Sammy 2 1/4 Years Old

 This little man just keeps growing! He is such a crack-up too! 

He loves to play toys - especially with his trains and balls.  He loves to climb on things and jump off of things and usually does so on our furniture!

 When I asked him to smile for me, this is the pose I got. :) Sammy is such a happy kid most of the time.  He loves to run "super fast" and to wrestle, even if his big sister doesn't.  He loves to give hugs and to snuggle. 

 His funniest thing lately: He'll get your attention by repeatedly saying your name until you ask, "what?"  Then he'll say, "just kiddin." It's hilarious.  I think he does it just to get your attention.  He's also started saying, "Oh hi, Mom!" or "Oh hi, Lucy!" etc... I love when grown-up sounding words come out of his little voice.

Sammy has grown into a little kid - not a baby anymore.  The next step is potty training.  We've been talking it up to him and he seems interested.  We even went out and got Thomas the Train underwear so hopefully we'll be diaper free sooner than later.  Like the toys he's got in these pictures? They're my brother Tyler's old turtle toys.  He's a big fan! :)

Van Hooses in the House!

 Spencer's older brother, Dennis, and his family decided to make a quick trip to Utah for a couple of days in July.  He is the only one who doesn't live in the Salt Lake valley so it was nice to see them and catch up a bit. 

It was also the first time in many, many years that all the siblings were together.  In fact, it was the first time since I've been in the picture.

 So we had to take some pictures of course! The lighting was a bit weird for natural light but a bit harsh for the flash so the photography isn't the best but it's the content that counts!

 And had to get a couple with the parents as well! :)

 All the cousins had a good time playing too.  They played downstairs with toys and outside a ton. Here's Sammy with the cousin closest to his age.  She's only 7 months younger than him.

 Here he is with Dennis's youngest.  Lucy was so excited to play with her.  The two of them are only 6 weeks apart in age and they had a lot of fun together.

 Two more cousins driving around the neighborhood.  It was a regular road rally out there!

 This was so cute.  Valerie set out a small bouncy house for the kids on the front lawn and Sammy wanted to go on so he needed to take his shoes off.  Lucy offered to help him and did a great job.  I love catching these little moments when they show such love for each other.

 We thought we should take a picture of all the grandkids before the day was over.  Um... impossible! This is all the Van Hoose grandkids except the two oldest - Dennis's kids who stayed home in Arizona. 

 We had to bribe Lucy to even be in the picture.  Heaven forbid we get even one where she's looking at the camera! Oh well, makes for an interesting picture I suppose!

Float Preview Party

 Sometime in the middle of July we went to the Days of '47 Float Preview Party.  All of the floats for the parade get taken to the Expo Center where they are on display for the public for a couple of days.  It's awesome - no sitting and waiting forever in the heat - see them up close in an air conditioned place.  Plus, we got to vote on our favorite!

There were a ton with trains on them this year, which Sammy, of course, loved!

 This one was especially cool.  The train moved back and forth on it.  On one side it came out like this train and on the other side it looked like a FrontRunner train and station.

 Sammy even got to drive a train! :)

 Here is our stake's final float! We were excited to see the finished product.  You can see the girl we worked on in the front.

 The wheel on the handcart moved.

 And the bride went around in circles, although she was spinning pretty quickly. I think they fixed that for the actual parade. Our float ended up winning an award too - the Sons of the Pioneers award or something like that!

 And here is our little section! They added a book to finish off the look.

Lucy liked the giant butterfly on this one.  We had a lot of fun.  There was a marching band playing and marching all around the expo center and the floats were amazing!