It has been a while since I have posted anything.  So to catch up on our doings this summer here are pictures.

On May 21st we took the kids for a walk and picnic by the Logan River. 

 For Les' birthday I made him a cake with inspiration from mint chocolate (one of his favorite ice creams).  There are mint chocolate chips in the cake and mint candy on top.

 My brother Daniel blessed his newest edition on June 5th.

On June 6th we went to Liberty park in Salt Lake.  The girls fed the birds . . .

 and played in the water.

 Sammi started throwing a tantrum when water playing was just beginning so she didn't get to participate.

 Here is Les in his new suit and when we went to see the very pink "Pink Heals" firetruck.

 We have done many things at home too!  Here we are playing with sidewalk chalk.

 We ride our bikes everyday!

 Here are the hats we got to decorate at Texas Roadhouse when Les took us there for my birthday!

 We also had swimming lessons from June 20th - 30th and July 5th - 15th (today).  Here is Khloe doing Alligator Crawls.

 This is Emma practicing her kicks.

Last of all Samantha jumping off the side of the pool (yes on purpose).

We went out to the Basin for the 4th of July but that weekend requires a post of its own.  So that is our update for the last little while.  Oh I should share a funny story.  Les had taken the girls to the store when they saw a big van full of kids.  Les said, "Look at all the kids in that van."  Emma replied with, "I bet they had to go to the hospital a whole bunches of times to get all those kids!"  Les told her that they could be babysitting some of them.  Emma said, "I don't know Daddy, some people have lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of kids!"  It made Les laugh so he called to tell me so then I laughed too!  I hope you enjoyed it.

August 2009

Continuation of catching up on blogging part 3. Again I will try my best to remember everyone and everything that happened in here.

Bryan came and stayed with us again to do a week of runs with the Ogden Paramedics. He cooked one night for us. He is a great cook! He will be back off and on until he gets 300 hours (I think) in on these runs. Most of them will be in Ogden but he will do at least one week here in Logan.

My grandmother has been hospitalized several times for a blockage in her bowels. At one point it was decided that the hospital wasn't making her better. She was just being maintained. So my uncle took her home with him. She can't live alone anymore due to her need to have someone watching over her at all times. She has been put on a liquid diet and has to have oxygen. From time to time she gets really confused. When they turn up her O2 she seems to get better. I can tell my mom is so worried about her. The week before school started Les had finished up work so we headed to Myton. I visited with her as much as I could. I took in framed pictures of our family. Les' mom had made a really cute vase from plastic canvas. We bought some flowers (fake so they would last) to put in it and took it too Grandma. Oh we also learned that she has the beginnings of CHF (congestive heart failure). Because of which she has been put on hospice. I cried when I found out. People are put on hospice when it is certain that they are going to die. It may not be soon but it will be sooner than we will be ready for. So we will try to use what time we do have to be as prepared as we can.

On to happier topics.

Ok so it may not be a "happier" topic but school started again. Les was already stressed out on the first day. Not a good sign.

We got a new church calling. We were put on the ward activities commitee. We helped out with the ward swim party. (It is October so I will add that we no longer have that calling and I will explain that in another post.)

