Summer Lovin'

I love all the fun activities that go along with summer. It seems like in summer more than any other season, there's always something fun to look forward to. Here's a quick look at all the fun we've been having.

A few weekends ago Logan and I went to a baby shower for my friend, Stacey. She's expecting her first (a boy) due in August.

That night to make up for our less than perfect 4th of July evening (with Charlotte throwing up), we had a picnic dinner with the Petrosinos at Canyon Glen Park up Provo Canyon and then walked up to Bridal Veil Falls.

Our kids were tired and not cooperating for pictures - especially when we tried to get a shot of the whole group. I had to literally hold Peyton while she kicked and screamed to get down. (She was having fun playing in the water and didn't want to stop!)

We had heard rumors about marmots on the Spanish Fork River Trail, but it took us a long time to actually see one for ourselves. Now we normally see at least a few each time we are on it because we know where to look for them.

We had fun dressing up like cows for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A.

Our ward had a family campout up Hobble Creek Canyon. We decided we aren't hardcore enough to camp with a 4 month old, but we went up for the evening. The kids had fun hunting for bears.

And we all enjoyed s'mores before we went home to sleep in our own beds.

Well all of us except Logan. He ate Rog's lanyard and didn't know what he was missing! 

It's not summer until you've had a sticky marshmallow face!

To celebrate Papa George's 57th birthday, we all chipped in to get him this awesome BYU cooler. We also ate at Pizza Pie Cafe (his favorite) and I made him a Sugar Cookie Bar cake.

Last week we were busy with all the Fiesta Day activities (a subject for another post, stay tuned), but we also did a few things not related to Fiesta Days.

We went to the Spanish Fork Reservoir for the first time. We had a good time, but also learned a lot for future visits - like you definitely need to bring your own shade!

We took Rog with us on a walk on the Spanish Fork River Trail (his first time). He's going on the High Adventure hike with the young men this week, so he used it as an opportunity to prepare for the hike.

And finally we celebrated Bill's birthday and wished the Petrosinos well on their upcoming move to Arkansas with pie at the park. (Bill just accepted a data analytics job at Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, AR.)

Lots of fun with more to come! And that's why we're singing, "Summer lovin', had me a blast!"

Celebrate the 4th!

Rog had Friday the 3rd off, so we spread our 4th of July celebration out over 2 days.

Friday morning we went to the Balloon Festival bright and early.

No better way to start our celebration of the 4th!

On the way home we stopped at Kneaders for their french toast breakfast.

Rog's sister, Marti, came down from BYU-Idaho for the weekend. It was fun having her here since my parents were in Oregon visiting Jared and Cailey. And it was nice having an extra set of hands to help out and hold Logan. She got a ride from a friend down to McKae's house and then McKae drove her down to her in-law's house in Mapleton. Rog took the kids with him to pick her up and Peyton got to hold another one of their puppies. If I didn't dislike dogs so much, this picture might make me want one.

That afternoon we went for a swim at the Spanish Fork Water Park. It was fun to mix it up a little since we always go to Seven Peaks. I jumped off the diving board for the first time in forever and it was so exhilarating! Logan was asleep in the shade 95% of the time we were there, but we woke him up just before we left to try out the baby float. It was a really hot day and the water was warm, so he actually enjoyed it!

That night we watched National Treasure 2 - it seemed like a good movie for the 4th of July being about the history of America and all. I made some food for the next day including Berry Cheesecake Muffins for breakfast.

Saturday morning I went for a long run and then while I was getting ready, Rog and Marti took Corbyn and Peyton to hike the Grotto.

Apparently Peyton was quite the adventurer and wanted to jump right in the water while Corbyn was worried about getting dirty in the mud. 

While scrolling through my Instagram feed that afternoon I came across this picture posted by CheapShots Photography. My favorite part is the hashtags - #cute #blonde #adorable. Of course we think she's the cutest, but it was fun to see that others (who aren't totally biased) agree with us. 

We had a BBQ with Bill and Mariah and their friend Kendra. They brought some chicken to cook on the BBQ, Coconut Rice, corn on the cob, and patriotic sugar cookies.

I made Red, White, and Blue Fruit Salad...

Layered Jell-O (I was so proud of how well it turned out!)...

Strawberry Lemonade...

Rice Krispy Treats (dipped/drizzled with Almond Bark and covered in sprinkles)...

