Della's baptism started this month off wonderfully! She has been so excited for this day for a long time, and she was very prepared and willing to make the covenants with her Heavenly Father. Adeline looked beautiful and radiated joy and the spirit! We got to the church a little early and got everything set up. We had some really awesome guests come, and I was so grateful for the family and community we have created here. Both sets of grandparents, Emilie and Dave, Jess, Alyson and her family, Uncle John and Aunt Connie, the Cowleys, Linda Olsen, "Grandma Nancy", and Sara Mammadova and her kids all came. Adeline felt loved and supported by so many people!
We forgot to take pictures with any of the guests, but Alyson took some and then we took some with the Cowleys the next day at church. These are some of the sweet notes that people wrote her, her journal entry, and a journal entry for Amelia.
Larissa explaining her gifts to Della
For a fun summer day activity we went roller blading at the park by the Market! I am not a strong roller blader and so it was mostly hilarious for me and the kids did well and progressed, while also laughing at me.
This was our first year doing Patriot Camp, and I loved it so much and want to do it every year! The kids had such a blast and I loved what they were being taught. They learned about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and all kinds of things like the Boston Tea Party. Amelia will be old enough to go next year and I can't wait!
This guy was Donald Duck's voice for real! In the movies! Here he is being General Washington.
Boston Tea Party!
The eagle was put in the lady's trunk by the time I got there so I took a picture of it in the trunk!
Their end of week performance!
Rusty and Henry took the RC cars to a mountain bike track. We have been talking about them doing that for a long time, and they finally did it! They mountain biked a little bit and then did the little cars and had a blast.
I love the Sundance outdoor theater so much, and this year it was the Wizard of Oz! I was so excited and it did not disappoint at all. It is so beautiful up there, and I think I say this every year but it is one of my favorite summer traditions. I love it up there so much, and the plays are always so good!
We invited Beckham's family over for a BBQ to get to know them a little bit more! Jamie is so nice, and Rusty got along good with the dad (I forgot his name... Troy?) We had all kinds of water things set up, and then it was a little cloudy and cold that day but the kids all still did it. I ended up telling them they could do dish soap on the trampoline with the sprinkler and that was the favorite thing I think. And it better have been because they used a huge Costco sized bottle of dish soap haha!
Playing Uno outside... and playing with the flowers that go on the table.
We had the side by side from the cabin so we got to play around with it a little bit! We had tried to get to the top once before but couldn't find the way, and today we went up! At the very top it got too sketchy and so we (I) decided to stop going up and turn around before we all died. The views were beautiful though!
We really tried hard to be at the cabin for all of August this year like we always talk about! It was... semi successful, but I hope that next year we will be able to be a little bit more permanent there. With Rusty's calling we came back pretty much every weekend. And there were a few other things that had come up that we just needed to go home to do too, but for the most part we were up at the cabin. And it was marvelous! I LOVE THAT CABIN SO MUCH. It just makes my heart happy.
I am so happy we got this little fire pit. We use it a lot!
Obviously we spent a lot of time at the lake! Such a beautiful lake and the color is always striking. Surfing and tubing out on the lake is the best!
We played on the lily pad, and also did some boxing matches! I got a set of blow up boxing gloves for us to have a war on the mat with. I actually thought there were two pairs, but it was just one pair so we each only get one glove haha.
We noticed that the gatorade was the same color as the lake water! So cool!
Rusty's birthday was at the cabin this year! He turned 40 (ahhh!) and I tried to convince him to do a big party or event for his birthday. It's a big year! But he didn't want any of that. All he wanted was to be at the cabin and go out on the boat. We had a great time for his birthday. He woke up with presents, we went out on the boat, and then we went and got his favorite raspberry shakes. Afterwards we went and put our names down for the Bear Trapper and the wait was so long we decided we'd have time to go over and do the go karts. This was so fun and started a little love affair with the go kart place. We went a lot of times after this; well compared to the zero times we've ever gone. I think we went two or three more times this summer!
Della made Rusty this present because she didn't have anything for him. It was so sweet.
A little too much sunscreen, eh?
I loved the Harry Potter Exhibit so much, and I knew the kids would love it too. So Larissa and the kids came with me and my kids so they could do it. They all loved it!
What to say about this day. I had a bit of a run in with a lady in our ward and neighborhood, and I went to talk with her on a walk. Rusty took the kids to the park so that he would be around in case I needed him because he's the best. Turns out, it went way worse than I possibly thought and I ended up sobbing in my friend's car. BUT. A few months later as I'm writing this, things are fine and I've actually heard from two people that this lady has gotten so much nicer and kinder since our discussion. So. Maybe it was okay because I learned a lot and maybe it even helped her.
I had a small panic attack style thing (my first in a while) after we had that discussion and she yelled at me, and so Della brought me all of these stuffies to sleep with while I was trying to sleep on the couch.
Amy brought me these cookies! Not because I was sad, but just timing wise it happened to be the same day.
I felt like we didn't quite do enough for Rusty's birthday so we surprised him when he came home from church meetings with balloons, his hat, and singing him "Happy Birthday"!
