Family (and Friend!) Reunion

In July, we flew to Utah to attend a family reunion in Southern Idaho. We managed to squeeze in a lot of visiting with family and friends in just over a week's time.

Our flight was delayed, so we had a very late (or early morning, I guess) arrival at our friends' home. The next day, their kids were so nice and patient while my jet-lagged kids slept in. After hanging out in the morning, we went off on a little hike in search of water. Luckily, we did find some because I don't think the kids would have been happy otherwise! 

The next day after church, we went to a cousin's house to spend the next few days. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time with her (and her kids were out of town), but we got plenty of quality cousin-dog time in. My mom came up to spend a few days with us and it was a lot of fun to hang out with her. During the rest of our time in Utah, we went to a water park - the slides did not enter into a pool, so the height requirements were low and even Oliver could go down all of them. We went to Temple Square and toured the Conference Center and visited the Church History Museum. We also went to Park City to ride the Alpine Slide and visit Olympic Park where we watched some ski jumpers practice (going into water instead of snow, of course) and had fun on a parcours course (ninja warrior!). We went to my aunt's house for dinner and got to spend time with my Grandma, another aunt, and lots of cousins that I haven't seen in years. 

Then, we headed up to Idaho for the reunion. We've been doing these every other year since before Skyler was born. We've grown to really love them and the time we get to spend with family that we don't otherwise see. We were at the same place that we were at four years ago. There's lots of fun outdoor space and inside it's much like a college dormitory (because it used to be one!) so everyone gets their own space, but we are all close enough that we could leave sleeping kids upstairs while we played games downstairs. We spent our time there enjoying the grounds, visiting a lake and exploring City of Rocks.

Then, it was back to Utah to catch our flight home. But first, another night with our friends. It's always so fun to see them and catch up. I love how our kids just pick up from wherever they left off last time. Oliver and Jonah were a little shy about playing with their friends at first, but Oliver loved jumping with Dallen on the trampoline and Jonah and Rylan re-bonded over video games.

Hiking with the Covingtons

They all conquered the warped wall! The little two needed help, though.

Going up to the top of the Alpine Slide

Jonah coming down the Alpine Slide

Working on a reunion project

Oliver went all the way to the top!

Jesse and Jonah were content to stay right here

Georgia got a ride, too! She didn't really care for the life vest.

Skyler thought it was awesome to go out by himself for a short while

Rylan and Jonah

Skyler, Hannah, and Bethany

Dallen and Oliver

Swimming Lessons 2014

This was a swimming summer for us. I signed the kids up for two sessions of lessons because I really wanted them (well, the older two at least) to finally become strong, confident, independent swimmers.

Skyler passed the swim test at the Y right at the during his first session of lessons. That meant he could go on the slides! This was especially important when he was invited to go to the pool with his friend. Jonah got his green band during his second session of lessons, but poor buddy had to do it a couple of times before it was accurately recorded at each pool we swim at (he kept getting mixed messages about the requirements, so though he could easily do it, the confusion made him pretty upset). He loves the slides too, though! Oliver is well on his way to passing the test. He started out really shy about the water and not very confident in his ability to swim without a "cubie", but now he can jump in the deep end, float on his back and tread water for a good amount, too. He just needs to build up the endurance (and work on his side breathing) to swim across the entire pool and he'll be ready for the slides too!

Georgia had her first time at the pool back in May. She was a little unsure, but seemed to feel really comfortable just hanging out at the zero entry point. During later swim outings, she thought it was great fun to float on a kickboard and be pulled around the pool.

Pictures of Summer - July

July meant more park days, a bowling trip, swimming lessons and pigtails for Georgia! I only took one bowling picture. Georgia had yet to show any interest in the stairs at our house, but was all about these steps at the bowling alley.

A blurry picture of some very exciting game at the park.

Skyler is Ten

It's hard to believe that it's been ten years since my first baby was born! It doesn't seem so long ago that I was teaching fifth grade while pregnant with him, but now he's ready to start fifth grade himself!


For his tenth birthday, he picked to go out mini golfing with dad. He also lucked out and got lunch at his favorite restaurant, Tucano's, even though there isn't one anywhere near us. He had his birthday lunch while we were in Salt Lake City so he could eat at Tucano's. Skyler likes to invent games, one of his favorites is called "Relics".  It is some sort of tag and find the hidden object team game. He's taught a few kids from church and they in turn have taught others! He's doing really well with Karate and has starting teaching himself some basic computer programming.

