Uh oh. Caught by dad playing with dolls!

We have loved harvesting this summer!  My favorite has been our peaches. Oh my goodness!  I guess we chose the right type of tree because they are the juiciest, sweetest peaches Nick and I have ever tasted.  Yum.

Our harvesting has inspired us to try out some unique recipes. One was this grilled cheese: blackberry jam, swiss cheese, 4 pieces of bacon, and diced jalapeños, on a highly buttered ciabatta roll. Sounds so weird but Nick and Alex loved it.

We also tried adding homemade cinnamon peach cobbler filling to my mom's coffee cake recipe. This was also a hit!

Madison has enjoyed our harvesting as well.  One day a small bowl of blackberries was left on the table and Max somehow knocked it off.  I guess when Madison saw him playing with the berries she decided it would be ok if she joined in.  When Nick found her she was using the blackberries to finer paint on the rug and on Max.  It was such a mess but was actually kind of hilarious too.  Max was COVERED and he was happy as a clam because Madison had let him eat the berries while she painted.

The kids and I were out shopping one day and got caught in a downpour!  It started right as we were leaving the mall.  I pulled the car right up to the door of Herbergers but the kids still got drenched.

Cole and Maliya have both decided that they'd like to do karate for their fall activity.  We found a studio that offered to let us take classes for free for the rest of August. That was a deal we couldn't pass up!  We went for the first time last Wednesday and they both loved it. (We went right after school so Emma came with us. She had fun too!)  

Madison was a little sad that she couldn't join in.

Max had to sit in his stroller during karate but luckily didn't mind too much.  He liked watching the kids and chatting with Madison. Anytime he got restless I gave him a new snack and he settled right down.  Food for the win!

My parents visited last weekend!  When they got here they surprised Madison and Max with the AWESOME floor cushion and pillow that MY MOM MADE (she's SO talented)!  I asked her to make it for our little reading nook at the top of our stairs and I am so in love with it. The kids are too. Our reading nook has now become a hot spot!  

My parents got here Thursday at lunchtime.  After a quick meal we loaded up our suburban, picked up Cole and Maliya early from school, and took of for Ouray for a fun weekend away.  We've been wanting to take my parents to Ouray ever since we went a few years ago and it finally worked out!  

We all had a wonderful time in Ouray.  I think my parents loved it as much as we hoped they would.  My mom said multiple times that the city looked like a scene right out of a Hallmark movie. She loves Hallmark movies so I took that as a good sign:)

When we got to Ouray on Thursday we walked Main Street, bought souveniers, had dinner, and then swam in our hotel's natural hot spring pool.  We finished the night off with a movie and treats in our conjoined hotel room(s).  

On Friday morning we did two fairly short waterfall hikes.  Then we picked up lunch from a local bakery and took it back to our hotel to eat and relax for just a bit. After that we went on a 4 hour jeep tour! We drove through the mountains of Ouray and got to see so much.  We also got to hear/learn a ton about the history of Ouray (our tour guide was fantastic!!) and we got to explore a waterfall and an old mine. We were a little worried about the weather but it ended up being perfect. I was also a tad worried about how Max would handle the ride but he was great the entire time.  

Madison told me this little tunnel was what she liked most about Ouray:)

Notice my mom's hand.  She started out holding Madison's hand but resorted to holding her back-pack handle after Madison asked her to try not to 'break' her hand.  I guess she was squeezing a little tighter than Madison liked:)

The kids were pretty stoked when they found out they'd be riding in the jeep WITHOUT seat belts.  That was a dream come true for them.

After our tour we did had dinner on Main Street (after picking up Maliya's souvenir ... We tried to get hers after dinner Thursday but the store had closed. We went back Friday before dinner and it was closed again!  She settled for a different souvenir from a different shop and luckily ended up loving it.) Then we went back and swam some more at our hotel.  We were going to try out the big famous Ouray Hot Springs pool but they raised the prices AND the fun slide and activity pool were already closed for the winter season. We decided it wasn't worth it. The kids didn't mind. Our hotel's pool was plenty cool for them.  After swimming we did treats and a movie again (of course!) and then called it a night.

On Saturday morning we drove to Telluride (about 20 minutes away). We were going to hike to a really cool waterfall but I for some reason thought the hike was going to take 3-4 hours and didn't feel like the kids were up to it.  Or more like I wasn't up to hearing them complain the entire time.  They would've been fine physically but they started complaining about hiking before we even left the hotel.    I changed our plans and sort of ended up regretting it (especially since I realized later that the original hike would've taken only been 2.5-3 hours).  We tried a different waterfall hike but it ended up just being a crazy rocky drive up a mountain to the base of a waterfall.  The waterfall was pretty but overall the plan was a bust.  By that point the kids were begging to ride the free gondola (we'd been talking about that all weekend).  We were going to ride the gondola up the mountain and hike back down but decided against that. Instead we just rode the gondola up, toured the mountain village for a few minutes (basically just a few really expensive shops), and then rode the gondola back down to our car.  Before getting on the gondola we though about trying another short waterfall hike after the ride but once we were back in our car we realized it was lunchtime and so we nixed the hike idea. Instead we got lunch and then wandered Main Street for about an hour.  We were excited to shop but ended up mostly just walking up and down the street because only a few stores were appealing.  We left at about 2:30 when it started to rain.  Overall it wasn't the most exciting day ever but we did have some fun and we enjoyed being together!

