Summer 2008: What We Managed To Squeeze In

Bike Rides in the Canyon

Special Father's Day art work!

Visits from lots of friends and Grandparents! Chloe and Paul had fun together this summer! Lowell and Paul and the kids had fun going to 7 Peaks, Boondocks and Bowling and to lots of movies...I just don't have any pics...sorry!

Hair Cuts! Here is Julia mid-cut! We love her in short hair. Chloe and I
went short this year too. Piper still holds the title of longest hair in 4th grade!
I keep trying to get her to cut more than an inch off but she won't!

We spent 34 nights in the hospital this summer! Not fun, but Hazie is home now and doing much better. Still no diagnosis-just on going tests and a possible bladder surgery in September.

Me smooching my girl. She really is the most perfect, sweet, happy,
little tiny bundle ever! We love, love, LOVE her!

Grampa Jim and Lowell and the big girls hiked up to Timp Cave.

Our car finally got fixed after 5 weeks in the shop for
something that should have taken 1 day.

4th of July fun with the Mattson cousins. Piper and Julia spent a week in Idaho with their Stewart cousins too. I don't really know when they have ever had so much fun. It even trumped Disneyland according to Julia!

Learned to play ping-pong. Is that a sport?

We visited East High in SLC, home of the one and only High School Musical Wildcats! They filmed the movies here so we went in and saw all the cools stuff like Sharpay's locker and the B ball court and stuff. The girls thought that was pretty cool, Gramma was a little bored. We got to go to the HSM Musical in SLC too. It was great. Thanks Aunt Jackie!

Visited the great outdoors!

Went hiking...Lowell has yet to blog about his 'Mt Sinai' hiking experience.
I may have to tell that story myself.
Swimming...lots of swimming!

Arts and crafts!

Potty Training: we're still working on this but she's doing pretty well
given all the disruption we've had this year.

Grillin'! It was awesome until one night we left the gas on all night and the tanks ran out. Opppsy! Since then...no grillin' but it was good while it lasted!

Swimming lessons, Chloe had her first try this year and really liked it.
Piper is learning how to dive and Julia has finally mastered the
free style stroke so she can move up next year! Yay!
Last but not least: the birthdays. Lowell turned 30 again and had a fun b day while Paul was here. Julia turned 8 and got her ears pierced. In the picture it is right before she started freaking out and changed her mind 3 times before getting it done. I think we drove the girls at Claire's mad! She and I had the ultimate Mommy daughter date complete with mani/pedis, shopping and food. It was super fun! Happy Birthday Jewel!Farewell to summer 2008. Here's hoping Summer '09 is a little more carefree.

Olympic Games 2008: Beijing

I felt like I should post something about the Olympics since we spent an insane amount of time watching them this year. We usually don't but I guess that was due to not having cable. Anyway, we just fell in love with Michael Phelps and Shawn Johnson along with the rest of the country.

Lowell spent a few weeks in China in 2005 so it was great for him to see Beijing from another perspective. We loved the opening ceremonies and seeing all the amazing things they built for this huge event. It seemed so colossal and reminded us of the Olympic prep they did here for the 2002 games.

Go team USA! 111 medals all together--36 gold, 38 silver, 37 bronze!

Michael Phelps-8 Gold in Beijing, 16 medals career total!

Shawn Johnson-Gold Medal on Beam, 3 other silver medals in 2008The Redeem Team brought the Gold back to the USA where it belongs.
Didn't we invent BBall?

I'm Almost Back!

I spent Thursday-Sunday trying to get my house back together after being gone for a month and then having guests for 2 weeks.  (You know how it is, it's always more fun to gab and play with the visitors than do any housework...ooops!)  Anyway, needless to say the place was in pretty bad shape so I had to get crackin'.  

As of Monday morning we are scrubbed (including the carpet), organized, laundered and pretty much back to normal!  I'm so happy!  

Today I ventured out and took the kids ice skating. The 2 older girls brought a friend each so that brought the grand total up to 6 kids.  This is the first time I've had to get all my kids out the door with no help in quite a long time and I'm very sad to say it was a challenge.  I've been really spoiled with all my helpers this summer and being able to run out on an errand and leave Hazel and/or Chloe at home.  Anyway, we all survived the outing but I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon!

Why???

Why am I sitting here reading back issues of People Magazine? I'm with my daughter in the hospital...we're on day 13 and in her room I have *brand new* issues of Consumer Report, Cooking Light, Time, The Ensign, The Friend and the New Era. Not to mention the fact that I obviously have internet access and could be doing research on the strange and undiagnosable illness my baby has. (You know that it's every doctors dream to hear parents say, "I read about her symptoms on line...."!) I also have a sewing project, 3 unread novels and thank you cards I could write but no, I'm reading back issues of People.

