What I Will Miss About Summer...

Aaah, what a summer. And Jace begins school tomorrow. But first, I want to reminisce about the happenings I will miss from our summer '09.

...I think she's reminiscing, too...

...Being "Bear-Laken' Ready" for summer!

Good times with good friends...

Friends in Jared's class enjoying the cabin with us...

Good laughs...

Good Fishin'

...Sweetness...

Silliness...

Weee!

We got to visit the Draper and Oquirrh Mountain Temples during their open house. I am so grateful for such an opportunity and for grandparents that helped make it possible!

Mmm! Patriotic Fruit Pizza...

Jared took a break from his studies for the Step 2 Board Exam to enjoy a favorite tradition. He and his Dad are announcing at the Days of '47 Parade in Bountiful.

Zoo Days

Jace found this insect while at the zoo. Out of all the living things in the zoo, this seemed to be the most fascinating for him. He doesn't know what it is, so he took photos of it to further investigate.

This is "Mantee". Jace kept her as a pet for several days. His brothers helped him catch grasshoppers to feed it and were entertained by its eating habits.

Lagoon Days...

The Gateway Mall Fountains...

WATER: Jace and Lance got to take a swimming class together. At one point during a lesson, I saw Lance's face light up when he exclaimed in realization, "I can swim!"

I have concluded that my boys are all water kids just like me. Lance and Kyle had so much fun jumping off the edge at the shallow end. Jace has grown to love the diving board just like his Mom. Once he got the courage to make that first jump off, he was a natural. The second dive of his life was a forward tuck somersault (front flip). I was so proud! (He had done it on the trampoline before) I wanted to dive with him again so much on this last day in the water before school begins, but something happened that I will not miss about this summer...

I hit my toe on the bottom of the pool after jumping off the board 2 days previous. It was a little more shallow than I was expecting! It hurt a little but not like I would think it should have. My good friend, Sherrie (Thank you so much for watching my kids so I could do this!) told me to do some more cool stuff! Of course I had to. I was amazed that I could do it after so many years! I did an inward dive, reverse dive, and forward one-and-a-half somersault, pike. Woohoo! (I'm grateful that I did them without knowing that my toe had been broken, or I wouldn't have had the opportunity!) It's just a little chip of bone that needs to heal back on... 4-6 weeks and I'll be back on that board! I'll watch out for the bottom next time...

Jared's mom came and helped me at the pool after the toe incident. Why should the kids miss out? I couldn't have done it without her!

Jared's Dad helping me get the kids to bed. Jared's been gone insanely much.... it really has felt insane some of these days! He's completing his last week of a 4-week Sub-Internship at the U working hours like 5:30pm-7am. I won't miss this schedule. We just miss him and look forward to seeing him again soon...

Lance took this of Cami and I during a photo session. I will miss taking photos outside in the warm weather!

OTHERS I WILL MISS:

• Late nights - no hurry to get to bed on time...
• Relaxing mornings, no rush to hurry anywhere
• Picnics at the park
• Trips to the library and the excitement for the next prize from participating in their summer reading program
• Jace helping me at the grocery store: This is a big deal. It was SO much easier to go shopping with him! He helped with everything, keeping track of kids, pushing the grocery cart in the store and, after unloading, taking it back into the store while we wait in the car...

...AND FINALLY....

This is the photo that inspired this post. Today, I captured Jace as he read to Lance. I was cleaning the kitchen after lunch and asked Lance to pick out some books for us to read. Rather than sitting there with his books and waiting for Mom, Lance had this awesome brother come and read to him. Ah! What are we going to do with Jace gone? It has been fun to watch the children as their relationships grew closer during the summer. So sweet. This I will miss...

More Camo Pics...

More pics just for fun...

The Boys and Cami in Camo

In celebration of the first day of the archery hunt yesterday (and one of the dresses Daddy bought), well, Cami will tell you in her own words...

"Oh my goodness! You will not believe these pictures!" "I cannot wait to show you!"
"Okay, guys, this is what we're gonna do..."

Hey, sillyhead, take off your hood!

Lance, the camera's over there!... Hey, Kyle! Come back here!

My brothers are so silly, but I sure do love 'em...

Ooops! Ha! Ha!

Ya, Ooops! I see that word often on emails that I send out to people when I forgot to send the attachment or this or that. I am really a woman of many "ooops'!". I think it would be fabulous for me to have it all together and figured out one day...
But until then, I have to share this story that every time I think about it, I chuckle. And the more I think about it, the more funny it becomes. Cami kept looking at me tonight when the kids were in bed and it was just the two of us again, as I kept laughing out loud about it.
Okay, now the story. Today, at church, Cami wore the cutest camouflage dress bought for her by her own Daddy. And it has matching bloomers with frilly camo across the bum. (So fun!)
It isn't really easy for me to get 4 kids and me to church on time, and I get a little frantic in those last moments before we leave (Ya! I hate that! We've got to come up with a solution to that.)
Anyway, Cami had pooped in her diaper right when we were ready to walk out the door. So I pulled off those cute bloomers and changed her diaper. I was bummed once we were sitting in sacrament meeting and I noticed that she was just wearing her diaper, no bloomers underneath. I had forgotten to put the cute matching bloomers on! Bummer! (No pun intended.)
Later, I was hurrying to get some copies made in the library with Cami on my hip. Someone came in and he picked up a diaper that had been on the floor in the doorway, and he said, "Lost and Found?"
I was too busy focusing on my job of copies and just answered that the garbage was right there, indicating with my finger.
Once I had my copies, I began to leave the library and walk out into the hallway where there were people bustling about. I had just turned to check something in the library when I noticed some skin showing where it shouldn't be on Cami (Her dress had ridden up a little as I was walking) OOOPS!! I hurried to pull her dress down to cover her. I was too embarrassed at the moment to realized how funny it was. No one in the hallway had noticed. I rushed her into the Mother's Lounge to put a diaper on, and that was when I started laughing. Cami smiled with me. What a funny story that she will love to read someday! (I'm just glad I noticed it before anything else happened!)

