Driving and Swimming

That seems like all I did today. We had swim team. I actually was going to let everyone sleep in and skip practice today, but everyone was up by 7, so we went. We came home after and did chores and had lunch. Then we left for Ellie and Hattie's swim lesson. They are taking from a lady named Jenny who is in my mom's ward. She is so good. The lessons are an hour long and she is just really good with them. Eliza and Libby get to swim during the lesson time, too, so they enjoy that. Ellie was a little nervous at first but then did great. She swam across the pool (the short way) by the end. Hattie cried/whimpered her first couple of turns but did well. Jenny teaches them if they fall in they turn and kick to the side. She got a lot of practice doing that and she really does well turning and getting to the side. It was very hot watching them, but she has a nice shaded area and Hattie sat on me between turns, so I got wet and kept cool. We came home and kind of chilled since we were quite tired from the day's activities. During Hattie's nap Eliza and Libby helped me with a project. I was trying to think of something nice to do for the lady who brought us dinner. She just had her first grandbaby, so we made a "grandma's brag book" where she can put pictures and throw it in her purse. I used one of those cheap 4x6 photo holders that you get for a dollar at Wal-Mart. I did a cover, then I put a few quotes throughout and I left the rest of the pages for her to slip in pictures of her little granddaughter. It was a quick fun project.













Tonight I had to go take some more pictures for camp, so Eliza and Libby came with me and Brian took Ellie and Hattie on a couple errands. I had to take Brian's car which normally would be fine, but his A/C just went out. Ugh. It was deadly!!! Luckily we were able to drop it off tonight for repair tomorrow. Let's hope it's not too expensive. His car has been a money pit lately! If it continues, Brian will be looking for something different!

Daddy/Daughter

I am behind. On Friday we didn't have any major plans or anywhere to be really, so that was so nice! I actually used the day to clean and got quite a bit done. Brian came home a little after lunch and he, Ellie and Eliza headed off with my brother and Abby to his ward's daddy/daughter camp out. They went where Brian went to father's and sons' and they had a great time! Brian said they both did great. At night they had dinner--roasted hot dogs--then there was a fireside and a compass activity/snipe hunting. Eliza really enjoyed that. In the morning they had breakfast--one of the dads made donuts and they got to roll them in sugar or powdered sugar or eat with honey. They did a scavenger hunt in the morning and got some little rings and goodies as prizes. After they left there they did some driving, found a lake to throw rocks and went on a little hike.










Libby didn't want to go camping, so I had her and Hattie. After they left on Friday, the rest of us went to Libby's swimming lesson. Sarah was able to get us in to a lesson in the afternoon. Libby does well, but just needs some reminders on her form. She had a lot of fun and did well. She was excited to go off the diving board and down the slide a few times. We came home and Hattie had a nap. We had dinner, then went grocery shopping. Libby took charge of my list and help me stay on task. We came home and went to bed. On Saturday Libby got to spend the day with my parents. She had earned it as part of her bedtime chart. They went to Borders to spend her gift card from being student of the month. She had lunch at McDonalds and went to my aunt Deb's house. She loves going there especially to see what new treats she has in her pantry. They also went to DI out there and Libby had a blast finding some "treasures." She didn't get home until after dinner and had a great time. My mom detailed their day on her blog, too.

On Saturday night Brian and I went out. We were going to go to Buca di Beppo since we had a coupon, but when we got there there was a 45 minute wait (but no one waiting inside--weird!), so we went over to Abeulos. After dinner we went and saw Up!. It was a really cute, touching movie. It was fun that one of the character's name was Ellie. We liked the movie and think it's one we'll have to buy when it comes out.

Sunday was church. It was nice to be back since we've been out of town. It felt a little weird teaching my class again since I've had a two-week break. So I have to get back into the groove. We had a great lesson in Relief Society about being prepared--mostly financially and budgeting and teaching your kids about it and stretching your dollar.

Today we had swim team. Have I mentioned I'll be glad when it's over? I feel like a circus act while I am there. Most moms there have one kid with them or none and here I was with three and pregnant and in the heat, etc. I am having a pity party! I took a chair for each of us today and it worked okay, but Hattie wanted to stand in her chair, etc. etc. Only 8 more days of practice. 8 more days...

We came home and did our chores and such. The girls played a lot of Barbies. We did a couple of errands. A lady from my ward called around three and said she was bringing dinner around 5. I was like why?!? She said she just felt prompted. I have to admit I have been very, very tired the past couple of days and just a little stressed out. So it was very sweet of her to listen to the prompting and bring it. It was delicious, too. She had made lots of yummy food. She also brought her favorite bar of soap for me. It smells so good! I am grateful for her.

After Brian got home we had dinner and went swimming at the resort and had family home evening.

Busy Week!!

This week has turned into a busy week! On Tuesday after early swim team (not liking the early time at all!), we met Karolyn and her kids at the park for visiting teaching. We were going to swim, but because of the overcast weather we just opted for the park. We had a good time visiting and the kids loved playing. We came home and got cleaned up from all the sand. After Brian got home we dropped Ellie and Hattie off with his mom and the rest of us went to the Diamondback's game. My dad had some extra tickets from the summer program, so we tagged along and had a great time. We sat in the Picnic Pavilion and it was all you could eat hot dogs, chips, popcorn, peanuts and drinks until the 7th inning. I opted for a Subway (didn't want to get a migraine!) but everyone else enjoyed the food. The girls watched the game a bit, playing with their cousins Matthew and Emma, and they ate and ate, ate cotton candy and Libby got a snow cone. Brian and I shared a Cold Stone. It was the chocolate devotion one. I really liked it! I can't believe I haven't had that one before. Yum! I took Eliza and Libby up to the "Sandlot." It's a little play area for the kids. They have a couple playsets--Libby played in there--and they have a mini baseball field and someone pitching wiffle balls for kids to hit--Eliza did that then played with Libby for a bit. The D-Backs won, so that was added fun.

On Wednesday, Kari and I hiked, then I came home and hurried and got ready. I had an ultrasound at 8, so I went to that. It was the anatomy ultrasound. She looks great and is cute from what I can tell! LOL. I got home and Brian had everyone all ready and chores done. Nice. After lunch we met some friends at the pool for swimming. It was a warm day, so it was good to cool off a bit. We came home and gave Hattie a nap, then ate dinner. Brian had a 5:30 appointment, so I took the girls with me to take pictures at another mutual activity. I have two more wards to get, then I'll be going back and tyring to get the girls who weren't there. After we got home, I did a little grocery shopping to get us through the end of the month.

Today was a super long day. Brian went mountain biking, so he was gone early. Well first, I went to bed after 11, then I woke up a couple times, then around 4:30 I realized Brian wasn't in bed, so I got up to find him. He had fallen asleep on the couch. Then his alarm went off at 5 and I had to get up at 6. It was one of those nights when you feel like you didn't get any sleep! But I got up so I could get ready before swim team. And wouldn't you know, Hattie slept till nearly 7. Murphy's law. I had to wake everyone up except Eliza for swim team. We got all ready and left. It's so hard to take them. If I take a chair (for me), they all want to sit in it, so I left the chair at home and they wanted to sit on the bleachers. It's hard to keep them from climbing around. Luckily a mom brought her tiny little poodle dog, so they were entertained by her the rest of the time. They all pet her and played with her. After that was over, we went to my parents'. Ellie and Eliza ran an errand with my mom and I did a couple errands with Libby and Hattie. We met back there around 10:30, then headed out to Mesa to the Broadway Palms. We went with my dad's summer program again. We got to have lunch and watch the play A Jungle Book. It was so cute and really well done for kids. I decided to bring Hattie thinking that she sat through Seussical, but once we were there, Eliza reminded me that we left Hattie at home for that play. Oops. Too late! But she really enjoyed the play and did great. She sat in her chair and hardly moved at all! We were in the very front, so I think that kept her attention and she might have been a little nervous, too, with the character so close, so that kept her sitting down. We all really enjoyed the show. After the girls got autographs and pictures.




(Kathy (my cousin's wife) and her boys came, too, so that was fun.)
We drove back and I stopped at my parents' to change clothes. I dropped my girls off at my friend Teri's house so they could play with her girls until Brian and I got home, then Teri and I went to the stake center. We met there to head over to the temple. It was for all the women going to camp, but only 6 of us ended up going. I ended up driving, so I got to drive out to Mesa two times today! I am looking at my feet and they look a little swollen! Yikes. I need to rest! We had a fun time though and it went well. Now I have my feet up and trying not to fall asleep!

Back in the Swing

Today we were back in the swing of things. We had to get up and out early for Eliza's swim team. Ellie and Libby were sleeping when it was time to leave, so Brian said he would bring them later so they could sleep longer. I took Eliza and Hattie and Brian brought the others later. After swimming was over, we stopped at my mom's for a bit to visit. Then it was back home for chores, sorting laundry, lunch, etc. We had a few rough spots in the day, but I think everyone was happy to be home. I made pizza for dinner, even making my own pizza dough. I usually buy the premade, but I went out on a limb and made it. It turned out really good and was really easy! After dinner we had home evening. We talked about a few parts of the Family Proclamation, then we went over to our neighbors' to see their new baby. She is a week old and just a doll! It's their first baby and the dad made us all wash our hands before we could hold her. We told him we would humor him and wash! Brian said by their second baby she would be sharing a pacifier with the dog! Ha! All the girls ate her up though and took turns holding her. They LOVED her. It did get me a bit more excited to have a new baby soon.

Swim Meet

On Saturday morning before we left, Eliza had her first swim meet. She was a little nervous but did great overall especially for it being her first swim meet ever. She got 5th in the breast stroke, 4th in butterfly and 2nd in the freestyle relay. She hauled in the freestyle, so hopefully she'll do that one as an individual event next time. I think if she learned to dive in she'd do even better. The girls who dove in did better. She just jumped in straight and then started, so that gave her a disadvantage. But that will come. She was so sad about her performance in getting 5th and 4th--she nearly cried, so Brian had to reassure her, but getting the 2nd made it all better!

Park City Trip (and lots of pictures to document)

Saturday

We left Saturday afternoon and headed up to Brian’s parents’ cabin in Mund’s Park to stay the night. We stopped in Camp Verde for pizza, then got to the cabin where the kids played a little bit before headed to bed.

Naturally they were up early, so we got up and ready, then headed on the rest of our trip.

Sunday

We tried to strategize and place the girls next to someone they weren’t likely to bicker with on the way. So Libby and Hattie were in the middle seats and Ellie and Eliza were in the back. We also tried to figure out things that would entertain them along the way to minimize problems. So Ellie and Eliza watched DVDs. We borrowed my brother's DVD player with screens that connect to the back of the headrests. Libby had my iPod on which I had downloaded some TV shows or she listened to music. Hattie had our little portable DVD player that she could just hold on her lap. We were all connected! LOL. But it worked. All in all it was a great trip up. We had a couple stretches where they got restless and a little feisty, but overall they did great. We brought stuff to make lunch, so we stopped in Kanab for lunch and found a little park in front of the library to eat. About when we were getting close to Provo, it started raining and it poured and poured until we got to our hotel in Park City. We were a little worried since we didn’t bring any warm clothes! We are exchanged our timeshare to stay in one in Park City—the Westgate Resort and it’s nice. Kind of a lodge-y feel. We got to our room and got settled, then headed to grab a bite to eat (Wendy’s).

We had to get some milk at the grocery store and a couple dinners for the week, then it was back to the room for bed!

Monday

Everyone was up bright and early again—seemed even earlier since Utah is an hour ahead! But we got up and ready and ate breakfast. We headed down to the main part of Park City and were going to ride the ski lift, but it was a ghost town!!! No one was around—we saw maybe one or two other people. We found out the lifts didn’t start until 11, so we went to the outlets to get pants for the three younger girls. Eliza was smart and packed some for herself. Luckily they had jeans on sale at Children’s Place for Ellie and Hattie, and Libby got a pair of yoga pants from Old Navy. We drove back to the room and when we parked, Libby couldn’t find her bag with her pants in it. We searched the car and figured she set them down while we were in Children’s Place. Brian called the store and they didn’t see it, so we thought maybe she dropped it or it fell out of the car in the parking lot. So Brian went back to the outlets and I fed lunch to the girls then took them swimming. He didn’t find the bag, but some people in the store said they had seen the bag a few minutes earlier out front. Our guess is that it fell out of the car or she set it down and after we left, some dishonest person just took it! He checked Old Navy, too, to see if maybe they turned it in there, but nope. They took his info in case someone brought it back, but we haven’t heard from anyone. So annoying that someone would do that!! After swimming we went back again to the store and got her another pair so she could have some pants. We figured if someone turned them in we would just return that pair. After that ordeal, we went back to the ski lift and did that. We had expected it to be about $66 for us all to ride, but apparently, they give discounts to kids under 56” which is all of our kids, so it was only $34. I was afraid that once we got to actually do it, Libby or Ellie might try to chicken out saying it looked scary since it does go so high up the mountain. But everyone got right on and we rode to the top. The girls really enjoyed it. Along the way they saw people riding the Alpine Slide or doing the zip line or the coaster or biking down, etc. They also saw a ton of woodchucks, prairie dogs and those type of animals. On the trees along the way up, they saw lots of bead necklaces. It seems like people throw them on the pine trees as they are heading up the lift. They thought it was very funny when we saw a few bras on the trees along the way. They were like, why are those there? We got a good chuckle over seeing those. Once we got to the top, we got off and walked around a bit, then headed back down. It is about an hour round trip on the lift.





We got a little treat at the Rocky Mountain chocolate store, then we came back to the room. I put the lasagna in the oven and we watched Cinderella 3 and sat on the balcony until it was ready. We had some ice cream for dessert, then went to bed.

Tuesday

We got up and ready and drove down to Provo. There were a few stores there I wanted to go to, so we did that. We wore our Sunday clothes since we didn’t want to change before the temple open house. Libby wasn’t too thrilled about having to wear her church clothes into the stores, but she quickly forgot about it once we were in the places. We went to the Fabric Mill in Orem. They had a lot of cute fabrics and if I had something to make I might have bought, but it was fun to look. They did have hemstitched blankets, so I got a couple of those so my mom can crochet an edge on them for new blankets for the baby. From there we went to University Mall. We went to Baby Gap…found a cute shirt for baby for cheap, then we went next door to Shade. I got a cute maternity top—almost like the ones I really like from Motherhood for ½ the cost. I also got a swim suit top that fits and covers well. We stopped at a few other stores, then went to the food court so everyone could eat lunch. I got the chicken salad and a roll from Deseret Book, Libby, Ellie and Hattie got Chik-fil-A, Eliza got Subway and Brian got something from one of those Japanese food places. The girls liked the little kid table and chairs that they have there. After the mall, we drove to South Jordan to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. It’s right at the tip of a neighborhood…I would LOVE to live right there. The houses were beautiful, too. I was really excited about being able to take my girls to this temple open house and hoped it was a memorable experience for them so they had a desire to go back when they are older. We started in a tent thing and saw a short movie about temples. It was a great movie and at the end of the tour Libby said the movie was her favorite part. We really felt the Spirit in there as we were watching about the importance of temples. After that we got to tour the temple. It is beautiful!!! It was very light and airy inside and lots of circle and star themes throughout—in the upholstery, windows, chandeliers, ceilings, carpet, etc. It was gorgeous. Before we went in, I told them to pay attention to how they feel and what their favorite room was. Libby said the movie was her favorite part and all of the temple was her favorite room. She couldn’t pick a favorite. Eliza liked the ordinance rooms because of the beautiful murals. Brian liked the baptistery, Ellie’s favorite part was the stairs and mine was the sealing room. It was big and so pretty in the sealing room. I could imagine our girls in there walking in in their beautiful white dress to be married for eternity. It was a tear-jerker! We talked about the mirror and how you can see on and on and on in it. Libby was curious about the alter, so I told her that is where she and her husband would kneel and hold hands to be married. Overall it was a great experience and one I hope they don’t forget. We talked about how they felt and how they felt during the movie and told them that was the spirit they were feeling telling them what they were hearing was true and where they were was a special place. After the tour, we took some pictures, then went into a reception tent where they had cookies and water. We sat down and talked about our time there and just enjoyed each other’s company. It was a memorable time.

