Raging Waters

With the stress of our talks being over and it being Manda's last day we went to Raging Waters for the afternoon. We were there for only a few hours, but it was really fun to just hang out in the sun together. Of course the boys totally loved it.

I had a scary mom moment though. While we were sitting on our towels Cy sort of "borrowed" somebody's floaty thing. He was just walking around holding it. Well before we know it he walks up to the pool and throws it in....and went in after it.

I jumped up from my towel and booked it over to the pool and jumped in to save him. The poor little thing was SO scared. And I of course was feeling terrible (I probably shouldn't admit that this happened) but also felt relieved that I got him out fast.

He cried for awhile and then he'd stop and cry some more. It was like he was telling me how scared he was.

Once he calmed down he was happy as a clam.

Love my Sister Time and I love this girl. Thank Heavens for Sisters.

Cute Mama working on her tan. I love this lady! So blessed to have her in my life! 

Smith Family Sacrament Meeting

To add more hectic to our week Jesse got a phone call from a bishopric member on Thursday night asking us to speak in Sacrament. Ya you might be wondering why I am blogging about that. I have to because they asked Ryker to speak as well. And he did awesome. When he got up there he started out by saying "Hello Friends". Everyone was laughing at how cute he was, but I think that made him a little embarrassed so then he became a little more shy in giving the rest of his talk. But he did great! Everyone afterwards was telling him what an amazing job that he did.

My first original thought was ‘This is terrible timing.’ My sister had just flown in on Thursday night and is staying the weekend. So my original plans for this weekend were to spend every spare moment I had with her. Well, my priorities quickly shifted after Jesse got off the phone with Jeremy. Every spare moment I had was spent on this talk. And I have to admit I was feeling overwhelmed with the short amount of time allotted to me on top of working Friday and Saturday. Prayers were just flying out of my mouth. I needed inspiration and I needed it now.

The bishopric member gave us the topic of Loving the Lord. This is kind of ironic given the situation. Here I was in turmoil just racking my thoughts with what I could possibly inspire you with and all I needed to do was remember the Lord and He would help me. So I can tell you that after preparing this talk that I have a deeper Love for the Lord. I have had to trust in him 100%. I know that if I were to rely only on myself, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

So this experience (for me) turned out really well. I didn't want to do it at first, but I'm grateful that I was given the opportunity. I felt lifted and strengthen from it.

Jesse disagrees with me, but he too did a great job. I am feeling very proud of my family today.

Sister/Sibling Time

YESSS!!! Manda flew in Thursday night to spend the weekend with the family. So the girls took advantage to go see a movie together.  

Afterwards we all went up to Layton to eat dinner at The Olive Garden (our favorite). Tyson ended up joining our girls night, so it turned into a Sibling night. haha. It was very enjoyable to be together to laugh, tease and joke with each other. So grateful to have these amazing siblings. They are the glue that holds my life together. Love you guys!

Pioneer Day

This year for Pioneer Day we went out to Jesse's parents Monday night and started out our celebrations with a camp out in their backyard. Everyone (all but Tyson and Tayler because of work) came and set up their family's tent.

 Starting on the left it goes Mom and Dad's tent, Ours, and Andrew and Emily's tent. Cyrus and Sterling slept in the house so they could for sure get some sleep. While the rest of us slept outside. Thankfully we all put our rain flies on the tents because we had a few showers in the middle of the night.

 After setting up camp we all roasted bread dough in the sticks that Jesse made.

 We had several different things to fill them with. Whipped cream, jam, cinnamon-sugar, melted chocolate, and vanilla pudding. I decided to try the chocolate with vanilla pudding. IT WAS AMAZING! Jesse is a genius.

 Early the next morning Jesse got up super early to go meet my family down town Salt Lake to help out with the Days of 47 Parade. My parents and Jesse are in charge of lining up the dignity and antique cars. When Jesse got home he took a quick nap before we went off for a bike ride.

