Cause even if it weren't for the Unplugged Program we would have managed to have SOME fun on our own...
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Matt got his hands on some Bee's tickets from work. The game was great even for someone who doesn't follow baseball at all. Because the team hit a grand slam they announced that you could take your ticket to Denny's within the week for a free Grand Slam. Well boy did we run into trouble when we tried to do just that. I got it straightened out with a manager but yes it took talking to a manager. It was all fine but I think the management at Denny's might want to get with the folks at the ball park and see what the other guy is saying. |
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| For Sunday dinner in June I made a chicken pot pie and an apple pie. By the time I was done the kitchen was a hot mess. I cleaned it up and said, "Get in the car, we are eating at the park." We drove to Midway and ate at beautiful Huber Grove. Matt had been looking at a campsite online around there that he thought could be a possibility for the Taylor Reunion in July. We drove over there and it was PERFECT. The kids were so excited picturing all the cousins there that we couldn't drive home fast enough to reserve it. We felt it a tender mercy that it was booked all summer EXCEPT for the three nights our family would need it. Seriously, a tender mercy! I had a lot of adrenaline running through my veins and couldn't sleep that night in anticipation of it. I got up to read in the living room. I could see light coming from under the door in our room. I opened the door to see Matt watching TV. He couldn't sleep either. |
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| Mallerie's photography skillzzz already paying off! |
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| I signed up Graham and Callie for swimming lessons for the first time. I have it in my head that swimming lessons are a big hassle. I realized I think this because in years past I have been lugging a big car seat or chasing a toddler as I wait for the older kids while they have their lesson. Well this time I was foot loose and fancy free. Ava stood up on the balcony with me as we watched Callie go out with the instructor. Her swimsuit was quite stuck in her behind leaving her cheeks floating above the water. Ava and I looked at each other and had tears in our eyes cause we were laughing, and it was sort of tender. |
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| Cousin Alivia came all the way from Nevada for a visit. We found ourselves at the Kamas Pool. You can see by the crowds that the kids were insistent we stay until closing. They went down the water slide till the water was turned off. In case you find yourself thinking here, "What a fun mom for letting them do that." Well in hind sight I could have been more fun about it. They may have gotten more of a talking to on the way home than they wanted about being considerate of the employee's who are anxious to leave :( |
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| Matt surprised me for my birthday with Tim McGraw tickets. The concert was in mid June. The day of the concert I had been out in the heat a lot and felt wasted by late afternoon. I knew it would be a late night and told Matt that I needed a nap before we left. I thought to myself," If you need a nap before a concert maybe you are too old to be going to a concert." But it made all the difference and I was not tired that evening. Usana Amphitheatre is 10 x's bigger than we were picturing. It sat more people than the Taylor Swift Concert! Our tickets weren't for seats, they were for the PIT, right up front with the die hards. I felt like a bit of a fraud cause I'm really not that familiar with his music. I liked him in The Blind Side though. I thought I would recognize more of his songs than I did. But here's the thing, I don't think Tim is ugly -not at all, so it was fine! |
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Summer hits at the theatre. Frito bandito treated employees and their families to a sneak preview of Despicable Me 2. Ava was appalled that I hadn't seen the first one so the day we were to go to the theatre she borrowed it from a friend so I could watch it and be up to speed. Weather it made a difference or not I don't know but I did laugh out loud several times in the theatre.
We also saw Monsters University.
There is a great divide in our family as to who liked which movie better.
Katrina is sitting here miserable with a wretched sunburn on her legs. She went boating for the day with her friend and didn't put any sunblock on her lower half. She was literally peeling her skin off in sheets. I said "Ewe!" She said, "What? It's cool, I'm going to film it on my iphone." Which she did.
Mallerie was much more vigilant with the SPF when she went out on the lake with her buddy. |
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| Father's and Son's Campout (what's going on here, is this a photo bomb?) While the men were away I took Ava and Callie to movies 8 and to then to Zupa's afterwards. It was such a pretty night. After sitting in the theatre eating popcorn and then eating some more I wanted to walk it off! We walked the Provo River trail around Bon Losee in the night air. It was delightful. This doesn't tell you much about the Father's and Son's campout does it? Well I wasn't there and this is My Point of View. |
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| Back in May at the Beehive Bazaar there was a barrel like this with a fairy land set up. I didn't want to spend what it cost but my wheels were turning. Then while in St. George Lindsey and I each found a fairy house at DI and I found a barrel at Walmart here in town. It was a true wine barrel and it STUNK. The kids were aghast to find out that's what fermented grapes smell like and that people DRINK it. This fairy land provided hours of creative play time for the neighborhood kids and nipped any future wine bibbers in the bud. |
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| Day Camp: It was in the most gorgeous setting possible about 1/2 hour from home at Woolf Creek Ranches. The boys did so great. I was nervous when we got out of the car and saw a sea of blue shirts. How was I going to keep track of the six boys we brought? I gathered them around me and said, "Anytime you hear 222 (our troop number) then you come to me. " That was all it took. Whenever they were scattered during the day I'd call "222!" and they were immediately at my feet. We went on a short hike and one of the boys lost his $10 bill. He was devastated because, like all the boys, he was most looking forward to buying stuff at the Trading Post. Matt said he would loan him five bucks. This kid threw his arms around Matt in gratitude. Then during the closing ceremony it was announced that some money had been turned in at the Lost and Found. Matt said he had prayed we'd find it and it was this faith that we did. He shared that story with the relived boy. So in the end, a lesson was learned and Matt was a hero. |
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Planting our Garden. Our beans and peas that did great last year didn't do well at all this year. We learned, you have to weed them! The carrots were the same way, we did end up with enough pumpkins for each of the kids, and zucchini coming out of our ears. Ava wanted to be able to enter the produce in the fair so she took it upon herself to water the garden. I never had to do it once.
It was great! |
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| One morning before T-ball Graham said he could not find his shirt. I gave him ideas of places he could look. He came back discouraged that he still couldn't find it. I told him to keep looking till it was time to go. Not long after he yelled, "I found it!" I was glad he had because that day happened to be team pictures. After the game I thought it was the perfect chance to teach him how he had found his shirt because he hadn't given up. He said, "Well I just prayed and then I found it." Turns out the teaching moment was for me. |
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A dreamy day in the sandbox. It was getting pretty weedy and the sand was packed down. The sand box had long since been neglected. Then for scouts one day the boys needed to make a model out of sand. They helped me weed it and rake it before using the hose to make a mote and village The scouts kept real busy as I proceeded to weed my entire backyard for an hour. Every now and then I'd call out, "It looks great, you guys are cooperating so nicely." Anyway, this scout activity breathed new life into the sandbox and once again it was the cat's meow.
Meaning "SCAT! It's not a litter box!" |
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| That ladder in the above photo leads to a little corner of our backyard that is fenced off so we don't have the electric box in our yard. The kids turned it into their "clubhouse." Looks inviting doesn't it? |
How is it that I don't have a photo of the beautiful bride Carly? Well she was sealed to her sweetheart Adam on July 5th in the Timponogos Temple.
The Temple, I'm going there someday.
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Our city park got a makeover this summer. It was roped off but the kids craned their necks to see it any time we drove down Main Street. When it was nearing completion we went out of our way to drive by. Right then an oversized load with a double wide HOUSE passed by and we couldn't see a thing. I've NEVER seen a house drive down Main in the 13 years we've lived here and it had to happen right then. Once the park did open we had to wait awhile for the crowds to die down! This spinning thing above has not stopped rotating all summer.
And that's my spin for summer 2013. It was the BEST one yet. |
