Aaahhh Summer

I'll get to the more important things in a moment, but first an update on gardening and chickens. To the right is one of my new favorite flowers called Mondarda or "Bee Balm". They are usually pink, purple or red and grow quite tall, like 3-4 feet. They are said to require low water (ours just get lawn sprinkler overspray).


Next, our chickens are all producing eggs. The eggs are mostly shades of brown but two of our hens are Americaunas which can produce pale blue or green eggs. We also have one white hen. And yes, we have all hens, what luck! The two that died (one a tiny chick and one juvenile) must have been roosters : ) They run up to us like pets and they do have different personalities. I find them both more amusing and endearing than I'd expected. The boys love checking the nesting boxes for eggs.

My aunt held a family party this year with an inflatable water slide and delicious food and a treasure hunt for the kids. It was basically a reunion on my side of the family. Bennett was "traumatized" when a pile of kids landed on him as they were all trying to get up the ladder to the slide. He didn't want to go down the slide after that.

This putting green was part of my aunts' party. Paxton was under par for the day. His favorite colors are red, white, and blue so we bought this suit for him for swimming lessons. He has always loved the water, even getting it in his face or dumped over his head so he went on the water slide many times.

Bennett really enjoys drawing and coloring. The sidewalk chalk people are his creations. He also loves Gatorade, Hi-Chews, and RAW green beans. Our neighbor asked us to pick and use some their beans since they'd be out of town and he says they are yummy. There's no predicting this kid. He LOVED his swimming lessons though so we will plan on that for the next few years to help him gain skills in the water. He is super excited to start preschool at the beginning of next month.

We took the boys to the Days of '47 Parade this year. Here's Paxton pretending to be shy and Bennett cheesing it up. We didn't have previous seats saved but it worked out fine, and since they don't throw out candy we didn't need to be on the front row. The floats were all well done pioneer themes, and we didn't see any commercial ad floats or even political campaigners...just a few currently in office. President Eyring rode in a jeep with cowboy attire and that was fun to see.

Jared took some time off of work so we went on a little camping trip just past Daniel's Summit. It didn't start well. We were about a mile from our destination when our truck died on Hwy 40. It simply stopped working. We were on the side of the road for a few minutes before a guy stopped and towed us to our original turnoff where there was a large parking lot. Fortunately for us, our next door neighbor was camping only a couple miles away (we'd talked about it before leaving) and we called him up. He then towed our trailer first, then our truck, to where he and his wife were camping. Long story short, we got the truck home eventually thanks to a trip from my parents bringing their truck, another tow by the neighbor, and Jared's co-worker with a flatbed. Sadly, Jared had JUST replaced the fuel pump in the truck a couple days before we left and there hadn't been any signs of trouble. We are grateful for amazing neighbors and friends. To add to the bad luck, my mom came up for a visit on our second day (we figured we'd stay since the truck had to sit at the mechanic's overnight) and her car overheated. It sat for a couple hours and cooled off before she headed home but then it had the same problem again and she didn't even make it to Heber before SHE had to pull off the road.
Cars. You can't live with them and you can't live without them.

But, we got to know our neighbors better and we discovered a new area to camp. Here's Paxton collecting some fallen trees for firewood. He and Bennett still had a great time. When your vehicle breaks down it's really convenient to have a trailer with you for food and a place to sleep!

These last pictures are from a youth conference that I was fortunate to attend this month. It was in Vernon, Utah at a church beef ranch. It was amazing. Apparently there are about 1,000 cattle plus their calves, so around 2,000 head. There are 600 MILES of fence so that's primarily what we went to do, fix fence. The man in charge told us they rely heavily on volunteers to keep things going and he is one of only two paid employees. The entire purpose of the ranch is to feed the poor. None of the beef is sold on the open market, it is all donated to those who need it, whether in a bishop's storehouse or in a shipment that the church sends to a disaster area.

