Let the Boating Begin

My parents have given us a great opportunity and brought the boat to Northern Utah for us & Nic & Kyle to us. It will stay at Nic's on their extra concrete pad where it has a good/safe place. We couldn't wait to use it so for the 24th of July we woke up early and headed to East Canyon to boat with Nic & Ky. We got there about 9am hoping to avoid the crowd and it worked but the weather was a little on the chilly side. When we pulled in it was 61 degrees. I was worried we hadn't brought warm enough clothes but with the girls still in their pjs they were ok but for next time I will take some sweats just in case. Nic was brave enough to go first while Matt and I got the hang of driving the boat. The kids are learning they have to stay sitting on their bums so no one gets hurt and boating not only means fun but also lots of treats.

 The kids were crazy and wanted to get in the water until they got in then decided sitting on the back deck  with their feet in the water was a better idea.

 We each took turns wake boarding and worked out some of the details of how we will handle the finances and particulars for the boat while the kids put their feet in off the back.

By lunch time we headed for the marina and to find some lunch . We made lunch and got the boat switched over to the suburban then headed for home the girls didn't even make it 5 minutes and they looked like this.

We are so excited for the fun and memories we will be able to make with the boat. I have always loved boating and can't wait to share that love with my little family. The boat at this moment is parked where I can see it out my front window and every time I see it I get excited. Matt and I have talked about buying a boat or a trailer when the time presents itself but we have always had hesitations with a trailer and last night as I saw the boat out the front window I realized what it was that made the boat so much different. Im not a camper...never have been...probably never will be. A trailer to me is convenient but doesn't symbolizes fun now a boat on the other hand symbolizes hours of memories and fun. We are so excited to use the boat and do something as a family that no matter how many kids we have or their age difference that we can always boat together...because after all being together is what family is all about.

Ogden Days Rodeo

One of our favorite times of year is the Ogden Days rodeo. Wadman is a sponsor so they are nice enough to give tickets out to the employees and we were happy to use them. We bbq'd before and waited for Brit and the kids to get there. After they arrived the adults visited while the kids played in the backyard. The rodeo was scheduled to start at 7:30pm. The weather was hot so we weren't really in a hurry to go but around 7:30pm we loaded the kids up and headed for the arena. By the time we got there it was hard to find a parking spot but there weren't many people trying to park so we finally gave up and paid to park, Matt was super nice enough to pay for both us and Brit to park. When we got there we were lucky enough to find a place in the shade and so it was never really that hot.

I had brought our bag of parade candy and was happy to share it so we didn't eat it all ourselves. We also had frozen water bottles to keep us well hydrated and happy.

 These little girls loved being on the front row and watching through the fence

 Ready for the bulls

 After the bulls we started to load our stuff up and they announced they would be doing some motocross with jumps so we settled in to watch. The kids were more excited for the motocross than the actual rodeo.

What a fun night with family and friends with great weather

Swim Lessons

The past 2 weeks we have been doing swim lessons at Weber State. Hallie has been in level 1 and Gracie and I have been doing a mommy & me swim class. It has been a lot of work and I still prefer doing only 2x a week for a month I think it makes it more enjoyable but the girls had a great time. Tiff, Ryan, Rosty, and Teagan were in our class as well. The water was a little cold which made it difficult to get Gracie to cooperate.  

 I love Hallie's face

 But this face describes Gracie's feelings at some point each lesson

I'm glad they are over for now but in a few months Im sure we will do them again

The Past Week--sickness

Last Sunday Hallie came out of Primary crying that she was so tired and wanted to go home. Matt and I chalked it up to being tired from our busy 4th of July weekend but decided to take her home for a nap.We put both girls down for a nap and Matt packed for his business trip. Shortly after Matt left to catch his flight Hallie woke up and said she didn't feel well just before she threw up. We made her a bed on the floor and for the next 7 hours whatever she ate came back up. Im not going to lie not feeling well myself I was a little overwhelmed with the thought of taking on a sick kid. Luckily Gracie was perfectly cooperative and took a great nap, woke up, had dinner, and went back to bed so I really just had to worry about Hallie. So Monday we stayed home and took it easy. Hallie didn't throw up again but still wasn't quite herself she played games on my phone and watched movies most of the day. By Monday night Hallie was finally getting her appetite back and asked for pasta and sauce so thats what we had. Gracie was so funny she had 2 helpings they attempted to drink her alfredo sauce out of the bowl.

