Lately (in pictures)

Safe in the car after getting rained on! (Makes for super curls on Afton :)

Enjoying popcorn at the neighborhood carnival. This was after ice cream and hot dogs and jumping in the bounce house! It was quite a fun time for Afton!

The ball she found in Boofie and Grandpa's garage. It's her new favorite thing.

Carrying her own book and walking out of the library.

We had a little reunion of sorts with the Stevens family. Afton is never short on attention!

Cousin sam is so great with Afton!

Playing in the yard after dad gets home from school.

Afton was good at the grocery store so the cashier gave her a whole bunch of stickers and I let her open some goldfish crackers (which was mainly the reason she was being good).

Emma had a birthday party with blue-frosted cupcakes. Peter says Afton is saying "So what, I don't care what you think. I enjoyed it"

Afton and I stayed with Olivia and Jeff while Pete and Michelle were out of town. Afton LOVED being with Olivia!

Still a finger sucker! And wearing a cute new outfit Mimi got her!

Trying on Jeffrey's hat.

I sent my sister, Amy, this picture on the right and she made the look-a-like doll on the left! Afton loves the doll and named her "Ella". She walks around giving her hugs and kisses all day.

One day after dropping Olivia off at the bus stop, the yard looked so vibrant from all the rain so I asked Afton to put her hands on her hips and pose and then I started snapping away and got these beauties!

Making silly faces

After school snacks with the big girls.

Afton is obsessed with doing her hair in ponytails. She goes and finds elastics and then brings them to me and won't give up until I have put them in her hair. This time she had 4 ponytails in her hair (you can't see one in back). It gets really old since she plays with them and pulls them out so I end up doing like 100 ponytails a day! I'm getting rather sick of it, but you know what, I have decided there are worse things a toddler could be doing.

The Famed White Coat

I can't believe I forgot to blog about the White Coat Ceremony! I guess I figured I had already done it!

On August 15th Peter was cloaked in his white coat to official signify the beginning of his journey toward becoming a doctor! He recited the hippocratic oath and was given a white coat and a stethoscope donated by a practicing doctor.

My parents were there, along with Peter's dad and brother, Jeff. It was held at Kingsbury hall and a local Baptist pastor spoke and the choir from his congregation sang. Everyone said the pastor's talk was great and very inspirational. However, I didn't hear it because I was out in the hall putting Afton to sleep since the ceremony was during nap time. Afton thoroughly enjoyed the choir and danced in the aisle during their songs of Amazing Grace and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She was a hoot!

We were so proud of Peter and excited to get this journey finally going. After the ceremony we headed over to The Pie for some pizza with our families!

The next day Peter decided to open his stethoscope and found that his was donated by his dad! It was such a sweet and tender moment when he found that out. We were in awe that his dad had done that. This is such a special step for Peter not only because it is what he has desired to do for a long time but also because he is following in the footsteps of so many of his wonderful family members (his dad and grandfathers, and even uncles too!)

Ogden Temple Open House

Afton and I went with some friends up to the Ogden temple open house to see the newly constructed temple there. Before it is dedicated they allow anyone who would like to see it walk through the temple. It is always such a neat experience and I wanted Afton to be able to go and feel the spirit there. Even though she may not remember it I will always be able to tell her that she has been inside that temple and tell her about our experience that day.

I went with a friend who has 2- and 4-year old girls. So we were quite the crowd! The first usher we saw after parking said we won the cutest group to come through that day (although it was only 10 am, so probably not much competition going on). Once the little girls put on the plastic booties (to keep the temple clean from dirt on shoes) I had to agree. It was ADORABLE! Afton insisted on walking herself for most of the tour. There were a lot of stairs so we stayed back with the older people who didn't mind going as slow as Afton up the stairs.

From L to R: Reagan, Shay, McKay, & Afton

The temple was beautiful and Afton loved picking out the paintings of Jesus. She would point and say "Jesus" whenever she saw a painting. I was proud of how reverent Afton was and how much she enjoyed being there. I'm sure she could feel the spirit just as I could of that special place.

This Sunday is the dedication and we are excited that we get to be a part of that for our Sunday meetings this week!

Aunt "Yess-i-ca"!

Peter's sister Jessica left for her mission last month. Today she is leaving the MTC in Provo and heading to Washington, D.C. Before she left Afton became obsessed with saying "Yess-i-ca". It is one of the best pronunciations she could say.

Jessica stayed a night at our house hanging out with us before she left and for some reason her leaving our house the next day was imprinted on Afton's mind. She would constantly say "bye bye Yessica". She loves her Aunt Jessica and we were lucky enough to say goodbye the day she went into the MTC. She is missed by all of us but we are proud of her decision to service a mission!

Before she left Jessica worked for a company that sends princesses to parties. She stopped by our house one night after a gig dressed up as Elsa and brought along Ana too! Even though Afton has no idea who Elsa and Ana are she still gladly smiled for a picture with the princesses.