| Avery loved playing in the wrapping paper when Stephen celebrated his
5th birthday. We took a short trip to Utah. We spent a day visiting
Janet's family and a day visiting Brad's family. We also got to do some
sightseeing at church sites in Salt Lake City. There is a large
reflecting pool at Temple Square and Avery and Aaron loved splashing
their hands in it. On our way home we stopped at the Wilson Arch. It
is a natural sandstone arch that is within walking distance of the
highway. We always get out and hike up to it. The scenery was
beautiful this trip. There had been a lot of rain and it was green and
the desert had many colorful things in bloom. We saw three rainbows on
the way up. There is a place near Monticello, Utah where a mountain
stands behind the farmland. It was stormy and the clouds were
magnificent. The soil is deep red. The bright green of the fields, the
red of the plowed earth and the blue mountain with the threatening
storm were breath-taking. We drove through Moab as it was raining and
the red cliffs and all of the rock formations were shining with wetness.
We could actually see the rain running down the sides of the cliffs
and soaking in, changing the color of the sandstone.
We've been swimming a couple of times. We went yesterday, on the Fourth
of July. But we also went on June 19th. Avery loves splashing. She
is eager to get in the water. The first time we took her to the pool
she was tired and took a nap in the stroller (I walked home with her)
before we'd been there 30 minutes. There is a city pool a block from
our house. Yesterday when we went swimming she sat in the water and
crawled around, splashing and laughing. She and Aaron played with pool
toys and later we sat on towels on the grass and they shared a snack.
A big first happened this week. Avery pulled herself up to standing!
Janet was sitting on the floor with her and she stood up, holding on to
her knee. Since then she is standing up next to everything. She even
has tried to crawl up the stairs. We've had to put all of the baby
gates up. She is fast!
We did some sparklers and some little fireworks in the driveway for the
Fourth of July. Avery did not like the loud noise. She was up late
with all of the fireworks and firecrackers in the neighborhood. |
