This is my 200th post. It will not be spectacular in the sense of some glamorous trip or adventure, but it is still a great representation of my life and how blessed I am. We had some fun times this Summer; Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Wilson Family Reunion, Trip to California where we went to Knott's, the beach and visited/celebrated with family. This entry covers all the fun times we had in between each of those events. While trips are fun and create amazing memories to share and cherish, it is the stuff of every day living that makes my life so blessed. And so, for my 200th post of this blog, I give to you, The Summer of 2016!
SHAVED ICE!!!!!
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| No Summer is complete without several trips to Shiver for shaved ice. Whenever we go, Leah likes me to give goofy names so the worker has to yell out the goofy name. My favorite names to give are; for me - Voltron or Bueller (if using Bueller, I don't respond so they have to say it several times), for Sarah - Sweet Cheeks (this embarrasses her more than anybody elseI believe), for Leah - Poopypants and for Dax - Daxilicious.com. After one of our many visits to the snow shack, Dax decided he would marry his name with Leah's and gave himself the name "Poopypants.com" and has not stopped saying it since. I get glares from Sarah every time he says it. |
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| Daxilicious.com |
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| Poopypants |
COUSIN'S DAY!!!!
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| Sarah started a tradition a long time ago where each of the cousins come over for a day and the day is theirs. They choose the activities, meals and anything else they want to do. It typically involves water fights, visits to the museum, fast food, movies, video games and soda. The boys love it and so do we. Sarah is an amazing Aunt. Here is Elijah eating 3rd dinner with Leah. |
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| Molly has begun doing the same thing with Leah and Dax. I believe this pic was taken on Dax's Day when they made t-shirts. L to R: Jacob, Cole, Emerson, Dax and Elijah |
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| Elijah enjoying some ice cream in the sun on his day. Leah and Dax are the benefactors of these cousin's days as they too get to enjoy all the fun times. |
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| For his dinner, Emerson wanted hot dogs on his day. |
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| On Emerson's special day, he wanted to visit the Aquarium. |
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| Cole's day consistently includes video games and movies. Here he is getting his Wii dance on, on his special day. |
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| For Cole's Day, he chose chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. |
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| I don't have many other pics of Jake's Special Day of Fun, but here he is at Trafalga enjoying his day. |
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| On Leah's special day with Aunt Molly, she made this t-shirt and these cool duct tape gloves. |
Father's Day
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| The kids (really Sarah) take good care of me on Father's Day. This was a tough Father's Day. I like to make a nice dinner on the grill every Father's Day, but as luck would have it, my health was suffering at that time and I couldn't stand so I settled for breakfast in bed. The greatest gift this Father's Day was Sarah being patient and strong as I was incapacitated. She's a good woman. Never a word of complaint. It was hard to father from the bed or the armchair though. |
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| Yummy! Bacon, French toast casserole with Sarah's magic syrup. |
Swimming, Swimming and more Swimming!
