7 month and 3 year old pictures of Alegra and Cruz

I haven't had professional pictures of the kids, so just 2 weeks ago I took them into this photographer I found. I am posting her blog so you can check out the preview of their pictures. I will hopefully get the CD of their pictures in the next few days and then I can post the actual pictures to the blog. If you want a preview go to: http://www.sweetpeaphotos.com/blog/.

Happy 8 months Alegra

Alegra is 8 months old today. I think she is teething again because she had a high fever on Tuesday and pretty cranky the last few days. She really is so good normally, so this is strange for me. Plus I do think she might be getting a little bit of the attachment thing to me. The last couple of days if anyone else held her she would always look for me or cry if she couldn't see me, which she has never been like that. I have loved the last few months with her. She is getting so expressive and fun! I can't believe how big she is getting, it is crazy how fast a baby grows! We love our little legs!

Cruz's Prayers and Alegra's Tricks

"Heavenly Father, thank you for Casey in Idaho, thank you for my mom, dad, and Alegra, thank you for not getting lost, thank you for my cousins, thank you for Jesus, in Jesus name, Amen" - Every Prayer the first thing mentioned is Casey in Idaho. The not getting lost part, well, a couple of days ago I was leaving a restaurant and I asked Cruz to stand on the sidewalk while I was getting Alegra in the car. He walked about 10 steps to the door of the restaurant and was on the inside part. A gentleman walked out and said something like, "you better stay with your mom!" Cruz came sprinting toward me and in the process of jumping off the curb to get to me he kind of twisted his knee and screamed in pain. The weird thing is, he doesn't relate the crying and being in pain to the knee twist, just to being scared from that guy. Hopefully he learned a lesson to stay close to mom (and by the way his knee seemed fine the next morning).



Alegra has been doing some new tricks lately. She lifts her arms like she is doing, "so big!" She also likes to take her fingers and run them across her lips and make noises. She has been sticking out her tongue alot lately too! The last few days she has had a fever and been pretty cranky. I think it might mean more teeth, we will see!

Our Backyard!

We love our backyard, even though it is kind of a mess right now. We got a new swing set around Memorial Day and then about a month ago we bought a used trampoline. Well, we have decided to make a play area with these two items on one side of our yard. We had a large excavator come and dig a big hole for the trampoline to go in. It is a huge project, Shawn has to shore up the sides with large railroad ties. Then for the remainder of the ground we are leveling it and hopefully putting some kind of surface on it, like turf. To say the least, it is a huge project, and it is basically a Shawn project. With working long hours and trying to get some bike rides in for a few races Shawn has signed up for, it is tough to find time (plus we have had close to 100 degree weather the last few weeks)! Here are some pictures of the kids playing and the boys working!

LAGOON 2010

Grammy, Alegra, and Cruz checking out which rides to go on first!

We went to Lagoon yesterday and had a blast!!!! We didn't get there until about 2 p.m. because I let Alegra take her good 2 hour morning nap, since I knew she would not have a normal rest of the day. Also, all of our other cousins on the Raddon side were going too and they all had swim lessons in the morning, so it worked out perfect. Grammy Raddon treated everyone, and for having as many people as we did at Lagoon (17), it all went pretty smooth. Grammy, me, Cruz, Alegra, Aunt Katie, Clara, Nicholas, and Sasha pretty much stayed together in more of the kidland. Aunt Rebecca, Aunt Naomi, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Ali, Georgia, Macy, Grant, Walt, and Mia all hit the BIG rollercoasters (a side note: when we pulled into the parking lot Cruz had just woken up from a little nap, he had gotten out of the car and when he saw the biggest rollercoaster close to the parking lot he jumped right back into the car seat and closed the door and said he didn't want to go to Lagoon. Luckily I was able to talk him out of the car). We rode rides for a bit and then about 3 we all sort of just met up and went into the water park they have there. It was fun to get cooled off and play in the water. It was close to 95 degrees, so getting wet was a nice option. At about 5 we all went out to the park again, and split into our 2 groups. Cruz had fun going on the egg drop, the dragon mini rollercoaster, the swings, the boat ride, etc. Alegra was a gem too. She hung out in her stroller, played with grammy when I helped Cruz, and had fun splashing in the pool to cool off. We ate dinner all together at about 7 and then we (our family) headed home. Actually, Cruz played 1 game on the way out of the park, the dart game. He threw 2 darts and then I asked if I could help him, and I threw 2 darts. I ended up hitting a balloon and Cruz got to pick a little green whale stuffed animal. He has named him "whale". We missed daddy, Uncle Rich, Uncle Russ, and baby Isla (who stayed home with a sitter), but we are so thankful to Grammy for providing a wonderful day of fun and rides at Lagoon. The swings won out for the first ride to go on!
Uncle Ryan, Aunt Naomi, Mia, and Sasha watched Cruz and I do the egg drop, so then they had to try it!
Sweet baby girl with her grammy
Sassy Sasha striking a pose while Cruz, Clara, and Nick wait for the ride.
Uncle Ryan taking Cruz on the lazy river, Cruz LOVES lazy rivers!
Clara and Sasha on a joyride. These 2 are the best of pals. It is a little tough for Cruz when they are together because he gets a little left out, but luckily he is usually a pretty good sport.
Cruz loved this boat ride, he liked to ring the bell. He also was sticking his hand in the water and licking his hand, which I was totally freaking out. I ran around the whole ride trying to get his attention to stop doing that! The things kids do :)!
Happy Alegra!
Nick LOVES Alegra. He loves to try and make her laugh and he usually does a pretty good job at it.
This is the best shot I could get of the cousins. It is about half the cousins. Sasha or Clara wouldn't get in the picture and we are missing Isla too. And I don't see Grant either!

