Swim Lesson Pics

Debbie's backyard is wonderful. Isaiah loved chasing the ducks around while the girls were in the pool. Poor ducks! I did my best to help him admire them from a distance....
Happy times. Kylie in the new swimsuit - ooh, la, la!

Carolyn learning to dive in proper form.

Kylie with her teacher, Debbie.

Carolyn with her teacher, Gary (Debbie's husband).

Fair

Each year Jeremiah's company puts on some sort of fun, big event for the employees and their families. Sometimes it is an open house of the plant (which is normally off limits as it requires a security clearance to enter), complete with games, prizes, etc., and always a great lunch.

This year, as they have done many times in the past (and which is always a big hit), they put on a big fair at the state fair grounds. The company provided an amazing bbq lunch, unlimited drinks, snow cones, and cotton candy, games, prizes, and rides. It was a fun-filled day!

Isaiah loves trampolines, so this bounce house was right up his alley.
The girls loved the large selection of huge inflatable slides.

We walked over to the river and saw some ducks.

The three kiddos on the swings

Carolyn and Kylie both had huge grins plastered to their faces and squealed with delight the entire time they were on this ride!

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day we spent the afternoon at a nearby duo of parks we had never been to before (though we drive past them often). The parks are alongside the Jordan River Parkway trail - one on each side of the river with a bridge crossing between them. First, we enjoyed a picnic and played on the east playground, then we meandered down the trail toward the other playground.

Along the way, Carolyn and Isaiah were interested in a big beetle they found on the trail.

Carolyn loves animals and insects of all sorts. She enjoyed letting this little guy crawl all over her hands.

Isaiah is quite a climber. He badly wanted to climb this wall, but he wasn't quite able to figure out how.

We spent some time playing down by the river.

This isn't from Mother's Day, but I thought I'd post it anyway, since it was from a few days later. This is the girls with their teacher on their last day of ballet.

Carolyn's Birthday

Carolyn's birthday was in May, before I started my blog, but I was looking through my pictures recently and decided to post some of them from the past few months.

We were luck enough to have my wonderful Grandparents from San Diego with us for several days over Carolyn's birthday.

At her party, the kids played pin the nose on the clown.

Blowing out the candles

For some reason, Carolyn really wanted to smash her face into her cake. Since it was her birthday, we let her do it.

Her favorite color is "the rainbow", and she was turning six, so you can imagine how thrilled she was to see this pinata at the party supply store when we were out shopping in preparation for her party. I was equally thrilled when I saw the price tag (it was one of the cheapest ones there!).

All the kids had a turn, girls first, then boys, smallest to biggest. The very last boy destroyed it and sent candy spilling everywhere.

At the end of her party, Carolyn brought out her snake, Houdini, to show all her friends. They enjoyed watching her slither around.
I can't believe how grown-up Carolyn has gotten and that she is going to be a big first-grader now.

Mutton Bustin & Stick Horse Racing

The girls and I each participated in an event at the Country Fest last Saturday. As previously mentioned (and which my sore body won't let me forget), I did the 5K. The girls each did an age appropriate equestrian event.

It was just too hot and chaotic for Isaiah to be there, so he spent the afternoon taking his nap and helping Daddy run wires at the new house.

Carolyn's event was the Mutton Bustin. A certain neglectful mother (ashamedly hanging my head) clearly was not thinking ahead and sent her out there in shorts (hey, it was a HOT day!). Thankfully, she came through it just fine!



These sheep were way full of energy, and it took 3-4 grown men to wrangle each one for the kids to mount. Lots of the kids (quite a few of whom are several years older than Carolyn) cried after being thrown from the sheep. It made Carolyn a little nervous, but she bravely went out there and did her thing! I thought it was so cute how she stood up and waved to the crowd with both hands - just as one of the men had told her to. Her prize was a $2 bill - very exciting!

Kylie's event was Stick Horse Barrel Racing. To spot her in the video, look for the pink shirt. (Sorry for the poor quality - still trying to figure out how to do this.)



She followed the instructions very well to follow the man in the blue shirt. The part she forgot was to go all the way around the barrel. Still, she had a lot of fun, and her prize was a silver dollar!

The winner in each age division got to keep their stick horse - and what kid wouldn't love that?! You'd better believe we will be doing some hardcore stick horse barrel race training during the next year so Kylie can bring home her stick horse next time!

Sore!