Here are the top 10 things I've learned from my reading:

10. Prince is 50!
9. Lindsey Lohan has a girlfriend(!?) Does the train wreck ever end???
8. Tori Spelling needs to give it up and stop taking out 'ads' in Daddy's magazine.
7. Apparently you can get back into shape within 4-6 weeks of giving birth. I didn't get the memo and please...no one tell my husband.
6. The Depps, the Beckhams and the Jolie-Pitts are all neighbors with their French chateaus.
5. Reece Witherspoon is a spokesperson for Avon?!?!
4. If I read one more thing about S*x and the City, I will hurl.
3. This is the only publication with a crossword I can come close to finishing.
2.There are about 7 ads for prescription drugs in each issue.
1. I have a hard time feeling sorry for people with this much money, but I love to read about them...I just can't look away!

On a Lighter Note...

2 weeks ago we took our car into the dealer to have a recalled door replaced. After one day we heard back that it would be about a week to get it all painted and matched and ordered and whatnot. Soooo...at the end of that week when we hadn't heard from them we called up to find out that the person 'assigned' to our car had been fired and the car and new parts had just been sitting on the lot for a week. They said it would be anther week.

At the end of week 2 we called and found out that the door had been sent to the painter was ready to be installed. When they went to install it they realized that they had ordered the passenger side door instead of the driver side door. They say it will be another week.

None of this would that big of a deal if it weren't for 3 things:

1) The amount of damage a family of 6 can do to a brand new rental car in 3 weeks

2) The bag of clothes we (accidentally) left in our car that Chloe hurled on the day before the car went in.

3) The 96 degree weather we've had for the last 2 weeks.

Anybody wanna buy a van??

My Summer 'Must Have' List

Spray Sunscreen and Face Stick-Any brand will do but I am here to tell you this stuff is worth the moey.  The spray is prefect for kids and squirmy toddlers and even babies over 6 months old.  The face stick is great because it doesn't run or drip down when you sweat and get in your eyes. It's also great for hard spots like the tops of the ears.

Crocs and Flops-I am not one to wear Crocs myself but they are the ultimate summer shoe for kids.  They are perfect for slipping on and heading out the door.  Even my toddler can put them on herself.  We do a lot of activities near the river so they are perfect for amphibious activities like that too.  And who can make it thru the summer with out a fab pair of flip flops from Old Navy??

OFF!  Smooth and Dry Insect Repellent-This is the best thing ever made.  We live in an area with mosquitos that carry West Nile so I'm kind of a freak about bug spray.  This takes all the pain out of wearing bug spray.  It goes on dry, it doesn't stink and it contains DEET.  Go get some!

A Summer Reading List-This year for us it's Fablehaven.   Piper and Lowell finished the Harry Potter series this past school year much to Piper's sadness, but they are reading Fablehaven 1 now and it seems to be filling the void somewhat.  I read 1 and 2 a few weeks ago and I'm working on 3.  LMK if you are reading anything fabulous.

Discount School Supply-This is a great place to fill up your 'bag of tricks' for when the dog days of summer are just too much to handle.  A few favorites: Nuudles, Glitter Foam Dough, Scratch Letters.

Utah Valley Magazine's 99 Days of Summer List-This is a fabulous list of great things to do in and around Utah Valley.  I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on things to do around here since I used to be a camp director and I planned all the activities. This list had things I'd never heard of so that is saying something.  They range from free to pricy but all of them sound fun.

Sonic Drive-Thru Happy Hour-3-5 PM every day is 1/2 price drink time at Sonic.  They have pebble ice and diet cherry limeaide.  It can get you thru a rough afternoon.

Yard Sales!-Half of my house is filled with things from yard sales.  I love them and I can't wait to go to some more this coming weekend.  Anyone want to go???   

That is about it for me!  Let Me Know (LMK) if you have anything you can't live without for summer.

Let Summer Begin!

Deep summer is when laziness 

finds respectability--Sam Keen

Magic Nuudles

Have you seen these? Magic Nuudles are cornstarch building block type things. They are tons of fun, cheap and biodegradable.

Bridal Veil Falls

This is my favorite Happy Valley activity. The 2 mile walk from Vivian park to Bridal Veil is perfect for moms with strollers and kids on bikes. We do this one once a week in the summer!

I made this!

OK...I bought a kit and painted it but, boy did I feel crafty!

Moab Arts Festival 2008

About 7 years ago Lowell and I decided at the last minute that we wanted to go somewhere on Memorial day weekend. We ended up camping in Moab during the Moab Arts Festival (MAF). It was so much fun that we have gone back every year since. Now I usually go with good friend Traci and her kids. The kids really look forward to it and it's become something of a 'schools out!' tradition.

A little early morning hike at Sand Dune Arch in Arches National Park. If you've never been, it's TOTALLY worth the drive and for the record this is the only 'hike' on the driving route that's really worth doing with little kids. It is so beautiful, shady and really fun. Our big girls are probably ready for something harder but it's still a favorite.





Moab's Swanny Park has a cool skate park so the kids brought thier scooters this year. They were rather impressed with the older boys that were doing all kinds of cool tricks with their bikes.


One of the major contributors at the MAF is Wabi Sabi, they do a children's art booth with all kinds of free activities for the kids like face panting, tie dye, puppet making, a magician, to name a few. Julia had her face panted like a Geisha.

And of course there are a handful of carnival 'rides'.

The new favorite: The sling shot!

Over all: a super fun day! See you there next year??