Labor Day Trip

Over Labor Day weekend, we had a great whirlwind trip.  We really packed it in.   Friday after school we loaded up and started the drive down South to John and Jamie’s (Brennan’s Mom).  On the way, we stopped to see his Dad, LeRoy, and Janet at Mike and Terri’s gorgeous cabin.  We only spent an hour there, but it was a wonderful visit and great break from the car.  The kids got reacquainted with their cute cousin, Matthew, and with the horses.  We all just love it there.

We arrived at John and Jamie’s around 9, after a quick stop at our favorite frozen yogurt place.  We let the kids say hi for a minute and then we all went to bed.  The next day Jamie and I took the kids to the park for a carousel ride and to play in the water.

We met Brennan across the street at a darling old fashioned candy store, obviously one of the kids’ favorite stops when we’re there.  We grabbed lunch and headed back to the house to escape the 100 degree temperatures.   Josh had a little nap and there was lots of football on.  The kids hunted for lizards.  Jamie and the kids and I ventured out again for more frozen yogurt, shopping and pizza while John and Brennan enjoyed more football.  Then we took the 4 big kids to Kung Fu Panda 2.  I LOVED it, and so did my kids, although Abby was sobbing at the sad part and I came very close.  What a fun day.

The next day we got up and went to Sacrament meeting and then went back to the house to pack up and give Joshy a quick nap.  We loaded everything back up and spent most of the day in a gorgeous national park. 

When we left the National Park, we raced to meet my parents in a small town for a divine dutch oven dinner and to hear my Dad speak at a special patriotic fireside.  We were late and it was definitely an adventure having Nate pass up our church clothes from the back and changing in the car, including Brennan while he drove.  It was well worth the craziness though, the dinner was so good and it was held at a beautiful little historic home the kids loved exploring with my Mom.

It was a beautiful program, with lots of gorgeous music by two different choirs and a really moving slideshow of the men who are serving in the military from their town.  My Dad is a wonderful speaker and gave a great speech about how those in the military shouldn’t be the only ones sacrificing for our freedoms.  It was a thrill to see him do what he does so well. 

After the fireside we drove up the mountain to a beautiful little mountain resort.  The highlight of the trip, for my kids besides getting to stay overnight with Grandpa and Grandma, was that there were 3 sets of bunk beds at the cabin!  The only problem was that everyone wanted a top bunk.  We finally negotiated so that the crazy sleeper kids were on the bottom, but they loved hanging out up there.

We woke up and drove back down the mountain to be in the parade in a horse drawn wagon!  Poor Natey got carsick on the way down and so he and Brennan missed out on the ride.  Sweet Brennan stayed with him in the car til it passed and then took him to old fashioned car show and for a hotdog, so he was happy.

I’m not sure why Joshy is looking so grumpy, he loved it.  He LOVES his grandparents.  After riding in the wagon, we got to enjoy the rest of the parade with a sweet family, friends of my parents.  After the parade they hosted a scrumptious lunch.  Their yard was incredible and we all had such a nice tme.  After lunch we caravan-ed home with my parents.   Nate and Abby were both a little worried about being carsick, so Anna and Ben were thrilled to ride the whole way home with Grandpa and Grandma.   When we got close to home, some fellow drivers told us we had a flat tire.  We pulled over and pumped it up and thankfully made it home.  We stopped and grabbed dinner and my parents joined us at our house for takeout.  It was such a fun trip.  We love our parents and loved the chance we got to spend such fun time with all of them.  Thank you to all of you for hosting us!

Cell Phone Photo Dump

 

I forget about the pictures I take with my cell phone, but I remembered them so here for your viewing pleasure is a most random assortment:

First, let’s start out with a promised photo of Brennan coaching with his lovely clipboard:

Here’s some video footage of Brennan body boarding at Flow Rider, enjoy the sideways view, I like to keep things interesting:

Last month we took the kids to the County Fair.  They always have a petting zoo, this year’s was pretty cool with a zebra and a big old turtle wandering around.  At one point Anna was feeding the animals when they all kind of cornered her, she panicked and threw her food at them.  They still didn’t back off, so she stood there with her arms up like she was being arrested, only instead of police officers surrounding her it was goats.  She would not move til I went in and forced her past those pushy goats.  I wish I would have captured that moment, but here are some randoms of the petting zoo:

 

Lastly, we have Ben and Joshy in a train at our school’s Fall Festival.  Good times!

