Sophie in her “beautiful” pose.  She said, “I look so beautiful in my school dress, and I showed my teeth, so cute!”

Mrs. Perona and Sophie… the light flare, unintentional, but you can all pretend I was having an artsy moment!

Look at that face… it just screams trouble!

She climbed in the doll bed and then just played with anything within reach… including Jeff’s sneaker.

She decided she wanted to go for a bike ride!

Look out!  You never know where she will strike next… (why is a newly walking baby so adorable?!?!)

I love the frog room, though I don’t really like frogs, but there are so many in each case, and the sit right at the front of the window so the kids can see them.  Sophie jumped over the lily pads about 200 times… she loved it.  Luckily everyone else had lunch to eat, so we didn’t slow them down too much.

This is the only stroller I can get Vi to regularly fall asleep in… she fell asleep around the giraffes and was out until we left the park…

It is great that with my season pass they give me free ride passes as well.  Then I just ration them out every time we go… and now that Sophie will ride by herself it is a lot easier to tolerate, no standing in line only for her to wimp out when it is her turn!   We love our little field trips.

(PS I am not looking super cute in the glasses, but my eye has been having problems… and thank goodness the concert was last night as my eye has now swollen to the size of a small plum… yuck… )

Thanks for the super fun surprise baby doll!  Loved it, it was such a good time!

Friday, my mom took me shopping… fabulous, it was a lot of fun to get new clothes and spend time with my mom, just the two of us (well and Vi), we don’t get to do that all that often any more.  I also got to see my uncle Steve and some of his family, they were in town for my cousin’s babys blessing… if you caught that.  It was nice, I got to see a few people, even though I wasn’t there long.  Violet spent her time opening about every cabinet door in my parents house, it was her favorite activity…

Violet also REALLY wanted to play with my aunt and uncle’s dog, Boo.  But she needed me right next to her, so the pictures are from bad angles.  She did make Boo a little upset, Vi kept pulling his hair.  Though, that dog is severly spoiled, so maybe it was good for him.

Saturday was a long day.  I made it to the temple barely on time (a little late, but still before the sealing), and realized I only knew 1 other person besides family there… and the family was so busy all day (but so nice, they made sure I was doing ok and not too lonely!).  The ceremony was so great, Bethany’s grandpa sealed her and Jake.  It is so sweet when the sealer knows the couple.  Bethany looked beautiful and so happy, I love the feeling in the temple, there is such love and peace, and such a feeling of comfort.  It is also nice to remember those feelings (as my wedding day is all a blur).

The luncheon was DELICIOUS… it involved strawberry stuffed crepes and oh, yummy!  The people at my table were nice and friendly and it was fun to learn more about Jake from his friends. 

That night my Dad  performed (if that is the right word) the ring ceremony.  I think this is the part that Sophie would have loved.  The princess coming down the aisle with girls throwing rose petals.  Sophie would have thought that was pretty fabulous.  Then we went straight to the reception.  Violet was pretty worn out at this point, she hadn’t really napped when I was gone in the morning.  I am glad that she held out until the end!  Anyways, Bethany was beautiful, and I am so glad that I was invited to share in her special day.  The last few years I have had 2 people on my “whenever they get married I have to be there” list.  Bethany was one of those people… and I am happy I was there to see it happen!

Oh My Goodness… 1 lowly month away from having my baby turn 1!!!   It is coming so quick.  Violet is getting to have a funny little personality.  She talks a lot… lots of jibber jabber and lots of funny little screams, especially in her car seat and stroller.  She will stand without help for a long time, but still doesn’t have the best of dynamic standing balance (aka her walking isn’t so steady).  She is eating so much stuff, and will try anything but still loves ice cream the best.  Her favorite activities involve pulling all the ziploc baggies out of their boxes and scattering them on the floor, and (as you can see in the picture) getting into the fridge.  She pulls out all the yogurt.  It is cute, as soon as she hears the fridge door open she hurries over to get inside before I close it.

I took her on a flight, just the 2 of us, and she was really good.  She slept the whole way there.  On the way back things were good until she saw people walking in the aisle.  She really just wanted to stand in the aisle and bounce up and down.  She is such a fun girl.  Still so easy going and willing to go along with everything.  I love it, and will be sad when she decides her ideas are better than mine.  She loves playing peek-a-boo… but more of a chasing version.  She peeks over a chair or leg or other obstacle and thne when you see her she scurries around to the other side of the obstacle and peeks for you there.  So cute, and she has the cutest giggle.  I love that Sophie loves her, and tries to have her play princess games with her all the time.  She pretends Vi is the prince, and then tries to dance with her, but Violet’s balance isn’t that great, so the game doesn’t always end well.

She is a lot of fun, we love her, and I have 1 month to mentally prepare for her birthday, I am not sure I am ready for it, it came up on me so soon!

She sucked on that ice for a good 10-15 minutes.  When the one chunk fell on the floor, she just got another out of the cooler and sucked on a new one.  How she held onto that ice for so long, I will never know, she is tough… it was pretty cute, her sitting on the floor next to the cooler, eating the most bland snowcones ever… silly girl!

My mother would most likely be disappointed with my procrastination, but it is all done!