24th and reunion

We spent the 24Th at a reunion. It is something I looked forward to each year as a child and has become some of my favorite childhood memories. The cousins, the food, the laughter. My kids really got a kick out of it too. We stayed in our Hilton of a tent on air mattresses. We set it up right by the river so it drowned out all the loud noises and gave perfect white noise, the nights were perfect for sleeping, cool for a preggers lady. The kids loved swimming. Gator loved swimming until he fell in the pool while daddy and mommy were busy playing water volley ball. One of the "great" Aunties was thankfully watching him and was able to grab him by his swim trunks after he bobbed to the top with his arm floaties and haul him out. I am probably gonna win momma of the year for that one. They also swam in the reservoir while the big and brave did the rope swing. We had grand plans to see the self guided tour of Napoleon Dynamites filming locations but ran out of time. My Auntie came up with some very fun -Minute to Win it- games. Plus we got some great things from the family auction. I am especially happy about my composter. Whooohoooo!
Gator watched. He wasn't sure if this looked like something he would try. Although he did say that maybe when he was five he would give it a go. I don't think I would try the rope swing. It looked way too scary. Daddy said he wished he would have brought his swim suit so he could have tried it out. I was kinda thankful, he is waaaaaay to brave and would try something that would end up with a nice cut or worse.

I asked the kids what their favorite part of the trips were... (something I tend to do)

Ry said- She liked the swimming and the treasure hunt. In the treasure hunt she got a bubble gum machine, a princess painting kit, a train whistle and lots of candy.

Gator said- He liked the house. The house had ping pong and other fun games. He liked when people were together.

Mommy said- I liked the video games and movie on the giant 16 foot movie screen and being with family.

Daddy said- He liked being together too. (actually, I can't remember what he said, but he is asleep right now so I can't ask him)








Saturday we came home but wanted to get in some of the *BIG* firework action. So we met up with the Dumas' and watched them in the park.. They were amazing.

I can't believe that summer is nearly over for us and we haven't even done some of the things we always do... Ry starts school in a week and I am going to miss her while she is away. I feel old. Then Gator will start next month.. Then baby.... AHHHHH life is moving super fast.....

I have been setting some small goals, some I get done, like cleaning out the lockers and linen closet. Some of my goals keep getting pushed to the next day. It all moves too fast to keep up...

But Where?

This little conversation happened in the car recently..

Gator-"Mommy, where is Jesus' house?"
Mom-"He is at the Temples and Churches"
Ry-"yeah, but where does he live?"
Mom-"Those are the Houses of the Lord"
Ry-"But which one is his room, I have never seen a bed?"
Mom-"Well he doesn't really......"
Ry-"I know he sleeps on a table"
Gator-"That is not berry fun"
Ry-"He likes it!"
Gator-"I should sleep on us table."
Ry-"No you'd fall off"
Gator-"I lub dis song... Turn it up"

I didn't get to finish telling them, I guess if the believe that Jesus is there and that we need to be respectful that is okay for now.

On her way!

Ry has been asking for a little sewing instruction. So we started out with a little project that she could finish in a few minutes. She is actually very good. We made a little bag. She helped me sew on the machine, then she learned how to sew by hand. Two little techniques, a running stitch and the whip stitch. Then she helped me do the button hole on the machine and she learned how to sew on the button. It wasn't very fancy. It wasn't very hard. Considering that she is five and wants to go for Barbie clothes next, I feel it a huge success. There were tears on two occasions. The first, she poked her finger "Really bad!" and the second when she tried for about twenty minutes to thread the darn needle. I told her it was hard and took practice and that she could put it down and finish another time. She doesn't do that very well... Kinda like tying her shoes, riding her two wheeler, and braiding hair. She will do it until she CAN do it and do it well... I really like that about her. Some things I think are way over her head until she gives it a shot. She usually succeeds.

She loved that the thread was bright red.

This was the sewing kit she talked me into buying for her.

Sa-wing batta batta batta!

Keep your eyes on the ball.

That looks real nice. Now, when the ball comes close SWING!!!

This is how you hold the bat and your body so you can hit a home run...

Nice swing... Ry hit the ball two times... Gator just loved to be playing with Dad.