(Libby was so excited to get her picture taken in front of the temple.)

After that we drove past the Jordan River temple, then went to Brian’s Aunt Caroline’s house to change clothes. Then we went to Tai Pan. I was going to run in while Brian waited in the car with the girls, but he ended up taking them to his Aunt Linda’s who lives close by, so I got to take my time looking. When they picked me up, we went to the assisted living center where his grandma lives because it was grandma day when they try to go visit her. There were only a couple of his younger cousins there and three of his aunts then us. It was nice to visit and the girls had fun doing a puzzle and playing with Brian’s younger cousins. We went back to Linda’s house for a while. Brian and I visited with her while his cousin Averie who is 11, took the girls out back to look at the chicks and then to the farm to see the cows. Hattie swang in a tire swing and loved that. They got gigantic pixie sticks from Linda and just had fun running free. It was nice to visit with her and catch up.

We left there and headed back to Park City for a bite to eat and bed!

Wednesday

We were up and ready early (seems to be a theme for our trip) and we were swimming by about 8:30 in the morning. Weird!


We swam for a while, then went back to the room to get ready. The water sure is nice but it’s a bit cold to get out! After we got ready we headed to Salt Lake to the Hogle Zoo. It was a perfect day for that. The weather was wonderful! It was overcast mostly but perfect. We have never been to that zoo before and it was a lot of fun. They enjoyed seeing a variety of animals especially the peacock who was showing off his feathers. The bird show was also really cool. The birds seriously swoop down so close over the heads of the audience. Brian said he felt his hair move! I just ducked and squealed. The showed a lot of bird and kept all our attention the whole time.









We took their little, short train ride and the carousel ride, too.

From there we went to Temple Square. We took a little tour with two sister missionaries, so that was a good overview for the girls. They enjoyed seeing the visitor’s center and the Christus there, going in the Tabernacle and learning some info there, then we went to the other visitor’s center to learn more about the temple. It was about dinner time when we were done with that so we went over to the Joseph Smith Building and had dinner at the Nauvoo Café. Yum! The food was great and it wasn’t too expensive (or fancy) compared to the other two restaurants there.


I think as Brian was putting Ellie and Hattie to bed, I took Eliza and Libby down to the pool for more swimming. I read scriptures. I am excited to have gotten a good start for my October goal of reading the whole book of Mormon. Libby thinks I’ll be done by her birthday in August. I think so, too. I am on page 250 or so.

Thursday

We spent Thursday in or around Park City. In the morning we went to the outlets. The girls had some money they earned from the drive up for their behavior. Eliza chose to save hers, but Ellie bought some bubble tape at Justice. I couldn’t convince her that I could get it cheaper somewhere else and Libby bought two pairs of flip flops from Old Navy. I picked up a few things to put away for school clothes for Eliza and Libby. That’s about all we got.

After lunch we swam and hung out and relaxed. I can’t remember exactly what we did, but was stayed close to the hotel that day.

(The girls love to get Hattie to laugh like this and cover her mouth.)

Friday

We got up and ready and headed to Salt Lake. We had to pick up Brian’s dad at the airport around 12:30, so we had to kill a little time before that. Brian’s cousin works at the Tracey Aviary in SL, so she was able to get us in free. We only had like an hour and a half, but it was perfect. We saw tons of birds and Eliza, Libby and Ellie got to feed some birds. They go in a little “caged” off place and are given a popsicle stick with a piece of apple on it. I don’t think they knew what they were getting into or they wouldn’t have done it. None of them enjoyed it!!! The birds come and land on your arms and eat the apple. One landed on Libby’s head and she actually did okay with that, but when they landed on her wrist she got nervous and they were all trying to shake them off! Ellie was fussing and shook them off. It was funny to watch. They were brave and at least tried it!




