June

June 1st was a Saturday, and Saturday's for our family are work days, with a few exceptions.  Summer Saturday's=a lot of yard work.  We had had rain almost every single day for the last two weeks of May so it felt good to finally get outside and work.  Justin dusted off the trimmer and went all around the yard...no easy task.  The kids were tasked with raking leaves away from the fence, under the main sprinkler pipe.

The first week of summer was swimming lessons.  Molly is too old and Stockton didn't want to do it this year but Ivy was finally old enough to do her own session.  She was pretty excited to go every day.  Brynn was excited too but it wasn't a new thing for her.  Ivy passed level 1 easily and Brynn passed her level as well. 
Molly also headed off to her first Girl's Camp.  She had been anxiously awaiting the day for almost a year and was so excited.  She got a little nervous the night before but not too bad and it left her as soon as we showed up to the camp director's house that morning.  It was a Stake Camp at the Heber Valley Camp and she had the best week!  She loved everything about it, but mostly loved being with the other girls in our ward and getting to be better friends with those she already knew, and friends with those she didn't!  I was happy for her to be there but happy for me when she got home.

Kelsey Larsen, Samantha Steiner, Elayna Knowles, Ashlyn Loerstcher, Pallas Anderson, Molly

Justin and I were invited to special barbecue in honor of Spencer Cox, current Lieutenant Governor of Utah who is running for Governor next fall.  Justin is on the Chamber of Commerce board for Heber and works closely with the man who is head of the Republican Party up here-he is also in our ward. 😉 Anyway, we were sort of famous since this picture was posted on his Twitter feed...or somewhere important, I don't do Twitter.

We are on the far right, about second or third in

Sprinklers under the tramp with the Anderson's is a summer must that the kids got done in the first week!

Ivy, Stockton, Raylie, Easton, Corbin, Brynn

Back in the spring, Heidi alerted me to the $10 Pass of all Passes.  I asked the kids if they wanted to pay for their own passes and they definitely did.  Molly was at camp but I wanted to go check out Seven Peaks (which is open this year after being closed last year) so I took the other three and we played for a few hours.  Stockton definitely decided that he would like it better with Molly since Brynn is too short to go on most of the slides.  Brynn liked the wave pool.  I don't end up taking pictures while I'm there but I had to document that we went so I snapped one as we were leaving.

Our oven died in May and so we had to (yay!!!) get a new one.  I was not a fan of the old oven so I was pretty excited.  The oven was gas which I didn't like and the stove top was stained past repair so it just looked gross.  So when the oven stopped heating up I was happy to throw it away and get a new one.  We did a dual oven this time (gas range and electric oven) and I am loving the new oven so, so much.  Since we were replacing the oven, we decided to throw in a new dishwasher at the same time.  Our dishwasher worked fine (for being close to 20 years old) but the racks were rusted out and there were big holes everywhere.  You had to load it just right so that dishes didn't fall through the holes.  It feels great to have new appliances.  Since we have replaced all appliances (and a roof) in this house, we should be good for a good, long while.

We brought the bucket list back this year but, with our Seven Peaks passes and our Lagoon passes, we haven't done a lot of activities from it.  Stockton wanted to go geocaching so I took the kids to the library one afternoon and then we found a geocache.  It was in a milk can in someone's yard and it was super cute.  It made us want to make a geocache somewhere close to us!  Raylie Anderson came over to play right as we were leaving so we just brought her along with us.  Molly was gone at Camp so we just plugged Raylie in for Molly.

Raylie, Ivy, Brynn, Stockton

When we got home from that, they really wanted to set up a lemonade stand.  I always try to discourage them from this because our road is a dead end street and there is very little traffic.  But I let them go ahead this time and they had three customers-me, Nicole (Raylie's mom), and John, our neighbor on the other side.  They were happy with splitting the money that they earned so I'd say it was a success.

Molly got home on Friday morning, just in time to see Justin and Stockton for 10 minutes before they headed to Vernal for a baseball tournament.  She was tired and wanted to relax most of the day but we did take an afternoon trip to Midway to get doughnuts at Judy's doughnuts.  We ate them at the park.  Look at the size of that fritter!  Molly and I shared it and it was yummy.  Judy's is new and is the cutest little house on Midway Main Street that has been fixed up...we will definitely be visiting again.

We had a girl's night for our movie night that night and Molly braided a "Jedi braid" in everyone's hair...a trick she learned from camp.  She did a good job...they all lasted several weeks.

The girls came out looking like this when I was mowing the lawn one morning.  It wasn't the first time they've done something similar, nor was it the last.

We only had Molly home for one day before she left us again.  Erin wanted to surprise Chloe for her birthday so I took Molly to meet them in Park City where they did some birthday shopping (Chloe was 13 on the 15th) and then Molly went to stay with the Walker's for a few days.

She found this shirt and texted Grandma to see if it would work for their 4th of July shirt.

 

 

  Since she was going there, Erin decided to send Harper to us and we got Harper for a few days.  They wanted to do some sidewalk chalk but I didn't have any so we made some sidewalk paint out of cornstarch, water, and food coloring.

