June

Since school ended on the last day of May, "summer" began on the 1st day of June!  Because it was a Friday, I told the kids they could have the weekend to do whatever they wanted before a schedule started on Monday (meaning chores).  Ivy and Brynn wanted a tea party and Molly set one up for them.  She made it way fancier than I have ever done.

The Activity Days leaders planned a hike for the Mother-Daughter activity.  I think this is a genius idea!  It was the Saturday morning after school got out.  They didn't get a great turn-out and I felt bad about that but those of us that were there had a great morning hiking the Stewart Falls trail.  There were no girls Molly's age (they were all 8) but she seemed okay with that.

Peyton Sandlund, Lily Chappell, Molly, Chloe Mitchell

Stockton likes to eat mac and cheese straight from the pot.  I guess it saves me washing one more dish!

Mrs. Vanhouten had read Molly's class a book called The Breadwinner about a girl in Afghanistan who is not able to go to school...or something, I guess I need to read it!  Anyway, she also talked to the kids about an organization called The Malala Fund and after that discussion, Molly really wanted to do something to earn money for the foundation.  She started advertising to her class to have them bring money and she started to organize a bake sale in her head and amongst some of her friends.  One of the boys in her class (Dmitri, aka Dema) got on board with the bake sale and the two of them put something together.  Since we don't live in a high-traffic area, they decided to have it in Dema's neighborhood and they planned on holding it for three days.  Molly wasn't able to be there the entire time each day (she was busy with soccer try-outs and our hike) but she went each day for a couple of hours.  They even went door-to-door for a few hours on that last day.  When they tallied their money, they had earned $190 and that didn't even include the $60 or so they had earned the last week of school from classmates bringing in money.  I think they were surprised that they ended up with so much!  They sent all of it to the Malala Fund and I know that part of Molly would have liked to keep a little (she is saving up for a ukelele) so that was a very unselfish thing for both of them to do.

Molly and Dema Dyer

Sometimes I don't have captions for my photos.  This is one of them.  Brynn, June 3rd.

We took a Sunday afternoon and drove up the canyon a few miles to Whiskey Springs.  Brynn has been wanting to go back since I took her on a picnic date there two October's ago.  We were disappointed that no one has taken care of it.  The nice grassy area was all weeds.  But we still enjoyed walking on the little trail, playing football, and throwing rocks in the creek.

grass angels!

It is tradition that I take the kids to Plain City the first week of summer so they can swim in Grandma and Grandpa's pool.  After all piano lessons (I do 7 each week, divided between Tuesday and Wednesday mornings) and gymnastics were over, we headed up north.  We hung out on Wednesday night with the Broadbent's (my parents were doing their weekly work in the temple) and went to Gavin's baseball game but I told them they could swim all day on Thursday, as soon as they got up and had breakfast. They held me to that!  They were in the pool starting at 10 am and pretty much stayed in until 7 in the evening.  Molly and Gavin got out earlier than the others so they could go to Ben's baseball game.  Throughout the day, the Moyes's and the Walker's came and went as their schedules permitted but the Broadbent's stayed out all day with us.  We were happy that they cleared their schedule for us (although I think they were happy to do it!).

Ivy and Lucy

They are becoming the cutest little cousin-friends!

Brynn's first time trying her mermaid tail!

a break for lunch!

Tessa and Ivy

Brynn, Seth, Ivy, Lucy, Molly

Ivy got brave enough to do the slide on her own!

Chloe, Tessa, Abby, Molly

Stockton and Grant

Seth, Brynn, Stockton, Grant-these 4 lasted the longest.  I think they were secretly in a competition to be the last one out of the pool.

After all the swimming and dinner, we put to use the gift we gave my parents for Christmas (a projector and screen) and watched The Sandlot outside on the grass before tucking the older kids (Molly and Stockton, Gavin, Chloe, Tessa, Grant) into bed in the tent outside.  Brynn and Harper had a sleep-over in the toy room in the house.

Chloe, Siri (Chloe's friend), Abby, Gavin, Ben, Spencer, Molly, Tessa, Stockton, Grant, Seth, Brynn, Ivy, Harper, Grace

Ali wanted to try to meet and do a hike with the kids every other week so we took Friday morning to do that.  We hiked a little trail in Ogden, above the Mount Ogden Golf Course.  We didn't make it the whole way and I learned that Ivy still needs to be in the backpack for hikes.  My mom took Chloe, Molly, and Tessa and they were going to try to do the whole loop but couldn't figure out where to go so they ended up turning around but they did make it further than the rest of us.  We had some pretty views and after the hike, we went to Zeppys for a treat.

