Fun In The Sun

On Thursday Jacque and Nikki planned some really fun water games.  I was really impressed and the kids had a lot of fun!

Hold Up!

After the sweaty hike on the 27th, we went for a cool ride on the Heber Creeper to Soldier Hollow in Midway.

Austin was so excited to ride the train.  He sat for a whole 45 minutes mesmerized.  I think that may be the longest he's ever sat still.  As a side note, he got this sweet hat this summer in his little Fathers and sons baseball clinic.  Ryan took him every Tuesday and Thursday for the month of June.

Alex was just as excited as Austin.

Eden and Ella had to bring some dolls to make the most of the trip.

Unfortunately, we were robbed.  The train was held up by highway robbers who shouted and waved guns around until they found the cash box and pulled it off the train to blow it up!

The robbers weren't too happy about the Goose they found in the cash box so they came back on the train looking for a better reward...

I guess Nikki was it!  He was all ready to haul her off...

Until she admitted that she couldn't skin a bear.  Disappointed, the robbers left and we returned to the station.
It was good fun!

Heber Hike

On Wednesday Morning a few of us got off our rusty dusty's and went for a hike.  It was really hot and took us a little while to realize the trail we were on was only leading us to the trail we were supposed to take.  We decided not to push some of the less enthusiastic kids and turned back when we got to the actual trail head.  It was still a nice walk along the river.

Jacque and I also realized that despite the age difference we were carrying almost the exact same baby weight.  Needless to say we were both very sweaty by the end.  It was definitely easier carrying Evelyn in the front pack a few months ago.

And in case you were wondering where Cameron is in all these pictures she was actually at Shadow Mountain, a fifth grade camp for girls offered through our city.  She left first thing Monday morning and Ryan picked her up Wednesday afternoon and brought her up to the reunion.  She had a lot of fun sharing a cabin with some friends from school and going on hikes, swimming in freezing water (literally) and playing lots of games.

Gilroy Family Reunion Pool Party

We met up with my family for our annual reunion at the Lindon Pool on Monday June 27th.

Evelyn had just started sitting up on her own. She would last for a few minutes at a time and then fall over.

 I got this swimsuit for her back in January assuming that 6-12 month size would fit her.  I barely got it on!

When Evelyn gets excited with lots of attention she ducks her head like she's shy, it's so cute.

This was her first time in a pool.  Believe it or not I've had this floaty boat since Dallin was exactly this age.  Adam pointed out that it now had five kids' and 12 years worth of slobber on it.

Adam and Austin were pals and went around the lazy river a hundred times until Adam was dizzy.

Keala did a great job holding the baby.  Even with her broken arm.

Jack tried out the FlowRider.  He did pretty good for his first time.  I think he's hooked.

We had a fun time at the pool and then drove up to Heber to spend a few days at a nice house together with my family.

Timberline NYLT

On Saturday June 25 we picked up Dallin from Timberline NYLT (national youth leadership training) scout camp.  It was his first week long camp ever and I was a wreck.  I had no idea I would miss him so much.  When we showed up that morning I was totally expecting my sweet sensitive son to get all teary eyed and tell me how much he missed me.  Nope.  But he did tell me how much fun he had and about all the trees he climbed.  He was in boy heaven.  He said he did cry a little when he read the letters Dad and I wrote him that they gave him on Thursday night but that was about it.  Man, I'm a wimp, I cried a lot more than that and even set a place for him at dinner.  I had this constant feeling all week that someone was missing.  It drove me bonkers not having all my little ducks tucked into bed safe and sound every night.

A friend of mine told me that one of the best ways to help boys become successful missionaries is to send them away from home to things like scout camps and youth conferences as much as possible.  I can see now how that can help boys feel confident and independent but I can also see how it will help me to be prepared to say goodbye to him for two years.  How many of these camps can I send him to? 

Mama duck, papa duck, and all my little ducks safe and sound.

Dallin's two cousins Kale and Kolby invited him to the camp and kept a careful eye on him all week but he also had one of his best friends, Carter, in his troop.  I guess they were inseparable because they won the Best Buds award.  Dallin and Carter are in different grades and I know it was great for Dallin to get to spend so much time with someone he hardly saw at all last year.

I can't believe how fast these two kids are growing up.

First Food

On June 24th I finally took a moment to feed Evelyn her first food.  Usually I start when the kids are about 4 months old but this poor little girl has had to wait until life wasn't quite so busy.  Although, it was another week before she got her second bowl of cereal.

I also had every intention of starting her off with rice cereal but when I opened the box I realized I had bought oatmeal.  So her first food was oatmeal and how did she like it...

After she got the hang of munching on the spoon she LOVED it!  Yay!

A Quiet Morning

Dallin had to leave for Timberline, a leadership scout camp, two days after we got home from California.  So we washed tons of laundry and did more packing and sent him out the door first thing Monday morning, literally.  My friend Jenn came to pick him up 5 min. after I woke him up.  It had been a rough night and I overslept, sort of, after taking Cameron to swim practice at 6 am.

Needless to say, our summer mornings have been a bit crazy.  Cameron gets up at 5:30 am and swims from 6 to 7:30 am and then Eden goes to swim practice from 8:30 to 9:15 am.  It's a lot of back and forth and I usually try to squeeze a workout in there somewhere.  

These pictures were taken one morning after I had already picked up Cameron from swim team and before I started telling Eden to hurry and get her swimsuit on so I could take her to practice.  Her and the cat were snuggling together on a warm spot on the couch. This is as close as Peter gets to snuggling.

  

Troopers

We drove home from California all day Friday and got home around 7:30 pm.  The kids then got up at 6:30 am saturday morning for Eden and Cameron's swim meet in Lehi.  It was the Lehi Invitational and there were about 5 or 6 teams there.  We didn't leave until 1:00 pm and that was skipping the relays.  I couldn't believe how long it was but it was totally worth it.  Eden took 2nd and 3rd in her freestyle and backstroke events and even won medals!  Cameron took 7th and two 8th place ribbons for freestyle, breastroke, and butterfly.  Even having missed a week of swimming and being tired from all the traveling they did great!

Beach Day

On Thursday we went with Ryan's sisters family and his cousin Brandon's wife Jackie and her kids to Laguna Beach. It had been a rainy morning but the beach was sunny and beautiful.  The wind was a bit chilly but the kids didn't seem to mind.

You can't see from the picture but the water was crystal clear.  The waves were huge and as each one rolled by you could almost see through it the water was so clear.  I don't ever remember the waves being that beautiful.

Dallin, Brittney and Braden braving the icy water.

Aunt Deb and Bailey.

This is baby Jane.  She was born the day after Evelyn although she was due over a week before!  Evelyn's got a few pounds on her but other than that they're the same size.  Jane is a total cutie.

Austin and Bridgette.

Can you say Happy?!

After the beach we all went back to Brandon's for the best hamburgers I think I've ever had.  They had garlic and feta cheese in them and tasted amazing.  The kids swam and ate and then swam some more.  I hope this means they'll be sleepy for the long drive home tomorrow.

I think I already mentioned when Evelyn's tired she just falls asleep.  But she did seem to fall asleep every time she was in Uncle Stu's arms (must be pretty comfortable).

Cameron thought she would sneak into Dallin and Brittney's goodbye picture.  Smooth move Cameron.

Saying goodbye is never easy but surprisingly this time there were no tears.  Oh yeah, that's because they're going to see each other again at the family reunion in August.

Thanks for all the fun Deb, Stu, Brandon, and Jackie!