 Friday Tiff and Ris had come from Id to spend sometime with the rest of the family and everyone decided to go to the zoo. We got there just in time to eat lunch with everyone before going to explore the zoo. The animals were pretty lazy and sleeping....I always think they are more fun when they are more active. The weather was great and overcast for most of the day but when the sun came out if was HOT!

 Hallie loved holding hands(mostly with Kaylee) but was excited to see her cousins.

My sweet Gracie...how can you not love this sweet face

 After the zoo we headed back to Brits to BBQ and play in the water. Us girl mostly sat in the shade and tried to keep cool. Matt joined us a few minutes after we started eating and helped do some siding on Nick & Brit's shed.

 Livy was so sad when the big kids got on and she couldn't keep her balance to jump with them so I got on and helped her jump. I always remember my parents doing that with us when we were little and how fun it was.

 

 I didn't even make it to the freeway before these 2 were asleep we had a busy but fun day with family.

 Saturday early Matt got up and headed to Tremonton to put grandma's deck in. The girls and I slept in then got up and headed to join him. The girls had a great time with grandma and she was great to share her treats with them. Matt and Chris worked on the deck while the rest of us played.

 The tire swings are always a big hit and Saturday was no exception.

 Saturday evening it rained hard so Matt had to take a break from the deck. As we were sitting visiting and Gracie threw up twice then she acted fine. She threw up a few more times before we decided to head home. Once we got home we got the girls bathed and ready for bed and they both slept all night. Sunday morning about 9:30 Gracie started crying really hard and I went in to find her covered in throw up so we kept her home from church and took it easy. By Sunday afternoon she was once again her old self so we decided to walk to the nearby park and watch the fireworks that Weber puts on. We took glow sticks, popcorn, a blanket, and our camp chairs. Since we didn't make it to the fireworks over the 4th both of the kids were very excited.

The fireworks were a lot shorter than I remembered but the girls had a great time running around with other kids and playing with their glow sticks. Gracie was full of "ooh & aah's" for every firework.

 Once we got home and settled for bed Gracie's diarrhea started and continued through Monday with a slight fever. So once again we took it easy on Monday. Gracie slept quite a bit on Monday so I started refinishing some furniture and when Matt got home that night he built me some storage in the garage for the girls clothing totes. Now I have a closet with much more space. I love how handy Matt is.

Tuesday morning we got up and ready for swim lessons and I didn't feel very good. But the kids were excited about going swimming. Gracie and I are doing a mommy and me class and Hallie is doing level 1 at Weber. When we got home form swim lessons we found Matt had come home sick from work. Hallie and I mowed the lawn and put a couple more coats of paint on the furniture while Matt and Grace slept. By the time they woke up I was really feeling yucky. Matt and I spent the rest of our day on the couch making trips to the bathroom and throwing up. The kids did pretty well entertaining themselves but being sick with kids is really hard. I was thrilled when nap time and bed time came. Matt and I finally got our tummy's settled about midnight and headed to bed. Its much better today but certainly not 100%. I hate being sick and we have had our share of it lately. I feel like every time there is something to catch I get it, probably mostly because of my U.C. So here's to hoping for a healthier rest of the year.

18 Months

 This little spunky girl turned 18 months on the 6th. She is so full of life and busy-ness she definitely keeps us on our toes. She is growing and changing so quickly she has recently become super into dolls and babies. I found her doing this the other day and often find her toting around a dolly stroller and the diaper bag with all its accessories. She loves blankies(not one specifically just blankies in general) she is usually dragging one around with her. She also likes her binki and seems to becoming more attached to it...we will see if I decided to take it away sooner than later. She is a major climber and I often feel like I spend my days telling her to get down off of something(usually the dining table).

 As you can tell she has many faces and quite the bold personality. She can give some pretty mean crusties too if she wants but also give you a smile that lights up her whole face.

