July

We had not had a chance to plant anything in the greenhouse that Justin built last year.  Up until that point it was just sitting empty.  I was getting worried because the USDA people (who we got the grant through) told us that anytime in the first year they could come and check to see what was planted and how and if we hadn't followed the guidelines, they could call the grant to be paid in full.  The prospect of that was stressing me out big time.  We had a friend that kept saying he was going to bring his tractor over to till up the dirt in there but he kept no-showing on us.  We couldn't really say anything because he was going to do it for free but it was a little frustrating.  Finally my dad felt bad for us and said he would bring up his really good tiller and help me get it planted.  I soaked the back half overnight for three nights in a row and the soil got nice and saturated and soft for him.  He tilled for about an hour and then had the kids come out and help us plant (he had brought Harper and Grant up with him).  He had picked out a bunch of plants and we ended up planting about half of the greenhouse in a few hours.  I was so appreciative of his help-I couldn't do it without him and Justin had his own projects that were stressing him out.  I have been the greenhouse lady this summer and that's a job that I don't mind.  The plants have grown so big and so quickly that it's been fun to go out every other day to water and check the plants.  We are going to have so many tomatoes that I won't have a clue what to do with them!

Grandpa, Grant, Stockton

Ivy, Molly, Brynn, Harper

Grant, Brynn, Stockton, Harper, Ivy

Brynn and Harper-horse on loan from a friend to eat down our pasture.

We went to America First night at the Orem Owlz game.  If you showed an America First debit/credit card, you got four free admissions.  Justin and I split up the kids and went in separately so it was a cheap activity for our family.  We love a baseball game in the summer!  We sat on the grass and the kids tried to get the players to toss them a ball in between innings when they were warming up.  Each time there would be a huge crowd of kids and ours were not having much luck.  Brynn had spent some time earlier that afternoon coloring an Owlz picture and she kept holding it up hoping they would notice her among all the older, rowdier boys.  They didn't.  The Owlz worker/usher noticed her and towards the end of the game worked it out so that Brynn got a ball.  She was excited.  In the last couple of innings we moved behind center field and tried to catch any home runs or stray foul balls.  Molly and Stockton jumped a fence (not on the field) and tracked a ball down.  I was nervous they would get in trouble but no one said anything.  After the game, the kids were able to go out on the field and run the bases.

so focused on the game.

Stockton spent all of one afternoon making a Lagoon in our yard.  He was very creative and made it fun for Brynn and Ivy.

We went back to Seven Peaks with Heidi and her kids.  The big kids ride slides all day.  Brynn goes between the lazy river and the wave pool, as does Ivy.  I stick close to them.  Tiana and Molly took Ivy and Eli on some slides but they brought Ivy back because she was too short.  You can see that Eli has a few inches on her.  Being the thrill-seeker that she is, she was devastated.

This was before they went to try the slides.  She was definitely not this happy when they brought her back.

Molly got to stay in Plain City after the 4th.  This is her holding a turtle that Christopher brought home.

My mom made it work so that all the grandkids were able to have a weekend at the cabin with just the cousins that were their age.  Molly went first with Chloe and Abby.  They went to an outdoor concert, rode bikes, had shakes, played at the lake, went on a Rhino ride, and went to church on Sunday morning with Grandma and Grandpa.  You couldn't find three better girls than these three and I'm so glad they are best friends.

Molly, Chloe, Abby

Molly, Chloe, Abby

Chloe, Molly, Abby

Chloe, Abby, Molly

Grandpa, Molly, Abby, Chloe

Molly, Chloe, Abby

Abby, Chloe, Molly

 We went up to Plain City that Sunday afternoon to pick Molly up from my parents and have dinner.  We were also making a long drive up into Idaho the following morning so that put us a little closer to our destination.  We had dinner at Bryce and Erin's and the kids played soccer in the backyard.

