Summer of Fun- Week 9

Last week was our busy week of celebrations. We had Tessa's birthday on Sunday, Caleb's birthday on Tuesday, and Mommy and Daddy's anniversary on Friday. Busy!!

On Monday, the 3 older kids got to go have a sleepover with Aunt Katy. They got to go to the Rec Center and swim and camp in the backyard. They had a blast!

Tuesday afternoon, we picked the kids up from Aunt Katy and celebrated Caleb's birthday that evening. On Wednesday, Tessa had a couple of friends over for a little birthday party. They had a fun afternoon playing together. 

On Thursday, while we waited for Caleb to wake up from his nap, we made crazy domino patterns. That was fun and challenging! Especially with Gwen "helping". 

After Caleb woke up, we headed to the County Fair. The kids loved seeing all the animals. 

Smelling them....not so much. We decided we really weren't cut out for farm life. 

Gwen liked seeing the animals, but didn't want to get near most of them. And she was not happy about her shoes getting muddy. 

Caleb was pretty interested in the noisy sheep. 

Tessa has been asking all summer to go fishing. Thankfully, they had a free fishing booth at the Fair this year. It was a catch and release booth. Adam was the only one to catch a fish. 

After about a minute of not catching anything, Tessa decided fishing was pretty boring. 

They got to sit in a train and a hot carriage. 

Getting their faces painted. 

We loved walking around, looking at the booths and the entries. But our favorite thing was the Reptile Show. They had some crazy critters and the host was hilarious. He told perfect jokes for a 9 year old boy and I would laugh hysterically when I heard Adam laughing hysterically. 

Adam got lucky enough to be called out of the audience to be a volunteer during the show and he ended up having a Boa Constrictor put around his neck. This Mommy was totally grossed out!! Adam said the snake was heavy. 

He was totally brave!!

Friday, Mommy and Daddy got to escape for the day (thanks to Aunt Katy). We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. It was so nice to spend some quiet time together. We went to the Payson Temple, to the movies and we had a lovely dinner at the Melting Pot. They had this sign on their TV  in the waiting area. 

This food was so good!! We loved having a long and yummy meal together. 

Saturday morning we headed to Provo to watch the BYU Scrimmage. Tessa, Gwen and Caleb lasted about 15 minutes, so Mommy ended up taking them to run errands and visit Great Grandpa in the hospital. 

Adam and Daddy stayed to watch the game and said it was hot, but fun!

Saturday evening, we loaded everyone up and headed to Salem Pond to try out our cardboard boat that Adam and Daddy built. The kids had so much fun swimming and our boat did pretty well considering it was cardboard. 

 Poor Caleb just had to hang out in the sand with Mom and watch everyone else have fun in the water. 

 Before we left, the kids decided to try jumping off the dock. This was a hit! 

 I told Adam it looked like he was surfing. 

 Then they decided to start jumping backwards. 

 Before we left, the ducks got a good feeding. 

 Caleb was a trooper.

We ended our fun night with some fun drinks. It was a long day, but a happy one. Days like these make me exhausted, but so thankful to be a mom and for our family time. 

Caleb Turns One!!

On Tuesday, the 11th, Caleb turned one year old! How fast time has gone. It really doesn't seem like year should have gone by already. This has been a rough year on Mommy, so I am very thankful we have all survived it. 

Caleb's birthday was sadly pretty uneventful. The 3 older kids spent the night before with Aunt Katy, so there wasn't much excitement at our house during the day. Caleb did get a good birthday nap though. He and Mommy had fun spending the day together before we picked up the other kids. They were so happy to tell Caleb, happy birthday!

His birthday lunch....mac and cheese and green beans.

                                     

 After Mommy and Adam got home from Cub Scouts, we had a tiny party for Caleb. We gave him a cupcake from Tessa's party and let him open his presents from Mamma and Bampa. He loved having everyone sing to him and he wasted no time digging into his cupcake. The older kids were laughing so hard at his frosting covered face. 

 He ate his whole cupcake so fast and then looked like he was in a sugar coma. 

 The after mess

 He wasn't too sure about ripping the paper, but he loved discovering new toys underneath the paper, He loves his new giraffe and phone!

 The older 3 were just as excited about his new toys. 

 Happy First Birthday, Caleb.

 We love you so much and are so grateful for the happiness and laughter you bring to our home and family!!

Crazy Boys

 Adam did his hair the other morning....we decided he needed to comb it like this for Thanksgiving cause he looks like a turkey. 

 Caleb was a little excited about his bath the other night. I caught him before he went into the water head first. 

 We've got another climber on our hands. Caleb hasn't mastered climbing up the baby gate yet, (thank goodness) but he did learn how to heave himself up onto the living room benches. We have to watch him at all times now. He loves his new trick. I couldn't get a clear picture of him because he wouldn't stop bouncing. 

The Final Can

This week we opened the final can of formula for Caleb. Our wallet is so happy!! I am still sad that I wasn't able to nurse Caleb. I am trying to be better about acknowledging those feelings rather than burying them. I miss having that bond that comes with nursing. But, ultimately I know I tried my hardest and did what I had to do for him and me. I am thankful that we had a good support team to get us through several difficult months and that Caleb is a healthy boy. That being said, I am so glad to not have to buy these cans anymore!