 She is a great eater and really isn't picky. I would say some of her favorites are guacamole(pictured below) she likes to eat it out of the bowl with a spoon. She also really likes bananas, spaghetti, and hotdogs. She now has 6 teeth on top and 6 on the bottom. We are getting rid of the bottle and she now only gets one before bedtime. She doesn't really care about it but I do. When she drinks her bottle its about the only time she will be still and cuddle for more than 30 seconds so I'm holding onto it for now. She is very loving and gives kisses and hugs freely. She has learned how to shut her mouth for kisses which makes them even cuter. She sleeps 10-12 hours at night as well as having 2 naps on a good day(sometimes only 1 long one) usually they last about 2 hours.  

She started nursery this week and did great once she saw that they had dolls and bottles. She is a pretty good sharer when it comes to Hallie or her cousins but she hasn't been around many other kids so we shall see how it goes. She is building quite the vocabulary and seems to pick up 1-2 words every couple of days. They include..please("ease"), puppy, hot dog, hi, hot, mama, dadda, hallie, eye, yeah, up, uh-oh, and ahh. She is super ticklish and laughs most of the time you brush her teeth. She walks around the house yelling for hallie now that she can say her name. They really are best friends. We attempted to take the front rail off of her crib but that didn't last long due to the fact that I don't think either of us are ready for that so it went back on pretty quickly. 

We love this little girl and the crazy fun she has added to our little family. She and Hallie are like 2 peas in a pod and I can't imagine what they would do without each other. Hallie has been sick today and I have been trying to keep Gracie away but all she wants to do is hug and kiss Hallie...super  cute but I don't want her sick either.

Our 4th of July Weekend

This year started out much like all the rest of our 4th of Julys due except my entire family was there! Nate had decided he wanted to spend his last one before leaving on his mission in Deweyville. We decided to sleep in and just get breakfast on the way at McDonalds and got to Deweyville just in time to set up for the parade. Hallie was so excited to see the fire truck and catch some candy. The parade was pretty short this year which was a little disappointing but they came past twice and we had a bag full of candy so all involved were thrilled.

 Since the parade was so short we had time before doing family picture to go ride the horses at Stevensons. This is Hallie's favorite she had been talking about it for days and how Brooke takes her on a ride on the horse. Luckily Brooke was happy to take her.

 And we still made it back for the airplane candy drop...I was thrilled we had gotten to do everything we had wanted before heading to grandmas for pictures

 New family pictures to come soon. After pictures we headed to Randy & Holly's house and the kids wasted no time getting in the pool. The water was so refreshing and the yard looked beautiful.

 After playing a couple hours the clouds came in and brought wind and rain so we packed up and headed for home for naps before heading to the fireworks. We never quite made it to the fireworks everyone was asleep before it even got truly dark...oh well maybe on the 24th. The 5th we headed to 7-peaks again with friends and after showering and getting cleaned up we went to join the rest of the family at Hailey's wedding reception at This is The Place Monument. I loved it...everything was beautiful and had a great party atmosphere. They served street vendor tacos(his favorite) and all kinds of milk & cookies(her favorite). The girls both wanted Nate to hold them but when I attempted to take a picture this is what I got.

 Humerous none the less

 After some awesome food we watched as they cut their cake and had their first dance then the party really started. They handed out glow necklaces and bracelets, dimmed the lights, and turned up the music. It was a  blast!!

 Hallie was trilled when Hailey told Hallie she needed 5 necklaces and gave her some more. We stayed til way past bedtime dancing the night away. On the way home from the reception the suburbans breaks sounded funny but it was late so we decided it could wait til Saturday. Saturday morning Matt took the tires off and found that one of the brakes had crumbled and was rubbing metal on metal. He ran to the store and got a new set and then fixed them. Hallie was excited to be daddy's helper. Gracie took a long nap while all this was going on. 

 By the time Matt was done we had missed out on BBQing at Kim & Ez's but it was something that had to be done. We ate lunch and decided to go see more parade of homes houses. We got home in time for dinner and bedtime. Over all it was a pretty quiet 4th but the things we did do we had a great time. I love holidays and the fact that Matt doesn't have to work...I really like having him around and I know Im not the only one.