One Fine Day

This morning, I hadn't a clue what a fun day it would turn out to be. We did our regular morning chores, with the regular morning moans and groans about it. Then we headed off for swimming lessons for Jace and Lance. Yesterday was their first day, and they loved it. I wanted to get Kyle enrolled in the preschool class, but they wouldn't let me because he is not 3 yrs. old yet (Just 2 months shy!). They informed me of a "Mommy and Me" class that I could do, but I couldn't imagine how that would be possible with an infant in tow. So yesterday when we showed up, Kyle played in the water during his brother's swimming lessons. I sat close by with Cami, still in her carseat. Kyle was having a blast. Toward the end of the lesson, a man came over and asked me if Kyle was in a swimming lesson. Busted. I told him that I wanted to put him in the preschool class and all that. I don't mind paying to have him in a class. Long story short, the nice man said it would be alright for Kyle to join the preschool class the following day. So today, when he went to inform the preschool swim coach, she would have nothing to do with it, even though there were only 2 kids there, out of the four enrolled, and she had another teacher helping her! I felt so bad for Kyle. He didn't even throw a fit. He was just sad. Sweet Kyle. So by the end of that swim lesson, we ran home, I changed into my swimsuit, grabbed a few other necessities, and headed back to the pool for their Open Swim. The kids were ecstatic. Look at this face:

Prepare to Dive: Kyle did this every time he jumped in the water, like he is saluting the judges or ensuring good form for his dive. It was the cutest.

Laying out on the water or Superman?

So worth it.

Walking on water?

Or flying?

I have to catch Jace mid sentence to get a picture of him. He's dealt with a camera happy mom for NINE years!

Aaah....

I'm so grateful for happy babies! :)

Watching the pigeons eat and hoping they will come closer

And why wouldn't they? It IS a fantastic day after all!

Ah! I forgot how much I love being in the water! (Cami took a good nap in her carseat so I could play with the boys) I asked them if they would go for sitting by the diving boards and watching me, but it didn't work :) Someday...

Here Comes Trouble!

It was inevitable. I knew it was coming...

(July 31st)

...From the time she began crawling and climbing over everything at the cabin, including her brothers...

(Aug. 4)

(Today)

...but I didn't think it would be so soon. Today, while we were at my mom's, I walked back inside to find a proud Cami standing on her tippy toes and a tickled Jace at the sight of it.

Could she be any more pleased with herself?

Temple Square

We went to temple square this morning for a primary activity. Lance and Kyle loved it. (Jace was up the street visiting the Capital Building with the Cub Scouts)

Among their favorites was the place where the movie showed people making food really fast (it was played in fast forward of people in an assembly line making foods to give to those in need). Also among their favorites was the escalators. They don't get to the mall very often. However, their favorite place to visit was the Christus.

They loved it so much, we had to go back and see it again.

Hangin' out just outside the tabernacle. Lance enjoyed the music that he heard coming from inside. It was really cool for the boys to be so close to the temple that we drive by so often. I am so grateful for the opportunities that are open to us by living here.

In My Backyard...

Well, not really my backyard, but it used to be, when I lived here. We spent some time in the backyard at my parent's house, while my mom taught Jace piano lessons. It was a great day for photos! We had so much fun...

Sitting up is just so much fun!

I love this expression!

Lance and Kyle enjoying themselves on the other end of the yard...

But this is just so much fun!

These flowers were picked by her brothers... She must know how loved she is.

Ya Gotta

Jace and Lance are beginning to share a chore that used to only belong to Jace: Mopping the floor. (Jace's "favorite" chore-not really) I used to sweep it before he mopped, so now one of them sweeps while the other mops. Today, Lance chose to mop. So I asked Jace to do the sweeping, which he was very okay with. I came back when Jace's task was done and did a little inspection. After I swept up a good amount of debris, I called Jace to come observe what I found. I told him that next week, there will be sweeping lessons a couple times during the week.



So tonight at the dinner table, Jace had a complaint.



"I don't wanna have to have sweeping lessons and piano lessons on the same day."



Lance leaned toward Jace, one eyebrow up, and said in his low voice,

"But ya gotta."

My Baby Boy

Today at nap-time, Kyle and I were reading a book about babies falling asleep. When we finished, I hugged him and said, "Goodnight, my baby Kyle."

He retorted, "I am not a baby!"

I asked him if he's my boy, and that seemed to be alright with him. But he will always be my baby boy. Aah! They're growing too fast!

Mommy and Kyle on his birthday