Update

It seems like we’ve been in school for ever now.  I can’t believe how immediate it all is, one day was summer and the next was carpools, lessons, soccer, and homework.   We’re spending a lot of time at soccer games which has been fun.  It’s much more fun this year now that Joshua isn’t running all over the place, and I can actually watch.  Brennan is Nate’s coach and has earned even more of my un-dying love by walking around with a really pretty clipboard my friend gave me.  It’s pink with a picture of high heals and pearls.  I can’t get enough of watching him pace the field and shout out coachly things while carrying that clipboard.  He couldn’t care less, and that’s what I really love.  I’ll get a picture next time, so you can all be so happy. 

We’ve had lots of fun things that I’ve got some pics. of so I’ll be adding random pics. throughout this post.

Sweet Peter’s 1st birthday party

Anna is on a new comp team this Fall.  These girls have been playing together for years and at practice all Summer Anna felt a little out of place and like she was the worst one on the team.   She felt like one of the coaches was always on her case and that he didn’t think she was good.  Then they had their first game and she played her guts out.  That coach was kind of shocked, but was really complimentary.   I think they were all surprised.  Anna isn’t one of those players who can do lots of cool tricks and drills that impress, but you get an opposing team in her face and watch out.  I love that she has such grit.  She’s enjoying school and even loves math, thanks to her teacher.  YAY!!!  She is also always cracking us up with her quick wit, she can get Brennan dying laughing, it’s hilarious.  We love Anna.

Cannot get enough of my 2 year old niece, Amelia!

Who can totally swim!

Abby is on a really good soccer team this year and is loving it.  She’s become such a good little player because she’s finally on a team that is good so she’s been rising to their level.  It’s been really fun to watch her catch fire.  She’s loving her 5th grade class, she’s with all her cute friends which makes our very social girl so very happy.  She got asked to babysit our little neighbor girl the other day and it pretty much made her life.  She loves earning money and she’s so good with kids, so it’s a win-win.   Abby is the oldest of our little neighborhood group that walks to school and part way home.  She takes it very seriously and gets completely distraught if someone won’t stay with them.  Poor girl is a worrier, but she’s a great little mama duck.  We love Abigail.

Nate is loving his new class too.  I think he’s feeling pretty old as a 3rd grader.  We’re hoping this will be a great year for him.   He found out the two girls in his class moved from his best friend and cousin, Rex’s school.  He was so happy to know that.  He loves Rex!  Nate went to his first cub pack meeting last night and could not have been more excited.  He loves scouts.  He came home with a ton of belt loops that he earned from day camp.  Now we just need to get him a belt .  I’m afraid that’s how it’s going to be his whole scouting career, his Mom is always going to be trying to figure out what we’re doing and probably always a little behind.  At least she’s trying, right?  He’s loving his soccer team too and they’re really good.  He is so impressed with one of his teammates, he can’t stop telling whomever will listen about his teammate’s feats.   I love that he can recognize and so fully appreciate the talents of others instead of feeling threatened by them.  We love Nate.

A fun FHE up in the canyon with two little firebugs.

Ben finally got to officially start kindergarten on Monday.  He is so excited about all of it.  He is finally feeling like he’s one of the big kids and he’s literally been waiting for that his whole life. His friend is in his class and the week before Kindergarten started his friend, Will, was here playing.  I heard Ben say, “So, should we talk about Kindergarten?”   It made me tear right up as he ran off to the neighbor’s to ride to school.  Not my little Ben, my little companion for all these years!  I’m so grateful that he’s so well adjusted and so happy to go, but it does break my heart a little bit to know he’s gotten so old.  I can’t ever get much out of him as to what he’s doing at school every day, but I know he’s happy so that’s just going to have to do.  He’s also playing soccer and loving every minute.   He’s officially in the age group of stamped style soccer, but he doesn’t seem to mind one bit and is constantly looking up at me with a big old smile.  We love Ben.

