Lazy Days of Summer

Summer has been good to us here. We have enjoyed nice weather for numerous days in a row and continue to dream that it'll stay like this through Oct as it did in our previous residence. However, I have a feeling we'll all fall in love with Fall as soon as it arrives as well. Not thinking the same about winter, but one step at a time.Boston enjoying Liberty Park.

McCoy catching some zzzs at Rockport State Park. (Chad fishing with the older one's in the background)

Kayden blocking the sun poolside at our complex.

Swimming Pastimes

Water is on the brain! We have spent almost every day the past month or so in the water. We've taken full advantage of the pool here in our complex and have also been in swim lessons the past week and a half. Both of them swim well and even Boston looks like a little dolphin as he sticks his head under and moves his arms and legs to get to me. Kayden does strokes and would spend all day in the pool if he could. I haven't attempted to take my 5 month old in. I'm waiting until at least 6 months old, as I still feel like he's so fragile to go in a public pool. The early hospital episode probably gave me a complex, but he manages well as long as someone is paying attention to him. Being outside is good for all of us and we have a lot of fun splashing and laughing together and making wonderful memories.

Are you good now?

Yesterday, it was nearing naptime and our realtor calls. House hunting is a sore subject for me right now as we wait for a LONG "short sale" process and are also starting to look elsewhere. Thus, talking to our realtor puts me a bit on edge. I've asked the boys to pick a book and get ready for nap, but of course, they decide to rip all the covers off the beds, throw random toys around the room - all in fun to their 2 and 5 year old minds. When I entered the room after the call, needless to say, I was not a happy camper. In a not so nice voice, I had them clean everything up and soon they were ready for naptime. Boston gets really distraught when people yell at him and just starts balling. After getting things in the room in order, I shut the door and left Boston to cry in bed while I went to cool down. I went back in and was calmly ready to read his book and sing a song so he could drift off to sleep like he does so well and he says to me, "Are you good now?" Then it clicks, they weren't being bad - they were just being silly kids. THEY could care less if their room was in order. It was ME who had the issue and the question really sunk in. I smiled and answered him with a kiss, a 'sorry', an 'I love you' and a simple, "Yes, I'm good now." Thank goodness for my children in my life to bring me back to what really matters!

My Boston

Reunion and Dino Week

Last week we went to the Kent Hutchings Family Reunion in Flagstaff, AZ. We camped, road a chair lift at a ski resort, went to the Grand Canyon, had a night of skits and games, played and chatted every minute. The boys say the highlight of the trip was the fire and the playground they had in the campground.

Chad with McCoy and Boston on the chair lift.

The sunset at the Grand Canyon. (We have better pics on our 35mm camera!)

This past week has been dinosaur week in our house. My sister and I came up with a theme schedule for every week this summer and plan ideas for that theme and a field trip. This week is the one that Kayden has been anticipating - dinosaurs. We've created dinosaur tails (see picture), dino dioramas, played and watched all things dinos and yesterday took our field trip to Dinosaur Park in Ogden. In between our dinosaurs, we have been to the pool every day and the boys have quickly turned into fish again. Woohoo for SUMMER!!!!

Boston-saurus, Kayden-saurus, McCoy-saurus

Boys will be boys

Yesterday was Father's Day and we had a really nice celebration for the father in our little family. He got breakfast in bed, his favorite clam chowder, a giant yummy cookie (which I opted to buy after doing so much baking for his 30th birthday a couple weeks ago), and he got 30 movies in a collector's edition to satisfy the movie bug for a while.

Kayden was such a big help in getting ready for the day. He loves to get presents, but also has a big heart when it comes to giving them as well. He knows what people close to him like, for instance it makes me smile everytime he gives me all the blue candies from a bag he's eating, because blue is my favorite color.

We're so grateful to have a righteous father and husband - someone who honors his priesthood and truly takes care of us. He loves each of us with every bit of himself and I would never doubt that he would give up anything for any one of us. He is the one who gets us all to smile (even if it's after he attacks us with a fake cockroach!), he just knows how to bring joy to every situation he's in and to keep me from being so serious all the time! Happy Father's day to my husband and the father of our three sons!

Spring Has Sprung

This week finally feels like the first week of spring, finally. Good thing too as the family is planning a camping trip next weekend. Hooray for the holidays. We will be going into the Wasatch mountains and enjoying some time together. From what I hear, there are probably still snow drifts and whatever, but I looked up the weather and it says it should be fairly warm...for mountain weather. We'll see how my 4 month old does. Down here it's nice and balmy as you can tell from my picture of the flowers. I didn't know it, but they rip out all the tulips here in the spring so they can re-plant them again next year. go figure.

Weather or not...

#1 main gripe about Utah, the weather. I am constantly reassured by everyone around me that "It's usually not like this" and "It's never this cold this late" but it doesn't matter. I just want spring and I can't even get that. On May 1st we had a snowstorm, and now we are reaching all the way up to almost 50 degrees....IN MAY! So I expected a little winter when I moved from southern Cali, but this is out of control. I made a promise to myself after I came home from living in Russia that I would never live in a cold climate the rest of my life. Guess what, never make promises to yourself. I am now just a big softee that's been acclimatized to tropical weather...so sue me