ward picnic

Our ward had a picnic Friday evening. After a hot and muggy and rainy Thursday, I was worried about the weather for Friday. But it turned out to be a beautiful day! It was warm, but dry and it was windy, so that helped it not feel so hot!

Every park in town has a sand pit with these 2 of these tracker things. And Tyler has played in every single sand pit in town, and has ridden at least one of the trackers in each pit.

Adeline and Uncle Brian. I honestly think he's her favorite uncle. I can count on one hand the number of people Addie gets excited to see -- and will put her arms out to go to -- even if I'm holding her. Brian is one of those people. This is most interesting when you consider that just a few months ago she would always cry anytime Brian took her from me -- and she never did that with anyone else!

bike riding

2 days after buying our van, we bought Tyler a new bike. He had started to out grow his little trike, and we thought it was time to get him a new bike. We bought the bike at Wal-mart -- I figure if the kid's going to out grow it in a summer or 2, I don't want to pay top-dollar for it. I'll wait and fork out the big money when he's stopped growing! Anyway, so the bike was inexpensive as bikes go, but I didn't want to get his helmet at Wal-mart, I wanted to get his helmet at a bike store in town because they do helmet fittings -- and that's what I wanted. So we went to the bike store to get the helmet. Dallin and I did not purposely match the bike and the helmet, but these are the colors Tyler was into that day -- a departure from his usual "every must be green" mode -- and since he has to ride the bike and wear the helmet, I think his opinion here matters more than Mom's or Dad's.

I got the idea of going to the church parking lot for some quality bike riding. I thought he would love being able just to ride all over without any restrictions imposed on him by riding on the sidewalk. Yeah. Not so much. My kid is a conformist. He rode on the sidewalk -- and at the church he has less sidewalk to ride on than on our little street! I mean, I'm really okay with him feeling uncomfortable riding in the street -- but he does it at home all the time, and I tell him not to, and here was his chance to do it because Mom said it was okay. Oh well. He had fun.

Random Shots

One of the things I love about summer are the summer showers -- bursts of torrential rain while the sun is shining. Tyler and I saw this rainbow that stretched across the sky one day during such a shower.

On Memorial Day we had FHE in the basement of my parents' home. As we were heading towards the stairs to go home, Adeline started to crawl that way, too. I didn't think anything of it because she usually just goes to the bottom step and then puts up her arms to be carried. This time, however, she headed straight for the stairs and didn't stop until she was at the top of the stairs! Now anytime we go outside she dives out of my arms and wants to climb either up the stairs, or down the stairs -- head first. I will take her down the stairs, follow her up the stairs and to the front door -- which she will go through, and then she turns around and heads back to the stairs to do it all over again. Here she is climbing the last couple of stairs -- out of about 15. I didn't think you'd be interested in watching all 15 stairs. It gets monotonous after a while! ;)

Here are a couple shots I got while Tyler rode his bike at the church.

Memorial Day

Last Monday we went to Mom & Dad's for dinner and FHE. Dad gave a great lesson about the USA and how special it really is -- and how essential the freedoms we enjoy here were to the restoration of the Gospel. I will have to post his sentiments later. It's going to take me a while. Here are some pictures.

The boys played a grueling game of kick-ball. Tyler never waited for the ball to cross the plate. He attacked first.

Adeline getting into Grandma's Tupperware cupboard -- She hasn't stopped trying to get into drawers and cabinets since last Monday. We opened a can of worms here.

Tyler played this game with his uncles. He tried to throw the frisbee up to the deck and they tried to catch it. It was so comical! Sorry for the weird angle here. I was sitting on the ground, and tried to get both Tyler & Brian.

Addie was very concerned about Tyler getting that frisbee up to the deck.

Tyler played a mean game of football with the rest of the boys. Here he is just after getting passed the ball.

Look at that field! Wide open for Tyler to make a run for the end zone! :)

TOUCH DOWN!!!

Grandpa tried to play a game of ball with Adeline, but she was more interested in Max's tail.

There she goes. She throws like a girl. ;)

A final "thank you" to all those who serve to protect our country. I have several family members serving, and a couple friends as well. Thank you all & your families for all you do for the rest of us.

vent

I took the kids grocery shopping with me this morning. First of all, I've decided I am just not meant to shop at Wal-mart. The last 3 grocery shopping trips -- and I shop every 2 weeks -- it's been raining. And not just sprinkling, but downpours. I end up loading the groceries in the car with pouring rain and by the time we get home it has stopped.

