Summer Happenings

We had a pretty laid back summer! This is what I found almost every morning.

 

JUNE

 Unfortuantley we didn't spend much time at the pool because the pool heater broke and they didn't get it fixed until the end of July, but there was some fun times had at the pool.

The beginning of June brought family. Cherstin and Dan made their trek to Alaska and on their way they stopped here to visit and to baptize Abby. Mom and Dad were here and Felicia and Tom came too. It was so great to be able to see them all and to share in Abby's special day.

 

Of Course before Chestin and Dan left, Mom and Dad stayed for another week before heading to Joey's for Levi's baptism, we all headed to Krispy Kreme's.

 

 

 Also while Mom and Dad were here we got to celebrate Daddy's birthday. We took them out to Outback Steakhouse. Daddy was a good sport and sat on the saddle while they sang to him. They left the next day so we also gave him our Fathers Day gifts.

 

 



For Fathers Day the kids gave Mike a new rotary fertilizer thing. I gave him P90X3 which we have been doing together every morning for almost 2 months. It is nice to have the extra time together, alone, in the morning before our crazy day begins. Mike is a wonderful Father. The kids all flock to him when he comes home, and he LOVES it.

In June Mike and I also celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We were supposed to head to Hawaii, but we did our master bathroom instead. It was a good thing we didn't go to Hawaii because we had a babysitter the night of our anniversary so we could go to a movie and Ivy freaked out the whole time we were gone. She was and is still too young for Mike and I to both leave here for a week or more.

I love this man so much and I am so glad he picked me to spend his Forever with.

 

Finally at the end of June we had Mordecai officially tested for his suspected allergies. He came back positive for peanuts, tree nuts, dogs, and Bermuda grass. We also had him tested for exercise induced asthma and found out that he has a really mild case of asthma in general. He was a trooper for holding still while getting poked a ton. It still breaks my heart looking at these pictures.

 

JULY

 

We headed to Colorado Springs for our own family vacation. See our other blog posts.

 

Keith and Kim and their girls came out to celebrate the 4th of July with us. We tried to go swimming, did Jump City, where Kim broke her tail bone 5 minutes before we left, and of course Fire Works.

 

 





 

 

In July Emily sang in a chorale group that performed at various rec centers and senior centers. It was fun, but I was glad it was over because she had practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00-2:15 which was in the middle of nap time.

 

 

And now for some random photos.

 







Carter Visit

Katrina & Neal got in last night around 9:00 p.m.  They have slowly been making the move from Olean, NY to Rexburg, ID over the last week or so.

This morning I headed over to Ryan Elementary to register Emily for school.  I still can't believe it.  She has grown up way too fast for my liking.  I know it sounds cliche, but really I feel like I just had her.  We found out that she has afternoon kindergarten.  I was bummed at first because I wanted her to have morning since I know she is at her best in the morning...but then I got to thinking that this would be a better time because I can drop her off when there isn't chaos going on in the parking lot, and then when it is time to pick her up I can park at Marci's and walk over with her to pick up Addie at the same time I pick up Emily.  We also can still patch her eye in the mornings since I am pretty sure Dr. Nichol's is going to say we need to.  Anyway, we also met her Teacher, Mrs. Hoff, since she was the one telling the students who their teachers are.  She seems like a nice lady and I hope Emily will continue to thrive in her class.

Later this evening we hit the pool.  We were going to do it earlier but Katrina & Neal needed naps, so the kids just played while I made dessert.  Emily and Daniel were so funny.  They really wanted to fly kites, but I kept telling them it wasn't possible because you needed wind.  They must have thought I was crazy because they tried anyway.  They would run and Emily would yell to Daniel to let go of the kite when a "Big Gust of Wind" (a breeze) would come.  It was cute to watch.  I think after a while they gave up to try another adventure.  At the pool Emily showed me that she could actually dive to get dive stick at the bottom of the pool, even though she would usually do this jump and sit thing that made her sink to the bottom and that's the way she would typically get the toy unless it was in a deeper part of the pool.

For dinner we had Stromboli, Cesar salad, and caramel apple bars.  It was a nice evening.  After we put the kids to bed we stayed up late and played Phase 10 Twist and just talked about the kids and the Carters new adventure in life.  They are planning on leaving tomorrow.

I pulled a "Mom"

We didn't do a whole lot today.  This morning we headed to Wal-Mart to refill Ruby's medicine and pick up some miscellaneous stuff.  From there we hit the pool because Emily had her last swim lesson of the season today. They moved it to 11:30 a.m. because her teacher, Miss Julia, is also in charge of the swim team and they were having a party that lasted until 11:00 a.m.  After swim we headed home to hurry and have lunch and clean the kitchen a bit in prep for a Stella and Dot party I was having from 1:00-3:00 p.m.  Unfortunately only Marci showed up but it was some fun time visiting with Rachel and her.

This evening Cherstin and I spent out in the back with the kids blowing bubbles.  While we were at the store this morning I bought a bubble blower and some bubbles and the kids enjoyed chasing them.  We had these Crayola color bubbles that I decided to try and the kids liked them, except when the bubbles popped on them the kids looked like they had measles or were in a war because of all the red dye all over them.  Hopefully Cherstin got some pictures because I didn't.  I think I need to be better about taking pictures if I am going to try and be better about blogging more regularly.

