Summer Synopsis

I was looking back at our summer pictures and realized there were many great things we did this summer I didn't get a chance to write about with the move and such. Since I do this mainly for our family journal/family history, I want to forewarn you this may be boring, but I want to catch up on some of the highlights.

We were blessed to be able to go to two weddings this summer - they were both wonderful! My cousin Courtney got married in Casper, WY. They had planned an outdoor wedding; actually dreamt of it their whole lives, but at the last minute the storms rolled in and we did the wedding inside. They both handled the disappointing change so well and plan on eventually renewing their vows on the mountain.

Anna and I were bridesmaids and little Kali was the flower girl. Oh, was she in heaven! And she did a great job - darling as ever. I can't remember when so many people had SO much fun at a wedding. The DJ was fabulous - he said he'd done it for 11 years and he was 16. He helped his dad for years and it showed. He let Trenton sit with him all night and help him put on an incredible party. What a BLAST! It was so fun to be with Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents - truly a family reunion for us.





We also were blessed to be able to travel up to Seattle for Steve's cousion/sister Jenna's wedding to Wes. It was such a treat to be with the McDonalds and witness their love, organization and teamwork. We learn so much from them each time we're there. This first picture is Wes leading us in a Thriller rendition. It was sweet. The chocolate fountain tradition instead of a wedding cake is definately one I'll push my kids to embrace :). And I LOVED that Jenna wore her mother's BEAUTIFUL wedding dress. Isn't she stunning?!



I managed to squeeze in training for the Parker Ward Triathlon this summer. I am completely addicted by the way. I think I went into it thinking, yup I can do this, I did it once and survived. I might not have trained quite enough; I tell you I was so glad to see that toilet paper finish line! I left out the pictures of me doing the backstroke, catching my breath :).


We started a summer tradition this year we will definately keep up. I took the kids out to UT for 2 weeks by myself. We missed Steve horribly, but were able to spend such great time with family and friends. I think next year Steve might come out for a few days then fly back before us. 2 weeks is too long!

We went to the single least expensive carnival I have been to in my life for Pioneer Day in Bountiful. What a family friendly place. I love it. We met up with Steve's sister Tina & her kiddos and Emily and Johnny.

Grandpa cleared every evening the second week to spend time with us. THANK YOU! One night he met the kids to take them on a train ride, then suprised them by taking them to Chuck E Cheese. They still talk about this special night with Grandpa.

Every day is a heaven day at Aunt Tina & Uncle John's house. Here are all the cousins plus some neighborhood kids getting ready to swim in the lukewarm hot tub. They loved it!

Grandpa & his Boys

Grandma & her Girls

For FHE we drove up to Snowbasin (where my dad teaches skiing) and went on a hike - a short hike with Anna's broken ankle :( and three little ones. It was absolutely stunning. Next year Dad and I decided we are going to the top!

Back to the favorite house of Aunt Tina & Uncle John's. They have worked their way to being practically self-sustaining with the addition of 10 chickens and their magnificent garden. Tina helped the kids hold chickens and I just drooled in awe of the garden.

We had a blast practicing our painting skills at JeVonne & Paul's house. Luke, Mary, Mom and Emily even pitched in to help get rennovations done before their little baby girl arrived in August. What a project they undertook - wow. My favorite line was walking into the backyard to see JeVonne, 9 months pregnant, cutting 20 lb tiles in 95 degree weather and she says, "Don't tell my mom."

Kali had a blast doing all things girly with Anna - how forever blessed my kids are to have such a hands on, fun-loving aunt. They ADORE her!

One of our favorite days was when we got to have Johnny over for a day. Kali and Blake were in heaven loving on this little guy. So was I.

John and Em's anniversary was the day after we arrived in UT. I was planning on suprising her on her doorstep, but that plan got foiled (it's OK Mom, I know you were just really excited we were coming). She had the whole day planned out and part of that included dinner at the Roof Restaraunt where she (and I) went the day she was propsed to. (I did not go to the Roof the day she was proposed to - only the day I was proposed to ;)). It was a touching night, especially hearing John's 6 page version of their engagement story she found on his laptop almost a year after he died. That's a treasure.

Mom had so many fun things planned. This is the kiddos at the Children's Museum. They loved it and I loved watching Kali doing all things medical.

I don't have great pictures to post about my other two favorite events of the Summer of 2009 - having our mommies come out. My mom came out twice to help us move twice. Wow, that was not a bad dream - we really did move twice (shiver). I don't know what we would have done without her. Literally. She cleaned, played with kids, helped pack, helped unpack, got lunches and dinners, sotcked the new house with the essentials and essentially kept me sane. It was like she'd done it a few times in her life.

Steve's mom also came out at the end of the summer. Thanks goodness. I was training for the triathlon, getting ready to take the family to Courtney's wedding, throw the bridal shower, move in and start a new calling. It was about midnight on Saturday; we were frosting 50 cupcakes for Cupcake Sunday (to celebrate all the birthdays for the month in our youth group) and she turned to me and said "Are all your weeks like this?" No, thank goodness they are not, but I was so grateful she was here! She brought a suitcase full of bow making things, had me pull down Kali's fall/winter wardrobe and we made the most darling bows to match everything. Kali gets compliments all the time. She cooked the most amazing meals all week, kept the kitchen spotless, loved the kids to death and spoiled us rotten.

Aren't Moms the best?

If you made it to the end of this bit of our history, just know I will sleep better at night having written about this fabulous, blessed summer.

A small favor...

