Brock's College Trip

Brock's friend, Dillon West's Dad took Brock and his friends up to Rexburg Idaho to do a college tour at BYUI.  They had a great time.

2 temples in one day

 

The Teen's Summer

As I mentioned we all lived different lives a bit this summer.  Because of that I don't have a lot of pictures or stories about their summer.  

I did take them and their friends to the temple on Wednesdays at 1:00.  It was harder this year becuase we had Maddie with us (which was GREAT!), but that meant i had to find a babysitter. I was also keenly aware this may be my last summer doing it as Brock will be able to drive everyone next summer.  So I was happy to make the sacrifice and do it. 

I wish I had a picture of Noah doing "his summer thing" but I don't.  This is from the youth slip and slide activity.  Noah was the "winner" of the summer.  He was by far the most productive, intentional, helpful, and focused.  He woke up everyday pretty early, got all of his stuff done, including his jobs with out ever complaining, he mowed several lawns, did yard work for/with an elderly neighbor, asked me several times in the day "do you need help with anything?" worked at Windcrest, and went on bike rides.  In his downtime he played video games.  

Maddie had big plans this summer with her friends.  She had planned to be at the pool everyday, she prepared for this by purchasing several new swimsuits.  While they did spend a lot of time at the pool they managed to get dressed and go do some fun things as well.  I got to pick them up from the Barbie movie one afternoon and snapped a picture of them all dressed in pink. 

We made it to the temple a few times for our family temple nights.

Megan and Madison increasingly find spaces for each other in their lives and I love it.  Lately they spend a lot of time in the hammock together listening to music, texting their friends, talking about boys, and other things they surly think I don't know about.  

Megan spent her summer similar to Noah's.  The difference between her and Noah is that she has been running her life like that since she was 5.  (she does not mow lawns though)  She takes hours long bike rides daily and weekly bike trips to the library.  She got together a few times with friends and did some babysitting.  She worked on her art a lot.  She did have a "grand plan" for a summer activity.  We drove her to the Parker library one morning and dropped her off.  She stayed there for almost 5 hours.  She walked up the McDonalds and bought herself lunch.  She loved it.  I asked her to take pictures.

I don't have any pictures of Brock.  Brock spent the summer playing soccer, going to work at Windcrest, and hanging out with Dillon and Cameron.  They actually added a new friend, Sam Taylor.  That has been exciting.  Ha

 

A new kind of summer

This was a really strange summer and also probably the first "new" kind of summer we will have, although I hope each one gets better as this one was not great.  The "strange" part was mostly the weather (although with climate change this could also be a new normal).  It rained almost all summer, especially through May and June.  So we didn't get out much.  The newest was that the big kids came on almost no outings with us.  They have been trailing off a bit each year but this year they were almost completely out.  This was hard for us (me and the babies) because we didn't really totally adjust.  I had a hard time getting out and going on outings because I was waiting for the big kids for something or taking them places or helping them with their projects.  Then once we did go Dane and Eve did not want to play by themselves, which was weird because they play by them selves all the time during school months.  But almost every outing we went on (Pool, Belleview park, beach, library, parks, etc) they would just sit on my lap and whine.  They didn't know what to do.  It was so frustrating.  I left almost every outing so upset we even went. What made things worse this was definitely the first summer that we didn't even do any summer group outings with other families and kids.  All my friends' kids are now also too old for them.  So this was kind of a depressing, lonely summer for me.  

However, I did call in a favor.  I thought that if I could get some peers (or a few years older) to come "show Dane and Eve" HOW to play they would catch the vision and be able to do it by themselves.  So I got some of my  friends to bring their kids.  It didn't really work.  Their older kids were not interested in playing "that way" anymore, so they went off and did "big kid" things and Dane and Eve stayed on my lap and whined.  Towards the end I bribed the big kids to go build with the sand for a bit.  They did and then Dane and Eve totally loved it and got really engaged.  But if the big kids stopped, they would stop.  

 

Family Swim

For Eve's birthday we went swimming.  Brock was at soccer and Megan was sick, so it wasn't everyone, but it was great to go with more people.  Dane, Eve, and I go on outings all the time, but they almost never go fun places with the big kids or with Jason.  So getting to do fun things and show them all their tricks is a special treat!

Jason and Dane went on the slide over and over and over again.

Noah ended  up going to the indoor pool the whole time so it was just Mads as a "big kid", she represented well and is always a good time.  

Jason also taught Eve that it was ok to jump in the deep end and let her head go underwater and that her lifejacket/floaty would bring her back up.  I love that I can try to teach something for months and Jason can come in and teach it to them in 5 minutes.  The come to me and say "mom, daddy teached me how to ____.  And it wasn't scary.  I can do it."  And then every time we do it again after that for about 2 weeks they say "I can _____, because daddy teached me".  I know you can read that sarcastically, like I love how I do all this work and Jason finishes and gets the glory.  But that is not how I mean it all, I actually genuinely love that it works this way. 

 

 

Eve's Birthday

This little cutie had a birthday in June ... er... July?  One of these years she will celebrate her birthday on her actual birthday.  This year all 4 older kids were gone at church camps on her birthday, so that just didn't seem fun.  And, then, as you saw with previous posts the day they got back we went to Utah and then after the Flaming Gorge.  So we celebrated her birthday on July 27 instead of June 27.  She asked that Megan make her a "rainbow" cake.  So I didn't even make her a cake.  

Megan did a great job and Eve loved it!

She got a doll house.  It has become a favorite!

Eve at three:

• She loves Dane.  She always wants to be with him and she doesn't like it when he is mad or upset.  And while Dane is very protective of her and is definitely the "big brother" to her, she does kind of "mother" him.  She can see when he is getting upset and has learned how to defuse the situation, even using a particular "voice" to him when she is trying to help him.
• She is very verbal. most people think she is a lot older than she is.  She also is starting to climb really well.
• She still takes a 2-3 hour nap everyday.  She is a SLOOWWW eater.  But we have her on a timer now and that is helping.   

•  She is pretty good with her glasses.  Not great, but not terrible.  So that is a win.  Most 3 year olds are terrible, Megan was just great.  But megan was blind without them, Eve isn't.

•  Eve loves to play with dolls (baby and doll house), puzzles, read books, and play in the sand box.  
• she is pretty emotional and can cry at the drop of a hat if she thinks you are mad at her, but she stops crying at the drop of a hat also.