Another first day of school is in the books! I can't believe how fast time is going. This will be our third year homeschooling. Amelia is starting pre-school, Adeline is starting 3rd grade, and Henry is starting 5th. My little kids are getting not so little anymore! This year was a little different, because we signed the girls up for a little Montessori school in Heber so they actually did have a first day of school! They missed the first part of the Wibbit Day, but I picked them up afterwards and they still had a few hours. Henry stayed the entire day and still didn't have enough time!
Pointing out his swim suit because he doesn't have to go to school
For the technical first day of school this year, a bunch of homeschool families went to the reservoir and had a Wibbit party! It was so much fun and was such a great reminder of part of the reason that I do this. Weather is still so good and it's such a shame to lock the kids up and not let them be outside. They had a blast and spent hours there.
The day after the Wibbit day we went up to Bear Lake! We were trying to spend as much time as we could up there, and it was amazing. We hung out, went boating, got shakes and just played before Rusty had to go out of town for a work trip.
While Rusty was gone, I invited Sara and her kids to come to Bear Lake! It was a blast! She came up and we went to a beach- the sandy one on the Idaho side that we've never been to. Then we also went to the south beach, went go karting, played games, and played on the four wheeler! She is the best!
The day that Sara left, my parents came! We hadn't been at the cabin for a while so we thought it was good to get everyone invited as best as we could. My parents came out and we had a good time with them too! It's always fun with Grandma and Grandpa! Everyone sang some songs by the fire and made s'mores. We also went out on the boat. So fun!
The day that my parents left, Rusty's mom and sister came to the cabin haha. We were really packing everyone in! We did more of the same at the cabin, but loved spending time with Phyllis and Kandi. It was a weird cold snap though so we didn't take the boat out at all with them.
While Phyllis and Kandi were at the cabin, the kids and I came back for a day so that they could do two jiu jitsu trials. The first one was... well, just odd. It was very small and the teacher kept stopping the class to talk to his daughter who was small and all over the place. I felt like they didn't get much practice or instruction at all. The little girl brought out toilet paper that she had soaked in hot chocolate and put it on my lap and it had weird music and was pouring rain outside and just so happened that my friend Katie was there trying it out for her kids too. So we just laughed and were so confused about everything haha. Needless to say, I did not choose this one.
The next one was really great! I loved the professor and the kids had a great time. He was a little bit strict, but not like the Park City place. It was a really great balance.
Back to school fashion show! The kids love doing their fashion show, so we did it while I was home with the kids. Sadly that meant that Rusty wasn't there to see it, but we face timed him so he could watch. They get all into it and do all kinds of different poses. It cracks me up!
Then we got to do the first day of school pictures when their new school clothes had come in the mail!
Rusty, Phyllis, and Kandi went on a drive at Bear Lake while the kids and I were gone. They had a good time!
The kids and I drove back to the cabin to have a little bit more time there before we needed to go back home for responsibilities. The kids are really loving the dirt bike track and are using it all of the time.
We went on a side by side ride up somewhere we've never been to explore! It ended up being a beautiful area, but it was also really rainy and so it got really sloppy. It was a little bit tricky on the bike so Rusty did that which left me driving the side by side and I did not appreciate the feeling when we would slide down trails and was white knuckled the entire time. But. It was pretty.
Then it was time to drive home!
I have wanted to pick apples at Huber Grove for a while, but man it just sells out so fast! This year I thought ahead and got tickets on time and we went the morning of Swiss Days. It was an absolute blast! In fact, Amelia said it was the best day of her life. Which was endearing, but also a bit of a letdown because we had just got back from two weeks in Africa. So, there's that.
Swiss Days came again! Unlike last year, we volunteered on Saturday instead of Friday because Emilie, Dave, Colton and Stacey were coming on Saturday. I much prefer Friday haha. It is so much more crowded and hectic on Saturday; and it's already crazy on the Friday! We volunteered, the kids played a little bit in the kid area, and we walked around some shops. I was the cashier at the pie booth for the first time, and it was kind of fun! The girls went up on stage to do some dance moves.
Henry's Highlights:
- “I am brave. I am strong. I am safe. I am… fairly good looking.”
"Awwww, 22 minutes. I am crestfallen" when we still had 22 minutes left of our drive
"What?! I farted because I was so surprised."
Trying to pronounce Montgomery. "It should be a "u", respect the rules of writing!"
"That's the cutest little mustard in the world!" when he saw the lemon juice
Adeline's Adventures:
- Me: "Della, do you know where Dad is?"
- Della: "No. Some people say he's **gone**."
- Driving go carts for Rusty's birthday and Rusty kept bumping her, even though the rules said no bumping. She took it for a long time and then hit him really hard with her cart and said, "They said NO BUMPING!"
Amelia's Updates:
- I was saying I needed to come down from the loft at the cabin to help my parents and Rusty in the kitchen and my mom said, "No stay up there!" Lia said, "Stay up there! Stay up there is my final order... or else!"
- We were singing camp songs out by the fire at the cabin and we sang the Baby Bumblebee song. Amelia's face was HORRIFIED when I got to the parts about licking the baby bumblebee and then throwing it up hahahaha
- On a walk. She said that at home her energy was really high but after the walk her energy was way low down where the worms live
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