Joshua is a little lost without all his siblings around all day.  He continues to ask, “Where Anna going?  Where Abby going?  Where Nate going?”  Fortunately Ben is around in the mornings, but he’s really missing the others.  I am appreciating just how much they kept him entertained, because without them to occupy him, he has more time to find all kinds of opinions about what I’m doing.  Lately whenever we’re driving somewhere he’ll say, “No, uddow (other) way, Mom!”  I try to explain that I have to go a certain way to get where we need to, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.  He’s gotten really good at playing with little action figures and animals.   I’m so grateful I still have Joshy around!  We love Joshua.

Fare Thee Well, Summer–Part II

Well, the temperature doesn’t know it, but Summer has officially ended now that school is in session.  I can’t believe it’s only been 3 days, it feels like we’ve been doing this for a while now.  Poor little Ben is DYING because while he did get to have a little open house on Mon. he doesn’t really start until this coming Monday.  Poor little Joshy just keeps saying, “Where Anna going?”  “Where Abby going?”  “Where Nate going?”.  When I tell him they’re at school it doesn’t mean anything to him so he just keeps asking.  I’m so so so glad Ben will be going to Kindergarten in the afternoons while Joshy’s sleeping so that at least he’ll have one sibling to keep him company in the mornings.   I’m learning very quickly just how much the big kids did to keep him occupied.

We made the most of those last precious few days.  Friday Brennan had an adventure of his own, I’m hoping I can talk him into posting about it, he has some stories to tell.  Friday night, the kids and I drove down to a park to meet up with the rest of my family.  My sister-in-law, Meredith, was here from TN to bring their oldest child, David, to college out here.  We rarely see them so we’re so excited to have David in the same state with us and wanted to make the most of every second Meredith was here.  We met up for a picnic in the park.

This is the only picture I took all night.  I’m a little obsessed with this darling nephew of mine, and I spent most of the night chasing after Joshua

The next day we got up early to participate in our Ward Service Day.  We got the wonderful assignment of helping our good friends sanding and staining their deck.  It was such a great feeling to see my big kids really working.  Sometimes I wonder if they know how, so it’s always thrilling to see that do indeed know how to work, and to see them so committed to helping someone else out made me so happy.

I’m so grateful to our Elder’s Quorum Presidency for organizing this massive undertaking.  I’ve felt kind of desperate to give my kids more opportunities to do service, but I haven’t been good about finding those opportunities.  I loved this experience to be able to help out good friends and do it with our whole family was awesome.

After a couple of hours of sanding, we headed home to get ready for the rest of our big day.  Brennan and Joshy stayed home for naps (Brennan’s adventure took some time to recover from.)  I dropped the 4 big kids off at Josh and Liza’s where my brothers and David and the kids swam for a couple of hours while my Mom and sister, and sisters-in-law went to lunch.  I think that was probably the first time we girls were all together (we missed Rebecca who had a family reunion) by ourselves and it was FABULOUS.   I had so much fun with every one of them.   The kids, of course, had a grand old time being flipped and thrown by their fun uncles.   I have to give my brothers major credit for making every event so much fun. 

Next stop for the day was a big huge neighborhood Western BBQ.  It was at a neighborhood family farm/orchard complete with great food, hay rides, pony rides and entertainment.  I love my neighborhood and neighbors.

We came home exhausted, and ready for bed.  Sunday we had one final little visit with David and Meredith before Mere flew home.

One of the kids snapped this photo of them:

It was so great to have them, but always make me a little sad that we don’t see them more.   David will be around this year, though and we’re so excited!!!!

After church and dinner, Brennan gave the 4 big kids back to school blessings which is always such a sweet experience.  You should have seen how important and special Ben felt (the great thing about Ben is you can literally see every feeling he has in his whole body).  To watch the people I love the most interact in such a heavenly way was just…heavenly.

Goodbye, Summer, we will really miss you – you’ve been a good friend to us!!!!  We love Summer!

Fare Thee Well, Summer - Part I.

It’s always hard to say goodbye, but ready or not the end is here.  The stores are shoving Halloween in our faces, my email inbox is filled to the brim with soccer schedules and back-to-school nights.  Sigh.  It’s been a good one, and I am sad to see it end, but I am looking forward to the chance for a new routine and a fresh start. 

