I'm smitten...

2 months 3 weeks

Holes

Pierced ears!
Here you can als kind of see her hair cut and purple hair extensions.

Linnea got her ears pierced! She picked pretty pink flower earrings.

Back to School

Yesterday was the first day of school.Linnea is in fourth grade. Gavin is in kindergarten.

Gavin in his classroom.

Gavin in his classroom with his friend Logan. (Logan had also been in preschool with him.)

Jacen won't let me take a picture of him.
Jace is in 8th grade!

No tears.
Lots of butterflies.
Linnea and Gavin were excited about their new lunchboxes with their names embroidered on.
Lunch: apple slices, jicama sticks, juice box, cheese raviolis, and homemade chocolate chip cookie.
End of the day: everyone loved school. I liked a quiet house for a few hours.
When I asked Gavin what his favorite part of school was, he said, "Playing outside and p.e.!"

silliness

Linnea had a lot of fun dressing up her brother! That's what happens when one wants a sister so badly. Gavin let her do it but then afterward said, "This is yucky! Get this stuff off me!" I remember my brothers dressing me up like a boy! I guess that's the kind of thing kids do sometimes in the summer when they have too much time.

I do believe in miracles!!

He'll be 90 in November. He hasn't shown any interest in the church for at least 20 years. In fact, I believe he thought Mormons might be going to hell--not sure exactly. Then he woke up late for church one Sunday and heard that Tera's ward was serving cookies (for Fathers Day). Cookies are enough to lure anyone to church right? He went and fell in love with our gospel essentials teacher. He started having "bible study" with the missionaries and loved it. I was quietly nursing Micah on his couch as the missionaries asked him if he would be baptized. I was praying like crazy in my head. He said "yes!" He said he has felt dried up inside and the gospel has filled him up and feels right and he knew he needed to be baptized. I was so happy!

His baptism was wonderful. So much of our family was there. The mission president was there. Grampa was so cute. After his baptism, he was still in the font, wet, and he took a moment to look at so many of his great-grandchildren and bare a little testimony and tell them that they will also be baptized when they are eight. How wonderful for the little children in our family to see their great-grampa so excited to be baptized. It was wonderful. Miracles do happen today. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I love it.

2 months

Our little Micah Beckham is 2 months--actually 9 weeks. The time is flying!

Micah-tiny fingers and toes

precious baby hands

I love to kiss these sweet piggies.

Micah is 4 weeks here.
These pictures are several weeks old. I had forgotten about them when our computer had to be repaired and was out of service.

swimming lessons

Gavin and Linnea

Swimming lessons for this summer were at Lovers Point. It's a cute little outdoor pool steps from the beach, heated to 98 degrees--which is needed in our cool summers. It's funny to tourists to see kids swimming when it is sometimes foggy and even misty outside, but they stay so warm in the pool. I also got a summer swim pass there because it is ideal for me to take them swimming to get out energy while I am holding little Micah and watching. Sometimes even Jacen and a friend would come in with them to warm up after hanging out at Lovers Point swimming in the cold ocean.

Gavin with his "marshmallow stick"

Linnea is already a good, independent swimmer and Gavin is very close to being safe and independent in the water!

Gavin is the one in the middle of the picture with the green goggles. His teacher, Carly,

is next to him.

When I asked Gavin what his favorite thing was about swimming lessons, he said, "Jump ins!" The kids would line up to jump in and the teacher would call out a question to them like, "What is your favorite food?" Then the kids would call out an answer to the question mid-air while jumping in.

Linnea Turned 9!

This year Linnea had an American Girl Mystery Party. The one she chose was the Samantha game. It was so much fun! We were so glad that her cousins could come share her birthday party with her.

Linnea played the role of Samantha and Sydney played her best friend Nellie.

Getting ready to start a Samantha craft.

Sweet Haley

The girls are decoding a secret message. Is it a love letter?

Cake decorating fun!

Linnea's friend from school decorating her cake.

Morgan showing her fabulously yummy cake--even monogrammed!

Linnea & Sydney decorating their cakes.

Grama Shirley made Linnea's apron, Maila's dress, Haley's dress and Sydney's dress. Thank you Grama! They look so cute!!

Carmel Valley Dog Show

Linnea, Haley, Sydney (Leif's girls), & Gavin
Albert loves dog shows. This particular time I was home preparing with Mom for Linnea's birthday party while Dad and Albert took the kids to the dog show. (Gavin's crazy faces crack me up!)