But before he fell asleep he mentioned to the family that two of the antique cars were old fire engines. And the SLC firefighters were the drivers. So Jesse got the opportunity to talk with them. He mentioned to them that he was on their hiring list. A little while later Jesse had walked by a new fire truck with the SLC Fire Chief on it. The firefighters around were hollering to the Chief that Jesse was on their list. So the fire chief called him over and shook his hand. Jesse asked him 'You've gotta tell me what I can do to get higher on your list." The Chief asked Jesse his name and said that he would remember him.

So hopefully when they are looking at their hiring list they'll see Jesse's name and remember him from the parade. Fingers crossed.

 We all drove to a park to ride our bikes around. None of us had been to this specific site so we didn't know exactly what to expect. Well it turns out we ended up going around this loop that was only 0.8 miles long. Kinda lame for the adults, but totally perfect for Ryker. He just loved it.

After a little while we decided to head back home. But Dad, Emily and I wanted to ride our bikes home from the park. It was a 8.6 mile ride back home.Mostly down hill. It was perfect. I enjoyed all 35 minutes of it.

 To cool off from the heat of the day we all headed over to the pool.

 Dad brought over his snorkel gear to teach Ryker how to snorkel...

 ...and to my surprise he totally got the hang of it. He spent a good amount of time swimming around the pool just like this. Granted all the gear was way to big for him, but he made it work.

I think this means we need to take him to Cancun or something and to get him is own gear that'll fit properly. (Hint hint Jesse)

 Mom bought the boys all matching swimsuits and rash guards. I thought they all looked so cute together.

 Once we all got home from the pool Andrew, Jesse and Ryker built a dam in the creek. While they did that the rest of us cleaned up camp.

Then it was FIREWORK time. We all got our chairs set up and Cy being the busy body that he is started pushing Sterling around in the stroller.

Once we started the fireworks Cy was very content in grandma's lap.

To wrap everything up I just have to say that we all had such a good time.The day went by way too fast. Which is a good thing. I always enjoy our family time together.

I too have to add that I am so very grateful to the pioneers for all their sacrifices they were willing to make for us. There isn't a day that goes by that I think about them. For example I complain about a long car ride to California in air conditioning or a heated car. They had to pull their "car'"t. Or lately I have been super hot and have hated to wear clothes. When the pioneer women wore dressed to the floor with long sleeves and bloomers underneath with no air conditioning to ever cool themselves down.  UGH! I couldn't do it. That's for certain.. I'm grateful to them for doing that so we all didn't have to do it.

Happy Pioneer Day! 

Christmas in July

For Christmas Heidi gave all her daughters in law a trip to Park City with $100 to spend at the Tanger Outlet Mall. This was the start of a new tradition. This will be fun to look forward to in the upcoming years.

Friday (July 20) night we all headed up to Park City after work. We found this Restaurant called Blue Sushi. Mom, Emily and I had tried sushi before but didn't really enjoy the experience. But we all decided to be brave and step out of our comfort zone. Mom and Em each ordered a roll and I ordered a salad and Tay ordered Pad Tai. Then we all shared. The sushi rolls Mom and Em ordered came with Soy Paper instead of Seaweed. We agreed that the seaweed was part of the reason our past experiences with Sushi haven't been all that great. So for the first time we actually enjoyed it. I can't wait to go to a Sushi Restaurant again to try some more stuff (no seaweed though).

For Dessert we ordered three different ones... because we couldn't decide. And being the little piglets we are... we DEVOURED them. They too were delicious. We all enjoyed our dinner WAY too much. Our stomachs were hating us for all the food we ate.

 After dinner we headed to the condo. The rest of the night we played card games, joked, laughed, snacked on popcorn and skittles (see I told you we are piglets) and stayed up late enjoying the freedom from life and it's responsibilities.

The next morning we all got up (Tay and Em a little later than Mom and I) and got ready for our big shopping day. First things first. BREAKFAST. At Squatters. And it was Amazing. We went from uncomfortable hungry to uncomfortably full in no time (I'm going to have to to some extra sit ups to work off all the food we consumed...but it was worth it).

