September

Another morning look.

Here's Peter, eating his ice cream. He used to do this as a baby, and apparently the tradition is back.

I love when he does this and can't help taking pictures. Also, it shows his favorite book, If You Give A Moose A Muffin. Love those books!

More messy eating pictures. He just dives for it, right on the table.

If I ever wear jewelry I will soon find myself sharing it with him. He loves for me to hang the earrings on his ears. He also likes necklaces, but apparently this one wasn't cutting it, because he broke it soon after we took this picture. Sigh.

It's so fun to see the things he spontaneously picks up on. We've never tried to get him to wash his face at nighttime, but he's seen me doing it a lot, and one night he just decided that needed to be part of the routine! ha ha ha!

About two weeks ago we finally cut his hair! It was soooo long and in his eyes, but his Daddy is quite fond of it and hates to see it go, so we always wait as long as possible. He didn't enjoy his last hair cut, so we used some new strategies this time. First: Heidi only used shears instead of the buzzers. He really hated the buzzers, and we were keeping it long, so that was helpful.

Second: we pulled out the secret weapon: Cars. It's his absolute favorite movie right now (his first one!) and it did a wonderful job of keeping him entertained and still while aunt Heidi cut his hair. Thank you aunt Heidi! She did a fantastic job.

This is Peter playing with his friend Jane. To Jane's right is her mother, my friend Han.

Peter loves sunglasses! He frequently asks for a pair while we're driving. He broke his first ones, so we got another, more flexible pair, at the dollar store. Really hoping these hold out for awhile.

Peter has also started to not only enjoy being pushed on the swings, but pushing the swings himself. He especially likes to do Under-Dogs.

The above picture is a lovely shot of the cuddly moments Peter has with his Daddy. This shot is in the morning during a family devotional. Below we have posted several pictures of a fun event I took Peter to (with some nudging from his Grandma Wright) that turned out to be so fun! Every year our court holds a Block Party day, where they have a bunch of fun things for kids out in our big open grassy area, as well as lots of information for students. This is the first year that Peter has really been old enough to enjoy it. These first two pictures are of him up in one of the tractors with his popcorn. All the treats, crafts, etc were complimentary, of course.

These next two show one of the giant snakes they had on display under one of the cabanas. The kids were allowed to touch and even hold some of them. They also had a small turtle and a Bearded Dragon from Australia. I'm all for cool-looking reptiles, so long as they are not in my house. My brother liked to catch garden snakes and put them in cages while we were growing up. Which was fine, except for the time that one escaped and we found it coiled around the storage room door handles. I'd prefer not to have repeat experiences in our own family.

 Home Depot had several kinds of simple wood crafts kids could nail together there. We chose a snowman-style napkin holder for Peter, which was adorable, but which I felt a little bad about because it went together with screws instead of nails, making it harder for my wee one to participate.

They also had those foam rockets for kids to paste the fins on and launch. It was Peter's favorite part of the day, so naturally I did not get a picture of it. Can't win 'em all, I guess. Below is a picture of the bounce house they had there, with Peter looking around nervously. He's not an expert jumper yet, and the gaggle of kids bouncing around inside were too much for him. He stood there a minute, and then cried to get out.

Here is Peter, carrying out his nightly routine. Normally, Dad reads to him at this point, but he decided he'd do it himself this time. Cute boy!

Here's Peter playing in the little outdoor playhouse with his friend, Isaac.

Last Thursday night Peter was running around a corner, caught his foot on the edge of the doorway, and took a nose-dive to the tile. Sadly, three of his front teeth were broken in the melee. He was screaming and crying for quite a while, of course, but luckily Cars came to the rescue again! As soon as we turned it on he was content, despite the blood and rather loose, jagged teeth. Our wonderful dentist, Dr. Joseph Stobbe, decided to crown each of the three teeth, in the hope that they wouldn't be as likely to break as the fillings. Cross your fingers! 

Here's Peter playing with his friend Aaron in Aaron's crib. 

This past weekend, Luke, Peter, and I went on a hike with Luke's friends. Joel and Leah and their not-so-little-anymore baby Elaina came along, as well as Cory, our outdoors guide. We did a hike in Lamb's Canyon that had all of us ooohing and aaahing over the beautiful fall colors.

Please excuse the extremely dorky ear-band. My ears are especially sensitive to the cold, and while I do have some pride, it's not enough to keep me from comfort. 

Here's a picture of Peter showing off the crayons his aunt Samantha got him from South America. Gotta love the attitude.

These last two pictures bring us up to date! Luke and I couldn't decide for ages what we should get Peter for his birthday. Finally we settled on this glider bike. It's one of those that doesn't have pedals, so they can just push themselves along and eventually learn to balance while they glide away! He's so excited about it, but the helmet hasn't come yet, so we've only let him try it out indoors. I can't wait to take him outside with it!

June, July, and August

 A morning look. He's so sweet! Well, here we are posting about the rest of the summer, finally.  This picture below was taken at a playground in Fruit Heights near our parents' homes. It is the coolest playground I have seen yet. It's all designed as a castle, as you can see from the picture. Very fun. I think this may be from Memorial Day in May or July Fourth. Can't remember.

Here's Peter using the bathroom clock as a phone.

This picture actually goes with April, I think. We tended my parents' dog Wilson while they took my two younger brothers to Hawaii. This is on a trip to the park. Peter loves Wilson, but he often torments him, and for some reason Wilson just takes it. We're working on the concepts of kindness and gentleness.

This is at the top of a mountain whose name we were never entirely sure of. 

Peter in the laundry basket. Every kid loves this at some point. 

