In a nutshell, we've been swimming, sightseeing, celebrating and becoming pilots. (Well, one us has been taking flight lessons. And another one of us isn't thrilled about it.)

Swimming: The kids are really starting to enjoy being in the water—if they can walk around and it's not too cold. So, we swim in our whale pool in the backyard or go to our neighborhood pool and hang around the kiddie pool. My good friend Jamie and her girls have been over for some splash time too. As you can see, they do enjoy it - even though I only put about two inches of water in. If I put in more, they won't get in because it's too cold. All kids just want to splash anyway—two inches is plenty to splash in.

Kieralyn put on a little water show for us and Luke and Ella were quite enthralled.

Sightseeing: We took the kids to Temple Square in Salt lake City and let them run around.

There's so much to see, so many flowers to smell. Ella currently smells with her lips—it's a talent.

They thought it was great. It really is a beautiful and peaceful place, despite being in the middle of downtown. If you haven't ever been, you've got to go. I guarantee you'll be impressed.

Celebrating: We celebrated our 5th anniversary, again. Our Hawaii trip was the real celebration, but that was about a month and a half early. We didn't have a babysitter and so we decided to take the kids out with us, which ended up being fun. We went to PF Chang's—one of our favorites. Luke tried the chopsticks, or I guess I should say, the chopstick. For some reason he didn't want to use two. Surprisingly, he actually got food on it.

After dinner, we went to the Church History Museum (that's where Clifton proposed). They have a great children's exhibit there that the kids loved. You can design a stained glass window on paper and then actually build it out of plastic pieces. You can create a mini temple with blocks, play dress up, visit the manger scene with the shepherds, be a doctor or nurse, and take care of the babies in the hospital. (Sorry the pictures are bad - they're cell phone pics.) Again, I highly recommend visiting the Museum of Church History and Art.

After the museum we went back across the street to Temple Square to smell more flowers and walk up the temple steps.

What a beautiful building—even more so when I think about what it represents to me. Families can be sealed together for eternity in the temple and learn more about God and his love for us. It is a very sacred place. I'm so blessed to be sealed to my wonderful husband and sweet children. I can't imagine the last five years any other way.

We also celebrated Clifton's and his sister Hayley's birthday—yep, same day. We had a BBQ at Clifton's parents' home and had cake and ice cream.

We played some basketball and badminton—some more than others. We all had a really great time.

Before I forget, we also celebrated another nephew's birth: Spencer Thomas. That makes 21 grandkids on the Smith side. We can't wait to see him in Arizona, along with all the nieces and nephews.

Becoming a pilot: Yes, that would be Clifton. He has a good friend who is an instructor and is teaching him. Now that he's conquered the motion sickness, he loves it! Secretly I was hoping the motion sickness would win and stop the lessons. But, Clifton was really determined to overcome it. He's logged about 15 flight hours now and is thrilled with every hour. I'm really trying to not worry so much and be more supportive, but I'm still working on that. One day Clifton took Luke down to the hanger to see the plane. Luke was in heaven—just like Clifton.

Here is Clifton after his first landing at Salt Lake International Airport. I know, the plane it soooo tiny! But, Clifton assures me it's totally safe, and even has it's own parachute for the entire plane because it only weighs like 800 pounds. I know, scary! I'm trying to get over it. Wish me luck.

Clifton's cousin Andy and his family came into town back in June to visit for a while. We don't get to see them much since they live in Georgia, but we got to spend a day with them swimming and just hanging out. It was nice. They have an Ella too, who is 6 years old and cute as can be. Here are the two Ellas, enjoying some ice cream on the porch.

We also got to meet, for the first time, their Ethan—who was almost named Luke. Wouldn't that have been a coincidence! We had a great time with them and hope we see them again soon—four years is too long.

At the end of May, we took Luke and Ella to get their 2-year-old pictures (just a tad late). But honestly, I was putting it off because pictures with the kids have just never gone well. I was really dreading it. But, I knew I needed to do it and would regret it later if I didn't do it. So, I summoned my courage, found a coupon for a free sitting (therefore losing no money if they turned out horrible) and made an appointment.

I was so proud of Ella. She was a little nervous at first, but the photographer worked with her and we got some great shots.

The poor photographer had her work cut for her with Luke, though. It's amazing what idiots adults turn into to get a kid to smile. We were practically standing on our heads with our tongues sticking out and our eyes crossed for him, and do you think we could get a smile? He's two, and thus asserts his independence. The photographer tried so hard. A half an hour and lots of tears later, this is what we had–sad stares, blanks stares, angry glares and a couple smirks. Nothing showing how cute and happy and clever our Luke really is.

So, we called it quits and the photographer came over and gave the kids high fives. Which made Luke smile. So I asked he if she could try for one more minute with the camera. She grabbed it and as Ella sat on the floor and Luke sat on my lap, the photographer gave them high fives while snapping shots. After a couple tries, we finally got it! One single picture with them both smiling. Amazing!