Molly, Harper, Tessa, Abby, Stockton, Seth

Molly, Abby, Gavin, Stockton, Ben

Harper, Abby, Brynn, Gavin, Tessa

Hagrid had another litter of kittens!  We figured that she had and that she was keeping them underneath the woodshop so we were super excited when she felt they were old enough to come out so we could meet them.  She had 5!  We thought she was pregnant from the same male cat but after we saw them, we weren't so sure since none of the kittens from this litter look like the kittens from last summer's litter.  Even though we weren't going to keep all of them, the kids named them anyway.  They each chose a name and we came up with the fifth one together.  Ivy named the small white one Snow White, Brynn named the cute gray-spotted one Charlotte (because we were reading Charlotte's Web together), Stockton named the black one Vader (as in Darth Vader), and Molly named the bigger white one Coconut.  The last one-black with some markings-we named Olive.  They have been so fun to watch this summer!

Vader, Coconut, Snow White, Charlotte, Olive

Stockton is not as cuddly with them as the girls...he is not an animal lover in general and more like me in that way.  Not to worry, though, there has been no shortage of love and snuggles from the girls.

Brynn helps me the most in the greenhouse.  She's been out there more this summer than any of the other kids put together.

Brynn had been wanting to go mini golfing all summer so I finally found a free day to take the kids to do that.  We went down to the spot just at the bottom of Provo Canyon.  It was good but I still want to find a true mini golf course-with obstacles and structures and the works.  Both times that I have taken my kids mini golfing, I have seen their true personalities come out and it is funny to see.  We were happy that they had a snow cone shack with kid-sized $1 snow cones.  The perfect size, if you ask me.

Molly wanted to do her best and would keep trying until she thought that she did well enough to move on.

Ivy makes up her own rules.

Brynn does her best but is good with whatever.  Lots of giggles from her.  No discouragement if it takes longer to get the ball in the hole.

Stockton is easily frustrated if he's not doing as well as he thinks he should and can get mopey.

Brynn was obsessed with the kittens and was always out playing with them.  She had little scratches all up and down her arms and on her chest.

She bought the umbrella with her own money.

Summer going, going, going caught up to Ivy one day.  The kids had spent all afternoon setting up a magic show (even Molly!).  The house was a wreck but I just went with it and encouraged the creativity.  They gave us their performance that night and cleaned up the following morning.

We had spent three days in a row at a lake at our Goodrich family reunion but we had not made it to Deer Creek yet. That was making me sad so I finally loaded up the kids and took them to the lake.  Molly didn't want to go and had the house to herself for an afternoon.  I told the other kids that we had to stay for 2 hours.  It was a little windy, which was too bad, because it's harder to handle the paddleboard and kayak in the wind.  I finally told them that we had to at least paddle over to the wibit (inflatable obstacle course) so Stockton took Ivy on the kayak and Brynn paddled the little paddleboard while I swam behind them.  I always try to get in at least once at the warmer lakes.

Stockton's baseball team played in a two-day tournament here in Heber.  They played four games and lost 3 which meant they didn't go on into the championship brackets.  But the game they did win was super exciting-a come-from-behind win.

playing shortstop

on the pitcher's mound

We let Stockton's hair get a little too long so this is what it looked like when Justin finally got around to cutting it.

Ivy enjoyed this windmill that came in a lunch meal.  Her pigtails were so crazy that day.  We were in between baseball games. 

The bathroom project took a lot longer than planned.  Life just got a little crazy there for a while and Justin didn't have much time to work on it.  He got a second wind on it in July and it is mostly finished now.  We only have the trim left to do but that will probably get done when we do some other trim in our living room this fall.  It's hard to get a good picture but this is basically it.  I really love it.  You can't see the floor but it is a darker gray tile that basically looks like hardwood flooring.  I don't know how else to describe it but it is so pretty and I am so happy with how everything came together.

Justin built some floating shelves above the toilet and he was demonstrating how strong they were by sitting the girls up there.

He built the frame around the mirror and the wreath holder/frame thing.  He's amazing.  Now I need to decorate the shelves.

That hand towel is old.  I bought dark grey and new, crisp white towels.

Brynn picked Charlotte's Web for our book to read together and we finished it up in July.

We usually do Come, Follow Me at the kitchen table so the kids can sit up, write in their notebooks, and overall pay attention better but this particular Sunday was too hot in the kitchen. Justin moved us upstairs to the loft where it's cooler when the window unit is on.

Stockton got his turn to go to the cabin next.  He went with Grandma and Grandpa, Ben, Gavin, and Grant.  They went to church (all the heart eyes for those boys in their white shirts), had a campfire, went golfing, and played at the beach.  Stockton also got to go on a morning hike with the Broadbent's before my mom and dad brought him home.

