Summer was good to us and we've got the pictures to prove it.
The Farm:
The Store:
Picture A- how we do shopping now. See all the food squeezed around Caleb's carseat? And sharing the upper seat with Austin? Ha. Picture B- Grand Opening of Smith's Marketplace in Saratoga. So fun.
At Church:
(seriously, best baby points awarded to this guy)
At home:
Out on an adventure:
With my dad:
At the dentist:
At the parade:
(Did I already blog these? I don't remember. And I'm on a roll so I can't stop to check now.)
The result of playing outside all afternoon:
(Childhood is supposed to be dirty, right? This is childhood at it's best.)
Visiting with Friends:
My friend Tausha Barclay Bentz came into town and so we got together with a few other high school friends, Bekah Armstrong Ackerman and Ashley Jackson Jones. (We sure missed Kayla Barclay Hall!) It was crazy to see the amount of children we have between the four of us.
At home again:
These kids love their little brother.
Cleaning up:
I was working on blogging and the kids were playing with toys one morning. Then they decided to "clean up" for me - and proceeded to move every single toy out of the family room and into the kitchen. I have to admit - it did look nice and tidy. Moving all the toys into the kitchen is a favorite (albeit weird) activity of theirs.)
Adventuring:
In July, they hung a giant flag in one of the canyons. We didn't hike all the way up to see it, but from the trailhead you could see it hanging. We decided to go, because during July the kids started really noticing American Flags. Every time we drive anywhere they point them out, even times that I would never have noticed that there was a flag there. On the 4th of July I think we counted up to 88 flags that we saw while we were driving around. It was fun to take them to see this giant flag. (The pictures really don't do it justice
Going for a walk:
Making lines with cans from the pantry:
Rocking the Paw Patrol Watch:
I lost mine and Lydia found hers, brought it to me, and told me that I could borrow it until I found my own. It was so sweet! Finally found my watch just in time for David to buy a fancy Fitness Tracker Watch. It tracks your steps/activity, calories burned, and displays messages from your phone. It's pretty fancy! He's never worn a watch before, so hopefully he likes it - because I like it!
Coloring at home:
I have been really working to finish my paint by numbers painting this summer. I have it set up in our extra bedroom, and my favorite thing is that right after we all wake up in the morning, we head in there for a few minutes. The kids color while I work on the painting and it's really nice. A perfect Summer morning, I think.
Books & Bedtime
This book! Bedtime for Frances. My mom has "A Little Sister for Frances" at her house - which is a classic and Lydia asks to read it every time we go there. So when we found it at the library she picked it out to bring it home and it's SO funny for me. It's an older book, like 1995? (That doesn't seem that old to me now that I looked up the date - but it's definitely an older book from a different generation) But it made me laugh out loud because basically every night as soon as we get our kids down for bed, we come downstairs and make a treat and sit on the couch to watch a show. Sometimes we hear Lydia walking down the stairs and we hide the candy/popcorn/ice cream before she can see that we're having a party without her. Ha. This book just made me laugh. And it made me feel slightly better- because we aren't the only ones that eat a treat and watch TV after bedtime!
Mother and Father were watching television and having tea and cake. Frances said "There is a giant in my room, May I watch television?" - "No" said Mother and Father.
...
"Everybody has a job" said Father, "I have to go to my office every morning at nine o'clock. That is my job. You have to go to sleep to you can be wide awake for school tomorrow. That is your job." ..."If the wind does not blow, the curtains he will be out of a job. If I do not go to the office, I will be out of a job. And if you do not go to sleep now, do you know what will happen to you?" - "I will be out of a job?" said Frances. "No," said Father. "I will get a spanking?" said Frances. "Right!" said Father.
Building with waffle blocks:
Summer Fun with the Peadens:
Julie and the kids flew in from Indiana so we had a summer fun day and we got together and let the kids play with the water toys outside while we chatted. I seriously lucked out with this family that I married in to. I love them very much. It was so nice to be able to visit with Julie, too. I admire her for so many reasons and always value the times that I get to rub shoulders with her.
Also, Luke and Austin just look like little twins. It was so fun to watch them together!
On the porch:
Playing with Daddy at bedtime:
aka - the best dad in the world.
Surf & Sun
We found a little manmade reservoir in American Fork that has a little beach for the kids to play at. We went a couple of times this summer and the kids really enjoyed it! (Not as much swimming here, but fun to play in the sand!) Plus, it has the most beautiful mountain view.
Ice Cream with a Grandpa:
Sunshine and Summer:
Backpacks for Refugees:
Amy Peaden shared a link of the Utah Refugee group that she volunteers with. They were asking for backpack donations for refugee families for school. I saw that link and thought, "This is something I can do." I can't do a lot of things right now that I might like to do in a different stage of my life - but this? I felt like I could do this. So I posted on my neighborhood facebook pages and asked if anyone else would like to donate because I was going to coordinate the effort. We ended up with something like 16 elementary school backpacks and 8 secondary school backpacks. It was a really neat thing to be involved in. When we went to drop off the backpacks, it was overwhelming to see hundreds and hundreds of backpacks stacked all over this big room. I want to do more, but for now, knowing that we made a difference in a small way to a few people was wonderful.
Making Pillowcases:
For a long time, like years, we've been talking about making pillowcases with Aubrey and Jacob. We finally made it happen! They came over and I taught them how to sew a little bit and together we finished the project. Lydia got in on the action too and made her own little pillowcase.
Zachary's Birthday:
We drove up to West Valley for Zachary's 8th birthday party. He's such a sweet cousin, and we were glad to celebrate with him. Also - Austin reallllllly enjoyed the cupcakes.
Homemade Ice Cream:
Our neighbor, Leah Ward, invited us over to make some homemade peach ice cream. It was by far the best homemade ice cream I've ever had... in my entire life. So good!
Hanging with dad:
We love our Coopers!
Making Homemade Breakfast Sandwiches:
And last but not least... enjoying the final days of the Pool:
