first half of july in photos

The kids had a dentist appointment and I was surprised and elated that no one had cavities!  I was sure that McKay would, and pretty positive that Layla did too.  Shows what I know.  I'm proud of them...or maybe more proud of me.  Brian thinks I'm crazy every time I want them to floss- but no cavities!

These two.  This is Ellery's go-to silly face.  She's proud of this face.

Ah, it's hard to admit that it's taken me seven years to have my kids start unloading the dishwasher consistently.  This summer it has finally become part of their life for good.  Layla does the silverware and the other two take turns picking the top or bottom.  Top is valuable, bottom is dreaded.  I am super particular with the kids dishes in the kids drawer.  Certain bowls stack into other bowls and same goes with the plates.  It's a bit of a puzzle if you don't know how to do it and can be an explosion of kids dishes if they aren't stacked right.  I've spent plenty of time showing them just how to make it fit the very best way.  Usually they do it and that makes me happy.

Spontaneous craft project early one summer morning.  Painting and decorating rocks, I think.  All on their own.  Love when that happens.

We tried to go to Colonial Days after the fourth, but a thunderstorm ruined it for us.  We went back to Darrell and Jenn's and did some fireworks and the kids loved it.  Darrell and Brian kinda loved it too.  Boys and fireworks...I don't know.

We have had quite a few thunderstorms in July, which has been unusual.  We have loved it though.  Several nights Brian and I have sat out on our deck and just enjoyed being out in the storm, but completely safe and covered.  I love our deck.  It's one of my favorite things about our house.  

Our friends Cathy and Tyler Hollist were sealed to their baby Brayden and we got to be there with them.  I had never been to an adoption sealing before and it was a really sweet experience.  I love these people.  They were so good to me in Oregon and such great neighbors.  Seeing them made me miss them and Oregon.  My mom and dad watched the kids and Brian and I made a date out of it- going to lunch after and doing a little shopping at City Creek.  It was fun to be on a date in the day.

So I am not a huge Neon Trees fan...not because I don't like them, just because I don't know a lot of their music.  I just know the few that get played on the radio.  So that's why it's really surprising that I recognized the lead singer in line behind me at Macey's.  I asked him if he was the lead singer of Neon Trees and he said yes and I acted totally cool and told him I was a fan of his music (which is an overstatement, but it just came out on account of me being cool, remember?).  We conversed for a bit about how he lives in Pleasant Grove and after he said "nice meeting you" I walked as cool as a Neon Trees "fan" could walk out to my car.  Then, I got out my phone and took a picture of him at a stoplight, you know, for proof purposes.  Brian still had a hard time believing me...until he saw him at Macey's the next week!  Writing so much over a celebrity I don't even know about or particularly like confuses me.

Seriously, this kid is a Cub Scout.  I can hardly believe it!  Actually, technically he is not a Cub Scout yet, but they let him go to Day Camp because he's close.  He was so excited- woke up well before the six a.m. alarm clock.  In fact, he was laying in our bed as we had been trying to convince him that he didn't need to wake up until the clock said 6:00.  I was  mid-sentence when those double zero's appeared and he popped out of bed saying "It's time to go!" and was down the hall getting dressed before I knew what had happened.  That is so McKay.  Super excited and completely committed to the things he's passionate about.  He had a great day- loved archery and the general store the most.  He came home with a rabbit's foot and I can't believe it but I forgot what other kind of creature skin her purchased that day...something else though.  He was happy and the leaders said he was wide-eyed and focused for every single thing they did.  He told me he was too excited to eat lunch.  I love this Cub Scout. and his exhausting enthusiasm.  

We were happy to see Missy and the girls one last time before they left, after the reunion.  They played so well together.  Addie and Ellery are the best of friends and it makes my heart sad that they don't live closer to each other.  

We will miss our Alaska cousins.  We love those girls.

Sometimes I forget that a bath with some toys is one of the best and easiest ways to entertain this water baby.  

Just because it's been awhile.  

My sneaky little snitcher girl.  I was making dinner for a neighbor and she went through half the package when I was answering the door.  

matthews reunion 2013

This year the Matthews reunion was in Park City.  McKay and Adele rented a big house that fit all of us comfortably.  It was a great couple days with all of us together.  I am really lucky to have the in-laws I do.  I love them and I always love being with them.  

Some highlights that I should note include

• Walking main street
• Getting rock crystal candy
• Spotting the moose all over town
• A very fancy tea party hosted by the aunts
• Taylor Swift dance party
• Boys trip to Olympic Park
• Kids making a teepee out in the wilderness
• Play-doh swords
• Balloon Stomp
• Designing our own plates
• Poor Iris keeping her parents up all night
• Me and Bri bunking in bunk beds with our kids (fun!)
• Impromptu girls night (plus one boy) at the outlets
• Hot tub
• Swimming on Saturday
• Making hot dog sticks- quick for the kids, hours for adults :)
• Morning walk in beautiful Park City
• Delicious chocolate zucchini cake
• Early church
• Maffia- why do we play such a stress inducing game?

