Summer Fun

I had so many plans for the summer.  We were going to have so much fun.   But then I looked at the calendar and realized summer is almost over.  The kids will be back in school very soon.  I started to lament the fact that we have not done much.    But then I started looking at pictures and realized we have had a very full and fun summer.

Here's a quick, maybe long, recap of our summer so far.

June-    John's parents and nephews came into town for a couple of days.   That was a lot of fun.  I loved having them here.    They are so fun and my kids absolutely love them.   The time passed too quickly.   It seemed they had just gotten here and they were already leaving.   But it was so good to have them here.    We went to temple square, had a picnic dinner in the mountains, and had lots of relaxing time!  

At the end of June was Taylorsville Dayzz where we celebrate becoming a city.    Our city has been incorporated as a city for 17 years now and the celebrations just keep getting better.   There was a carnival, a parade, and fireworks.    I chose to skip the fireworks this year.    The girls dressed up as pioneers and walked in the parade with the sons of utah pioneers.    They were such cute pioneers.   They had so much fun in the parade.   John and I took the boys and headed off to the parade with Aunt Chris and Maegen.  It was so fun.   I love a good parade.   The boys did so well.   They stayed with me and did not complain when it got really hot.

July- At the beginning of July Amber went to Mill Hollow for three days.    Mill Hollow is a camp run by the school district.   She went with a bunch of friends from school.   Her best friend, Lara, went at the same time.    Amber was so glad to have her best friend there.    She had a lot of fun.   I had a hard time.  It was exciting to let her go, but not having her home to help out was hard.    I think I cried when she came home.

Mid July Amber was able to go to girl scout camp.   Again she was gone for three days.  I was better prepared this time, but it was still hard to have her gone.  She helps out so much at home.  I have decided she is never allowed to go away again!    She is growing up way too fast.   She is an amazing young lady!

We spent July 4th at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point with Steven and Liza.   It was so nice to be there without the huge crowds.  I don't think I have ever been there where we actually had room to move, sit, etc.   My kids absolutely loved it.  They keep asking to go back.  We have a full year we can go for free. It is so awesome that Amber won the photo contest and got a family pass as the prize.

Jeff and Cori adopted a baby about 6 months ago.   However, in Utah there is a six month waiting period for the adoption to be finalized.    So, the adoption was finalized this month and they were able to take the baby to the temple and have her sealed to them and then to have the baby blessing where she was given the name she will be known by on the records of the church.     All of my siblings were in town for this special time.   It was so good to see everyone.   I loved hanging out with all of my siblings and their kids.   One of the boys is the same age as Timothy and the cutest little boy.    I loved his dinosaur antics.    Every picture we took he wanted to be a T Rex.    He made me laugh which was a good thing.

July 24th was Pioneer Day which meant another parade.   My girls spent the night with my dad and Marilee. Early in the morning they trooped off to the parade route to meet the rest of the group walking in the parade. I packed up the boys and took them to the parade myself.   Because the Federal government doesn't close for State holidays, John had to work.   I was a little nervous about taking the boys myself, but it turned out well.  We met up with Jaime and her family.   It was pretty awesome!

Later on we met Jeff and Cori at the park for dinner.   It turns out there was a carnival at the park we met at, but it was still fun.   My kids love the park.  But, the biggest sign to me that Amber is growing up is that the little kid games and playground equipment at the park are no longer sufficient to fully capture her interest. She loves to sit and hang out with the adults.    Ah man, my little girl is growing up way too fast!  

July 25th was the VA's day at the Bee's baseball game.   Amber didn't want to go.   So she had Sierra come over and spend the night.  We took Emma, Timothy, and Donovan to the game.  John had gotten tickets for the sky box.  It was so awesome to have such posh accommodations for the baseball game!  I think Emma and Timothy got bored but it helped that we were in the box with lots of people.   They got to meet the Bee mascot.

July 29th was the neighborhood icecream social and water fight.    It is so fun to get together with our neighbors and just hang out in an informal setting.   We can all let our hair down, so to speak, and just have fun.   I look forward to this every year.  It is such a fun thing to do.

So here we are at today.    This morning I was getting kinda sad because we had not done much of what I had planned for the summer.    But I look back and realize, we have done a lot.   We have had such a full summer so far.   But it hasn't been so full that we haven't had time to relax for a few days.    I am so grateful for all we've been able to do so far.   And it seems my migraines are on the outs for a moment.   I have been able to enjoy most of the summer activities without the excruciating pain!    Wahoo.  

So while I had plans to do a whole lot of stuff and most of those plans have not worked out, we have still had a very full and fun summer.    We have had lots of memory making and we have lots of plans for the next three weeks.     We will welcome anybody who wants to join us on our adventures.  They really are adventures with these children of mine.   I'm not really sure what we will do in the next few weeks,  but it will be fun!