24th of July

Pioneer Day

Day's of 47
Utah State Holiday to celebrate our pioneer heritage.

Well we actually spent it in Cokeville, Wyoming. But lucky for us they celebrate it there too!

Our first stop on the train of fun was the Buckaroo Rodeo. This year my nephew Jaxon expressed a desire to ride a sheep for those of you city slickers this is called 'mutton bustin'.
So Garrett was asked if he also wanted to try. He said he would do it too. Well as his mother and knowing him so well I was a little concerned that he's chicken out at the last moment. Jessica was also worried that Jaxon might do the same, I mean it's not like we're around a lot of sheep and the sheep are bigger than them, it could be a little intimidating.

Well here is what happened:

Brad could not be there for the rodeo because he was still working :( But luckily I have two brothers who were totally willing to help. Awh! look at those two handsome, strapping young men! As veteran mutton busters themselves they were able to help the boys get into the shoot. Actually Jared (in the green) I think rode a calf in a rodeo once.

The boys look down on their fate. Will they go through with it?

Jaxon is up first and he does it! Way to go Jax! I just got one shot of him taking his fall. Good job buddy!

And so Garrett can't back out now right? Kalvin lifts him into the shoot. Do you think he is nervous? I can only imagine since I wasn't right there.

and he is off! - or should I say on.

And he gets back up after the fall! Yay! good job Garrett! Nice ride!

I may get some more pictures of their ride I'll have to post later.

My step-dad now owns a 1930 Model A car that used to belong to his father. It is a very special car that my grandpa put a lot of work into during his lifetime and so it means a lot to my step dad and to us. It was decided that it could be driven in the Cokeville parade. Unfortunately, it should have been my step-dad driving it, but sadly he was at work that day (in China might I mention) or he would've been there. We missed him.

This was my kid's first time being IN a parade. They were sooo excited all week!

The little girls, Embrie and Jerzee dressed as "flappers" from the 20's/30's along with Grandma Sheri. They rode in the model A which was driven by uncle Kalvin, and threw candy and toys to the kids.

Embrie, despite not being able to talk about anything else the whole week before decided to be a little grumpy during the parade. She sat with Kalvin's friend Jessica and after she got her "blanky" thrown to her in the middle of the parade finally decided to cheer up and throw some candy for the 2nd half.


My Uncle Bret brought his Rhino up and the boys, Garrett and Jaxon, dressed as cowboys and threw candy from the Rhino.

Throwing candy is just as good as catching it! They LOVE that Rhino they spent the rest of the weekend pretending they were driving it.

Elder L.Tom Perry from the quorum of the 12 is a special visitor that come to the tiny town of Cokeville for each 24th celebration. (His wife is from here.) He rides in the parade and throws candy too! and then gives a devotional at the church afterward.

On our final night in town the kids watched the main Rodeo. I love this picture of Garrett and Jaxon on the arena fence. They are the cutest little cowboys ever! Garrett is even chewing on a piece of grass.

they decided to join the "chicken chase" for all 10 and unders. I don't think Garrett was really interested in catching one, but it's fun to try right?




Garrett

Jaxon

Jerzee and Embrie did a little cowgirl fence climbing of their own, but they weren't in the mood to keep their hats on.

Fun times!

Itallends

Well the Harry Potter movies have come to an end. I actually talked Brad into going to the midnight showing on release day (he has not been willing in the past). We have a group of friends who were going and an awesome friend and neighbor who got us all reserved seating tickets together.

Lots of fun! We're aloud to stay up late now and then even if we're getting old right?

Whistle While You Work

As previously mentioned, I had a 'week of projects' or so I called it. My mom was here and helped me get a few things done.

#1 The first thing on the list was to repaint the kid's bedrooms, well since the paint store was out of the paint I needed (because we were just repainting with the original color) that did not happen. In fact, it still hasn't happened BUT I did pick up the paint a couple days ago and that is still on the list of things to do, shouldn't be too hard to accomplish I hope.

So we moved to the next things in line.

#2 Finish the garden while we have the use of a truck (my mom's). We've been digging our overabundance of clay out of our garden and getting ready to replace it with a normal amount of good dirt. The side garden had already been dug out, and Brad built a brick wall on the edge of the garden and also moved all the sprinklers to the edge of the grass instead of being up against the house. So we needed to fill it with good dirt and plant our plants and work on the front garden. Here is my grandpa and Garrett digging out the front yard a little bit when he was here to see Garrett play t-ball.

and here I am in all my pregnant glory digging more out (there was a lot of clay in that dang garden!)

Now we weren't able to finish this whole project because of time, but we got the side garden finished and the front garden is almost done. Here is what the side garden looks like now!

I think Brad did a great job with the sprinklers and the wall! The front will look like this too it is just a little bit wider.

#3 refinish an old dresser that I got from a friend. There are actually two dressers. There was one in particular that is going in the baby's room. And since girls have more clothes I was hoping Embrie and the baby could share this one.

I always forget to take before pictures. But you can kind of get the idea. (Don't mind the messy garage you see in the background. Some of that is cleaned up now, but there have been a lot of tools and storage stuff in there since the basement project began, now we are starting to move things back around.)

this is the 2nd dresser

Here is the finished dresser today. Glad it turned out and glad that we didn't have to buy a new one. Now if I can get the rest of the baby's room ready before the baby is delivered we'll be set. Wish me luck!