In an effort to be better at actually blogging fun events such as this, I made that list and am just putting pictures on their own.  

thoughts on a sunday

• Today in church- Layla: "Mom, pretend I am your pet geek."  Followed by little chirpings of "geek, geek", because naturally that is what a geek sounds like.

• I forgot to mention last week that on June 19th my niece, Kara, began her mission.  She is going to Orlando, Florida, after a stay in the MTC of course.  I am so excited for her- she really is an amazing girl- and so happy that she is the very first full time missionary from the Fuehrer side.  

• That reminds me that at her farewell McKay was sitting by my dad.  I told him about how when I was a little girl sitting by Poppy, I would try to get his wedding ring off, which was a really hard thing to do.  I remember twisting and turning and pulling my dad's poor ring finger, and rarely having success.  Then he would magically pull it off with a lot less effort than I, and I would be amazed.  McKay got to sit next to Poppy and do the same thing, with the same unsuccessful effort and the same amazement when he pulled it off himself.  Kinda special.

• We went to Thunder Mountain on Friday.  We were so anxious to go because it was a million degrees at home, so we thought escaping to the much cooler mountains would be a really brilliant idea.  It was nice up there- I loved the feeling of putting on a sweatshirt when it got just a bit chilly.  We all slept in the unfinished cabin- with Grandma and Grandad, too- which was an adventure.    

• McKay was in heaven up there- riding the four wheeler and shooting bb guns.  He drove us a bit crazy with all the asking...and asking...and asking.  In fact, all of the kids had a hard time entertaining themselves which honestly drives Brian and I a little crazy.  Or a lot.  It's just hard for me to understand how they can't use their imaginations and play on their own out in such a beautiful and different environment.  We had a long talk on the way home about it and I hope it can be different next time we go up.  

• The kids were pretty exhausted on the way home and ALL THREE of them fell asleep.  That never happens.  When we got home we were all dirty and hot, so I decided to let the kids run in the sprinklers...which turned into them playing on the slip 'n slide...which turned into me and Brian being so hot watching them, that we got in our suits and played on the slip 'n slide with them.  It was one of those fun, spontaneous things that the kids absolutely loved.  I am a bit worried that they will expect us to join them from now on.  They might be disappointed.

• I signed Ellery up for a gymnastics class at the rec center.  When we got there for her first lesson, the director overheard McKay politely ask and Layla rudely scream to take gymnastics too.  She then told me that they had lessons for both of their age groups at the same time if I wanted to sign them all up.  I wasn't sure I should take that away from Ellery, but then the thought of having them all do something active and fun and the convenience of it being all at the same time won me over.  So now we have three little gymnasts around here.  Ellery and McKay have learned how to do a back-bend and are proud of it!  McKay loved doing the vault and Ellery is trying to perfect her rolls (standing somersault things).  

• Layla had her cast on the first class and got a lot of attention for it, like usual.  She is actually younger than her class, but the director assured me she could do it.  Well, she kind of can't.  She can hang on the bars and do bunny hops (kind of) and all that, but she kept coming over to me during her second class and I finally had to take her out because she wasn't listening. . .you know, 'cause she's two.  Well, she threw the most ginormous tantrum outside the building.  She was calling me names- which was series of made up words that rhyme with stupey and mopey.  She also resorted to stripping down to her undies to make me mad.  It didn't make me mad, but it did make me reach for my camera.  We're going to try again next week and hope it goes better.  I've been prepping her a lot so I think it will.  Fingers crossed for my feisty two year old gymnast!

• So Layla's cast is now gone.  I am relieved, except I was just a tad sad to see it go.  Why?  I don't know.  She was as brave as always when they got out a big metal saw to cut it off.  She impresses everyone during her medical procedures- she never cries.  She was excited to see that little arm again and I am glad she's back to being two-handed.

• So above is Ellery's before and after shot.  She lost a front tooth last night, which as you know, is a very big deal.  Although I do love seeing that big gap, I was a little sad to see the tooth come out.  It's just feels like when those front teeth come out they are never the same again- it's the end of her being little and the start of the awkward teeth growing years- and we all know we grow them big around here!  Plus, she is only five!  The other one is not far behind and I'm sure Brian will be working on it as soon as she'll let him.  

• It was mine and Brian's birthday week this week.  This year we celebrated on the 26th for both of us.  We went to Pizzeria 712 and World War Z.  I picked the restaurant and spent half of the movie with my eyes closed- you can probably guess who picked that.  Grandma and Grandad watched the kids for us, and even let them sleep over that night.  It was a fun night and a great way to celebrate turning 32!

