The King and I – Starring Abigail!

Well last week was Abby’s big week.  It was so much fun to see her shine on stage and she loved every minute.  I love that she did it and think it’s so good for kids to develop confidence, the only problem is that you can’t just dabble in it, it’s kind of one of those things you sell your soul to.  So I can’t say that I’m sorry it’s over.  It was great, but having my 9 year old out til 11 pm each night  for 2 weeks (1 week of final rehearsals and 1 week of performances) was a little much for me.

Overall it was a great experience though and we’re so proud of Abby for all her hard work and her willingness to put all that time into it without complaining. 

here’s a shot of the stage, Abby’s in the front far left.

 

Each summer our little town puts on a musical at an outdoor stage in a beautiful woodsy park.  It’s an amazing setting and even in the heat of the summer once it got dark it was deliciously cool surrounded by trees and our evening breeze.   For the cast, their dressing rooms are tents and the backstage is some grass and then a forest.  Pretty cool.

Abby played the part of Princess Ying Yaowlak (sp?), she’s the king’s favorite little daughter.  She actually had several lines and did such a great job.   Each night we had to pull all her hair up (now that the play’s over she can get a haircut – yay!!!) and spray it black.  Then put on a lot of makeup to transform her into a little Siamese princess.

One of my favorite things in the world is watching my kids do something they love and do well.  This was no exception, it was thrilling.  She was darling and has great stage presence.  Thank you so much to all those who came and supported her, she is so blessed with great family and friends!

3rd, 4th and 5th of July – Woo Hoo!

Because the 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year most places around here celebrated on the 3rd and the 5th.  Love it when we can stretch celebrating out like that.  To make things extra special Braden’s three oldest kids were in town.  We rarely see Braden and his family so we really appreciate every minute we get with them.  David, Spencer and Victoria are such good, sweet teenagers who are so good to all of their much younger cousins.  My kids adore them. 

Anyway, on the Sat. the 3rd we went to our neighboring town’s parade.  It’s always a fun one with giant water fight at the end.  Poor Brennan saw the water coming and stood up to take cover but instead got his feet tangled in his chair’s footrest and faceplanted on the ground.  He did manage to stay dry though.   He was dying laughing at himself.  One of my very favorite things about him, I love that he can laugh at himself.  He’s the best.

 

Cutest little Amelia

Jan, Emily, Daren, Leila, Corey

Mike, Ally, Liza

 

Some eager candy catchers

Awww

 

Victoria, David and Spencer

 

After the parade we went to Macy’s parents’ house to swim.  Not only did they open their pool to us, they treated us to a fabulous lunch. Grilled some hotdogs, chips and salsa, darling flag sugar cookies etc.  They such generous and talented hosts.  It was amazing and so much fun.

Next stop was my parents’ for another delicious meal.  We roasted s’mores in my parents’ fire pit in their beautiful yard.  The weather was just perfect all day.  When it started to get dark we headed out front for our own firework show put on by Brennan and his many eager assistants.  Brennan tends to be a worrier, some might even say paranoid, especially about the kids, but when it comes to fireworks and kids he has not a care in the world.  We moms were a little nervous, but the kids had a blast assisting him.  Victoria stepped in for her Mom who wasn’t there and worried for her brothers. 

My favorite moment was when Chris and Rebecca handed almost 4 yr. old Oliver a sparkler.  He held it bravely but was very serious.  Rebecca told him to dance with it, so while still cautiously holding his sparkler he started shaking his hips.  She tried again and demonstrated waving his hand around, so he obeyed again and waved around his sparklerless hand.  It was so cute and so funny.

Cutest little Molly June

 

 

 

Such a fun, family-filled 3rd of July :)  I love all those people so very much.

The 4th of July was pretty  low-key.  We had kind of a normal Sunday with church and maybe slightly more ornery kids due to a far exceeded fun limit the day before. 

Monday, the 5th, we finished cleaning and got ready to welcome the Beecher family.  We met Cole and Kelly when we lived in Arizona.  Kelly and I worked in young women’s together.  They’re one of those couples that both Brennan and I totally enjoy.  A couple of years ago they moved here and they were our go to double date couple.  Then, they moved back to AZ and we’re working on forgiving them.   The bonus about them is that our kids match up very well.  They have two girls close to our girls’ ages and two boys a little older than ours, but they all get along wonderfully.  They just had a darling baby girl.

