Wet & Wild in the Desert

Today we decided since it was so hot that we needed to get some water out for the kids to play in. Papa brought over his pool and Zach & Madison brought their pool from home. We set the pools up on the porch at the guest house and let the kids have at it.

Rebecca and Zach were the 1st out with Papa and the 1st to discover that the water was COLD! So instead of playing in the pools they decided to put the water on the dirt and make mud.

The cousins all had such a great time making mud castles, having mud fights, spraying each other with water, making mud pies and washing the mud off in the pools. They spent hours out there playing and having a great time.

Ammon wanted to get something out of the van so he ran over to it barefooted and stepped on a piece of cactus. We tried to get it out, but all we did was brake it off. Ammon the cactus magnet had
returned!

When it time came for lunch we had it catered on the golf cart from Nani & Papa's kitchen next door!
Eating didn't last long before the kids were back in the mud.

The big pool got all full of yucky muddy water, so Papa took the plug out to empty in. The water caused a flash flood at the boys castle. As everyone was watching the flood Zach quietly took the plug and put it back in the hole. Everyone was surprised when the water stopped until we heard a little laugh from Zach and saw what he had done!

The girls had the steps covered in mud cakes and the boys had made 2 neat castles built before they decided to have a battle and throw mud at each others castles to knock them down. Zach was a champion mud thrower!



Zach & Rebecca were covered in mud and needed a bath, so they took one together. Rebecca hasn't taken a bath with anyone in years, so this was great fun for her. They had a fun time getting washed together and then they got silly together sticking their tongues out. When they got out they left a big brown dirt ring in the tub!

Later in the afternoon the sky started to get dark and thick rain clouds rolled in. Before we knew it, we were in the middle of a HUGE thunder and lightening and pouring rain storm. Aunt Lisa ran in the rain with the girls. Rebecca liked it so much she ran 2 times. They were pretty wet after their run!

We had plans of going swimming down the street this afternoon, but the rain changed the plans for us. Instead the kids played ping pong, The Honey Bee tree game, watched movies and hung out until it was dinner time.

Down the road in Shelter Valley they had a flash flood come through. The mud was 3 feet high on each side of the road. We saw snow plows out pushing the mud over!

"I'm Nuked"

Tonight after Rebecca's bath I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap some pictures of her fresh and clean wrapped in her hooded towel. This towel was given to Simeon as a baby shower gift. It has since been used by each of the kids. It used to have a bear on it, but after so many washes the bear is no more, but it's still loving called the "bear towel."

The sun was shinning in from my bedroom window lighting up the hallway and it made the perfect backdrop for this sweet girls tender moment.

I'm getting a little melancholy lately when I think that this summer Rebecca will turn 3! Three years old is a big thing. She can do so many new classes and activities, and she'll officially be a preschooler, no longer a toddler. Since she's the last of our kids I know I'm struggling a little more with seeing the days pass by as she gets older.

And don't get me started on Simeon. He'll turn 11 on May 9th and that means in our ward he'll be with the Young Men for scouts 2 weeks a month. Man these kids need to slow down on the growing!!

Did you know that in 2 years she'll be going to kindergarten roundup. In 2 1/2 years she'll be at Lemme as a kindergarten? Crazy to think about. Why can't my baby girl stay a baby, or even a toddler a little longer?


Rebecca such the sweetie combines the words 'naked' and 'nuddy' to get her very own word "nuked". It sounds like 'new-kid'. It's the sweetest thing ever! Reminds me of when Ammon would say "cow o-te" for coyote. I love it so much that tonight I even video taped her saying it, because before I know it she won't say it anymore.

I love these sweet kids of ours! I love watching them grow and learn new things and I love being a part of that growth.

Learning my colors

Rebecca is such a little sponge right now. She learns a handful of new words each day. Since she knows so many words, I decided it was time to start working on learning colors. She has so many bright colored toys in the bathtub so that's where we've been learning our colors.



We dumped extra toys in the bath to make sorting by color more fun. She needs help sometimes so I'll say "Put the little red rocket with the big red rocket" and she knows exactly what group to put it with.



She loves to name the toys as she's putting them up. Her favorites are the Little Eistein characters, firefighter Fred and the animals, with the whales making the top of the list.



It so much fun to watch how quickly Rebecca is picking up things and how much she loves to learn new things.