transition to fall

A family meeting was called to order tonight by my hero, Dax. Basically we went from crazy, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants summer to a rigid back-to-school schedule but we kept our summer I-can-do-whatever-I-want-and-go-wherever-I-want-whenever attitude and we were spiraling so we all decided our spirals need to line up. With 3 kids in soccer, 1 in dance, cub scouts, activity days, and 8 piano students, we've kept a mad pace these past 2 weeks. It was time to get on the same page.

Summer was awesome and I could not picture my summer without UBIC (Uintah Basin in Celebration) which is comparable to other town's Peach Days, County Fair, or the like. Except way better. Preslie sang in the UBIC talent show and won a trophy and performed her song at the park.
Matt, Abbey + kids came to see us and join the weekend festivities. Abbey entered the Tri-Athalon and did AWESOME. We were all so thrilled to call her our own.

It was a fun weekend!
I decided to give our dog a better home and found a great family not far from here with a lot of land for him to run on. It is very telling that it took my kids 3 days to notice he was gone. I feel so much better now that he's not tied up in our backyard each day for hours. We love Echo; we went and visited him at his new place and it was great to see him and how happy he is.

I am still working on Preslie's room here and there. This is her desk chair that I made over. It used to be cream with a maroon cushion cover.

I also took my kids on a quick trip to Salt Lake to see my niece and go to the temple with her as she received her endowment in preparation for her mission. We went to the ward campout and then BOOM; school began.

Preslie learned how to open her locker just before school started after several attempts and trips to the junior high on her own. It only took one lesson from her old, out-of-touch Mom who she thought surely could not know how to do such a cool thing as open a locker. Ha.

Hunter is surviving his first 2 weeks despite his certainty that the world was going to end once he entered school again!

Mack started Kindy this week and has the whole school thing wired. The first day- when all Moms on the face of the planet drive their little ones to school, hold their hands and walk them to the right class and sit with them until the bell rings- Mack insisted on riding the bus and assures me he can find his class on his own. And he did. He was so excited to board the bus; it was darling. How could I be melancholy?!

The evening of his third day of school, we were all chatting before bedtime and he tells us how good school breakfast is.. Say wuh ?
"You went to breakfast at school? How did you do that?"
"I heard a teacher say, 'if any of you are going to breakfast, go ahead and go' and I just followed the other kids that were going."
(shock and amusement)
"Well, you don't even have a lunch card and there is no money on your account. What did you tell the lady sitting at the beginning of the line?"
"I didn't go to her, I just went and got a tray and put a chocolate milk on the little square that said 'MILK' on it. (In a singy-song voice) The ham was deLIcious! But I didn't drink the chocolate milk because it was too hard to open."
By this point we are all laughing and shaking our heads. Preslie said, "It's your THIRD day of school. I didn't figure out about eating breakfast at school until I was in 3rd grade!"

Thank you, Mack for always rescuing us from the daily-ness of life with your crazy mind that is always thinking and doing things that make us laugh!

go Fourth

We united with Dax's family for fun, fourth festivities, and memory making of all kinds the beginning of July! Dax's brother and his wife hosted 12 of us and joy was experienced by all!

 

 

 Our visit to the zoo delighted the kids and adults alike. Preslie's reaction to the giraffes was my fave memory of the trip; she was in disbelief that a REAL giraffe was right there. We got to watch up close as a zoo worker trained it.

 We cooled off in the backyard with sprinklers, kiddie pools, and a home made slip-n-slide.

 That trampoline called my name and I answered...

 I've never seen myself at this angle before!

 

 We hit the town for some shops and food. Hunter loves himself some fries.

Swimming at the Bountiful Rec Center was a blast!

 We went up beautiful Mueller Canyon for a cookout and got as far as snapping a family photo and grilling one side of our burgers before it started to rain.

We tried to wait it out, but it poured harder and harder. We packed up and continued our meal at the house!

Other highlights:
fireworks, ward breakfast, a morning hike/run with Abbey, yummy food, chats and laughs, Everett the 1-year-old daredevil, Dax riding the crazy bike, garage sales, cousin sleepovers. We are so thankful for good family and the time we were able to spend with them!

In and Out (projects, not burger)

Look, Ma! No sod!

  Hey, look here! We have grass! This is so exciting, I can't even tell you how happy this sight makes me. Real grass in my backyard! Our house faces west so our backyard is shady in the afternoon/evening. This grass is going to up my yard's awesome factor a thousand points. It has been so hot, we are trying to keep it wet and alive! The gravel I'm standing on to take this pic has a future as a huge, beautiful patio! Next year, maybe.