And Cookies and Cream Popcorn (for eating while we waited for the fireworks to start).

Unfortunately only a few minutes after they got to our house, Charlotte threw up. So that put a bit of a damper on the evening... They stayed to eat (since they brought all the real food), but then went home instead of coming to watch the fireworks with us. (I held my breath the whole next week waiting for my kids to get sick, but they didn't!)

We went to BYU to watch the Stadium of Fireworks. While we were waiting for them to start I had to get a picture of Logan in his 4th of July shirt.

We brought a huge pack of glow sticks to entertain the kids.

And sparklers too.

It took forever for the fireworks to start and Peyton was so tired she was begging us to go home. Finally she fell asleep. (So ironic because at home we have such a hard time getting her to go to bed!)

I couldn't be more proud to be an American! I love celebrating the 4th of July and this year was no exception. God bless the USA!

Second Quarter Reading

I read 10 books this quarter, bringing my total for the year to 16. I've already surpassed my goal to read 12 books this year and it's only half over! It's nice to have something to show for all the time I spend feeding Logan - other than a deliciously chubby baby of course!

Excellent:

1. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - Lincoln works the night shift at a newspaper monitoring the company email. Beth and Jennifer, two journalists at the newspaper, email back and forth all the time and their emails frequently get flagged. But Lincoln soon finds that he really likes reading their emails and can't bring himself to send them a reprimand. Before long he realizes that he's falling in love with Beth, but now it's complicated because he can't exactly tell her he's been reading her emails. Lincoln reminded me of a few of my guy friends from high school and I found myself cheering for him the whole book - I just wanted him to be happy! It was such a cute, fun book and I was sad to see it end.

2. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen - Sydney has grown up in the shadow of her brother, Peyton, who is "the golden boy." In high school, he starts getting into trouble and eventually ends up in jail after hitting and paralyzing another teenager while driving drunk. Sydney drops out of her expensive prep school and transfers to the public high school where no one knows her as Peyton's sister. She quickly finds a good group of friends including a brother-sister duo who work at their family pizza joint. In them she finds the family she doesn't have at home. It had great substance while being enjoyable and fun.

Great:
3. The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks - Former high school sweethearts Amanda and Dawson are reunited after 25 years when their mentor, Tuck, dies and they come back for his funeral. My sister loves Nicholas Sparks' books, but I had somehow never read one (although I had seen many of the movies made from his books). I really enjoyed this book, but hated the movie.

4. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - The book starts by saying there was a murder at the elementary trivia night, but doesn't say who was murdered. It then goes back 6 months and tells the story giving clues along the way. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story and thought it was almost as good as What Alice Forgot (which is saying a lot).

5. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg - Claudia and her brother, Jamie, run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While they are there, the museum puts an angel statue on display that is possibly the work of Michelangelo and Claudia is determined to solve the mystery. This was one of my absolute favorite books growing up and I enjoyed the blast from the past immensely.

6. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - Noah and Allie fall in love one summer, but then are separated for 14 years. Just as Allie is about to marry another man, she comes across a story in the newspaper about a house Noah restored. She goes to see Noah and finds that she is still in love with him. After reading The Best of Me, I decided I should read Nicholas Sparks' classic novel. I had seen the movie a handful of times and was happy to find that I enjoyed both the book and the movie equally.

7. Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage by Molly Wizenberg - Molly tells about her experience opening a restaurant with her husband and the lessons she learned along the way. I found the whole process fascinating and loved her insights on marriage - particularly about the importance of being a supportive spouse. This sentence really stuck out to me, "We probably wouldn't be married anymore if (1) I hadn't worked at Delancey and (2) I hadn't stopped working at Delancey." I really enjoyed reading this book and now If I'm ever in Seattle again I'm going to have to go eat at Delancey.

8. Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty - A story about triplet sisters who experience a year in their lives where their worlds are turned upside down. This was my first time reading a Moriarty novel that I didn't find myself constantly comparing it to What Alice Forgot. It was her first novel and it was interesting to see things in there that showed up again in her other novels. (For example, one of the triplets has a fiancé that has serious anger issues and that shows up again in Big Little Lies in a huge way!)

Good:
9. Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J.B. West - West was an usher at the White House from 1941-1969 (FDR through Nixon).  He was responsible for everything that went on with the families and worked very closely with the First Ladies - he arranged their schedules, hosted events, helped the First Ladies decorate, and managed the transitions between presidents. It was fascinating to read about the Presidents, First Ladies, and their children from an insider's perspective. And by the time I got to the end, I was wanting to plan a trip to Washington DC!

10. The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - Ada and Jamie are siblings living in London as WWII is about to break out. Because Ada was born with a clubfoot, her mother has forced her to stay in their one bedroom apartment her entire life. But when Jamie, along with the other children in London, is going to be sent out to the country to be protected from Hitler's imminent war, Ada refuses to be left behind. They end up living with Susan Smith, a woman who lives alone and insists she doesn't know how to take care of children. I had a hard time getting into the story and was so frustrated with Ada for how she sometimes treated Susan, but I loved the ending and was glad I didn't give up on it.

Seven on Sunday

1. We had a break from the heat this week with highs only in the 80's. It was nice to be able to take our time getting out on our morning walk and to not melt while on it! One morning we went on the Spanish Fork River Trail and Corbyn rode his bike the whole 3 miles without his training wheels. He's getting pretty good at starting by himself too.

2. Corbyn graduated from UPSTART this week! It's been great and he's learned so much, but I'm not going to lie... I was SO ready to be done with it!

3. For my dinner group this week I made Strawberry Sparkle Cake. I didn't want to take on the challenge of making an angel food cake from scratch, so I used one I purchased from Walmart. It was really good and with the store-bought shortcut, incredibly quick and easy.

4. My mother-in-law launched a new quilting business, Just In Time Quilts, this week. She provides longarm quilting service with hundreds of designs to choose from and quick turnaround time. You can mail in your quilt if you don't live in the area too! She has some great grand opening specials going this month, so go check out her website and let her personalize a quilt for you!

5. Friday night we tried out a new (to us) restaurant in Spanish Fork. It's a grill that's connected to Sub Zero Ice Cream. They have scone buns which sounded a little strange to me, but ended up being really good. We weren't planning on getting ice cream, but the kids wouldn't take no for an answer. They loved watching our ice cream be frozen with the liquid nitrogen.

6. Friday night I put together this quick craft from the Wood Connection. I sure love this be.UTAH.ful state we live in!

7. It was a big week for Logan. He discovered his feet and rolled over (from his back to his tummy) for the first time! 

5 Years

Corbyn had his 5 year checkup on July 21st.

His stats:

Weight: 43 pounds (65th percentile)

Height: 45 1/4 inches (90th percentile)

I know I've said this before, but seriously where did we get this tall kid? (Really I probably should be asking, how long will this last?!)

The Corb at 5 years:

*Knows his birthday and will proudly tell anyone who asks that it is June 17th!

*Has a great imagination!

*Will help himself to whatever snacks he wants. (Sometimes not my favorite thing when he fills up on granola bars and fruit snacks!)

*Asks a million questions while watching movies.

*Is a perfectionist. Recently this has been a problem because he wants to wipe his bum perfectly and will spend forever trying. (Someday he'll be appalled that I shared this, but it's one of those things we'll look back on and laugh about - although it's not terribly funny right now!)

*Has been a lot better about not fighting us when we have something new for dinner and will try most things now. BUT he will very rarely have a second serving of anything - even if he likes it and isn't full. I've been trying to give him bigger servings to get him filled up! 

*Has started taking showers and can pretty much do them all on his own.

*Knows he is allergic to cashews/pistachios and will ask if foods have them (if it's something he doesn't eat on a regular basis). He also knows he is allergic to dogs/cats and will stay away from them.

*Plays with his Legos in spurts. He'll not play with them for a few weeks and then we'll have weeks where he dumps them out all over his room to play with every single day! In addition to Legos, he likes the Avengers, Batman (though not nearly as much as he used to), and has recently gotten into Transformers.

*Prays that our house will be big and strong.

Whenever I get the chance to do something with just Corbyn (doesn't happen often!), I realize how grown up he is. He's not a baby or toddler anymore. He's a big kid who's going to be starting Kindergarten soon. He's going to get on the bus with Rhys and go to school without me. It seems like just yesterday he was my chubby 10 pound newborn baby! I blinked and now he is this big, capable kid who is kind, caring, and sensitive! He is a good kid and a good big brother. I am so proud of the boy he is becoming. We love our Corbyn!