Yesterday morning I did something I rarely do willingly - I got out of bed at 5:30 am. The second my alarm clock went off I remembered why I haven't made a habit of doing so. But going back to sleep was not an option at that point because I had arranged to pick up my dad a 6 am for the 5K we were participating in, and knew he would be waiting for me.

It was beautiful out, and I had the rare opportunity to enjoy the fresh air of a peaceful summer morning before the business (and HEAT!) of the day set in. Neither my dad or I are big on running, but we kept up a pretty quick pace with our brisk walk.

The course was really lovely, running along the Jordan River Parkway. That's the way to start a day! I told my dad we ought to do it every Saturday morning! Unfortunately, my brother already has dibs on my dad for Saturday mornings for basketball.

It doesn't matter, though, because that was yesterday. The early mornings are great, but waking up this sore the next day is not. I can't believe how beat up my body feels after a little walk!

Garden

Our new little garden is officially up and running! The kids and I have been having fun selecting plants to put in the garden, and I just finished planting several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini squash, and strawberries. We also are going to plant carrots, corn, and pumpkins.

I wonder if anything will actually grow. It's been a long time since I've done any gardening, so I feel a little out of my league. Still, I am excited. The girls are really looking forward to tending to their own little garden. They LOVE fresh fruits and veggies, so it'll be such a treat for them to grow their very own!

I just wonder if we'll actually get to enjoy the harvest or if we will be in the new house by then. Perhaps I should write it into the contract when we sell - we retain ownership of this year's bounty! On second thought, if someone buys the house at the right time and for the right price, I just might be willing to throw in the veggies!

Father's Day

My dad is the greatest! Since it's Father's Day I wanted to share a few little tidbits and memories about him.

1. He raised me well (if I do say so myself) and gave me a lot of advantages in life.
   
2. He'd take us on fun outings like to play nine holes on a par 3 golf course, going to drive in movies, snow-tubing in the canyon, a day at Raging Waters, etc. I even remember going with him to a class at the U when he was getting his MBA. My mom packed me a special little lunch - complete with a full-size Snickers bar, which was such a treat at the time! - and I sat through a lecture with him, feeling quite special.
3. One day when my younger brother and I were probably about 5 and 7 years old, we were fighting and would not stop no matter how many times my dad told us to leave each other alone. So finally he put us in the back yard and told us if we wanted to fight then to go ahead and fight! As he encouraged it (reverse psychology - oldest trick in the book), we pretty much stood there scratching our heads and laughing. Problem solved.
   
4. He's comically impatient. (I admit this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.) When we were on road trips he would make it clear that we had only as long as it took him to pump the gas to be back in the car. We'd pull into a gas station and all the kids would scramble in to use the restroom and stretch our legs, then scurry back to the car. We didn't want to be left behind. :-)
   
5. He is very knowledgeable about so many things and is a great teacher and public speaker. He taught institute for many years, and currently he is serving a mission as a docent at the Church History Museum.
   
6. He is always able to answer all my gospel questions off the cuff and takes the time to explain things in depth.
7. He is the best grandpa to my kids! They think he is hilarious (almost as much as he thinks he is! Haha, just kidding, Dad!) - and he really is!
   
8. He and I made a bet when I was barely 18. He didn't think I was going to marry Jeremiah, but I said I would be married to him within a year. On our wedding day eight and a half months later, my dad followed through on the long-since forgotten bet and gave Jeremiah and I a crisp $100 bill.
9. His favorite movie is Mary Poppins, and he cries like a baby whenever he watches it (and when he watches just about anything, for that matter).
10. He took me to my first Jazz game at the Salt Palace when I was six or seven. We even got to stick around afterward for autographs - I got Mark Eaton, "Big T" Thurl Bailey, Bobby Hansen, and several others. I was raised on the Jazz and regularly heard Hot Rod's and Booner's voices on television or the radio in our house or car. To this day I find it oddly soothing to listen to Hot Rod and Ron Boone (and now Craig, of course).

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Jeremiah

I happen to think my kids have the best dad ever. In the eyes of two little girls and one little boy, this man is the world.