Preslie's room has been so fun to put together. I can't stand it. The ideas are flowing into my brain faster than my hands can produce them. I love it when that happens. Usually it is the other way around..my hands are willing, but my brain's got nothin.

 It is bright white in her room and I love that it doesn't feel like a dark basement. I knew it needed a cool focal wall. Something bold, but subtle. Is that possible? Can something be bold and subtle at the same time? I found out the answer is a definite YES..

BEFORE

AFTER!

 It's subtly bold. Boldly subtle? And it was easy to do. I found the center of the wall. I found a long, straight edge (I used a piece of baseboard sitting in my basement) and had Preslie hold it up at different angles until I found the one I liked- not too slanted, just enough. Then I drew a line from the top corner of the wall to the middle line and did the same on both sides. I made my chevron stripes 12 inches thick. I started with 8 inches but they looked too narrow for the size of the wall and for the look I wanted. I drew all my lines one day and taped and painted the next day. I grabbed a can of paint from under my stairs that was another shade of white to do the design so this project cost me nothing except some painters tape.

 

Here's Preslie's cute desk corner. Her chair is waiting for a cushion cover to be made so is currently non-functional but super cute.

 I have about 7 more little projects to do in her room and it will be "done". If anyone comes to visit me, you can stay in Preslie's room!

Party (x4)

 June was party month for my side of the family. My youngest brother Trent got married June 14 and we crammed all the fun and parties we could into that weekend while we were all together.
Party 1 was the annual Grandkid B-day party where my parents celebrate all their grandchildren's birthdays in one day. My parents took everyone to Toys 'R Us and all the kids got to pick out a present. They look forward to this with great excitement! The older ones get cash, but everyone has fun seeing the kids pick out their toys!

 All the kids took a turn hitting the pinata! My Mom made these darling elephant and giraffe cakes and my bro Tyrel altered them a bit...

Grandpa held a bow and arrow contest.

Of course the kids played with their new toys. Quinn picked out a princess carriage.

 We did some night jumproping! Super fun and a great workout. The adults had as much fun as the kids. Mack tried jumprope for the first time and loved it!

 Party 2: Trent's wedding. Already having so much fun, here are Hunter and Quinn on the way to the wedding. This is a definite warning sign of breakdowns to come...

 The wedding was beautiful. Marriage is a wonderful thing. I am so happy for Trent and Kenzi

 Here are my 4 brothers! 2 older, 2 younger. I should have gotten a pic of me in the middle. That is how I grew up- surrounded by crazy boys! I love them dearly.

 The happy couple sealed the deal with a serious kiss!

All my parents' grandkids in one place. Quinn was the most darling flower girl.

Party 3: Aubrae's Utah reception. I went to her wedding and reception in Hawaii. While decorating for this one, I said I was having major deja vu and my bro-in-law said, "Yeah, the only bad part is that we can't go play at the beach afterward!"

Cousins make the bestest friends!

3 generations of sweet and/or spunky girls!

Party 4: Sawyer's baby blessing. My brother Tyrel gave a beautiful blessing to his first baby and really shocked a couple of my kids that he could be so serious/spiritual. He is usually such a goofball and always joking around. He is a fun dad, borderline crazy. This is a picture of baby Sawyer underneath my Mom's glass table with his nose pressed up against the glass- totally Tyrel.

Tyrel is one of my favorite people. I love his happy and adventurous personality. He is also creative and can build anything just like my Mom. He built this cool old looking trunk for Trent and Kenzi and we all filled it with gold Sacajewea dollars for their wedding present.

We had so much fun and packed in so many special events. My sister came from Florida, my brother from Alaska and my sister from Idaho came. Also my niece and her husband came from Hawaii. It was so neat to spend that time together with each other. I took my kids to Cowabunga bay with some of their cousins after the main parties were over. I had good walks/talks with my sisters. My dad had us do a marshmallow shooting war (he's the biggest kid of all). When I pulled out of my parents driveway to go home, I got choked up. It was hard to say goodbye. It may be another year before we are all together again. I am grateful for a wonderful family that I love dearly and for my parents for raising us all those years. I miss my sister Tiphanie that left us in 2001 but I know she watches over us. Looking forward to giving her a big hug some day. And looking forward to the next big family party! Until we meet again!