Sadly, I didn't take my camera up to the mountaintop that my group was on where we put up new fence. But here's a pic of me that one of the other leaders sent me. It looks like I'm the only one working, but in fact that little group of people further down the hill were hefting a 70+lb roll of barbed wire UP to the top of the hill. The whole trip was a great opportunity for the kids, and meeting the humble man who runs it all was a priviledge. This rancher is very straightforward in explaining why mending fence matters and his comments held a lot of weight with the youth to help them understand why they were there.

This is also at youth conference, the evening before the work started. We did games - this one is called the human rubber band - and the tents were put up in a big shady grass patch that is just for the volunteers to camp at.

We had a testimony meeting at the end of the day in the hayloft. The kids did pretty well overall, some of them did have to endure some heat and strenuous work, but for most of them it was walking along fencelines looking for weak areas to fix. The farm will take church, school, or any other group who wants to help as volunteers. It would be a wonderful way to spend a family reunion when kids are old enough to help.

June

It's been a great month. I had girls camp at the beginning of it at Heber Valley Camp and it went really well. The girls in our ward are fantastic and I was impressed with how they conducted themselves and treated each other. In addition, I had leaders there who are great examples of how to work and have fun too. This photo shows me with the girls of my cabin. We had a total of 45 girls, divided into 4 cabins. HVC has a lot to offer like canoeing, hiking, and a challenge course. When we had time at camp we made paper beads, played games, did Tai Chi and camp certification.

 A friend invited us to join them at a local pond to try out these kyaks they own. I was totally surprised how Bennett took the boat out by himself! Just a week or two after that he couldn't let go of the ladder in a neighborhood swimming pool for 20 minutes.

This shows both boys in an adult kyak. Paxton did really well paddling around considering how much bigger the paddle and kyak was. He did well with the small kyak too and he also loved swimming.

Paxton played coach pitch baseball this year. He is understanding the game better and his hitting is improving. Most of the time he only needs a couple pitches to connect. His favorite defensive position seems to be catcher as he is often the first to ask to play it. We had some hot days, but for the most part it's really enjoyable to watch him play.

The boys both wanted to participate in the Strawberry Days children's parade this year. Grandma has this gator ride-on vehicle that she decorated and they both wanted to be cowboys. Paxton drove responsibly while Bennett "shot" at everyone they passed.

Paxton's school was invited this year to march in the parade. When I took him to meet the rest of his school mates before the parades started, there were about 4 others and the principal. In fact, they joined in with another elementary so their group could be more noticeable. But it looked like Paxton had a ball, he waved and threw candy and gave me a nod (literally) when he walked by.  It's funny how fast being a celeb can go to your head.

This pretty pic shows what Jared did while working. Now I know you all may think he has a desk job, but the day he did this he was acting as some kind of Harry Potter character being chased by students. The staff and administration really do get involved in the activities but maybe next time Jared can pass. He heard a crack when it happened, but the dr said it's just a sprain.

At the end of June we went camping until the 4th of July, which is why I didn't post sooner. We went to the usual family favorite spot. Jared's parents traveled there a day ahead to get a campsite saved and it was beautiful. I never get tired of being in the mountains in the summer, away from 100 degree temps at home. We did have warm days but it felt great to me.

There are 3 lakes (technically reservoirs I believe) in close proximity to our camping area. We went on two of them. Gma and Gpa have a canoe as well so we toured the lakes and did a little fishing.

The boys both loved the archery set their grandparents had brought. Paxton can do quite well, but the bow is a little too big for Bennett to handle easily.

I enjoy the beautiful wildflowers in the area. This is Colorado Columbine. I took pictures of 37 different ones and could identify 28 - not a stellar percentage, but passing I suppose. I want to learn all of them.

This little buck wandered through our camp one evening. We think we saw the same one again the next day with a doe following along.









One day we went on a hike that we'd been on before but we lost the trail and went a harder route. The next evening two of us tried it again and were able to figure out where we went wrong. It was the perfect time to spot wildlife like this herd of elk.

There were a lot of cows and their young ones; all making a lot of noise. We saw them cross the trail ahead of us and go through the stream below.

These two were right on the trail; they seemed to have come down the hill and were heading toward the large herd. We guessed there were maybe 75-100 spread across the hillside and moving along together.

They started to disappear into the dead trees, climbing up the opposite side of the little canyon we hiked.