Chloe, Brynn, Harper, Seth, Tessa, Molly, Ivy

Brynn, Harper, Seth-I thought this was the neatest tree!

Brynn and Harper

Molly, Chloe, Tessa

Seth, Tessa, Brynn, Ivy, Harper, Lucy, Molly, Chloe

While we were hiking, Grandpa and Jeff took Gavin, Stockton, and Grant out on the boat for some fishing.  They were all successful in catching a fish (they got six total) and had lunch in Morgan after.  Stockton caught the biggest fish but he didn't want to touch it so my dad put it in a net for a picture.

We made it home later that afternoon-we had worn the kids out sufficiently that all four of them slept the entire drive home.  I listened to some podcasts and some music and had a wonderful, peaceful drive home.  I am glad that I am close enough to my family that we can visit often and make so many happy memories!

I am a little embarrassed that it took us so long to finish our Easter temple puzzle.  Those trees were hard!  I finally finished it one night when the kids were watching a movie and had Molly take a picture before I took it apart and put it away.

Justin was given tickets to a Salt Lake Bee's game.  We always jump at the chance to go to those.  We even got to take Brett with us since he was given 7 tickets.  Our entry included dinner before so we got there early to eat and stake out our seats.  Stockton wanted to sit down in front and it was a hot night until the shade finally found us.  Molly and Brynn and Ivy liked going back and forth between where we were sitting, the four folding chairs in front of us, and our AFCU Goodrich cousins who were also there (the other Molly Goodrich and Colby).  Stockton watched the entire game intently and tried so hard in between each inning to score a ball from the players as they were warming up but never got one.  We enjoyed some snow cones to cool us off and it happened to be a game with fireworks after so we got to go down on the field for that.  Ivy was not a fan of the fireworks and thought that they were going to fall down on her.  She cried the entire show-she has never done that.

It was Star Wars night!

trying to get a ball

I made some homemade scone dough one Sunday evening and since the dough can be kept in the fridge for several days, we enjoyed lots of yummy scones.  It made so much that I finally told Justin to bring his teachers over after Young Men's one night to finish it off.  They were very enthusiastic eaters!

I am amazed sometimes at how my kids can sleep in the car.  This looks horrible!  You can kind of see Ivy right next to her with her head leaning in towards Brynn's, almost touching heads with her.

Stockton finished up his baseball season with a win in Spanish Fork.  He has loved baseball this year, made a fun group of friends from the team, and is looking forward to another season this fall.  He is definitely a defensive player and so good at fielding the ball.  He has room for improvement with hitting and sometimes has the same problem as his older sister: lack of confidence.  But he does a great job.  Also, I cannot get over how cute he looks in his uniform.

They were kept happy with these popsicles.

He is front row, in the center.  #8.

My mom and dad always try to be as supportive as they can with our kids' sports.  They weren't able to come to as many games in Heber as they would have liked so they made the drive down to SF to watch that last game and then we had dinner at Culver's after.  Molly was happy to have Tayvree Titus to hang out with at the games (her little brother, McCoy, played on the team and her other sister, Evonee, was a perfect playmate for Brynn).

Tayvree and Molly

Molly maybe had a couple of girls at school who picked on her, but she has many, many, many friends.  She is a social girl and loves having friends over or being at a friend's house.  Roxy Tobler is a friend from Old Mill that she still hangs out with often and she is such a nice girl so I am happy about that.  They are excited to be reunited this year at middle school.

After a busy couple of days, I was needing a break from crazy so I told the kids that the following day would be no friends and no screen day.  They grumbled a little but then they all got on board.  I came home from taking Brynn to tumbling and running some errands to find them outside in the shade having what they called a "relaxing ceremony."  They couldn't wait for Brynn to join them.  They all declared that they liked the no-screen day and wanted to do it every Wednesday and they have done a good job at reminding me when Wednesday rolls around.

Ivy has enjoyed having the kids home and someone available to play with all the time.  The busy-ness sure does catch up to her though.  I unsuccessfully tried to keep her awake one night long enough to eat some dinner.  I thought of moving her somewhere more comfortable but I didn't want her to sleep too long so I left her there and she slept for about 30 minutes at the counter.

We tried our hand at bubble painting and found out that it didn't work that well so we resorted to regular painting.

