Quick trip

My family is pretty spread out. It's hard for some reason to get us all together at the same time. I've had many trips where I have seen members of my family, but just not all during the same trip. In fact, it's been almost 5 years since my whole family was together. 5 years!! Over the 4th of July, my sister,who lives in Idaho, was visiting at my parents, my little brother from Cedar was also there visiting, and my older brother already lives close. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go and meet up with them. Corey was really busy at work and I didn't want to just leave him behind. But the morning of the 3rd he just said I couldn't be the only one not there and that I should get things together, pack up and leave. I decided there really wasn't a good reason not to go and we headed out early the next morning.

We made good time and got there in perfect time to spend the afternoon and evening together. I am so glad I decided to take off. It was worth it. 

My dad fixed a delicious BBQ dinner for all of us and then we did fireworks together.

We attempted to get a picture of all the grand kids together. The two little ones were not too cooperative and gave us about 2 seconds to get the shot. Regardless they are some pretty good looking kids.

 I tried to also get a decent shot of my kids. You would think that would be easier as they get older, but I guess that's just not always the case. They also gave me about 2 seconds of their time.

Funny thing is, we had a big box of fireworks, but the kids had the most fun with the glow sticks my sister-in-law found in her trunk. That kept them going for a long time.

The next morning, I was able to make a trip to Ikea with my sister without kids. Just she and I. Grandma was nice enough to supervise kids. It was so nice to be able to chat and catch up with her before they had to head back to Idaho the next morning.

The kids and I spent a couple more days visiting at my parents. I wish we could have spent more time, but so many things were waiting for us at home. 

We did take time to go to the Payson pool. We love to go there and had such fun. Everytime we go to any pool though Emery begs and begs to go on the big waterslides. She is usually tall enough, but I worry about her getting knocked down when she hits the bottom and maybe having a hard time getting back up. Here, at the pools, they won't let me go down first and wait for her at the bottom just to make sure she could get up. But at the Payson pool they would. She was so so excited. I was still a little freaked out, but I figured we'd see how she did. 

There are two slides at the pool. The curvy one is much slower and the kids had been going down all day. Carter took her up first, went down, and then waited for her at the bottom.

 She did really well and was able to stand right up and just needed a little help getting to the side of the pool. She went down dozens of times. Carter and I took turns taking her down while Kayden buddied up with Hailey to take her. Brendan spent the majority of his time floating in the lazy river.

   

One trip up with Carter she wanted to go down the faster slide. I didn't know they were doing it until they came and told after the fact. It really freaked me out, but Emery was grinning ear to ear and loved it. Loved it. She handled it just fine, so again, I agreed to let her do it a few more times.

 I never could catch Hailey or Brendan for a picture. I always was 3 seconds too late. But Hailey braved the big slide several times too. 

 I caught Kayden on one of his rides down.

We had such a fun day and were totally worn out by the end. We even managed to keep from getting sunburned this time. Made the day even better.

We had to come home the next day, but it was worth the trip. Emery has not stopped talking about the water slides since or how much fun she had playing with her cousins. Cousin time is always worth the trip.

10- double digits

Brendan crossed over to double digits this year on his birthday. He was a little bummed his birthday fell on a Sunday. We have 9:00 church so he knew he would have to wait on his presents until we got home, but we tried to make his day a good one anyway.

We took him out on his birthday date the night before. He wanted to go to Olive Garden for chicken and spaghetti. (This was a surprising choice, I have mentioned before that I think he has to be the world's pickiest eater. He has insisted for years that he hated spaghetti sauce and would never eat it. Then all of the sudden he decided to try it, the last time we went to Olive Garden I think, and now he loves it.)

He loved his meal and has requested sauce spaghetti several times a week since. 

Sunday mornings are always a race to get ready. I knew we wouldn't have time to cook breakfast, or really that the kids would get up early enough to eat a cooked breakfast, so we decided to have his breakfast choice for dinner.  That night we had cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs and he was totally fine with that.

After church we got down to the business of opening presents. It almost killed him waiting.

He got some great stuff and a couple of surprises. He got a new scooter, some of his own gum too, and his biggest surprise, which he had no idea about, his own kindle. One of the things he asked for was a book series he had started in school. He loves to read and reads so much we thought a kindle would be fun for him to have. I had it ready and loaded with the books he had asked for.

