August

We started our August at Harper's baptism and so happy that we could be there.  We had watched Spencer's baptism on Zoom in June but it was hard to hear and we missed being there.  I got to play the piano which is something I have really missed doing every week in Primary.  And since we were already there, we spent the afternoon at the pool.  Brynn was smitten by the Broadbent's new puppy, Toby.

Harper and Brynn

Jeff throwing Ivy

and Brynn

Molly drew the cutest picture for Harper.  We got it printed and gave it to her as a baptism gift.

 

Saturday and Sunday were our watering days for the pasture which inevitably meant that Justin and I were out moving pipe after we put kids to bed and when it was dark.  The sky was so pretty that night.

 

Parking your nose was a punishment from Justin's childhood...he had a teacher that made students do it in class!  That would not fly these days!  I don't remember what earned Brynn and Ivy a park your nose punishment but something did.  Most likely some pointless arguing.  I think they ended up laughing after having to do this for a certain amount of time!

Stockton set up a lemonade stand for Ivy.  Then all the kids went and got money from their piggy banks to buy a glass.
The next day, she wanted to make cookies.  I must have been in the middle of something and all the other kids were busy so Justin helped and they made them together.  She was so proud and my heart maybe melted a little at the daddy-daughter sweetness.

 

Stockton had his last baseball game on the first Monday in August.  I will admit that both Justin and I were happy that the season was over...Stockton could have kept going.  Stockton did so great-he is able to stay focused even when the rest of his team isn't.  There were a few games that he was pretty discouraged after but I was proud of him individually trying his best each game.

Coach Goodrich on the left, Stockton is two in from him

We tried slime again (we tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, during quarantine).  It worked slightly better than last time but I think I need a different recipe.  It's nice and slimy for a little bit but starts to harden and/or separate not long after that.
We did our annual lake night with our favorite family, the Webb's.  It was almost looking like it wouldn't work out so I'm happy we managed to find a night.

This is the only picture I got-Brynn and Justin attempting a headstand on the paddleboard

The next day, we picked up Kelton Webb and went down to the splash park at the bottom of Provo Canyon.  Molly opted to stay home and I don't blame her-the house to herself for an afternoon is a rarity and a luxury.  The kids played for a while and we got snow cones before heading home.  I love snow cone shacks that have $1 snow cones.

Stockton, Ivy, Brynn, Kelton

Stockton, Ivy, Brynn, Kelton

We had a picnic with our neighbors and friends, Shay, Maive, and Warren Pauley.  They were getting ready to move to Orem.  They have been on our street longer than us and we've become friends, despite our different views on so many things.  Shay has been a really good friend and I'm glad she's not too far. Also, her in-laws are moving into the house they left so she'll be around.

Ivy, Maive, Brynn

That night, I relaxed in the hammock after doing some yard work and just watched the kids play together on the tramp.  It was all very peaceful and lovely.

 

Brynn caught a grasshopper.

 

We went to the lake with the Steiner's.  This is also something we try to do each summer and, again, lucky we were able to finally find a day that worked for both of us.  The kids made a great sandcastle and spent time out on and in the water.  Stockton took his turn to have an afternoon at home by himself since the Steiner's don't have any kids his age.

Brynn and Carli

Brynn, Ivy, Carli

Carli, Brynn, Ivy, Molly, Samantha

 

One of the kids (Brynn or Ivy?) wanted to make a bike wash out of PVC pipe.  I innocently mentioned to Justin right before he was going on a Home Depot trip that he could pick up the supplies and we could make one.  He got the supplies and came home and we started assembling it right away.  Being the kind of guy he is ("go big or go home" on all projects) he quickly realized that the amount of supplies was only for a really small bike wash and it definitely needed to be bigger.  So after another trip to the store for additional supplies and a couple more hours of working, we had a pretty awesome bike wash.  Justin had other plans for that Saturday but gave them all up to make this with the kids.  What a guy!  They named it "Mister Magoo."

