Sommerfeldt Reunion

In June we drove to Colorado and visited the Waite's for a few days before going to the Sommerfeldt reunion in Park City, Utah.
We stayed in some condos in Park City for nearly a week. Scott and Lisa had chosen the housing arrangements and planned the events for the trip. It was a reunion for the Theron and Delores Sommerfeldt family so many of Bruce's cousins, aunts, and uncles were there. Some of our activities included swimming in the condo pool, hiking, watching fireworks, stand up paddle boarding, and game in the condos.

On the 4th of July we went watched the fireworks in Park City.

Uncle Ben bought glow sticks and shared them with all the kids. Hailey loved her glow bracelet and necklace.

To commemorate the gathering, we took family pictures. Grandma Lisa bought all the grand-girls matching dresses.

Theron and Delores Sommerfeldt at the reunion.

One day we went hiking. Hailey hike nearly the whole time, McKayla was carried nearly the whole time. And the view was pleasant.

Hailey loved spending time with her cousins during free time and the hike.

At the bottom on the mountain was a ski lift. The kids rested on it while they waited for everyone else to get down the mountain.

One afternoon we rented stand up paddle boards and went to Jordanelle State Park.

We had four boards and took turns. One game we played was "chicken." Where you try to tip or push other people off their boards.

Everyone enjoyed the paddle boards. Even Hailey and some of the other kids rode with an adult on the board. It was much easier on your knees.

Some of the extended family joined us at the lake and everyone enjoyed swimming and relaxing on the beach.

Sunday morning we got ready for church and attended a ward in Park City.

And after a fun trip, the McKayla relaxed, played iPad, and watched movies during the long drive home.

Hailey also played with toys, the iPad and Kindle, and watched movies, but when they got boring, the best option was sleep.

Pet Store Feild Trip

Hailey and McKayla watching the animals at the pet store.

"Fish-y"

A little handful of jam is the perfect post-pet store snack.

One day we took a family field trip to the pet store. The pet store had birds, reptiles, fish, and rodents, but no dogs or cats. After the field trip we talked about caring for animals and decided to get a pet fish. The following week we went back to the pet store and bought a beta fish. Mom lost interest a few weeks into pet ownership and wanted to get rid of the fish, so when we let for vacation a few months later we gave the fish to a young women in the ward. Hailey thought the young women was going to take care of the fish while we were gone and return it at the end of our trip, so she was distressed when Mom told her that we gave the fish away. 

Catching Up

 Visitng Grandma's new house and finally becoming friends with Yogi the dog.

 Riding the turtle at Loveland Sculpture Park. Sunday morning walk before afternoon church.

 One afternoon Mom watched all the kids for us and Ben and Sarah took Bruce and I shooting near Boulder. That afternoon we went swimming at the Longmont Pool.

Home Improvements

Preparing for cement

Mixing cement

Cement

Patio extension poured

Patio

Bar moved onto patio

Bar with backer board

Bar partially tiled

Hailey in the backyard doing an Easter Egg hunt

7 yards of mulch for the yard

Rachel spreading mulch

New flowering cherry tree, flower beds, rock path

Home Improvements
We've undertaken a few home projects recently, many of the outdoors. (Yes, January to April is the perfect time to work outside. Be jealous all you cold weather folks!).

Bar
We've been working on the back patio with grand plans of a covered suite complete with misting fans, a wet bar, a lounge couch, and an outdoor TV. Turns out that all takes money.... so we're not done, but in the last month we've make some great progress. Scott, John, Kevin, and Bruce worked on it over Thanksgiving, but the project was put on hold due to to poor weather (you know, rainy and cold.... not snow :) ) and the next thing we knew it was "busy season" at work for Bruce.
During busy season Bruce traveled to Jackson, Mississippi for most of the month of January. When he was in town he would leave form work about 7:30 am and return home between 10:00 pm and midnight. He worked weekends, and generally had no time to do anything but sleep and work, so the bar waited.
 After his client filled their earning statement he was given a few days off. We celebrated with 800 lbs of concrete. I've become a bit of a softy, so I carried a couple bags, maybe a whole half dozen, but Bruce carried the rest of the concrete from the garage to the patio and then lifted them into the mixer. He was a little sore the next day, but the patio was poured and a week later we bolted down the bar.

Bruce ordered the parts of our latest toy- the carbonator! It's a home carbonation device. Like the commercial product "Soda Stream," but WAY cooler. While visiting for Christmas, Ben Merritt gave us a CO2 tank, so Bruce ordered another $70 in parts and built our very own carbonator. The maiden voyage was homemade lemon lime soda (we couldn't find root beer concentrate at the stores close to home).

With the bar bolted, we started cutting backer board. We've almost cut and attached all the backer board. The next step is tile the bar. We chose a dark slate for the sides and a light marble tile for the counters. Should look pretty cool.

After tile the patio will be on  hold until the project fund can be restored, but it will be completely usable and look finished. When we resume work we'll add a roof, fans, misters, furniture, etc.