We got home at about 5 on Saturday.  We unpacked everything and then had a quick dinner so that we could have the rest of the night to play! We taught my parents a new game and Nick and I worked on our talks (yep, we had to talk in Sacrament meeting the next day) while everyone else played in the toy room.  We eventually managed to get the kids to bed (it's a hard thing to do when it's your last night with visitors) and then us adults relaxed to a show (we were way too tired to do any more thinking so games were out).

Sunday morning was slow and relaxing. We enjoyed cinnamon peach streusel muffins for breakfast and then played a couple of games before my parents had to take off.  We hated saying goodbye but were glad that we could focus on the fact that they'll be back in less than two months!

Last weekend Nick's cousin Gabriel and his wife Eva came to visit! We haven't seen them since their wedding a year ago and we absolutely loved getting to spend time with them.  

They got here on Thursday night and after the kids gave them a tour of the house and told them our life story, ha ha, we had dinner and then spent the night playing games.  Gabriel and Eva are BIG gamers. They actually brought all of the games they own (two big boxes full) and introduced us to a lot of new games that we loved. 

On Friday morning we walked Main Street in downtown Grand Junction.  We stopped in a few stores but spent the majority of our time at the game shop (Gabriel and Eva bought another new game!) and at Entstroms.  They were making toffee when we got to Enstroms and we sat and watched for quite awhile because it was absolutely fascinating.

After shopping we had lunch, played games, and then swam at our neighbor's house.  Then we came home and had Feijoada with our sweet sister missionaries.  After that Uncle A came over and we played more games! (Games were kind of the theme of the weekend.)

On Saturday Nick, Alex, Eva, and Gabriel got up early and drove to Ouray, where they spent the day. They did one long, awesome hike, had lunch during and then a nice dinner after, and then came home for games and dessert.  While they were gone the kids and I went downtown.  Our purpose was to check out a new splash pad. Sadly we got there at 12 and it didn't open until 1:30. Happily it was right next to Lincoln Park which was, unbeknownst to us, hosting a free Kids Fest!  Seriously it was the best surprise, definitely a tender mercy since the kids were totally bummed about the splash pad.  What was really lucky was that it had water features that the kids were perfectly dressed for!  What was also lucky was that one booth was giving away shirts and letting the kids tie-dye them and they only had giant ones left, meaning Cole was able to cover up (he just had his swimsuit on and was very self-conscious) and he left with a giant jammy shirt, something he's been wanting for days.  What started out as a huge disappointment turned into something totally awesome.

 These are pictures from the hike.  They're absolutely gorgeous.

Isn't this a cool shot? And that blue water, wow!

We relaxed Sunday morning and the kids talked Gabriel and Eva into playing a few games with them. (It didn't take much convincing! Gabriel and Eva were so sweet with the kids all weekend and had already introduced them to a handful of kid friendly games.) After church we had a tasty dinner (thanks to Uncle A for the pork chops recipe!) and then surprisingly played a lot of games.  Gabriel and Eva also made a special dessert, a Norwegian treat passed down from Gabriel's dad's family.  It was sort of like a crepe but made with mashed potatoes and filled with butter, cinnamon, and sugar.  It was a hit!  Surprisingly it didn't take like potatoes at all, more like pie dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. 

We had such a fun time with Gabriel and Eva!

Gabriel and Eva left Monday morning. That night for FHE we talked about camping/hiking safety and then gave the kids these cool kids hiking packs that have camel backs water bottles built into them. They were SO EXCITED!  They had to try them out and pose for pictures and were sad when I asked them to take the packs downstairs to save for our upcoming trip to Ouray..

On Tuesday big kid decided it was time to walk!  One night he just started trying it out with his huge cheering crowd it didn't take long for him to get really excited about it. He now walks anywhere and everywhere and gets less wobbly every day.

Maliya had her bi-annual appointment with her geneticist on Wednesday.  It was right at dinner time so she and I made a date of it. We went to the appointment, went to dinner at Wendy's, and then went shopping for some new shirts.   We had so much fun together!

On Wednesday we had an almost all-day play-date with Kenzie and Emma Seaver.  I picked Kenzie up while the big kids were at school and took her and Madison to the McDonald's play place (because Spin City changed it's hours, dang).  Then we played and relaxed at home until it was time to pick Cole, Maliya, and Emma up from school.  Once we got them we went to Spin City. We played from 3:30-5, left from 5-6 for dinner at Burger King, and then went back to Spin City until 7:30.  It was a long day but it didn't phase the kids at all. They had a blast and were still going strong when I told them it was time to go. They wouldn't stayed till close (9) if I'd let them!