July 2009

First of all Les and I lost my hard drive so for now there are no pics. Another consequence of that is not remembering everything that happened or the order that it happened in. So if I forget you or an event or when it happened I am truly sorry.
I do remember that for the Fourth of July we were in Wyoming. Our nephew, Carson, turned 8 last month and was baptized on July 4th. We had so much fun. We drove up the day of the baptism and was given a tour of the house (even though they have lived in this house for a few years this was the first time we had been there). I know, sad huh. The worst part is that it is like an 1 1/2 hour to 2 hour drive. Salt Lake is an 1 1/2 hour drive too but we go there way more often. Back to the baptism. It was a very spirit filled event. The talks were great and Carson glowed. I know that he made a great choice and I know that Carson knows it too. We had a dinner in Carolyn's (my sister) backyard. It was so good! Before everyone could leave we did a quick family photo. Most of us were staying to go to church the next day. That evening we set off fireworks in the road. A few blew over the house and we had to check on it to make sure no fires were started. Expecially the tents that were set up in the backyard (yes we camped out). All the kids seemed to have a fantastic time. The were all running around playing together. The next morning I woke up to a lightly sunburned face. No not mine. Sammi had been kept in the shade the entire time and had sunblock but still ended up with a sunburn. I felt terrible. Despite that she was the well behaved child. While we were at church Emma had a major breakdown. I spent most of Sacrament meeting at the opposite side of the church while she screamed and cried. At one point I thought she was too loud (still) so I took her outside. It was quite a trial. After church we ate and packed up our tent. Then we started the journey home.
We bought a little blow up pool and Emma spent many days playing with her bath toys in it. Occasionally Tyler and Kailey would come over and join her or she would go play with them in their pool at their house. They had a lot of fun. I tried to use our pool to draw out the kids on our street. I wanted Emma to get to know some kids her age. It didn't work. Either there were no kids on our street or they didn't want to come play. That is just the opposite over at Daniel's house. Kids are always riding bikes up and down the street. when they pull out the pool even more kids come by. A lot of them would come by see the pool and head home. The next time we would see them the would have their swimming suits on. None seemed daring enough to actually ask it they could get in. Most were too big to get in anyway.
We traveled a lot to Salt Lake and Myton. We bought a Yukon XL. We love it. I drove the kids to Myton to drop the Jeep off to Les' parents. They needed another car so Laurie could get to work and Les Sr. would be able to go to any job interviews. My brother Bryan was coming up that weekend to stay with us so he could go to Ogden for tests for the classes he was taking. The kids and I hitched a ride back home with him.
Les worked his so hard all summer. He had a summer internship. He worked all week and then on weekends he was expected to go on "fieldtrips." So a few times Les would pack us up and take us with him. Emma loved it when we went to the Golden Spike National Historic Site because she got to see trains. Oh and also seeing the birds at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Brigham City.
I can't remember what else we did so I will leave it there.

June 2009

So I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I have a lot on my plate. For that reason I haven't taken the time to update the blog. Les told me recently that I needed to get back into doing the blog because he feels that it is a stress reliever for me. I'm not sure about that but I am willing to try anyway. In the interest of time and for readers of this blog I will be breaking up the missed blogging time into chunks of time. This one will be of June with a little bit of May.

We had Sammi's blessing of course but we also had our family pictures done. We had a couple of BBQ's with my brother Daniel and his family. However, the big news of May comes from Sammi's 2 month doctor visit. That is when she was officially taken completely off the oxygen. We were so excited about that. Also exciting was finding out that Sammi weighed 11 lbs 1 oz and was 23 inches long. Good signs that she was well on her way to putting her hospital stay behind her.

From there we traveled to Myton. Mom and Dad needed help getting their kitchen and dining room ready for tile. It was going to be installed while they were on their cruise to Alaska. We finished tearing out the counters, texturing the ceiling in the dining room, and painting the finished ceiling and walls after they left for that cruise. Les had to head back to Logan to start his internship for the summer. The girls and I headed home 2 days later. I got home in time to spend part of our 3rd anniversary together. Les left work early to buy a few desserts and get some steaks on the grill. He spoiled me! He is such a wonderful husband.

The next weekend we headed back out to Myton to go to the Richens Family Reunion (that is how we celebrated my birthday). Usually the reunion isn't held until the end of July or beginning of August. We didn't know that it was going to be in June until we were in Myton working on Mom's kitchen/dining room. But it was a great excuse to see mom's new floor. It wasn't finished until after we left. Before we left we stopped into Alco to say good bye to Les' mom. While we were there I took pictures of Emma with one of the penguins of madegascar. She loved it! She followed him around the store and cried to go back when we left. On our way home that weekend we went through Orem to see my Grandma who was there at a hospital.

Two weeks later Les and Emma headed to Salt Lake for a baptism and a baby blessing. Sammi and I headed out to Myton once again to drop our Jeep off to Les' parents. They are using it for the summer. Sammi and I hitched a ride home with my brother Bryan. He was headed to our house in Logan so he could get to Ogden early the next morning for school.

Oh I almost forgot! We had our ward campout as well. Neither Les or I could remember the name of the campsite our ward was to be at. Luckily (kind of) we were called in to the bishop's office to get our new calling. We asked were the campsite was. We were told that it was 12 miles up Logan Canyon. So the day of the campout we went 12 miles up the canyon and couldn't find it. So we went a few more. Still nothing. At about mile 20 we turned around to head home. We found the campsite on the way back down. It was about 7 miles up the canyon. Oh well we still had fun. We ate and the girls and I watched Les play volleyball. He was in all his glory that night. We didn't stay the night but we got to know a few people in the ward.

And that folks is how the first part of our summer vacation was spent.

Make a Smilebox slideshow