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| The kids were born for the water, like their Father. They are getting stronger, but their Mom and Dad are still paranoid and tend to helicopter parent when at the pool. That being said, Leah doesn't let it limit her. This year she was brave enough to jump off the high dive and go down all the big slides at the water park. |
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| Sarah and Dax at Seven Peaks Water Park with Elijah and Emersons. |
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| Leah and Dax at the Rec Center for Swim Lessons. After Swim Lessons it's fun time! |
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| This one has no fear...unless you need to put a bandaid or water on the smallest scratch. |
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| Leah loves her time at Seven Peaks, especially now that she feels she has a little bit more liberty to do the bigger rides. She is the brave one to try things before her older boy cousins do. |
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| Nothing says American Summers like a slip n slide in the backyard. |
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| Dax gettin' his slip n' slide on! |
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| Sarah even gets in on the action. |
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| Dax being a punk. Even when swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's. |
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| Elijah, Cole and Leah taking the plunge together. |
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| We don't mind catching a few rays either. |
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| It just doesn't feel like Summer without towels hanging up everywhere all the time. |
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| It's easy to fall asleep in the sun with these two cuddling on me. |
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| Believe it or not, this is Dax in timeout from the pool. He cannot play in the pool for a couple minutes because he was being a punk, no doubt. |
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| If they're not at the pool, their playing in the sprinklers or the kiddie pool at home. Here is Leah with her "sister". |
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| Marley enjoys the family time outdoors as well. |
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| As the kids play in the water into late in the warm nights, my favorite thing to do is sit in my hammock and listen to music or play the Uke while Sarah sits on the patio and surfs the net as we talk and plan our next adventure. |
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| Nights in the backyard usually include some grillin' of some sort. This Summer this was not the case as much as usual due to my health, but we still got enough in to enjoy it. |
The Great Pizza Bake Off
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| Homemade Pizza Night! The kids love it. I need to do a better job of getting them involved in the kitchen so that they learn the love of cooking. |
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| Leah's pizzas on the left, Sarah's on the right. |
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| Leah enjoying the finished product. |
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| Dax enjoying Mom's pizza |
Thanksgiving Point Museums, Gardens and Farmland
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| The kids love the Children's Discovery Museum, Gardens and Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. |
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| They also love visiting the Farmland where they can learn about taking care of chickens and cows, riding horses or how to create a self sustaining farm. |
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| Yee Haw! |
Baby Reagan!
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| If we're lucky and in town, Uncle Jake and Aunt Erin drop off baby Reagan for us to play with while they go out on a date. Leah goes all out and makes a fun play area for Reagan. |
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| There's something comforting about holding a sleeping baby. I love little baby Reagan. She is so happy and cute. |
The Great Outdoors
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| Sarah and her Sister do a good job of coordinating outings throughout the Summer break. They take the kids on hikes and let them enjoy the beautiful world around them. |
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| Now, that's a Motley Crew! Trospers, and Reeds and Peirces and Salas', OH MY! |
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| Left to Right: Amy (Sarah's Cousin), Sarah, Molly (Sarah's Sister) and Jenteal (Sarah's Cousin). |
ROLLER SKATING!!!
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| Leah decided to spend her lemonade stand money on a new pair of roller skates. It was a tough lesson to learn how to skate as she didn't enjoy the falling, but she didn't give up and she figured it out. |
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| Dax brought his scooter. |
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| Look at that tongue. Now that's concentration! |
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| He's all scootered out. |
FUN WITH GRANDMA!
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| Dax and Leah love going out with Grandma. Where Mom and Dad sometimes say "no" to their frequent requests, Grandma almost always says "YES!". Face painting being the evidence. |
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| Two Grandmas (as Dax refers to them) took the kids to the International Dance Festival in Springville. There was a face painter there so of course the kids asked if they could have their faces painted. Grandma was there so of course they got their faces painted. |
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| We saw a couple outdoor plays with Grandma and GrandmaGrandma this Summer. Here we are at the production of "South Pacific" |
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| Another outdoor play at the American Fork Ampitheater. One of my primary kids was in this production of "Tom Sawyer" so we went to support him. Way To Go, Payton! |
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| Payton, front and center! |
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| As often as we could we would get together with Grandma and Grandmama to play games, eat dinner or do puzzles. Sarah and Grandmama finished this puzzle in record time. |
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| Grandma's house is always fun. Their imaginations are unstifled and they feel free to turn an ordinary box into an airplane |
DDPBSACD!
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| For the 4th year now, Leah and I have continued the tradition of "Daddy Daughter Paradise Bakery Soda And Cookie Day". |
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| On this particular day, Leah opted for frozen yogurt, making this our DDFYD. |
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| Usually she's automatic. One black diamond and one sugar cookie. Sometimes she likes to mix it up a bit. |
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| Me and my girl. |
Cheerleading! GO Cavemen!
