Never gonna catch up...

So, I never really got around to posting all summer long. I'm kind of tired of always trying to play catch up! (this is it...then I MUST live and post in the present:)

We had an emotional, fun, exhausting, and busy summer...

My sister was on bed rest with a serious and scary situation. And my sister-in-law and her family put our never used basement to GOOD use:) That was my summer:)

SO...Rachel. While on bed rest there was not much I could do for her but visit her, and PRAY...so I tried to be with her as much as possible especially with the condition she was in. But I must say, it was emotionally exhausting and sometimes physically exhausting with the late night visits, but through it all, I CANT COMPLAIN! And feel really stupid even saying it was exhausting from MY end...but it was. I found myself on my knees a lot, in tears a lot.

But, here we are now, in a much better place. A MUCH better place. Miraculous. And so blessed. Beyond blessed.

And then Laci, my sis-in-law, and her little family of 4 girls and 1 boy on the way....at the time....were in the process of moving from Cedar City to somewhere here in Ut County. And in the process and before their move, her two oldest girls tried out for some really good club teams here in Ut County and MADE them. So, Laci's little fam made the trek WHO KNOWS how many times from Cedar City here to attend practices, tournies, games, scrimmages, house hunting, and so forth. And we had the opportunity to 'house' them during their 'transition'.

We got to tag along with them and hang out with them A LOT! We even got to have Haylee AND Madi stay behind with us so that Laci could take care of her life in Cedar. I got to know this little family well and I must say...Im glad to call them FAMILY. Her girls are awesome. They are so so good with my kids and my kids worship them. We are happy that they are finally here, and settled!

The following pics are random, but Madi, she truly is the 'baby-whisperer'. I can't count how many times she has put my little Mayci to sleep. She is amazing! When we hang out with this family, its like hiring little baby sitters! They all come running for Mayci, rip her out of my arms, and I wont see her for HOURS. Literally. They are SO great. In fact, Im starting to feel guilty about it, so at the Vball games, I now give them a dollar a game (CHEAPSKATE) ha.







And despite Raegans NEED for personal space, I thought she did really well all summer. She definitely had her moments, but for the most part, she loved having 'visitors' and sleepovers all summer! When they moved in to their home in Highland, she asked and continues to ask 'mom is laci and kids coming today for a sleepover?' But now that she and Evan know they live SO close now, they bug me probably every day about going to aunt Laci's:) Its great.

So, needless to say, the summer was a lot of 'home-time', not much vacationing. But I wouldn't change it at all. I was able to bond with my sister at a whole new level and I got to know a really beautiful family.

more happenings of the recent past...

Bear Lake...a new escape!

So...I guess one REALLY good thing came from living in Logan for 2 years. Every time my dad would visit, we would trek up the beautiful canyon and check out his EMPTY lot that looked out to Bear Lake. We'd get out, walk in the DIRT, and every time I would TAUNT my dad..."Why is this empty...You HAVE to build something here...look at that view..." and on and on. Really. So, here we are, a few years later, with just that. The most beautiful cabin you ever did see...we like to refer to it as the lodge. It ain't no cabin if ya catch my drift. It's breathtaking. Beautiful. SO SO nice. We have been able to enjoy it a couple times so far and I must say it was wonderful. Cant wait for the next venture up there.

And all of you can thank ME for our new little home away from home:) I knew my nagging would do it. Not really, but hey, look what came only a few years after!!!

SO, here are a few photos (thanks to Jamie...of course) of our most recent excursions:

Here I am quite disgusted by that girl laying out right in front of me. Disgusting...isn't she?! Put a shirt on, and shorts...or pants for that matter. Or how bout a snow suit:)

Here is Evan...thoroughly enjoying being completely buried under all that sand. The kid can be drenched in ketchup...and wouldn't care. Seriously.

Just part of the gang...

Evan and Logan...daring the freezing cold water. Pretty water though.

Really...just the most precious face this world has to offer. Its quite scary.

Catch up...

