More Pictures for our Joseph Trip

These pictures make me miss our little summer trip. So glad we captured the excitement of the kids doing things that they will always have memories of.   It think the pictures say what needs to be said.

First Day of School 2013

I am actually posting something on the day it happened.

The morning started off with doughnuts for a special breakfast.  We never get these for the kids so I thought it would be fun.  Ann managed to eat one while we were dropping some off to Grandma and Monique for their first day of school.  The kids got up at 7 and we left for school at about 8:30.  We did surprisingly well on time.  I could tell they were excited and Truman seemed especially full of energy.  Cardon was excited as well and went and got his backpack full of blocks to wear so he could be like the kids.

This is the first year Prentice will be going all day so since they won't be riding the bus I can drop them off and pick them up at the same time.  I actually did really well dropping them off and got a little sad saying goodbye (but not too sad).  Summers are hard for me people.  And school is good for parents and kids.  Here's to a fun school year with new adventures and challenges and meeting new friends.  Excited and nervous for Tacy to learn Chinese but think it will be awesome.  Her teachers are Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Jia.  When she got home she told me she learned lots of new Chinese words, but couldn't remember what any of them were.  She was happy, almost giddy, which was nice to see.  Truman was happy as well and told me all about his teacher and what they did today.  Love these kids even more and it was nice to have some time home with just the little boys.  It was definitely quieter and a less chaotic, which is nice sometimes.

Joseph, Utah

I have literally a hundred pics on Jer's phone (once again my hands always seem to be full with a baby and chasing a 2 year old) so this is the only picture on my computer from the Leonard family trip to Joseph. Maybe this post will help in my efforts for Jer to send me those pics on his phone. For now this will have to do.

Jer's family does a trip every other summer and this year it was in Joseph Utah.  Had never been there and really hadn't heard of it either, but found out it was a cute, quiet town about 2 and a half hours away situated by Richfield and Marysvale.  We stayed in an old church that has been converted into a vacation rental with 3 of Jer's sisters, their families, and his parents.  We had plenty to eat and the kids had a blast playing with cousins.  Truman liked playing pool for the first time and ping pong.  It was right next to an old park that they played at a lot.  They made a fire with Jer twice to roast smores.  We took them fishing (didn't catch any fish).  We rode on the ATV a couple times on the Piute trail.  We visited Freemont State Park and saw how, and where they lived and a lot of their original petroglyphs.  Jer was able to take the oder kids on a rafting trip down the Sevier River while I stayed with the little boys where Truman held a water snake.  We had a lot of fun and are looking forward to another trip in 2 years.

More pictures to come...maybe

Closing out summer

I guess I better play catch up before I just completely give up on trying to stay on top of the blog. Is it just me or does summer have a way or being relaxed and yet incredibly busy and it feels like there isn't a lot of time to catch your breath?

I find that trying to capture decent photos is difficult when you always have a baby in your arms, but here is an attempt to show some of the thins we did.  Honestly it is just so my kids can look back and know that we did fun things when they want to whine about how we never do anything.
 

Memories from this summer:
no AC for 2 weeks and then a huge bill to fix it
pool time
splash parks
Jumpin Jacks
storytime at the library
snow cones
summer tennis
summer swim
zoo
7 Peaks Water Park
ice cream at Menchies
slip and slide
me nagging and begging and maybe a little yelling
the kids fighting and teasing and a little yelling
the kids reading
Truman learning to cook a few things
lots of scouts stuff
working on our backyard
Jer busy at work
late nights
movies
Mary Poppins at Tuacahn
Prentice's birthday
Mulan with the 2 oldest
feeding the ducks
dirty kids from playing outside
hair that wasn't combed
mismatched clothes
complaints of being bored
sleepovers at Grandparents
fireworks

Chambers 4 Months

I can't figure out why I save my edited pics and then when I pull them up to put into the blog they are turned the wrong direction. I keep hoping it will fix itself or I will magically figure out how to make it right. Seeing how neither one of those have happened, I will just post the pics I have that are facing correctly, before Chambers is 5 months. It might also be because I am crazy busy it seems and summer and thrown me for a loop.  I am also in the middle of being on the KICKS soccer board and trying to find coaches for 15 teams.  It feels a little like church callings and responsibilities where it always seems to be the "same 10 people" volunteering to help.  Anyway...this is about Chambers!

Chambers at 4 months:
the best age
so much fun
"talking" to us
cooing
pooping out his pants
takes a long nap in the afternoon for 2-3 hours
grabs and pinches
size 3 diapers
is so sweet
ears stick out a little
kicks and kicks his feet
grabs and holds onto toys
chubby, round body and cheeks
starting "stand up" when we hold him up
holds his head up 98% of the time
sleeps about 12 hours through the night
likes the kids (sure that will change)
doesn't love his car seat
hates tummy time (don't they all)
likes to be tickled and talked to
likes to face out now so he can see everything
drools
spits up a little still

And his 4 month stats:

Weight   15.65 lbs.   43%
Length    26.38 in.     79%
Head      6.9 in.         46%

End of Summer Tennis

The kids finished up their summer session of tennis. I was originally only going to sign up Truman but after the first lesson I thought Prentice might like it as well. She was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, but after a few lessons she got the hang of it. It was Truman's second season of tennis and he improved a lot since his last session. It was really hot a lot of the days, but the kids played right through it and looked forward to it the two times a week they went.  We took them a couple times to practice as a family so they would feel more comfortable with what they were learning.  Grandma Debbie came with us every Thursday and afterwards we would go feed the ducks and go for lunch.  They know the basics, but are still a little hesitant when it comes to their skill, but I'm sure that will come. I think they will have a lot of fun in the coming years playing together and as a family. Truman took second place in his age level in the tournament. Prentice decided not to play in the tournament so we just cheered him on!