• Brian's birthday was the day before and he worked until the afternoon.  I got him a dutch oven and some socks that he doesn't like and a bag of charcoal.  That's kind of sad.  I mean, he liked the dutch oven, but that was really all he got.  I didn't even make him a cake- I just bought him a cheesecake from Costco which was just okay.  And then I went to young women's.  I felt bad because his birthday was kind of a dud, but he kept saying it was good because he had nothing planned for mine since he'd be working late that day.  So we were both okay.

• Brian did really like his dutch oven- even though he had known for probably a month that I had gotten it for him.  I wrote down the word "lodge" and a price on a sticky note and he saw it and knew exactly what it was.  He didn't tell me until the day before his birthday that he knew, but I still can't believe he cracked the code from the word lodge.  Anyway, I love giving presents to Brian because he opens them right up and looks at them and holds them and reads about them.  It's nice because I think if someone would have given me a dutch oven I would have opened it seconds before I actually used it.  Not Brian- at one point I saw him cradeling the lid of the dutch oven, stroking it with a loving gaze.  This made me so happy.

• My birthday was fun too.  I got to go to lunch with Lisa and Jana at Kneaders- my favorite.  Then I went to Jana's and just hung out at her house until it was time for the Lehi horse parade.  So I  mentioned how hot it was this week- well Thursday was no exception.  It was HOT and we were HOT at the horse parade.  But it was still fun.

• Brian surprised me with a pearl necklace for my birthday, and a box of Sees chocolates with a candle on top.  I love the necklace so much.  He said he'd been thinking how since it is my birth stone I should have a real string of pearls.  I think that's really thoughtful and I love when he's thoughtful like that.  Ellery went with him to pick them out and she thought it was the greatest thing to pick out jewelry for mom.  She even kept it a secret for almost a week!

• Last week in young women's we talked about honoring and supporting the priesthood, and how we as {young} women could do that.  I think sometimes this can be a difficult thing for young girls to relate to.  They don't have it, and so it's hard for them to know how they can help.  We talked about how asking for blessings more often is one thing we can do to support those who hold the priesthood in our homes.  This really struck me and I realize that there is a power in my home that I am not utilizing as much as I should.  It also made me realize that doing that will not only help me, but can help me support Brian in his priesthood responsibilities, which in turn can help him.  So, Bri- you have been warned!

thoughts on a sunday

• It is family movie right now and I figure I can "watch" and blog at the same time.   I am determined that today is the day that I start blogging again.  So here we go!

 We had lunch in what Ellery called the hospital's backyard.  That is the only bite Layla took of her giant corn dog.

• Brian is at work today and we got to go visit him for the first time after church.  Why have we not done this already?  I LOVED seeing him in his work clothes, especially the hat, and I love that I can now picture where he is, where he spends his days and where he sleeps when he's not next to me.  The kids LOVED getting snacks and drinks and eating lunch in the tropical "backyard" at the hospital.  It's something we'll definitely do again, especially on long Sundays when he is gone.  

Hanging on dad's bed.

• McKay almost had a heart attack when I wouldn't let him go home after church and change.  "But people will look at me mom!!!"  I don't know why his church clothes bring so much attention where all the people will be looking at him because of them, but I made him brave the stares anyway.  Funny kid.  He's like his dad in this way- not a fan of church clothes either.  

• Layla is now sporting her second cast after Ellery accidentally pulled her first one off.  We were all a bit shocked about it.  She chose a green one this time, and let me tell you, it is BRIGHT green.  

• We noticed last night that there is significant wear and tear on our table right under Layla's right arm.  When she got her cast, she learned pretty quick that it could be used as a weapon.  It is not uncommon for me to hear "Mo-oom!  Layla just hit me with her cast."  She's done it to me too.  Naughty girl.

• It's been sad to see her struggle to get used to being a one handed toddler.  She has adapted pretty well, but she spills more when drinking, going potty is not as easy, and holding her cast when walking is challenging.  She gets asked every time we are out what happened to her arm and she replies, "I fell out of my bed" every time.  I usually follow up with, "She jumped out of her crib," so they can really get the picture.  The green cast comes off on Wednesday- thank goodness it's not longer!

• Okay, enough about that.  Lets talk about McKay.  I was quite worried about having McKay home all day, every day this summer.  He is such a good boy, but he needs a lot of attention and can be tiring.  His "What's the plan for today?  What's the plan for tomorrow?  What are we doing after this?  When do we get to do this?" can just about drive me crazy.  We are working on being "easy" and laid back- not always having to know what's coming up, but it's not at all easy for him.  Jana watched the kids when I was at girls camp for a day and she said, "McKay is such a good kid....but he is kind of exhausting!"  I get it.  Believe me, I get it.  

