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!

Update

I was blown away by your sweet comments to my last three eternally long posts. Seriously, thank you so much they all meant so much to me. Thank you!

The biggest thing to happen around here lately is that Anna has gone and somehow gotten old enough to go to girls camp!!!!! What? Seriously, yes kids grow up quickly and everyone tells you that and you kind of think, uh huh whatever, but, it's true. It's just that my memories from being at girls camp are so vivid, how could that have been what seems like 10 years ago TOPS and now my firstborn is there? It just doesn't add up. Sigh. Oh and then to add insult to injury my baby is turning 1 in exactly 1 week. I don't want to talk about it.

So, word is Anna's doing great. Whew. I'm praying my guts out that she'll have a blast. I loved girls camp I hope she does. She's such a great kid, and I miss her so much. Honestly I feel like I'm missing a limb. It's weird. The night before she left her poor little sister was so sad and was crying herself to sleep. I went down to tell Anna something and found her bed empty. I peeked in Abby's room and there was Anna curled up next to Abby on her bed rubbing her back and comforting her. Oh.So.Sweet. We love Anna.

Abigail is a busy bee. "The King and I" performances start on the 10th so rehearsals are getting intense. She loves it and we're getting so excited to see her in it. Abby told me the other day, "Mom a lot of my friends' Moms buy my friends everything they want for their dolls whenever they want. (She is really into American Girl Dolls) I think you are a smart mom not to do that. That's what I'm going to do when I'm a mom." How great is she? How in the world is she wise enough to see the wisdom in my depriving her? We love Abby.

Nathan is obsessed with Subway, you know the sandwhich shop. Anyway, he was raving about it to Abby and said, "You can choose whatever cheese you want, like American cheese, England cheese..." He was also telling me about something fun he did with Rex on "Remorial (Memorial) Day". Latley he spells everything. "M-o-m, I w-a-n-t..." you get the picture, it's not my favorite mostly because it takes a lot more energy to listen to and comprehend on my part, but I have to say he is an excellent speller. He seems so old to me, he just knows things, like every member of the Celtics team and how to text (he picked up my phone tonight and texted Brennan, what?) Anyway, when did 7 year olds get so old? (Okay so this growing up way too fast seems to be a theme tonight. The thing is I really am loving having older kids they're so much fun it just makes me sad that I can't have little ones too)We love Nate.

Benjamin is such a summer boy. He's tan and his hair is sun bleached and his big huge eyes seem even bluer (is that a word?). He loves being outside and plays hard. At the end of the day he often begs us to put him to bed. I love that. He's so incredibly independent but still so sweet and affectionate. A while ago we finally took his pacifier (he calls it a "beep") away except for nighttime. The other night he couldn't find it so that was that. His best companion for the last 4 years is gone and he's been fantastic about it. I'm so happy and relieved and proud of him. He watched me make a salad the other day and as he peered into the bowl he snickered and said, "that's just embarrassing!" I have no idea what he thinks embarrasing means, but it really caught me off guard and really cracked me up. We love Benny.

Joshua finally decided to crawl a few weeks ago, but mostly cruises around the furniture or our legs or anything else he can hold onto. I make everyone always keep the bathroom door shut so he won't go in there, but the doorknob isn't working right so he's figured out if he pushes on the door it will open. He loves that trick so much it makes me feel so sad when I can't reward him by letting him hang out in the bathroom. He's mostly a happy squash, but is definitely starting to get some opinions and letting us know them. He's adorable and we love Josh.

We are loving Summer. It's truly a blessing to have a family, both immediate and extended. I'm so grateful for these kiddies of mine, they sure do make life interesting. They're challenging, exhausting, loving, joyful, incredible kids. I wouldn't trade them for all the sleep or money or peace and quiet in the world. What a blessing a great husband is. Brennan is the best, I love him.

