Happy 1st Birthday Sam!

Sam celebrated her 1st birthday on August 2nd. It is amazing how fast the past year has flown by! We had a luau themed party for her on her actual birthday. Family and a few friends came over to help us celebrate.
Alexis & Cousin Zoey in the pool-

Alexis & Siah on the trampoline-

Sam's turn for a bounce. It amazed us- before Sam could walk, or even really stand on a firm surface, she could stand up on the trampoline & bounce. They were little bounces, but still she could balance and bounce without anything to hold onto. Cake time! It all started out OK, but what is supposed to be so much fun quickly turned to tears. Sam hates to be dirty so when Daddy stuck her hands in the cake, she cried!

She finally ate her cake when Mommy fed it to her with a spoon (what fun is that?!?)

Earlier that day... Alexis was with the King's while Mommy & Daddy got ready for the party. She got to go see the Blue Angels air show. It was a hot day-

Waving goodbye to the airplanes. I don't think she was the biggest fan of how close they came or how loud they were. She still talks about "airplanes right over me head. Too loud."

Summer Update Part 2

Happy Birthday Daddy! You would have thought Daddy hit a big milestone this year- he got 3 birthday parties (not including going out with his friends on his actual birthday). That's way more than the girls got! The first party was also for Papa Scott & Auntie Cara.

Alexis & Zoey driving the power wheels-

Sam holding on for her life-

Thank goodness these girls won't be getting their licences for a few more years! They are both holding onto the roll bar- no one's steering- yikes!

Daddy taking a whack at the Dora pinata-Papa's present was a new pig. Alexis was very afraid of his last pig but she really seemed to like this one- Anabelle #???.Daddy opening presents at home on his actual birthday- he looks kind of grumpy but he was really excited about his Nerf basketball hoop Alexis and Sam picked out for him.

Late July & August is a popular time for birthdays in our family! We had a party for Grandma Jeannette, Uncle Bryan, Cousin Bonnie & Daddy of course. This picture of the cake is the only one worth posting, though (mommy's camera is having some problems- if you haven't already noticed- and most of the pictures she takes come out blurry).

Another August birthday bash at Cannon Beach- Happy Birthday Auntie Stacy, Scott, Daddy & Sam. (More to come from Sam's 1st birthday & our annual Cannon Beach trip)

Kenny Chesney: This did not involve Sam & Alexis but since Mommy is also a Jolley girl we decided it's OK to include. Kenny Chesney is a favorite of ours, so we went to the concert this year. The show was great! There were so many performers & we had good seats for a great deal.

Daddy & Auntie Michelle-

Jen Cruze, Mommy & Michelle-

Grandma Kris & Lori-

The best part of Kenny Chesney coming to town, though, was not the concert but the sound check/video shoot the night before the big show. Thanks to Grandpa Bob, Grandma & Mommy got to go. No pictures were allowed during the show since they were filming for a concert video but I think I'll remember this one for a long time. We were right up by the stage & after Kenny was done singing, I got his autograph! It was the last he signed for the night. It was really exciting!

Summer Update Part 1

It has been way too long since our blog was updated & we have been getting many requests to get some new stuff on here...so here we go. We were so busy in July & August!

Idylwood Park: In July, we went to play at Idylwood Park with Anissa & Brendan. This park is right by where Mommy grew up but they didn't have the cool play structure back then. New tricks: By July, Sam was able to pull herself up and standing. Not long after, she started to cruise the furniture. She couldn't walk, but that didn't stop her from climbing. It didn't help that her big sister was showing how to do some dare-devil moves.

One of her favorite things to do- hang out in the drawer.

Swim lessons- session #2: It was hard to tell if the teachers were excited or disappointed to see us on the first day of swim lessons. They looked at each other & asked "is Alexis in our class?" Swim lessons were much better this time. Alexis got in the water everyday without crying and did a much better job of waiting her turn. There were a few scary moments when she decided to go swimming (sinking) by herself but overall a huge improvement from the first session.

Here she is on the diving board- no fear! Well, a little bit of fear after this jump- she belly-flopped. The next week when it was time to go off the diving board, she had the teacher help her. It's hard to see but this is a picture of her red tummy after belly-flopping.

Jen came to watch swim lessons.

Who's that girl sitting on the stairs, waiting her turn?!?

Showing off her candy & report card (but you can't see either because she wouldn't hold still long enough for a picture- she was pretty excited- they are the green blur on the left)

Painting the house: Mommy & Daddy started painting the house (finally) at the end of July. The new greenish color looks great. Just need to find a weekend to finish it.

Dada's boat

Last night, we all went out on our boat (according to Alexis, though, it is just Dada's boat) to eat dinner & do some crabbing. It was our first time out on the boat as a family of four & things went great even though both girls were pretty grumpy & tired. We'll definitely be going out more often now that we know how well they do.

Sam took a turn behind the wheel-

Daddy pretending he is one of the guys from "Deadliest Catch" showing off his big crab-

After a slow start, we ended up with 6 keepers... yummy!

Hanging out at the pool

Most sunny days we head out back to our pool after nap.

Practicing back floats-

Sam loves swimming-

Success at swim lessons

Today was Alexis' last day of swim lessons for this session. Since Tuesday, she has been swimming like a champ. We got her a pair of goggles & that has made a huge difference. She still had a few issues... she still hasn't been sitting on the stairs waiting for her turn & yesterday she pushed a little boy into the pool (she was waiting for her turn to jump in, he was in front of her, I guess he was taking too long because she just pushed him in). She got a "needs practice" mark on her report card next to water safety- no big surprise!

Alexis doing backstroke- watch out Micheal Phelps!

Right before I took this picture, she was sitting on the stairs like she was supposed to. This is what happens when she jumps off- she sinks. See the blond boy? He (and the rest of the kids in class) are tall enough that when they get off the steps they can stand with their heads out of the water.New goggles- blue, of course

Using the kick board-For those of you wondering what Sam does during class- she just hangs out in her stroller.This video is a little boring, but this was a huge accomplishment for Alexis. At the beginning of swim lessons, she didn't have enough strength & coordination to "monkey crawl" down to the deep end. The other kids could do it, but one of the teachers had to carry Alexis. Today she got down to the deep end all by herself.

The kids only get to do the diving board on Thursday. Last Thursday she did the diving board 2 times by herself. Today she needed some help, but for the second week in a row she was the only "tiny tot" to do the diving board.

Showing off her lollypop & report card-Stay tuned for updates from session 2 of swim lessons- starting next Monday!