This kid always is surprising us. He's pretty mellow and laid back, but at the same time knows what he wants and can be stubborn as a mule when he wants to be. He's pretty easy to please except when it comes to trying to get him to eat something he doesn't like, that's when the real stubbornness sets in. He adds a good mix to our family and I love that he can get along with the older kids and then turn around and play with the girls too. He's perfect to have right in the middle of our mix.

Party time

Emery's birthday was only made more exciting for her this year because she had her first friend party. I'll admit I don't do elaborate parties for my kids and I don't think they need a party every year either. I like to keep things simple, I think it is actually more memorable for them and special when it doesn't happen every year, but it is fun to do once in awhile.  She wanted to have a Frozen themed party. I suggested we have a Frozen "In Summer" party, where we could play water games outside and she loved the idea.

We sent out an invitation

 
We decorated outside just a little bit. 

Her guests arrived. And Hailey too. She invited her friend Scarlett, from the ward, but then just wanted all the girls from her preschool to come. It was like a preschool reunion except for one favorite friend that was out of town. She almost wanted to cancel because Sammy couldn't make it, but I convinced her she could have fun anyway. 

 And fun we had. I had more elaborate games planned, but once the sprinkler was turned on, the water table filled up and I brought out some buckets and cups, they were as content as can be. They didn't want to do anything else. That's the beauty of 4 and 5 year olds, they are easy to please.

 We had cupcakes and ice cream

Opened presents enjoyed being with friends

She commented for days about how much fun it was. I'm so glad she was able to enjoy it so much and we might have to do it again... in a couple of years.

5

Somehow my baby turned 5!! I still can't believe she is that old, but we sure had a good time celebrating anyway. She is still young enough to get so excited that we all can't help to be excited too. She asked for weeks on end when her birthday was and was over the moon when her day finally came. 

We started the morning with breakfast. She also requested cowboy cake and then went straight to opening presents. 

 I also love that she is still young enough to love everything and is so excited about everything she gets. Even if it is a pack of her own gum. 

She also still loves playdoh.

 She got a Barbie jeep and her first Ken

 My mom made her an Elsa dress which she now wears all the time. She wore it all day and even on our birthday date.She left the crown and cape at home though, she thought that would just be too much. She had such a hard time deciding where to go. She loves to go out to eat. Loves it. She finally decided on Cafe Rio so she could have her own salad.

We came home and had doughnuts and ice cream...again.

 I have always said this child has more personality than should be allowed. She is just something else, but is so entertaining. I always marvel at how observant of the world she is, she picks up on so much. She is truly a 14 year old trapped in a 5 year old's body. That causes her a lot of frustration. She is always baffled when I tell her no to certain things, like letting her shop by herself or use the butcher knife to cut cheese, because I think she truly has no idea that maybe she's not ready for stuff like that. This girl just takes charge and knows what she wants. And while this is challenging right now, I remind myself daily, sometimes hourly, that these traits will take her far someday. She is such a great addition to our family and love all that she brings with her.

14

June is our month of birthdays. We start with Carter, three days later with Emery, and three days after that we end with Brendan. 

Carter turned 14 this year. And boy, he is such a teenager. I have so much fun with him and really enjoy his personality, but at the same time he makes me mentally exhausted. Teenagers just tend to do that, I think.

We started the morning with his breakfast request of cowboy cake and scrambled eggs. And then opened presents. 

Carter is a bit obsessed with Nike right now especially with Nike elite socks. He got several pairs for his birthday and shirts to match.

 I love this picture because Hailey had spent a lot of time making Carter a card and you can see how excited she was about it.

 The one thing he really really wanted for his birthday was a new pair of shoes and a new hat. He and I spent the afternoon at the Nike outlet and hat store in search of what he wanted. He found his shoes for such a good deal and the hats were all buy one get one half off,  he was able to get two hats. (Ever since his field trip to San Francisco,and attending a Giants game, he has wanted San Francisco hat. He also loves the Miami Heat, so he picked one of those too) He was pretty excited about that. And used some of his birthday money for more socks.

That evening, Corey and I, took him on his birthday date. He chose BJ's and ordered a steak. We ended the night with his choice of doughnuts and ice cream.

Carter really is a great kid and is so good with the other kids. He still knows how to play with them and they all love him. He has always tended to draw other kids in and always has a following. Emery still absolutely adores him and most mornings this summer, I find her cuddled up in his bed talking about Minecraft with him. We love having him around and are so glad we were able to make his day a good one.