• This summer I decided it would be helpful for all of us if we had a weekly and daily plan.  Movie Monday, Time to Read Tuesday, Water Wednesday, etc...  Our daily plan includes learning time and daily jobs.  I also made an "I'm bored" jar, which they can chose an activity to do.  Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's a chore, but the rule is if they pick one, they have to do it.  So I thought I was all prepared, but as it turns out, keeping a schedule in the summer is really tricky.  We had a lot going on the first couple weeks of summer- swimming lessons, Nonnie dying, and I had girls camp- so I feel like we haven't had a real good trial on our schedule.  We haven't even been swimming yet.  Now that camp is over, I feel like summer can finally begin and we can do fun things and keep our schedule a little better.  McKay loves this new summer schedule, just as I knew he would, but we had to talk a lot about how we can still be flexible.  He's doing pretty good.

• The first couple weeks of summer McKay didn't want to play with anyone- I don't know why.  But this week, he has finally found his grove and is outside playing for hours with friends.  They have always had a little club- their clubhouse being on the West side of our house- but they haven't used it too much, until lately.  That's what he's been doing for the last three days straight- playing in the clubhouse with his friends.  Who knows what they do over there- I've heard mining is involved- but it's keeping him busy and outside and using his creative mind, so I'm happy.  

• Girls camp was fun but I'm relieved it's over.  It was freezing at night and I didn't come totally prepared for that.  Since I came after they had all been there for two days, they had learned a trick to staying warm- a hot rock wrapped in a towel in the bottom of your sleeping bag.  We all tried it the night I came up and it worked.  I was so relieved that I wasn't freezing all night long, just before bed.  

• While I was gone, Brian took the kids to the Strawberry Days Rodeo.  Grandma and Jaynie and Tyler went with them.  They got strawberries and cream and saw fireworks.  I wasn't too jealous because I got strawberries and cream at girls camp and I don't go crazy over fireworks.  I'm glad they went and had a fun time.

• When I got home from camp, I came in to find Ellery on the couch with the stomach flu.  Poor thing looked so miserable.  She got sick on Thursday morning and didn't perk up until Saturday evening.  It was a long sickness but I'm glad she's feeling good again, although she's not 100%.  I hope that Brian and McKay will be spared from this one- it has not been pleasant.

• Since it is Strawberry Days here in Pleasant Grove, we went to the parade- even though some of us weren't feeling totally great (Ellery).  Poor Elle sat in the chair most of the time and kept saying she felt good,  however, she did not look it.  McKay is my kind of parade partner- he likes to cheer.  It seems like nowadays (like I'm old) everyone just sits at a parade and watches without cheering and that bugs me.  You're at a parade!  Clap for these people who are putting on the parade for you!!  Anyway, I am often alone in my cheering, and I can't cheer the whole time- I would get tired and it is not a one-man job.  That's where McKay is totally related to me.  He is an excellant woo-er at a parade.  If there is the slightest chance McKay could get something from the parade- a popsicle  a frisbee, a flyer...even a tootsie roll- he is trying his best to cheer louder than anyone.  I like this about him, although his cheering is only for personal gain.   It's still nice to have a voice next to me.  

• Wow, I didn't expect to write all that.  I guess I am passionate about parades.  That reminds me of when I sit next to my father-in-law at a high school graduation.  He feels like each graduate needs a clap.  It is a long couple hours for him.

Happy Sunday!

april photos

This little lady learned how to ride a bike.  Brian took off her training wheels and all of us were a little worried about how she would do- but she did awesome!  It took a bit of practice, but she got it really quickly and we were all super proud of her.  

She wouldn't go down any hills, but by the end she was zooming around all over the flat part.

I started doing Zumba at the church a couple days a week.  This is the first day we did it- these kids just sat there and stared at us- they could not look away.  It was hilarious.  There are now actually classes five days a week- which is great.  We all just bring our kids and they play and we work out.  This has been so great for me because I have learned that I don't like to exercise alone.  It's so fun to do it with friends- and I have really made friends in our ward this way.  It's been good for me in many ways.

McKay and Elle started doing a sort of soccer training thing- where he teaches her soccer.  This consists of him kind of showing off to her, and then giving her advice on what she should do.  It's pretty cute.

Sometimes I worry about Ellery being a middle child and feeling left out.  But then I look at this picture and the one above and realize how lucky she is to be right in the middle.  She gets to have a close relationship with both siblings.  She can be younger and older, she can be a leader and a follower, and she can have tight bonds with both of them.  I hope she doesn't feel lost, but mostly feels lucky.  

Flip flop.