Yard
Pre-busy season we started another project: yard renovations. We love our backyard and chose our house, in part, for the large yard. Last fall, Bruce cut the grass from the perimeter of the yard to create flower beds. We bought a few fruit trees and made room for a garden. Recently, I  tilled the beds and planted a garden. We cut out a bush in the front and created a tree bed (like a flower bed, but for trees... maybe I made it up), added a flower bed, and reshaped an existing bed. And last weekend we finished laying landscape fabric and spread mulch. It's nice to look out and see a pretty, finished yard. We need to add some plants, but need to figure out what first.

Rock path, area for sand box (back right corner near fence), tomato plants (right)

Those have been the two great sink-holes for our money recently. 

Other home projects include a finished living room, a painted master bathroom, and ideas for some of the other rooms.


Living Room
Bruce built some small side tables which I painted black. I potted some leafy, fern-like palm in a pot that I got off someone's curb because literally, their trash is my treasure, or in this case, my living room decoration. Bruce suggested painting it so if anyone knows if you can paint giant ceramic pots, let us know. And with those final touches, I consider the room complete (don't mind that the curtains need to be hemmed.... ask again in a year or two).

Master Bathroom
We painted the girls bathroom a grey that we found in the garage and like it, so we decided to do the same to our bathroom. We have grey walls and black cabinets. Someday we'll have all white linens including the shower curtain... maybe even some wall art, and the bathroom will be finished.

Ideas for other Rooms
I finished painting the base coat for some family wall art and finally settled on an image, so Laurel will paint it for us and with art and some more curtains the family room will be finished.

We decided that baby 3 (we are accepting name submissions- real and otherwise since we haven't name the fetus or the baby yet) will share a room with the girls (it's a girl!) and with 3 girls, it's probably time to resign ourselves to girly paint. :) We're thinking we'll paint their room brown and pink.

Bruce is getting antsy, which means it's time for me to start caring, to have the master bedroom decorated. We need nightstands, curtains, a couch cover, paint, and some wall decorations. We'll see what we decide.

Other rooms need curtains to keep the summer sun out, but room design is still unknown.

Growing Up

The girls are growing up. Here are some photos of the girls at the park. May 2013.

Hailey love being big. She enjoys preschool (once a week, co-op I do with some other mom's from church) and retains what she learns surprisingly well. She'll occasionally tell me facts that she learned at preschool during our regular day. I'm always impressed that she remembers what she learned a day, or even a week before.

She loves Sunbeams class at church and tells us that she goes to Sunbeams (sharing time) and to her small class. If she has a handout from class she insists that she made it in her "other class," not in Sunbeams. She loves to play on the grass after church. Occasionally, we only take one car to church (or always, before the van was working) and the girls and I play on the grass and in the nursery while Bruce counts tithing. She's always devastated to hear that I want to go home, not play on the grass.
 
We try to do an activity most days of the week. Monday is swimming day, and a highlight of the week. Tuesday is library, Wednesday is preschool, Thursday is park, and Friday is grocery shopping. Hailey will often ask "Which day is it, today?" meaning, what are we going to do today? And after I answer, she will often ask, "Can we go swimming today?"

Hailey and McKayla both love the pool. Hailey uses the pool as just another medium for the endless pretend play. Some times we bring Barbies or other toys to assist, but even without toys we pretend that we're going to look at "something beautiful" or that we're "friends," or any other scenario she can orate.
McKayla has become quite daring in the pool. The first week she cried when she wasn't being held, and then she would walk on the handicap ramp to waist deep for our hour at the pool, then she split time between the stairs and the ramp, now she walks from the end of the ramp back to the stairs through water that is nearly too deep. She makes it across the deepest part by tilting her head back so only her face is out of the water. She doesn't want help and grins even when she goes under. I have to constantly watch her and save her from drowning at least a half dozen times each visit. Now she's more aware of her limitations and does not worry me quite as much. Good thing since the outdoor pool opens in just a few weeks.

Hailey's become much more social, particularly with strangers. She loves to chat with the women in the locker room about why they are going swimming and that she just went swimming, and that she's going to have a picnic, or play at the park. But, when she's nervous, she doesn't say a word, sucks her thumb, and wants to be held. It's cute. She was recently at a birthday party and pretty nervous. The host said she was reserved and sucked her thumb the whole time, but when it was time to take a picture Hailey took her thumb out, struck a pose for the picture, and then put her thumb right back.

McKayla is learning how to play; she like to tease, usually in a good way, but she'll pull hair or kick just to get a rise out of her sister. The funniest is when Hailey is napping on the couch and McKayla wants to play. McKayla will run over and pull Hailey's hair, or steal the blanket to wake Hailey. My favorite moments are when I get down on the carpet, even if I'm there to clean, and McKayla comes running, excited to rough house. She and Hailey love to do "dog piles" and be tickled, and rough-house in the family room. McKayla's not old enough to play pretend with Hailey, but sometimes they will pull out the play food and both "make soup" or get the duplos and build. McKayla loves to vacuum with the pretend vacuum and has become very sensitive to messes on the table. If she spills she immediately fusses for a rag to clean it. She's not a professional quality cleaner, but she does pretty good for a 1 year old.

