Our 4th of July

I'm a little late in posting this, but still wanted to report on last weekend's festivities. We started the holiday early in the morning for the annual Freedom Run in Provo. Duncan ran the 5k and Chloe and I did the 1-miler. We all got finisher medals and a t-shirt. While waiting to start the one-mile race, I saw an old family friend, Cristen Taylor, and some of her children. It was fun to catch up with her for a few minutes. Here's the kiddie race getting started.

Duncan finishing the 5k.

Chloe tired after the race.

Chloe excited about her medal.

After the morning exercise, we went home to meet Duncan's dad, who arrived from Pocatello around noon. Not one to sit idle, he wanted us to put him to work; so that's what we did! He and Duncan re-roofed a shed in our back yard...

...then scraped and painted it...

...and painted it some more...

...and fixed the doors on it. (By the way, the gigantic satellite dish was already in the yard when we bought the house.)

It looked pretty good when they were done. Thanks, Duncan and Paul for all your hard work!

They wrapped up the day's work at about 8 p.m. and we had a little bar-b-que dinner. I tried roasting corn on the cob in the husk in the oven instead of shucking it and boiling it, and it was sooooo good (350 degrees for 30 minutes--so easy). Later, we watched a few fireworks from our living room windows.

Chloe loves her new bed!

This is what Chloe has been doing for about the past hour. She can finally sprawl out in her new bed, and she seems to really like it. Or maybe it's because she had four shots yesterday and she isn't feeling up to much else....

Yes, we moved into our "new" house about a week ago. I'll post more details about that later....

Chloe's first real belly laugh

See Duncan Swim, Bike, Run

Duncan completed his very first triathlon (an olympic length one at that) last Saturday at the BAM: Battle at Midway. I am so proud of him for sticking with it and reaching his goal. He did a great job! Chloe and I didn't quite make it in time to see him jump in the 55 degree water at 6:45 a.m., but we got this shot later.

Here he is finishing up the bike.

Transition 2

On to the run

A grueling course

The finish line!

« mouche bébé »

Chloe has had a bit of a stuffy nose lately. So, in an effort to help her breathe better, I decided to try a most unique shower gift I received from a friend who had recently been to France, and who had purchased the gift there. It's called a "mouche bébé," which basically means "baby nose blow," but there is no blowing involved. Here's how it works: you put the wide end of the pointed plastic thing (which has a white foam plug/filter in it) into the thick plastic cylinder at the end of the tube (see figure 2). Then you put the pointed thing up the baby's nose and suck vigorously through the white triangular mouthpiece until you have cleared the baby's nasal passage and the stuff that was obstructing the passage ends up in the clear plastic tip. I know, it sounds gross--and it is--but it's pretty effective; much more effective than those suction bulbs. The plastic tips are disposable, so the next time you're in France, pick up some refills for me!

I Can Hold My Head Up!

Chloe is growing and getting so strong. Here is a picture of her holding her head up. She also likes to stand up (with some assistance) and do ballet moves. I'll have to try and get a picture of that. It's so cute!
As you can see, she is quickly outgrowing her bassinet (the bassinet we found in mom and dad's garage--thanks, mom and dad!). We are finally going to put up her crib when we move into our Orem house next week. There's quite a story behind that house, so stay tuned for the upcoming post....

Irresistible

What a cute, sad face! We couldn't resist taking a picture of the two big tears and jutting bottom lip. It'll be hard not to give in to her with that look. :)