Clara loves her family and friends.

Here are a few videos of Clara listing the people in her family that she adores.  Here's a little translation:

Oma - my mom

Opa - my dad

Emmy - Auntie Em

Nie Nie - Auntie Teenie

Weezy - Uncle Steve

Ben

Will

Mama - Grandma Brooks

Pop - Grandpa Brooks

Bi-en - Uncle Brian

Bad - Uncle Brad

An-nie  - Auntie Angie

 

She also talks about GG - but she didn't list Great Grandma Appleford today during the video.  She also talks about Mac and Gwennie-Gwen, her puppies quite often while listing her family.

 

These other two videos are of Clara talking about her friends.  She's quite the quirky kid lately, and wasn't really in the mood to list her friends, but she did ok.  She talks about these friends a lot, and anytime she asks to "seet" (sit) on a bar stool, she has to talk about how Ezra sat there and drank juice.  Every time she sits on her swing on the back patio, she pats the seat on either side of her and says, "Aria" and "Ezra", because she swung on that swing with those two recently.  Funny girl!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few pics of some fun times with friends lately.  We had some families over for an impromptu dinner a few weeks ago.  Jess was about to pop, but still found time (and lap space) for two toddlers and a story.

Clara and Knox are great buddies.  Clara has started calling Knox Knoxie...weird, I know!

This was the table for a recent mother daughter brunch.  We usually just do this during the holidays, but since Teri moved back to Boise, we decided to do it twice a year!  It was great fun...but sadly I didn't snap any great photos of people!  Just the cute table on my Mom's patio!  You'll just have to take my word that the food and company was wonderful!

Kaufman visit...Labor Day 2012.

The Kaufmans did Boise for Labor Day...that is, all the Kaufmans except Steve.  It's always fun to have them here to play.  Ben and Clara fight like siblings, Clara smothers Will, and Will is Wonderboy!

 

 But aren't they cute?

 

 Oma and Will playing the ice-a-wagon game while Teenie and Ben snuggle on the swing.

 He's such a happy guy!

 And here are the three hoodlums in the bath.

 I love this.  Clara is pestering Will, and Ben is putting one ear in the water.  The little oddballs!

 

Each visit we have with the Kaufmans is wonderful...except the last one in mid September.  It was during that visit that Clara gave both Will and Ben the wonderful gift of the 7 day hellacious flu.  We like making sure that if one of these cousins vomits and poops their brains out, they share the bug so everyone can join in the fun!  You're welcome Teenie and Steve.  Just send me the carpet cleaning bill!

Clara horsing around in the boat...and singing the ABCs.

Here is our little squirrel being crazy in the boat one night (way past bedtime).  She  loves a good headlamp.

 And making silly faces!

And singing the ABCs!  I neaed to get the rest of the songs in her repertoire on tape!  I love her singing voice!  And the little girl can kinda carry a tune!  Do we have a future singer on our hands?

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Clara's first time in the boat.

So Kurtis bought a boat in June.  I coulda killed him!  Clara and I finally joined him in the boat this fall, as soon as the weather cooled down a bit.  Clara loved it...at first.  The snacks were the only thing that kept that girl "happy" and her parents sane!

 

But we got a few cute pictures of Clara on her first boat ride!

 

 This one's a keeper!

 Clara kissed all the fishies that came into the boat!

 Here she is drooling over her fruit leather.  Like I said, snacks are imperative to a successful boat trip with a toddler!

 Here I am with the biggest fish of the day, which I caught!

 And here is Clara "fishing"...aka slamming the rod down as hard as possible in the rod holder.

Now that this boat is in OUR garage, I'm sure there'll be many more boat trips.  For now, Clara and I are both slowly warming up to the idea of being a boating family.

I guess as long as there are snacks, we'll be ok!

Just kidding, Kurtis!  It was fun and we'll be glad to go again with you!  And now, whenever Clara sees any body of water (including small puddles in the gutter), she says, "fishies!".  Oh no!  Another fishing addict in the family!

More lovely weddings...and hot dates for Clara.

We attended Alex and Danielle's wedding earlier this month.  It was another lovely, outdoor venue.  Kurtis was a groomsman in this wedding, and so were Stephen (SWT4) and Ezra, so Jessica and I carpooled out together with the two little tikes (Knox and Clara).

 

We enjoyed the evening, and Clara and Knox couldn't get enough of each other.  Enjoy these next pics of young love, and Teri...I know you think Knox and Amelia are destined to be together, but these next pictures may prove you wrong!

 

 One of Clara's latest faves is to hug.  She is constantly wrapping her arms around others and declaring, "Hug!".

Fall equinox.

I'm so glad it's autumn! We celebrated the first day of fall by getting a little housework done, Kurtis ran some errands (hunting season is just around the corner), and we attended a wedding!

It turns out, we know 3 couples who were married yesterday! Crazy! The first day of a new season is a nice day for a wedding!

At Allen and Sarah's wedding, there was a photo booth! Clara hated it! She got freaked out both times we sat down in that little, enclosed space. But nevertheless, we got a few cute/funny pics! The weather was slightly chilly, and sadly pretty smoky. But the venue was lovely, and overlooked the Snake River in western Idaho's wine country. Clara had a fantastic striped dress on, but she needed her sweater on almost immediately! Don't judge her mismatchedness!

Congrats to all our newlywed friends! Cheers to the new season of your lives!

Garden update...September.

Things are still growing around here! We put in a 4th garden box and I had the genius idea to transplant all my viney plants. They looked like death for a couple weeks but have come back with a vengeance! We have summer squash, crookneck squash, watermelon, pumpkins, and I thought I had some cucumbers somewhere, but they haven't produced at all.

We've been enjoying green/red/Walla Walla sweet onions, parsnips, peppers, and carrots. Our strawberries are getting ready for the fall crop. We have a few green beans here and there too.

Oh! And I saved basil seeds from last year's plant, and have basil growing in 2 pots and a garden box!

The only thing that is TERRIBLE are the tomatoes. I've used the same seeds for four year now, and my starts have been so small and we are only now seeing our first red Roma! Boo! I guess I need to replenish my seeds a little more often. Lesson learned...sans bruschetta and salsa!