This evening after the kids had baths we were gathering together for scriptures and family prayer when this conversation started

 Emily- "Why do we always have to read the scriptures?  I just want to read my Magic Tree House book tonight instead."
Me- "We read the scriptures because it is a law or a commandment.  Remember the other day how I told you that if you weren't in your car seat and if I got pulled over by a police officer that I would have to go to jail...?  Well, if we don't read the scriptures like the Lord has commanded us to we will go to jail in heaven (Mike pipes in "called spirit prison")."
Mordecai- (Getting teary eyes and trying not to cry) "Then we wont get to be with you anymore because Jesus will take you away for forever."

I just love how tender he is, and how he gets it and understands what we are trying to teach.  Also, I totally pulled a Mom and likened an everyday experience to a religious aspect...never thought that would happen.

Swim Dayz

This morning was a rough start. The kids were driving me crazy with all their whining and complaining. It was a good thing that Emily had swim lessons and that Marci and her kids were going to meet us there.


Emily is getting pretty good at swimming, and for the most part I would say she knows how to swim. It is pretty nerve racking to me to see her just jump in the deep end and swim back to the wall. I have yet to let her jump off the diving board by herself, just because I am more paranoid. I think it is hard for me because it has happened so quickly, like in 6 weeks, and I am not so sure that if something happened in a panic mode she would know exactly what to do or panic herself and forget everything she has learned.

Mordecai has also surprised us this past month too. He has been waking up dry for the last month, and at the pool he has been telling me when he needs to go potty. Well the other day he just came up to the basement and went #2 in the potty all on his own which is amazing considering all the constipation issues we have had with him. He has also been wearing underwear to bed and waking up dry, which is something Emily still has issues with about 20% of the time. Also today at the pool he got in the water and put his face in and blew bubbles, which the past month since the pool has opened and when we have been there he says, "I hate this place, can we go home?"

Cherstin and her family joined us after lunch and we didn't leave to come home until 4:00 pm which seems to be the trend at least once a week. After there we hit Costco so we could pick up some necessities and I found some salt water taffy that for some reasons remind me of camping, which is perfect for our camping trip with the Grip's in about 2 weeks.

Now a funny story that I need to write about Mordecai. Today when Marci got to the pool she was talking to me while she lotioned up her kids. All of a sudden Mordecai pipes up and says, "Hey Marci! Guess what? My mom has green underwear with blue polk-a-dots." Just so you know, they are for my running.

And a scary story about Emily. Today while Emily and Abby were jumping into the deep end and Abby did a flip into the water. I think Emily was thinking she was going to try it or do something as equally cool so she did this jump spin into the water and almost smacked her chin on the side of the pool as she went in. It about scared me half to death. Crazy kiddos!

Swim Videos

Emily has had swim lessons for the past 5 weeks and she is doing awesome!  She loves to jump off the diving board, do deep water bobs, and float on her back.  She has one more week left and then the seim season is over.  We will definatley sign her up next year, and hopefully Mordecai.

4th of July Weekend

Keith and Kim got here Thursday night (6/30/11) to celebrate the 4th of July with us.  It is always fun to have them come because the kids play well, and of course Mike gets his Keith fix. 

Friday morning I headed off to the community college to meet with an advisor about starting back to finish my associates while Mike, Keith, and Kim got the kids ready to head to the pool.  I found out that I really didn't need to go to the school, since I am basically a continuing student, but I did find out that they are changing the associate requirements a teeny bit so I might change from a AGS to an AAS.

The pool was an enjoyable time.  Emily had a ton of fun jumping off the diving board and couldn't wait to practice her swim stuff with Mike or I since there was another adult to help with Mordecai and Ruby.  We had a cooler full of stuff for lunch and snacks and Mordecai even ventured in the water with Mike.  Later that night we headed out mini golfing and the kids couldn't get enough.  Especially Mordecai and Kira.

Saturday Mike and Keith did their annual hike, while Kim and I took the kids shopping to get some craft stuff.  Later that night we headed to Red Robin, which seems to be something we always we do when they come.  Afterwards we tried to hit this Carnival in the mall parking lot, but they wanted $25 for one unlimited bracelet and that would have cost us $100 dollars for us all to go so we nixed that idea and went to play at the dinosaurs in the mall. One funny was when we told the kids we weren't going to be doing the Ferris wheel Emily said, "you guys broke my heart."

Sunday was the usual, except Hannah and her 3 cute boys stopped to stay the night on their way through to Utah.

Monday, also the 4th of July was crazy.  We did the pool in the morning and then played around the house until it was time for dinner.  We BBQ'd these awesome hamburgers, that Cherstin and Dan introduced us, had corn on the cobb, and watermelon.  Then we headed outside to do snaps and smoke balls which are always a hit.  Then it was inside for dessert and then some more outside games.  Finally it got dark enough to do fireworks and it was fun to watch the kids do sparklers, especially Mordecai and Kira who were less afraid than Talisa and Emily.  One by one the kids headed inside to fall asleep until it was Emily and the adults.

I just want to say how grateful I am to all those who serve(d) for us and our Country and I  am grateful for the freedoms my family and I have because of them.  I just hope my kids enjoy the 4th of July and feel the sense of pride I do that was instilled in me by my Father. I love this Country.

Mike and his "Genie in a Bottle"

This is video of Mordecai waving around a hamburger bun on a fork that seemed to make Ruby giggle galore.  Sadly I missed the deep belly giggles that are very rare.

More pictures to come from Kim :-)