August

 I think that August is officially my favorite month of the year.  For one, it doesn't have any holidays so there is nothing preplanned for it.  We also have our annual camping trip that always happens at the end of it, so I have the whole month to look forward to it.  Last but not least the days are finally cooling off in the evening so we can enjoy the longer cool summer nights while still having the summer heat in the day.  Yes, I think that August is my favorite month of the year.  With that being said this has been an especially crazy August because our swamp cooler broke and put the bedrooms and hallway out of commission, we had to camp out in the basement, my phone died a sad death and I have been phoneless waiting for the new one, and our lawn mower broke.  Even after all that this has still been my favorite month, that is how much I love August;)  Besides all that we went down to Arizona for my Grandma Anita's funeral the first weekend.  This was such a wonderful time to see a lot of my dad's family that I rarely ever get to see. Especially to see my dad. We got some great pics.  Here we are with my dad and cousin Joe and his wife Phyllis. 

Gretchy loved Phyllis!

 I also got to see my dad's sisters Aunt Nancy and Aunt Mary Ann.

 Everyone was so nice and it was so great to visit with them.  We don't get down to Arizona very often to see them and it was nice just to spend sometime with them and introduce everyone to Julian and Gretchen.  It was also super cool to see them meet their grandpa, my dad.  I love this picture.  

Me with my dad, my brother Tony, and Gretchy.

 

Gretchen and Julian also got to hang with their uncle Tony all weekend.  Julian called him No-ni, the whole weekend and has ever since:)

Another cool thing was that I got see what my Grandfather looked like for the first time in my life.  I don't know how I missed ever seeing a pic of this guy but we got a copy of this baby. This is Candelario Valenzuela, known to everyone as Babe, for his great baseball skill. 

  

I hope we won't have to wait so long before we can get together again. 

 Another awesome thing about August is picking fresh fruits and veggies out of the now jungle garden.  I love this garden! (It is even bigger now) I can't even see Julian when he walks around in it because it is so much bigger than him!

 The box garden on the cement was our little experiment in Urban gardening.  We had to raise it so it could drain properly.  So you can garden on cement if that is all that you have but it is hotter than the regular ground so some day shade would be better if you have any.  We don't but still got some okay plants going.

 After spending so much "quality' time in the basement we have really been motivated to get it done!  Aaron has been framing like crazy and I have been planning and making a doorway between the family room and what will be the office. That is my 2am happy face:) Cutting drywall with a razor for two hours is lame...  But I love love love! how open it makes the room feel.  I am really falling in love with this basement.  Hopefully I will have something pretty to show for all of efforts sometime soon.

   This week we went with Aaron's work to see the movie Planes.  It was quite the adventure but as we walked out of the theatre Julian saw the number two on the wall and got all excited.  "Mommy, two, two, two!" He was shouting that at me while holding up his two little fingers.  I was like, oh my gosh Julian is reading! I get that babies do that like at two months these days but I was immensely excited about it! Julian is also actually talking to us in little two and thee word sentences (here and there) but yay! I am just so excited about it.  He also continues to be my little helper.  He helps me mix the cookie dough together, do laundry, dishes, and clean up his messes:) I leave it up to your imagination what this actually looks like but speaking of imagination Julian is having so much fun with his.  I love to watch him create and pretend.  The other absolute coolest thing that happened this month is that Gretchy is crawling like crazy and pulled herself up on her own for the first time on Friday.  I was sitting on the couch and look down and there she is standing up next to me on the floor.  What!? She is a shaker and a mover, in every way.  I use to freak out whenever Julian would try to wrestle with her but it seems so common place now and sometimes she even has the upper hand so I don't worry as much as I use to about her:)  I love these kids! They make me smile everyday.  Gretch also loves to eat her solid foods.  She loves to feed herself.  I was being pretty lazy and not very consistent about getting her solids everyday but she started waking up once a night and so I started to make sure she was eating solids once or twice a day and now she sleeps through again. Ah, relief... Look at this little angel,

Here is her happy food face,

And Julian on the way home from Phoenix.

Happy August!