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.

Washington Trip

We drove up to Washington this weekend to surprise Elmo for Father's Day. It's a 10 hour drive...if you don't have kids! We cut the first leg of the trip into three sections. Our first pit stop was eating lunch at a taco van in Burley Idaho. It was muy sabroso!
Zoey is our little food lover. I had to get a picture of her trying to eat this peach. It reminded me of Jackson at that same age. I was eating it, actually, I only has a bite when she asked for 'some' and I never got it back!

We had a lot of this going on....what is it about long car rides that makes you so sleepy? The kids did pretty well on the drive, much better than I expected. However, we did have some "moments" which I don't have pictures of!

Our second stop was in Jerome, Idaho to visit my grandpa. It was the kids' first chance to meet their great-grandpa and I HAD to get pictures of that. It was a very nice visit and the kids had a couple of hours to stretch their legs. My grandpa keeps a very well-kept yard and garden and Brian likes to pick his brain for information. Jackson and Zoey liked the dogs. They tried to feed them grass, like they do horses, but the dogs were just interested in licking their hands and the kids thought it was because they liked the grass. ha ha!

We made our third stop for the day in Caldwell, Idaho to spend the evening with my Sister and her family. The kids had fun playing with the cousins. Here is a bath picture Jackson may come to hate when he gets older.....but his face is so darn cute in this one!

We left early Saturday morning to finish the drive to Kennewick. We arrived just after lunch and made a doorbell surprise (although we suspect he knew something was up)! We trained Jackson to say 'boo' at the door and both he and Zoey practiced saying it in the car. Over and over and over.....

We were fed really well! Yummy home-made food is so nice when your traveling. Jackson helped grandpa make pancakes on Sunday Morning. Here are the boys in a Father's Day shot. We spent a lot of time just catching up and talking. We had the chance to visit the pool, playground, and go on a drive to see some local sights. In these moments were the tender things I wish I could have caught on film...like Jackson reaching up to grab Elmo's hand as they walked side by side to the pool, or the million times Jackson asked grandpa to come 'get me', or Zoey saying "good morning" and "I love you" to grandma and grandpa. It was so wonderful to see the kids warm up to them since they've been away the last 9 months.

The visit was so worthwhile. We had a lot of quality time and we all enjoyed seeing Elmo and Judy. It was hard to believe the weekend was over by the time Monday morning rolled around. We made a straight shot home that day with only one stop for lunch in famous Baker City, Oregon. It was a cute town, and I made Brian buy me some fudge from a local shop that was Delicious! Nearly 12 hours after we left that morning, we rolled into our garage, and it felt good to be home and off the road! To all our astonishment, Zoey didn't want to leave her car seat and actually CRIED when we took her out, begging to get back in!

Sold!

Well, we sold the Jetta! The first caller and first person to come take a look at it, bought it. We were leaving town Friday morning at 9am and the buyer wanted to take a look that day. When I told her we were leaving town and she said she would meet us by 7am. My only worry was not having a car for our trip! But it turned out we were able to take it with us and she will pick it up tomorrow. Mixed emotions, but glad to have that part taken care of-- the only thing now is to find a replacement car! Ha ha. We got $1200 more than I thought we would out of it, so I can't complain. But it was in really good condition for its age and relatively few miles.

I'll post more about our trip later!

Car For Sale!!

We've reached the point where we have to split ways. With the new baby coming, we now need to up-size to make room for the whole family! My first car is up for sale (snif snif). It's been a good one! If you or anyone you know is looking for a great, well-maintained vehicle then check out the listing on KSL:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=733005&nid=443&tab=myads/view&ad=2633045

Campfire Dinner

We took the kids up the canyon Friday night to make tin foil dinners around the campfire. They turned out awesome! We also made roasted corn on the cob, enjoyed a fruit salad and of course....s'mores! Yummy! The campsite was next to a fun little stream which Jackson enjoyed. He threw a million pine cones into the water.

Jackson got tired of me telling him to say "cheese"...he literally looks like he might pull his hair out! ha ha :)

Zoey was never full and always wanted more. She would go to anyone who had food, begging for scraps, although she had a full meal of her own...
Mouth full of marshmallow, asking for more.....

Brian's huge roasted 'mallo! We had such a fun time, and maybe over did it for the kids because they both had fevers and a runny nose the next day.

Yard Work

Since Brian has been home and we have been blessed with warm weather (finally), He has been spending most of his free time in the yard or planting the garden (Inspired by his trip to Mount Vernon?)....the kids of course want to be right by his side. I'm sure he enjoys every minute.
Of course, they only stay interested for so long, and then it's time for the sprinkler and Popsicles.....

Brian and Jackson ate 14 Popsicles combined that day!

Zoey helping mow the lawn.....

Brian's Birthday

Not to get left out, Brian did turn 31 somewhere in the middle of May (the 15th). It was a crazy month, so we kept it low key. Luckily, he was home that day to spend with the family. He requested hugs and kisses from the kids, a spaghetti dinner with Banana cream pie for desert. Looks like he got his wish!



He also went golfing with some friends, Jackson included. I surprised him by mowing the lawn for him while he went golfing so he could enjoy his day a little more. We ended the day with a date to the movies. It was fun!

Mount Vernon

Brian is a History major (and might I add he's due to graduate this summer--yeah!). His last credits require him to do some research, and he has chosen to study George Washington. Since one of his last business trips took him out to the DC area, he took some time to visit Mount Vernon. Although I know it helped him create a bit of respect for the old man Washington, I think he secretly desired to see the grounds and gardens because that is his other passion.

This is an old pear tree trained along a wooden fence.

A vegetable garden with grass pathways....

semetrically planned out.

It was hard to choose among the many photos he took of the walking grounds and different gardens, they were all lovely, ornaelty designed and planned. No detail left unoticed by Washington, he was a man of many talents and has inspired Brian in many ways.

I'm glad he got a chance to do something fun while he was traveling....it was a rough month for him!