Outdoor Fun

Memorial weekend was awesome. In addition to a great camping trip we managed to fill the rest of the weekend with even more fun. We had a BBQ with Justin’s family on Sunday after church. The weather was perfect so we walked back to the river.

The BIG kids

and the little kids

We enjoyed another BBQ on Monday, but this time with friends. A couple recently moved into our ward who just so happened to be in my singles ward at BYU. In fact the wife was my Relief Society president. She organized a little reunion with one of my college roommates. We had a great time – so fun to catch up after all these years.


and who doesn’t love a little badminton?


Monday night we enjoyed another pizza dinner at a local park
(Papa John's this time... much better!)

These girls really are best of friends - I hope it stays that way forever!

Tuesday evening we had an amazing Dutch oven dinner prepared for us courtesy of Justin’s parents (they were the winning bid at an auction). It was so yummy that we are even more committed to improving our Dutch oven skills.

The rest of the week and this past weekend has continued to be busy, busy. The weather has been absolutely beautiful. Although, I must admit I am already VERY grateful for my little air-conditioned haven. Happy June!

Camping

We look forward to camping over Memorial weekend each year. This was our sixth year – we’ve camped in the pouring rain (unfortunately, more than once) and the hot sun. We’ve camped with kids as young as 2 months old and we’ve camped when I was enormously pregnant. Even in the most miserable of circumstances (wet sleeping bags, muddy everything, and swarms of mosquitoes), we have always had a good time. A lot of the fun comes from spending time with great friends.

We wanted to be back home for church on Sunday so we took Abigail out of school early on Friday so we could get a jump start on the weekend. The food is always a highlight of camping. We had a great Dutch oven dinner, peach cobbler, and smores… yummy!

Yummy Watermelon

Just after our kids went to bed and we were ready to relax by the campfire, two large vehicles pulled into the campsite next to us and out poured a group 10-12 teenage boys. Thankfully we were at a church campground so they had a few responsible adults with them to help keep them in line. They proceeded to set up camp and act as teenage-boys do until well after 1am. I thought for sure our kids would wake up in the morning before them (when I was a teenager I could sleep til noon without a problem), but at 5am the boys were up chopping wood and having a good ole time. Needless to say, it wasn’t the most restful night for me, but to my surprise Jason (and the girls) were completely unfazed by the noise and slept til 8am.

This year we tried a different campground that offers lots of fun activities.

We went a canoe ride.

We spent most of Saturday enjoying the giant slip-n-slide.

One of the rules of the slide is that you have to wear water shoes. Justin wears a size 16 shoe so finding water shoes for him with only a few days notice was impossible. And since I wasn’t feeling any desire to use the slip-n-slide Jason was going merely spectate. I was curious if Jason would enjoy the slide so I asked a friend to take him down with her. I half expected him to refuse to go with her (he can be quite the mamma’s boy) but he completely cooperated and…

He LOVED it!

Of course then he wanted to go again, and again. As soon as he got off the tube he signed for “more”. Justin borrowed water shoes a few times, but a size 11 on a size 16 foot is quite awkward. Thankfully we were able to pawn Jason off a few more times with friends.

Lots of work for only one night, but once again we had a great time and look forward to next year. Hopefully we’ll actually make it on another campout before then.

First of Many

Before we had children I imagined we’d have a house full of boys. To our surprise (and my relief) our first child was a girl… two years later we were blessed with another daughter. Even though Justin said he’d be perfectly happy if we only had daughters, I knew he’d love to have a son. Justin loves to be active, play sports, and go camping. When Abigail was just a toddler he took her to the annual Father & Son church campout. They both loved it and I thought it was sweet that he wanted to experience that with her. Last year both of the girls joined Justin on the campout – they thought it was great fun to sleep in the van with their Dad. Now that Justin has a son of age, the girls have seen their last Father & Son campout. I didn’t really expect Justin to take Jason this year since he’s still so little (only 21 months old), but after throwing together a few necessities they were ready to go. Although Jason had no idea where he was being whisked off to, he was thrilled. Apparently Jason had a great time and was still happily soaking it all in at 11pm (WAY past his usual bedtime). Justin decided sleeping in the van didn’t sound so comfy after all so they headed home for the night, but I’m still considering this the first of many more Father & Son campouts to come.

