Josue and more!

Josue was a fifteen year old boy when Doug taught him about the church on his mission in Brazil. He has since been baptized as well as his whole family. He now serves in the bishopric in his ward in Brazil. He came to the states to visit a friend in Idaho last week and flew home through phoenix. Luckily for Doug, he missed his connecting flight so he stayed with us last Friday night. It was really amazing to meet him and for Doug to see him again after all these years. He is about the nicest guy I've ever met and such a great example. Hopefully one day we will be able to see him again in HIS home town!

 Averi holding Meiko. Meiko is really thrilled about this if you can't tell.

 Averi has learned how to use scissors reently and had since become obsessed with cutting paper. She will make one cut with the scissors and then put them down and rip the paper where she made the cut. I finally went and at least bought her some "pre-school" scissors that aren't so threatening. Averi is really quite obedient and wouldn't cut anything that she knew she wasn't supposed to (knock on wood!). But the other day she woke up really early and came into my room. I wanted to keep sleeping so I told her to go play with her scissors (great parenting, huh?!) and that she could get some paper out of the printer. When I came downstairs, this is what I found:

Hey, I told her to do it so I guess I can't be mad :)

With monsoon season upon us we have had some good wind lately. The other day we busted out the kite I got for Averi's birthday and we flew it just outside our house. The neighbor kids loved our barbie kite and Doug loved showing it off. :)

 Averi was really interested for the first five minutes or so. :)

 Kadence is becoming a little more social every day. She is learning to "play" with her toys more lately and it is so fun to watch. Of course she will only self-entertain for about five minutes and then she absolutely HAS to be held or the world as she knows it will surely end.

 Averi had a play date with her friend Tommy the other day. He has a baby sister too so consequently Kadence had her first play date too. They had the time of their lives as you can see! :)

Look Who's Rolling Over!

Kadence rolled over for the first time on Tuesday (4 months 1 day old). Ever since then she can't stop showing off her newfound skill and is rolling over constantly. Then she whines until I flip her back over or pick her up. She just loves the challenge I guess!

I happened to see her trying to do it the first time so I got some progression pictures:

 agh!...

...a little help??...

 Ta da!!

 Piece of cake!

Fourth of July

For the Fourth of July we went to our friends the Saraiva's house and celebrated Ezra's birthday as well as our country's independence. We played water games (even though it rained all day and was unseasonably cold for Phoenix), ate yummy food, and lit some fireworks. It was super fun to get together with friends and just play!

Averi looking all festive wearing the outfit Aunt Kristy gave her.

Here is Kadence in her onsie that she got from Kristy as well. As I have mentioned before, Kadence loves to be held and generally hates any alternatives. She demonstrates it below. The two pictures are taken seconds apart. :)

 Of course when the water balloon fight broke out, Doug was right there in the middle of it. Not sure what he is doing in this pic!

 Kadence tends to look like this a lot... annoyed??

 Averi with her sparkler. She had fun but unfortunately her tummy started hurting so we left a little early. Turns out she had a stomach bug that gave her a fever for 2 days. Pretty much over it now though, yay!

 Here's a pic of Kadence hanging out with her best friend, the vacuum. Sometimes if she is particularly grumpy and won't stop crying, I will put her in her swing and turn on the vacuum next to her. Averi hates it and runs to the other room but aparently it is just music to Kadence's ears because it always calms her down and usually lulls her to sleep :)

BFFs, Thumb Sucking, and a Little Mischeif

Averi loves her baby sister. She loves to "hold her" like this with her head resting on her lap.

Averi always needs help getting the toilet paper and the soap when she uses the restroom. In an effort to increase her independence (and MY freedom), I bought her a box of tissues to put on the floor to use as TP and an automatic soap dispenser. They both work great but I had to get on her a couple times for having a little too much fun with the unlimited soap at her disposal! see below:

Cute little buddies

I am pleased to inform you that Kadnece has found her thumb! She has been doing it for a few weeks now and for a while I would freak out every time about how darn cute it was. Doug finally asked me (being completely sincere) "So, why is it such a big deal that she sucks her thumb?" Haha. It is just cute I guess, that's all. I know some people won't let their kids do it but there is no way I could get myself to pull that little hand out of her mouth.

Another one of Averi's favorite things to do is help me in the kitchen. More specifically, she likes to help me make brownies and cookies so she can lick the beater :)