Sunday, August 20, 2023

Our Family Memories in July!

 We have been having such a fun summer this year! The kids are at really fun ages, and we have been able to see family a lot, which always makes life better. We started off the month with a trip to West Jordan for my family's fourth of July party and then Ben and I spent the next week shipping his 500 books that he did a Kickstarter for last year. Between and after all of that, we've had a blast doing all the summer things!

The kids had some spending money for Wal Mart. Ashtyn got yarn to crochet with, Parker got a bag of lollipops, and Rylee got a hoola hoop. Somehow, to me, it so perfectly showed their personalities 😂

It has been so fun having Jessica and Donovan back in Vernal! The boys are just getting to the age where they can interact, though so far it's mostly Oliver copying Kolson and getting too close to Kolson, and Kolson being in his own little world 😂 this was cute though, when Oliver was "reading" to Kolson on the stairs.

We also were able to go to the creek by Ben's parents' house a few times in July. Usually we go in June, but this year, there was so much water, we had to wait a little later. We always have fun wading out there.







And Ashtyn catching bugs whereever we go!

Ben and Ashtyn searched for fossils in the rocks while we were at the creek and Ben especially liked this one.











And lake days with cousins! The water in the lakes by Vernal are really high right now and it's been really nice!

Summer days wear out Rylee!

Ashtyn put Oliver in his car seat and I found him with her shoes on too 😂







We also went to a few of the library's summer activities (we missed some while traveling). They always have fun activities each week in the summer and give out prizes to the kids for reading. 

Ben and I got a babysitter for the kids and drove out to Salt Lake for an indie game dev club meetup. He had the game he's been working on and was able to let others play it. It was a fun little business trip!


Summer means bugs in our house.

Ashtyn learning Esperanto 😂


Parker had gotten birthday money and finally decided she wanted to spend it on a mini American Girl Doll. 




Ashtyn's giraffe tutorial 💗

Ashtyn was also playing around with editing videos on my phone.


Oliver copying Dad 💗

When you have sisters, you get to play "mermaid" 😂



Ashtyn started going to an event in Vernal where kids can set up a table and sell crafts. She made magnets and keychains out of Perler Beads. 


Oliver the dinosaur. 

I love watching Ben rough house with our kids 💗



July was also full of zucchini bread and cake as we tried to help Lindi and Danny eat up all their zucchini 😀


Ashtyn slid this under my door while I was showering one day 😂

Ashtyn has been learning to bake. This was her zucchini cake that she did entirely without me, even pulling it out of the oven (she was nervous, but did great). 



Ashtyn also got to do a week-long theater class. She loved it and we got to come see her little performance at the end. 



Oliver is a little monkey!


Ben and I have been doing more workouts while the kids are awake to fit them in and they love doing them with us. Rylee will say things like, "I am getting the body I always wanted!" or "I am getting such strong muscles!"


July was a great month for our family, full of family and fun memories together 💗
















Our Fourth of July Trip

 At the beginning of July, we drove out to West Jordan for my family's 4th of July party. It's a big water party, BBQ, and fireworks at my grandma's house each year and we never miss it! It's super fun and super exhausting!



One of the best parts of these parties for me is seeing my cousins' relationship with my girls. I had a sweet relationship with them when we were younger and it is so fun to see that generational pattern continuing. 



We drove out the morning of the 4th and stopped by my mom's house to get settled. Then we headed over to my grandparents' house. We decided to let Oliver skip his nap for the day. Oliver had a blast at the water party! He thought he was just in heaven with all the fun things to do and all the treats.







Parker loves to blow raspberries on all the baby's tummies and it's cute!






The kids all waited until the water turned off (so it wouldn't spray in their face) but then they all went down the giant slide!



After the water party, we had hamburgers, fruit, and potato salad for dinner and it was super yummy! Then it was time for fireworks!



The kids absolutely loved the fireworks! Ashtyn and Rylee have been looking forward to them all year. During the long winter, they kept praising all the snow, saying, "It's okay! We are going to be able to do BIG fireworks for the 4th!" It was fun to sit and watch them with my family (Ben took Oliver back to my mom's and put him to bed, because he was tucked).



Staying at my mom's house was fun too. The girls played with these blocks a lot and spent a lot of time in her backyard. 






While we were out there, I signed the girls and I up to go see the Saratoga Springs Temple Open House (Ben stayed with Oliver so he could take a nap). It was beautiful and the girls loved it! When we got to the end, Rylee said, "Can we go through again?" It was really sweet. 


After the temple, Oliver was awake, so we picked him up before going for ice cream. 

That night, we went and visited their cousins (Luke's daughter and her family). Each child has a cousin about the same age and it's always fun to hang out with them. 

The trip was a fun one! We always love seeing family and catching up with everyone. Our kids had a blast with everything we did too. 















Sunday, August 13, 2023

Rylee is 5!

Rylee turned five this weekend! We love having Rylee in our family, she makes us laugh and gives lots of snuggles. Today, I asked her some questions about herself.  




What is your favorite thing to do? 

Eat treats, be with my cousins (especially Grace)

What are you best at? 

Riding a bike!

What is your favorite color? 

Rainbow 

What do you love to eat? 

Ice cream sandwiches! 

Who is your best friend? 

Lizzy

What do you love to learn about? 

That you can do anything 

What is your favorite book? 

Creepy Crayon, Creepy Carrots, and Creepy Underwear 

What is the best movie or show to watch? 

Spidey and His Amazing Friends 

What is your favorite animal? 

My favorite under sea is an eel and my favorite one on land is a snake

What do you love to play with? 

Dolls

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

An artist 

What was your favorite thing that you did while you were four? 

Colored! 

What do you want to do while you're five? 

I don't know yet! I think that I'll probably get into things sometimes and probably cry. I think that I'll have a great time with cousins and go to Disneyland.