A night out!

My brother Ryan, a.k.a Kaskade, played in SLC on Friday night. Shawn and I decided to go and luckily my mom was willing to come and sleep at our home. We didn't leave until 10 p.m., so the kids were long in bed. Ryan usually doesn't go on until Midnight, which if you know Shawn and I, that is extremely late. It was fun to go to The Depot and see him play. The place was packed and it was so cool to stand up on stage (because we had VIP wristbands) and see all these people singing Ryan's words and dancing like crazy. Ryan is touring all over the place with his new album, Dynasty. I really like the album! Naomi flew into town with him just for the night and it was fun to hang out with her too!

2nd tooth for Alegra and more playtime for Cruz

Alegra's second tooth is just barely poking through. It is the tooth on the bottom to the left (looking at Alegra) of the one that has come up. I think the fever last week was due to a virus because she hasn't run a fever so far with this tooth, so lets keep our fingers crossed.

Cruz and Alegra have been having a blast playing with their cousins this week. Nicholas and Clara from California are still in town and it has been fun going to the pool with the whole gang. Mia and Sasha are going to be coming in town next week, so we are still going to be having fun times!
Cruz playing barn with Walt and Macy

4th of July Weekend

Alegra watching the parade with Sofie, her giraffe!

We drove up to Swan Valley for the weekend. Actually, we made it a long weekend, which we love. Shawn has been working tons of hours so we were able to take off Thursday night.
FRIDAY - Shawn woke up extremely early and biked from Swan Valley to Alpine and then up the Hoback Junction into Jackson Hole, from there he rode to Teton National Park and then back to the center of main street where me, Cruz, Alegra, Grammy, Aunt Katie, Nicholas, Clara, Grant and Georgia picked him up. We had a yummy lunch at Sweetwater Cafe and then headed home. Unfortunately Alegra wasn't feeling well. I was crossing my fingers it wasn't her ears, but she had a high temperature and was cranky for her. I kept watching her ears closely for drainage. That afternoon/evening Shawn was a brave man and took Grammy, Cruz, Nicholas, Grant and Georgia out on the boat. Cruz was the first person to jump into the freezing water, way to go Cruz! Summer hasn't officially hit in Swan Valley yet. It would get down into the 30's at night and only about 70's in the day.
SATURDAY- Uncle Russ, Aunt Ali, Macy, Walt, and Uncle Rich came into town late Friday night. On Saturday we got bundled up and we all drove over to Victor for the 4th of July Parade. Luckily Alegra's fever broke and she was acting more herself....not sure if it was a little bug or if that was from teething, I am hoping that was not teething because she was in a lot of pain! The parade was a lot of fun and Cruz had a blast collecting candy! My cousins Matt, and his wife Wendy, Collin, Dawson, Sarah and her daughter Olivia, Shawnee, Garrett, and there girls Aiden, Ayla, and Anya were all there too, so we had a slew of kids wanting and fighting for candy! After the parade Victor has a street fair with booths and food set up. We ate in the park and some of the kiddos got their face painted. Cruz got his face painted like a dog and he wanted everyone to call him Casey! That night we made a bonfire out front and had s'mores. A bald eagle decided to join the party across the river and eat his fish. Cruz enjoyed looking at him through the binoculars, even though Cruz wasn't looking in the right direction at all, but he said he say the eagle, so what can I say! :)
SUNDAY- A nice day at church and then a hike for some of us. We had the typical Lynda Sunday dinner that I grew up with every Sunday at home. It was nice to eat like that!
MONDAY - A nice walk, Cruz saw a moose on the Snake River side of the house, playing on the trampoline, more cousin time, packing up, and heading home!

Cruz still doesn't like fireworks, so although the other kids watched some fireworks my brothers lit, we stayed in our room and read books with Cruz.

Cruz and Alegra waiting for the parade to start!
Grammy and Sara Toliver enjoying watching the kids run for candy. Shawnee trying to capture her girls with her camera.
Aunt Ali, Uncle Russ, and Uncle Rich
Shawn prepping Cruz to run!


Cruz happy with his "goods"!
All the kids with their face painted. Nicholas and Walt were Avatar, Grant didn't want his painted, Macy a Tiger, Georgia Spiderman, Clara a butterfly, and Cruz a doggy!
Casey eating a s'more
The Eagle
Checking for the Eagle