Meow!

In a older post I explained that Daddy put this little blog into a book. It is beautiful and I am re-dedicating to writing for my family. So many of you won't want to read about the daily on-goings. That is okay. I am doing this for a new audience. I hope one day the pages of our books are filled with many moments like these....
Painted faces from a birthday party.
The paint was itchy Ry Ry and you wanted me to wash off everything but the eyebrows. I don't know why you wanted to keep them?

Who is HOT?

Does 95 degrees somehow feel like 150 degrees?

Thought so....

Oh what do you do in the summer time?

We spend most of our time playing in the circle with friends until it gets too dark to see. We love our circle, even the older-ish kids will play. There is about 12 kids to play with in our circle alone.

The favorite is bike riding... Or scooters...
They also bring out the skates, soccer ball, sidewalk chalk, and Popsicles...

It make me think of growing up. Now I am one of the grown-ups sitting on the grass, chatting away with the other grown-ups.

Next year we add another blanket sitter... But, she-baby will be nine months when we play next summer. That means she will probably be eating dirt and and bugs.

Bad influence

I must be a bad influence on my son who says to us all as we are driving in the car.

"Everyone, Quiet! I am making a phone call!"

(On his Lighting McQueen play phone.)

"Everyone be Quiet"

(No one is even talking)

"QUIET PLEASE!"

(Not one person has said anything)

"QUIET!!!!!"

-Now we can't help but laugh.

Moving right along

I am surprised that I even posted this. A shot of the large-ness... I think I am swelling in places that I didn't even know you could swell in. For example; my nose, earlobes, lips, and eye lids. Yes I realize that your belly, buttocks, and chest swell but, good grief. All for a good cause. We met with cardiology at PCMC yesterday. We finally had our fetal echo done on she-baby. I didn't really feel like getting one at first. I ho-hummed, with insurance changes and seeing things look okay at our anatomy ultrasound. I suppose I thought that if we did get an echo it wouldn't change my thinking much. It meant the world to prepare with Gator but deep, way deep down, I was trying to not let it all happen again. Anyway.... I felt good about going, just extremely nervous. I had an upset tummy all morning. Finally we went and ran into so many people that I love. It was nice to be somewhere that I knew. As we began the echo I just knew it was gonna be okay. The best news, we don't have to go back for this baby, everything checked out and we are looking at a healthy heart. Now that doesn't mean that we are totally cleared, that is was they say to cover their you-know-what's... But, I feel really good about it.

She wants to snuggle so bad... I took the big couch.

He is so fun.. Trouble waiting to happen. My favorite thing he has said lately is...

"Ahhhhhh... where are my sunglasses?"
"The Sun guy is not nice to me!"

Happy Fourth!

The 4th of July is a favorite. We hit parades and have a BBQ. It will always be the holiday I look forward to for Gator because he was finally out of the hospital and we could enjoy doing something normal. The kids got a picture with the Gator from Gator Wash... Love him!!! We even hit the Richfield parade. My grandpa restored this fabulous red truck that Gator loves. We had to see him drive it in his very first parade. Wow is sure was shiny. We got tons of candy and blew kisses to all the pretty girls. The other red truck Gator is "test-driving" to see if it will fit in our garage. No such luck...

Lake Powell

Sorry kids we are not a traveling family. So opportunities like these are few and far between. However, when we do have an opportunity to enjoy time with each other away, we REALLY enjoy each other. Lake Powell was amazing and beautiful. This was the first time both daddy or I had ever been. The water was warm-ish and the red rocks are to die for. Ry tried surfing, tubing and wanted to swim all day. Gator loved going fast in the boat and digging the sand/dirt. He tried tubing with daddy but preferred to stay dry. Ry really wanted to try skiing, but we ran out of time this trip. We also had our fishing supplies and tried for about an hour but none of us caught anything. One of our favorite things about this trip, was the "adventure" we found a branch off from the lake and went in on boat as far as we could. Anchored the boat, put all the kids in the tube while the mommies and daddies pulled and pushed the tube until the water ended. Then we got out and hiked in until there wasn't any where else to go. The kids played in the cool sand and loved it. We can't wait for another trip like this.