Our Summer

Highlights of our summer. As always...it went by too fast but we had a lot of fun!!

• Swimming -- And the kids have no tan lines to prove it :: they just don't get color!
  
• Grass in the backyard -- Nice to have it GREEN
• County Fair -- Talmage's students did well and we all had a great time.
• Jelly Belly Factory -- Love free jelly bellys!
  
• Disneyland -- Kids had fun :: We had fun
  
• Tyler and Grant's birthdays -- What cute, good boys we have
  
• Jenn and kids visit -- So fun to play with cousins!
  
• Pinecrest -- Talmage's lone hike around the lake :: Yummy ice cream cones :: Party boat
  
• Santa Cruz -- Loved $.75 hot dogs, rides, drinks, cotton candy! And finally had a deep fried twinkie!
  
• Library reading program -- I love that my kids love to read
  
• Summer movie festival -- I love free movies!
  
• National Night Out at the park -- Conveniently located right across the street
• G&G Allen, Taylor & Shalie visit -- Columbia, Fun Works, Camping in the backyard, Farmer's Market, Chocolate Cake, Swimming... So much fun! We love having visitors
  

Grant's birthday party

I've never really had a birthday party for Grant. Maybe when he turned 3 we had a little family gathering with cake and ice cream and party hats (because that's all he said he wanted for his birthday--the party hats). Grant has gone to A LOT of birthday parties this year and has always had SO MUCH fun. Back in April he started making his own invitations. He only had to ask how to spell a few words and names but he did the rest. In fact, I didn't even know what he was doing until he had about 3 invitations all done. That was when I decided I should have a birthday party for him. I'm not one of those naturally creative people so being that Grant's birthday is in the middle of July it's perfect for a swim party and water games. Grant helped me plan his party and make his new invitations (although I think his original ones looked much better than mine). I always feel a little awkward about inviting people over and having parties--which is why I've never really done it before. BUT we pulled it off and had a great time. Grant was very worried when we got to my grandparents' house and we were the first ones there. He asked what happened and where everyone was. We explained that since it was his party we needed to be the first ones there. Thank goodness we have a lot of cousins close by and that they were in town because ALL of the other friends he invited were on vacation with their families--Middle of July=Family vacations! An extra special treat was that Mason and Kennedy (my sister's kids) were here visiting from Utah. Grant had a lot of fun.

We played a few games on the front lawn before breaking the Pinata. That was a TOUGH pinata! Then everyone enjoyed swimming. It was a HOT day...close to 100 if not hotter. Then of course time for cake and ice cream and opening presents. Thank you everyone for the gifts. Grant has had a BLAST playing with his new things. He woke up around 5:00 Sunday morning to play with his toys before church...what a kid!

Disneyland

Highlights
::Being together as a family
::Staying at a close hotel...thanks MOM and DAD
::Seeing the excitement in the kids' faces
::It's a Small World ride was OPEN (Kenzie was absolutely PLEASED)
::Tyler LOVED the rides and characters
::Grant celebrated his 6th Birthday
::Fireworks were spectacular
::Talmage reached a new high score on the Buzz Lightyear ride...see picture below
::Had fun swimming in the hotel Pool
::1:1 Ratio for kids and adults (My mom, sister Jenn and her two kids, and sister Cortney were there). Especially nice that each kid had a stroller
::Tyler took surprisingly good naps in his stroller
::Packed extra food to save $$
::Kenzie went on more rides than just Small World...she said the Woody ride and Carousel were her other favorites...although it took A LOT of coaxing to go on the Woody ride. She cried and refused to go the first two times we got up to the front of the line.
::We were able to go to the "Company D" Store for Disney employees and get our souvenirs for WAY cheaper.
::Talmage and I got a night out to the park by ourselves!
::Grant went down the "big slide" at the hotel pool because he's a "strong swimmer"
::Got to feed the fish in the Koi Pond at the hotel
::We had a WONDERFUL time!!Not so highlights
::The crowds...although we expected them in the middle of july
::The HEAT and HUMIDITY?!
::An unfortunate "protein spill" from a passenger seated RIGHT NEXT to Talmage on the Monorail--glad the kids and I were in another location--sorry Talmage!
::We didn't get to ride everything...Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, The Train, Space Mountain--Didn't even go into ToonTown
::The night out with Talmage, the crowds were worse than during the day...Indiana Jones broke down when we were in line...Space Mountain line had a 45 minute wait at 11:55pm?!
::A few of us ended up getting colds :(

Happy Birthday Grant

Grant is a very special part of our family.

He is sensitive
He is thoughtful.
He is smart.
He is shy.
He is kind.
He is helpful.
He is sweet.
He is happy (and grumpy).
He is a friend.
He makes us laugh.

When I was looking back at pictures it was hard for me to believe that time goes by so quickly. I don't remember much about life without Grant. I also have a hard time remembering how easy life was having only Grant. I feel like I've heard my mom say...I wish I could go back and do it again. I would write more things down so I could hopefully remember more.
Grant is such a good helper and sweet boy. It really is hard to believe he's 6!

