Grandma Sue Comes to Visit

Neal's mom, Susan, came for a week long visit. We enjoyed her company and going on outings with her. Grandma helped Keri make Sophie's tutu one night.

Wonderful See's Candies from CA! Thanks Mom!...We went to the Dallas World Aquarium. Everyone had a good time seeing all the cool fauna and flora. Except poor Rhys got crapped on by a bird (he he) and we packed baby formula but forgot a bottle so we had to get creative. We were flustered and did not know what to do so Susan suggested that we have a little prayer. We got a little in his tummy by carefully using cup feeding and then a straw. Then he fell asleep from being so upset. Thanks to the prayer we were able to handle the situation as calmly as possible which is not easy to do with a screaming, hungry boy. Don't worry, we have been better parents ever since. Looking through the same exhibit from the other side...Bummer! Rhys was a target for a bird.We also visited Susan's family in Garland. She was able to see her aunt, uncle, cousins, and so forth. Susan also was given a doll of her Aunt Melba's that she has admired for years.
Susan's Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Alvin, and his wife, Melba.Lastly, we enjoyed some warm weather at the Dallas Arboretum. We took a brief tram tour and then walked some of the grounds. Thanks Susan for all the love you show as a parent and Grandma. We really enjoyed having you.

Our Forever Family

If you've read previous posts, you know how enthralled Sophie is with the temple right now. To help her differential churches from temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), we have been pointing out the angel Moroni on top of LDS temples. Finally, we told her we would take her to the temple as there is one near-by. So that's what we did. We tried to bring it down to a two-year-old level and explained it was God's house, that we get married there so we can be a family forever, and that it is a beautiful place where we can feel good feelings (peace).Something interesting is that we think there is a bee hive somewhere in the statue or under it. There were bees buzzing all about it. The Newport Beach, California Temple had to get a hive removed from their statue not long ago, I hear.And, yes, even more pictures of our kids can be found in this slide show.

Nature Walk

Despite some very hot, sunny weather, Keri was able to get the kids out for a long walk. We barely made it back because Sophie was so tired and Keri could not carry her and push the stroller. Luckily with frequent water stops and some coaxing (Let's walk to the stop sign and tag it, let's walk to the mailbox and tag it), we made it home and treated ourselves to more water, A/C, fans, and cool, wet washcloths.

Everyday Life

Turning on the charm

Jumping on the bed (with, freind, Kenzie) Bathtime

Naps (She had a hat obsession this day)

Play hard. Life is short.

Sophie Quirks

The two big themes in Sophie's life right now are hugs and the temple.

Sophie says hug and will surprise her friends, cat, or toy with an embrace. She is also learning to squeeze back with a bit of prompting.

Ever since our friend, Kari, reviewed the song, "I Love to See the Temple" with pictures at a family home evening (http://www.lds.org/hf/display/0,16783,4224-1,00.html), Sophie will point out churches, national monuments in her Washington D.C. board book, and, yes, actual pictures of temples with excitement, labeling all as temples. She will request "temple song" and do a pretty good job of singing along. We have put a temple picture in her room because we want to encourage her love for the temple since it is such a special and important place to us(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8).

Sophie asks to hold Rhys which we are fine with because it lasts all of 10 seconds until she tells us, "all done."

Our daughter is so loud (a warning to soon-to-visit relatives). She has a screaming pitch and volume that are off the scales. We have become so sick of saying "No screaming" that we wanted to state it in the positive. We have started a little tune, "Wanna hear a nice voice." We've been using it for a while and tried just prompting her with "Wanna hear a..." to which she fills in "No screaming." Neither phrase really works well but we try.

Sophie will stretch out her hand, grunt as if straining to reach, and then declare the street lamp or water tower or whatever is "too far." She also will carry a boulder, anvil, feather, or sheet of paper with the same non-discriminatory grunting, repeatedly saying "fey, fey" and lately more clearly, "heavy, heavy."