Stella's #8 Birthday

End of Swim Lessons

Ugh, they are just so strict at swim lessons. Who's to say that "free style" doesn't mean "dive down to the bottom of the pool and swim like a mermaid across the entire length of the pool"? Geez, lighten up Carson Junior High School swim instructors.

Malcolm is 11 Months Old!

Not sure how much Malcolm weighs at 11 months, but it's just so much more than I remember Stella weighing. He's definitely a chubby baby, but I think he's just solid. Brick. Anvil. Heavy.

Malcolm finally started crawling on July 1st! Stella see's everything first. I was in the kitchen refilling a bottle after church on Sunday and Stella started yelling, "He's crawling!" I grabbed the camera and made Stella drag him back so he could crawl for his bottle. It is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Malcolm got another cold. I did too.

Malcolm also finally got his first tooth (bottom right) at the beginning of the month, then 2 weeks later got the bottom left, 2 weeks later got the top left, 2 weeks later (August) top right.

Malcolm is pulling himself up to stand on everything and now that he's figured this and crawling out, he is INTO EVERYTHING! Seriously, it's like he's just been observing for 5 months and deciding which things would be easiest to get into instead of easing me into it. He's especially fond of the bathrooms and we are learning how to remember to shut the doors.

Now that he's more mobile, he is also more exhausted! I love it.

When I say "peek-a-boo," Malcolm will put his hand in the middle of his face. It's cute.

Malcolm has decided that he needs to try his best to be louder than his sister. Pterodactyle-like, even. I don't mind it so much when it's actually laughing. Stella can make him laugh harder than anyone.

Malcolm was amazingly well-behaved during a carwash we did for my friend Laurie. He held the sign for a little bit and then I pretty much forgot about him the rest of the time. He was entertained by the other kids though and he was in the shade, so I'm not that bad of a Mom, right?

Big Boy.

Malcolm loves his bath, so I was sure he'd love the water park too. He wasn't quite sure what to do.

Malcolm just likes to push stuff around. It gets loud on the tile floors, but he's so happy.

You won't see his happy face because he's stone cold around everyone else, but he really is a super happy guy and we just love him to pieces!

New Bishopric!

Elliot was released as Bishop of the Evergreen Ward on July 8th. He served for 7 1/2 years and had 7 counselors. We're going to have a few more Sunday afternoon naps here in our future. We're all very happy about it.

Our new bishopric is Bishop Barry Edholm (our good friend), John Flaherty (1st counselor), and Clint Bills (2nd Counselor).