Pioneer Day in Provo

This year for Pioneer Day we were in Provo and Danielle and I were flying solo with 5 kids so we were trying really hard to keep them busy and entertained.  We found out about a little festival in the park with all kinds of fun things for the kids to do in celebration of pioneer day and the best part was it was all free!

The girls and Skyler got their faces painted.  It was really cute because all the booths were run by volunteers from BYU and by missionaries.  Everyone was so nice.  Gotta love Provo!

They had a pretty cool collection of old cars and this one was an old firetruck.  The kids loved sitting in the seat and Skyler kept winding the siren.  Carter was in heaven with all the cars.

They even got free firemen hats!

There were also some booths for the farmer's market and this one was for a race for the cure campaign.  Thais decorated this bag for two of her family members who are battling cancer right now.  Then they were going to put candles in the bags and line the track with them the evening of the race.

This cracks me up!  There was a booth where you could make bonnets and mustaches.  Of course the girls got to work on their bonnets right away and Skyler ran for the mustache station so what does my son do?  Exactly what his big sister does of course and decorated a blue bonnet!  He was very proud of his work and he is displaying it for the camera to see.

They also had a petting zoo that Beckett and Skyler loved.  Then they had pony rides too.  Beckett was so excited to ride the pony!  He kept saying "neigh, more neighs!" So I put him on the pony and he walked about two steps and then started bawling and wanted to get off.  Oh well, maybe next year.

The big kids however, loved every second of it!

Skylee wasn't scared for a second either.  He's proudly displaying the indian war paint.

Next was the tomahawk throw!  I have to admit our kids almost took out the poor volunteers running this booth but they all got to give it a go minus Beckett who had no interest in the activity.

They loved the wax candle making station where they got to roll beeswax around a candle and then put glitter on it and make a little stand for it.

They worked so hard on them as Danielle and I tried to distract Skyler from the root beer chugging booth:)

Thais was very thorough on her candle.  Beckett was leaning out to remind me that he was tired and ready to go at that point:)

But of course we couldn't leave before we got some duck hunting and sling shot action in first!  Those were some of Carter's favorite spots of the day.  It was so much fun and it wore the kids out.  We all went home and crashed.

While we were in Provo Abby found a sitter for our kids and we all got to go out for a girl's night on the town!  It was so much fun.  We got mocktails and went to Harry Potter 3D.  

While we were in Provo Rylynn lost her 2nd front tooth and became "toothless" as she called herself.  She was excited that the tooth fairy travelled all the way to UT just for her!  We had such a great trip with cousins and were so sad to leave.  Especially since Danielle's new baby Gracie came along only a few days after we left!  While we were there I also got a call from Garrett saying he had just applied for a job posting for an in house counsel position that sounded amazing.  After the trial he had been feeling a little burned out with the firm and entertaining the possibility of going a different direction in his career.  The jury trial was such an amazing experience for him and really began to open doors for him.  I was so thankful for that news because we still didn't have any good options for housing and I was really starting to get discouraged.  The Lord never abandoned us during this stressful, crazy time in our lives.  The hope of a new start was all I needed to keep going.

Cabin/Provo July part 2

We Love the CABIN!!  All year long the kids ask when we get to go to the cabin so every summer it is pretty much the highlight!  Rylynn was so excited to take this picture under the cabin of her tiny handprints from when she first came to the cabin as a 4 month old.  

A couple of summers ago my parents and their friends built a shed in the front yard and of course my Mom being the best Nana ever made them build a second story so the kids could have a play house.  The kids could not get enough of it this year.  They had picnics up there and colored and played house for hours on end.

Hours were spent in the front stream.  The water was really high this year so we were a little worried about the kids, but luckily it dropped a bit right before we came.  Still this is pretty crazy high for mid-july.

Carter loves running around wild at the cabin without a care in the world!  I swear, I shouldn't say this out loud, but I do not know how he of all of our kids has managed to avoid the ER.  He is such a daredevil and has no fear of climbing or heights.

The new swings were a huge hit too!  Unfortunately there are only two and I have three kids so of course there were plenty of fights about swings.  Beckett wanted to swing from the minute he woke up till the minute he had to go to bed.

Again our little daredevil liked it best when Papa pushed him so he flew up into the tree branches.

Beckett loves his Papa so much so we were so happy we got to spend a week with him this summer!

We love that we always get to see my Grandma Allred up at the cabin too.  She and my Grandpa built it when my Mom was 12.  She is always very sweet and patient when the great grandkids come and tear it apart:)

I can't believe this girl is going to first grad in a few weeks!  Rylynn was such a good helper to me while Garrett was gone.  I couldn't have done it without her.

Nana and Papa also invested in a turtle sandbox for the cabin this year.  It was a huge hit and the kids played in it for days.  Luckily at the cabin no one cares if you get dirty!

Beckett boy charmed his Nana and Papa with that irresistible smile.  They were pretty much in love after a couple days.

