Shark Reef Aquarium

 This has been on my Vegas Bucket list for awhile and we finally made it. James had a random Jewish holiday on a Tuesday, so I said, lets make this happen. 

 It's really the first time we've even been on the strip for anything together. The kids loved the adventure. 

 None of the pictures turned out great, but we had fun anyway. 

 Lucy's new favorite movie is "Nebo" after visiting the aquarium and seeing all the fish. 

 Molly was so funny. She stood up to the window and just yelled at those sharks that swam past her. She couldn't get enough or she was just that happy to be out of the stroller. 

I was there too. I really am present at all these fun things, I just rarely to remember to include myself in the pictures. 

Jessica and Reed

Jessica is one of James' classmates. The girls love her. Her and her boyfriend Reed babysat so we could go out to dinner the other day. When we walked through the door this is what we found. It was too cute I had to take a picture. Thanks guys! Lets do this again. 

Molly Moo

Molly Moo, Miss Moo,... She has lots of names, but boy do we love her! She is a little spit fire and so so different from her sister. If she wants it and you've got it, she will stop at nothing to get it. She will take toys right out of Lucy's hands or any child's for that matter. And if you even think of turning a computer or electronic device on in her presence she will charge. She will wrestle you  to the ground to get the phone that you are talking on and she will scream if she doesn't get it. She's determined.
Molly hates getting her diaper changed. It's awful. I've heard of kids being like this, but Lucy wasn't so we have had a different experience. She will wiggle and twist free bum wiped or not. She hates to be held down, so getting dressed is a feet as well.
Molly loves loves loves her Mommy. Even though she will crawl away from me often, she is completely offended when I even think about walking away from her, even just to the next room. She likes me in her line of vision at all times. It makes showering in the mornings really tough. Or accomplishing anything for that matter.
Molly, like her sister, loves to make messes. I haven't been as consistent about feeding her solids during the day, because every time I do it usually means a huge mess to clean up. If I want to go anywhere that day, I stick to the bottle until I am done run errands.
Molly LOVES her sister. She gets so excited and when Lucy wakes up from her nap or starts to play with her. It gives me a little bit of a break during the day, but she still sticks close to her mom.
Molly is more and more mobile every day. She crawls, and cruises furniture. She even stands on her own on accident occasionally. She does not like to be forced to walk however. Her sister did the same thing when she was her age.
Molly is really good at finding the tiniest things on the floor and putting them in her mouth. I've never cared so much about clean floors since Lucy was this age. I obsessively check her mouth for unwanted objects. It drives her crazy.
Molly loves to dance and will scream and yell along while the rest of us sing. She is a little spit fire and we love her so. She has discovered her tongue and will often calk her head back give you a big smile and stick out her tongue. I'm sure it is just her cute little way of saying "I love you guys!"

Lucy Lou

I've been wanting to write these last two posts for awhile. I spend so much time watching these two girls everyday I really need to report on what I've seen. It's been so fun. They are both growing and changing in so much. Even in the last few days its crazy how much they have learned and started doing.
Firstly, Lucy has gotten so social in the last week or so. She has always loved being around kids but has never really played with them. We have had an opportunity to watch a little girl this week while her parents were busy packing. Lucy was so funny. They went in her room and she shut the door. We would peek in to check on them and Lucy would scream for us go away and run and shut the door. So funny. I got a glimpse of her teenage years. Its funny now, we'll see what's to come.
Lucy still repeats a lot of what we say, but she has a lot more independent thoughts lately. I don't know where she learned the phrases, "I can't do it!" and "I got it!" but she says them constantly as she is trying to do something new or try a new toy that she hasn't figured out yet. It's pretty cute.
Lucy loves to sing. She has always loved to sing, but you could rarely tell what she was singing. Her songs are becoming much more recognizable as she is filling in more of the words that she knows. I have known that she has known the words to all of the primary songs for a long time, because you can sing a song and stop at any part and she knows what comes next, but she would never sing a long. Today, James was singing Molly to sleep singing "Teach me to walk in the Light." Lucy was in the kitchen and started to sing right a long with all of her heart. It was ADORABLE! Her favorite songs right now are "Teach me to walk in the light" and "I am a child of God." She still loves to sing the songs from the "Muppet Movie" and other songs from "Signing Time."
We have been working a lot on answering questions. She is doing pretty good. So if you meet Lucy on the street and ask her, her name, how old she is, and her favorite color she will tell you the answers. She is still pretty shy but if you have the time to let her get comfortable around her, she will tell you the answers to those questions.
Lucy is a very kind and thoughtful soul. She likes to make sure that everyone has a turn. She also likes to make sure that everyone is accounted for. If she knows we are heading out on the door to church or some other family outing, she will wait by the door anxiously for everyone to exit and then anxiously wait and make sure we are all in the car.
Lucy loves to color and paint anything but paper. She still makes huge messes with her food. She will put her food in her cup of water, mix it together and sometimes she will even drink her disgusting concoctions. Its pretty amazing what she comes up with, but at least it gets to her stomach in one way or another.
Lucy loves Molly. Lucy is never mean to her. Occasionally she likes to play the game where she throws a blanket on her head and watch her struggle free, but she does it out of fun, and thinks that Molly enjoys it as well. (She does not and we have to remind Lucy of that fact.)
Lucy is getting really good and reading several sight words. She recognizes her name, Mom, Dad, Molly, and cat. She can read any Piggie and Elephant books almost word for word. She has actually memorized lots of books. She likes to repeat them to herself during her naps, when she should be sleeping.
I love my baby girl. She is the best big sister anyone could ask for and I am so thankful she is in our family.

