Sugary Sweet Weekend.

There were lots of tender moments this weekend. It started off at 1:00 Saturday morning. As I headed to bed I checked on the girls. I love watching them sleep. Seeing her cuddle her white fury silky edged blanket is so peaceful.
Those lips are perfection! So yummy and plump!

Oh mylanta those thighs are delicious! Pass the ketchup please...I'm going to have a nibble.
I love Flower's bed for all the space it provides below for play. What I don't love is that I'm not able to watch her sleep anymore. Not sweet.
This is the best I could get of her without killing myself.
Ok it wasn't all sweet. Getting woken up at 7:00 am on Saturday morning by crying, which I can usually remedy by offering a bottle to buy a couple more hours of sleep, and discovering poop covering crib and baby was definitely not sweet.
The bath that followed was sweet. The backache that accompanied it due to bending over so early in the morning was not sweet.
She likes to sit up in the bath now. Laying on her back was never her favorite. This makes bath time happier. I love watching her play with the running water of which she used to be afraid.


Yes baby, 7:00 am is too early for a bath. ::yawn::
Her favorite bath time activity is now standing. It makes me nervous.
It makes her so happy!
Until she slips. Crying means time to get out. I love her eyebrows. They have so much expression.
After stripping nasty sheets from the bed I came out of the bedroom to see this. Gawh! So sweet. Sitting in the bright light of the early morning sun that cast their shadows on the wall. Flower was showing River the ropes of shadow puppets. Sugary sweet.

It's very sweet for me to see them playing together. It's happening more and more these days. It's especially sweet because Flower has never been a solo player and now that she has River following her around she is no longer under my feet all day! Excellent.
She does everything Flower does.Later in the afternoon I experienced a rarity with River. Cuddling. She was having a hard time napping that day, pushing through a 5th tooth and all. She climbed up in my lap, put her back to my chest and just sat there a starred. It lasted 15 minutes!
She didn't even try to put her paws on my camera when I tried to capture the moment. Just watched.
I love her little out stretched neck in this photo.
Eventually she fell asleep. I didn't move a muscle even though it was causing so much pain to my back. I relished in the tender moment that lasted almost a half hour.
After nap time I gave into Flower wanting her haircut and chopped her locks. I still completely adore this new look. It fits her sassy personality.
Sunday::
We woke up late. River was super clingy. KG had to stay late after church for some interviews. It only made sense to send him and Flower alone. I am so glad I did. I got more cuddle time with River! What I thought would be a one time dealio, happened again. She sat with her back against me for a good 10-15 minutes.
And since we were the only ones home it was completely quiet allowing me to relished in the joy for almost an hour because she fell asleep just like the day before. My back has not yet recovered and it is so worth it.River loves this doughnut tube. She pushes it all around the house. She puts one hand on it and one on the ground, pushing it in front of her as she crawls. Then she's stops and plays with it for a bit and then is on the move again.



Watching them play with their daddy is always sweet for me.
This a big deal for Flower. These types of things are really scary for her. She is so proud of herself!
It took everything in her to let go of his hands!


This girl isn't phased.
She jumped right up and then proceeded to chew on his feet.

We start 'em on the sauce early around here!
She's loving her new highchair that my sister is letting us use.
Very sweet weekend indeed.

Amanda came to Boise!!!

Friday::
Amanda arrived in Boise at 7:00 am on Friday! KG picked her up on his way home from work. That's really early for us around here so she went and did a temple session. Once the girls and I were awake and ready we just awaited her call to come and get her. We were so excited to see her! She doesn't get to eat out much and doesn't' have any variety in China so we planned to show her all the yumminess we have here the entire weekend! We took her out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Amigos. After that we all needed naps. Later, while I worked, KG took the girls swimming and Amanda joined us after she woke. She watched Flower swim and Flower loved that! That evening we took her to Texas Roadhouse.
When we were leaving their was this cool motorcycle in the parking lot. Amanda stuck Flower on and I snapped a quick picture. :)
After dinner we were all beat. My boss was so generous in allowing Amanda to stay in our fully furnished executive suite. She said she slept better here than any point on her vacation. That made me happy and I was glad to give her some space and alone time. She said she enjoyed watching HGTV and TLC, things she doesn't get to watch in China.
Saturday::
Amanda came over around 11:00. She and Flower had some girl time. They ate yogurt, which Amanda doesn't get in China and was very excited about, and did their nails.
Amanda brought a very pretty pink color and some flower stickers.
Flower was in heaven!!!


Flower was so excited to show EVERYONE! She was constantly admiring them.
After that they watched Flower's current favorite Princess movie that she's borrowing from Buffalo.
Eventually we were all starving for lunch! We took her to Bangkok Thai. It was yummy as usual.
Pretty nails for some pretty cute girls.
While we ate our food, River had a bottle. I swear she loses more down her chin and neck then makes it into her mouth!

After lunch we took her to our favorite snow shak for a shaved ice. When we got home we were all ready for naps!
I decided I'd take advantage of everyone being asleep and take a bath and read. After my bath I blow dry my hair. Every time I do that River sits in the doorway and just stares!
Saturday evening we had a big BBQ for everyone to come meet Amanda. We were excited to introduce her to people that are in Flower's life. We had a great time and I'm excited about the conversation Kris and I had with her about getting help for the babies and working on some prospective contacts!























Sunday::
Sunday morning we took her to Jim's Coffee shop for breakfast. I really wanted her to meet Joni! We enjoyed ourselves and Joni was hyper as ever. :) After that we went to church. It was so nice to have her at church with us and be able to introduce her to everyone.
After church we made a visit to Brenda who gave her one of her famous blown glass necklaces! It was so pretty and I love that she'll have one to wear just like the rest of the women in our ward.
Then we took her to Fanci Freez. We had to show her the best milk shakes in town. My other friend Amanda, from church, met us there as well. We enjoyed lunch and milkshakes there and had a nice visit.
We came home for some much needed naps!
That evening, because Jerry had been out of town, he and Kris came over for a visit so he could meet her.
I love this photo of Riv cuddling up to Jer.
We talked for a couple of hours and then decided we were hungry so we headed for Delsa's. More yummy ice cream!
As if that wasn't enough for one day we then went to my older brothers house to celebrate Lomad and Zach's birthdays. We had a nice visit there as well.
This is the point in the evening when she should have been getting on the bus for a long ride back to Salt Lake. But Kris and Jer so generously arranged for her to fly on Southwest instead! She didn't have to catch the flight until the next day at 1:30 pm so that gave us more time with her! I was so touched and so grateful for that. My love for them just continues to grow deeper. She was also very grateful!
After saying our goodnights Flower got to work making Amanda a blanket. She loved being able to do it by herself, with a tiny bit of help and was very proud of it.

We hope as she cuddles up with it in China that it will be like a nice hug from Flower!
KG and Flower took her to the airport at 12:30
We can't wait to see her again, which incidentally isn't going to be too long. We are so thankful she made the time to spend with us!
She is an amazing lady and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!