Family Reunion Part 1

This year we went to a family reunion for Joel's mom's family in Alberta, Canada. Joel's dad drove his bus up there and we got to ride in it for the first time. It really was a great way to travel. The bus is classified as an RV and it has a kitchen and a bathroom so we didn't have to stop every time a kid needed to use the bathroom. The bus overheated on us twice on the way up there but we just added more water and we were on our way again. Joel's brother Jake and his family came and we picked up Katie and her two girls in Rexburg. My girls loved having so many cousins to play with and there was a TV in the back so they all stayed back there and watched lots of movies. Everyone had to get out and bring in our paperwork at the border but it was mostly pretty painless. We anticipated the ride taking us 12 hours but in the end it took us 15 hours. Good thing we had lots of people to keep us company. I was a little afraid that all the kids would get really hyper and crazy but they did pretty good. We were all awake by four in the morning so they were all tired and Kyla and Anna even took a nap on the way up there. Summer stayed in her car seat for a good amount of the trip and did great but it was nice that I could take her out and feed her when I needed too. 

By the time we  got to our campgrounds In Canada, it was almost 7:30. We all hurried and ate dinner while Joel set up the tent. It was fun to visit with our family and see people that I have never met before and other people that I have not seen in a long time. It had been cold and a little rainy all day in Alberta but the girls were determined that they would stay in our tent. They camp had a playset that my girls enjoyed playing on all week while we were there and they played on that for a little that night and then were so whiney that we made them get ready for bed. They were all crying and Brynlee threw a huge fit about how she wanted to sleep in the bus. I told her to try to sleep for 20 minutes and if she didn't fall asleep I would let her sleep on the but. It was after 8 at this point and Brynlee fell asleep about 2 minutes after she laid down. At about four in the morning she woke up panicking and yelled out "mom, has it been 20 minutes yet?"Annalyn woke up crying once that night and it took Kyla a while to fall asleep but they did pretty good. Joel and I had an air mattress but Joel is so much heavier than me that I kind of felt like I was sleeping on the hard ground. Summer slept in bed with us cause she got too cold in her bed. This was the first time most of us have slept in a tent and I think we did pretty well.

After Joel helped me get the kids in bed he went back up to the campsite. They had some fun Survivor games. They split everyone up into teams. Joel, Kyla, and Brynlee were on the yellow team while Annalyn and I were on the blue team. That night they did a giant puzzle thing that I hear was extremely difficult.

     Our girls were all up bright and early the next morning and ready to play. It rained on and off a little during the night and was pretty cold the next morning. After breakfast the plan was for the kids to play all of these water games and they had this giant water slide that the kids really wanted to slide down. I didn't think they would go on it but the cold didn't stop them. Brynlee and Anna both got their swim suits on and played in the water a little. Mostly they just played with the bubbles. Brynlee went down the water slide but she was the only one from our family that tried it out. Summer really enjoyed being held and got passed around to all kinds of different family members. She sleeps great when people hold her so she was really enjoying that. Joel got to play a little baseball and horseshoes with the adults while I fed the baby.(I took several of these pictures from other family members that posted them on Facebook cause I hardly took any.) 

 

     Once we were done with the water games the girls and I retreated on the bus for a bit while I fed the baby and Kyla took a nap. Right after that it started to pour a lot. Luckily there was a big pavilion where we ate lunch and then everyone played games while the little kids played with play dough and did some crafts. It got warm for a little before dinner but got cold again a few hours later. 

After dinner we did more survivor game which was essentially a whole bunch of minute to win it games. The kids played outside on the playground equipment some more and then everyone went to the outdoor community pool to go swimming. It was so cold and already close to bedtime at that point so we decided to skip the pool and stick the kids in bed. Our kids were pretty unhappy about that decision, Annalyn really wanted to go swimming so we let them play on the water slide for a few minutes before bed. I am surprised they played on that slide as long as they did since it was so cold but the fun came to a quick end when Brynlee and Annalyn collided into each other and they both got big huge bumps on their heads. Annalyn's bump was huge and is still there two weeks later. I gave them both nice warm showers and some tylenol and then stuck them in bed. Everyone was so tired that they fell asleep pretty quickly. Part two of the reunion is coming up next.