In his own words -
Favorite Food: Italian Beef Sandwiches
Favorite Thing to Do: Sleep
Favorite Show to Watch: Arthur
Favorite Color: Turquoise
Favorite Animal: Manatee
Favorite Toy: Devices that have a computer (iPad, Computer, etc.)
What Makes Him Happy: Sleeping in
What Makes Him Sad: I don't know
What He Wants to Be When He Grows Up: Teacher
Favorite Song: I don't know
Favorite Friend: Bethany and Hannah
Who He Loves: Georgia
What He Likes to Do With His Family: play games
Favorite Place to Go: fun places

Did I post this? Because I don't think I did. And I don't know why. I found this in my drafts folder.  I don't know the story behind this, maybe Joy School related? Anyway, should the date on the draft be believed, this was the month before Oliver was born. Skyler was just a few months shy of five years old and Jonah was almost two. And, for the record, I don't remember doing any forward rolls at any point of my pregnancy.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I Don't Know, clean up your toys

2. What makes mom happy?
When I do things you like

3. What makes mom sad?
When I do things you don't want me to

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When I do funny things

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don't know

6. How old is your mom?
Um, I think 18
Are you really 18? (no) 17? (no) 90?

7. How tall is your mom?
I don't know

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Wash dishes

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Go on the computer

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know

11. What is your mom really good at?
Hopping on one foot

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Knowing what Jonah wants, sometimes

13. What does your mom do for her job?
I don't know there's too much stuff

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
pizza with yarn

15. What do you and your mom do together?
Play Wii

16. What is your mom's favorite place to go?
To the store to buy food because you love spicy food and we don't get them a lot.

17. What is mom's favorite thing to watch on TV?
Amazing Race

18. How does mom make you laugh?
When you do a forward roll with the baby in your tummy

Helping Out

We kicked off the summer (or rather, ended the spring) by participating with fellow church members in a community sponsored program to help senior citizens with seasonal yard work. In May, we mainly trimmed bushes, picked weeds and washed windows. In the fall (both last year and just a few weeks ago), there were lots of leaves to rake and bag up or move to the curb. The boys don't really look forward to it, but in the end they do seem to enjoy themselves! We've done it three times so far and it's a great service opportunity for our family.

From the spring - Skyler trimming bushes

From the spring - Jonah pulling stray grass and weeds out of the flower bed

Oliver raking leaves last fall

Last fall - Skyler pushing the leaves to the curb for the city to vacuum up

No pictures from this fall, unfortunately. I was home with Georgia, who wasn't feeling well and probably wouldn't so happily hang out in the stroller or backpack like she had in the past :)

Pictures of Summer - June

I spent all summer wishing with all of my might that Georgia would go down to just one nap, which was kind of funny because with all of the other kids, I mourned the loss of that morning nap! I just knew it would make entertaining three school-aged non-nappers so much easier if we didn't have to worry about two naptimes. It never happened, so we did our best to enjoy Summer in short between nap bursts.

I wanted to hit a lot of parks. There are some huge parks near us - with hiking trails, lakes, nature centers and playgrounds. But there are plenty of neighborhood parks too.

In June, we also got to go with the Cub Scouts to visit the fire station. Seconds after I took this picture, the fire alarm went off and the kids had to hurry off of the truck and out of the way! The call only required one of the ambulances, but it was very exciting to watch. Actually, the alarm went off several times while we were there, so many times that our tour guide eventually had to leave us and go out on a call.

This caterpillar climbing thing was an unexpected favorite

This was the day that Georgia discovered just how fun play equipment can be!

We didn't intend on hiking, but that's what we ended up doing, so we ditched the stroller and Georgia ended up on my shoulders

Baseball Season #2

Once Jonah started playing baseball Skyler decided he wanted to play too. But, it was too late to sign up for Spring! I promised him that I'd sign him up for Summer ball. It was a long Spring for him, but finally he got his turn to play.

He loved it. He was always eager to go to his games and practices. He always put forth awesome effort. The league let everyone bat until they had a hit (which definitely made the games move really slowly sometimes!) and Skyler seemed to either hit the ball on the first or second pitch  or it would take him a minute or two. But he never gave up. Even after a rough inning, he was ready to go at it again at his next at-bat. He especially did well in the field. He always knew where the ball needed to go before it got to him and he'd get it there no problem. When he played shortstop, he'd always run to cover 2nd or 3rd base if necessary.

I hope he continues to want to play and try new things!