Grant, Stockton, Gavin, Ben

Stockton and Grant

Stockton, Ben, Gavin, Grant-apparently Stockton is a really good golfer.  At least that's what everybody told me.  Maybe we have him in the wrong sport.

Gavin and Stockton

Grandpa, Ben, Gavin, Grant, Stockton-it's official: Stockton is shorter than Grant.

Grant, Gavin, Lucy, Stockton

Lucy, Seth, Gavin, Grant, Stockton

Molly wanted to make something in the kitchen one Sunday and, after looking through one of my cookbooks, she settled on sopapillas.  I dislike frying but didn't want her working with hot oil so she talked Justin into helping her with that part.  Molly made the dough and rolled them out, Brynn carried them to Justin, and Justin did the frying.  They were delicious!

We often assign Come, Follow Me sections to Molly and Stockton after dinner on Sunday and give them some time to read and prepare before we gather as a family for discussion.  Molly is thorough in her preparations.

Brynn thought it was funny to put all the kittens on Justin.  I didn't get a picture of all 5 of them but they were fun to watch as they explored.  It really is so fun to watch their little personalities emerge.

Shay, Maive, and Warren Pauley came over to visit for a bit and do a cute fairy craft with the girls.

I took the girls to Lagoon while Stockton was at the cabin.  We weren't sure any cousins were going to be able to meet us so Molly took a friend just in case.  The Walker's ended up meeting us and we stayed late that night.  I never get any pictures of Molly at Lagoon because she's off having fun on the big rides while I'm with the littler crowd.

Harper, Brynn, Ivy

Ivy, Brynn, Josie, Harper

Harper and Brynn

Molly, Caroline Turner, Chloe, Tessa

 This is Olive.  Molly originally named this kitten Oliver Twist but Justin thought she was a girl so her name got switched to Olive.  I like her coloring and markings but she is skittish so we are giving her away. (Update: she went to our bishop, along with Vader.)

These girls like to watch Dad build stuff but the noise is a bit much.  When Stockton was 2, he called the red ear muffs that block out noise "ear musk-es" and the name has stuck.  (Along with mac-and-cheese-and-roni (Molly), flushies for slushies (Brynn), and mountain poop for Mountain Dew (Ivy)-just to name a few).

Brynn got her turn to go to the cabin.  We just swapped when my parents dropped Stockton off.  Her special cousin was Harper and Spencer and Seth got to go at the same time.  Brynn got to go to the Ogden Pioneer Day Rodeo before they headed up to Bear Lake and that was awesome for her.  Justin despises rodeos so our kids have never been to one.  She also got to ride the Walker's horse, Woody, learn how to lasso, have a campfire at the cabin, go on a Rhino ride, go to the lake, and paint rocks.  It was a sacrifice for my mom to take all these smaller groups up and it was sometimes hard to work around schedules but they had so much fun so the memories made were worth the effort.

Brynn and Harper

 

Harper, Brynn, Seth, Spencer

Seth, Spencer, Brynn, Harper

Seth, Spencer, Harper, Brynn

Brynn and Harper

Molly had a soccer tournament the weekend after the 24th.  It was the Park City Cup so all her games were here in Heber.  She played great, they have new coaches, and it is just all around so much better and enjoyable.  She ended up playing for both teams again this year but the difference between spring and fall is 100 times better.  Her love for soccer has definitely been rekindled and I'm seeing her confidence grow by leaps and bounds.

I took Ivy on her date.  We kept it simple.  I took her to the duck pond in Midway and let her feed the ducks.  Then we got snow cones.  Right after I ordered the snow cones, it started pouring so we had to eat them in the car.

We planted some daisies last year and they came in huge this year!  They were taller than almost everything else in that flower bed and I enjoyed them very much.  I should have taken the picture at less of an above angle because it is really hard to tell how tall they actually were!

Justin was given tickets to the demolition derby for our whole family.  We were able to do this a few years ago and had a lot of fun so we were excited to go back.  I think almost all of Heber shows up to the derby (the tickets sell out fast!) so we were lucky to get to go this year.  It was a beautiful night in the valley and there was fireworks to boot!

watching the sun set over the mountains behind Midway

the girls loved cheering for the "Baby Shark" car-driven by a girl, too!