July

Too many things happened in July to write about! We had Rowan was with us the first week and he did so well away from his family.  It may have been that we kept him so busy there was no time to miss anyone!  The month started out with a bang celebrating the 4th of July.  The night before we went to the Riverton Parade.  It is a big deal here and people set out chairs reserving their seats weeks in advance.  We got a pretty good spot and sat down with small brown paper bags to put our goodies in.  The bags didn't hold up well because they were so full!  The circle behind us held their annual "Cul-de-sac of Fire" and everyone in the neighborhood was invited.  Each family brought at least one firework and that was an amazing fireworks show!  The next day we went over to Daws where they had put up a huge water slide.  Not only did the kids have fun, but the adults really had a blast.  Definitely something we will do again.  We then went to Despicable Me 2.  Somehow they messed up our tickets and all the kids ended up on the front row.   Not a fun way to watch a movie.  So, to make up for it we went and watched another fireworks show in Murray. 

We continued celebrations that weekend with a big party for Aidan after his baptism.  We are so proud of that guy.  He made a great decision to be baptized and he is so ready.  He is a good boy and makes good decisions daily.  He recognizes when someone is doing wrong, and he doesn't want to be a part of it.  We had lots of Scott's family at the baptism, and Uncle Adam, Phil, and Matt and their families.  It was especially fun to have Katie Lear Maxwell come with Maddy.  Debby Reed, Eli Kingsbury, Nolan Allgaier (friends of Aidan's) were there as well.  We had a nice little get together after with some food and treats. 

Because summer wouldn't be complete without some kind of accident, Brennan helped us out with that.  He was jumping on a neighbor's trampoline with Weston and broke his tibia.  It is called the "Trampoline break" because it happens so often.  We weren't sure if he had broken it--maybe he had just popped in out of place.  When Rowan was visiting, he popped his elbow out of joint (nurse maid's elbow).  So we waited through the night, then took him into the doctor the next day.  He was a mess--screaming and crying.  He wouldn't straighten his leg for the x-ray.  It took quite awhile--I was at the doctor's office for about 3 hours.  They put it in a splint and then a week later put it in a cast.  For about two weeks we had to carry him around and I really did a number on my back and shoulders.  I was in quite a bit of pain, but found relief in DoTerra's Deep Blue Rub (I highly recommend it!).  Brennan was a champ though, and never really complained at all about his broken leg (just when he was at the doctor's).  Poor guy--we had just signed him up for swimming lessons, and he had just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels!  He did have fun being pushed around in a wheel chair.

Omi, Opa, and Auntie Heidi returned from Europe (bringing a beautiful tablecloth for us!).  They were able to stay for a few days.  While they were here I had a "Norwex" party.  Glorified kitchen cleaning towels and other cleaning products.  I had eleven people come (which is a HUGE amount!) and it was a great success.  While they were here, we also went to the Bridal Shower for Taylor (Christian Brown's fiancée).  I wish we could have had more time to do things, especially some family history.  It had been such a busy few weeks, that we then got away to Norma and Elaine's cabin.  It was fun to sit around a campfire and just relax.  The kids actually slept in until 10:40!  They are such good ladies and friends.

Weston attended a REAL Salt Lake Soccer camp that was very good.  And I had Aidan and him do swimming lessons.  They are getting ready for a kid triathlon.  Trying to be like their dad.  Scott did two triathlons this summer--one up in Idaho (the Spudman) and the one in Herriman he does every year.  He did well with both.  The Spudman is a longer one and it was his first time doing one that long.  He did it in 2 hours and 23 minutes.  He did great and I am amazed at all the things that he can do!  He has been doing a lot of riding with friends in the neighborhood and really enjoying "smokin'" them on the rides!

I tried to keep the boys really busy with lots of activities (I'll tell about most of them in August), but we did get to the Library almost weekly.  There were some activities at the library we attended, one of them being a geology thing put on by the Natural History Museum.  They got to dig for rocks and learn more about them.  We can't pass up an opportunity to get more rocks!

We went on a family vacation to Yellowstone.  Scott's parents came with and we stayed in Horn Creek Cabin at Cliff Lake.  It is such a great little resort.  I wish we would have had more time actually at the resort, playing around, hiking, etc.  I guess when you go on vacation, you always learn what to do better next time.  We hit all the best spots around the lower loop the first day.  We found a fun pizza place to eat and even found a rock shop (big surprise).  The next day we did the upper loop.  And spent some time looking for animals.  One of our favorite things was when we saw thousands of bison in a field and in the road.  They were right up next to our car and we were stuck in "bison" traffic for quite some time.  My favorite was Norris Geyser--it was a long walk, but it had everything that we wanted to see in one big spot.  On Friday morning we met Cal Murdock and the Browns and Barkers at the Snake River and went canoeing down it.  We had a great time and we are so grateful to Cal for providing the canoes and the good time.  Aidan and Weston were brave enough to jump into the river.  We then had a picnic and went on to Sugar City.  The kids stayed in Sugar while Scott and I (and his parents) went on to Burley for Scott's triathlon.  It was pretty gunky weather--rained most of the time.  And unfortunately, it was bad weather for the Barkers as well.  They had gone to Badger Creek for an activity, but it only lasted an hour or so before they had to pack up.  We met them back in Sugar City, and decided, since it had cleared up, to go to Bear World.  That was cool.  We drove around the loop once, then stopped at the petting zoo area, etc, right in time for it to come pouring down again!  We were soaked, but happy.  We got in the cars and decided to go around the loop again.  And the second time was better than the first.  A bear got right in front of us, so we slowed down and it popped up to say hello to Scott and Elise.  Wow--that was so close!  But, then it batted at Omi and Opa's car--hitting out their blinker light!  It got up and gave the car a good look over and lick.  Yum!  The trip was a success and the kids had a blast!  Definitely a do-again!

We left Weston and Aidan in Idaho to stay with the Barkers so I could go to girls' camp.  Brennan and Elise stayed with Norma and Elaine.  Weston and Aidan got a good lesson in hard work.  They picked cherries (tons of them!), took care of chicks, delivered newspapers, went to Tae Kwon Do, and helped around the "farm".  They had a great time and even ate their dinners!!  Elise and Brennan were totally spoiled on the other hand.  I had a marvelous time at girls' camp--I just love my girls!  And I love the leaders as well.  They girls did little skits where they mocked us (in a good way), and somehow it always involved Jazzercise...  I talk about it way too much, I guess.  It was nice to get close to them and be able to share some good spiritual moments. 

The summer hasn't ended yet, though!  August just means cramming as much in as we can before school begins!