After that we got our shopping ON!

 The whole day was just so nice. We weren't in any hurry. I loved that part because I feel like I'm always rushing everywhere I go. So to take our time in each store was quite nice.  But unfortunately the day went by WAY too fast. I felt like we needed an extra day. Guess that goes to show we were having too much fun.

Here's to a much needed girls trip. Thank you Heidi for our great Christmas present. We all love and adore you. Can't wait till next year!

Cy's Favorites

Trying to record the little things about the boys whenever I get the chance. I know years down the road I won't remember small details.

Lately Cy has had this love for blankets. If there was one on the floor he'd sit on it...

 or lay on it and sigh when the blanket would touch his face...

 or he'd gesture to me to wrap it around him. And then he'd proceed to carry it around the house. Happy as a clam.

 I have found this just so amusing. Any blanket he say it would light up his day and he'd be so happy to have that blanket on him. As of recently we have noticed that he's started to single out a specific blanket.

The other day he came walking up to me like this (so I quickly took a picture with my phone).... I look at this picture and it just makes me smile. You can just tell that he LOVES this blanket.

It's funny how a blanket can bring such comfort and joy to a kid.

Last week I noticed Cy was really quiet and so I went into Ryker's room to find this...

Just relaxed and reading a book. This has happened on several occasions. He just enjoys lounging on Ryker's bed flipping through a book. I love it. I love him. Such a sweetheart. It's moments like these that I don't want to forget. And one day it'll be fun to see Cy grown up and seeing these things that he did. But for now I don't want to think about him being grown up. I like him right where he is now. Sweet and Small. 

Jammin'

In the Spring I had mentioned to my Grandma Goodrich that it would be nice to have some raspberries in our yard. She told me that she'd be more than happy to take a few of her plants to transplant into our garden. Well when the time came to transplant them we didn't have the space. Also we had Henrietta the Hen at that time and the chicken coop wasn't finished. So if we did have the space for them, Henrietta would have eaten them anyway.

Out of the goodness of her heart she set aside a row just for me. And on the days she did the picking she brought them to me (I was able to help her on the morning of July 4th). I guess after a few pickings she had plenty of her own so she started giving me the entire picking from her huge patch. I was very grateful.

With that I made Freezer Jam. Mmmm mmm mm it is quite yummy. I made Raspberry, Blackberry (bought those berries at Costco) and Black and Raspberry Jam.

Once the apricots on my parents trees were ripe I went ahead and made more jam. Plus a bunch of leather (it's not all shown in this picture) and after all that I didn't want to do anymore so I just dried the rest of the apricots.

We have enough jam to last quite awhile. And I'm totally OK with that. I don't know what it is about homemade jam, but it is FAR better than store bought. Which I guess could be a bad thing because now I'm much more tempted to eat a piece of toast with butter and jam on it.

Independence Day

Following our little tradition we first started last year. Jesse (pulling the boys) and I rode our bikes down Main Street into Centerville to watch the Parade. Last year we met up with my grandparents who have a relative who live right on Main. But with my grandparents out of town we were invited by my friend Harmoni to join her and her family. Her parents live on 1000 N (which is where the parade route starts). So they just walk up to the rode and watch it. So we met them there.

 I met Harmoni when she first came to the salon to work about 2 years ago. But a year ago we started exercising together in the mornings. Ever since then we have been inseparable. She a single mother of a 13 year old boy, Parker, and this year she is turning 40. So according to the books we shouldn't have that much in common or really get along. But we do. Really well. She's the long lost big sister that I never had and I'm the little sister she never had. So it's perfect.

Parker has been over to watch the boys a few times. It's been great. We have a babysitter other than our family members. He loves the boys and the boys love him. Recently Parker was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. It's a disorder affecting the nervous system starving in his hands and feet and working its way to the center. Parker was in the hospital for 2 -3 weeks while they were helping him. He is in physical therapy to help get his movement back.