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| Leah our cheerleader and Sarah...Leah's biggest cheerleader. |
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| Leah practicing her cheer moves using her shadow as a mirror of sorts. |
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| Leah always gets attached to her coach. |
Piano Recital
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| The end of the school year marks the end of the piano lessons and is capped off with a recital. Leah did great! |
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| Leah and Grandma Parker. A great instructor and overall sweet lady. |
Miscellaneous Shenanigans
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| This poor dog puts up with so much tormenting from this kids. I realize it is love displayed in an annoying manner (especially by Dax), but I feel so bad for her to have to put up with it. She does very well about it though. She's never nipped or anything. |
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| We try to make it to Sarah's Dad's grave every year at his birthday, Veteran's Day, and the anniversary of his passing. |
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| Dax with his friend. Our neighbors' niece. They were born around the same time and love to play together. |
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| Such hams! |
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| We didn't have a Chino III Ward reunion this year, but we did get the chance to visit with the Schnabels, Smiths and Westphals one Sunday afternoon. |
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| Leah is always excited to make treats to share with everybody. Partly because she has a tender heart and wants to give and partly because she wants to partake as well. |
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| This Summer, Dax learned to dress himself. He didn't learn to do it the right way, but he learned nonetheless. |
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| Date Night with my honey. I believe we went to Tucano's for Sarah's Birthday. |
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| As previously shown in Sarah's Birthday post, she and Leah went to Lagoon for her birthday and had a blast. |
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| Sarah loves getting together with her Sister, Molly. |
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| Caitlin and Zack had Leah come over to play with their puppies. Leah has probably never been as happy. |
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| Thank you, C & Z! |
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| I grew a beard, then a goatee. That's a whole lotta' white! |
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| She's growing up too fast. She'll always be my sunshine. |
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| This guy makes me smile and laugh daily. What a neat kid. |
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| Dinner time silliness. |
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| Sarah, if not instigating the silliness, is always quick to get involved in it. |
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| Leah likes to put on little dance shows whenever she has a willing (or captive) audience to applaud her on. |
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| Leah always moves around at night. She never believes me so I took a few pictures to show how much she moved around in the matter of a few hours. This is one of those photos where her head is at the foot of her bed only minutes after I had already moved her around once before. |
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| How could you not love that face? |
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| Lots of forts were made this Summer, turning Leah's room into an escape. |
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| This kid and his cars. I think I was the same way, based on what my Mom tells me. |
Aquarium
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| The kids love to go to the aquarium nearby and watch the fish, otters and penguins. |
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| Leah riding Shamoo. |
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| We got season passes this year and Sarah has taken them several times already. |
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| I don't know what he's doing here, but I bet he's not supposed to be doing it. |
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| Petting the sting rays. |
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| Trapped in the jaw of a Megaladon! |
TRAFALGA!!!
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| The Pass of All Passes proves to be a wise purchase year in and year out. Here is Cole and Elijah enjoying some slick track racing. |
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| Dax the flying ace |
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| Emers on the carousel. |
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| Leah cutting the corner and passing the #9 car. |
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| Dax and Emerson. Good friends. |
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| Every kid loves the bumper boats. Leah included. |
Daddy Daughter Princess Ball
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| Leah was going to be 8 soon and would then be an "Activity Days Girl". That is a girls group in the church for girls age 8 to 11. Because she was so close to being 8, they invited her to come along. She was so excited. So was I. I rested my feet for a week before we went and was stuck in bed for 3 days after, but her happiness was worth it. |
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| Me and my Princess. |
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| Walking my princess out to her coach. |
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| And we're off! |
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| We had a great time. We played games, learned how to Waltz, Foxtrot and Jitterbug, we had our pictures taken and made crafts. Leah loved it. |
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| She is my princess and I'd do anything for her. |
So, as you can see, we had a great Summer. Fall is in full swing and we're having a blast here too! I hope each of you are as blessed as I am and that every season brings you peace, joy and happiness.