These cuties were pretty excited when I picked Kenzie up and they saw that they were wearing the exact same pair of pants:)

A few Saturdays ago Maliya went grocery shopping with me. While there she decided that it would be really fun if we bought all of Nick, Cole, and Madison's favorite foods for dinner. I told her we already had dinner planned for that night but that we could buy things for Sunday breakfast. She was all over that idea and when we walked past the donut aisle got super excited and decided we had to buy donuts because those were Cole and Madison's favorites.  When I suggested she and I make donuts instead she was thrilled and immediately started making plans for her big Sunday morning surprise.  She was going to set her alarm and get up super early to help me bake and then she was going to everyone's plates (full of food) on the table and cover them with dishes so they'd be a surprise and it was just going to be wonderful!  Well, the next morning didn't go exactly like that but it was pretty darn close.  Maliya forgot to set her alarm but still woke up at 6:30!  She did a fantastic job making her donuts and got dishes, drinks, and napkins on the table all on her own.  Everyone was already at the table when the food was done cooking so she just had them close their eyes and then she delivered their plates one at a time.  She was SO excited and her excitement wore off on everyone.  Everyone enjoyed the morning, not just because the donuts turned out well, but also because of Maliya's happiness and willingness to serve.  I love my sweet girl!

Maliya had ear surgery 1.5 weeks ago.  She's been getting a TON of ear infections so her dr. decided it'd be best to remove her tubes (sometimes they get to the point where they harbor bacteria and cause infections). The surgery was super quick and easy and Maliya handled it like an absolute pro.  All of the nurses remembered her from her last surgery and Dr. Griffin is just the best, both of which helped the surgery go more smoothly.  Maliya woke up less combative than last time (yay!) and was thrilled when they let her take her tubes home!  She rested a bit afterward but really was hardly affected at all.  Her ears have been great ever since and we're hoping she'll stop getting so many infections. (She's REALLY hoping - she's told me many times that she's so tired of all of her ear stuff, poor girl.)

Cole was pretty excited to show me this 9-layer cushion he made for himself (complete with a pouch for holding treasures). I had him take my phone upstairs to take a picture of it for me and he came back with multiple pictures AND a video:)

Sometimes I actually bake breakfast:)

For the past two months we've been excitedly watching our grapes grow and slowly ripen and have been anxiously waiting for them to be ready to pick.  Sadly about two weeks ago something started to get at them. We had no idea what, but they were disappearing quickly (oddly lots of them were scattered all over the ground) so Nick set up a couple of traps.  On Monday when he checked them he discovered this HUGE raccoon!  Nick and the kids drove this little stinker 10 minutes away and dropped him in a woodsy area behind a park and we're hoping, fingers crossed, that he was our culprit and that we won't lose anymore grapes!

I love this!  

Big 13 month old!

Madison always wants to take a bear picture after Max gets his taken.

Cole, Maliya, and Madison were all behind me making faces at Max to try and get him to smile.  It helped ...  he smiled ... but he also kept crawling away because he wanted to play with them. He loves his siblings!

13 Months!

Max tid-bits at 13 months:
-Has 8 teeth and loves to chew on anything and everything.
-Can often be found crawling around with some random object hanging out of his mouth.  He's kind of like a puppy
-Is ALWAYS up, holding onto something so that he can walk.  He is SO close to walking on his own. It'll be nice because it can be difficult getting around when you have  a mini me attached to your legs (or your skirt ... that doesn't like to stay up when it's being pulled on!)
-Likes to dance (bounce up and down) when he hears music
-Likes to call for Cole (Coh!)
-Talks a ton. The sounds he puts together are pretty adorable
-Entertains everyone sitting in the rows behind us at church. He is a wiggly goofball and he loves to stand against the bench facing behind us and chat with everyone he sees.
-Loves to open cupboards.  Not good!
-Still loves being outside
-Is still a daddy's boy
-Loves his little musical chair that Grandpa and Grandma G gave him for his birthday
-Gets a kick out of throwing things over his shoulder. During Sacrament meeting on Sunday he was playing with some rubber puzzle pieces and for about 60 seconds straight he tossing them down the back of his shirt, one at a time.  He'd toss one and I'd catch it and hand it to him and then he'd toss it again, over and over. I'm not sure if he actually meant to put them down his shirt or if he just couldn't get them over his thick collar.
-Has discovered our stove handles and loves to try and grab them
-Has a cute little whine that he does after he's done flipping out. He makes a sad face and whines like he's telling us a sob story. It's really cute.
-Like to scrunch up his nose and squint his eyes. That's really cute too.
-Is fascinated by the vacuum.  (This makes vacuuming extremely difficult.)
-Is horribly afraid of my hair dryer
-Still loves water and loves to crawl into the shower when I'm in it and play.
-Has figured out how to crawl up into our Disney kid fold-up chairs, which is pretty impressive, and likes to sit in them and hang out. Also likes to plop down into the shorter, more comfy kids couch chairs and just chill.
-Loves to imitate us.  On Sunday at church he and I had way too much fun playing an imitation game using the bathroom mirror.  I'd smile into the mirror and he'd do the same and then I'd raise my eyebrows really high and shape my mouth into an 'o'  and he'd do that too. We did it over and over and it was so cute and pretty funny too.
-Is loved SO much by all of us (his sisters are both on a 'don't touch Max' fast because they love him so much and just always want to be in his face:))