So during the parade me sat in his wheel chair with Cy. 

Love the troops.

Eager to gather some candy.

 It's cute to see the boys so into the parade. I mean that's really only the reason we go right?

After the parade was over we went to Harmoni's parents house for a bit. We had lunch, played games, and laughed. Around noon we left to get the boys home for naps.

Once naps were taken we all headed up to meet Jesse's family ih Park City. Jesse's Uncle Dave was staying up there and Uncle Dave had invited us all to come hang out at their condo. But first our little family went on a little bike ride. Nothing major. This time Ryker got to ride his bike with us. He did SO GOOD! Kept up with us the whole way. I kept having that proud mom moment watching him ride along side of us. I felt blown away that he was big enough and old enough to be doing it.

Half way through the bike ride we had a little KFC picnic. Haven't had KFC in a long time and it goes against all my healthy rules. But for a splurge I have to admit that I enjoyed every bite. haha

 Once we got back to the condo the boys went for a swim. I didn't bring my suit so I just watched and took pictures.

Around 8:30 we needed to get home and put the boys (mostly Cy) in bed before it got too late. We also wanted to do our own fireworks with Ryker. Park City had canceled their firework show due to all the wild fires that have been going on the past few weeks.

When we got home we saw our neighbors across the street were having a party. There were about thirty people on the front lawn getting ready to do their own fireworks. Jesse and I were feeling a little embarrassed over our little dinky fireworks. They had a whole bunch of the huge aerial ones and here we were with our sparklers and smoke bombs. haha.

They had rigged together 6 different tables with a bunch of fireworks on it. Each table had  fuse connecting it to the next one. So once they lit the fuse the whole thing went on it's own. Which was pretty cool.

By this time the boys had gone to bed because they were so tired. Ryker was TELLING us that he WANTED to go to bed. That NEVER happens. So Jesse and I were watching this GRAND finally inside by our big front window. When it reached the final table something happened to make one of the fireworks tip over. It was one that had a bunch of little holes in it and it was shooting small aerials. It was directed right at our house. Shooting one after another.

Dumbfounded we just kept watching. Finally a guy went over to try and tip it another directions, but that made them fly all over the place. So their group started to scatter. Jesse said he say one of the girls get hit in the face with one of them.  A few ricocheted off our window and several were hitting my car.

When the fireworks finally seized we saw half their group go running across the street into our neighbors yard. So we went outside to see what was going on. But I guess they were just checking if there were any fires started. They didn't need to run over all panicky like that. Gosh. It got me all worried that something had happened. But thank goodness it didn't.

That was our crazy, busy, fun-filled, exciting Independence Day! Looking forward to the next year.

P.O.A.P.

For Easter my Mom gave us the Pass of all Passes. It is an unlimited pass to places like Seven Peaks Water Park in SLC and Provo, Trafalga, Tracy Aviary, selected games to Bees Baseball games, Real Soccer and Blaze indoor Football. So this summer we have been trying to get our money's worth and go.

We have mostly attended Seven Peaks Water Park (formerly known as Raging Waters). The boys love love love it. Cy especially likes the wave pool. He just hangs out in the shallow end. It's funny because it's almost as if he forgets he can walk because he just crawls around in the water or just lays on his belly kicking his feet. It's a hoot.

Ryker goes out a bit farther and makes friends with anybody and jumps up and down in the waves. We have got to get these kids to the Real Ocean. They would just have a hay day.

 If there was anytime that we couldn't find Ryker all we had to do was look in the middle of bunch of kids and he was there. He is quite the social butterfly.

We just hung out by the side of the pool watching the boys. One would keep an eye on Ryker and the other on Cy. It's impossible to go to this place with two kids and one parent because the boys go in opposite directions. So we HAVE to have one adult (or more) for each boy. 

 I really liked this picture so I had to post it. Cy found my hat on the ground and put it on. The grin on his face just kills me. He looks so proud of himself.