One of the days at the cabin we drove down and met up with Abby to go to dinner and The Cheesecake Factory!  Love that place!  Beckett was having some aunt Abby lovey time.  This is also the day we handed our little dog Ollie over to Abby's safe keeping till we can figure out what the heck we are doing with our lives.  I will never forget waiting in the parking lot at Cheesecake Factory talking to Garrett on the phone.  He had just finished his jury trial and he was telling me all about the cross examination and his closing remarks.  They both went unbelievably well and we were all so excited to hear the news.  We could hardly stand it the next day waiting to hear the verdict.  He was victorious and it was a miracle!!  He definitely had divine guidance all along the way.  This win has opened so many doors for us and made a huge impact on Garrett's career.

After the win Garrett jumped in the car and drove up to the cabin to see us for a week.  We had so much fun being together after being apart for 17 days.  One of Garrett's first projects was making a bow and arrows for Carter.  He was so thrilled to be just like Robin Hood:)

Garrett even gave him his camel back to hold his arrows.  I love this picture.  What a darling boy!

After Papa left, Aunt Danielle got home and was sick and 9 months pregnant so my mom and I offered to take her kids for a couple days so she could recover.  This picture pretty much sums up the sanity level in the cabin from that point on.  5 kids 6 and under!!!!

We tried to stay outside most of the time to keep the damage to a minimum inside.  We did a lot of rock throwing, and walking, and playing in the sandbox and on the swings.

Seriously how cute is this boy!  He pretty much had to be right by Nana all the time.

Rylynn and Thais had a blast.  They played in the shed a lot too.  

Notice the color of the bath water:)  That's what a day at the cabin with five children will get you.  These kids had so much fun together.

After a couple of days we decided it would be best to head down to Provo to be with Danielle.  We took the kids to splash parks and an awesome aquatic center in Provo.  One of the highlights for the kids was popsicle time every night after dinner.  

We also had an ice cream night at river woods after some dancing and playing in the fountains.  There just happened to be a concert going on while we were there so the kids were loving the music.  Beckett was busting some serious moves.  The theme song for the Provo trip was Justin Beiber "Baby".  Everytime it came on there was an instant dance party!

July part 1

The kids enjoyed the last couple weeks in our awesome neighborhood outside with all of their friends.  We were so sad to have to leave.

After packing up everything we owned into our storage unit we hit the road for a month long trip with family and friends in UT/OR while Garrett worked furiously on his first jury trial.  The kids were amazing for the road trip and I was amazed that we made it all the way to SLC the first night.  I am not typically the driver on road trips so I was really worried about falling asleep and being able to keep the kids happy and drive but it all worked out and we were able to meet up with my Mom and Marianne and Aria at their hotel in SLC which was perfect!

The next day we got to play at 7 peaks with Marianne and Aria and Nana.  It was a really hot day and the kids had a blast in the water.  After a long, hot day they were worn out and I decided to just do the rest of the drive to St George while they slept.  They woke up just before we pulled into town.

The next day was the 3rd so we just played around Nana's house and celebrated not being in a car for the day.  On the 4th we had a really low key day and the kids enjoyed popsicles out by Nana and Papa's pool.  It was a little depressing to be honest since Garrett and I love celebrating the 4th and we were apart and the kids and I were all alone but the kids didn't complain.  That night my Mom's best friend from Naperville  offered to come with me to take my kids to see the fireworks.  It was so nice of her so we headed to the park only to realize that the firework display was being put on by some random guys in the neighborhood.  At first we kept thinking the real ones were going to begin soon and the family ones would end.  But then they started firing off really big ones and we were really close so we moved back since the kids were freaking out.  Well in the process of relocating Rylynn got freaked out and ran away.  We were at a big park and it was dark at this point so when I realized she was gone I was pretty panicked.  We looked around for awhile and then some nice people offered to help look for her.  They found her in the bathroom hiding because she got so scared that the fireworks were going to burn her.  So after that heart attack I just took the kids home and thanked Connie for being so sweet and apologized for ruining her fireworks!  She didn't mind.  So hopefully next year will be more fun:)

Ollie was terrified of the fireworks and hid in my suitcase with the lid closed for about 5 hours.

After the 4th my parents got back into town and then we headed up to the cabin to celebrate my Dad's birthday and to get out of the St George heat.  One of the first days we had to go down to Park City to get some things so we decided to take the kids to the Alpine Slides.  They had a blast!

Poor Carter got bitten by a spider the first night at the cabin so his eye was all swollen and puffy for a few days after.  It didn't seem to bother him too badly though especially when he was flying down the mountain with Nana!

Beckett is such a Papa's boy and he had such a blast hanging out with him for a few days at the cabin.

Munch was stuck with boring old Mom but we had fun:)

The boys were pretty dang excited about flying the airplanes too!  Beckett had a blast flying with his big brother.

Rylynn was quite the little pilot herself.  Beckett's favorite ride was the carousel.  He wanted to ride it over and over again.