I had to go to the grocery store that night and since Justin wasn't back yet, I had to take all three girls.  They thought it was funny that they could fit in this cart and giggled the entire time.

Stockton finished up his tournament in Vernal.  He and Justin got some good father-son bonding time.  They stayed with Justin's cousin in Tridell and stopped in and visited with a couple of his aunts in Vernal.  Stockton pitched one of the games-out of the 9 total outs, 8 of the outs were strike-outs by Stockton.  Justin was so proud.

Coach Tim Titus, Jackson Allen, William Brereton, Will Winterton, Trevin Tatton, Coach JR Tatton, McCoy Titus, Coach Wade Webster, Hawkins Webster, Locke Ericksen, Ben Mahoney, Stockton, Charlie Hansen

Stockton, Hawkins, Charlie, Trevin, William, Ben, Jackson, Will, McCoy, Locke

They wanted to make cupcakes on Sunday afternoon.  Funfetti.  I let them frost them all by themselves.

Harper, Brynn, Ivy, Stockton

We took Harper down to show her the creek and to throw rocks in the water.  Then back home for a campfire and some playtime in the yard.

 

My mom and dad had been baby-sitting the Broadbent kids while Jeff and Ali were in Europe and June 10th was Lucy's 3rd birthday.  My mom wanted to do something special for her big day so we met them at the zoo.  It was a typical day at the zoo...animals, bird show, carousel, train, cousins...so lots of fun.  Every night when I tuck Ivy in bed, I ask her what she wants to do the next day and she almost always says, "go to the zoo with Lucy."

Ivy, Seth, Gavin, Stockton, Brynn

These sculptures were new at the zoo this year.  There were several and they are all made out of garbage.  The kids had fun seeing the different things they could find in them...like construction helmets, utensils, water bottles, etc.  Grant, Brynn, Harper, Stockton, Gavin

Lucy, Seth, Gavin, Stockton, Grant, Brynn, Harper

Lucy and Ivy

Harper and Brynn

Gavin, Grant, Stockton

Stockton, Grant, Gavin, Harper, Brynn, Seth, Lucy, Grandpa

That night, Stockton had a late game.  With a start time at 8:30, it's well after 10 before we even get in the car to start home.  The girls all zonked within minutes of our drive home.

Brynn, Harper, Ivy

Ali had asked me to go to her house and baby-sit her kids from Tuesday-Thursday on the second week they were gone.  Those are the days my parents have shifts at the temple.  So after my piano lessons were done on Tuesday, I loaded up the kids and headed to Plain City.  This worked out well since I always try to take the kids up for a swim day that first week of summer.  Since Molly was at Camp the first week, we would have gone that week regardless.  We swam all day on Wednesday.

Gavin, Grant, Stockton, Seth, Brynn, Lucy, Molly, Ivy

Seth, Lucy, Brynn, Molly, Ivy

Grant and Stockton

Brynn and Grace

On Thursday we went to Lagoon-just us, Grandma, and the Broadbent kids.  There weren't enough adults to split up and go with every group so we let Molly and Gavin go off by themselves.  Molly had a watch on and so we just told her where and when to meet us.  Brynn was a little bummed that she couldn't do some of the bigger rides so I took her and Ivy to the log flume.  We didn't weigh enough to get very wet but then I took some kids on Rattlesnake Rapids and they got a little wet doing that.  At the end of the day, we were waiting for Molly and Gavin's group to meet us at the fountains and the kids couldn't resist.  Brynn and Ivy were soaked...it was a good thing I had all our bags in the back of the car so they could put on dry clothes for the ride home!

Seth and Brynn

Grant and Stockton

Ivy, Lucy, Brynn

Grant, Lucy, Brynn

Brynn and Grant

Only on a shopping trip with dad:

Justin has been collecting pallets for a while and we have quite a few out by the greenhouse.  He wants to build a compost bin out of them eventually but lent a few to the kids to turn into American flags.  We spent the bulk of one Saturday painting four of them...one for us, one for each of the grandpa's for Father's Day, and one extra that the kids want to sell.  Brynn and Molly worked on one while Stockton and Ivy (with a little mom help) worked on the other two.  I did the stars.  They turned out so cute!  I love the one in our yard so much.

After our painting session, we grabbed a couple of pizzas and headed up into the mountains for a hike.  We ate the pizza in the car.  We hiked in Midway behind the Dutch Fields subdivision.  When we got to the top, we could see the Heber and Midway valleys all around us and Deer Creek at the top of our view.  It was beautiful and I am so happy to live in such a beautiful part of the world.  Hard to believe that at one point in my life, I didn't think that I wanted to live here.  I don't think that anymore.  This was Ivy's first hike not in the backpack-her legs got a little tired on the steep incline but she did a great job.

Heber side

Midway side

Since we were so close to Wasatch Mountain State Park (technically, we hiked in the park), we couldn't go home without Justin taking the kids to hunt for golf balls.  I stayed in the car and read because they said they would be really quick and because that activity is mostly a dad activity.  They ended up taking 45 minutes and found close to 100 balls.