Our little 1 year old

Hard to believe Tyler is already 1. I know it's hard for many other people to believe as well because he's still so little (5th percentile) but our little firecracker has turned 1. We seemed to have a bit of a rough start with Tyler but he is such a happy and funny little boy. He makes us all laugh.Notable things about Tyler:
His unique crawl
His head shake and nod
He LOVES to eat
He thinks it's funny when people are sleeping
His eye blinks
He loves "Round-About," "Pat-a-Cake," and playing with his brother and sister
He swims his arms around when he sees something he wants
He LOVES playing in the water...bathtub or pool
He has incredibly BLUE eyes and light hair

We absolutely love Tyler and are so glad he is part of our family. Happy Birthday Tyler!

County Fair

Talmage is an excellent teacher and has very talented students. Each year he encourages his students to enter their drawings into the County Fair. Every year we go to the fair to see how many ribbons his students receive but also to enjoy the fair. Each year is a little different. One year it was so hot we didn't stay very long. Talmage gives me a hard time because we only stayed for 30 minutes. To my defense...it was 108 that day so walking around in the sun was NOT my idea of a good time. Last year only Talmage and Grant went. They had a fun time and stayed in Sacramento that night so they could fly out EARLY the next morning to go to his brother Taylor's wedding. Kenzie and I stayed home because I was pregnant with Tyler and couldn't fly that close to my due date. This year turned out to be a very pleasant year. It was hot but only reached about 95? There was a welcomed breeze that would blow that made it even more enjoyable. The kids had a fun time so we of course had a fun time.
We stopped in at the petting zoo.
We checked in on how well Talmage's students did.
Then we watched the "Dog Splash" show.
The kids planted pumkin seeds.
We watched the Farm Follies little show. It was hot for the animals so they gave a half-hearted performance.
We walked around the livestock area to see the sheep, pigs, and cows. Tyler really gets excited when he sees animals.There was a cute little farm area for the kids to do things that are done on a farm...feed the horses and pigs, milk the cow, wash the clothes and hang them to dry, gather eggs from the chickens, dig up a potato, pick a carrot from the garden, pick an apple from the tree. Then they took all of their items to sell at the Farmers Market. After selling their items they were paid $5 play money. Then they went "shopping" for a toy with their "money." It was a fun thing for the kids.
We watched a kids Tractor Pull competition.
Talmage and the kids got us some Cotton Candy which made it "taste" like a fair.
Then we watched the cute little pig races.
We were heading towards the gate to leave when we heard they were taking sign ups for the kids tractor pull. Grant wanted to participate so here is his valiant effort to complete the tractor pull. He was pulling 50 pounds in the trailer so that made it a little heavy.


After leaving the fair we went to "The Panda Store" aka Panda Express, for dinner. We were all a little hungry.
On our way home we stopped at the park in Riverbank. The kids had a fun time playing and it was a nice evening until a bug supposedly touched Kenzie's toe. She doesn't tolerate pain OR bugs well. Tyler was also getting restless from being held or in the stroller all day so we knew it was time to go. A great day though!

A vacation?

I feel like I haven't been home much lately but I can't quite say we went on a vacation. Most of my days have been spent out at my parents house. I've helped my mom with a couple weddings. It has been such a fun little job for me. I love helping with weddings. Brides are always so beautiful and it's such a fun occasion. Our latest wedding of Ashley and Jimmy... She was absolutely breathtaking. I've been helping my mom narrow down pictures from the weddings and play in photoshop with a few of the pictures. So much fun and something I could (and do) spend HOURS doing.

Then last week my brother Tim was at football camp at BYU so my mom thought it would be fun to paint and redo his room to look like a boys room. Tim's room was my old room. I only lived in that room for two years of high school and a couple summers during college but my Barbies have been well displayed on the shelves since we moved into that house in 1996. The room was vacant for many years once Jenn and I got married, over 7 years ago, but would see visitors during the holidays and on occasion during the summer visits. I'm not sure why it took so long, but finally Kevin moved into that room. He didn't complain about the Barbies. He said he didn't care since he didn't spend much time in the room anyway. I didn't know where I would put all of my Barbies so if he was okay with them in the room on the shelves, then I was okay. When Kevin left on his mission Tim moved into that room. He too said he wasn't bothered by the Barbies...for the same reason. The time he spent in that room he was usually sleeping so it didn't matter. It was time to update the look though, so we spent MANY hours on several days cleaning, organizing, dusting, painting, etc. Talmage was so good to help us. It was much easier and faster for he and my dad to move the furniture than my mom and I. The room looks great! I don't have pictures, but it looks good. The Barbies finally came down and have found a nice temporary place in our garage. We also cleaned out the boys' old room. I wish I would have counted but I'm pretty sure I found:

30 pocket knives
5 lighters
2 bottles of lighter fluid
2 sets of walkie-talkies
interesting samples of welded metal
a few wooden projects like a birdhouse and a tool box
a pellet gun
two other guns
an old little skateboard
candy (still in the wrapper)
wrappers (without the candy)
5 socks that didn't have a mate
BYU meal cards from Football camp last year and the year before
3 Cub Scout books (I only have 2 brothers)
and that's just naming what I could remember...

First of all...it's amazing the house didn't burn down. But what a contrast between the "Barbie" room and the "BOY" room. So much to look forward to with boys. I have a feeling my boys will be a little different than my brothers. Fast forward 12-14 years...what will I find in my boys' room???