Man we've been busy with projects this year!
Thanks mom and everyone who helped us out!

T-Ball Is Over

Garrett really enjoyed T-Ball - I think. Like a lot of boys his age he spent a lot of time looking around at everyone else and not as much at the ball, putting his mitt over his face or standing in the batter's box trying to put his hat on other boys along with them doing the same to him, or talking to the kids on the other team while they were on base or vise-versa. He was very excited when he got to play 1st base because that means you get the ball a lot. And he liked batting although he was a little more timid at the games than he is at home, but that takes practice. He has a good throw! And I am glad he enjoyed it.

The last week of T-ball Grandma Sheri was staying with us and got to see his last two games. One of those days Papa and G.G. were also there. Garrett was really excited to have someone else there to watch him play.

Garrett with his trophy and certificate.

Here is a little team shot we took (minus a couple players). Garrett was sick and missed the game day when they had 'official photos' taken.

And they saved the best treat for the last game! Ice cream sandwiches that Garrett really enjoyed as you can tell by this photo. Granted, it was a very hot day.

We even captured a video of him hitting a pitch!

All work and no play ? Nah!

So recently my mom came down to stay with us for a few days. She helped me some projects that I have needed to get done. I will talk about these projects later, but of course you need to throw a little fun into the midst right?

The first day they requested that Grandma play with play dough of all things.

All summer we've heard the ice cream trucks roaming around and all summer I tell the kids I have no cash (which is true) when they come by. But this particular day we heard it coming and we'd all been outside all day -adults working-kids playing- so I scraped up enough cash around because lets face it, its time to let them buy an ice cream.

This was Embrie's first ice cream truck experience and Garrett's 2nd or 3rd so obviously we don't keep these guys in business or anything, but I remember how excited I would get when I got to buy something from the ice cream truck. (Granted, back then ice cream was a lot cheaper, I mean that is the main reason we don't buy it very often because prices have really gone up! but this one was actually really well priced so I was happy!)

Then we took Embrie to her first theater movie. Cars 2. She was very excited. Of course it had been a long day and she was really tired but she didn't fall asleep and she liked the movie and was very good. Of course since Grandma was there the kids got their own treats and everything! Can you say spoiled? :)

Garrett really got into this movie! Of course we know how he feels about Lightening McQueen and Mater so what's not to love?

I still have a lot to learn

I can no longer out-run my 5 year old. (This is a dangerous thing. Please don't tell the 5 year old!)
Can you see your toes?

So . . . the last time I posted about my pregnancy I was sort of feeling sorry for myself. I don't think it was a total negative post but I know that I did a fair share of complaining. It was 2 days later that I found out that one of my best friends lost her baby at 15 weeks. This was her 2nd pregnancy loss in a row at about this far along. My heart broke for her. She is not the first friend of mine to loose a baby or struggle with being able to get pregnant. I have other good friends who have had similar hear ache.

I knew when I had written my 'complaints' that there were people who would think that I was very ungrateful. So many people struggle with infertility or pregnancy loss. I wrote them out anyway because I know that I am also entitled to my own feelings about my own body and situation. However, one of my first thoughts when she told me was "She deserves to be pregnant more than I do." Obviously I wouldn't give up my unborn baby for anything, but I felt very guilty. I still do for some reason. Wondering why this happens to some and not to others. There is no right or wrong answer or anyone to blame.

Since then this topic of pregnancy loss has come up a lot among our friends and family members and I have heard more stories of loss like this. I know that this thing has not happened to my dear friends in order to teach me a lesson, but it has taught me. I hope I am learning to be a more understanding and sensitive friend. I hope I am learning to be grateful for a healthy baby and a little less selfish. I am grateful each time I can hear my baby's heartbeat. I want my friends and loved ones to know how wonderful they are. These trials they've gone through are so difficult. I commend them for their strength and I know they have many blessings in store.

So here I am now with 4 weeks left. I am not entirely prepared here at the house, but working on it. We still can't think of a name that we agree on. I had a doctors appt. at 35 weeks. I am dilated to a 1. In my mind I believe that this baby will come around the same time Embrie did at about 38 weeks. I could be wrong. I am scheduled for an induction on the 8th of August. My actual due date is the 15th.

Brad and I have made some predictions (this is a tradition) because you have to turn it into a competition right?

Guesses:

Randi
Date: Aug 5th
Weight: 7 lbs 11 oz
Height: 19 in.
Hair: light brown
Eyes: blue

Brad
Date: Aug 8th
Weight: 7 lbs 2oz
Height: 19 in.
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Hazel

Anyone else have a guess? Does anyone have name suggestions?

Think we need to chat . . .

So these two pictures are of the walls in my son's room. The purple is spackling that I have put on to patch all the 'dings'. I am doing this because we are trading rooms for the kids and getting a baby room ready. Well . . . needless to say Garrett is a little bit destructive? ? I mean I figure it's just a boy thing or whatever. . . but really? These are pretty bad. Last month we had a whole month of FHE's on being kind to others and getting along, kind of going with a theme there. I think this month we might try doing a theme of -treating our property respectfully- ? ha ha! so any ideas there? Of course he is much more important that 'things' but still, we need to work on this. I don't think he sits there with a hammer to the walls but he plays rough with his toys and sends his cars flying through the air in crashes on a daily basis. Is this just a boys will be boys moment? Or do you think we need to lay down the law? I feel like a pretty strict mom as it is.

this is just crazy!