The boys got to splash around in one of the lakes a couple times, they didn't get too far from shore and before long Paxton was shivering but he didn't care.

Bennett looks like the "happy camper" here but he had his moments of frustration. He wants to do everything his brother does but can't always make things work smoothly and he gets really frustrated. I hope he learns to cope....or grows out of it soon!

Bennett took this picture of me and my perfectly roasted marshmallow. Making smores never gets old. We had some other good desserts like apple crisp (with ice cream no less) and lemon cake. Trailer camping does have advantages, although this trip required several upkeep and repair jobs. Before long our "old" trailer will be new again : 0

May

Here is Bennett throwing at the potter's wheel. He and Paxton both like to make a pot when dad's working. The boys like to also just watch Jared, they'll literally pull up a chair and hang out.

This is the mini father and sons activity that Jared created since the original got rained out. They went to five mile pass and roasted hot dogs.

We went to a little town called Camp Floyd for Memorial Day. They have a few things to do and they let all the boys dress up. They taught them how to march, line up, and fire their guns. Bennett didn't want to do it but Paxton LOVED it. You can see it took it pretty seriously. Paxton is in the back row next to the older guy.

For some reason Bennett got the urge to "cook" so he made up this recipe. It had melted marshmallows, baby cereal treats, gummy somethings, and goldfish crackers. He said it was delicious. We probably watch "Chopped" too much.

I made these homemade oreos and Jared loaded one up with frosting that he thought I'd enjoy. I do like frosting, but not thaaaat much.

Due to our interesting weather year, we have had a lot of pretty skies to look at. This is just one of many; I have a whole file folder of just cloud photos on our computer.

April

I bet you didn't know that the word Easter can be a verb. Well, to my in-laws it is. We all went Eastering to the desert a couple days after the actual holiday. It happened to be Spring Break for many of the schools, including UVU, so we headed southeast. We had our choice of where to spend the day because apparently this part of the desert isn't a popular destination for folks from our area.

The rocks here are well suited to adventurous kids. But they are deceptively sharp on the surface so we had a few cuts by the end of the day. I ended up with a hole in my jeans and Bennett managed to get a giant tear in the seat of his pants. He didn't want anyone to see his underwear but we could see plenty. This kids archery set was fun for our boys.

For lunch we had hot dogs cooked on a tiny portable grill. And there was plenty of candy to go around. The unpredictable wind created a challenge for kids to fly kites but it was decent weather overall.



This egg hunt was unique for sure...but not original. We found eggs before our family had even hid any. But it was a fun day, a nice way to get away from the usual routine.

Oh, how time escapes me! It's unbelievable to me that Bennett is four years old. Today he said to me that he thinks he might be the smartest kid in the world. He is smart...and we'll work on his humility. I asked Bennett what kind of cake he would like for his birthday and each time it was different and often bizarre. Finally, when I was almost out of time to bake it, we settled on lemon-blueberry. There you have it, a bundt cake.

Bennett had repeatedly asked for a Luke Skywalker costume and this was the best I could do online. I hope he wants to wear it when he's 6 or so because it's pretty big on him. I am convinced that Star Wars will live on longer than any of us.

We had a triple birthday celebration for Bennett, Emmerson, and Austin. Heidi made these sweet little minion cupcakes. I made some trifle for dessert, the banana blackberry was a new combo for me and it's my new favorite.

We were lucky to have a visit from Jaylene and her two sweet little ones. Ellie here is wearing a bib as a cape and she sporting a necklace she found in Paxton's toy drawer. They spent a couple of days with us and we loved having them. Ellie was not shy about playing with the boys and she had a great time with them on the trampoline.

You might ask where the youngest one is...Cami was hanging out in the stroller. She is a beautiful, happy baby and I am a FOOL because I don't have a good picture of her! What's wrong with me? We all know the whole point of this blog is to SEE PHOTOS of the kiddos. Oh well, another excuse to plan a trip south.

 Here's the best shot I could manage with the camera strap wrapped around a pole to set up a self-timer shot. I'm not sure what Bennett is doing there but don't look too close : )