Gwen Hearts Auntie Olivia

Gwen has always been fond of Aunt Olivia, and this fondness only increased during the reunion as Olivia was Gwen's roommate and playmate. Gwen started each day by crawling into Olivia's bed for a snuggle and to read a few books. (One morning, one of Gwen's books fell down between the wall and the bed. Olivia rescued the book from the "crack", but Gwen felt compelled to frequently retell the events by saying "book crack, book crack" whenever we went into the bedroom. This made us chuckle because, to the untrained ear, it sounded like Gwen was saying "butt crack, butt crack".)

Aunt Olivia was always willing to entertain Gwen, from swimming to reading, to making funny faces. Olivia acted like it was no big deal, but Mom really appreciated Olivia's helpfulness.

Auntie Olivia is heading back to BYU soon, so we may not see her until next summer. Gwen will miss her until then!

"Two Babies!"

Gwen finally got to meet her adorable twin cousins, Julia and Dallin. At almost four months old, they're sweet and smiling. Gwen referred to them as the "two babies", although she could say "Jewya" pretty well. She enjoyed keeping track of them and if they were out of her sight, one of her first questions would be "Where two babies go?" She was intrigued that they needed double of everything and would comment on their "two bottles", "two diapers", "two blankies," etc. Auntie Camille even had to give "two baths" to the "two babies." Gwen thought it was double the baby fun!

2nd Cousins

Gwen got to meet and spend time with Mom's cousins' kids, her second cousins, who were about her age. She found they had a lot in common!

Quinn and Gwen play little people.

Dax and Gwen use the ipod touch to start the day off right with an episode of Dora.

Great-Grandma Earnshaw helps pass on the Earnshaw board gaming tradition to another generation!

Happy 80th Great-Grandma Earnshaw!

At the reunion we marked the momentous occasion of Great-Grandma Earnshaw's 80th Birthday! In fact, the whole week was really a celebration of Gwen's great grandparents as there would have been no reunion without them, their six children, thirty grandchildren, and twenty-two (and still counting...) great grandchildren. Great-Grandma Earnshaw is an amazing person. She is a woman of faith. She serves others willingly. She is always anxiously engaged in good causes. She is a talented musician. She is an excellent homemaker. She always remembers birthdays, anniversaries, and other special dates with cards and gifts. And she is also adventurous! Besides the usual presents and cake, Great-Grandma marked her 80th with her first jet-ski ride. Gwen has a super cool Great-Grandma!

Check This Out!

We'd like to introduce you to a new face that you'll be seeing a lot of in a few months... http://nycrosbys.blogspot.com/2010/06/little-baby-big-news.html

Summer Harvest

The garden is doing really well and we enjoy checking on its growth daily. The green beans we started inside have been producing beans for a couple of weeks. When we go outside, Gwen always wants "two beans", one for each hand. She will either eat them, chew them up and spit them out, or just hold onto them as she goes about her business.

Today we got our first summer squash and zucchini from the garden. Gwen was going to bring them inside, but then she said they were hurting her hands and she threw them on the ground. They must have been a little bristly. However, this experience didn't deter her from eating them for lunch. That's as fresh as it gets!

Beatin' the Heat

The recent heat wave has driven us to find the closest body of water...

Which is sometimes the "tiny pool" (as Gwen calls it) in our yard.

That's opposed to our neighbor's "BIG pool" which Gwen prefers.

The water can be pretty cold when if comes right out of the hose, so Gwen doesn't like to sit down. She likes to hold onto the side of the pool and lift one foot or the other. She calls it "yoya" (yoga).

And when the swimming is done, there is always the squirt bottle to keep Gwen busy and wet! (Thanks for the great idea Grammie!)

Stay cool!

Happy Independence Day!

Enjoy the 4th of July!

Toilet Toe-Touches

(Note Gwen's cheering section of Little People...

They're so supportive!)