HEADLINES FROM THE HOLTS: July 2013

As I mentioned in my last post, Allie and Justin came out to visit us in California.

Their visit overlapped with Kimber and Cheri's visit, which was a lot of fun!

And having them here made it easier to send Kimber and baby Cheri off

when it was time for them to leave for Hawaii and meet up with the Crandall family.

We spent the rest of the week that they were here trying to stay cool,

with record temperatures over 100 degrees every single day!!

We headed back out to the lake again with these two cute kids and had a great time!

And Dad continues to be an awesome and might I say "handsome" boat driver!

We tried to beat the heat by spending a lot of time in the pool.

One day, our good friends, the McNaughton's came up to visit

and we had a great time swimming with Noah, Lucy and Bella.

They loved Justin and thought he was the best "water taxi" ever!

Allie got up early and walked with me and Karen one morning
and almost passed out when we were finished! True story!
In her defense, it was seriously one of the hottest days that I ever remember...
and Karen and I are used to the hot weather and Allie isn't.
We couldn't help but tease her about how it's tough keeping up with the grandmas:)!!
And of course, she was a good sport about it so we packed Allie in the car
and took her to Bill's Donuts to help "revive" her!
And a maple bar, chocolate bar, apple fritter and a dozen donut holes later...
she was smiling and posing for pictures! I think it worked:)!

We showed up at the GB 4th of July pancake breakfast at the Cavitt-Stallman building

wearing our polkadot shirts matching our good friend, Pam Peterson

so we had to get a picture of that:)! Remember, we love to match!

And we had to get a photo of Larkin sibling picture

with Justin's sister, Jessica and her husband, Sam! Aren't they cute?!

One of the funnest things that we did while Allie was home,

was going to lunch with our dearest friends, Lindsy and Deborah Ethington.

Our friendship goes way back with these darling gals.

We first met the Ethingtons when we moved to Granite Bay 22 years ago.
Allie and Lindsy were in the same Primary class and quickly became best friends.

They got baptized on the same day and were on the same soccer team.
They went to Oakhills and Ridgeview schools together. Oh, how I miss those days!
They begun their cheerleading days as Jr. Grizzlies,

and then they moved on to Cavitt Jr. High and GBHS cheerleaders!
Throughout the years they shared so many good times together!

And Deb and I have spent many a day and night, sitting on the bleachers together,

watching the girls and chatting and have so enjoyed each others company.

So when we called and they were available to join us for lunch that same day,
we were SO happy and could hardly believe that we were all together!
It's good to have dear friends like these two gals, who have shared many wonderful memories with us!

I better stop there because I can feel my eyes getting moist and blinky,
so before I get teary-eyed let's just say it was the perfect way to end our visit.

Yes, it was a great visit and Allie decided that it really was fun to live and play in Granite Bay!

Sweet baby Cheri and her mom came to visit for a few days on their way to Hawaii!

I can't tell who was more excited, Baby Cheri or Grandma,

but we both had a wonderful time and enjoyed every minute together!

We swam in the pool, hung out with friends and rode on Grandpa's boat out at Folsom Lake.

It was fabulous but it all went by way to fast and before we knew it,

they were heading off to Hawaii for a much deserved vacation with Brett's family.

We met up at Karen's bakery with the bicycling group after their Wednesday bike ride!

Here is cute Liz with Kimber and sweet little Cheri!

And Lisa Shotwell meeting baby Cheri for the first time!

Cheri with my dear friends and neighbors from Weddington, Sue Jack and Karen Duffey!

And here is sweet little Cheri, sitting on her cherry quilt,

wearing the darling bow that my cute friend, Alyssa Pettey made for her.

Seriously LOVE this bow so I ordered about a dozen of them from Alyssa!

And you can too at A Colorful Delight on Etsy!

Can't get enough of that sweet Cheri pie and her adorable bow!!

Cheri's best friend, Emily, came over to visit and showed up in the same exact outfit!

Aren't they adorable in their twinner outfits, playing with their toys!?

Beautiful babes!

It was so fun to watch them play together!