What we've been up to since the party ended.

We partied pretty hard for two straight weeks during James' break. It was  a lot of fun, and we were completely worn out when we got home. It's back to school for James and back to reality for the girls and I. We have a few goals for our family that will keep us busy and on our toes for the next few months.
#1 Transition Lucy to a big girl bed. (or toddler bed). We bought her bed the day before we left to Silver City. It was fun to come home to, and Lucy was in love with the idea until she fell off of the bed during her nap. And then, even with the home-made barrier, she fell off once more during the night. She was anxious to get back in the crib after that. We have overcome the hump and made a Lucy proof barrier to help with the transition and she has now slept two full days in her bed with out falling out.

Grandma sent these cute matching rompers in the mail. I need to make a
post with all the matching outfits they've ever had. It would be a long
continuous post. I love matching outfits on these girls!

#2 Transition Molly into the crib and thus into the same room with Lucy. We currently live in a two bedroom apartment. We have temporarily turned it into a three bedroom by making the second bathroom into a nursery for Molly. We are getting tired of the idea and ready to have the second bathroom back. Also they need to learn to sleep together. We actually started putting them together in Silver City and then in St. George and they did great. I get a couple hours less sleep in the morning, because Lucy wakes up early with Molly and with Lucy awake Molly is less willing to go back to sleep for an hour like she used to, but regardless the change has been good. Except Molly had a couple of bad nights and now she is back in the bathroom, until she can get over it, and then she will try the crib again.
#3 Next on the list is Potty Training. dun dun dun...  I am reading, and praying to know the best route for miss Lucy as far as potty training. We have talked and exposed and talked and exposed her ears off about potty training. It is time to just do it. She's probably thinking the same thing. It's us being lazy about it not her. I have not set a definite date on this one yet, but I am thinking with in the next couple of weeks, this will be my new project.

Scott Wells Family Reunion

This is a tradition that started a few years ago. My family really does get together quite a bit in perspective, but I think this is a special opportunity when we can get together and grow together as well. We usually start the day off with a service project. This year we met in Pine Valley and worked on a few projects up at the cabin. I can't tell you how much I love to work along side my family and how much it means to me to see everyone working together. It is probably my favorite part of the reunion, even though I usually am the one babysitting while everyone works around me and ... all the babies. 

Next we play together. Traci put together some rockin' awesome "Minute to Win-it" games for both the adults and the kids. My favorite was the Cheeto head toss. Also Shana vs. Mandy Tissue pull was epic with a sketchy win on Shana's part. (I'm pretty sure she pulled out more than one at a time). 

Next we learned together. My purpose in planning this reunion was to teach my nieces and nephews a little about their grandma and grandpa and the Scott Wells family proper. I created this family Jeopardy, in hopes that they would learn a few things. It was a fun experience, to see what they did and mostly what they didn't know. For one, they didn't know their Grandpa Wells' full name. For two they didn't know that he served a mission in Finland. For three, it was assumed that Mason was the Thespian in the family, not Traci or Kyle. I think I know the topic of discussion for at least 5 of our Family Home Evenings for the next couple of months. My kids are still young, but these are the things I would like them to know about their family. I hope I can teach it to them. 

The kids all helped me make this piece of art for Mom to hang above her bed in Pine Valley. I think it turned out pretty cool. 

I always like to end the day with Achievement Awards. Nothing ends a day like a pat on the back in the form of a certificate and dollar store prize. And this night was no exception. The prizes ended up being the nights culminating activity for the kids. The adults sat on the porch and watched as they all bartered and begged for the other's prize. They were cheap enough too that I think several made it to the trash before they even made it to the car. Regardless. I think a good time was had by all. 

 We also have a new addition to the family. Meet Santa Maria de las Valles de Pina. She was found at the Pine Valley dump and the boys gave her a new home in the Tee-pee. (I don't even know the Teepee's story).

4th of July

No Holiday is complete with out matching outfits anymore. 

4th of July has always been one of my most favorite holidays. Mostly because the traditions are simple and usually no one complains about who's doing what, or where's it going to be.

We come. We eat pizza. We watch fireworks. We leave. 

A lot of my family got together up in Pine Valley during the day, but MY family (James and the girls) we decided to take it easy. We stayed at my mom's house, and really didn't do a lot during the day. I think we were tired from the events of the week before and the few days spent with James family that was visiting St. George. 

Around 5:00 pm, Traci's family showed up and it was fun to reacquaint the kids and get settled before we headed up to Grandma's house. Everyone gathered and we had a good time eating lots of pizza and watching the kids play. Lucy got in the swing and was in that swing for nearly 2 hours, while various cousins came and took their turn pushing her. 

We got a quick 5 or 10 minute downpour of rain to cool everyone down. It seemed to really bring a new energy to the party and the kids seemed to spunk up and play even harder than they were previous to the drenching. 

James took the kids home early, and I was able to enjoy the fireworks, from my grandma's street with family. It was a lot of fun, and made for a memorable holiday. 

I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave their lives for me... so I'll proudly STAND UP! (boom boom boom) and defend her still today. For there aint no doubt I love this land. God Bless the USA! (Sing it loud and be proud.)