 

Molly wanted to do a giant cookie bake-off.  I had put it on the bucket list and it intrigued her.  We pulled up the cookie bake-off that the Our Best Bites cooking blog had done back in the spring but did it all in one day.  We did it on a Sunday afternoon, a Sunday that we had actually been to church that morning so we had all afternoon.  She made a chocolate chip (we did M&M), double chocolate fudge, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, and oatmeal chocolate chip.  After dinner, we did a taste test and voted on the favorite.  I think the oatmeal chocolate chip was the overall winner but they were all delicious.

 

Stockton likes pretzels and mustard for a snack but the rest of us think it is gross.

 

Since Justin and Molly had missed the hike with Gene, April, and Brett, we scheduled another hike with them on a night we could all be there.  We met them at the top of Guardsmans Pass this time to hike on a trail I have been wanting to hike for years.  We had tried Bloods Lake years ago but we went too early in the summer and it was too snow packed to get very far.  We figured we would be safe hiking it in August.  It was a fabulous hike, very much worth the wait.  The trail was dusty but the views were spectacular.  We ate our dinner at the lake and then hiked back down.  A very pleasant summer evening-the best kind, actually.

Molly, April, Ivy, Stockton

Gene and Brynn

Gene and Ivy

Ivy made friends with the squirrel this time!

Justin, Brynn, Stockton, Gene, Molly, Ivy, me, Brett, April

 

Molly went home with Gene, April, and Brett because her and April had planned a day to work on decorating cakes and cupcakes.  April was going to show her some techniques.  They brought her home the next day with all their creations.

 

Brynn is such a monkey-she loves to climb and she has absolutely no fear of heights.  This summer she figured she could climb to the top of the flag pole.  It comes easily to her and she can scramble up to the top super fast.

 

Our Getout Passes were good for 9 holes of golf at a course in Orem.  Justin took Molly and Stockton for a golf morning while I took the little girls to Park City for a little school shopping.

 

Molly made us dinner on the Sunday before school-the day before school, actually.  She had made this meal with Tiana when they stayed at Gene and April's in the summer and had been anxious to make it again.  Banh Mi Tacos...it was delicious!  Besides working the grill (lighting it), she did all the work herself.  That is definitely something I could get used to!

 

Toward the middle/end of August, we started to get tomatoes.  We hadn't made it this far last year since we had planted too late and the majority froze so I was excited to see those red tomatoes.  We got so many I didn't know what to do with all of them!  I used them as much as I could and gave away as much as I could but some went to waste.  I will definitely need to invest in some canning equipment.

 

Back in the spring/early summer, the General Young Women's organization released a video and challenged girls to do something with the number 150 in honor of 150 years of Young Women's in November of 2020.  Molly thought for a little while and decided that she wanted to collect 150 books.  At first she thought she would donate the books but that idea evolved into building a little free library for the collected books.  Justin was on board with her idea and they got their project started on the Saturday after she went back to school.  He had to help her put it together but she helped design it, picked out the paint colors, and did all the painting in her own.

 

We played with water balloons.  This was the last thing we checked off our bucket list, I believe.  It's hard to keep up when everyone is back in school and busy with their extra-curriculars.  But we did a pretty good job of checking off as much as we could!  I love summertime and all the things we can cram into it!

 

Some silly kids getting ready for home church.  Sometimes I am successful in getting them to understand that the living room is where we are going to take the sacrament (would you do that in the chapel?) but more often than not they are goofing around right up until we start.

 

One Sunday when we pulled into the church parking lot, we saw a hot air balloon trying to land in a grassy field at the back of the parking lot.  It missed the field and ended up landing on the street over, right in front of someone's house.  We thought that would have been pretty exciting for those people!  We stayed outside and watched it until we couldn't see it anymore.

 

We went to dinner at Gene and April's that last Sunday in August.  Dinner's at their house, especially in the summer, are always so pleasant and usually end with some sort of game on the lawn.  This time it was pool noodle wars.  The dads and uncles are always so fun to get up and play with the kids.

Luke, Brynn, Stockton, someone on the slide, Evie, Grandpa

Luke, Brynn, Stockton, same person on the slide-maybe Jake-Evie