The Pollard Place: August

Hooray for August! We started this month off by going to the Morgan rodeo! It was fun to go to a small town event like that. My favorite part, by far, was Henry going out to do the watermelon thing. They sent a bunch of little kids out and if they sat on a watermelon you got to take it home. I told Henry that, and so he went out. There were like 20 kids and three watermelons, so he obviously didn't get one. But my favorite is that he would not get out of the arena haha. He just kept running around asking where his watermelon was. At the end, the clown had to get him to come out with him and Henry just kept saying, "But I can't leave. I don't have my watermelon!" Poor little guy!

With summer coming to a close, we went swimming one last time! We went to the Provo Rec Center outdoor place and it was lots of fun. I love summer and just relaxing out in the sun. The kids had a great time, like they do any time with water.

All of my sisters and I did a last minute trip to Angie's house around Emilie's birthday. It was really special and healing to be able to talk to them about things; things that I have been struggling with that I thought meant I was crazy. It was great to hear them say, "No, it's ok. We've felt angry too. No, it's normal to feel like your brain is foggy." And we were able to create some new memories too, like dyeing Emilie's hair purple haha! We all jumped in the pond together in our clothes to mark a new beginning, and a unity between all of us as we go forward. It was really cool, and really freezing haha. We also did a favorites thing, where we all brought some of our favorite things to share with everyone else. It was great to spend time with my sisters!

I have heard about a new splash pad out in Vineyard, and finally decided to give it a try! It is for sure Henry's favorite one in the whole world. But here's the issue. There is a giant slide. Which is why he loves it, but why I hate it. There is no direction or supervision and these big kids just kept climbing up and then bowling all the little kids down. I hate rude adolescents. Haha, how old do I sound?!

The Porters had our family reunion! Its theme was an old fashioned carnival, so there was old candy, a soda stop, popcorn, and a cake walk. There was also a little fishing booth and a dunk tank. The kids had a blast!

Adeline's first Oreo haha. It was a hit.

Then it was Rusty's birthday!!! YAY! We did a really low key thing this year, I don't think either of us had the bandwidth to do anything big. But I took Henry out to get a special balloon for him and then we met him for lunch at Sakura so we could get sushi and the hibachi grill. Henry was completely enthralled. After work he came home to the house all decorated and dinner, and then we did an obstacle course in the backyard haha. I set up obstacles (like you had to touch each baseball plate with your hand, do a circle around the car, etc) and then we each rode Henry's little electric bike and timed it. It was hilarious hahaha. We also played baseball. Then we had the famous turtle cheesecake and opened presents. I sure am glad that this guy was born!

For playgroup one week we decided to go to the Utah County Fair. We got there just in time to watch a reptile show, and Henry and Della were completely enthralled. After that we walked around and saw the animals, did crafts, and watched a shark show. This guy had a big aquarium with a nurse shark in it and he jumped into it and talked to us from inside. That was Henry's favorite part of the whole day, well maybe after our yummy nachos and his frozen lemonade.

To continue celebrating the birthday of my favorite guy, I asked my parents to come up on a Saturday to watch the kids so that we could go riding. We went out to Hobble Creek and did a really fun trail. I love being able to go riding with him! We rode around and then stopped for a little picnic with a beautiful view. After we got home Mom had made a big birthday dinner for Rusty and Jess and Aaron came over too.

I got hired with a new company! I heard that Gogokid was a brand new company, and decided to give them a try. The interview went really well (the lady said I was the best candidate she'd ever interviewed) but I haven't gotten a single booking in the two weeks I've been hired. So that's a bummer, but it's also kind of great because they pay you a 60% subsidy even if you don't get booked. So it's extra money for sleeping, which is the best kind of money!

I had the best opporutnity to go to Education Week this year! Emilie and Angie came out for the week and we got an AirBNB in Orem. The classes were amazing and it was great to spend time with everyone. Dad was a saint and watched my babies for me all week so that I could go. I learned so much about anxiety, revelation, grief, and faith. What an uplifting and recharging week. I left feeling so energized and like this gospel is so amazing! Em and Ang and I went out to dinner to Los Hermanos the first night, and Kneaders the next. I showed them Shirley's, and the mint brownies at BYU. It was great to be walking around campus again, and I just kept thinking about how I wanted to go back and get my Master's. It was a great week!

