Lexi's Blessing Day

On Sunday, September 2, 2012 Lexi was blessed in church by her father.  It was a beautiful blessing for a beautiful baby!  After the blessing we had a brunch at our house.

 Alexis Arami Macbeth

Our little angel wearing the gorgeous dress that Grammy made for her for the big day!

 The proud parents.

 The Macbeth family.

 Both sets of grandparents were there for the big day.

 The Macbeth side:  the Wrights and Grandma & Grandpa

The Foster side:  the Coopers, Grammy and Pops, a few Stewarts, a few Openshaws, and a few Cardons.

Thanks to all of those that shared Lexi's special day with her!

Trip to Montana

As a last hurrah of the summer (and the last chance to have Libby fly for free before she turns 2!), my mom and I flew to Montana to visit my sister Jen and her family for a long weekend.  It was a blast!

 The girls and I on our flight on the way there.  They did a GREAT job and I was so proud of them!  VERY grateful to have my mom with me to help, too, though! ;)

 Here we are on the trail right behind Jen's house.  It was beautiful and Libby loved all the animals we saw - horses, cows, and, of course, dogs!

 Summer works at a Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings selling crepes, so we went down to downtown Billings to check it out.  We gorged on crepes and enjoyed the beautiful flower baskets, too.

 The Stewarts have really gotten into swimming lately and were super excited to show off their skills.  Mention the word pool and Libby is in!

 Then say "hot-tub" and she's died and gone to heaven!  Syd actually got her to relax enough to float.  She'll never do that for us...Syd must have the special touch!  If only she lived closer!!!

 The next day we did our marathon one-day Yellowstone trip.  We drove the long way to get there and were so glad we did - it was gorgeous!  Here is Libby showing off her travels.  We were above the treeline at this poing and the views were incredible.

 We stopped for lunch in Cooke City, MT.  This is how the weather looked when we went into the restaurant, but when we came out it started pouring down rain.  It made for a fun adventure and Libby loved that, too!

 Once we got to Yellowstone, it didn't disappoint!  There were bison EVERYWHERE and this guy was our favorite.  Just cruisin' down the middle of the road like he owns the place!  How cool!

 The girls and I - as close as we braved getting to a group of bison behind us.

 We walked to this waterfall and then enjoyed an ice cream pit-stop.

 We didn't make it all the way to Old Faithful (that would have been an additional 3 hours in the car - to the 13 we ended up spending!), but we did get to see lots of Geyers at Norris Geyers.  They really are pretty incredible!

 We loved Yellowstone!  Imagine, not just the 7 people pictured here, but 2 more adults (Jen and Jason) in a car for 13 hours!  It was crazy, but soooo much fun!

We certainly enjoyed our trip to Montana are so grateful to the Stewarts for being such awesome hosts!  Thanks for a WONDERFUL trip - we can't wait to come back!

All Grown Up!

Three major "grown-up" events all happened in one night!  Our girls are getting so big!

 First, Lexi sat in the bumbo for the first time during dinner as we all enjoyed a great evening on the patio.  Summer nights really are the BEST!

 Second, the girls had their first bath together!  Lexi has finally outgrown her little infant bath and it was time to get them on the same bathing schedule, anyway.  So far, so good.  They both seemed to love it.

Third, Libby graduated to a big girl bed!  She's now in a toddler bed and just a few nights later Lexi was moved into the crib.  Libby is doing GREAT in it and the transition was seamless - way better than we ever could have hoped for!   And the quilt is one that my mom and I had made when Libby was born but hadn't gotten much use.  It was perfect! 

Yep, they grow up fast, don't they?!  Next thing we know, they'll be driving!

The Mustached Macbeths

Unfortunately, our friends the Robinsons that throw the annual Mustache Party for Jake's birthday every year moved to AZ.  Cindy, his wife, decided to keep the tradition alive and asked all of us to sport a stache for a picture and send it to her to make a poster for him for his birthday.  So, here are our submissions.

 The cutest of the bunch!

 Nice face, Brad! ;)

 And, of course, the non-cooperative Libby.

She was NOT a fan of the whole experience!  Sorry, Robinsons, we tried!  It was fun anyway and we miss you terribly!  Thanks for giving us an excuse to be silly.

Britt and Mike's Wedding

Britt and Mike tied the knot on Sat, August 11, 2012 in Laguna Beach.  Libby got to be one of the flower girls and had been talking about it all week long - she was soooo excited!

It was a gorgeous wedding and we were so thrilled to be a part of it!

 Libby with the beautiful bride just moments before her time to shine!  (And, yes, I'm referring to both of them!)

 Here she was walking out with Jannica and the ring-bearer.  Good thing Jannica was there...turns out that flower ball she was supposed to carry was REALLY heavy! 

 After the ceremony, we decided to take full advantage of the beautiful scenery and try to get a family picture.  Well, here are the attempts, anyway!

 Pathetic, but I think this might be the best one!

 And we wonder why she's a daddy's girl!?!  Pretty cool picture, if you ask me!

 Whatever can be done with a flowergirl that refuses to smile?!  Ugh!

Here we are with the bride and groom.  If ever there were a mutually beneficial relationship, it would have to be mine and Mike's!  He introduced me to Brad, and I introduced him to Britt...yep, sure glad I was nice to him in 6th grade when he moved to my school!  ;)

Congrats, Britt and Mike! We are so happy for you!

Hitting the Pool in Style

We've had some unusally hot weather lately, so we've been hitting up the pool quite a bit. 

 Here's our little movie star, all glammed up!  What an exhausting life!

 The floppy hat is a bit too floppy...but sooo cute!  She loves the water!

 Libby got to borrow someone's alligator and was in total heaven!  I dunno...the alligator may give her kickboard a run for its money - she loved it!

 Honestly, if that doesn't scream "movie star", I don't know what does!

 Playing at Grammy and Pops' pool sure is fun!

So fun that Lexi pooped out afterwards on a lounge chair.  Can't wait to do it again!

The Pageant of the Masters

Brad and I finally got another date night without the girls!  This time, though, all of our go-to babysitters were with us, so we actually had to get a non-family, paid babysitter!  CRAZY!  It was totally worth it, though!  We went to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach to celebrate both my dad's and my aunt's birthday and it was incredible, as always!

 Here's the whole group after the show.  Notice Cheryl demo-ing how most of us looked most of the night - a set of binoculars glued to our faces!  It is truly an amazing experience...and this year was even better than last!

The girls (minus Britt who had run off somewhere).  Thanks for a wonderful night!  It was a rare treat and we loved it!  Happy Birthday, August 7th-ers!