And here we are again! I hope to re-cap a bit of the summer here. It was a great one! Let me first apologize for the small size of the photos. I have a default setting in Photoshop that imports the photos in a very high resolution (for printing). If I don't change that setting before editing the photos for the web, the photos end up small because there's so much file information attached. I usually don't realize my mistake until it's too late (such as today, for instance). I'm not about to go back and re-import and re-compress all these photos, so I guess you'll just have to get out your magnifying glasses. Ooops!

Here's a photo of the kiddos making homemade raspberry ice cream with their great-grandparents (you can't see Granddad in this photo, but he's the muscles behind the operation; that is, he gets to crank the ice cream freezer). Not long after this photo was taken, I decided that I couldn't live out the rest of my life without my own hand-crank ice cream freezer. After a good deal of searching (they really don't make 'em like they used to!), I found one on etsy.com that met with my approval. We've already made a couple of batches and thoroughly enjoyed them!

Here we are on July 4th, 2010 -- which also happened to be Maxwell Baker Toone's blessing day. We hosted family at our house for a lunch beforehand. Thanks to everyone who came! Please notice that we are all wearing red, white and blue. That took some doing.

We attended the Independence Day parade in Hyrum, UT. What's our connection to Hyrum, you ask? Absolutely nothing, aside from the fact that my cousin Melanie was royalty on one of the floats. This parade took place on July 5th, which lined up well with the other plans we had for the holiday weekend -- so Hyrum it was! The kids got plenty of candy, but I have to say that the parade was MUCH too long. I mean, how many citizens of the year can Hyrum have? I swear, it seemed like everyone in the town must have been a citizen of the year -- or found some way or another to qualify as an entry int he parade. Anyway, we had the opportunity to have a fun picnic after the parade with some of my Cache Valley relatives.

July 26, 2010: Amanda's first day of Kindergarten! This is a day that was anxiously awaited (Amanda made a countdown chain so she would know exactly how long she had to go). Amanda had a chance to meet her teacher, Mrs. Kirkwood, at back to school night. There are 15 girls and only 5 boys in Amanda's class! I'm sure those little boys can't appreciate those odds right now...but give them 10 years or so, and they'll be sorry they didn't take better advantage. Amanda loves to go to school (which is good, since she'll be doing it for the next decade or two).

Amanda attends year-round school, so while she was off-track, we enrolled her and Lily in swimming lessons. Amanda was eager to do what her teacher asked...

...and Lily was most of the time, too...
...but not all the time. It wouldn't hurt Lily to enroll in the same class again, which I think we will do. I think the look on her face in this photo is priceless! Makes me laugh every time I look at it. Lily will be turning four years old in the next few weeks. In the Toone family, your first friends-invited birthday party takes place at the age of four -- so Lily is pretty excited! She has requested a Cinderella birthday party. I ordered a special cake pan today so I can attempt to make her a "Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage" cake. I don't know why I get these ideas in my head. Wish me luck!

Last week marked another big occasion in our household: Lily's first day of preschool! We are doing a neighborhood joyschool like we did for Amanda, and Lily could not be more excited about it. For two years she has watched wistfully as Amanda has disappeared for two hours twice a week, coming home with completed crafts and telling tales of snacktime and stories. Finally, Lily's time has come! Now Amanda sits in the car as Lily makes her exit and skips away. Oh, how the tables have turned. It's nice to see Lily get to do something that's just hers and nobody else's. A note about Lily's outfit. Logan's mom took each of the girls (separately) for a special shopping/lunch date. They each got to choose a new outfit for school. This is the dress that Lily chose, and I don't think it could be more reflective of her personality. Just before she started preschool, I found these green shoes in her size on a clearance. She insisted that she wear them for her first day of school. It makes for a very...um...colorful combination. But, like I said it's so her.

It's been quite a while now that an outdated family photo has been hanging on the wall in our house. I can finally replace it with a current one! Where I used to be able to take the family photo by myself with the inventive use of timers, remote shutters and an electronic duck (yep, you read that right), I cannot anymore. We're too big now! So this photo was taken with the assistance of Logan's sister Lindsay and her husband Ryan, whom the children adore. I like to take photos pretty frequently because of how quickly the kids change, but getting Logan to agree to a family portrait sitting is...well, let's just say he didn't exactly agree to this one (it was more like, "We're taking pictures today"). Anyway, we got one that I am reasonably satisfied with (after a couple of head swaps, that is).

Awww, the happy couple! Logan got a new job at work (he is now the Director of Research and Assessment; before, he was the Math Curriculum Supervisor), and he wanted an updated photo of us for his new office. So here we are!

All of our kiddos. Geez, I love 'em!




As you can see, Max has perfected the smiling business and is now working on perfecting his laughing skills. He is almost four months old, which I think is such a great stage for all babies. They're so responsive and smiley; they think everything you do is great! He's getting too big too fast; I was sad to put away the 0-3 month clothes, knowing that we don't plan to have another baby and I won't ever put one of my own into those tiny shoes again. Why can't I have it both ways? Is that so much to ask? I think not...

Well, hopefully there will be another post before 2011 -- but I don't guarantee it. Happy autumn, everyone!