In which Millie turns Two, our town turns upside down, we visit the House of the Lord, and bathe in a sink.

There's this little thing going on at our house, and that little thing turned two. 

We were all in the kitchen eating breakfast, waiting for her to wake up (that kid is a snoozer) when we heard her singing upstairs. There was a mad rush to the stairs!

Good morning, Birthday Girl!

"Millie, how old are you?"
"Two."

Her birthday happened to fall on one of the biggest days of the year for our Midway. On the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day weekend, tens of thousands (I'm not exaggerating) of people descend on our little town to attend the annual Swiss Days. It's big, man.
So we partied it up.

When Papa and Lala arrived, we opened presents.

Millie Mildred Amelia Mills Meow-Meow, we sure love you.

You are a huge personality in a tiny package. You make yourself known where ever you go. You save your smiles for when you really mean it, you adore your older siblings, you want to do puzzles all day long. You are often frustrated by your tiny body and wish you could keep up with the big kids, but be patient; it'll come.

You're usually pretending to be a kitty, which cracks us up. If you don't know the answer, you just meow instead.

You are a pill! But we like you any ways.
Your siblings didn't act like "two year olds" until they were three and a half or so. You've been acting "two" for six months already. But that's okay! Get it out of your system early.

You are an awesome snuggler. You like to give kisses. Your hugs are genuine and you squeeze pretty hard for such a tiny tyke. You like getting your hair done, which is why you're the only sister with long hair. You don't like Cheerios, but you'll eat three bowls of Shredded Wheat in one sitting. You are one of a kind, kid!

In essence, I'm sure so wholly completely entirely super glad you're mine.

So, back to the Swiss Days part of our weekend, there was a parade! So we went! Because, naturally.
Emmy and Jonah participated in the Swiss Children's Chorus this year, so they were in the parade. They also put on three performances, which were all killer.

Here they come! 

Oh wait, I have to show you their costumes because they are adorbs:

Right?!

Our town was technically settled by Germans, but sometime during the second world war they decided they were Swiss instead. Something about Germans not being super popular or something. 

It's all about heritage around here! 

Work it, Emmy!

It's so funny to live in this town. It's so quiet and peaceful 363 days of the year. Then there are two days of "TA-DA!!!!!!" then it's quiet again. Seriously. We have to stock up at the store the week before because it's too hard to leave the house during Swiss Days! You can't drive! We live four blocks away, and our street is lined both sides with cars the entire two days. BUT for good reason. Swiss Days is amazing, and that's all there is to it. That's why they come. 

Cute, huh. I know.

The kids were towards the beginning of the parade, so at the end they jumped off and Caleb was there waiting, and they ran back to where we were sitting. What is better than being in a parade? Being in a parade and watching the parade, that's what.

ALSO, because it was Millie's birthday and because we're crazy and because why not, we drove to Ogden for the Temple Open house.

The only crazy thing about going to the temple was going during the crazy weekend. This was absolutely the most calm and gorgeous part of the whole weekend shebang. So awesome to walk through with my littles and show them the inside! The temple has not been dedicated yet (it will be next week), so it was open to the public for tours. It's an opportunity you don't often get, although it's getting to be more common in Utah. I only went to one when I was little, but it looks as if my kids will get to walk through four or five, with all the new temples being built! Incredible!

And, to add to the crazy, Caleb gifted me with a new kitchen sink. The old one was cracked in multiple places so we were planning on replacing it when we replaced the counter tops, but when the disposal gave out we decided to just go for it. We will remodel the kitchen next summer, but the sink came now! And because it was her birthday, Millie got to test it out.

She likes it!

Happy Birthday, Amelia Bedelia. We love you.