Retreat for Girls

Shaylee and her friend Alex got to spend a week in Logan enjoying the Retreat for Girls. It's kind of like EFY, but it's only for girls (hence the name) and the girls are age 11-15. Shaylee went last year and loved it, so she convinced a friend to go along this year and they had a great time. Best of all, it is a huge testimony builder and she comes home "filled with fire" for the gospel. You'll have to ask her about more details of her week.

Dr. Laura

So I'm not a huge Dr. Laura fan/listener, but I happened on her show the other day and heard her mention this post on her blog, so I had to check it out. Once I did, I had to post it here for the rest of you to read (it reflects some of my recent sentiments about motherhood):

This came from Kami, one of my radio listeners:

I am a stay-at-home Mom with a Master’s degree who chose to quit my job to raise my three sons (ages 5, 2, and 11 months). I never dreamed of growing up to be a Mom. I wanted to use my brain, get an education, and change the world through my career. Now, every day, I find myself using my brain, getting an education, and hopefully, changing my little piece of the world as I work to shape my boys into men.

Instead of having them sit in daycare or pre-school for a big part of the week, I want my kids to play and read with me, and go to the library and find books of their own. I want the freedom of knowing I can wake up and decide that we are going to hang out in our pjs until noon, and make bread or watch the birds building nests on our porch. I want to help them make forts and play “hide ‘n seek,” and go on adventure walks around the neighborhood, even though it takes us twenty minutes to get past two houses. I want them to go to the store and pick out their own veggie seeds to plant in the garden. I want them to have snowball fights with me when I’m shoveling the driveway, and to help me fix dinner for someone who is sick.

My son has taught me so many things while he wasn’t in pre-school. I learned that yogurt, pudding, and shaving cream can be used to draw with your finger; that bad weather, not necessity, is the mother of invention when it comes to craft projects; that math can be learned when baking cookies, cleaning up toys, handing out snacks, and putting away laundry; that some of the best talks happen in my bed when we just don’t feel like getting up.

And talk we do. We talk about life and death, how planes work, where snow comes from, and whether pirates are decent. We study geography as we drive around doing errands, and learn about engineering as we watch the progression of building construction. We even tried to figure out why God made flies.

From the moment my first child was born, my life has been about my children, and some of those sweet moments can bring me to tears when I think about how fleeting they are. My kids will get to be little, and they’ll get to have fun. They are not in a hurry - and neither am I.”

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great day of celebration. This is my brother Seth in his festive outfit:

We were planning on going down to the Freedom Festival and then heading down to Dennis' parent's farm; however, the bbq got moved to Jeremy & Cynthia's, so we decided to go up to my parent's in the morning and swim. This was a serious game of volleyball:

Shaylee likes swimming:

It's cold!


Aspen is a water fiend:

Aspen & Papa:


Papa teaches her how to float:

Connor had a great time (he even ate some of that orange water noodle . . . grandma found it when she was putting him down for a nap, thought it was a carrot and left it in his mouth . . . he was still chewing on it 3 hours later when he got up from his nap):




Aspen looking cute:

Connor really enjoyed the corn on the cob at the bbq at Jeremy & Cynthia's:

Battle Creek Falls

The pictures (as promised) from our hike up Battle Creek Falls. This is at the start of the trail (don't they look excited?).

Partway up we found a little pond (Devin thought we should jump right in . . . or not).

Devin and Aspen discover a small cave:

We made it to the falls!!! Aren't they beautiful?

Check out this excitement:

Shaylee loves hiking:

Devin the stud:

Aspen was just happy to get there:

Mom and Connor had fun as well:

Connor enjoys our picnic lunch:

I am so glad it was only a 1.2-mile "easy" hike (this is the picture of me hiking with Connor asleep on my back and Aspen on my shoulders)--it gives me a greater appreciation for my dad carrying Summer on hikes:

Dance Showcase2

After the girls' dance recital (yes, it was a few weeks ago), we took them out to McDonald's for ice cream (my parents & grandparents, Summer & Tyler, & Breezy came along):

Shaylee showing off her medal:

She also loves ice cream:

Apparently Connor loves it too . . .

Neighborhood Block Party

Yesterday our neighborhood had a block party in the park on the corner by our house. What a blast! It was blazing hot (notice the umbrellas), and there is no shade in our park, but we huddled up and had a yummy bbq (Connor loves fried chicken).

Lots of our neighbors and friends were there.

Connor and I enjoyed the day (other than him totally slobbering my pony tail):

They had blow up bouncy things for the kids to enjoy . . . and enjoy them they did!

Aspen and her friend Alicia had a ball!

The police and the firemen came and talked about safety with the kids. They also got to check out the firetruck and an ambulance.

Devin got to dress up in some of the fireman's gear--he said it was heavy and hot.

Aspen and Alicia listened attentively to the firemen.

Connor and I got in on the action.

This was the ambulance:

The kids got to climb inside and check it out:

Very hot day . . . so the firemen hosed them off:

Aspen with Alicia and her dad:

Shaylee enjoyed getting hosed down:

Devin enjoyed it as well: