It's A Record

It is a record. Since I have discovered a love for this web log thing we call blogging, I have never gone this long without a single solitary post. And here's the confession: I haven't been reading yours either. I could bore you with my list of excuses, but it's the same as yours. The good news is: I am back. And happy to be so. I have missed this! It is my 'me' time, my indulgence. With that, we'll start where we left off...in April.

We were so happy that spring had arrived that we took off for an afternoon hike in Red Cliffs. Thankfully, Chelsea came along because I soon found out that hiking and splashing in the pools with three children was too much for me to manage on my own. Red Cliffs was beautiful, as always, and in April it was not yet too hot.
The kids didn't get to do as much swimming there as they had hoped, but they enjoyed dipping their toes in the cold water.

Toward the end of the month, some of Jeff's friends from college came down for a horse back ride and barbecue. It was fun for the kids and I to meet Jeff's other family that takes care of him when he is off at school.

And it couldn't be summertime very long before we were off camping. Isaac discovered that the best part of camping is that you get to play in the dirt and remain dirty for a very long period of time.

Levi spent the maximum amount of time possible in the excavator with Jeff.

He was a 'workin' man' (and a very dirty one at that.)

May ended with Daisy's kindergarten graduation! Kindergarten didn't end up being all she had hoped, so she was glad that it was over. All of her grandparents came to see her graduation program. We went out to dinner afterward, which was her favorite part.

The first part of the summer was spent at the ball field. Daisy kept us cheering playing t-ball. Her favorite positions were catcher and first base. "Mom," she said, "I am the tallerest one on my team."

Halfway through May, we got three bummer lambs! We had to mix milk and bottle feed them four times a day. We would put the milk in plastic soda bottles, buckle Isaac in the stroller, and walk out to take care of our little lambs. We finally got them weaned, and now we get to lead them out to the pasture during the day, then put them back in the pen and feed them at night. It has been so much fun for the kids to each have their own lamb to take care of.

Daisy and Levi each performed in the dance review. Daisy's favorite number was "Locomotion" and Levi wowed the entire crowd with his rendition of the Guys on the Go "Eye of the Tiger" boxing routine.

Isaac has a hard time taking care of his lamb, so I have to pinch hit for him.

Along with graduation, lambs, and dance review, our major May event was Isaac's first birthday! He loved all the attention, and the wagon full of blocks from Grandma.

We knew summer was in full swing when we found ourselves sitting poolside. Daisy and Levi were each taking swimming lessons, so Isaac and I signed up for the "Mom & Tot" class and joined them. It was heaven on earth (for the kids, at least) to wake up and go swimming every single day for two whole weeks.

For extra adventure one afternoon, we took the cousins and hit Krispy Kreme where we not only observed the entire doughnut-making process to our fascination and delight, but got to eat them too!

We spent the day at the town celebration in the city park for the 4th of July. Daisy and Levi were both so excited to go 'into jail' for this ride. Their unexpected favorite attraction was panning for gold and getting slurpees on the way home.

Jeff finished out the semester well and will be starting the radiation technician program through Weber State here in August. We are really looking forward to taking this next step in our 'back to school' journey.

I was in charge of my class reunion, which has consumed an insane amount of my time. Now that it is over, I am so happy to be back on the blog band wagon.

With no extra kids to babysit and Jeff working for the summer, I have a newfound joy and appreciation for hanging out with my kids. We have had so much fun just being together this summer! We stay up late and sleep in. We do the chores, move the water, and take care of the animals together. We go to the movie, the park and the pool. We go for short runs and long walks. We snuggle and wrestle and make mud puddles to play in. I look at my life and my children and wonder how it is possible to be as blessed as I am.