"Dear Heavenly Father,
Please bless Daddy to be safe at work.
Please bless Westley to go to school tomorrow.
Please bless Mommy to not be grumpy.
Please bless Eliza to stop smacking us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
Eliza was insistent that she dish up her food for herself, and this is what I came back to the table to see after getting up to grab something: all the rest of the corn on her plate!
On Wednesday, May 19th, the first graders at Westley's school put on a special program for grandparents. I first heard about it in March, so I quickly contacted both my parents and Corey's mom to see if there was any way they could take a trip up to Utah that week. My parents were able to work something out because it happened to between semesters at ASU and my mom was able to get a few days off because of that.
They drove up on Monday and Tuesday, spent Tuesday night with my mom's sister in North Salt Lake and then came over to our place on Wednesday. We went over to Westley's school and watched the program and then back to his classroom to look around and have refreshments.
Funny side story: Westley always talks about this boy named Dallin in his class at school and even went to his birthday party back in January. At this Grandparents Day, my parents happened to look up and see a woman they knew from South Jordan, Kathy, who was the young women's president when I was a senior in high school. At that moment, I made the connection that Dallin was Kathy's grandson. Small world.
Anyway, then they came back to our house and we had dinner and then went to Travis' T-ball game. They drove back to Arizona on Thursday.
It was a short trip for them, probably very much exhausting, considering the length of the drive, but Westley was thrilled to have his grandparents there!
I am slowly trying to catch up on this blog and recount the many things that we've been doing. But I honestly can't remember everything, so I will do my best based on the pictures I've taken. And then this summer I hope to be more diligent.
On Friday, June 4th, we went to the local rodeo. The last time I went to a rodeo was in Arizona. Corey and I went to that. That was his first rodeo. I had been to a few in high school, but only a few.
We were excited, though, and the boys were thrilled. Aunt Jamie came with us. The boys loved seeing the bronc busting and calf roping. By the end of the rodeo, when they do the bull riding, they were all a little tired and not as excited by it as they probably would have been had it not been so late and they'd been sitting so long. But we really had fun.
Before the actual rodeo started, they had a Kiddie Korral--where the kids could go and see some animals and do activities.
Caleb on the mechanical bull
Westley on the mechanical bull
Travis with the Chick-Fil-A cow. Travis LOVES Chick-Fil-A
Caleb learning how to rope
Westley learning how to rope
Eliza at the petting zoo--there were goats, Shetland ponies, and one horse
This rainbow appeared in the sky just as the soloist finished singing the National Anthem. It was really cool.This is the one and only photo I took of the actual rodeo. The kids sure loved watching all the "real cowboys".
On Monday, Memorial Day, we met up with my cousin Beth and her husband Mark and we all hiked to the G on the mountain. The kids were in nature heaven and the hike was good exercise for us old fogies.
Caleb on the rock pile at the base of the hike
Westley with Utah Lake in the background, at the base of the hike
Travis climbs on the rocks
Eliza in the rock pile at the base of the hike with Utah Lake in the background
Corey carried either Eliza or Travis a lot of the way
Corey with Eliza on his shoulders, Beth and Mark (with Spencer on his back)
The three boys--you can sort of see the G on the mountain behind the trees behind them
Eliza insisted on walking as much as possible--that girl has boundless energy
We made it to our destination!
Eliza at the G with the whole valley behind her
Westley and Caleb went to the top of the G with Mark--none of the rest of us were up to climbing up there
A family picture on the trail on the way down
I carried Eliza on my back on the way down while Corey carried Travis on his shoulders. Down was much harder than up and Westley took a pretty bad spill at one point and skinned his knee.
We hope to be able to go hiking again this summer. We just need to find some good spots that aren't too hard for a family of six with lots of young kids! The hike to the G was perfect for us--not so easy that it was boring, but not too hard to do with no real dangerous spots on the trail. We sure had a blast!
On Memorial Day, we decided to quit being hermits and go to a city event. We went to the city's Memorial Day breakfast. Even though it did cost us $20, it was still fun and the food was pretty good. I love these cities in Utah--they all have that small town feel when it comes to events like this.
The rest of the morning on Memorial Day, I went with Westley, Travis and Eliza to the playground while Corey took Caleb to see How to Train Your Dragon. I enjoyed having Corey home for an entire holiday--not something we usually get to have!
Eliza and Caleb
Westley
Travis and Mommy
Eliza climbing. She is a very good climber, although I always stand nervously by her when she attempts to climb something like this curved ladder.
Travis hanging. Doesn't his face just shout out with pure joy?
Westley riding his bike at the park. We rode our bikes to the park (Westley rode and I rode, pulling Eliza and Travis in the trailer).
Caleb on the mechanical bull
Westley on the mechanical bull
Travis with the Chick-Fil-A cow. Travis LOVES Chick-Fil-A
Caleb learning how to rope
Westley learning how to rope
Eliza at the petting zoo--there were goats, Shetland ponies, and one horse
This rainbow appeared in the sky just as the soloist finished singing the National Anthem. It was really cool.
This is the one and only photo I took of the actual rodeo. The kids sure loved watching all the "real cowboys".
Caleb on the rock pile at the base of the hike
Westley with Utah Lake in the background, at the base of the hike
Travis climbs on the rocks
Eliza in the rock pile at the base of the hike with Utah Lake in the background
Corey carried either Eliza or Travis a lot of the way
Corey with Eliza on his shoulders, Beth and Mark (with Spencer on his back)
The three boys--you can sort of see the G on the mountain behind the trees behind them
Eliza insisted on walking as much as possible--that girl has boundless energy
We made it to our destination!
Eliza at the G with the whole valley behind her
Westley and Caleb went to the top of the G with Mark--none of the rest of us were up to climbing up there
A family picture on the trail on the way down
I carried Eliza on my back on the way down while Corey carried Travis on his shoulders. Down was much harder than up and Westley took a pretty bad spill at one point and skinned his knee.
Eliza and Caleb
Westley
Travis and Mommy
Eliza climbing. She is a very good climber, although I always stand nervously by her when she attempts to climb something like this curved ladder.
Travis hanging. Doesn't his face just shout out with pure joy?
Westley riding his bike at the park. We rode our bikes to the park (Westley rode and I rode, pulling Eliza and Travis in the trailer).
