summer fun 2012

we weren't able to do anything too fancy this summer by way of vacations, but karianne and shaun were kind enough to invite us all up to bear lake to stay in their cabin.  and it was perfect.  a few days on the lake with the gibbs clan.  we all stayed in the cabin together, so it was the first time the cousins got to stay under one roof for more than a few hours.  they had a great time.  i think there were moments where all of the adults thought we'd go crazy, but the good far outweighed the bad. (no pics, no surprise.)

what i want to remember:
the warm water.  laughing and playing games with the adults.  being 8 months pregnant and sleeping in the freezing cold basement=heaven. randy passing gas and shawn making fun of him.  playing on the deck. sam being too prissy to walk through the muddy stuff to get to the good sand.  jack playing in the water all day long.  shawn weed-wacking.  the grill-master (shawn) fixing the best steaks ever.  corn on the cob.  playing skip-bo junior with jack.


OUR OTHER BIG SUMMER EVENT

mike and katie's wedding. 

such a great day.  they were married on the 16th of august.  one picture of the boys in their getup.

so dang cute.  it was good day starting with the ceremony in the salt lake temple, then the luncheon, and the reception outdoors in the sorenson's gorgeous backyard.  

what i want to remember:
katie being nervous and worn out the night before.  katie absolutely radiantly happy after the ceremony.  decorating for the lunch.  the awkward stories my mom told about mike at the lunch.  getting to know katie's family.  chatting with brenda at the reception.  the 80s dance.  my brothers playing guitar and singing.  my boys loving the chocolate fountain.  joking with larita about delivering my baby on the tramp.

WHAT I WILL FOR SURE NOT FORGET:
being 9 months pregnant, hot, and on my feet all day.

but we made it.

ah, the i-phone

the convenience of the i-phone cannot be beat.  i suck at picture-taking, so the fact that shawn can whip out his phone at any time has saved us.  here are some fun ones.

july 4

 i think it's pretty funny that for i think 3 years running, i have pictures of the balloons in the morning and then nothing for the rest of the day.  well, here they are again.  we love the balloons.

 we ran into our good friends tyler and lindsey and their son carter.  he and jack are great friends.

we did things a little differently this year.  instead of going to the parade, we met the ridings up south fork canyon, ate yummy cinnamon rolls and peaches, and played, played, played.  the boys loved every second.  then we went to grandma dudley's for the annual bbq that night.  i love the fourth.  always good food and good people.  so grateful for this country and the safety and beauty that is here.  very blessed.

oh, sam

 this is a sad story.  one of those great mom moments that you feel so good about.  i had been spray painting some frames, and left the can within reach.  the rest of us were eating dinner with our backs to sam, he grabs the can and sprays himself right in the face and eye.  screamed bloody murder.  shawn and i panicked, thought he was going to be blind.  but shawn shoved him under the sink and ran the water in his eye for a while.  he was a sad little boy.  he looks like he's been beaten to a bloody pulp.  poor kid.

 grandma and grandpa riding went to disneyland over sam's birthday and brought this home for him.  let's just say he does a killer goofy impression and him and shawn love to talk to each other as goofy and mickey.  sam's 3rd birthday was a great one, again lots of family and good food.  my favorite thing was when i asked him what kind of cake he wanted and without hesitation he said "a purple cake!".  okay.  so i made a chocolate cake, covered it with purple frosting and sprinkles, and the kid went nuts over it.  (do i have a picture of the purple cake?  nope.  i don't believe in cute pictures that help make wonderful memories.)  love him.

one day, sam and i were hanging out, jack was somewhere else.  i was cleaning the kitchen and sam was happily entertaining himself.  i turn around and find this. the kid did it all by himself.  put down the colored felt, went around the house and found objects for each color.  some favorites: my brown flip-flops on the brown piece, and some white paper bills on the white piece.  he's too smart. 

 this is the backside of my mom's guinea pig, guido. the boys love to hold him and feed him lettuce.  his face says it all.

 sam boy loves sticks.  well, here we are at our annual riding reunion (which was fabulous) and sam goes off on his own for a while.  then he comes tramping across the lawn, which is no short distance, mind you, hauling this thing and says "look, mom, a stick."  a stick that was 4 times bigger than him.  it was true love.

and last but not least, here is puss in boots.  at least that's what he calls himself when he puts on shawn's ginormous winter boots.  bwa ha ha ha!

t-ball, the second time around

this was jack's second time in t-ball and he loved it just as much as the first.  although i think we're all looking forward to coach pitch next year where it will be a little more challenging. 

preschool!

jack had a fabulous time in preschool this year.  he loved his teacher, ms. konnie, his friends, and learned a ton.  this boy is EXTREMELY social and active so this is right where he needed to be.  i'm grateful for his teacher for i'm sure he was challenging at times.  she seemed to love him, though, and constantly told me what a great leader and friend he was to everyone.  that made me happy.

he did such a great job at his graduation.  knew every word to every song and did all the actions.  we were mighty proud.  he was also awarded the "most popular" award for the year.  following in his dad's footsteps.

some of his favorite projects from the year.

his green lantern bag that ms. konnie made for him.

and this is my mother's day present.  i should have wrote the words down cuz now i can't see them, but he did a great job and i loved it.

still catching up

this is pathetic and embarrassing that i'm this far behind, but the catching up must be done.  this is a birthday post about the birthday boys whose birthdays are in april.  APRIL, people.  disgusting.

anyway, the boys and i were excited to finally get shawn a nice gas grill.  he has wanted one for ages, but this is the first time we've had the space/money.  and i must say we have grilled like crazy this summer and he is a grill master.  so awesome. 

 good thing we have best friends like jordan who give us cool things like guns and sweet hunting shirts.

 sir jack turned 5 two days after shawn turned 29.  jack loved his presents, but mostly he loved having both sides of the family over for his birthday dinner.  he loves being with family.

 sam enjoyed jack's presents as well.

and thank goodness for friends like morgan and leslie who presented shawn with the world's largest pair of underwear.  words cannot describe our gratitude.