The high Uintas

I keep putting this post off because I think the commentary will be too long a daunting based on the number of pictures on here. So I decided on a fast run down and let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Our weight family vacation this summer was a camping trip to the high Unitas with Brent's two sisters. We drove up to Brent's parents house on Tuesday and visited with them for a little while. 

Wednesday morning we loaded up kayaks and met up with the other cousins. Somehow our Expedition over heated just as we were entering the national forest. So we hung around and waited for it to cool down while the kids/cousins played on a beaver dam in a stream. The weather was so perfect compared to the 115 degree heat we left in St George. Eventually we got to camp and set up. 

The next day we hiked to Ruth lake and it was awesome. It started raining lightly and the kids did a geocache. Once we made it back to camp the older kids went down to the lake (Trial Lake) and canoed/kayaked. 

Friday we hiked to Wall lake which was pretty awesome as well. That afternoon again the kids did some lake canoe/kayak action-pretty sure this was Cami's favorite. She came back to camp bragging how she beat the boy cousins back...Friday we also found the treasure of the fairy forest while geocaching and it was amazing. It is this area that you just wander upon with painted rock gardens on little rock lined trails. I think our favorites were the minions from Despicable Me or the snake in the pipe from Harry Potter.

Saturday before heading home we added our own potato head area to the fairy forest. When we got to Heber we decided we had to stop and fix the car before heading home so we got to spend one more night with Grandma and Papa Weight. Cami and Taryn raided Grandma's library and I think they will both be stocked for the rest of the summer-Grandma sure does have lots of great books that she generously lends. Finally Sunday when we were for reals heading home we saw the hugest, most brilliant set of double rainbows we have ever seen. Both rainbows were full arches with every color. AWESOME!!! (especially in a car of girls to awe over it).

One highlight was the amazing mountain thunder storms every night. Creed did not sleep through them and Amy and Creed did not sleep together in the car...every night. Also Jocelyn got her first epic bloody nose while "bouldering" behind the outhouses two seconds after Amy said "one of them is so going to break an arm but they are having sooo much fun..." Those two girls totally bonded and loved hiking together, watching movies together, and doing EVERYTHING together. The fort the kids made right in the campsite occupied them for hours...Another highlight was having Brent's sisters have to jump our car every time we wanted to go anywhere since the overheat singed the battery...Anyway it was a pretty great trip and created lots of memories and laundry for sure.

18 Months of fun

My little boyfriend is growing up WAY too fast! He is so much fun. He is really cooperative with the girls and all their smoother love. He loves water and drinking (maybe because it has been such a stinking hot summer) and he is definitely a mover...a fast mover... If there is anything to climb he is climbing it.

 He loves rice (slathered in Ranch), and berries (and hearing him say berries is like the cutest thing ever), and chocolate milk. When he's poopy he comes and finds me carrying a diaper and says "poopy!" 

He is sooooo ticklish you pretty much just have to look at him and he goes nuts. He plays mostly with babies or the kitchen but he loves cars and balls too. His favorite thing to do is swing for hours. 

He is still totally a mommies boy but he is friendly (to a point) with every one. He is 22 1/2#s and (like 15th percentile) and 38% for height so he is on the small side. He has been getting all his molars in over the last month or so and finally 3 have broken through. He has had four hair cuts now and he is sooo blond. He reminds of Jocelyn at this age.

He has really started liking books, especially any book with a dog in it. His favorite word is totally doggie. He probably has about 10-15 words but he can say more...just not on demand.

We got to know they guy at poison control tonight for the first time....Good news is Creed is alive and seems to still have vision in both eyes...He pulled the laundry soap over his head after somehow unscrewing the lid. It was dripping into his eyes and then he rubbed it in good..

I got flowers from my little boyfriend for the first time. He got out of the car and walked across the grass and noticed the clover flowers. He stopped and said "pd wower" and carefully picked it up by the stem and gave it to me smiling soooo big. That is a memory forever in the memory box. Love that boy!!! He is so sweet and such a good boy... definitely he is a boy and I love every little inch of him!

One of our friends is working on a photo hobby in hopes of going pro someday. I had her take some pictures and then I had such a hard time picking a favorite. So enjoy a whole collection of Creed at 18 months...

