Summer Memories

I've decided that summer is the season to live and do everything to the fullest...and catch up later. So now that school is back in session and we are adapting to our new routines, it's time to reflect on our summer memories. We spent a lot of time working away at reclaiming our house, amidst some roadblocks (flood damage, broken appliances and garage door, lots of overgrowth in the yard, renters' pet urine damage, etc.) Danny spent the summer trying to prepare for the Utah State Bar Exam while working part time. (Most people don't try to work while studying for this major test!) While Danny was busy cramming his brain with everything that pertains to the law, I figured I would get the kids involved in some activities while they were out of school for the summer. Oh yeah, and I have been keeping up with everybody and the home imrovement stuff while getting more and more pregnant as the time went by!I celebrated my 31st birthday (yikes!) on Memorial Day weekend. It was nice to be back around family again. I must say that it is weird to be this old, but I guess I am actually this age!
My parents were so great and made me a fabulous smoked brisket dinner with my dad's special recipe BBQ sauce (mmm, my request!) And my mom made me a black-forest cake. They invited my grandparents, too, and it was fun to get together. It's wonderful to have people that care about me and celebrate my birthday!
After we moved to Utah, the kids here still had three weeks of school left. So I considered enrolling Lexie in 1st grade for those 3 weeks so she could make some friends and become acquainted with the school and area, etc. (And not make summer too long and boring.) She agreed to it and started the Monday after we moved back. The first day she was very nervous about starting, but at the end of the day when I picked her up, she was very excited and had a great time! She made a new friend and became reacquainted with some of the girls she knew before we moved to Omaha. Those three weeks went by fast, but she enjoyed it and got to do all the fun end-of-year activities and field trips.
After spending three weeks fixing up our house with arched transitions between rooms, new paint, tile, and new carpet throughout the upstairs, we moved in! The day we moved in, the water line behind the fridge melted behind the oven and completely flooded the kitchen and into our living room, running down the stairs and through the floor into the garage below and the family room in the basement. You wouldn't believe how much water can pour from such a little opening in such a small amount of time. And, well, everything was ruined... I had gone to the store when it happened (we had no food in the house,) and Danny had come home before me. The first thing either of us saw was water pouring from the garage ceiling and running down the driveway. (The kitchen is over the garage.) We all started removing water any way we could. The kids were sopping up water in our bath towels and running them outside to wring out. Danny was using the Shop-Vac to suction water out of everywhere. I called our home-owners insurance and they sent out a cleanup company within an hour. So in the picture above, you see that our kitchen floor had to be completely ripped out. It was retaining the water under the floor and wouldn't dry out. The cabinets stayed. We had to rip out the (brand new) pad under our day-old carpet and the cleanup company installed high-pressure dryers and dehumidifiers in the kitchen, downstairs family room, and garage.
After a week (yes, it was a pain,) the dryers finally went away. We didn't have too much drywall damage in the basement and garage and will only have to patch (luckily!)
This is the damage in the garage ceiling. Well, this episode sure made me unpack fast. We had to empty everything out of the wet boxes and see what we could salvage and what we had to throw out. Whew! After the flood, I lost my zeal to fix up the house and things have gone very slowly since then. But our new kitchen floor is beautiful, and we are getting settled a little at a time.
We spent a lot of time cheering Gavin on as he played T-Ball this summer. He started out a bit ambivalent about playing, but then halfway through the season he clicked into baseball mode and really got into it! It was fun to watch him progress.

Lexie and Gavin also took ice-skating lessons with their cousins. Here's Lexie and her cousin Dylan in a class together.
And Gavin and his cousin Camryn together. They had a lot of fun and love to skate!
We had our first outing to the pool the week after school got out. We had lots of fun with cousins Dylan and Emi and their mom Carrie.
Lexie and Gavin are little fish and LOVE to swim. They had a blast, and it was relaxing to hang out by the water.
Cole liked to munch on snacks the best! But by the end of our day there he at least dipped his feet.
Before we knew it, Father's Day was upon us. Since Danny's birthday was the day after the flood, he got shortchanged this year. So we tried to make Father's Day extra special. Here is the best dad with his cute kids.
It is fun to be back in town with family now, so we can enjoy these holidays with our extended family. Here Danny's dad got to enjoy time with his grand kids for Father's Day.
And Danny got to spend time with both of his grandfathers.
Here's the three generation shot.
And after that, we stopped by my grandparents' house to spend time with my dad and my grandpa for Father's Day. It was a lot of fun, and wonderful to be surrounded by such loving men in our lives.
For over a year now, Gavin has been requesting to take karate. In June, we found a place just down the street from us, and signed him up. He loves it! He gets to do actual sparring with partners, break boards, practice stunts, and of course the kicks, punches, and blocks.
Here he is sparring in protective gear.
And here he is at his first attempt to break a board. The first try didn't work out, but the next time he broke a board himself! He had it autographed and dated by his sensai and keeps it by his bed.
The end of June brought our little Nicholas' 2nd birthday! I can't believe he is two! We had a very fun-filled day for him. He started with a special breakfast of pancakes on the Happy Birthday plate.
And then we had a pArTy! He loves both Elmo and Thomas the Train, so it was a toss up for Mom to choose a theme. But Elmo seemed to take it, so we did some fun things and had an Elmo Water Party.
I found some darling cake pop ideas on Bakerella. (You should see how darling the Sesame Street ones are!) So I tried my hand at it and made some Elmo ones for my little Elmo-loving Cole. He thought they were great, so that's what counts!
We borrowed Danny's parents' water slide for the kids to play on at the party. We also set up a slip-and-slide and a wading pool, with plenty of squirt guns and water toys. We had family and friends come play and celebrate Cole by getting wet! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
We barbequed and had quite the spread of tasty treats for dinner.
Cole had the most fun with the squirt gun, going around shooting everyone!
Make a wish!
I told you he enjoyed the Elmo cake pops, right?!
And the ice cream, too. He is our little sweet tooth, and will attack the desserts and avoid his dinner any day. At least on his birthday it's okay.
Cole got some fun presents! He liked opening them a lot.
And all the kids had fun watching him!
Mom and Dad got to enjoy some time with him as the party wound down a bit.