Wasatch Back – The Whole Story, Conclusion

We met up with poor, brave Van 2 which consisted of Mandolin, Kevin, Diane, Tasha, Tasha’s friend, Sara, and Megan. Tiffanie was supposed to come but got sick Friday so she came up later Saturday for her last run which she did with her fiance, Alex. Very sweet. Van 2 went to the condo where I think they got about an hour and a half of sleep. (Van1 is definitely the way to go!) Anyway, I think it was about 7ish am Saturday morning when we started our last legs. Kristen went first and did an amazing job, she is my hero. Macy was next and did wonderfully. Collin was in major pain, really struggling with his knee and had like an 8 mile leg with some serious hills. He was such a trouper and went the whole way.

Kristen, seriously, 53?

My turn. My last leg, it was 3.8 miles but on the map it showed it was all downhill, I told myself I would let gravity do the work and I’d be fine. It was actually pretty nice, it was getting hot, but it was windy and gravity really did do a lot of the work. I finally came to the bottom of the hill and hoped I was about done, but we turned left and ran along side a highway I kept thinking any minute I would see the exchange. No such luck, so I kept going. I was fading fast, but I knew I had to be getting close. I finally passed the “one more mile” sign and determined to keep going. Probably about 7/10ths into that last mile I saw there was a left turn up ahead. I got there and turned and prayed I was lost. Up ahead was a dirt road that also happened to be a decent sized hill. By this time the wind was not my friend, the dust was blowing around and I was completely parched. It was hot and my body was screaming with fatigue. I hadn’t walked one step so far so I couldn’t walk now. I leaned forward and forced my feet off the ground one by one. I tried not to look up, I didn’t want to see that dirty trick of a hill ahead of me. I finally reached the top of the hill and saw my team and others waiting at the gate. I choked back some sobs and ran as fast as my exhausted legs would carry me. I slapped the bracelet on Sara and ran right into my teammates’ arms. My emotions finally caught up with me, I had kept everything in check knowing I wasn’t done yet, but now I was and now the magnitude of everything hit me hard. I did it!!!! It wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't fast, but I did it!!!!

Macy

I was overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord for prompting me to do this and helping me overcome countless obstacles, mainly myself. I was filled with love for my family and and teammates who had been completely supportive. To Brennan for staying home with all the kids by himself on Father’s Day weekend and for countless mornings getting up with the kids so I could go running. To Mandolin and Tiff for their continued encouragement and help in training. To my parents and family members who were praying for me and texting me and helping me anyway they could. Davis, who ran it in New York and offered me everything he had learned and sent me running music. I’m just incredibly grateful for the whole experience. I have come to love running which I just never thought I would say. I have a long way to go towards my ultimate goal, but have made a little dent and it feels GREAT!

Collin, he’s single ladies!

Macy, Kristen, Kristin, Sara and Collin – I adore you all and had a blast with you. Van 2, I wish we could have spent more time together, but it was great seeing you all when we did. My team was wonderful and so patient while it took me forever to run my legs. I was so impressed with all of their runs, amazing! We had so much fun, great conversations, laughing hard and commiserating when we were all kind of miserable. There were sports bra issues, missing hand-offs, deliriousness, nearly getting run over, almost falling into a canal and all kinds of adventures. Collin was such a great stand-in for all our husbands, he took great care of us and was our go-to support guy. Thank you, thank you, Mandolin, Kristen and Kristin for all your hard work arranging and organizing all of it. Tiff, we missed you so much! Thank you Tanner for all your hard work over the years and for bringing this event here and making it possible.

Kristin

Sara

Sara (Tasha’s friend who kindly filled in last minute), Diane, Megan, Collin, Sara, Kristin, me (note to self: shut your mouth!)

Tiff, Tasha, Kevin, Macy, Mandolin, Kristen

The END!

Wasatch Back – The Whole Story, Part II

I realize this is excruciatingly long to read. Please don’t feel like you need to. It’s been a really huge thing for me and I really want as much as I can recorded.