Our first (of many, hopefully!) trip to the lake.  We went with the Steiner's.  It was a windy day but we still managed to have a good time.  The kids couldn't go out too far on their kayaks and the paddleboard but when it's just me, I would prefer them to stay closer to shore.

Carli, Brynn, Stockton, Ivy-those goggles kill me!

Brynn and Carli

Carli and Brynn

Molly took an art class from a soccer teammate's sister who is an art major at UVU.  It was a self-portrait class and this is what she drew.  I love it so much and love the personality Molly gave it.

Stockton and Brynn had a week of swimming lessons and they each passed their levels.  Hooray!  I promised Ivy that she could swim in the kiddie area on the last day and she loved doing that.  One more year and she can do lessons on her own.

The kids set up a bike wash outside.  They had a bucket of soapy water where they would wash your bike or scooter, then you'd ride through the sprinkler, and then go to the drying station.  They were so excited to get it all set up and then they stayed out there for all of 5 minutes.

Ivy wouldn't go directly through the sprinkler but preferred to skirt around the edge of it.

Our first campfire.  It was last minute but luckily I had some marshmallows in the back of the cupboard.  Molly was at a movie with a friend.  We used the new roasters my mom gave Justin for Father's Day (a week early because that's when we saw them).

We went to Gene and April's on the Saturday before Father's Day.  They had a new badminton net and that was definitely the hit for the night.  All the kids tried it.  Molly was really good.

Father's Day!  We (well, I) made Justin breakfast in bed.  Stockton requested that I make him eggs benedict, something I had made a few months before that both the boys really liked.  So I did that.  I made it, they served him.  He came down for gifts.  Our cooler was toast and wouldn't keep anything cold for very long so I bought him a new cooler.  We filled it with a Jazz shirt, a gray shirt in that cool fabric he likes, some bacon and egg socks, cards from his kids that they made at the library, and a few of his favorite treats.  They were so excited to watch him and show him everything.

He got put in as Young Men's President on Father's Day.  I told him it is payback for leaving Spanish Fork after being in that calling for only a few months.  He is not too stressed and genuinely enjoys being with the boys.  He will do a great job and I know that we will get blessings because of his sacrifices.  Before church pictures-I did a group shot but all the kids wanted individual pictures with him since that's what we did on Mother's Day.  He is rarely serious in photos.

We didn't go anywhere so I planned a feast for him.  I splurged on some rib-eye steaks-only two, I made the kids eat grilled chicken.  Justin grilled the meat and we also had grilled asparagus and grilled corn on the cob.  We had twice baked potatoes, watermelon, and Brazilian Lemonade.  For dessert I made homemade vanilla ice cream and had various toppings; I also bought some Aggie Ice Cream huckleberry flavor and that was really delicious.  Hopefully he felt special because he is and he deserves lots and lots of special treatment for all that he does around here!

Can't beat a summer rainstorm!

Our raspberry starts that we transplanted from my dad a few years ago are doing great and look like they are going to produce a whole bunch of fruit this summer.  Yay!  There were a lot of little starts that were coming up that we wanted to transplant to make another row of raspberries.  We made the kids help and turned it into family night.  They were pretty good at weeding and helping re-plant the starts but they were extra good at finding worms. Brynn especially loved finding them.

We went bowling at FatCats since it's only .99 games and .99 shoe rentals.  Molly and Stockton thought that they didn't need bumper lanes.  Stockton bowled two rounds and then went and requested bumpers.  Molly held out all 10 rounds but when they wanted to play another 10 rounds, she went and requested bumpers as well.  Brynn was funny to watch because she could barely carry the ball and would throw it as hard as she could.  Ivy would push it down the ramp and then jump up and down until it reached the pins.

Molly has been taking more care with her clothes and her hair.  All part of growing up.  She usually does her own hair-definitely nothing fancy but she is getting good at side braids and messy buns.  She did want me to do two dragon braids and it ended up looking so, so cute.  We'll see what she wants me to do coming up this next school year.

I told Brynn I would take her swimming for our date and she has been begging and begging for months now.  Justin was already planning on taking Stockton to see Incredibles 2 so I took Brynn swimming on the same night and left Molly and Ivy home.  We had a good time swimming around and doing the obstacle course at the pool and we got a Quench It drink and cookie on our way home.

Justin took Stockton to Incredibles 2.  I told him to make sure he took a picture and this is what I got.