We’ve had some fun times these last few weeks.  Last weekend we had a family reunion with my Dad’s family.  I think there were 75 of us?  LOTS of people, I don’t envy all my aunts and uncles who planned it and all those who did the meals.  We came up a day late and met the group at the lake for some boating and fun in the sun.  Not one little picture of that so just trust me, it was fun, the boats were slow and the tubes were nice and big so it was perfect for the kids.  Ben got on for about 30 seconds and didn’t enjoy one of those seconds.  The three big kids had a blast though.  There was also a giant water trampoline that they loved.   This particular lake is manmade and evidently they decided to make it in a rock quarry.  Seriously, the rockiest place ever, but we had good company, boats, sun and good food so it was fun, fun, fun.

That night we got the kids settled and my cousins and siblings all got together til the wee hours of the morning.   There’s nothing I love more than chatting and laughing with people I love.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and started packing up.  Brennan and several other Dad’s were trying to take the kids swimming while I got our stuff pulled together before we had to checkout at 11.  The pool didn’t open til 10 and when it did, we discovered it’s adult swim only til noon.  IS that the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard of?????  So we packed everything up and figured out what to do with the next few hours til we need to meet at a park for lunch.  My parents, siblings, us, and all the kids headed into town to walk around and get some ice-cream.

 

I have to say that this particular famous town that’s only about 45 minutes away from our house is lame.  I’ve been there many times, but I guess mostly without my kids.  I was so unimpressed by all the impatient looks we got at little ones in their way on the sidewalk and just plain rudeness.  My Dad was trying to take a picture of them on this bench and one man who could have easily stepped off the sidewalk and gone around walked right up to my Dad and impatiently waited for him to move.   How can you see a Grandpa doting over his darling grandkids and be so clueless?????   Rude people are the worst. 

I digress.  We then met up with the big old group for a yummy lunch and a big huge soccer game.  Brennan and the big kids played and loved it.  I chased Joshy around and enjoyed chatting with some aunts and cousins.  We drove home very tired, but grateful our we were able to give our kids such a fun weekend at the end of their summer.  Thanks so much Ally and Jan for all your hard work!

Anyway, that night Brennan and I went to the Josh Groban concert which was wonderful.  Sunday was Stake Conference and was the first year I didn’t feel like it was a complete waste of time because we spent the entire two hours taking kids into the hall.  Brennan was out with Josh a fair amount of time, but he big kids did really well. 

Wednesday morning my girls and I packed up and left for a quick little get away with some friends.  Abby’s bff, Paige, has an amazing mom named Megan.  Megan planned this trip down to see “The Music Man” at the Shakespearean Festival a few hours down South.  Megan loaded up her two girls, our friend, Kim, and her two girls, Abby and their friend, Emily.  I took Anna and her best friend Chloe.  We stopped for lunch at a park and then drove to our hotel that Megan hooked us up with for free with their points.   It took us about an hour to decide who to put in which of our two rooms and then another hour to figure out who should sleep in which bed.  The girls went for a swim while we moms enjoyed the fact that we didn’t have to swim because we didn’t have our little ones with us.  We happily watched from the patio.

We got ready and went to dinner and then to the play.  It was such an amazing production, it’s such a great show!  The girls LOVED it and loved getting to do something so special with their friends. 

Here are some of them as energetic as can be at 11:00 pm

Here are all the girls with “Harold Hill”

The next day Kim and Chloe and Anna and I headed home, while the most impressive and energetic Megan took the other 6 girls another hour south to a National Park.  They hiked and played in rivers and had a blast and then drove home.  Thank you, Megan, for planning such a great trip and letting us tag along!!!!  It was so fun to enjoy my girls and their cute friends along with two of my favorite friends.

While we were gone Brennan got a sitter for Josh and took Nate and Ben to the Demolition Derby at our County Fair.  It doesn’t get better for those boys, they LOVED it. 

We’ve got lots of fun packed into this weekend too, so that will be part II.  We’re going to enjoy these last 3 days of Summer if it kills us!

