

Lauritzen Family Reunion

Last week we had a family reunion for my dad's family. These are most of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives.Shannon thought the stream that ran through the campground was a lot of fun to play in. Too bad she is allergic to dogs, because she loves them. This is my cousin's dog.From left to right: my dad, my sisters, Mindy and Kristi, my nephew, Jordan, my mom, and Leah being held by her cousin, Megan. It got kind of cold up in the canyon when the sun went behind the mountain. It was a very good time!

Geocaching

I took Shannon geocaching with her cousins a few weeks ago in the foothills above Springville. Here we are at the trail head, wondering a little bit if this was really the right place. It was a pretty steep hill, and quite a bit more difficult than we thought it would be, so those of us in our sandals were a little bit uncomfortable, but it was beautiful! The first cache was behind this huge boulder that looked like it could roll over on us at any moment.

This is everyone signing the guest list in the cache. Shannon was really enjoying the adventure.

Here is a view of a nice storm over southern Utah Valley that was chasing after us. It was beautiful!