July Day!

     Once again Annalyn could not be convinced that the fourth of July was anything other than "July Day" and she couldn't wait for it to be July. I kept telling her it was already July and tried to explain things to her but she never did grasp that whole concept. Once the fourth did roll around she was all ready to put on her red white and blue dress and go to the parade in Melba and see the fireworks.

. It seems like there were a lot more people at the parade this year. My mom, brother Brian and his wife, my grandma, and Jake and all Rachel's extended family sat by us. Brynlee sat by Madison for most of the parade but the loud noises really bothered her this year so she kind of moped and held her hands over her ears for most of the parade. I made her come and sit by me towards the end of the parade and that made her mope even more. Whenever someone came with water she would run away and hide. She didn't get much candy but as soon as the parade was over she talked about how she liked it and how she wanted to go again so I guess it wasn't that bad for her. My mom was getting all kinds of candy for Annalyn and Kyla so at first they just sat there and held their bags open. They were content to just sit there and let my mom do all the work. I finally made my mom stop getting the candy so Annalyn would get up and get it and then she started chasing the candy and got a huge bag full. Kyla got some too but mostly preferred to sit on someone's lap.

The rest of our fourth celebrations were pretty simple. For dinner we had hamburgers, hotdogs, and smores at grandma Verna's house and then we lit off a few fireworks in her back yard. I don't think Kyla was a huge fan but she never complained. I think she might have held a sparkler for like a second. Bryn and Annalyn both really liked the sparklers but were pretty cautious about holding them. The first time Brynlee held one, Joel told her to go and twirl it around in the air and she quite literally twirled it in the air like a baton and tried to catch it. Luckily it just landed in the grass. Haha. 

We ended the night with front row seats to the fireworks in Melba. We had to get french fries since our girls kept on talking about the french fries they were going to eat and they had been looking forward to that all day. Looks like that has officially become a tradition. Joel just took Brynlee with him to get the fries and apparently she had to use the bathroom when they were about to get the fries so Joel made her wait until they paid for the fries and he left them there while he took Bryn to the bathroom and then went back for them. As soon as he left Anna had to use the bathroom too so he ended up taking another trip to the porta potties with her. The fireworks were just as magical as ever and everyone really enjoyed watching them. Summer slept through the whole thing and Kyla would not move from her dad's lap. Summer woke up as soon as I put her in her car seat and then would not go back to sleep so she cried for most of the car ride home. That is unusual for her. Everyone else was asleep as soon as they got in the car and they slept all night. I love days when I get to spend time making memories with my little family. 

The Month of June

June was a busy month. We have been trying to take full advantage of the warm weather and the lazy summer days before Bryn has to go back to school. I have been taking the kids to the library once a week for the summer reading program and we have gone to the park several times for playgroup with our ward. Sometimes we pick up my cousin Ryder and take him with us just so that he has something to do. We went to grandma's house several times and helped her with her garden. We picked several raspberries. I took Kyla and Summer to JCPenneys so they could get their picture taken and we celebrated Kyla and Brynlee's birthday, father's day, and had Summer's baby blessing. Yes, it was a busy month.

     I have been taking Brynlee and Annalyn to aunt Joanna's house every Monday and Wednesday for a little school that Tara and Telissa are doing. They love doing that and have fun hanging out with their cousins. I have been able to get my grocery shopping done with only two kids instead of four during that time. I even went and bought a new shirt for myself. I went in one day while they were at school to see about my phone that wasn't working and got a new phone for Joel and me. They are nice ones too and the picture quality is much better.

