Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Good Bye Terrible Twos

Well, it happened. Our little Taylor is all grown up and... and turning three! I can hardly believe it. And (dare I say it?) is leaving the terrible twos behind. Yes, this little sweetheart is a sweetheart. Of course, that didn't stop her, this morning, from attacking the marshmallow bag with her teeth and frantically biting her way to sugary goodness while my back was turned, but nobody's perfect :) Let's take a look at a few of the pictures from her birthday weekend, shall we?

Part of growing up is finding friends in your siblings. And these two really are best friends right now (it doesn't stop them from being worst enemies occasionally, but let's relish in the moment)...


My family drove down and spent her birthday with us. As you can tell there are always good times to be had...


She even got to relish in the infamous waiter-waitress-birthday-chorus...


And what happens when you make all of your three year old's dreams come true? If you have a camera in you hand, you get a picture like this...


The proud new owner...


We can't keep her off of it. Ok, we hardly try. Who wouldn't want their toddler entertained for hours on end? Oh, and did I mention she got dress-up for her birthday as well?...


And, coincidentally, Russ had a work party on Taylor's birthday. Of course she thought the celebration was all for her. Why wouldn't dozens of strange adults gather in honor of Taylor Rae? Shivani got these pictures (aren't they great?!). I can hear Taylor's little voice saying"Look at my thweeming thuit!" Awe ...


And Hallie, it's not your birthday, but you're just too cute!...


(Brecken, you weren't there or I'm sure you would have been too cute too :])

Day two of Taylor's birthday (she is going to have a warped sense of how birthday celebrating happens in the real world) we had a party with Russ's fam...

(Silly boys :])...


...Who supplied her with (and modeled) her pink ballerina dress up and a plethora of accessories. Thank you for the rings, the headbands, the hair clips, the necklaces, the purses, the tights, the shoes, and every other thing that likes to spread itself and re-spread itself over every inch of my house :) But Taylor's enthusiasm for it all makes it well worth it! She is so adorable! I can't get enough of her these days!...


I guess now we just wait for next year's birthday...


Ah, little Taylor. Happy Birthday you sweetest, cutest, cuddliest, funniest, craziest three year old!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Summer

Well, I thought of the different ways I could catch up... several posts, a few posts, one long post, no post. And honestly, it's been a toss up between the latter two. However, since I do wish to have a record of the Harrington going ons... I decided to weed through the pictures and pull out a few worth mentioning. Quite a few. Ok, few is probably the wrong word. There are a lot. So with no further ado, chronologically, our summer...

Georgians in Utah
Rob and Amber came out with their little fam and while they were here Russ gave them a Genuine Salt Lake City Tour...




I had to stick this in here because I just love President Hales... Brother Hales... Um... Brook? No, I'll stick with President Hales :)...


And this picture made it through the weeding process because I was proud of Russ capturing it (the picture, not the bird)...


awe...



And if a wife stumbles across an image such as this, I believe the law states it must be posted on the blog...


Park City Babies Crying Girls Week.

What could be more fun than getting together with the girls?... And the six-year-old, and the two three-year-olds, and the two two-year-olds, and two one-year-olds, and two less-than-one-year-olds, and cramming them all into a house that doesn't work? I'll tell ya: not much :)


ah, but we managed good times. Like the one second it took to press down the shutter button...


I happened to be snapping shots of Hallie when Dasia came wandering by. I got the following sequence...




For those who can't see because they are so itty bitty, that was some binky-swiping action. They're gonna be best friends. I can tell.

And these two pictures pretty much sum up the trip...



Yes. This was the vacation we called Girls Week in Park City. Were there any good times to be had??!!

Yes. There were. It was called bed time :) Ok, Ok. And a few times in between...


Except this photo is totally fake. They fought and screamed the whole week. This was, I think, the only showing of loving affection. And it was posed...


And I am sure you are thinking "Serenity shouldn't blog when she's tired. She must be in a baaaad mood." No... I'm pretty sure that if you ask anyone about the trip to Park City they will tell you that it was the vacation from... the black lagoon.

Week with the Rangel Boys...
And only one picture to show for it :)...


Sweet Summer Moments...


The ups...


The downs...


(although these pictures were taken days apart, it is not unusual for Taylor to experience both of these emotions in the same one minute)

Hallie's First Birthday!
Yes. It happened. She turned one. And she doesn't even get her own post, poor girl. But to compensate, I threw in plenty of pictures.
Here she is, on the big day, her and her daddy sporting the dress look.


And now going casual. Wow. So good looking. I know this section of the post should be dedicated to Hallie, but man, Russ, you look good...


I, being the overachiever you all know and love, put a lotta love in Hallie's cake(s)...





It's the love. I knew it would make her happy...


4th of July
There was the carousel ride that the girls loved...



and refused to get off of...



and there was... a whole bunch of stuff that doesn't make it to the blog, but here is a pic of my patriotic sweet hearts...


Of course Summer is not officially Summer if you don't make a trip to the pool...



Nor, is it officially summer if your two-year-old does not crash dead asleep in between bites at least once...


Weekend with the Goodlads
In which weekend we hiked (unless you prefer the term strolled) around the red rocks.
Hallie filled her time with banging these two rocks together...



Taylor was adorably cute...


And Brecken learned to...


Almost...


Come on, you can do it...


There! We got a real smile...


wow. this post just keeps going doesn't it?
Allen Family Reunion
Complete with Piñada...



Which, after Brecken swiped down in one shot, she decided to beat the candy out of it...




Another First for Hallie,
Pigtails!




And this summer venture is known as "Leave the Cool Whip in a two-year-old accessible area, so that said two-year-old can gift the entire container of said Cool Whip to her highchair-trapped one-year-old sister"...


Oh the joy....


And that's it. I don't have any last big hoorah summer picture to end on. We'll have to settle with the Random Cool Whip Photo.

Summer, it was good to know you.