I need to apologize, but there are about to be a THOUSAND pictures posted because I just can't decide what ones I like the best. (and I only put up a fraction of the ones I like...)
My Grandma Stratton (aka GG which is short for Great-Grandma) lives in the center of a beautiful cherry and apple orchard in Orem Utah. My Grandparents have been fruit and veggie farmers all their lives, and so with my grandparents before that, and before that. I'm very proud of that aspect of my heritage, and when I talk to Grandpa Stratton about it you can see the joy and the love he has for farming. He loves to see life growing and renewing every year.
I took Teya, Ava, and Cohen to GG's house and spent the ENTIRE day outside exploring from one thing to the next. It was heaven for the kids, and heaven for me! I remembered the countless summer days spent adventuring in those orchards with my sisters and cousins, getting lost in the imaginary worlds that are found there. Now I get to do it all over again with my little girl and her cousins. Life is simply beautiful.
Looks like Cohen is radiating light,
The girls wanted to climb the trees, which translated to me lifting them on and off various branches for an hour. They had fun ;)
LOVE her face, my Joy.
A tiff caught in the mist of the action... Teya protecting her bird cage from Ava's grasp!
Ava sees a bug on her flower, squeals, and Teya comes over to investigate. 
She is really NOT liking that bug on her flower.
The look of the guilty and the look of the offended.
I love how the reflection of the sky and mountains can be seen over the lace.
Why so sad?
My beauty.
Ava was looking for bunnies...
...Cohen was looking for rocks...
...and Teya was looking for fairies. 
Has there ever been a chubbier happier baby face?
I posted this one simply to illustrate how dirty they were getting, and this was only half way through the day. It's good for them tough, they're healthier for it ;) I was just as bad as well... only without the stained panties. 
This is at the fruit stand (8th North in Orem) where some of my Grandpas produce is sold turning the harvest. 
Rolling down a grassy hill. The thrill is worth the grassy rash afterward. 
Tangled snared branches.
It's like she's floating high in the blossoms. 
This shot of the girls turned out so neat, but you need to click on it so it enlarges to get the full effect! 
He means business in this picture.
I like the effect of these ones.
In the end, after 6 hours of adventure... 3 nakey babies is what I had left. They were all so ridiculously filthy (I taught the girls how to squat in the fields, but they still need to work on their angels...) that they took a huge bubble bath...
... and it was THEN I realized that I didn't have any clothes to put them in for the car ride home. Teya didn't seem to notice, in fact I think she was excited I didn't have anything for her to wear... Ava on the other hand looks a little worried. Sorry Jessie ;)
Not a lot to say, but a LOT of pictures to post ;)
Be prepared for overload, I'm putting them all up for future album reasons.....
We spent the day trying to find dresses for Kara's wedding. We had success with the brides maid's dresses, not so much with the Maid of Honor Dresses. 
Teya & Ava riding a roller coaster in the mall... Teya was screaming and both were brave enough to lift ONE hand ;) I think this skill was acquired from all those Disneyland visits...
Photo shoot session after Teya had a self-given makeover at the Mac counter in Nordies. So funny to see the poses they come up with on their own!
This one kills me, she intentionally made this stylin' face and held it forever... what a goof! 
This is her go to pose, it's like an automatic response now when I pull out a camera. In the picture below I'm imitating HER, I think I'll call it the "Zoolander." 
Teya hooked us up with these colorful shades. She was feeling groovy. 
Cohen is darling in this picture, a perfect shot of his chubby little face!
She's killer.
Teya has a long running love affair with bubbles. Not an uncommon trait of a two year old child. I was cleaning out my fountain and letting the bubbles drain into the sink. Teya saw them and WANTED them! She pulled this stunt all on her own. What she didn't know is that I was behind her watching, all the while being totally confused and amused.
(The first video clip kind of drags on at the end, so don't feel pressured to watch it all.)
FYI: I was using a "Tub & Tile" cleaner that specifically removed hard water stains... but it was FINE that T-nugg got into the bubbles because it is Melaluca stuff which is all natural and harmless to kids. Thanks Jessie, I'm a lifer on all things Melaluca now!!
This is a message from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It can be found on both You Tube and on the Church's Official Website www.Mormon.org. They have several message videos, and this is the latest that will help others understand what the Temple means to us and the Church as a whole.
They are asking us to spread this as much as we can to help cushion the hit we are about to take from the HBO series "Big Love." I can go on and on about the show that's about to air, but I'd rather not fight it with angry words. Rather I choose to follow the advise and council of our leaders by keeping the peace and spreading knowledge about our church to debunk myths and misconceptions.
I add my own personal testimony to this video. The Temple is a sacred House of our Lord, and is a place where we are blessed with eternal families. Eternal family is where I find the greatest joy in my life. The Temple is the most sacred place on this Earth where we are taught beautiful truths in an inspired beautiful way. It is not something to be taken lightly, and should be treated with utmost respect and reverence.
Ice Skating was our Valentine activity. I'm not gonna lie, I was really nervous before I got on the ice. The last time I'd been was around age 9 in Idaho. But Teya was beyond excited, she'd watched her favorite cartoon character go ice skating on an episode, so she was prepared! Jess certainly was a stud on the ice, he was one of the cool kids who can go really fast in the middle of the ring and stop sideways without the toe pick. To the relief of my ego, I didn't ever fall and I was able to hold my own. It was surprisingly freeing and relaxing ... I attribute this to my roller blading days as a kid. I used to pretend I was a speed racer on my blades as I zoomed down the neighborhood streets. I loved the 90's!
Holding this position for an hour with T-nug between the legs was a REALLY good work out. It's also not a very flattering pose...had I seen these pictures sooner I would have tried to change it up a little, like bringing in the butt some.
Her legs in those gray tight pants with the tiny little skates was my favorite part!
Notice the scarf Jessie? It's stylin, good choice!
Such tiny skates, so stinkin cute... I wanted to frame them or something.
And the scarf Teya's got is from the ever so stylish mammas, Naomi and Pam.
Uhhh, maybe I should explain my sweet padded high-impact gloves... we don't have any of our winter clothes with us (why would we in SoCal?), so Jess' motorcycle gloves stepped in and got the job done.
She did this all on her own. I found her just sitting there taking out her crayons one by one and organizing them by color. It was astonishing! I couldn't distract her even when I was taking the picture for proof, she was so focused and determined to get all the crayons out there in line. She is by nature a very tidy little girl: if her room gets too messy she starts throwing the toys back in their appropriate baskets, her markers must be capped when she is finished using them, she likes to throw away trash even if it's mine she takes it from me to throw it out, she loves wiping things down with wet rags (this activity can entertain her for over an hour, I've had to each her not to wipe books with wet rags). When I showed Jess the picture he was like "Well of course, she's your girl!"
We have season passes, so with the "Free on Your Birthday" promotion that Disney is having we instead got a 70 dollar credit to the Disney stores! We scored some fun toys for T-nugget.
Tinkerbell is her latest favorite. She used to be Jess' favorite too, but I think he was disappointed. I was glad because up until then Tinkerbell was my biggest competition, and now she's out!
I took this picture so I could show Teya the heart on her cheek. I LOVE how it turned out from this angle, she's all big cheek and big eyes.
Look how kissable...
Inspiration
