summer fun

We went on one long trip this summer.  Idaho then California.  2500+ miles of summer goodness.  Girls camp ended on the 23rd of June, a Saturday, and we were set to leave on our roadtrip on Wednesday the 27th.  When I rolled in from camp on Saturday night, around 9:30, Shane was in the driveway, ready to detail the trailblazer to sell it the next day.  He found a used Tahoe in great shape and we were off to put the money down on Monday night.  Best decision ever.

A picture of the kiddos on the way...

Do you see what is happening here?
Silence and separation is what is happening here.  Pure bliss. 
Note the antagonist there in the far back seat...the perfect place for her. 
Note the smile on the boy's face and the earbuds in his ears....what he has been dreaming of since he was 3. 

The trip was a huge success, in part, because of this decision. 

She's a Composer



The first part of this little video just makes me giggle as she's at the

 

 

 microphone.  Our little Paige is so cute.  All I can picture is this baby giraffe with it's knobby knees, bending over to take a drink of water.

photo found here

I'm so proud of her for writing her little song.  It's called "Playing Outside"

She performed it like a champ, even though she was nervous beyond belief.

Can you believe that?  Our Paige....with the most uninhibited personality I know....nervous.

Summer break is over

Summer break is over and I can't believe how it just flew by this year.  Swimming and hanging at the house took up the majority of the time, although with girls camp thrown into the middle of the break, I was unavailable for fun until the end of June.  blech

Some of my favorite things about the end of this school year and start of summer:

1.   Buying a pool pass...lifesaver!  3 visits a week baby!
2.   Watching Ty become brave at tackle football.  His Bulldogs team had so much fun.
3.   Visiting Schnepf Farms for peach picking and peach cinnamon rolls....yum!
4.   Morgan turned into a fish after swimming lessons...must have something to do with the 3x a week visits to the public pool!
5.  Wendys for Frosties and Berry Almond Chicken Salad
6.   Listening to Ty play the guitar... he's getting really good at it, and Jeff is an excellent teacher!
7.   Planting a garden even though it didn't make it through the heat.  We'll keep trying.
8.   Taking pictures in the kids classrooms on the last day of school.  They have so many good little friends and great teachers.
9.   Ryan, my neighbor, killing the scorpion in the garage instead of me.
10.  Spending time with Mo while the kids finish up school.
11.  End of school dentist visits with the kids... no cavities!
12.  Hearing Paige play her composition for her final year of Let's Play Music!

This pictures deserves it's own explanation.  We took a bike ride to Fresh and Easy... approximately 4.2 miles away from our house.  The kids did great on their bikes and Mo was in the trailer.  We stopped for a snack before heading back home, and just after I took this picture, a bird pooped right on Mo's head.  Ha!  She wasn't amused.

Duet

sometimes it's lonely being home when the kids are both at school

I'll just have to play my feelings out with this lovely recorder

Well, looky there....he likes to sing along

a Duet

Or, maybe he's not amused....

 Either way, it'll kill a half an hour or so, until the kids get home

Whatcha think Ferb?

Thumb sucker

I've been having WAY too much fun with this little one.  She's spunky and silly.

(An oldie, but a goodie!  I won't miss her waking up with those giant bleeding scratches on the sides of her nose.)

The thumb sucking had taken on a new level of destruction when she started twirling her hair in to tiny knots and then ripping the knotted hair off of her head.  She is now missing an entire chunk on the side of her head.  It looks like she cut if off with scissors.

So, it was time for an intervention.  We talked about big girls versus babies and thumb sucking.  Then we went to the store to window shop for a motivational toy.

Here it is in all it's glory.  

She is a very decisive girl, and she can always explain her reasoning behind her decisions.  I couldn't figure out why she wanted the beauty parlor, since I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know what it is.  I tried to convince her to get a car scene, a vet scene....any other scene.  She calmly explained to me that she wants the beauty parlor because it comes with two girls.  Silly mommy.

She kept telling me that she was DONE sucking her thumb like a baby because she really wanted her new lego toy.  However, the temptation was still there.

We needed a little help, some backup, if you will.

She watches movies with her little monkey friends, and comes to me to ask for them when she's having a rough time.  So far, so good.

I'm so proud of her.  She's so committed. The first night was rough.  She kept coming out of her room saying that her thumb was cold and she needed to suck on it to warm it up.  I convinced her to warm it under her pillow.

She's come out less and less every night.  I'm so excited to let her choose her toy after such a hard task.  (I would know, I may have sucked my thumb at night until I was 10.  Hey, don't judge.  Just because I earned a bike for a reward....)

It's time to revisit the holidays

I think it's been long enough.  I've had time now to separate the fun days from the "not so fun" days.  Let me elaborate.  I'm sure this won't be much different from many of your holiday breaks seeing that the flu was traveling like wildfire.  I won't go into details...I don't want to relive those memories :)

We drove to Idaho, stopping for a night in Henderson, NV and another night in UT with Brevin and Amy.  All good memories, no worries.

We met little Dane for the first time...what a cutie!

Then we bundled up for the lights on Temple Square.  Paige was giddy with family togetherness. . .  Skipping through temple square with thousands of people around and hugging any family member within reach.  She just loves it when we get to see family.  It was a little cold, but not bad.  I though the kids would complain, but they were so glad to be there with everybody.  Not one word of complaint.

On Christmas Eve morning we woke up and got ready for the last leg of the drive to Mom and Dads.  The weather was clear. . . Tyler was bummed.  He was hoping for gobs of snow. 

Christmas Eve dinner was yummy homemade tomato soup and sausage bread.

The kids opened their jammies and we watched the church Nativity video...love that one.  Then, off to bed.

Of course, in following tradition...we have to wrap the door.

I love this part!

We emptied stockings before church and then got all dressed up to go to sacrament meeting.  I really like having Christmas on Sunday.  All of the music and the great talks combined with taking the sacrament really bring a great feeling to the day.

After church we finished opening all of the gifts and ate turkey dinner with pies!

That's when we really started to understand the severity of the flu situation.

Corinne called saying that one of the girls was sick.  They didn't come for dinner.  The sickness continued....ALL WEEK.

We snuck some fun activities in between the puking sessions.  

Sledding in Victor with Ryan and Marilyn

Playing at the school gym with all of the fun new Christmas toys

Dinner at Bamboo Garden

Shane, Tyler and Grandpa shooting skeet

and Tyler's 11th birthday party...bowling, pizza and oreo cupcakes

It really turned bad in the middle of the night after this party.  So, that's where this post ends. 

We're glad that we could visit for the holidays.  It's crazy and hectic, but the best memories are made that way.  I'm sure we'll laugh about it later.