Goodbye Lovelands–Part 1

This week was the last week before our friends the Lovelands moved to Utah.  We tried to spend a lot of time with them this week, which made it a busy but fun week.  On Monday night, I helped host a goodbye bbq for them at the park.  There were over 200 people who came to say good-bye and wish them well on their new adventures.  I made a bunch of cookies that day, then helped stock the table the entire evening.  I also tried to take pictures throughout the night for them to put in a memory book and take with them (my friend Gina put that together).  It all went well except for a water shortage around 7:00, so I had to run home and refill the big water pitcher again, but other than it, it all went smoothly.  Shane helped out with the photography too, so there are even a few shots of me in there.

   

Landon and Eve on the slide, and the rocks Jenn brought for everyone to sign to put at their new house.

 

Sue Anderson and Me, and a shot of everyone visiting at the party

 

James and Eve just chillin’, and Shane with the Caziers (Joe Cazier is the other bishopric member he served/serves with)

 

Joe and Shane, and a picture of me visiting with Angie While while cleaning up

   

My friend Kara got these fun balloon bouquets for the tables.   James, Davis and Isaac had fun sneaking off with them as the party ended.

 

James deciding it was time to pull his pants down (a regular occurrence, which doesn’t seem to be ending anytime too since it makes his brothers laugh hysterically), and a picture of Landon, Davis, Eve, Luke, and the White children playing in the sandbox.

 

Eve and Davis playing in the sand, and me and Jenn at the end of the night

Mountain Lakes Challenge

To continue their biking training this year, Shane and my brother Jake signed up for the Mountain Lakes Challenge century ride.  The ride takes you through the Siskiyou mountain range, starting in Ashland, and climbing 7,100 feet up Greensprings road and around and finally ending down Dead Indian Memorial Road.  The race was on Saturday, but we drove down Thursday night so we could have some time to rest before race day.  It was a little bit different of an Ashland trip because my parents are gone in France, but we had fun hanging out with Jake and Stacey, and the kids had fun playing together as always.  The boys got a little nervous as it poured rain all day Friday, but luckily it let up on Saturday, and even though it rained a little off and on, it was much more manageable.

While we were hanging out Saturday waiting for the race to finish, James had fun with baby Maggie.  He kept putting his shirt on her, first as a blanket, then on her face.  Not sure how much she liked it on her face!  Luckily he was nice and gave her lots of kisses too!

   

James also had fun driving around Grandma’s cozy coupe.  By the time I took these pictures, I had at least managed to get his pants on.

Stacey and I kept the little kids up from naps so we could go and see Shane and Jake as they finished their ride.  It started to rain just as we got there, so we kept the kids in the car to wait.  When we heard they were almost there, we headed out with our umbrellas to welcome them in.  (Thanks Stacey for the pictures with me in them!)

 

Waiting in the car

Heading down – I love how you can’t see James under his umbrella

   

Two silly boys looking at the Lightning on the umbrella.  Ethan was sad his jacket didn’t have a hat, so Stacey found a sweater of Kallie’s to put over his head. 

 

After a few minutes, we all cheered to see them riding in!

   

Looking pretty good even after riding for 100 miles!

 

Hooray!  We did it!

Shane and Jake sporting their new shirts after cleaning up, having a little nap, and eating some refueling food at Senor Sams!

Vacuuming and Hula Hoops {June 15}

James loves to help vacuum with the dust buster.  The other morning, he spent awhile vacuuming in the kitchen, with no pants on of course.

 

Meanwhile, Davis wanted me to take a picture of him and his mad hula-hooping skills.  He was so serious and focused; I had a hard time keeping a straight face!

 

And one of Landon, being silly with the hula hoop on his head.

First Day of Summer

Today was finally the first day of summer break.  We have been counting down the days for awhile, and Davis especially was excited to have Landon home all of the time since his preschool ended before Memorial Day.  To celebrate, we planned to go to a fun park for lunch that is a bit away.  Unfortunately, as we pulled up, we saw signs that said the park was closed for the day since it was reserved for a private event.  Luckily,  Lori knew of another park nearby, so we headed over there instead.  It was a great park, and we had a lot of fun trying out the fun playground. 

 

Davis and Colton on the swing

 

James and Dallin on the teeter-totter, and James eating his sandwich.  For some reason, he wanted to eat over in the bushes.

Landon, James, Davis, Dallin, Austin, and Colton

After the park and naps, we came home, and the boys were begging me to set up the swimming pool we had just bought.  They were so excited and could hardly wait for me to fill it up.  The water was freezing cold, but that didn’t seem to stop them.  James kept saying “Water, Cold,” and shivering.  I finally made him get out when he couldn’t stop shivering anymore!

 

They each pulled up a chair to watch the pool fill with air

Testing out the cold water

I took a short video of James talking about the cold water.  It would have been even better if I had captured his look of shock as he went down the slide for the first time into the cold water, but this will have to do.

 

It was a great first day of summer.  Can’t wait for many more!

Baseball

Saturday was Landon’s last baseball game.  He had a great season, and we had so much fun watching him improve over the season.  He did so much better throughout the season, improving more and more with each game. 

 

After his last game, we went to pizza for a team party.  The coach gave each kid a trophy and a ball to have all of their teammates sign.  Landon’s coach talked about how he was the team’s most improved player, and worked hard to get better each game.  He always had a smile on his face and you could tell he enjoyed being out there!