Anyway. So we left the house around 10am this morning. I had wanted to leave earlier, but Addie didn't sleep in like I thought she would, so then after feeding her I tried to get her to go down for a nap -- because the night owl that she is stayed up until 10:30pm the night before and then woke up at 7am today. Grrr...Anyway. She wouldn't go down, so I decided just to get the shopping done, we'd go quickly, and she could sleep on the way home. I spent an hour at Wal-mart -- and that included looking at sandals for Tyler, trying them on, the whole bit. I then spent a 1/2 hour -- that's right 30 min. -- IN LINE TO CHECK OUT!!! I got into a line where I thought there were 2 ladies with 2 really full carts -- which wasn't really an issue because all the lines were long at that point. Come to find out there were 2 ladies, but 1 of them had 3 carts, and the other one had like 10 items in the bottom of the last cart. The first lady's total came to over $500. I don't know what she bought -- mostly toiletries, so maybe she was stocking up -- anyway. It was a lot of stuff. Then, as I started to unload my groceries, I realized that I'd had this cashier before, and didn't really like her. It's really sad. I remember the cashiers I don't like, but never remember those I do like. This cashier is soooo slow. And it's not because she's meticulous or extra careful -- if that were the case, I'd get over it -- but it's because she TALKS. And not just to me -- she talked with the 1st 2 ladies in line while she rang up the thousands of items, and she talked to cashier in the aisle next to us! What?!?!?! I heard her tell the ladies in front of me about how her parents' basement always floods when it rains. It was while we were in line that we heard the first huge clap of thunder and the downpour that followed. "Oh, well, our basement's flooded now." By the time I got up to the front, the basement had gone from flooded to "the house is floating." And she had to share the same story with the cashier next to her as well as the parking lot guy who came in to help the 2 ladies with their 3 carts of stuff. By the time my stuff was checked, Addie had had it. She was tired. And she let everyone know she was tired. And yet, that cashier girl went SOOOO slow. I've had others who have seen I have upset children and they will try to speed up a little so we can get out of there faster. Not this girl. No, she was still trying to tell me about her parents' basement flooding. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Anyway. I was polite and courteous and replied a little, but really just ignored her the rest of the time. I know we are all God's children, but that doesn't mean I have to like everyone, does it? I sure hope not -- cuz I'm in big trouble! Next time I will make sure to find out who the cashier is before I get in line!

And why is it that when people in this town get to a stop light they know is a short one, and there is a line of cars behind them, each one wanting to get through the light, that when the light turns green they go as slow as molasseses in Antarctica? Maybe it's because I learned to drive in the Chicago area that I'm a more impatient driver, or that I think of other drivers who want to get through the light, but it drives (no pun intended) me nuts the way drivers in our town drive! I also don't understand why they don't venture out into an intersection when they're turning left. Do they not realize that more people also want to get through the green light, and it courteous to pull out as far as possible so that others might get through the intersection -- even if the light is yellow? I guess I should be used to it. People in Cedar City did the same thing. Doesn't me I have to like it.

our trip to the zoo

Saturday we spent the day at the zoo in Madison, WI. The drive was about 2 hours, and once we got there we had to drive around the zoo about 3 times before we found a good place to park -- it was SO crowded! It is a small zoo -- but was free so I can't complain. Tyler did very well staying close to Mom and Dad. And Adeline did very well. Here are some of our pictures:

The zoo has a tiger and a lion, but neither one could be found that day. We did however, find these life-size pictures of big cats and had Tyler stand next to them.

The average polar bear is between 9 and 12 feet tall when standing up. This one was about 9 feet high.

We're all waiting for the penguins to go in the water. All of them were right on the edge of the pool, and everyone was seriously watching for them to dive in the water. When they did there was a chorus of "oohh" "look at that" from the audience -- us included. We're so easily entertained.

Here are the kids next to a life-size picture of a bison.


I've been told that one of Dallin's grandpas used to do this with the grandkids. Addie thinks this is just the funniest thing, and giggles the entire time! :)


The zoo had this huge tree playground & slides. I didn't get a picture of the whole tree -- didn't need all those kids in my picture -- but here is Tyler at the very top waiting to go down one of the really tall slides.


You can barely see her, but Addie is the "turtle."


My 2 joeys who wouldn't cooperate during this potentially really cute photo shoot.


The only thing -- other than food, which we skipped -- that costs money in the zoo is the carousel. And it was $1 for each kid to ride.
You can't go to the zoo without getting pictures of the animals. However, I'm sure we've all seen zoo animals before, and this blog is supposed to be about the family. So, I'm showing the great photography skills of both Dallin and myself in the following pictures. :)

taken by Robin:

taken by Dallin:

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i'm a princess

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

faith builder

The last couple of weeks Tyler has been waking up in the middle of the night because of bad dreams. It's been bad enough for him that the last few nights he has tried stalling going to bed with some of the most ingenious and not so ingenious excuses. Last night as we were getting ready to say prayers we reminded Tyler that he could pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him to help him not to have bad dreams. I helped him with his prayers last night, and we made sure to ask for help. Dallin also mentioned it in our family prayer. This morning Tyler came in our room at about 6:15, and I asked if he had had any bad dreams. He said no and was so excited to realize that his prayer had been answered. I had him say a prayer right away to thank Heavenly Father.

