June 2016

Ahh the bliss of summertime. Sleeping in, no homework, warm weather, lots of outside activities . . .. and boredom and fighting and whining . . . oh wait?  I really do love summertime.  It is so nice to have a break for the schedule.  I (most of the time) enjoying being with my kids. Here are some of the things that we did during the month of June. . . 

Arts in the Park

The Lehi Arts Council (Lance volunteers as the PR person for the council) hosts Arts in the Park every Sunday in the summer at Wines Park.  There are various musical acts that perform.  This night we were there for the LAC summer party and stayed for the show.  Lance doesn't always love being on the council mainly due to the inefficiency and the nepotism but he has stuck with it so that we get a discount when our kids want to take classes there.  We have some good friends, the McKinnons who are involved too so it was fun to hang out with them.  They have kids Hannah and Asher's ages so the kids had a blast playing in the park.   Not a bad way to spend a summer Sunday evening.

Asher, Hannah, Annabelle and Desi

Annabelle, Asher, JJ and Hannah

Asher

One of Asher's favorite things to do is get out his bow and arrows and practice archery.  He's getting better at it every time.

Backyard Pool

A couple of years ago we got this above ground pool and it has been such a worthwhile purchase.  It has lasted pretty well and they kids really play in it a lot in the summer.  It's just big enough for our kids and their friends and no worries about anybody drowning. 

Summer Rules

In order for me to stay sane during the summer I need a little structure.  This was this year's attempt at having a schedule.  It worked out pretty well.  JJ did the stuff too but was too cool to mark it off on my nifty poster. 

Here are a few of the creative activities that the kids came up with this month:

Father's Day

This month we honor the fathers in our lives.  We are so grateful for Lance and all he does for us.  

Dinner at Mimi's

 Lance got a new recliner. It is even motorized. It's pretty sweet!

 We are grateful for Lance's dad Jake as well.  He helps us so much and is so supportive of anything the kids are participating in.

Jeremiah Johnson Day Camp

Asher really loves the cub scout program.  He looks forward to the cub day camp all year.  We had a fairly small group this year so Karen Smith and I split up the boys and took them in our cars. Of course when I went to start the van up the battery was dead.  So I had to drive Lance's car - which I hate to drive.  But all in all it was really fun!

Josh Smith, Asher, Ben Smith, JD Brown, Cayden Isaksen, Ryker West, Jackson Powell, Ashton Braley

Outdoor Pool

The kids have been begging to go to the outdoor pool so we made time to go there this month.  I love it when my kids try new things that are a little bit scary for them.  I love to see them conquer their fears.

Pets

Just what we needed . . . another photo of this weird cat sleeping in a strange position.

Somebody got pushed out.  Mouse knows he is the king of the castle.

Lest you think that Jax isn't loved.

Rock Hounding

Asher has been pestering Lance about going rock hounding so Lance found a place up Spanish Fork Canyon that had some fossils that were easy to access.  Hannah, Asher and Lance spent  a few hours exploring.

Lehi Roundup Days!

In Lehi Round up days are a BIG deal.  We like to go to one or all three parades.  We didn't attend the rodeo this year.  I can only get Lance to go about once every 10 years.  

 This year Hannah walked in the Friday night parade with the cast of Beauty and the Beast!

 The Saturday morning parade we ended up sitting with Scott's brother Dustin's family.  It was fun to hang out with them during the very hot parade.

Random Happenings

Lance has worked for Intermountain Healthcare for 1 year!  We are grateful for his job and that he is so happy there.

 Hannah and I love to get pedicures together.  It is so fun to have a spa day once in a while.

Summer toes!

I love getting my hair done. It is fabulous to loose the grey hair.

We also had an amazing vacation to Palisades State Park with the Zellers this month but that needs it's own post so stay tuned!

June 2014

June was a busy month and seemed like there was something almost every day.  Asher got to fulfill a nearly life long wish to go to Jeremiah Johnson Cub Scout day camp.  Lance went as one of the leaders too.  Asher had a great time for the most part.  Look at the determination on his face in this picture.  

JJ also enjoyed his first taste of Scout Camp at Maple Dell.  He had all the requisite experiences for scout camp:  rodents in the tent, friends cutting themselves while whittling, fart jokes and crazy songs, getting lost.   

There is nothing quite like the smell of a preteen boy fresh from a week at scout camp.  And yes, he looks weird because of  all the dirt on his face and his blistered lips (he refuses to put on chapstick and always comes home with lips that look like they are about to fall off)

Me and Asher decided to try out Lucky's shave ice.  It was delish and HUGE! That is the kiddie size! Tiger's blood all the way (with cream for me and without for Asher).

I took the kids to the Legacy Center pool on a particularly hot day. I hung out in the shade, crocheting.

Little moments like this make up for all the other times when these two are teasing each other and driving each other crazy.

Hannah is a good little weeder when she has sufficient motivation.  

Me and Missy went to our current favorite restaurant - Wild Zucchini.  So, so good.  Makes me start craving a rosemary chicken piadina just thinking about it. 

The urge to bake rarely comes over me but when it does I usually bake Mom's banana bread with chocolate chips.

Trying to be the conscientious mom and encourage these two to do some summer bridge activities.  Lest you think I am something amazing you must know that this was pretty much the only time this happened all summer. 

Me, Hannah and Asher took Lance out to lunch one day to Red Robin.  We don't go there often so it was a really fun treat.

Happy Father's day Lance! Now it is time to wrestle!  Even Jax got in on the fun.  

We are kind of obsessed with our pets, in case you haven't noticed.  Bo kitty was not pleased when Jax tried to horn in on his comfy spot.

New hair cut and color for me!

Hannah also got to go to "camp" - Stake Activity Day Girls day camp. (that is a mouthful, right)  Her favorite part of it was getting this cute bee cookie.

Fun times with the Zeller's going to see Maleficent.

Long summer days require some creativity.

This was a fun surprise in the mail.  I didn't even remember entering this drawing. 

Sometimes you just have to hide away in a laundry basket and shut the world out.  

Mommy and Asher date to the pool and then Lehi Country Bakery cinnamon rolls, to die for.

Spoiled rotten dog.

This cutie is my friend Ashley's baby Nash.  He is the perfect Lehi Roundup Stock Parade mascot. We had fun hanging out with the McKinnon's at their prime parade location.  Who knew that Ironman is secretly a cowboy?  

Friday night me and kids (an the pug) walked in the miniature float parade.  I wore the wrong shoes and lagged behind the rest of the crew and ended up with huge blisters on my feet.  

The morning after the parade I woke up at about 3 or 4 in the morning with severe stomach pain.  I couldn't figure out what it was and didn't want to wake up Lance so I tried to just tough it out.  The pain increased until Lance got up around 8 or 9 and I told him I thought something was wrong and I needed to see a doctor.  We headed over to the AF hospital ER and were seen right away.  The ER doc didn't think it was going to be an appendix issue although the pain was most severe in the area of my body where my appendix was.  He started me off with an IV of some pain meds that made me feel really warm, loopy and sleepy.  I vaguely remember asking Lance a bunch of questions while on the meds - no doubt they made very little sense.  They wheeled me into get a CAT scan done. I just remember that it was really painful to keep my left arm up above my head because that shoulder is always very sore.  Keeping it raised up for a long period made me kind of shake from the pain in the shoulder. After we got back to the ER room they came and said that it was indeed my appendix and that they needed to remove it right away.  The surgeon was available right then and I hadn't had anything to eat that day so they began prepping me for surgery.  It was the same surgeon who did my gall bladder removal and hernia surgery.  He is not my favorite but I was in such pain I just wanted to get it over with.  I remember being in the OR and the nurse people trying hard to remove my wedding rings - which under normal circumstances are difficult to remove.  They used lotion or something to get them off which I was grateful for because I wouldn't want to have them cut off.  I was pretty out of it at that point. I think they had already started the anesthesia or something because I was out right after the rings came off.  I remember not wanting to open my eyes after the surgery and it took me a while to start to really come to.  They wheeled me to a private room and decided to leave me on the OR bed rather than making me get up and move onto the other hospital bed.  I was grateful for that because although they gave me pain meds I was still in quite a bit of pain.  They had those compression things on my legs that squeeze your feet and legs to prevent blood clots.  I HATE those things.  Everything happened so fast that hardly anyone else besides the kids and Lance's parents knew what had happened.  Missy called the house to talk to me and and JJ told her in typical kid fashion that I was in the hospital - I think she freaked out a little until she got the full story from Lance.  She came and visited me at the hospital while Lance was out getting my prescriptions filled and getting himself some lunch.  The kids and Grandma and Grandpa came by for a few minutes too.  By evening time I was doing well enough that they said I could go home and I was eager to not have to sleep at the hospital so I pushed my self to get up and walk around the halls and pee so that they would say I could go home that day.  I hadn't been very hungry earlier in the and I ended up missing the deadline of when I could order food from the hospital so on the way home we got something for me to eat because I was really hungry then.  Friends and family when they heard were so great about helping out with meals etc.  It took me about 2 weeks but I was back almost 100 %.  I had bought the stuff to do strawberry freezer jam the day before all this happened and Lance was awesome to try something new and make the freezer jam for us.  

Lance had a work summer party at the Scera Park pool and he took Hannah and Asher.  It was cold and rainy so they didn't stay too long but they had fun while it lasted.

Asher LOVES anything to do with the science of the natural world.  He was pretty excited when the Bean Museum at BYU reopened so he and Dad had a date to the museum.  This Shasta the Liger is a memory not only for all the kids but also from my childhood!