     Someone from our ward created an adventure group where a group of people get together once a week and go exploring. We went with them to a little park with a splash pad one week and the next week we took Ryder and went exploring at Cleo's ferry in Melba. I didn't go on their other adventures because I was afraid it would be too difficult with a new baby.

     Joel spent a lot of time working on our yard and finally got some sod in the front yard! The night he was putting it in a friend from work and the missionaries came by and they all ended up helping out so it went in fast. We even have a tree in the front as well. We have a little section of grass in the back but mostly there is just a lot of weeds.

     I bought a kiddie pool for the kids to play in and we set it up on the back porch. It took Kyla a long time before she got in the water and then she only stayed in there for a little bit but Bryn and Anna loved it. Joel's boss from work also had a pool that we got to go swimming in. It even had a little kiddie pool that was perfect for the little kids. Bryn is getting pretty brave in the water and with her life jacket on she swam all over that pool. Kyla had fun but she made sure she was right by Joel or me. Anna stayed pretty close to us as well. Summer was pretty fussy while we were there so it made it hard for me to get in the water. It was still a fun night spent with the family.

     Joel built a new table for me out of granite. I love it. It is huge and pretty indestructible. He also tried to have a sleepover on the trampoline with the kids but they only lasted a few minutes before they got scared of mosquitoes and came back in the house. They ended up sleeping in the middle of the living room. Brynlee did get to go to a sleepover at her cousin Madison's house and has been begging to do it again. She went to Madision's birthday party this month as well.

     I took all three girls to the dentist and they did great and there were no cavities. Kyla impressed everyone with how much she talked. She asked all kind of questions like. "Why are you putting glubes (gloves) on?" "Why are you taking a picture of Annalyn's teeth? Are you going to do dat to my teeth?" She commented on everything. The hygienist then told Kyla the Dentist was coming in to look at her teeth so as soon as he walked in Kyla ran up to him with her mouth open so he could see her teeth. Annalyn was a little bit harder to get to cooperate but she did fine. I also had to take Anna and Kyla in for a check-up at the doctor this month and then the next week I took Summer in for her check-up. They are all healthy and doing great. They did give me a referral to see about speech for Annalyn. We will see how that goes.

     We were eating dinner one night when Kyla ended up falling right off the table and landing on her head. She started crying but she wouldn't respond to our questions and was not acting at all like herself. About an hour later she started throwing up so I called the doctor's help line where they encouraged me to take her to the Emergency Room. My mom was able to stay with the other kids so Joel and I could go together. We took the baby because she was never had a bottle and I had no idea how long we would be. They did a cat scan on Kyla and declared her fine so after three hours we were able to leave and we made it home right after midnight. Kyla acted fine the next day. It was just a few days later that Annalyn fell down the stairs and landed on her head. She cried for over an hour, fell asleep, refused to eat dinner and threw up once but after she woke up she was fine so I don't think her injury was as bad as Kyla's injury so we didn't take her to the emergency room. The next week Annalyn pushed Brynlee and she hit her head on the fireplace. There was a lot of blood but I think she was fine. Then at church on Sunday Kyla fell off the bench and hit her chin really hard on the place where we put the hymn book. It bled a lot. I kept debating on if it would need stitches or not but in the end we just kept a band aid on it for a few days. It will leave a scar but at least it isn't noticeable when you look at her. She was pretty tough for that ordeal and hardly even cried. And I was hoping for less doctors visits this month.

The kids and I went exploring with Alesha along Indian Creek river with the girls and then got a sno cone one day. They played in the backyard and we went to church. We have spent some time making things together and the girls are always creative with the games they play and the things they come up with. They made their own see saw one day out of some wood that Joel had laying around. They were struggling getting the screws in so their dad helped them a little but it was all their idea. 

We celebrated father's day with Joel. The girls made him cards and the week before he went golfing with his brother and his dad. He is a great dad and we are pretty grateful for him. We are really enjoying summer. It is going by so fast.