June trip

Summer has flown by!  We started out in June with a trip to Utah, Idaho and Bear Lake.  The Utah trip was a short one day visit where I ran the Utah Valley Marathon with my dad.  It was both of our first marathons.  The experience turned out to be a good one.  I was really glad to be done with the training but the race was not as bad as I thought it might be, I actually enjoyed it, although I couldn't walk normal for days after!

  This is me after I finished.

 

It was fun to share the experience with my dad.  We trained in separate states but talked on the phone weekly to swap stories of our long training runs.

 

My kids told me that Ben's medal from last year looks cooler than the one I got.  There was a bounce house slide at the end of the race that my kids enjoyed playing on.

 

After a shower and some lunch we were off to Idaho to visit Ben's parents.  While in Idaho we went to a place called Craters of the Moon.  We took Caleb and Mia, our kids cousins.  It is full of lava rocks and caves formed by lava flow.  The day we went was SO windy.  We climbed to the top of a cone and played in the wind.  The kids are pretending to fly into the wind.

 

Ben is ready to fly away!

 

Me and Ben at Craters of the Moon.

 

We participated in the Jr. Ranger program and the kids all got sworn in as Jr. Rangers and earner a badge.  They thought the badges were pretty cool.

 

The next day we walked to the park and the kids had fun playing tag.  I didn't get any pictures of Jacob and David because they were running around so much.  Tanner enjoyed the swing the whole time.

Madeline liked going down the slide

 

After the park, we walked to Rockland Pharmacy and bought the cheapest milkshakes ever.  They are served old style at a bar in a glass and cost $2.00

 

One evening we had a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. 

 

After Idaho, we went to Bear Lake for two days with my family.  While we were there it was really cold so no one got in the lake but we did swim in the heated pools, played tennis, bought milkshakes, played games together, wrote and performed a tribute to my grandpa to the tune of Rebecca Black's song Friday, and we had a family 10Krace.  It was a fun packed two days.  There was also a kids fun run Here is Jacob rounding the corner at the end of the run.

 

David also participated in the race and did well.

 

This is the immediate family that was able to go to Bear Lake.  My brother, Ryan, got off his mission two weeks later!

Life as the 4th child...

Tanner has a different life then Jacob did as our first child.  He has siblings to "play" with him.  Whether it be dressing him up with coin eyes,

Or helping him try on the new shop goggles

Or creating a statue.(Don't worry they aren't actually sitting on him.)

Or sweeping the floor so you can play. (I have no clue what was happening here, I didn't take the picture or hold the broom over his head.  I found the picture when I was putting the pictures on the computer.)

 

One thing is for sure, siblings love to share their Valentine's candy with their baby brother.  I was wondering why Tanner was being so happy and quiet.

A baby brother is also a good way to get rid of the Nutella toast you don't want to eat. 

But mostly having three older siblings makes for a happy life with so many people to love you.

Jumping For Joy!!

This is how we spent our Sunday evening while Ben was at Stake Priesthood meeting.  The kids were excited to see their jumps caught on camera!

 

My Christmas Present

Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted a window seat.  Our house had the perfect window for a window seat but it was never the priority project.  Lucky me, my dad and Ben built one over the Christmas break!  I love how it turned out!  The guys spent two days from start to finish, paint and all.  While they were building, my mom and I shopped for fabric and made the cushion and pillows.   Under the window seat is storage that we put books from an entire bookshelf in.  The front doors hide the books for a cleaner look.

Our living room used to be a bit of this and that with zero seating.  Now two bookshelves are removed, the computer desk is gone and it is a bit more like a living room.

I painted this rocking chair we had in the basement and hung family pictures where the bookshelf used to be.

 

I was really excited about the pillows.  Pillow forms range from $8-$20 so it would get pretty expensive to make 8 pillows.  I had the idea to buy the $2.50 standard bed pillows and push the stuffing tighter and sew across the top to make a square pillow instead of a standard bed pillow.  It didn't take much time and made a great and inexpensive pillow form. 

 

Thanks mom and dad for all your work and money!  Thanks Kevin and Laurel for the curtains!