A good way to spend summer....with cousins!

We've had so much fun with our cousins this summer. After Brent's sister's family visited My two sisters came to town. One stayed a month and the other about 2 weeks. We all took swimming lessons from our favorite swimming teacher and then practically every afternoon we swam in an above ground portable pool in Grandma's backyard. 

Basically for a month it has been an epic party. We made spy books (with hidden compartments), mermaid tails, matching Maxi skirts, alkaselzer rockets, had a first annual garden party (loosely based on the rules for a garden party from The Office), a late night movie night with treats, Sunday afternoon games, and the list goes on and on...I feel like my kids really got to know their cousins and make memories that hopefully anchor them to family. I know I have the best kids in the world but my nieces and nephews are right up there with my own. I genuinely like all of them...

The girl cousins and their mermaid tails....Looking good little ladies!

PS-If any cousin/sister has more pictures of all adventures I would LOVE copies! PLEASE!?

Our miller time

The first weekend of June Brent's sister and her family came for a visit. They have never visited before so it was really fun for our kids to get to know her kids. Unfortunately it was the hottest week of the year up til that point. We went boating on Friday. It was great and even Jocelyn and Aubry got on the tube and loved it. Saturday we went to pine valley to get out of the heat..Somehow this was the only place I actually took a picture and it only had the back half of one of the five cousins in it....Maybe Michelle will send me some she took. It was a quick trip but it was super fun to play games and just enjoy each other. YEA for cousins!

The swing set and the paint...

We got a new swing set from Santa last Christmas and since we are sometimes lazy it go painted in May...We decided to let all the kids help and they had super a lot of fun and you know....and since swing sets are made for fun we didn't bother to "touch up" their work. We are just enjoying it...

It was bound to happen...

Little man Creed in a dress....It was bound to happen sooner or later...No worries-I saved him quickly....

Amazing toothless Taryn

So the last time we went to the dentist we heard the dreaded "you probably ought to have her see an orthodontist soon..." And she was really excited. She had only lost 5 teeth but only two could come back in because there just wasn't room in her mouth...And the ones that came in were coming in not really in a great way. 

So after seeing the orthodontist he told her she needed to lose her 6th tooth or it would have to be pulled...He also told her he'd give her major brace bucks (tokens you can turn in for prizes) if she had it out before her next appointment. Taryn tried her best to get that tooth out-dental floss tied to door knobs, excessive wiggling, you name it-she tried it! No luck.

When we went in she told the orthodontist how hard she had tried to get it out he asked to wiggle it. She opened wide. He wiggled and she didn't flinch. He twisted it and no flinching. He asked her if she could feel it and she said yes but it was fine. He turned it all the way around and no flinching or crying or even wiggling...So he gets his pliers out and asks "do mind if I give it a little tug" and she shrugged like go for it. He yanks the tooth out and she just sits there smiling.....No tears, or watery eyes, or flinching....no screams or drama....

He said "WOW! That is like one in a million kids that could sit there and let me pull a tooth without even being upset at all.  I think you just earned those brace bucks anyway..." Taryn was happy as could be. In the next week she pulled out several more (probably just because she could). She has now fewer teeth than Cami and there is room for a few to come in. She is such a rock star! It was an AMAZING thing to see.

On another happy note we planted a garden and had the kids each choose what they wanted to plant. Cami chose artichoke and it died pretty fast. Taryn chose sunflowers and they exploded taller than the house. They were sooo pretty and I think we will definitely plant them again next year. Good times.

The sweet splash of summer

Swimming lessons are the one sure way my kids know it is summer. There is something about splashing in a pool that makes 110 degree weather really nice. So here is the evidence of our recent splashes...

Cami is in level 4 and is learning about lifesaving skills...

Taryn is in level 3 and is trying to learn side breathing and listening skills....

Jocelyn is in level 2 and is learning how to use goggles, how to not get ear infections EVERY time she swims, and how to swim with zippers and rockets....

Taryn

Creed being patient and saying "wa wa" or "water" every 10 seconds in hopes of being given permission to jump in...

Jocelyn working the penguin (and lady bug)...

Cami and the daily dose of Kindle while waiting her turn...