June 12 was our anniversary, and Caleb was kind enough to come watch Peter while we went out to eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square. It's nostalgic for us because back in 2004, when we were first falling in love, we went on a date to see Phantom of the Opera and we ate there, near the beginning of June. Memories! It was a really nice night. That weekend we tended for James and Sarah while they ran the Ragnar. Here is Peter with Alanna looking at Jackson and Paul's matching beds. Cute! 

There's a really cool park right next to their house which we went to a few times. It was so fun! But also so hot! We couldn't wait to come back and have otter pops. Didn't you just love those as a kid? 

Peter loves to mimic both of us, especially trying on our clothes. Here he is sporting Dad's tie.

Peter loves playing with his friends. This is Andrew.

The Wright side of the family got together to wish my Uncle David and Aunt Cynthia well on their way to serve as a mission president in South America. We gathered at my uncle Keri's house, which is such an awesome place. Among other attractions, he owns two horses! Here we are feeding one a carrot.

June was also the time for the ward campout. We forgot to borrow gear from our parents, so we just went for dinner. Peter and Andrew enjoyed playing in the bushes and other people's tents. 

Here Peter is about to nurse his kitty. What a nurturer! He used to do this a lot, but hasn't for some time. It's so funny the things kids pick up!

We went to my aunt Laura and uncle Quinn's house in Midway for Independence Day fireworks. Midway is so beautiful! And such a nice size! It's a bit far from any big city, but Luke and I dream of living there someday. We went on a walking tour of the neighborhood, and two gentleman happened to be walking by with this sweet Shetland pony. They were happy to let Peter sit on its back for a moment.

Peter loves to look at his books. 

Our cuddly boy.

For my mom's birthday in July she took my sisters and I shopping! It was like a fairy tale dream come true! Ha ha! Especially because Luke tended Peter, so I was able to concentrate on the task at hand. The two boys made a day of it. They went out to eat at Costa Vida, saw the race car exhibition currently on display at the UMFA, rode the train, and went to Dinosaur Land at City Creek. This is a view of City Creek.

By the time they hit City Creek Peter was a tired boy. I believe this is inside the Disney Store, where one little girl nearly gave Peter his first kiss!

Enjoying a quesadilla at Costa Vida.

The car show. These are all older models of race cars. 

Our phones, while convenient, don't take the most incredible pictures. Sorry about that. I believe the picture below is at one of the Trax stations.

 Dinosaur land! All the models are made of squishy plastic material. Very kid-friendly and climb-able.

Also in July Luke's grandma Perkins came to visit! Here Caleb is teaching her the fine art of archery with his awesome bow.

We all took a turn.

I confess to having fallen in love. Some day I will have to get myself a bow and arrow. It's so fun!

Peter almost always tells us when he needs to go poop, and happily does so on the potty. I think the point of this picture was actually to show off his messy mug though.

On the twenty-fourth, in honor of Pioneer Day, as well as the three July birthdays in the Perkins clan (Jackson, Alanna, and Peter) we had a day at the reservoir near Sarah's house, and dinner and presents afterwards. It was so fun! The rain tried to discourage us for about twenty minutes, but finally it passed and we enjoyed the rest of the day on the beach. Here Luke is burying Paul in the sand to achieve the "being eaten by a shark" effect.

Peter and Blaze. You can tell how much he was enjoying himself. 

The final product.

Uncle Caleb swinging the Jackson and Peter around on the floaty bed. They love it! 

Jackson performing the same courtesy for Peter and Blaze.

Eating on the porch. While enjoying the meal, Caleb and Lauren announced they are expecting! The baby is due in March. Too much fun!

Peter has such generous relatives! Here he is opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa, and the Williamson family.

There was strawberry-blueberry trifle for a cake. Delicious! The three kids each had a candle to blow out.

Peter took two or three times to manage it by himself.

Our gift for Peter and all the kids were the little balls with toys you get out of the vending machines in grocery stores. They came complete with extra quarters, so there's no reason for mom to say no! ha ha!

Peter's birthday happens to be the same as my sister Heidi's, so when she suggested going up to Pine View to celebrate, we were happy to tag along. Everyone brought food, and we rented a Jet Ski to ride around. Here's my sister Samantha towing Peter around in the tube. He enjoyed it immensely, and eventually even fell asleep!

Luke played with Ashton and Kaden and their friends most of the time. Here they are getting the canoe ready to jump into.

I am very proud of this shot. The actual moment of the dive.

The day would not have been complete without Luke making a creation of sand. 

Finally we have a picture of Peter and little cousin Silas! Though not so little anymore! He's four months old already!

 

Peter always asks for sunglasses to wear in the car as Luke and I put ours on, so we finally got him a pair of his own. Which he promptly broke. He's still happy though, so I guess it's fine. Ha ha!

Our summer ended with a gargantuan effort by Luke to supply us with a hundred burritoes! I believe we ended up just shy, with only 80 or 90 sem-odd. Still a huge success. We now have homemade frozen burritos anytime we're in a pinch with nothing to eat. Which happens more often than it should, as we, too, are expecting a baby come the first week of April! I've been a bit tired and sick, so food doesn't always happen.

We are all so excited for this baby! Mixed with a bit of trepidation, of course. How on earth do mothers of several kids do it? I'm about to find out! ha ha! The best part is that our baby will be just days or weeks younger than Caleb and Lauren's! It will be so fun for our kids to be close to their cousins.

Now summer has gone and Luke is back in school. Only one year left and we're done! Couldn't be happier about that. Cooler weather is coming more everyday, and I couldn't be happier about that, either! This summer was so hot! It was great fun, but Fall is in the air, with all the holidays and delight it brings. We're so glad!