We sure love this guy!

Family Fun

Man, have I been missing out or what? I’m loving having a bike. We borrowed my sister-in-law’s bike trailer and have gone on several family bike rides.

Our new family hobby has come with quite the wish list: new bike for mom, bike trailer needed for Jason, bike rack so we can take the show on the road, and a hitch for the van so we can attach the needed bike rack.

Mother's Day Tea

This afternoon was the Mother’s Day Tea for the first graders at Abigail’s school. Over the years I’ve heard from friends about how wonderful this event is and Abigail and I have really been looking forward to it. I was greeted at the classroom door by my sweet daughter. She gave me a tissue paper corsage and led me to a chair right by her desk. The desks looked adorable and I immediately wished I would have brought my camera. Abigail then served me a delicious plate of goodies. We ate our treats as she showed me all the projects she’s been working on for this special day. I opened a card with this adorable picture in it and the following poem:

I miss you when we’re not together
I’m growing up so fast
See how big I’ve gotten
Since you saw me last?

As I grow, I’ll change a lot,
The years will fly right by.
You’ll wonder how I grew so quick
When and where and why?

So save this card in a safe place,
And take it out each year.
The memories will come back of me,
When I was small and dear.

I was so touched I almost couldn’t finish reading it. Then there was a slide show presentation. The first part displayed pictures of the kids throughout the school year, then “Let them be little” by Billy Dean started to play and pictures of our first graders were shown as well as pictures of them as toddlers. To top off the afternoon all five first grade classes and their moms gathered in the gym to watch the kids’ performance. They did a phenomenal job. Excellent choreography, music, and costumes. As we walked home hand-in-hand I couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful to have this sweet girl in my life.

I can’t wait to do this again in two years with Carly!

New Wheels

Justin and the girls go on bike rides a lot. Sometimes they are gone for hours while I get left at home (usually I don’t mind). As Justin previously mentioned we recently decided it was time for me to get a bike.

My last bike – age 6
(Hey Bird, can you believe how little that tree is on the right)

The guy at REI basically only showed us one bike. Based on what I would be using it for (riding around with the kids) he thought it was the perfect bike for me. After explaining its features (which I still know nothing about) he told us they encourage customers to take it for a ride in the parking lot before making a purchase. I hesitated while Justin quickly told the employee to get me a helmet. I was nervous – butterflies in my stomach nervous. I hadn’t been on a bike for decades and this was a nice new one. I thought for sure I would fall, and even worse that I would fall in front of my kids. I was very cautious and to my surprise I didn’t fall, in fact I really enjoyed it. REI’s big anniversary sale started this past weekend and we picked up my new wheels on Saturday. Too bad it rained all day, but I did manage to take it for a spin around the block a few times – so much fun. Now all we need is a bike trailer for Jason (if anyone sees one at the community garage sale next weekend let us know).

Isn’t she a beauty?

Happy May Day

Jason has started working with a speech therapist and has also been attending a toddler playgroup to work on his communication skills. Although I can’t necessarily credit his improvement to the early intervention program (this is only our second week), we have definitely seen some improvement. No new words, but he’s making different sounds and has picked up a few animal noises, etc… He loves going to his class and quickly became a favorite of his teachers.

Here’s a clip from earlier this week. Pay special attention to the fierceness in his eyes when he growls. Oh, and yes he loves to tackle, which we all think is kind of fun, but doesn’t go over so well with kids his own age.

You may also notice our new rug arrived this week (my anniversary present to Justin) which I love, love, love and can completely credit to my ubber-talented-beautiful-home-decorator friend who just so happened to have a sample of the rug in her car and didn’t mind that I completely copied her. Now I just need to see what she picks out for curtains and pillows. ;)

Justin had meetings every night this week so we are looking forward to a date night tonight and a fun weekend with the kiddos.