Memorial Day, Baby Shower, and Newborn Pix

We had such a wonderful Memorial Day... I loved that we got to spend it with family and that Ben had the day off work too. And it officially feels like summer! Over the weekend, Ben set up the tent in the backyard so Emma and Becca could have a little beginning of summer campout. They were very excited, and Ben and I spent some time in the tent with them telling silly stories... but 2 minutes after we came inside, the girls decided they were scared out there, and ended up sleeping in the loft in their sleeping bags. :)


Ben also tried out making homemade soft pretzels.... they really did taste just like the ones you get at the mall! He made half of them cinnamon-sugar, and the other half just salted, but with a cheese sauce to dip them in. Next time, we'll definitely want to make an icing dip for the cinnamon-sugar, because that would just put it over the top delicious.


The morning of Memorial Day we drove to Ben's family's house in Gilbert. The grandparents took Adam and Jake to see Rio at the movie theater, Emily stayed home with the 2 new babies, and the rest of us went to play some tennis. Ben, Peter, Emma, Becca and I all had a great time... but I just felt lucky to be able to somewhat chase after the tennis balls as they mostly flew past my racket. :)


After our morning outings, we enjoyed a yummy lunch on the back patio. The weather was in the 70's that morning and just beautiful! It's definitely rare to be able to comfortably enjoy an outdoor lunch on Memorial Day... it's usually much hotter. My contribution to the meal was desert - a patriotic trifle! mmmm. :)




In the afternoon we took the kids to the Tempe splash park...









I forgot to bring along some towels, so Adam was nice to share his :)

So, new topic... I had a wonderful baby shower on Tuesday, put together by some very thoughtful friends in the ward. I was so happy that people actually came even with it being summer time and the day after the holiday. I felt so loved and really enjoyed getting to stay out a bit late chatting with friends, eating yummy food, and opening lots of presents. And I got to show off my sweet Claire. :) I neglected to pull out my camera while at the shower, so I had the kids pose with all the gifts the next morning... some good friends even included bubble wands for the kids with one of the baby gifts, and they were so excited!


One of my favorite gifts are these beautiful newborn photos of my little Claire Bear taken by Annie Miller... she is such a talented photographer and was so patient to get these lovely shots of my tiny babe. :) I'm so thankful to have these!