Summer Randoms

A few summer randoms...most notably, the excited cougar crew!  Joseph's favorite time of year is football season.  We've gotten a kick out of the football drama this year.  The kids jump up and down and scream at the top of their lungs with each exciting play.. actually, we all do.  Go cougars!

David has a birthday!

David turned 11.  Along with his birthday came much excitement: the beginning of 5th grade and the passage from cubscouts to boyscouts.  For his birthday dinner, we had the usual hamburgers and raspberry pie.  We also surprised David with a pass to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.  He and Joseph went a few weeks later and had a blast!  I sure love my David.  He is thoughtful, creative, and has a strong desire to CTR.  He is also an amazing helper and is readily available for dishes or sibling duty.  We love you David!

Happy Birthday Joseph

Joseph, I love you!

Emmy is 3!

Emmy's birthday marks the beginning of our marathon of summer birthdays.  Fortunately, a three year old is pretty easy to please, but we did do a few fun things at her request.  Emmy loves to ride in the bike trailer, so we packed a picnic and spent the morning at the park.  That evening, we hosted Anna and her family for dinner and cupcakes.  Since Emmy is a pink enthusiast, we chose strawberry cupcakes.  The frosting was even made with real strawberries!  Because of her birth order, Emmy is definitely doted on by her older siblings.  The homemade gifts and cards were evidence of this.  I love having Emmy as my little companion during the day.  She is a good sport about heading off to do errands, being dropped off to play at a friend's house, or taking long walks in the neighborhood.  An exciting new development for her:  a big girl bed!  She and Ruth now share a room, which has been a fun change in our house.  If only potty training would be that smooth...

Beach and Swim

With four busy kids at home this summer, I knew that the more time we spent in the water, the more everyone would get along.  Between swim lessons, beach days, and multiple trips to the library, the summer days flew by.  These are some of my favorite pictures...  Of course, there is a story that goes along with each picture.  It turned out that James was the only kid in his swim class which meant private lessons for three weeks straight.  The girls did swimming with our favorite swim teacher, Miss Barbara.  Emmy screamed for about four days straight until she finally gave in and decided that it was okay to have fun.  James found a dead fish at the beach one day, which he insisted would still be a good pet (the picture of the fish was our compromise to leave it at the beach).

Bryce Canyon

Final photos from Utah... another side trip, this time to Bryce Canyon.  These pictures actually make me laugh.  We picked the Navajo Trail because it was only about one mile long.  Little did we know that the trail takes you straight down for half a mile and then straight up for the other half.   On the way back, Emmy was begging me to hold her, but I couldn't do it for much more than a few yards.  I passed her onto Joseph and she walked with him for the entire hike without any complaints.  I guess we know who the pushover in the family is: me!






These are the switchbacks that bring you back to the top.  We were down to our last drop of water by the time we made it back up.


Have you ever seen a more tired pair than these two?


David seems ready for boyscouts!

scenic stops

The neat part about road trips is the scenery that you experience along the way.  On our way to Brian Head, we stopped at Hurricane, UT to visit "Momo" (Joseph's grandmother Camille).  Grandma actually played a huge role in our engagement.  She was the member of the family that snuck a bouquet of flowers over to the St. George temple at the spot where Joseph would propose to me.  On a different occasion during our engagement, I slept on her living room floor in a sleeping bag.  I had forgotten to bring a slip for my church skirt, so the next day, she altered one of hers for me.  I have always felt love for this sweet woman.  Unfortunately, a series of strokes has made daily life very difficult for her, so Pam and Dave are now caring for her full time.  What a sweet example they are honoring parents.

As the genealogy enthusiast of the family, Joseph suggested that we stop at the gravesite of my great, great grandfather, Joseph Wright.  I was so exhausted from the day's drive, but got a second wind as I felt the awe of standing at the gravesite of my pioneer ancestor.  It was awesome.  The next day at church, we met Sheila Wright Dutton, one of my third cousins.  She shared an neat book with me about Joseph's life.  We also discovered that Joseph's aunt is one of my third cousins as well!  Hah!
 



















Lastly, we visited Pioneer Park in St. George.  The kids loved the huge rock formations and caves.  If you look closely, you can see the St. George temple in the background.