My Baby Luke!

This weekend, Luke was wiped out from playing up in Island Park so he fell asleep at 8 p.m. one night, which was early for him. Needless to say, he was up at 5 a.m. ready to watch Dora. He was SO cute though. For those of you who noticed, this weekend the moon was HUGE! It happened to be shining in right on us. I pointed it out to him hoping to distract him from his addiction of cartoons and we had the sweetest conversation. Funny how while everyone was asleep and he knew he was up early, things seemed to make sense to him. He pointed out that maybe when everyone woke up he COULD watch Dora. He also insisted on using the toilet rather than potty in his diaper. Funny....as everyone was up that morning using his diaper was a must! So after we finished using the toilet, I headed down to start a movie and get him a sippy and of course he fell back asleep. Now to the whole reason for this story....As we were making breakfast and Luke was hopping around playing, I looked at him and said "I sure LOVE my baby!" And so sweetly and with the cheesiest smile he replied "and YOU make me SO happy mom!"

SUMMER VISIT

Our good friends Cami, Kiara, and Kai came to visit before the new school year began. Allysa and Kiara were bestest friends right the beginning. Cami and I grew up together and then job shared after our babes were born. We were fortunate enough to take turns working and tending so that we did not have to send our new babies to daycare. When Kiara was about ONE....they up and left us and moved to Boise. As sad as we were, it has been a nice get away for us. We LOVE Boise! However, we have too much family here to leave. The kids have been having fun playing outside, eating sno-cones, playing at the park, and staying up late. We went out to the barnyard and took pictures of the kids. Cami wanted family pictures and they turned out so GOOD! She has a beautiful family. We also played at the creek. Crazy enough, I have lived here all my life and had not realized what a treasure it is that we have a place to let the kids play. We will be making it a routine...that is for sure!

"ALLYSA JO AND HER 4-H PROJECT"

Allysa and her cousin Kat started 4H this summer. Once a week they got together with some girls and participated in a sewing and cooking 4H group. Allysa chose to do a sewing project on sleep pants. The first time I saw the project was when it was totally complete. She did the whole thing by herself! We had the opportunity to watch her model her outfit in Blackfoot at the 4H building this last week. She got a Blue Ribbon and she will be modeling her pants at the State Fair in Blackfoot on September 6, 2008, at 1pm if anyone is interested. She has the modeling down...can you even imagine! ;-) GOOD JOB ALLYSA ON YOUR BLUE RIBBON!

~My LiL "Lysa Mo"~

This summer has patiently waited for the new "Gables" to open up, which is an assisted living retirement home. It is within walking distance of where we are. As soon as she saw life over at the home, she instantly was there asking if she could visit with the Seniors that were there. The gal was more then excited to have Allysa be one of the first "little" volunteers to visit with the ladies there. With her cousin Kat, Allysa has committed her self to every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours to go visit, play games, play the piano, and just relax out on the deck with the sweet ladies. I am so proud of her and the excitement she has had over this project. In fact, Allysa would not look at it as a project or an act of service....yet merely something rewarding and humbling for her to partake in. She has already developed a sweet friendship with a couple of the ladies. One day we were riding our bikes to my sister's house and she spotted her friend on the deck and asked if she could go say 'hi'. An hour later, Lys showed up at my sisters. She truly enjoys their company as they are enjoying hers. She has taken over photo albums and shared pictures with them as they have with her of their families. It is darling how she has taken an interest in something that many would just overlook. Lys is my lil dream come true. She is my lil sweet baby girl and everything I could have wanted in a daughter and more.