Jeremiah and the kids at the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point

Here are just a few reasons they think he is THE BEST:

- He lets them jump all over him and attack him with pillows.
- He cooks them wonderful meals, not to mention his awesome smoothies.
- He plays games of all sorts with them.
- He gives them shoulder rides to bed.
- He helps with homework.
- He throws fun birthday parties for them. (Mom can't handle the stress...)
- He's not too macho to play Barbies.
- He let's them stay up late watching movies with him.
- He can fix anything. They can shatter something into a million pieces, but they still have faith and say, "Daddy can fix it."
- He takes his fair share of diaper duty, getting up at night, etc.
- He took the girls to Disney on Ice Princess Wishes because he knew they would really want to go, and crowds are not my thing.
- He can throw them high into the air.
- He helped Carolyn take care of a bird she inadvertently injured in our back yard, even finding worms to hand feed to the bird. (It's fine now.)
- He's building them an amazing home with all sorts of special extras designed just for them!
- He pretends to be scared when they sneak up on him and say "boo!" (Isaiah is particularly into this right now.)
- He tried his best to sneak Carolyn in to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland since she was barely too short but really wanted to go! :-)
- He combs the girls' hair (even if the parts aren't always straight).
- He shares his pet snake, Houdini, with them, and has more or less given ownership over to Carolyn.
- He just spent his entire weekend laying sod so they will have a fun yard to play in.
- He works hard to provide for them and make available to them the best this life has to offer.
- He never misses an event in their lives - dance classes, school presentations, etc. - he's there!
- He does his best to make their dreams come true.

Happy Father's Day, Jeremiah!

Kylie's Self Portrait

The girls are both super artsy and love to draw, color, paint, stamp, etc. They are constantly pulling out paper and other various supplies and creating something.

(And I am constantly conflicted as I sort through their masterpieces and try to decide which to keep and which to throw away.... I feel like such a bad mommy each time I toss something - not to mention the fact that I have to be ultra stealthy about it because their little hearts break into a thousand pieces if they find their art in the garbage. But I digress....)

It is commonplace for the girls to proudly present to me their works of art. Kylie recently brought me a "present" (a folded up piece of paper) and told me to open it.

Drawn inside was a green stick person (bearing a striking resemblance to Mike Wizowski from Monster's Inc.) which Kylie informed me was a picture of her. I oooh'd and ahhhh'd appropriately, but then she plucked it back from my hands and told me she forgot something.

She got out a yellow crayon and quickly added to her picture, then handed it back. There was now a vertical yellow line in between the legs of the stick person.

Kylie said, "It's a picture of me going potty."

Oh. Very, um... interesting....

Fun with reading... (sigh!)

Carolyn and friends playing horseshoes at the park

Our family attended a ward barbecue and horseshoes tournament recently at a nearby park. It was a really pleasant evening, and a well-deserved opportunity to relax and have some fun after a long, hard day of working at the new home under construction as well as the rental we are selling.

After we all ate dinner, Jeremiah played horseshoes and the kids played on the playground. I contentedly watched them all and enjoyed the momentary serenity.

Carolyn and another little kindergartener who lives around the corner from us found some graffiti on the playground equipment. It said a certain naughty word. She asked me what it said, and I told her something like, "Oh, it's just a name." She asked what the name was, but I told her not to worry about it.

She is SO curious! She would not let up, so finally I relented and confessed to her that it was a "bad word". Of course, this piqued her interest even more, and she wanted to know exactly what it said. I told her she did not need to know bad words and not to worry about it.

Well dang it all, she can read now! I had forgotten that little detail....

She sounded out the part that was written clearly, and she triumphantly shouted, "Bit! It says bit!"

I agreed that it did indeed say bit, and she proceeded to run around the playground proudly repeating "bit" while searching the equipment for more exciting new words to read.

I can only imagine the conversations we will be having due to this newfound ability. :-/

A few of Isaiah's favorite things....

Isaiah at Yellowstone

babies (especially the doll kind)
balls
bath time
biting (unfortunately - but it's cause he's teething)
brownies (if he sees yours just kiss it goodbye)
cell phones
Daddy (he's such a daddy's boy)
doggies
hugs (giving and receiving)
"Itsy Bitsy Spider"
ladders
lights (he notices them everywhere)
Mommy
oatmeal
"Once There Was a Snowman"
outside
peek-a-boo
raisins
remote controls
rocking horse
shoes / sandals (I think we have a fetish here.)
Signing Time
SISTERS!
slapping five
slides (except the one in our playroom - go figure...)
swings
trampolines (a bed will do in a pinch)
watermelon
waving hi and bye
yogurt

If you had told me three days ago....

I never would have believed that I would actually be able to use swimming lessons as an INCENTIVE for Kylie to be on her best behavior! Today I had to tell her that if she didn't behave she would not be able to go to swim lessons. And it worked. Ha!