Summers Family St. George Getaway 2015

What an incredibly fun weekend getaway we had!  We met up with the Summers cousins and just girls for the weekend at St. George!  The kids were so excited to see Grandma's new house and to check out Southern Utah.  To start off we headed to the Mountain Meadows Massacre site - which kind of confused the kids as we tried to explain the events that occurred there.  But I feel that those things are important to discuss openly and honestly with them as they grow up so its not a huge surprise later.  Waffle Love was the next stop….and oh my!! They don't call it love for nothing - they were to die for!  I ate every last bite:) We then hit the local swimming pool - that is actually enclosed because it is so blasted hot in St. George.  The kids all loved it - complete with slide and diving board, we had a lot of little fishes out there.  We went to the showing of Beauty and the Beast at the Tuhacan Theater in the red mountains.  It was so awesome - the effects, the singing, the open air theater - and ending with fireworks made it a great night! 

After being completely exhausted we decided what better way to relax than to go off to Vegas baby!  Hah!  The older girls really wanted to see the strip and hit up the M&M store so we decided to make a day out of it.  Sam, was not impressed.  He was really quite disturbed by what he saw there and how it made him feel.  Again, another one of those moments when I am glad he recognized the difference in how he feels at our home vs. places like that.  So after talking it over with him and trying to make it up to him with M&M's and Nike socks…it turned out to be a fun, but exhausting day.

Our final day took us to a much more sacred spot - the St. George Temple!  Beautiful!  We also visited Brigham Young's winter house and I was impressed again at what a strong man Brigham Young was.  We ended the day with a little Fiesta Fun and then with some tired, hot kids we boarded the airplane back to Yakima!  It was such a fun filled three days and we look forward to more of these fun weekends in the future!  

BRIGHAM YOUNG'S HOUSE:

VEGAS:

TUAHACAN

SWIMMING/WAFFLE LOVE

MOUNTAIN MEADOWS:

June's off to a banging start!

June brought a lot of excitement and visitors our way!  We were so so excited to have the Blakes come and stay on their way to a soccer tournament in Snohomish.  What a fun treat for me to have my nieces and nephews in my house, and I want them all to come back soon.  We toured around Yakima and hit up our favorite places to eat and get treats, caught a movie and even got the girls a manicure!  It was a super great few days, and ended with a chance to watch Brittney play soccer.  Because of the horrible Seattle traffic we only made it to the tail end, but it having a chance to spend a little more time with family was worth it.  Our doors are open to any visitors who want a place to rest, eat, and get a little dirty!

To say that Lyvie was in heaven is a total understatement!  She loves Leah and these two love to be twins as much as possible - matching hair, bracelets, clothes when possible.  It was so fun to have some girl power time!

Not to be forgotten were some other events of note this month:

#1) Max's continued obsession with baseball - and now for catching!  He literally begged to put on all the catcher's gear, and it was super hot that night and waddled around, barely able to walk in the leg protectors.  It was hilarious!

#2) National Donut Day - a very important holiday at our home was observed with utmost respect:)

#3) This a typical scene at our house at night - baseball continues to rule the day and the night!
#4) This sweet little guy is not so little anymore and I find him to be completely adorable and endearing.  He says things like "De-wishous" for food that is especially tasty; and "you betcha" when he affirms that he gets to do something; and my favorite "Yay!" when I tell him he can have chocolate milk, play baseball or have more cocoa puffs!

#5) Lyv is a dream come true most days - and I'm so grateful to see a creative, organized player how finds so much happiness in collecting random things, putting them in corresponding groups and then turning them into some sort of art.  She is so fun at this age, and always says, "Mom, I sure did a lot of work today!" A busy little bee already!

#6) Lyv's latest "favorite" outfit - I will have to bribe her to wear other clothes until this one gets a hole or a stain!

Mozart! - almost Sam finished his second year of piano (2 more to go) and he wasn't able to attend his recital so I got a private concert.  As he tried to get out of more lessons, I heard myself giving him the same lecture my mother gave me at his age, when I wanted to be done with lessons….just until your 12….I just want you to know how to read music….it will be such a blessing later in life….you will wish you had stuck with it…. (and I do!)

Jack's Kindergarten Graduation

Jack's end of year celebration was a great day for the family.  He shined during the introductory reading - using extra big words that showed off his reading ability and always makes me giggle a little to hear his cute little voice saying such educated sounding vocabulary.  He made great friends in class this year and will be sad to be transferring to Cottonwood next year without them, but is looking forward to the challenges 1st grade will bring.  His teacher, Mrs. McGuire was a fantastic teacher - very patient, but firm and a great way for Jack to start out his school career!

Jack with his classmates. Amiah went with him for his walk to read sessions in the 1st grade classroom so they became really good friends, and she mothered him when he got a little off track at times.

Boys of Summer

Baseball season has officially come to a close.  What a crazy season it was.  Between trying to catch both Sam's and Jack's games and practices we were crazy to say the least.  But for as many games as I attend, and as many practices we drive them to, I would keep doing it and doing it.  Watching my kids participate in anything is one of the greatest part of being a parent.  It takes real courage for them to go out there and try their best, knowing that the results might not be in their favor.  

Sam especially had a trying year.  His team only won one game this year!  He took the end of season hard, but I had to remind him how well HE had done.  He played nearly every inning, at third base.  He hit nearly every time at bat - and in the last game hit an awesome double that scored two much needed runs.  He even got to try his hand at pitching, and he pitched an amazing inning striking three batters out to close the game.  It is hard to be happy with losing (I am one of the worst losers in the history of losing) but seeing the positives amidst all of the loss is what builds character.  I am so proud of both of my boys, and am I look forward to watching them participate in the years to come.

Jack had a great time with Shawn as coach.  I was grateful that these two had a chance to be with just each other - a rare event around our house.  Jack improved with each game, and learned that catching is his favorite position.  He also had the constant encouragement and support of his dad - that in and of itself made the season a success.