The Blanch Herd: Photos from Phones

Here's May's recap. (I'll spare the commentary here and let the pictures do the talking.)

5.1.16
(Love those lashes)

5.1.16
(looks like he's going to crawl, but he can't . . . yet.
also, hair!)

bonus video #1!

so close, but not quite

5.1.16

5.1.16
(those eyes though!)

5.1.16

5.2.16
(this view will never get old to me, ever. Monday Night Hikin'
from the Art Nord Trailhead,)

5.2.16
(a girl and her hiking stick)

5.2.16

5.2.16
(heading up a steep, steep hill in Icebox Canyon -
we didn't plan to do the whole loop, but we just
kept going and Cal did great!)

5.2.16
(heart eyes emoji goes here!)

5.3.16
(we love the "wheel carts" at smith's - and now
Sam gets to enjoy them, too!)

5.3.16
(stay of the road - or out of the aisle!)

5.4.16
(My daily strollin' smelled amazing this day!)

5.4.16
(spring in the Valley is lovely)

5.4.16

5.4.16
(YES!)

5.5.16
(My mom came to play and we had a yummy picnic lunch at
the Huntsville Park. Turns out bleachers make the perfect size
seat and table for a preschooler (and grandma).)

5.6.16
(I made this lemon blueberry cake for Mother's Day in Logan.)

bonus video #2!

jumping bean, two months later*. plus grunting

5.6.16

5.7.16
(Cool blossoms at Dray's soccer game in Salt Lake)

5.7.16
(I made these Tres Leches Cupcakes for Mother's Day in SoJo.
Bless Mel for all the most delicious treats I ever make.)

5.9.16
(I got this lovely orange begonia from the ward
for mother's day. I really love the color.)

5.9.16
(Can't stop, won't stop)

5.9.16
(Auntie Ky Ky got to come with us to story time
at the library!)

5.9.16
(and we played at the park, too!)

5.9.16
(swinging sammy still loves it)

5.9.16
(we only lasted a short few minutes before the wind
picked up and the rain started and we had to run home)

5.9.16
(We love our Ky!
Also, cheesy mccheester Callie - sheesh!)

5.10.16
(the trees around The Hearthside are always so divine.)

5.10.16
(I have some serious tree envy - at our neighbors'
on the corner)

5.10.16
(I love watching him explore and discover.)

5.10.16
(Gregg's final day as high jump coach for the
local Snowcrest Jr. High and we got to come
watch him at work! Here you can see one of his
kids clearing the bar for a pr - fun stuff.)

5.10.16
(Coach Dad cheering section.)

5.10.16

5.10.16
(she learned how to climb a chain link fence
this day.)

5.10.16
(hashtag overgramming. you have been warned.)

5.10.16

5.11.16
(8 months old!)

5.11.16
(looks like he's going to stand up, but then he
plops down on his bum - the up and over method
of sitting up from hands and knees)

5.11.16

bonus video #3!

minute in the life of an eight-month-old

5.11.16

5.11.16
(so . . . close . . . )

bonus video #4!

he crawls!

5.12.16

5.12.16
(I could not resist a little impromptu photo shoot
on the way home from the park.)

5.12.16
(this is what I get when I ask her to hold still and
smile - insert laughing crying emogi here. HA!)

5.12.16
(luckily I caught this more candid moment and I love
it. And her.)

5.13.16
(she loves to help and I love to let her (most of the time).
Also noteworthy but not pictured, she made her own pb&j
this morning almost completely all by herself!)

5.14.16
(Dad's hat!)

5.14.16
(My faves.)

5.14.16
(I liked the moon in the blue blue sky - but it's
hard to see here just above the tree in the middle)

5.14.16
(this was a hike from the North Ogden Divide
trailhead that we hadn't tried yet on the parking
lot side)

5.14.16
(Heather can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm
fairly certain these are glacier lilies. And they
were lovely.)

5.14.16
(our turn around point - not really a destination
for anyone else, but we did get a cool glimpse
of North Ogden)

5.14.16
(down, down, down, downdy down)

bonus video #5!

a little (more**) trail running

5.14.16

5.14.16
(back from our hike and hammocking as a family.
take one.)

5.14.16
(pretty dang good Saturday spent with my loves.)

5.15.16
(Mother's Day pic a week later. Sure feel lucky to be their mom.)

5.16.16
(can you see the toothies?)

5.17.16
(lilac lane - my anne of green gables name for it -
was looking lovely this day.)

5.17.16
(I opted for some daily strollin' during Sam's nap and he just
slept and slept so I just walked and walked.
(My total for the walk was just over 6 miles!)
The water here was probably 5 feet below this
walkway a month ago on our first Monday Night Hike
- and look at how full the lake is now!)

5.17.16
(I walked further than I ever had on this part of the bike path
and entirely enjoyed it.)

5.17.16
(there's the "lilac lane" I was referencing above)

5.17.16
(these bushes are HUGE and smell so good!)

5.17.16
(in a word, lovely.)

5.17.16
(we found my early Huntsville settler ancestors
in the Huntsville Cemetery)

5.17.16

5.17.16
(it was a stunning cemetery!)

5.17.16
(I really loved the big lilac bushes dotting the
area - smelled heavenly!)

5.17.16
(my little cemetery lover by her great-great-great-great-great?
grandparents)

5.19.16
(these are 12 month jammies. What!)

5.19.16
(Sam was napping so Cal and I had some quiet
hammock time together.)

5.19.16
(what a smile!)

bonus video #6!

hammock time with cal

5.19.16

bonus video #7!

crawling, one week later

5.19.16

5.19.16
(I couldn't help myself!)

5.19.16
(what a snuggy bug)

5.19.16
(picking all the bad weeds from our yard)

5.21.16
(back on the same trail from the Art Nord Trailhead
- this time with friends Brian, Cassie and Max.)

5.21.16
(Max and Sam "playing" as a one-year-old and eight-month-old
do.)

5.23.16
(swinging Sammy at it again. what can I say?
it's a perfect photo op)

5.23.16
(great cloud day)

5.23.16

5.24.16
(our little seed germination test results - on the left, the store-
bought radish seeds from an expired package; on the right, seeds
my uncle gave me from his uncle's radishes (I had to break them
out of their pods and they clearly are more "fresh"). I'll let you
guess which ones I planted outside in my garden.)

5.25.16
(last day of music makers before summer break - it's been a fun
thing for us to participate in the past few months and we're excited
to do it again in the fall. Good-bye Sarah, Good-bye Jared, Good-bye
Arta, we're glad that you could come! The rest are Jemma,
Gideon, Callie, Theodore, Ellie, Ellie, Moriah, Lily, Quincy
(and his mom, Emily), and don't forget Bennett's leg crawling away.
Also, this picture just cracks me up - this is the best we got
from a group of 5 and unders (mostly unders).)

5.26.16
(yep. again.)

5.26.16

5.26.16
(baby knees. you're welcome)

5.26.16

5.26.16
(lunchtime pucker face - first tastes of mashed
potatoes)

5.26.16

5.26.16
(he's got the "I do it myself" attitude a bit, much
like his big sis.)

5.26.16
(she's getting better)

5.26.16
(our daily bike ride to the mail boxes)

5.26.16
(he gets to come, too)

5.26.16
(it's been a while since she's been my daily strollin'
partner - it was fun to chat about the animals
and trucks and what they were doing on the way to the
store to get milk this evening.)