Our Family

We got to have our family pictures taken about a month ago. Here are some of our favs.

Quick catch up...

We have had a lot going on the past couple weeks but here are a couple of the highlights. Matt's brother Michael came into town a couple weekends ago and we went to a surf competition in San Clemente. It is pretty awesome to watch surfers this good! Here is Kelly Slater warming up. He won of course. He is pretty amazing. Graham thinks his power is in his bald head!

We also were so excited to see our good friend Lauren and her sweet kiddos at the surf competition too. Unfortunately there are no pictures to document the happy reunion, but it was so great to see them nonetheless!

Another highlight, the boys and I got to go with some friends to see the new Visitor's Center at the Los Angeles Temple.
After the visitor's center we had lunch on the mission home lawn. It was such a fun day and a great learning experience for all!

We love L.A.!

Heat Wave

First of all, let me make it clear that I am not complaining. We have had the most fantastic summer. However, yesterday was the hottest day Los Angeles has ever seen. At 12:15pm, downtown was 113 degrees and then the thermometer broke! The kids and I tried to escape to the beach, it was 98 degrees when we pulled up but still gave us a couple of hours of relief. We got back to our apartment about 3 and immediately started running the wall AC units in our front room and in the kids room.
Something you have to understand about our apartment, we have three wall AC units: one in the living room, and one in each bedroom. But, we can only run two at a time or the power goes off or, if I need to use the microwave, I can only have one running or the power goes off.
So, I was being good only having two units running but our power went out 8 times between 3 and 7:30.
We kept our house a cave, kept wetting ourselves with cold water, and managed to survive an unbelievable hot day for the end of September! Whew! Today was luckily 13 degrees cooler, much more doable! Definitely a day for the record books.

Graham, 9 months

This little boy is so much fun right now! Graham is nine months old today and growing up too quickly. He is such a happy boy. Graham laughs at everything thus he is always laughing. You just look at him and he gives you a little giggle. Much like his older brother, Graham also loves to boogie and dances to any music he hears. Although he prefers his quick crawl, Graham is starting to take steps. He took five steps to Matt the other day and was so proud. This sweet boy loves to explore and is into everything. He is a fantastic eater and loves drinking out of sippy cups, especially if it is Crew's. Graham loves his brother so much and laughs the hardest when Crew plays with him. Graham also loves to be part of the action. He is right there to assist in tackling mom or dad and he is a great little defender when we play soccer too. We love this little boy so much and wish he would stop growing up so fast!

Labor Day Weekend

Matt's parents came last weekend and we had so much fun having them here. Crew was beyond excited for them to come and asked about every 15 minutes when they were coming. Graham and Crew waiting so patiently in Graham's crib.
Matt is working three days a week over on the west side of L.A. so after the Allens got here we loaded up and headed to the beach to play for a couple hours while we waited for Matt to finish so we could meet him for dinner. It was a beautiful afternoon and so great to be with Grandma and Grandpa.

Crew loves having Grandma read him bedtime stories. She is so good at all the voices :)

Look who decided to be so big and show off for grandma and grandpa. Graham learned this weekend how to push his walker and LOVES it! He walks around smiling and panting with excitement. He is so precious.

It is so amazing how quickly they learn new things. It is fun that he kind of walks but seriously slow down and stop growing kid!

Monday morning Matt and Dave went surfing so Becky and I took the boys around the Rose Bowl. We brought Crew's bike but he pooped out about a third of the way around. Good thing I have a massive double stroller because we just threw him and his bike on top and I got quite the workout!

As always, it was a quick trip but we loved every minute. As soon as they left Crew started asking "When is Grandma coming back to our house?" Visitors are always welcome and encouraged since our time is running out!

"A" is for Ant

Crew started preschool yesterday and was seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen! He was ready to go 45 minutes early so we took a few pics to pass the time. The letter of the day was A and he learned all about ants. School is awesome!

I mention in one of my last posts that Graham is 8 months now. He seriously is the sweetest and funniest little guy. He is very social and wants to be wherever we are, especially if someone is in the bath or shower. He loves jumping and bouncing and is starting to stand by himself for 30 seconds or so. He loves food, all of it (which is a real treat after my first). Graham has two teeth on bottom and four on top too. He LOVES Crew, still hates his car seat or anything that restrains him, and is so much fun!

One of the many games Graham and Crew play. Love these boys!