It was time to swim, so Cheri's mom changed her into her swimsuit
and lathered her up with sunscreen.

Cheri was too busy to be bothered and was content just playing with her toys.

And eating them!

Cheri seemed so happy to be sitting outside, playing with her toys
that we almost hated to interupt her and put her in the pool...

but Kimber assured us that she would love being in the water and she was right!

Lots of giggles...

and smiles from this little one!

She can hardly contain her excitement and for a minute I almost thought

that she is going to jump out of her little floaty thing!

I loved watching Cheri enjoy the water with the cute Hansen and McLeod kids

playing in the background! Those kids are so adorable!

Cute Momma and her cute water baby!

Kimber got Cheri out of her baby canopy

and then she really got excited!

Such a darling little fishy!

And then Aunt Allie took a turn!

Did I mention that Allie and Justin rolled into town,

just in time to see baby Cheri?! Well, they did!

And we were so glad that their vacation overlapped

so we could all spend time together..

even if I did have to share baby Cheri:)!

This baby girl loves the water! Look at her smile!

On Thursday, we invited friends over for a pool party with the grandkids!
Karen Duffey and I have been anxiously awaiting the time for Avery Ann and Cheri Ann to meet!
Here they are in they darling dresses that Karen gave them!

Friends from the bike group came over to visit and swim, along with other friends in Granite Bay!
The only requirement was that you had to bring you swimsuit and get in the pool,
which was perfect because it was such a hot day that we all got in to cool down.
My cute friend, Liz Skinner, made these darling cookies for the pool party!

Aren't they absolutely adorable?! And so yummy too!

That Liz is so clever and cute!

We decided to try Cheri in the life vest.

She is not too sure about it...

but once I put her in the water, she seems to be just fine!

And before you know it, she is all smiles again!

And ready to dive right into the pool, seriously!

Luckily, I had a tight grip on her!

cause she is going to town, splashing,

and playing in the water...

just loving Grandma's pool!

Finally, mom got a turn to play with baby Cheri in the pool.

And she was pretty happy to see her mom...

and mom is pretty happy to see her too!

Kimber and baby Cheri with our dear friend, Kim Nash.

And here is Mandy showing her kids that even though she just had a baby 4 months ago,

she can still do a flip on the trampoline!

Pretty amazing!

The kids are pretty impressed!

Karen's grandsons are adorable!

They loved the trampoline!

Rachel, Cindy Stickland, and Mandy with baby Avery!

Katie Segale, Liz Skinner, Carolyn Johnson, Abby Segale and Kim Nash

enjoying the pool and a little shade!

Did I say that it was a hot day? Well, it was!

My dear friend, Karen Duffey with her daughter Rachel, and daughter-in-law, Mandy and granddaughter, Avery Ann. So sweet!

The new baby girls, Cheri Ann and Avery Ann with their moms.

The grandmas, me and Karen, with our granddaughters and their moms!

So glad these two little girls could finally meet! I think they will be best friends like their grandmas!

Grandma Deb and Grandma Karen with baby Cheri Ann and Avery Ann!

And to think this all started on Weddington Circle! Love my friends from "the Hood!"

Karen and Rachel and the kids with their cookie!

The boys LOVED it!!

We ordered take out from LaBou, one of Kimber's favorite lunch spots,

and sat out on the porch and visited!

What a fun group of gals... and Justin too! He wasn't about to miss out on the fun!!

These grandsons of Karen's are pretty dang cute!

Seriously, can't get enough of them...

and their cute faces!

Can you blame me for taking so many photos?!

Grandma Karen with her cute Avery Ann!

Aunt Sue with little Avery!

We lined Karen's grandkids up to get a photo and this is the view from above!

And this is the view straight on! Aren't they adorable!

Grandpa came home from work and Cheri asked him to play with her

so he got down on her cherry quilt and they played!

Grandpa especially liked the toys that made lots of noises!

On Friday morning, we headed out to the lake.
Kimber got a chance to waterski and as you can see,
she is "a chip off the old block!" (see photo of Dad below!)