McKayla likes to push boundaries, so when we're out at the store or elsewhere, I have to be close enough to catch her. She's quick, so you have to be right beside her, or run to catch her before she pulls items off the shelf, or plays the piano in church, or takes off into a crowd. Sharron Sommerfeldt said she reminds her of Bruce when he was little. Oh please no, that's all I can say. :)

McKayla has some rough times in the day, she'll fuss and push, and want to be held. It's impossible to get the dishes clean (you have to hand wash before you load in the dishwasher because our dishwasher is special like that), or get dinner prepped, or do a list of other tasks. Silly girl- go play and be happy. We're going to try feeding her more since she often stops crying when you find her food.  :)

McKayla's experimenting more with vocalization. I'm impatient and want words, but recently I've heard sounds that are similar to words, so hopefully we'll hear "more," "food," and "up" soon. Today she was babbling and it sounded like a sentence. I hear an occasional "yeah," get regular head shakes to indicate "no," and she can say "bubbles" and "belly button"- both very important words for an emerging speaker.


Both are healthy and well. It's a joy to be part of their lives and see them grow.

Dallas Min-Vacation

Bruce had some training in Dallas for a few days so we tagged along.

We arrived at the hotel late Sunday night. Hailey slept in the car, but was awake when we arrived. She was so excited to stay in a hotel she went wild in the room. She assigned everyone and everything in the room, people to beds, clothes to dressers,  people to sinks, soaps to sinks. Then she unpacked her 3 days of clothes into the drawers, opened the soaps, told us how cool it was to be in a hotel, and generally wandered around being cute.
Bruce and I were tired, me more that Bruce since I fell asleep about a minute after I laid down and woke up in the night to find him in Hailey's bed. She apparently had a little trouble calming down and going to sleep, which means Dad had a little trouble sleeping, too.

The next morning was more excitement- breakfast in the hotel with yogurt and waffles and oatmeal, and, and, and whatever else the hotel had, because we pretty much ate it all.... After breakfast Bruce walked to the office and the girls packed our bags of the day. We met with Sharon Sommerfeldt, Bruce's aunt who lives in Dallas and visited the Dallas Arboretum. We happened to be there during the tulip festival, so the whole park was brightly colored with blossoming tulips. The girls didn't capture the beauty of the scenery, but they enjoyed the walk, the picnic lunch, and the game of tag in the grassy picnic area.When they were sufficiently wore out, we returned to the hotel for naps and then went swimming in the hotel's outdoor pool. It was warm outside, but they don't heat the pool so it was FREEZING. I got wet to my knees but couldn't make it any further. McKayla dipped a toe and decided she liked the deck, and Hailey would stand on the first step but go no further. We had fun playing pretend and going from the lounge chairs to the water to the deck to the pool. When Bruce got back from work we went to Pioneer Heritage Park, a park with many longhorn cow statues, to play before dinner at Craig and Sharon's home. Dinner was great, the company was enjoyable and Hailey got some princess coloring pages. All was well in the world. Bruce shared a bed with Hailey again. :) Poor guy- Hailey's a pretty wiggly bed companion.

On Tuesday after breakfast we tidied up and got ready to go to the Dallas Museum of Art. The first Tuesday of the month they offer free kid activities and we happened to be in Dallas on the first Tuesday, so it worked out well. Hailey loved all the activities and McKayla held up well. They had an incredible story teller- she told a fable about the wind competing with the sun to get a child to remove her jacket. The wind blows and the sun shines and the moral is you can often accomplish more with gentleness than with force. The storyteller had a wind costume that was stings of crepe paper that rustles when the worker moved around. She told another story about caterpillars turning into moths and butterflies. Hailey loved both of them and told them to me again later. There were various other crafts including vegetable stamping and scientific investigation. We ate a picnic lunch outside and walked home in the rain. After naps and when Dad got home we went to dinner with Craig and Sharon. Bruce didn't have to sleep with Hailey. :)

On Wednesday we went to the Farmer's Market which sounded really cool on paper but was fairly anticlimactic, perhaps due to the overcast weather. We also rode the trolley, which was very cool, but due to time restraints for the parking meter, was a short ride, so in the end Hailey thought it was also a little anticlimactic. We hurried back to the hotel for a quick morning nap before we had to check out, and then met Sharon to go to Bass Pro Shop. The girls loved climbing on all the boats, looking at the animals and the fish, and wandering around. They had a great time. Hailey also loved the ice cream treat on the drive home. We dropped Sharon at her house, picked up Bruce, went grocery shopping on E&Y's tab, and got dinner before we drove home.

It was a great little get-away at little cost to us, win-win.

Growing Out

If you haven't heard, I'm pregnant!

It's a girl. Due date is beginning of August.

I've seen my doctor twice and have a 20 wk ultrasound this week, but we've already seen baby on ultrasound twice and the doctor assures me that it's a girl, she even sent home photographic evidence to prove it. :)

At the first visit (13-14 weeks) she said she was pretty sure it's a girl.

Before the second visit Bruce sent me a text saying to verify gender, that he was fasting for a boy. I told my doctor and she had a good laugh, but assured me that it's a girl. She also reminded me that it's his fault it's a girl. :)

We're excited to have another girl join the family!