Only 15 days left!

I can't believe that we only have 15 more days of "summer!" We have had such a great one. We have been frog hunting, swimming, balloon gazing and more swimming. David can now go off the diving board by himself. I get a little nervous when I see his little head bob up and down as he swims to the side, but he loves it. He even went off the high dive. He climbed the stairs and just ran right off.

We only have a few more days of our Thanksgiving Point membership so we went last week to the big gardens to look for frogs. We started at the waterfalls and worked our way down the stream to the pond. We saw 6 frogs, numerous dragonflies but Emma's favorite part was feeding the huge fish.

Friday morning we went to Sandy to see a hot air balloon festival. They were supposed to fly 15 balloons, but it was too windy. They blew up about 7 balloons just to see some color. It was fun, but we had to wake the kids up to go and they were a wee bit grumpy by the end of the day (can you say David had a screaming tantrum at the pool and I just kept walking...yeah, not fun)

We have been getting together with my sister and that has been fun. Last week they came here and we tie dyed shirts (she forgot to bring hers to AZ) and then we made snow cones.

We are still looking forward to going camping (next weekend), Aaron and I are going to Sundance this weekend for dinner and an outdoor theater show (thank you UVRMC), classic fun center and a lot more swimming.

Waterman Family Reunion

We had such a blast getting together with my parents and all of my brothers and sisters. The first three days we stayed at a resort which was fun. We swam, hung out, and went canoeing. The weather was okay. It rained a lot, but I guess when they are praying for rain you take it when you get it. When the kids went to bed the adults played some fun group games. On Saturday we went to my parents house. We went to a parade (which made me realize that our parade here is really good) then we made tie die shirts. It was fun although Grandpa didn't get to make one and at the end we were only down to camo colors.

We have been swimming a lot. Sarah stays the whole time on the diving boards. It is fun to watch her. Emma likes the water more now but still prefers to hang out on the side of the pool. Becca loves the slide and diving board and swimming with David. David likes to swim underwater. He likes swimming for the torpedo.

Here is a cute video of Emma at the beginning of the summer.

You know you are having a great summer when...

You don't have time to blog about it!

Man this summer has FLOWN by! We went to California to a Smalley family reunion. We had such a great time just hanging out, swimming and playing games. I just love them! I was so bugged that my camera battery died! Hopefully I will get some pictures from others in the family.

Last weekend my sister watched my kids while I went to youth conference. I had a wonderful time. The girls are incredible. We had fun games and great classes...it made me want to be a better person! I also realized that I am grateful that I will never have to go to a stake dance again! Whew, I never knew how awkward it is!

Funny

First, we went to the doctor today for Emma's 15 month check up (I know about a month behind) and she only weighed 19 lbs! David was that at 4 months.

Today in the car Becca said, "slug bug" *pause* it's kind of a throw up color. That cracked me up.

David's favorite word it viola. If you want to go hiking viola there is the mountain. If you want a drink -turns on the water- viola there is your drink.

Girls Camp

Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to go to girls camp. We had such a great time! We only had one day of bad weather (and it was BAD!) The girls are great. We only had a few whiners and one medical emergency (ew, a poor little first year got the tip of her finger pinched off in her cot...she had to go to the ER and they tried to sew it back on but it just didn't take...poor girl) There was another leader and she and I really acted young...it was fun. I loved how I didn't have to think of what to cook I just did what I was told. Amanda watched my kids (what a sweetie!) It was great not having to worry about my kids. For some reason I didn't take my camera...I will post some pictues when someone else posts them!

so many things...

So many things have happened since this post!

1. My parents came and we spent a glorious long weekend with my sister and her family and my parents doing fun things like swimming, eating and playing around.

2. We went to the gateway discovery museum...the kids had a ball.

3. We bought a pass to the outdoor pool, one giant slide, a high dive and low diving board... so fun...

4. Sarah got a piece of soap stuck in her ear and was in horrible pain and had to go to the OR to get it removed. Not so fun.

5. Designated Monday as library day.

6. Released the butterflies.

7. I painted my bathroom. Now all I need is curtains and pictures.

8. We were supposed to go to seven peaks water park today with friends, but Sarah needs to wait one more day before she could swim :( We might just go tomorrow just me and the kids.

9. The kids slept at Amanda's house. They can only have sleep over at cousins.

10. David was dog sick for about 4 days last week...once again, not so fun.

Butterflies and strawberries

Couple of other notable things to add:

Becca's birthday present was a butterfly house with 5 caterpillars in them. We watched them go from very little caterpillars to great big ones in a few days, to forming their chrysalids and now, they are out! All five came out in the last few days. Painted Lady is the species and they are beautiful. We will probably let them go in the next week, but the girls loved putting down watermelon and carnations with sugar water on the petals and watching them stick out their long, curly tongues to get a taste. We'll have to take some pictures of them before we let them go. Julie got them from a company called Insect Lore that mailed them to us. www.insectlore.com

The other thing we've enjoyed lately are strawberries! Julie found them for not very much at a local store and they have all been so delicious. David especially loved helping cut them up and making jam and freezing the rest. We had Cool Whip and strawberries on shortcake the other night and seem to go through them as fast as we open the packages. Julie may go back and get more tomorrow.

David has also been begging to sleep outside in the tent in the backyard, but we will not consider it until we have a fence. No definite date for this either, but we hope sometime this summer. He really did love Fathers and Sons and I'm sure will be ready to go again next year.