Father's Day-

For Father's Day breakfast, Justin requested some sort of egg casserole so I made croissant-egg muffins with a side of bacon (I think???).  We gave him a padded bleacher seat so he can watch Stockton play baseball more comfortably, a T-shirt that says "Home of the Brave" (because he loves Braves baseball and because Stockton was getting the same shirt from Grandma for the 4th of July), and some of his favorite treats.  He didn't have to go to any meetings that morning.  After church we went to Gene and April's for a barbecue.  April got Gene a barbecue apron that bordered on inappropriate but was actually hilarious.  Especially if you know Gene.  Justin does better pictures with the kids than I do.

Justin, Gene, Eric, Brett

Brynn got to go to Activity Day Camp at This Is the Place park in Salt Lake.  Isn't she the cutest?  She had so much fun.  Her activity days leaders are pretty awesome and so organized and she is loving every time she gets to go.

Ariah Speredon, Carli Steiner, Brynn

West Ellingford, Hayley Smith, Brooke Turman, Ariah, Lily Chappell, Mahala Speredon, Haylie Knowles, Carli, Haylie McPhie, Avery Coleman, Brynn, Brielle Loertscher

Stockton finished his baseball season, or at least I thought he had.  My mom and dad came down to see that last game, even though it was a late one, starting at 8:30.  The wind came up and it got quite chilly!  The fold-up wagon that Justin won at a golf tournament a couple of years ago has to be one of the most-used items at our house with and the soccer and baseball games we go to and we laughed at Ivy squished in there with all the extra stuff when the game was over.

I had bought my dad a Wasatch t-shirt for his birthday so he could wear it when he was supporting Stockton.  He wore it that night just like a great grandpa would but it was so cold he had to cover it up with his Dodger's pull-over.  Stockton and my dad have a rivalry over their teams (Braves vs. Dodger's) and they always tease each other over it.

 

We went back to Seven Peaks again.  I let the kids get a tube this time.  We met Heidi there with her kids.  The lazy river was open this time (although the newer kiddie pool has been closed every time except the first time).  The kids had a lot of fun and I took one blurry picture of Brynn and Molly coming off one of the slides.  Stockton has a lot more fun when he has Molly or a cousin to ride the slides with.

We had our turn for "Scripture Breakfast" at our house.  Once a month on a Sunday morning, the priests gather at someone's house for breakfast and a scripture discussion.  We made pancakes and planned on a large crowd but not as many showed up so we had lots and lots of batter left over.  Which was fine-we made the pancakes and froze them and I have pancakes for the kids for several weeks.  Justin made one huge pancake when he got down the the last of the batter.  It was tricky to flip!

Stockton and Ivy acted out "fisher's of men" for Come, Follow Me family study.

Heidi and Camille brought their kids up for an afternoon of play.  It was not super warm for end of June but they wanted to do water balloons so we did.  We grilled hot dogs, had watermelon and chips, and leftover birthday cake from Stockton's birthday the previous day.

We went back to Lagoon but spent the day at Lagoon-a-Beach.  I would have been okay not doing the beach this year since we have 7 Peaks passes but all the other cousins were doing it.  We went to the beach a couple of years ago and didn't really like it but it was much better this time around.  The littles liked the lazy river and the kiddie pool and the bigger kids couldn't stay off the slides.  They don't heat the water though so it is cold!  I realized I didn't take any pictures while I was there so I had to get one of all of us as we were leaving just to document that we had been that day.  Ali posted the one of Lucy and Molly a few days later on our photo-sharing app.

Molly and Lucy

Each of the kids wanted to take a turn making dinner so I showed them some simple recipes and they each picked one.  Brynn went first and made French Bread Pizza (good).  Molly made Fettuccine with ham and peas (good) and Stockton made orange chicken with broccoli (not my favorite but not because of anything he did-it just wasn't very flavorful).

notice the new oven!

Justin and I finally made it out on a sorely needed date.  Schedules lately had not been conducive to them.  We didn't do anything fancy...just a Mexican food truck and then some driving around to find a trail that I had heard about.  We walked the first little bit of it but not much since I was wearing sandals.  But enough to once again enjoy the beauty of where we live.  I haven't made it back with the kids but hope to soon!

Molly and I ran the 5K that was part of the Heber Half.  She has been wanting to do a 5K for a long time.  It was a run for autism and Molly dedicated her run to Cam (she wrote his name on her race bib).  We signed up the day before and I did no training.  Molly plays plenty of soccer so I knew she'd do fine.  I actually did great and felt great the entire time!  I'm sure my time won no medals (I don't even know what my time was) but I had a lot of fun.  I loved running with Molly and we plan on doing it again. 

We dog-sat Zoe for a weekend while Eric and Heidi went to San Diego for their anniversary.  She is old and mild and easy to take care of but it made me appreciate Cash much more.  Zoe is just big.  I could never do a dog that big.  My first year with Cash was rough but I am very much attached to him these days.

 We ended our month with one of our favorite pastimes...baseball out in the yard.  Never gets old for that guy right there.