Free Fridays

Our local mall has some pretty neat stuff in it including a children's museum and a carousel. Addie and I would spend a lot more time there to get out of the heat (or the rain like last week) if the cool things weren't so expensive and if Abercrombie didn't make half the mall smell so bad it makes me want to throw up. Anyway, on the last Friday evening of every month, the carousel and the museum are free. We end up always forgetting when to go, but this time we remembered and had a lot of fun. There were Mormons everywhere and it was good to see people from our new ward as well as our old ward and we had a lot of fun. We were a little late and weren't able to spend too much time at the museum, but we got some good pictures of Dr. Gonzalez.

Can I help you?

Shoes

Why are all kids shoes made for the kids that have really skinny feet? Addie has never had skinny feet. Even when she was born I was so sad that the many newborn booties and shoes that were bought for her never fit. We squeezed some of them on to get a picture and then quickly removed them. Her feet aren't necessarily very wide from side to side, but thick from bottom to top. Well, since she's become quite a good little walker (and even runner when she wants to escape) we decided it was time to get her some real shoes. When trying on the cute little girl shoes that are everywhere, I have to get 2 sizes too big to actually fit on her cute little feet. So, instead of some little sandals or slip on sneakers that are just so adorable, we had to resort to these boring tennis shoes. Oh, well. She's still the cutest.

Here she is with the cowgirl slippers that Grandma Dexter bought her last year. They fit now and she likes to dance around in them.

My room

So this is the project that I've been working on the last little while. Some might think that this is not important, but this is something I get from my mother: not only to want things to look nice, but to change things up often. Jason thinks I'm ridiculous because we haven't even had our bedspread for 3 years and I'm already sick of it and wanting something new. I had resigned myself to adding and changing everything else in the room because a new bed set would be so expensive, even if I made a cover myself. Why do things need to be so expensive?

Anyway, so I bought material to make a headboard and some new pillows. And then I found a bed set at walmart on clearance for a ridiculously good price and went perfectly with what I had and wanted, so I had to do it. So, here is the end result with pictures of the coordinating bathroom (the shower curtain was the inspiration that started this whole thing)

It's not easy to tell from the pictures, but the shower curtain and the bedspread are opposites of each other. The buttons on the headboard and the ribbon on the basket in the bathroom are made out of the same material as the comforter (the set came in a bag made out of the same material). Jason helped a lot with the headboard, as well as tips from both my mom and dad. I had fun doing it, and that's important!

Bear Lake

We spent the bulk of our fun vacation in Bear Lake with my family. There was a Dexter family reunion and we had a lot of fun! We met a couple new members of the family - Duke and Clifford (or Big Red, depending on who you talk to). Duke is my brother's dog who is a big fan of Addie's and she liked him a lot too. She would pull on anyone's finger who would go with her to go see 'ba' which she would call all throughout the house even when the dog was not there.

Clifford, or Big Red is actually my mom's new ATV. It seats 6 people and it's red (thus the names). Addie also enjoyed riding in it even though she didn't appreciate the helmet until after we got going. She's always loved things that she can ride and if she's outside it's even better, so having to sit in her carseat and wearing the helmet were worth it. It is so beautiful up on the hill (is it a mountain?) overlooking the lake. There is so much beauty I love it up there.

We did also go to the lake which is always very cold. Addie took some convincing, but eventually loved being out in the water and got upset when it was time to get out.

Ready for the beach!

Do any of these people look like Mexicans to you?

Fresno

At the end of July we were able to spend some time with President and Sister Gonzalez (also known as Grandma and Grandpa) in Fresno. We had a lot of fun despite the fact that we didn't get to do all that we would have liked because Addie hates the car so much. But we got to spend lots of time with them and with Kevin and Addie was able to show off her flirting skills. She sure loves her Grandpa a lot and followed him everywhere, even when he was pretty clueless about her being anywhere near.

We did go up to Sequoia National Park, which was beautiful and much cooler than very hot Fresno. It was fun to see and walk around - Addie even enjoyed it. Then we had a picnic lunch and headed back. On the way home, Addie did not appreciate the winding roads and the full stomach and just being in the car. Without any unnecessary details, no one was very excited to get in the car with Addie for a long period of time.

They took some really cute pictures, but for some reason I can't upload them. So hopefully I can get them up here soon.