Raegan's first day of Kindergarten....I was fine here:

Not so fine here:

I honestly was SO great with pre-school...didn't shed a tear. Was so excited. But for some reason, as I walked Raegan to school and said goodbye to this face:

I got a big ol' frog in my throat...and broke down in tears once I made it through my front door. I pondered what the difference was...between pre-school and this. Still don't quite know, I guess its just the 'real' school thing. The beginning of the end:) She really is a big girl now. I am so excited for her though. She LOVES it, and so do I:)


And now...here is a report of the two that stay home with me...

Take tubs together:
(check out that tan line)

Wake up smiling:

Get beautiful each day:

Melt me with that face:

and those eyes!

Crawling...and playing:

Play dress-ups:

Sometimes with Raegans dress-ups...haha:

And most the time with imagination:
(I personally like the glasses tied up to his shorts)

So, one day, Ev tells me he needs to go potty. I say...OK. Go. Then, I see him make his way out to the back yard. Didnt think much about it until I saw him do this:

Yes, folks, that is Evan peeing on our backyard lawn, and Im sure you can all guess who taught him that. Right. His papa.
Here he is finishing up:

And here he is, realizing I caught him!
Had no idea he did that. I busted up laughing, he didn't like that, but I couldn't help myself. Hilarious. Guess thats what we get for not buying a home with a toilet on the main level!!! By the way, this has now turned into a normal daily occurence. Oh well.

(p.s. little did I know, his dad does the same thing, and I only caught on to what he was doing after I caught Evan. At the end of the day, with the kids asleep, just chillin on the couch...he just gets up, opens the slider, exits for a few minutes, returns...and no questions asked. Never really thought much about it. Then this happened with Evan and it all made sense. Must be something special about peeing under the stars...or sun in Evans case:)

Classic

This is a funny story. My post below describes my new found love of gardening. Something I know NOTHING about. We planted a seed, it grew. I had no idea when they would sprout, nor what they were supposed to look like. We planted SIX zucchini plants...that goes to show we really had NO idea (for those that don't know, you really only need ONE zucchini plant, because each plant produces TONS and TONS).

The unknown was kind of fun though. To see each seed sprout, and then turn into a plant, into an edible plant...awesome. I really didn't know it was a real garden item until I saw multiples of one kind of leaf or flower, in some sort of line, that was about the same height...and so on.

We planted cantaloupe. As a seed. It sprouted. And grew. Into this:


Isn't it beautiful. Green. Full. Tall. Same size. In a row. Cantaloupe! Surely it is. So everyday, I watered it, checked on it, even smelled it. Weeded around it. Watered it. Smelled it again. Then...little blossoms started appearing on a little vine, beneath this tall structure. I was so intrigued...thinking...how in the world does cantaloupe grow?! Im sure from these tiny flowers...but why such an enourmous stalk? Whats the purpose of this tree like trunk. It can't grow from these. It's too heavy. Hmmmmmm? Guess we'll see, sooner or later.

Then, I saw. My husbands sister and her family had been in and out of our home all summer, watching with me, all these garden items mature. The father of this family, Brian, yes you, Brian, knew a little something about gardens. A little something more than ME. Whenever he was here, he would watch me tend to my precious plants, and hear of how proud I was of these miracles, and see the incredible excitement of picking a fully mature product of my garden. So, to his credit, I understand why he didn't have the heart to tell me that my cantaloupe, my tall, beautiful, green, vibrant cantaloupe plants....

.....were WEEDS! Weeds, people. Weeds, that actually grew to my HEIGHT. Thats fine. I was so proud of them. Thinking each time I would walk into my house after watering them...'wow, what a miracle...can't wait for fresh garden grown cantaloupe'.

Funny huh. Can't wait for next years garden. Ill know that cantaloupe grows on a vine...and JUST a vine! Brian uprooted the WEEDS, and tried his best to keep the vines of the cantaloupe rooted. Just to let you all know, HE SUCCEEDED. Now, I just might have some cantaloupe. One plant survived the demolition. Ill report if and when a fresh peice of garden ripe cantaloupe ever enters my mouth:) Thanks Bri! YOUR the best:)