We sure love our little Cole! Here are some of the cute things Cole does at age 2: he loves to say his prayers. He calls Gavin "Gav-man." He says a lot of words right now and is continuing to learn more daily. He loves his "binky" and his train "blankie" and will not sleep without both of them. He is our no-fear boy, and has no sense of boundaries. (He likes to take off and doesn't really care where Mom or Dad are...that's the scary part.) We have lost him a couple of times, and it is worrisome! He loves to do everything Lexie and Gavin do, and has been working very hard at perfecting jumping with two feet on the trampoline. (Instead of the hop-jump most toddlers do.) He likes to get his way...and screams if he doesn't! He is a very sweet boy and always says "pease," "tank-oo," and "sohwwy." We love him so much, Happy Birthday, Cole!
To figure out what to get Cole for his birthday, we took him to the toy store. He didn't seem interested in anything we thought he might like, but only wanted to sit in the little motorized cars. So Danny found a used one on KSL classifieds, and it was a hit for all three kids! They have spent hours this summer riding the little blue car around.
Mr. Driver!
Over the Fourth of July, we had some fun family activities. We went to a family reunion in Wyoming and did lots of 4-wheeling. (Except for me. I enjoyed the luxury of our brother and sister-in-law's camper!) The kids loved riding with their dad and grandpa.

Lexie had a lot of fun palling around with her second cousins Sydney and Kyleigh. There were fun little crafts for them to do too, as well as a magic show after dinner.
Gavin was all about the dirt bike and the 4-wheelers. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
And Cole is another apple...he wouldn't take a nap because he just wanted to ride! Even when the 4-wheelers were parked, he would head straight for them and just sit there.
After camping, we spent the 4th with my mom's family. We had a nice BBQ and did some fireworks afterward. The kids had some cute patriotic outfits to show their love of the USA.
Here's my mom and grandma. It was a fun day with them.
My dad and Uncle Doug and Uncle Kent grilling up some dinner.
I made a patriotic fruit pizza for dessert with blueberries, strawberries, and bananas. It was delicious and got polished off fast! I guess if you know me, you know I think it's fun to go with a theme for the holiday!
Lexie and Gavin had lots of fun with Uncle Nelson (my brother.) Nice day with family, fun to relax and enjoy the freedoms we have in our fantastic country.
In mid-July, Lexie did a special Princess Camp. It was a lot of fun for her and her two friends Sophie and Ava. I loved that each day they focus on a different virtue princesses needed. (Gratitude, Kindness, etc.)
The last day they put on a special program for us and did a song with actions (the picture above.) They even made their families treats, and each girls gave her mom a rose. So sweet!
And as we neared the end of July, we went to our last T-Ball game for Gavin.
Here he is on 1st base. Gavin really enjoyed playing.
And of course, he had adoring fans.
Lexie had fun rolling down the hill and entertaining herself around the park during the games.
And Cole? He loved trying to play baseball, too! And it was all we could do to keep him from taking off and running away during the games. (He knew he was faster than his pregnant mom!)
Here's Gavin with his team, waiting to bat.
And the whole family...with a big chocolate doughnut too.
Lexie and Gavin also really enjoyed their swimming lessons. They both did really good, as I mentioned before, they are fish!
Lexie was attempting to learn to dive. They both did well and are even better swimmers now.
Lexie and Gavin also spent time making things this summer. They entered a health-poster contest through my mom's work, and wanted to remember their artwork. Lexie did several sketches and slogan ideas and a couple of drafts before the finished project. They were very excited to think they would win a prize for their efforts.
After Danny took the grueling two-day bar exam the end of July, we planned some trips to enjoy seeing Dad again! The first big one to celebrate being done with the bar was a day trip to Willard bay with jet-skis (thanks, Jared!) We had lots of fun with our good friend Jared and his two girls and my brother and sister too.
It was so fun to have my sister Annie come to town and bring her darling little Ella! We loved spending time together. Ella really liked the beach.
Nelson and Gavin had fun on the Jet-Skis, too!
And Annie even got to take Lexie out on the lake for a bit. (Ella isn't too sure she wants her mom out of her sight!)
And Lexie and Sophie are inseparable! All the kids had tons of fun. It was a wonderful day at the lake. (The lake was great...but on the way home, a sheriff ran a red light and broad sided the tail end of our car and the Jet-Ski, launching the Jet-Ski 50 feet and totalling it and its trailer. It wasn't even our Jet-Ski...we felt awful. At least no one was hurt and insurance covered it.)

Well, we got through the hard part of Danny taking the bar and had some fun experiences in there with the kids! We also took a couple of big trips to finish the summer, that will have to be another post! Here's to happy summer memories!