5 months, already?

This past month went by so fast, and Chloe is changing right before our eyes. She is sleeping less during the day, playing more with toys, putting everything in her mouth and constantly moving her arms and legs.

She is still an easy, mellow baby. What a blessing!

Her brothers absolutely adore her.

They're quite entertaining for her. She just watches them all the time.

  Matching bed heads!

Not the best picture of me (I had just gotten back from exercising), but a good action shot. Chloe likes to be thrown up into the air, but sometimes it makes her a little nervous. Dallin likes to put her on top of his head. That makes me nervous.

We bought her an exersaucer at the used baby store. I almost bought one a month earlier, but she cried when I put her in it at the store. This time she really liked it and immediately tried to chew on the toys. 

She's just the right height for standing.

This is her favorite of the toys. Sometimes she's sucking on a binky and gets confused when they don't both fit in her mouth. And the toys all spring back and forth, so occasionally they bop her on the nose after she lets go. She doesn't like that!

She looks a lot smaller with grandpa than with her brothers.

I almost forgot we had this little baby carrier, and she's almost too big for it! We took her to the fair to watch a free concert, and she was so good.

 Those big blue eyes just kill me.

We gave her rice cereal for the first time tonight, and she's also sucked on watermelon, oranges and other fruits. She is definitely starting to notice our food. She'll grab whatever she can and put it in her mouth.

Soon she'll learn that marshmallows taste even better than the poker.

She has many adoring fans. During Dallin's baptism yesterday, Chloe was passed around from brother to cousin, and she was so good. She even fell asleep in Eric's lap. So sweet!!

Family visits

My sister MaryRuth came to visit last week. They arrived just in time for Dallin's birthday party.

Rachel is so cute. And she may be the only one out of 35 grandchildren who has brown eyes. 

We went to Morro Bay with them one day, and of course we had to go to the Shell Shop. Here's Lisy - such a sweet face!

And Samuel. He and Tyler got along especially well.

Then we headed over to the rock to jump off the sand dunes. Benjamin had great form.

It was such a nice day - sunny, warm, and no wind. Very rare for Morro Bay, that's for sure.

Makayla is so cute and little, with tan skin and blonde hair. What a lucky little girl!

Here's Rachel making a sand angel.

I love this picture! Dave's mom crocheted this adorable hat for Chloe - I love the flower!

The next day we went to Hearst Beach. It was cold and windy, and the waves were much bigger than usual. It was their first time boogie boarding, and they loved it!

Poor MaryRuth got sunburned that day.

Dominic made a great sand sculpture. Then the tide came in and collapsed it. It was the highest tide I've ever seen there!

I couldn't stop taking pictures of Makayla. She's just too cute!

Lisy loved playing in the sand! After this we went home (Tyler and Dallin had a cub scout activity) while they stayed and did a tour at Hearst Castle.

We're so glad they came to visit us!

Scout Camp - by Spencer

I had my first scout camp at Chawanakee a couple weeks ago. On the way there we almost hit a cow on a sharp turn, so that was the beginning of our adventure.  

We stopped at In-n-Out for dinner. They messed up my order, so I basically had 2 buns, a patty, and a whole bunch of ketchup. But at least the milkshakes were killer.

We had a lot of time on our hands. 

Our campsite overlooked Shaver Lake.  I thought this place looked good in the winter, but Shaver in the summertime is breathtaking.

Funniest thing of the week - watching this 18 wheeler get to Chawanakee on a 1-lane dirt road, doing 90 degree turns on the side of a cliff. Scariest thing: watching the septic truck doing the same thing, except I'm at the bottom of the hill, going to rifle-shooting!

This pump is how we got our water all week. It was pretty gross.

We washed our own laundry. The "Chawana-dust" was pretty intense.

The tents were more like rain cover than insulation, and more lean-to than tent.

My head could touch the ceiling.

The beach was awesome. There were ginormous 30' boulders everywhere that we loved to climb and jump off of. 

Some of the boulders were half-submerged, and others completely. Here's Alec, "walking on water."

 Amazing view!

This is what it looked like when I woke up at 6:00 every morning. 

My favorite tree of all time, Jeffrey Pine. Its sap is the main ingredient in high explosives. If one drop of sap is put in a fire, it will singe a 20' radius. I've got a hunch they're the main cause of forest fires.

The great schedule. It showed the time, a map, a list of all the classes, and it told everyone what their class order was.  

A really cool scout-made bridge over a deer-rich meadow.

Guess what some wise guy found in the woods! 

I'm pretty sure it was harmless.

I borrowed my mom's old camera and earned my photography merit badge. Here's a lupine, one of my favorite flowers.

 I loved going out with friends, exploring miles away from camp. The schedule was really free.

All the fences were made by scouts from 1940's - 1960. 

Here's the chapel, where we had church on Sunday. One of the most amazing church experiences ever.