Heidi introduced us to a great little spot in Provo Canyon called South Fork Park.  We met her there one afternoon and had a picnic and let the kids play.  It has beautiful views, a large grassy area to play in, several picnic tables and two pavilions, and a stream that runs around the perimeter for playing in.  It is my new favorite spot and we had such a fun day in the mountains playing in the water, exploring the trails around the water, and playing with the badminton set the kids had packed.  I can't wait to take Justin back!

Molly and Luke-Luke found a water balloon in the stream.

Jake, Evie, Brynn-the water was cold!

Eli and Ivy

Ivy, Brynn, Evie

Molly was brave enough to put her head in-some of the others tried it after she did.

Dad was already hard at work mowing the lawn when we got home.  Our grass is having its best year yet.  I have been vigilant at fertilizing and spraying for weeds.  We still don't have a sprinkler system so I am setting up hoses everyday but I have a pretty good system down-there are a few dry patches but overall it's looking so much better and makes me so happy.  This is the first year that we've needed to mow every week and that is a nice change.

The kids slept in the tent that night.  It was Stockton's idea from our bucket list but he was too nervous to sleep outside so I set it up in the living room.  Since they were inside, I even let Ivy join in the fun.  I was thinking they were going to be horrible at actually getting sleep but they did a lot better than I thought they would and got a good, full night's sleep.

Molly decided to sleep outside of the tent because it was a little crowded inside.

Molly did her swimming lessons the week after Stockton and Brynn.  I double checked with her that she really wanted to do it this year and she said she did.  She felt a little silly the first day because she thought she was the oldest in her class but after the first day they did some rearranging and then she didn't feel so silly.  She passed her level easily and liked the last day the best because they got to dive off the blocks.  In the end she had fun but I think she will be done with swim lessons for good now.

We met Ali and her kids in Salt Lake for our second "hike."  I say hike loosely, because this was less of a hike and more of just a fun outing.  She had looked up the best paved trails around our area because she thought it would be easier if we could use strollers for Lucy and Ivy and she found one called the City Creek Trail in Salt Lake.  It looked really neat and so pretty so we planned on meeting at the capital and letting the older kids ride the trail on their scooters.  We looked around the capital and had a picnic on the lawn before we hit the trail.  We thought we had found the right trail but I don't think we ever did.  We rode down the trail to Memory Grove Park and then down towards downtown Salt Lake.  We got to North Temple and Ali thought maybe we should have gone east but we had a couple of kids who really needed a bathroom so we went west towards the Church History Library so we could use the bathrooms.  When we headed back we got lured into the Brigham Young Gardens and stayed there for a while.  It was really pretty and peaceful in there and neither of us had ever been there, or even noticed it there before.  Seth had a pretty nasty fall on his scooter there so we decided to head back to the cars.  It was pretty steep uphill and Seth was done with the day so I ran up the hill while everyone else waited/played in the stream and then I piled everyone in my car (along with two strollers and six scooters!) and drove them back up to the capital where we called it a day and went our separate ways.  It didn't turn out exactly how either of us planned but it was a fun day and something new for us.  The kids were happy just being together so I would still say it was a successful day!

 

This is where we picnicked.  Such a pretty view!

Grant, Stockton, and Brynn

Molly and Gavin

Gavin, Seth, Lucy, Molly, Ivy, Brynn, Grant, Stockton-none of the other cousins could come that day and it was probably a good thing.  It would have been absolute chaos with 8 more kids!

Brynn, Gavin, Grant, Stockton, Molly-at the Brigham Young Garden

Lucy and Ivy

Lazy summer days often look something like this:  pajamas all day (or swimsuit!), hair not combed, and doing our practicing outside.

The older three kids went off to Grandkid Camp which left Ivy home alone with me for a couple of days.  We went to pick up some groceries and ran into Justin, who was just leaving to grab some lunch.  We decided to join him and get groceries later.

Justin had Young Men's that night so I decided to take Ivy on a bike ride.  I started on one of my favorite streets in Heber, Little Sweden Road, which is just one street over from ours and then made a big loop. That area still has lots of fields that haven't been subdivided and I love seeing the fields with their sprinklers, the mountains behind them, and the sunlight streaming down over it all.  The picture is not great but you can get a glimpse of how pretty it is up here.  I stopped about halfway around the loop to get a drink and noticed that Ivy was completely asleep.  She nodded off and on the rest of the way home!

Justin happened upon us as he was dropping boys off and was laughing so hard at Ivy's bobbing head as he approached us from the back.  She was still kind of out of it but perked up when she saw her daddy!