After we left we went to the airport, grabbed some lunch, then headed back to Linda’s and his aunt Janet’s who live next door to each other. We visited, the kid played with the cats and just wandered around and had a great time. That night was the first part of the family reunion. We all gathered outside and what used to be his grandparents’ house. His grandpa has passed away and his grandma lives in an assisted living center. His cousin Kelsie and her husband rent the house now and are living there. They BBQ’d hamburgers and hot dogs and we each brought something for a side—chips, salad, drink or S’more stuff for dessert.

Hattie and Averie

It was fun visiting and catching up with people we don’t see often. From there we went over to a nearby church for slides. We left before it was done and didn’t end up getting home until 11:30. Yikes!

Saturday

We were so tired this morning!!! We didn’t wake up until about 8:30 which was a record for this trip! We got up and hustled because we needed to be in West Jordan by around 10 for breakfast. When I woke up I had a migraine. I thought, great. This is NOT what I need today. I am sure it was because of just going, going, going all week and not much rest. But I got up and got ready and miraculously they eye stuff went away and I just had a slight headache all day. It was a blessing for sure! Jack and Linda made breakfast for everyone—fruit and scones which were so good. After breakfast, the kids were divided up by age group to do games and activities. I got the lucky task of being in charge of nine 2 and 3 year olds for three hours. I got help at the last two stations, but other than that, it was me! I only briefly lost two of them, but they were quickly found and not harmed. LOL. Our first activity was a tractor ride. Brian’s uncle Mike had put a trailer onto his tractor and took the kids around for a ride. Ellie was a little unsure at first and cried for Brian, but I held her hand and she ended up loving it. I also had Hattie in my group so that was fun. Eliza was in her own and Libby was in her own. After the tractor ride (part of in the rain as it rained off and on that morning) we did a little bean bag toss and ring around the rosie. Next three of Brian’s cute cousins—David’s girls—did another bean bag toss, a game with candy they called “Trimble Farm,” and then they got to eat cupcakes. After that was horse rides. Brian’s aunt Janet has horses, so they got to ride several time. Ellie at first only wanted to ride the pony but then she rode the other horses just giggling the entire time they walked around. Hattie only rode the pony. I walked next to her—I was afraid she might slide off. She seemed a little nervous but liked it. The last one was just playing…it was going to be water balloons, but it was so cold outside and wet, so they just played inside at Caroline’s house. The kids had a great time and were kept busy and entertained.

(I had to document Ellie and Hattie petting a dog instead of frantically screaming and running away.)

While we did that the dads and boy cousins played soccer. Some of Brian’s cousins have been working on a little soccer field so they could play soccer. It was something they have been looking forward to for a long time. Brian got a pair of cleats and shin guards at the outlets during the week (for Father’s Day) and he used those. They were serious! They played hard for about three hours and had a great time. Brian is a little sore, but he had fun. He said he was coming out of retirement! LOL. He used to play when he was younger, so it was fun for him to play again.





Soon enough it was lunch time…we grabbed Subway and ate quickly as a storm was approaching. The guys hurried and took down the tables and chairs before the rain really started coming down. We got into our car and drove to Linda’s and waited for them to walk down. We spent the rest of the day there—the kids played and played and played and we played games—Nertz and Pop 5—and some watched soccer or played Wii, etc.
(Eliza with Maddie and Brian's cousin Aidan--they spent most of the time together playing.)

For dinner Jack made chicken salad to put on rolls. After we ate we headed out. Time gets away from you there because it doesn’t get dark until really late! We left around 8:30 and went back to our room. It didn’t take long for us to fall asleep! I conked out and Brian did some packing, so that was nice.

Sunday
We got up this morning and hurried and ate and got ready so we could head home. We left around 8:30 and came home. It was a long drive but it seemed to go pretty quickly. We were all ready to get home and in our own beds!! I was a little nervous to be home though and get back into the regular routine of cooking and cleaning and such. It’s been nice to have Brian’s help all day! I hope it’s a smooth transition back to the real world.