Here are a few notes I woke up to:

Friday morning we were supposed to meet at Kristen’s house at 5:45 am for 7:15 start time. After several set backs Van 1 which consisted of Tasha, Macy, Collin, Me, Sara and Kristin finally rolled into the starting point for a new start time of 8:30am. Our team name was “Un.Bell.ievable” in memory of our Grandparents. The place was packed, there were all kinds of vehicles totally decked out with all kinds of fun and crazy names. My favorite was, “Scrambled Legs and Achin” As I looked around I had a “what the heck am I doing here” moment. We saw Tanner who warmly greeted us in spite of being super busy. He was calling out team names for the 8:30 start and was definitely in his element. Tasha took off and had a great first leg. A few hours and legs later it was almost my turn and I was seriously terrified. This was my longest leg, 5.2 miles and I had no idea if I’d be able to do it. I kept telling myself I could walk if I had to, but I really didn’t want to. I started and went incredibly slow. I got passed constantly and never passed one single person. 60 year old women were flying by me, I didn’t care. Most people would say something nice like “Good job!” as they passed me. I never knew if I should just say “thanks” or “you too.” I had a feeling they were offering some extra encouragement to me because well I don’t look like your typical runner.

My van drove by several times to see if I needed anything and to cheer me on. It helped so much to feel like I wasn’t alone. It started to get hot, but not oppressively. I started to panic that I couldn’t do it and then ran past a little clearing of wild poppies. I instantly thought of my Mom and my Grandma and kept going. I finally got to the sign that said, “One more mile” and wondered if I had one more mile in me. My toes started really hurting, but I thought hurt toes was a really dumb reason to stop, so I kept going. I finally reached the exchange point. I couldn’t believe I had just run 5.2 miles! It felt great to finish and not have walked, but I was too exhausted and nervous that I just used everything in me and wouldn’t be able to do my next two legs to really celebrate.

Sara and Kristin ran two incredibly hard legs right after mine and I was feeling lucky with my easy ones. I was impressed with all my teammates as they seemed to breeze through their runs. After their runs we met up with Van 2 and handed the “baton” (a slap bracelet) off to them and happily went to lunch. We enjoyed a great meal and then headed off to Tasha’s aunt’s house for a shower and nap. It was heavenly to have a break from the car and running and nerves. I couldn’t really sleep, but it was still great to rest. We piled back into the car and found Ryan and the kiddies on their way camping. Seeing Rex and Lucy and Molly was great and helped me miss my own kids a little less.

We started our night runs. Tasha switched places with her mom, Kristen, so now Kristen was in our van. I watched my beautiful 53 year old aunt run down Trappers Loop, amazed. She’s done this 7 times!!! On my turn it was beautiful, the temperature was perfect and I usually love running at night. Part of me loved it, but most of me was still flat out exhausted. I had to run 4.2 miles this time which seemed like 402 miles. There were times I was completely alone for a few minutes and I wondered what kind of wild animals were there or how close the skunk I smelled was to me. I tried to distract myself from my pain and fatigue by looking at my beautiful surroundings, and it helped a little. It was pitch black and my head lamp didn’t do a whole lot. I felt like I was going to twist my ankle any minute by stepping in a pothole or something, but I didn’t. I finally got to the little town of Morgan and passed some volunteers who excitedly told me I only had one more mile. I wanted to scream at them and ask them why they acted like that was good news? My legs were yelling at me. I kept going, praying all the way, my favorite song came on just then and I took it as a sign that I could do this. I tried swinging my arms more hoping they could take some of the pressure off my legs. I finally saw my exchange and managed to drag my legs across. Whew, I did it and I didn’t walk! After the next two runs, one of which blew my mind with how hard it looked, we met our other van and headed off to our condo for some much needed rest. I fought to stay awake to help Macy navigate. After a miserable hour we made it and I wondered if I’d be able to sleep.

It seemed like two seconds later, but really about 3 and a 1/2 hours later, we woke up and loaded back up. I couldn’t believe we had to run. I felt like a crash test dummy. I didn’t know if I could walk let alone run. Another, what-the-heck-am-I-doing-here moment.