Haley's Photo Shoot

 About a month ago, one of my Young Women took Haley for a photo shoot out in the rain.  I love how all the pictures turned out.  She really captured Haley's personality and expressions so well.  Thanks Aly!  BEWARE: tons of pictures ahead.

Today

So much has happened in the last month that I need to record, but I just don't have the emotional energy to even start it. 


But, I really do need to keep blogging.  I love having a record of my life this way.  So, I will start here with today and get to the things I've missed when I can.

Highlights of today:

*Being ALMOST on time to church
* Haley giving the scripture in Primary
* Britton teaching me how to throw a spiral while playing football after church--he's a great teacher, I'm doing much better already
* Being able to make dinner for my family after several weeks of eating out or barely eating because we're too busy
*FAMILY TIME

Conversation Tonight

Me:  What was the most important thing you did today?
Britton:  Play with Hayden and Corbin  (cousins)
Me:  Why was that so important?
Britton:  Well, Mom, because THEY are important.


There is nothing more important to Britton than his family.  I'm so glad that he "gets" that.  And I'm glad he's able to see so much of his family so often.  What a lucky kid!

Big Brother

Last night Haley was so tired that she kept getting in trouble.  At one point, she called Britton a name and then hit him.  I told her to go to her room for a bit.  While in her room, she was crying pretty hysterically.  In her crying, she said, "I don't even like myself."
Britton heard her and immediately said, "Haley, don't say that.  You're great.  Greater than you even know, especially to us."
It was so sweet and so sincere, especially since she had been so mean to him all night long.  I love that he is such a good big brother. 

Bear Lake

We took a weekend trip to Bear Lake last weekend.  Jon and Mijoung and family, my dad, and Jon's neighbors all went.  And we brought Dylan and Destry (Sheryl's boys) with us.  It was so much fun.  I have always loved Bear Lake and its beautiful blue water. 
It was a bit cold and windy, but we still managed to have a great time.  We played at the beach, ate raspberry shakes, sat in the hot tub, went fishing, and enjoyed the views.  Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures.

View from our balcony

First Day of School

I didn't know they let monkeys go to school.

3rd Grader!  Gotta love the sun in the eyes!

Big First Grader!  Gets to eat lunch at school now.

With best friend, Isabelle

Summer's Almost Over

I have been dreading school starting next week.  I thought parents were supposed to be excited for their kids to go back to school.  But, I'm not.  Summer flew by way too quickly.  I think part of my dread comes from not having time to do some of the things that I wanted to do this summer.  It seems like I didn't have nearly as much time to play with my kids as I wanted to.  But, when I think back to all the things that we DID do, I realize that it has been such a fun-filled, wonderful summer.  We did so many of the things that I had planned, plus a lot of others that weren't planned.  And it was filled with lots of playing with family and friends.  What could be better than that? 
So, I guess it's okay that it's coming to an end.  Now maybe I'll have some time to document all of those fun things we did over the summer on this blog.  :)

Friday night

To continue our celebrating the end of the school year, we went up to our cabin.  We had such a great time.  It was just a low-key overnighter, but we all enjoyed each other so much.  We had dinner, took a little hike, made a campfire, then slept in.  On our way home, we went fishing and Britton caught his first fish ever!!! It was so exciting. 
The highlights of the trip for me:
*Telling my kids the "Pea green soup" joke and "And so did the fat lady" joke and watching them laugh hysterically the most sincere laughs.  Seriously, I think Britton's laugh could change the world.
*Seeing everyone's excitement and utter joy when Britton caught his fish.  It made all the hours of waiting and waiting totally worth it. 
Jason commented to me later that the whole weekend was the most fun he has ever had with his family.  And I think we would all agree.  And we've had plenty of good times.  Even though it wasn't anything particularly special, we were just all content and happy to be together the entire time. 
 Family time is definitely what it's all about!


Blurry pics taken by the kids.

School's Out!

School's been out for over a week now and I am loving it!!!

First thing we did to celebrate was to play with Melanie and her kids.  They are here visiting from China for the summer.  It is always so good to see them.  We think of them as family.  Since this is the first time we have seen them in a really, really long time, Melanie and I just let the kids run wild outside, jumping off the tree onto the tramp and making a big mud hole.  They were so dirty, but they had tons of fun (except Ezra who is TERRIFIED of being dirty).  Melanie and I just got to sit and chat and catch up which is always my favorite thing to do.

What a great way to start out the summer!

DREAMING...

Britton and cousin Caden

This boy just loves babies so much!

Crazy Hair

This is the hairdo that Haley requested for Valentine's Day. 

She loves being silly!

Soccer

Britton played soccer again this year after a break last year. It seems like the soccer season ended as soon as it started. It zipped by. The weather was pretty cold for pretty much all the games. Actually, I think their March games were better weather than the May games. Crazy.

Britton played for the Green Goblins and absolutely loved it. He has improved quite a bit over the years. He actually has some skills and tries to pass and use his teammates. It's fun to see. His last game he scored a goal and barely missed on 2 other great shots. It was a fun season and we'll see what next year brings...