Oak City

Oak City? Where is Oak City? Exactly. I hadn't heard of it before but Dr. Holmes (who delivers my babies and takes care of our family) and his wife have relations down there. It's close to Delta, by the way. Their family visits the area quite often and also have a home down there, which they invited to share with us this weekend.

We arrived Friday afternoon and went boating on what they call "The Rez" (Delta reservoir). It was HOT and the water was so nice! All, except me, got to wake board, water ski or tube (Jackson LOVED the tube). Jackson and Zoey loved floating around and didn't want to get out of the water-- it felt so nice! I wanted to take pictures of our fun ON the boat, but I forgot to put the battery back in the camera before I got on.... so while I had the camera on the boat with us, the battery was back in the car all afternoon.

Jackson sharing his ice cream.....

Mostly we just relaxed and did what we could to stay cool. It was very, very hot this weekend. So I realized that although Doctor Holmes is our doctor, he's a grandpa at heart...our kids got spoiled with fruit snacks, soda, Popsicles and candy (a treat they don't get every day)!

Jackson and Brian played on the tramp in the sprinklers.

Brian and Jackson went four-wheeling both nights to see the sunset. They took wonderful pictures, I wish I could have joined them.

Since I couldn't participate in a whole lot, I brought a book to read and enjoyed relaxing in the shade. As luck would have it, Zoey was running a fever on the trip and we suppose she had another ear ache. Good thing the Doc was with us!

Doctor Holmes bought Jackson this little tractor/hay baler set. He LOVES it. He sleeps with it, he takes it everywhere we go, and all the way home he pointed out all the John Deers we passed on the farms!

We can't say enough about the Holmes family, they are so great! We loved the trip. Not too far away, but far away enough to feel away from it all!

Swim Lessons

Only two days left of swim lessons for the summer. I can't believe four weeks has gone by so fast! Since I am in a mother/baby class with Zoey, I don't get to see how Jackson is coming along. Today however, Brian showed up to take a few pictures and watch the session. Jackson always talks about playing trains and motor boats. Here is Jackson as the "engine." He is a strong little swimmer. He can do anything he is asked and is getting a little daring with his water "tricks." The important things are that he is learning to float on his back, kick, dive, and collect things from the bottom of the pool. I want to spend more time teaching him how to keep his head up out of the water and to come up for air, but I guess I have the rest of the summer for that.

Zoey is coming right along too! She can hold on to the edge of the pool all by herself, dive under water to collect toys, hold her breath, float on her back and kick on her tummy. She doesn't like to blow bubbles in the water or jump into the pool for me to catch her, which was Jackson's favorite thing to do at that age...

She likes to do things "all by herself" which makes her mad when she tells me to "put her down" and then realizes that she will sink without me holding her! We start off in the deep end of the pool and work on floating and putting her head under water, then we get to move to the shallow end and work on collecting toys from the bottom of the pool and just having fun with the water.

For all of you who want a pregnant shot, here it is (in a swimsuit to boot!)....7 months prego with 11 weeks to go! The final stretch, literally! I feel so HUGE!

Yesterday was the first day that it has been warm enough for the kids not to freeze during their swim lessons. Next year, I'll know not to start their lessons until mid July! We have been in the 90's and enjoying staying by water, but up until now, the kids froze every day! Although it's been cold, they have enjoyed every minute!

Father and Son Campout

Brian has waited three years to take Jackson on the ward father and sons camp. This year, he and Jackson were finally able to go! Jackson talked about it all week. I kept hearing this phrase: "I get to go camping in the mountains with daddy...

and NO mommy!"

He was so excited to help Brian pack all their gear. They had Spaghetti for dinner, peach cobbler for dessert and pancakes for Breakfast. Our stake has a really nice plot of land that was donated by a member of the church who passed away. He owned property beyond the Heber area with lakes and wooded areas and the stake has turned it into a nice camp facility. I've never been, but from the video shots Brian showed me, it looks gorgeous!

A HUGE thunderstorm with loud thunderclaps and lightning, and heavy rain came through that night. I prayed my boys would be OK. When Jackson came home, he said he got scared and had to sleep with dad but that he had a lot of fun. And that's what counts. From video footage, you can see Jackson bouncing off the walls of the tent with excitement- so cute! I love this age.
Brian got more video footage than still shots, but one of the activities Jackson liked was the zip line that went out across the lake. He saw the older boys going and wanted to follow in their footsteps so he decided to give it a try- all by himself! The boys said "wow, Jackson is the bravest boy I've ever met, I didn't go on that until I was 8!"

They also got to canoe on the lake a few times and play around the camp. They came back dirty, worn out and with a truckload of mess to clean, but I'm glad they had such a good time camping together.

Perfect 4th of July!

Since the 4th has fallen on a Sunday this year, we have the opportunity to celebrate all weekend long! At first, we thought our plans at having a good 4th was going to be ruined by yet another ear infection Zoey has (her 8th this year!) after a trip to the Doctor's office (and hopefully her last round of antibiotics for a while) she is scheduled to get tubes put in her ears in a couple of weeks (finally!) We think this will make all of our lives a little more pleasant.

On Friday night, Brian and I kicked off the weekend with a date up to Sundance to hear the Utah Symphony play a patriotic service in the mountain outdoor amphitheater. It was really nice. At the very end, they played the theme songs from every branch in the armed forces (military, navy, marines, coast guard, etc) and had those who had and currently serving stand while their theme song was played. The whole audience clapped and cheered for them and it gave me goosebumps of appreciation of how many people have served our country. A great way to start the patriotic weekend.

Saturday morning, we took the kids to see the annual air balloon show. It was really gusty, so only three of the 25 balloons actually made it in the air, but the kids thought it was cool just the same. They always have firetrucks, ambulances, police cars, and the life-flight helicopter on show which the kids really love to look at.
After the balloons and breakfast, we spent some time in the garden. As the saying goes for corn, "knee high by the 4th of July" and so we took a picture to show our gardens progress. Although off to a slow start, it really has had time to catch up with the current weather we've been having. The corn is doing amazingly well. We have planted cantaloupe, zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peas, green beans, several types of lettuce, corn, cilantro, basil, oregano, and chives. Our neighbors have tomatoes and peppers that they share with us. We are excited to start harvesting, we've already seen little zucchinis start!

After lunch and naps, we headed to the city pool, where we had a blast of a time! Jackson and Zoey have just finished their first round of swim lessons and are doing really well. Jackson is a fish in the water. He was swimming with so much energy and gusto (and he probably swallowed more water than his tummy could hold) that when we forced him to stop and take a break, he threw up a little. Not enough to stop him! He kept going and going!

We had soft serve ice cream cones for a snack. Zoey only likes the ice-cream part and had a hard time trying to get the "goodness" out of the cone. I love her little cheeks!

I love my little family! I can't believe how fast we are growing.


After the pool, we had a family BBQ. It was the perfect way to top off the day. The kids were starving after all their swimming and we had a lot of good food. I could only squeeze in 1/2 a hamburger to make room for all the other goodness!
We purchased a few fireworks for Jackson which he enjoyed. It is so fun to celebrate the holidays with kids, they make it exciting. Hopefully we'll get a chance to take naps today and recover! And since tomorrow is the officially "observed 4th of July" I'm sure we'll do it all again!

oh, and BTW. We got a minivan! and I love it.