Love is in the Air

Sometime ago my brother linked to a fascinating article.  Check it out. I highly recommend it, specifically the last part of the article.  It cites a study that shows that having new experiences with your spouse is linked to happy marriages.    As Brennan and I are realizing that our kids are growing up terrifyingly fast, we’ve realized how important it is to have something left of ourselves and our marriage when the kids leave the nest.  We’ve been pretty good about trying to have date nights, but had kind of gotten in a rut about doing the same old thing week after week.  We decided it was time to mix it up a little and decided to take turns planning something out of the norm.   It doesn’t have to be anything major, but just something we haven’t done 41,000 times.  One week we went to a battle of the bands that a neighbor boy was in.  We felt a tiny bit out of place amidst the hip and happening single people dominating the scene, but had a great time.  Another time, we went for a short, but beautiful hike up a nearby canyon and then chatted over a shake.  My Mom and Dad gave us a groupon to a place that has a sky diving simulator, I Fly, and I was really terrified, but we did it and had SO MUCH FUN.  Last week Brennan surprised me with Josh Groban tickets and we had such a great time at the fantastic concert.  Anyway, it’s been so much fun and completely reinforces the fact that I married the right man for me.  We have so much fun together and I can’t wait to keep dating him for a very long time.

I’m not the only one who loves him.  I have so many parents tell me how much their sons love Brennan as their Young Mens’ leader.  He loves them which is good, because these youth leaders really devote a stunning amount of time to these kids.  One of his boys brought this thank you note by:

I thought that was the cutest note and it meant so much to Bren.  He loves these boys.  He found out recently that one of them had never been to the ocean and everyday he talks about how he could get him there.  There’s something really beautiful about the fact that he’s able to be such a great influence on these boys because he had some leaders really take him under their wing and have a huge impact on him.   We love Brennan.

Teenager!!!!

This darling little girl turned 13 years old on Saturday! 

Anna had a great day, it started bright and early.  She got up at 5:30 am and joined the other young men and young women from our ward for breakfast and then a 10 mile hike to our closest Temple.  It was quite a challenge, but Anna was up for it, she and her friend were the first ones to reach their destination.  When they gathered outside the Temple, a member of the Temple Presidency spoke to them.  They had lunch and got to hop in cars to drive home.  What a perfect experience to welcome Anna into teenagehood.  As soon as they got back she went to lunch and shopping with her bff, Chloe.   They got back around 3 and she very enthusiastically opened presents.  Mostly, stuff for her room, mostly having to do with Paris.

After presents we had such a nice visit from Brennan’s Uncle and Aunt, Buck and Jamie.  We love when they stop by, and Anna felt very special to have it happen on her birthday.

She requested purple and blue cupcakes, here’s a great action shot

Since we do every other year for a friend party this year was the family year.  Anna decided she wanted to do a family soccer game.  Brennan and I were really tired and headed outside out of total duty.  We quickly changed our attitudes and had so much fun.  The teams were Anna, me and Ben vs. Bren, Nate and Abby.  Brennan and I each had to hold Josh for most of the game, but it was still a blast.  It was even more fun that my team won   After that the kids had a bunch of neighborhood kids over for night games.  She was very happy with her special day.

We love Anna so much.  As hard as it is to watch my little ones get less little, it is really fun to watch them develop into full-fledged independent human beings.  Anna is opinionated, feisty, affectionate, artistic, athletic, stubborn, spiritual, thoughtful, and honest.  She has set a wonderful tone for our family as our oldest.  She’s so interested in and sweet to her siblings.  When Nate had been at day camp and she walked in after he’d been gone all day she ran right up to him and hugged him so sweetly and sincerely.  I love that hugging will be a natural, normal thing to do for all of my kids.   I think it’s normal to be hugged by your mom and dad, but maybe not all siblings hug each other.   I love how even though she’s 13, she still loves to play with her American Girl dolls with Abby or younger cousins.  

I’ll always be grateful to Anna for giving me the best job ever.  I’ll always remember the minute she burst onto the scene with her crazy long blond locks and her little doll face.  I’ll always treasure those first few busy but delightful years I spent in her rigorous training program for her novice mother.   I’ll always appreciate the help she is for Brennan and me in raising her siblings.  We love Anna June.  Happy birthday!