This and That

I know I haven't been the best blogger as of late. We've been rather busy. Here's a smattering of what we've been up to:

• I don't think I ever mentioned that I watch my neighbor's kid while she goes to work. It's only 4 hours a day (well, really it's more like 5), 4 days a week, but it keeps me plenty busy. He turns one this month, and is just starting to walk. Julia has decided in the past week or so that she CAN play with him, which is nice for me, they can entertain each other. Julia is delighted when he chases her around the house. Let's just hope she doesn't like boys to chase her in about 15 years.
• For the 4th, we decided that a hike in 60° weather sounded much better than sitting at home in 100° weather, so we headed up to Cedar Breaks for the day. (actually, this was on the 3rd, since Clark got that day off) We hiked around the rim, Julia wore a jacket (woo, jacket weather!), we saw a whole slew of wildflowers, and, of course, we saw the amazing red rock. Here's a "family photo" at the turn around point (don't mind Julia, she's sleeping):
• Clark and I finally finished watching The Civil War. Holy cow, that is a good film. Exceedingly well done. Yes, it is long, but guess what, the war was long, so deal with it. We checked it out from the library, disc by disc, so it probably took us over a month to watch, but it was worth it. I learned so many things about the battles, the generals, the people. Highly recommend it.
• I finally listened to my Radiowest podcast of a conversation with David McCullough. I haven't gotten around to reading any of his books yet (they're on the list!), but I did like his narration in the aforementioned documentary, so it was fun to hear what he had to say. One thing he said particularly stood out to me. He talked about the power of the individual. There are circumstances that are beyond our control and shape our lives, disease, war, natural disasters, etc, but it's easy to point to individuals who have made our lives distinctly different. And they might not be well known, but they have made a difference, even on a local level. That gave me pause, made me think. Couple that with something our RS president said yesterday about how we shouldn't be silent, we should stand up for what we believe in, and it makes me realize that I can, and should, be doing more to make my voice heard. Time to get to work!
• We've got zucchini coming out our ears! And now we've got tomatoes, too. Lots of 'maters. Which reminds me: Hey, Cheryl, we need to bring some tomatoes over!
  
• Julia is learning new things every day. Like how to jump (or how to pretend to jump). Here's a video:

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But seriously, she has all sorts of new words, and she is becoming a great little communicator. She full on asked for a "hot dog" today. And she is a good "Mama" to her doll, Maggie. She makes sure Maggie folds her arms for the prayer, she feeds her, she puts her to bed, and she tells her to walk. It's cute.