 

Cooper, Nate, Ben and Jackson

 

Anyway, they stayed with us Monday and Tuesday and left Wednesday.  The kids had such a great time and entertained themselves amazingly well.  Monday night we went up to Cole’s hometown for fireworks.  His brother-in-law is the fire chief and the fire dept. puts on the show so we got to watch from VIP seats right in front of where they launched them.  It was amazing.  Honestly, we laid down on the ground and it was a little unnerving because you felt like they were going to fall on you. 

The Abbys

 

Poor little Ben was lying on the blanket waiting for them to start.  I kind of forgot to prep him.  I was sitting in a chair behind the blanket and when the first firework went off I watched him fly up like he’d been shot from a cannon and start running as fast as his little legs would go.  I somehow managed to grab him as he shot by me.  He was screaming, “Mom, look out!!!!”  It was the saddest funniest thing.  There was pure terror in his face and I appreciated that he was trying to save me too.  We put him in the car where he could watch from a safer distance, but eventually he joined us outside.  It was such a fun night, one of those that make you tear up a little that you get to do something so fun with such great kids and friends.

Anna and Emily

 

Tuesday we took the kids swimming and celebrated Squashy’s birthday and then left Emily and Anna in charge while we went on a double date for old times’ sake.  Then we stayed up way too late laughing all night long.  The older we get the more we appreciate good friends.  We’re getting old and we love the Beechers.  Hope you’ll come again!

Sweet baby Khloe

Girls Camp

I have fallen woefully behind in blogging.  That is really sad, because it’s usually the one thing I’m pretty on top of.   Anyway, let’s take a trip down memory lane shall we? Clear back to the end of June.

Anna had a blast at girls camp.   Normally you don’t go until your 12 which Anna won’t be for another month, but they wanted to keep everyone in the same grade together so she got to go a little early.  She was in a potentially intimidating position going to camp without yet even being in young women’s and not really knowing the older girls.  I’ve gotten many reports that it didn’t seem to hold her back at all.  She was totally herself and loved the whole experience. 

Anna with her tent mates

Brennan got to go up for a night and that is probably the only way I got through the week, knowing she was safe and happy.  We missed her sooooooo much but are so happy she had such a great time.  My favorite story from her camp experience was when they went canoeing.  Evidently before the leaders really knew what happened their three littlest campers jumped in a canoe and took off.  The leaders watched nervously as these three little girls got further and further out.  The two priesthood leaders there at the time (who happen to be two of the most competent men in the world – one’s  an pilot and one grew up on a farm and is as hardy and solid as they come) decided they’d better grab a canoe and go rescue Anna, Chloe and Sadie.  Off they went and then over they went.  Yep, our gallant heroes capsized.  In the meantime our three little damsels who never knew they were in distress made it back safe and sound and happy. 

Happy Birthday to Squash! – July 6th.

Our baby turned 1!  (I’m trying to be excited about this, really I am.)  I took him to his well check a few days ago and the doctor confirmed something we’ve suspected for some time now – he’s short and fat.  He’s in the 76th percentile for weight and 25th for height (85th in head circumference – we attribute his large headedness to brilliance).  My sister mentioned it’s too bad they don’t measure width, because he’d win that contest for sure.  

This last year has been quite a year.  This little bubby came into our lives in a flurry of craziness.    The day he was born Ben broke his leg, two days later Brennan played in the State Golf Amatuer.  He had jaundice and had to be in his Superman pod constantly for like 3 days plus I had to take him in every day for a bilirubin count (which involved pricking his heel).   Then for the next few months he didn’t grow fast enough so I had to supplement his feedings and take him in every few days to be weighed.  Brennan and I felt kind of  emotionally ransacked. 

Thinking back to all of that the thing that anchored me in spite of all of those things that had me really stressed out, was him.  I’d hold him and although he was even kind of a fussy babe, he was also magically both energizing and calming for me.  There was something about his big baby soul that transcended all of the baby craziness.    I feel like there’s something wise in those dark blue eyes.  He’s always so quick to smile and he’s always had the good sense to adore his mama, which I don’t hate.   I think I’ve said it before, but there’s something really amazing about someone squealing with excitement when you walk into the room that makes you feel reeeeeeeally good.  I’ll be honest, it doesn’t happen to me as much as you’d think ;).

 

For Joshy’s birthday we had our wonderful friends, the Beechers, staying with us.  So our family and their family had cake and ice cream and he opened a few little presents. 

He kind of wasn’t sure about the whole cake thing, but something tells me he’ll come around.  We cannot imagine life without our Squash.  We feel extremely blessed to be able to call him ours and have vowed to make this next year slow down a bit.  We love Joshua!