Rusty got Henry's bike all ready to go, and put training wheels on it! He has an absolute blast on this thing. He accidentally went under the swing set and got caught on the swing, which has kind of scared him a little bit. So now he won't do it unless someone holds it with him, but I'm hoping that he will gain some confidence! Adeline screams once she sees that until she gets to ride it haha. I'm hoping that she reins in some of her confidence.

I realized that my Thanksgiving Point membership expires at the beginning of October, so I'm going to try to be really good about going a lot until then. Henry will still have his (they wouldn't let us do it for the same date, don't get me started) but it will cost me $10 to go every time. So we will try to go a lot and get sick of it all haha! We went to the Dinosaur Museum and had a great time! Adeline loved playing in the water and sand for the first time there.

Later we had a playdate with Heather and Scarlet at Farm Country for the Music Time! They always do such a great job with those, and this was no exception. It was awesome. Henry loved it and sang along, played with his instruments, and LOVED when she brought out the parachute at the end. Adeline has loved horses so much lately that I was so excited to get there so she could ride a pony! But she was not feeling well on that day, and when we were feeding the animals a big sheep jumped up on the fence and scared her to death. I don't think I've ever heard a scream from her with that much terror! Needless to say, she would just scream at every animal from that point on, and trying to get her to ride a horse was not going to happen. Everyone in line knew that she did not want to haha. She made it pretty clear.

Gustavo's daughter had her mission farewell! She is going to Guatemala, and we drove down to Payson to support them. There was a little farewell party after and Gustavo's friend let him use their courtyard area close to the Payson Temple. As soon as we saw it walking up Henry said, "That's the temple I want to get married from!" I about died inside. So obviously after the party we drove over to see it and take pictures. I asked him why that temple, and he just kept saying how beautiful it was. Seriously this boy is the sweetest soul.

After playgroup we drove out to Morgan to go camping! We decided way last minute to go camping (Rusty was going to go to Colorado to work on a house there, so I was going to go with my parents) so there were no open trailer spots anywhere close by for Labor Day weekend. So my dad heard of a place up Hardscrabble and we ended up going there! It was actually really busy and there were lots of dogs haha, but it was good to get out. We're planning another one at the end of the month that will hopefully be a little more serene.

The next day we got up and had breakfast and then did a little scavenger hunt around camp. There is a cool wilderness area right there and Henry loved it! He even made some little friends. Then we went rock climbing with Jessica and Aaron! She got Henry a little helmet and harness, and rented some shoes for him. He loved trying everything on but got a little bit nervous when it was time to climb the rock. Rusty and I got to climb a few routes too, and I loved it! I miss it all of the time.

Sometimes as a parent things don't go as you planned. Like this activity which I thought would be so fun for my kids and ended with me calling Poison Control because Adeline kept eating the shaving cream.

Henry's Highlights

Potty training is going well! At the end of the month we started doing just underwear and he did great!
So excited at Chuck a rama. He saw all of the options and just yelled, "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!"
Still says, "Please bless Jesus" at the end of every prayer haha. I hope that never goes away. His first prayer by himself was: "Heavenly Father. Grateful for this day. Please bless Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. PLEASE BLESS JESUS!" Haha
Loves to play hide and seek
Becoming a picky eater
Favorite color is brown
Is so sweet. says i love you all the time. Asks how everyone slept.
Speaks so well. It's rare when I don't know exactly what he is saying, and it's becoming less common for other people not to understand him too.
Says his name "Henny" and I am so sad that he will stop saying it that way
Always says, "I like to be cold"
When he wants something he will say, "Oh! Della said I can have this!" or "Oh, did Della just give me this toy?!" And his face gets this (super fake) shocked look hahahaha.

Adeline's Adventures

She's walking! Woo hoo! Her one leg swings out wider than the other, the same leg that would stick straight out when she crawled

Has said "mama" for mom, and "dadada" for "dada", and even "papapa" for Papa when he was here for Education Week! Still mostly just says, "YEAH YEAH!" and sometimes, "momomomo" for more.
She's never been big on books. She just won't sit still long enough. But she recently has fallen in love with the book I love you night and day. She will want me to read it over and over and over again.

Adeline is a great eater! She will eat anything you put in front of her, for the most part. She does love to throw her food on the ground and to try and feed Bailey
Waves with her whole arm
Turns and won't look at you when she is in trouble
Duck lips
Manly, throaty laugh
She loves to put things on her head: towels, clothes, anything

Loves to drive the car, LOVES to be outside. Will just scream at point at the sliding door until we go outside
Points at everything. It cracks me up so much
She can use her spoon