Again with the pictures!

Life in the VA is going great! This post was starting out in a whiny sort of way, but then I looked again at all the pictures I was going to put up and I realized, we really are having a great time. I erased my complaints and started over. We are so blessed to live here. Bowman has a terrific job in what could be a really difficult time, and for that I am more grateful than I can say. We have a lovely place to live and plenty of great people we're getting to know. And, frankly speaking, we have the best little girl in the world! (That's for you, Kim!) She really brings us so much joy and helps me realize what is most important each day. 

For those who have not yet had the privilege of experiencing firsthand, let me just tell you, Bowman gives the ultimate foot massage. Seriously, he could probably give massages to the IRS instead of paying taxes and we'd still get a refund. Rayna gets the family discount, meaning all she has to do is bring him some lotion with a cute look on her face. What a good dad. :)

 I'm so glad I caught this reaction on camera! Can you see what she's holding? It's the brush from my eyeshadow. I found her playing with it and asked her what she was doing. She got all embarrassed and showed me like a good girl.

Just your standard bath time antics. She knows the sounds that all of her bath toys make, except the octopus. We've taught her plenty of actions and pretend sounds that other silent animals make, but I can't think of a good one for an octopus. I'll have to get a video of her doing her "crab," it's a good one.

This girl is so funny. She likes to watch her movies like this. Nice abs!

Little flushed cheeks at the park. She loves to "weeee!" (swing, you know:) )

After the park that day we stopped for some ice cream because it was HOT! Someone decided to take the best of both worlds and eat her ice cream in a cone and with a spoon.

No trip to Walmart is complete without a stop in the bike section. And this time we made an important discovery: her feet can reach the pedals! Actually pedaling is another story... hopefully Bowman's coordination genes pull through soon because we all know she's not getting any help from my side!

Despite what you'd think, this is a happy picture. :) Just saying cheese!

Back at the park, but this time bouncing on the... bouncy... thing. She bounced and bounced and tried her best to hum the William Tell song, since that's what Bowman sings when he helps her pretend to ride horses (like in that video from last Christmas).

We went with some friends from our ward to the most beautiful park on the banks of the Potomac. It was so pretty, with perfect weather and cute little children!

This was the only picture with both of us that even sort of turned out. Oh well, we'll go back. The river is so wide and peaceful. Rayna pointed and yelled out the whole time about the "BOAT!!!" out there, but there were no boats, so I guess she just has a good imagination.

A real smile! Most pictures have blank stares or the cheesy smile, which is so cute, but it's not her real, everyday, happy smile. She had such a good time on this walk, talking about the imaginary boat, looking at deer, and pushing her own stroller through the mud.

I'm glad I have this blog to motivate me to take pictures and share them. We are really happy here. :)