House guests and fun outings!

Tuesday, 7/22: Both girls went to dance class again, yay! My friend, Elli, was supposed to come that morning but she was having car problems and ended up not being able to come until the next morning. Elli grew up in my "home ward" in Louisiana. She also lived in Utah at one point, but up north, almost 2 hours away, then she moved a couple of years ago to South Africa.  She has been here for a few months to adopt a baby boy, so she came to visit for a couple of days.

7/23, our 15th anniversary!!  I wrote this on FB: "Since it's my 15th wedding anniversary, I showed the twins my wedding scrapbook. Before I got to the reception photos, Avery said I needed to put my hands on Jared's shoulders and dance with him. At one point, she also exclaimed, "And they lived happily ever after! " Happy Anniversary, babe! I love you!"

Jared has been out of town, so we still haven't seen each other since our anniversary, so it was nice to at least have company and have fun on a special day.  Elli has 2 kids, ages 8 and 4, plus the baby.  The twins had a blast swimming with her kids, playing, and picking stuff from the garden in our backyard, then I got to hang out with just Elli after the kids went to bed.  Another Louisiana friend, Laura, also dropped by for a bit that afternoon.

 

7/24 [Pioneer Day!]: 
FB post: Avery just told me that blankie has cuddle powers and helps people that are hurt and rescues people.

Lehi Foam Day! Happy Pioneer Day!!! The twins had a blast until Avery got some foam in her eyes, then she was done. Once Avery was done, Makenna was done a couple of minutes later. It was fun while it lasted! I'm sure they'll enjoy it more next year and goggles will be put on! I think Elli's kids had fun, too. 

Elli's son

Makenna and Elli's daughter

This is what did Avery in.  This photo cracks me up, ha ha ha!!

Elli left Lehi straight from Foam Day, then I took the girls home to eat and nap.  That evening, another Louisiana friend, Amiee, and her three kids came over!  My girls had such a great time playing with her kids that evening that we didn't put them all to bed until after 10:00, then we had chat time after the kiddos were all asleep. 

7/25: We had such a great time at a pool party with Amiee and her kids at her cousin's house today. We were there for over 5 hours and the girls were only out of the pool long enough to eat a quick lunch. They loved it! Makenna spent the entire time in one floating device or another. Avery enjoyed the floating devices but also liked to "swim" in the shallow end.

The pool was pretty awesome. The twins had zero interest in going down the slide

This was Avery's favorite floatie

Amiee and one of her sons

Her other son

Makenna loved that floating device!

Makenna wanted to put these goggles on but she told Amiee that she didn't want to go in the water, she just wanted to wear them, ha ha! She was cracking me up every time I looked at her! Avery put them on at one point, too. So cute.

7/26: Another fun outing with my girls. We went to the Thanksgiving Point Museum of Natural Curiosity but just went straight to the Curious Critters show, then left right afterward (well, we spent just a few minutes in the playground and walked through one of the caves but that's it). We have yet to actually do anything in the museum--waiting until all the older kids are in school and Jared can go with us! They had fun seeing and petting the animals that were there.

The tiny hedgehog. Makenna went for it but Avery wouldn't touch it.

This is what Makenna did when they brought out the skunk, even though it didn't have scent glands, ha ha!!!

The fox was awesome. No petting, though.

Makenna petting the bearded dragon. Avery did pet it, too, but only for a millisecond and I wasn't able to get a shot.

The cockatoo was cool--the girls liked when the lady would ask it a question and it would nod its head. It would also puff up all the feathers on its head.

They really liked the giant bunny!

They both held the tortoise but were a little skittish when he moved his legs

Makenna liked petting the skunk. Avery wouldn't go near it.

Just a shot of my beautiful girls in a pretty setting after the Curious Critters show was over

By the time we got home, the girls were ready for an early nap--I think we were all still feeling the effects of being in the sun the previous day and not getting a nap!  Today was a pretty good Sunday.  I didn't have choir practice, so we got to relax for a while before getting ready for church.

This evening, the girls got into a container of ponytail holders and Avery helped Makenna put lots of them on her arms. They said they were getting ready for a Show and Tell. Makenna said she need the hat to get fancy for the Show and Tell. Where do they get this stuff??  :)

 

At bedtime, the girls were being silly and making droopy faces. They were cracking me up!

 

 

 

 
Sad news: Our gate was left open on Wed. and Cleo got at some point out without me having a clue.  Elli and I looked all over the neighborhood for her as soon as we realized she wasn't in the backyard or in the house and I stopped several neighbors who were outside and asked them to look out for her.  The next morning, I put fliers up and posted her photo and info on several local Facebook groups, including the Utah Lost and Found Pets page; her photos has been shared a LOT by many, many people.  Friday evening, I went to the animal shelter (it was closed by the time I figured out she was gone Wed. evening, and they were closed Thurs. for Pioneer Day); she wasn't there and I still haven't received any phone calls about her.  I just hope that someone is taking good care of her!  Makenna has bawled several times for her and keeps saying she misses her.  It is breaking my heart!  Please pray that we find her soon!!!

Here are a couple of videos to add some fun back!
7/19: Avery doing some "exercises" to help her back. The stuff they come up with, ha ha!

7/24: Makenna doing this new hilarious laugh (just started doing it last week):