This was a teaching moment for Tyler and myself. I admit that I go through weak faith moments -- especially since we've been trying unsuccessfully for 3 years to get Dallin a teaching job -- and this simple little lesson of faith was a giant wake up call for me. My prayers are answered. The answers are not always what I want them to be, but prayers are answered.

change is inevitable

I was released today as the Primary Music Leader. I was not nearly as sad as I thought I would be. I did cry when they sang in Sacrament Meeting today and when they sang to me in Primary. I had a couple of the girls come up and give me hugs afterwards, and tell me they would miss me. I reminded them that I would still be around, they said, "But it won't be the same."

While I won't be doing music, I will still be under the Primary program as the Nursery leader! *SHOCK* This means I will be in charge of the the kids who are 18 months to 3 years old. I'm a little apprehensive, but have already begun to think of what I'd like to do in there. Thankfully, there are only about 8 or 9 active kids in there right now with 2 or 3 coming in during the year. The sister I'm replacing was called when we had 28 active kids in the nursery. So, I really can't complain!

new van

We bought a van!!! It's a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan. It has power locks, power windows, power sliding doors, Stow-n-Go, CD/Cassette/Radio, and only about 21,000 miles on it! Retail value on the car was just over 19K. They were asking $14,789. It had been there for a while and so they were wanting to unload it, and we were more than willing to take it off their hands! I've already had to hide my car keys from Tyler and make very strict rules about being able to use the remote access key. I found him in the van earlier today after the apartment went quiet. Grrr....

Here it is:

Stow-n-Go
Tyler in "his spot." Every time we'd test drive a van he would tell us that when we bought one he would be able to sit in the very back. I don't know why this is so exciting for him, but it is, and as long as he's happy in the car, that's all that really matters to me!

the bath towel

Nothing really exciting in this post except for a picture of Adeline in her new bath towel Mommy made for her. I got the towels at Target.

"Code Adam" & the rain we didn't miss

The kids & I went grocery shopping this morning -- 8 am at Wal-Mart -- after taking Dallin to work. I might have waited until later in the day but we were suppose to get a big storm today, and I wanted to be home before the real down pour started. We were 1/4 of the way through my list of items when we heard the heavens open on the roof of the store, and heard thunder. Of course in the store, the rain sounds really loud, but this was unbelievable! I almost had to shout in order to even hear myself talking to Tyler! So, there went my plan to beat the rain! The most I could hope for now is that the rain would let up a little by the time we were loading up the car. We were just about finished with our shopping, and had made it all the back to the dairy section. Tyler went straight for the bakery discount cart -- as always -- and tried to bring me a delicious and very fattening looking chocolate cake. And you know how I feel about chocolate, right? Chocolate = happiness! I told him we were not buying anything off the cart today, but that I would let him get a chocolate milk. He thought that was a great idea and went over to get it. We made it up to the front to check out, and I was unloading the groceries onto the belt when I noticed Tyler taking his chocolate milk out of the cart. I didn't think anything of it, because he often pulls out "his things" to personally give to the cashier & then asks him/her not to put it in a bag. But after putting a couple other items on the belt I realized Tyler had not brought up his milk, and in fact was no where to be seen! I called his name and looked in the neighboring lanes, but couldn't find him. The fact that he wasn't responding to my calling, freaked me out. One of the employees asked what Tyler was wearing -- thankfully I chose his clothes this morning so I remembered! -- and how old he was. I gave her the information, and she got on the speakers and announced a "code Adam" and gave the info I had given her on Tyler. About 30 seconds later they came back and said they had found him in the grocery section. A minute later he came around the corner with an employee. Of course I was on the verge of tears, and he was acting as though nothing had happened! I gave him a big hug, and reminded him that he cannot just wander away like that -- it scared me! He said it scared him too, and then tried to wiggle out of my arms. I then noticed that he had come back without his chocolate milk. I asked him where it was. He told me he had put it back because he didn't want it anymore.

After all this, I had to load the car in a down pour, and I was SOAKED!!! By the time we got home, 7 minutes later, the rain had stopped & I unloaded the car in the sunshine. So much for missing my rain storm, eh?

And happy 10 month birthday to Adeline!