HAMILTON. Oh my gosh HAMILTON! It has been a dream of mine to see this and we finally got to! And it was worth the wait and definitely did not disappoint. And as a bonus, we went to a yummy gluten free Chinese restaurant before the show!
Rusty got to do the Wow trail a few times this summer!
August means it is the fair! We went to the fair here instead of in Orem this year, and it was... weird. Small, nobody was there, and everything was pricey. But the Orem Summerfest is pricey too so I don't know how I feel about it. We did find out that you could barter with the people about how many tickets you'd give them haha. Well, it was less bartering and more just them being nice I think. Once I started speaking to them in Spanish they let my kids go on a bunch of rides for just one ticket so that was great!
We went to the rodeo! Last summer we went to the rodeo in PG and it was fun, but I didn't like seeing the animals get ripped around for the trying events. Then I decided maybe I don't love rodeos that much. This year the Cowleys got us tickets for the rodeo in Heber (which is HARD to do) and we went them and I had similar feelings. I loved being there, I loved the Cowleys, but didn't love seeing the animals get pulled around like that. This time it rained pretty much the entire first half, but it lightened up and we stayed the whole time. They did fireworks and a lit balloon display as a memorial for people who have die from cancer. It was really moving and beautiful! A great summer night!
Rusty went and floated the canal in Heber with his young men this month and then wanted to do it with us! I didn't even know we had a canal you could float in but I was game to try it! It's pretty chill, with only a couple of bigger drops but Della and Amelia were not thrilled with it. Nobody fell out though, so I think next year will be better! Our favorite part was going underneath a bridge that had a sensor go off when a tube was there and then one of the little statues started peeing and the song "Let It Go" came on over a speaker. My kids laughed about that for a long time!
Look how funny!
The same day that we floated the canal, Phyllis and Desi drove out to see us! Phyllis was coming to watch the kids while we were in Austria and Desi drove out with her. We only got to see her for that afternoon/evening because we left the next morning. I'll do a different post about Austria though!
For the new year, I got the school room all set up with the books on the shelves for our new themes and realized that maybe I didn't take any pictures of the schoolroom since we've been using it. I was so happy this day as I finished up this room and so grateful that I am able to homeschool my kids. It is hard, but I cherish the extra time with them. It is so worth it!
First day of school! We did our ABC and 1, 2, 3 pancakes with cinnamon apples and then took our pictures! Amelia's shirt didn't come in time to do the picture in the morning, but we did it later. It was fun to see what they picked out to wear for their first day outfit! And seeing how Henry is filling out his graduation shirt made me sooooo sad. He's getting so big!
Amelia wanted a picture with this doll
The Bartons are studying ancient Rome and Greece to get ready for their Mediterranean cruise, and they invited us over for a Greek night! The kids learned about some food and made some themselves! At the end they even had a birthday cake for Rusty (so sweet)!
Rusty got to go riding on a track in Coalville called Flying Iron Horse Ranch. He didn't get a ton of time to ride on the track, but he was happy to be on the track at all! He thought it was a fun ride.
This year we did something we've never done and decided to stay in town for Swiss Days! We even volunteered and helped out at some of our ward's booths. I worked at the bakery tent and then we also worked at the Pie and Ice Cream booth. Rusty was clearing and cleaning off tables with the youth and our kids went with him to help. We had some visitors- my parents, Aunt Connie, Alyson, and Kris all came and we sneaked them around the back and gave them some pie and ice cream for free!
Henry's Highlights:
- I was talking with Henry the other day and I told him that I'm trying to soak up all the time with him I can because when he's a teenager he won't want to spend as much time with me because he'll have different interests and that's normal. A half hour later he came downstairs with these cute cards for me. He said they tell me how much he loves me so I can open them when I'm sad and he's a teenager. "It won't be enough for every day of all of the teenage years, but I will try to do one a week and that will be pretty good."
Adeline's Adventures:
- Over heard my girls playing upstairs:
D: All I want is for a family to love me. I had a family once, but they treated me like garbage. Like trash. So I ran away.
L: Well, I'm leaving. You don't even care about my husband.
D: I love your husband. He's the nicest man I ever met!
L: He's MY husband!
Amelia's Updates:
- Calls corn "corn on the cobbler"
- "That makes me laugh so hard, like a crumbled bagel"
- Sang me an apology song for being so naughty at Swiss Days (there's a great video)
Extra Photos:
I was on the phone with Emilie in my room and I looked up and saw this peering around my door.