I have a small favor to ask from you dear friends & family (and friends of friends & family who are addicted to blog surfing...you know who you are). I have joined a book club that I am absolutely loving.  We have read Goose Girl and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (or something like that).  Both great books.  I'm supposed to choose a book for January and wanted your input. 

I'm looking for something that a) Invokes Gratitude and/or b) Inspires.  So all you well-read intellectuals that I dearly trust could you please send me your favorite reads that fit the above criteria.  Biographies, non-fiction, fiction, you name it.  Can't wait to hear from you!

Locks of Love

Today marked the end of a rough period in our lives - the days of brushing out Kali's hair. It would start with a simple "Kali, time to do your hair," and end in a wailing session that would rival the holiest wailing wall. Saturday I was done. And so was little Kali.

We have been growing her hair out her entire life - she's had exactly 2 trims in her 3 1/2 years. One by me and one professionally done. This spring we talked about growing it until we had 10 inches, then giving it to Locks of Love. I asked her if she wanted to give it to little girls who had no hair, and she nodded her head enthusiastically. So I've been measuring every few weeks, hoping we had enough. I mean really, how great to be able to do something for others without doing any work at all. Just letting the darn stuff grow! We've been looking forward to the big day for a while.

I was also starting to feel very guilty looking at her pictures. As most of you know, my husband is the ultimate photographer - we have thousands and thousands of great pictures. But quite frankly, Kali looked like a little orphan child in a large majority of the pictures. I stopped Steve from taking so many pictures, saying "You can't - just look at her hair!" Unfortunately I am not always around to help him see the big picture.

Point in case: After he took these pictures he says to me, "Aren't these great? Look how beautiful she is!" I just looked at the picture and thought, "Where is this child's mother?"

And we have many, many similar pictures I didn't spend enough time preparing for. I wonder if she will look back with hard feelings towards me, poor little thing. The final straw came when I spent a lot of time doing her hair for Trenton's birthday party (curling, brushing, rubber banding) and it still looked like she just got out of bed. Between that and the wailing, I was DONE. We took one final measurement and headed out to Fantastic Sam's with the whole family along, with Daddy's skills to capture the process.

Before

Kali was very excited that it wouldn't hurt to brush it out anymore, that it'd be short like her friend Bailey's hair (thank goodness for Bailey) and that we were giving it to the girls who had no hair.

Yes, I did get a little nervous at this point. When I told the hairstylist what we wanted, she shook her head and said, "No, that is going to be really short." I thought she was going to refuse to do it! I had to convince her we were fully aware of how short it would be and trust me, we were ready.

After

Happy as a clam and ready to send her donation! She did great. I was so proud of her willingness to do the whole thing. Right after it was cut, she said "I can't do a long braid anymore, can I?" Oh - her favorite hairstyle! "No, but we'll do short braids if you want." And she was completely OK with that.

We are excited to mail off the ponytail and I wasn't scared at all when Steve took pictures of the kids bug hunting today. She loves it, but Trenton is trying to get used to it. After it was cut he said, "I can't wait until it grows long and you look like Kali again." And after covering his eyes, "Oh, it's combing my eyes to look at you with short hair!" (combing...hmmm). He's not a big fan of change.

Helping Blake down the hill today during our bug hunt - and no cringing from mom as the pictures were being snapped :)!

This is a video clip of her getting her new hairdo dried - she really was in heaven during the whole process. Little sweetie.

My MacGyver

There are moments of marriage where you look at the person you married and think, "Wow, I love this man."  Saturday was one of those moments for me. 

Our light bulbs in the living room have been burnt out since we moved in.  It has posed quite a dilema for us since we couldn't reach them, even with the very tallest ladder we owned.  The tallest ladder anyone owned for that matter.  We couldn't just do the 'suction bulb light bulb changer' as the fixture had to completely unscrewed by hand.  But never fear, my MacGyver's here.  Our entire marriage Steve has always been able to figure out a solution to problems that have me stumped.  This time was no exception. 

Steve secured a 2x4 to the top of the ladder with bungee cords.  I sat upstairs on the landing pushing the board with my feet until this huge ladder was at just the right position for Steve to change the light bulb. Precocious as this set up may seem, it got the job done.  That's my man.

Viva Las Vegas

Steve and I were able to go to Las Vegas last weekend for a Sibling Survivors Seminar hosted and sponsored by TAPS. The best part was that Luke, Mary and Anna were also able to miss work/school to be there with us. It was great to be together for the weekend. All made possible by Mom flying out to stay with the kiddos - THANK YOU!!!

With Dr. Darcie Sims, a phenomenal speaker and expert on grief and bereavement who literally changed my life in D.C. I can't get over how blessed we are to have support from TAPS - total strangers donate to make healing like this possible.

In front of the Bellagio.

I certainly have a love/hate relationship with the Las Vegas Strip. We were literally wading through pamphlets of porn - it's Satan at his finest. On the other hand, I could sit in front of Bellagio all night watching the water shows. Absolutely amazing. Along with the erupting volcano, the grandiose hotels, the Gardens at the Bellagio, the Eiffel Tower, etc, etc. It's just awesome.

P.S. If you are ever tempted to spend $15 on a huge Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity's because you've heard people rave about it for years (yes, including Oprah herself), just put a frozen fudgsicle in the blender, pour it in a glass and call it good. At least it's off my bucket list.

I love that TAPS focuses on celebrating the life lived, as all our loved ones are heros. They also talk a lot about living for the living- we lit these candles for our loved ones, not "in memory of" but "in gratitude for." John touched so many lives for the good - people felt inspired and uplifted just by being with him. We all jumped at the chance to be together as siblings for the weekend...it is time well spent - something none of us take for granted.