This is my brother-in-law, Matt. I just wanted to congratulate him on finishing Chemo today. I know it's been a hard year. We're so thankful that you all moved closer to us. We can't wait to see you in a couple weeks! I asked Leah if I could send you something as a congratulations gift and she suggested a baseball cap with a fake ponytail sewed on the back. How do you put up with that Matt? We'll have to take you and Leah out to dinner or Fax will take you golfing sometime, because I'm having a really hard time finding that baseball cap. We love you Matt!!
Jake and Summer with the first snowman of the season.
P.S. If anyone is interested I also updated my playlist with a selection of seasonal favorites. If you have any requests of songs to add, just let me know and I'll see what I can do!
Blackberries before and after. (Thank you huge bumblebees!!)
So, one of my favorite parts of spring is getting my smallish garden ready to be planted. Then planting, and slowly-but-surely seeing all our little plants get bigger. And, of course, harvesting. (I'm not sure there is anything as tasty as corn picked from your own garden. Maybe blackberries picked from your garden.) What is my least favorite part? No, not pulling weeds. No, not dealing with various insects. My least favorite part is the first frost that comes and kills all my hard work. Last year I was picking tomatoes in November. This year I have not been so lucky. It snowed Sunday morning and we had hard frosts the last two nights. I have one tomato plant that is pretty sheltered and some of it survived, but everything else is dead. (At least we have grocery stores, right?) That's how it goes when you live somewhere with seasons. Anyway, that's enough lamenting for one post. Here are some pictures that I took this year of my garden. It's only October and I already miss summertime.
5 June, 2008
20 June, 2008
7 July, 2008
1 August, 2008
Today I went on a fabulous field trip to Aspen Grove with Jake and the other first graders. If I had remembered my camera I would post some pictures. Anyway, I couldn't take Summer so I arranged for her to hang out with her Aunt GG (Gretchen). No big deal, right? She loves Gretchen. She asks me on a daily basis if she can go to her house while I go shopping or something. But this morning she was not feeling it. She screamed and cried that she didn't want to go and that I was being mean. We talked it over for a good 5-10 minutes and she clearly understood, but at the same time did not care. When she started screaming at me I escorted her to her bed and then went out and shut the door so that I wouldn't have to listen to it. She, of course, continued to scream, "I'M NOT GOING!! I'M NOT GOING!!" Now, I had a lot to do this morning. Four lunches to make, four people to get ready, pick up for carpool, and make it to school on time. Every mom knows what I'm talking about. So then Summer got a job. Because at our house if you make more work for Mom (who already has enough of her own) then you get to help with some of it. That's when the anger hit the fan and Summer screamed at me, "YOU ARE NOT MY FAVORITE MOMMY ANYMORE!!!" I was laughing so hard I couldn't do anything. I had clear recollections of Kaleb at a similar age screaming at Gretchen, "I'M NOT GONNA BE YOUR MOMMY ANYMORE!!!" Anyway, eventually she pulled it together. Fax was nice enough to take her to Gretchen's house so I didn't have to repeat all of that at her house, and Jake and I were off on the field trip. Plus, Kaleb is now a fabulous 15 year old, so I'm not too worried about Summer. I just hope I can hold it together that long.
Jake, June 2003.
Kessa and Brook at their ballet recital. May 2003
Brook and Jake enjoying the first snow of the season.
Summer, October 2004.
Your birthday is easy to remember because you were born on our 10th anniversary. We love you! (Look at those beautiful blue eyes!!!!)
Fax and I went to Cafe Rio in Draper on Saturday night. (We were on our way home from a wedding reception.) Anyway, as we were waiting in line Fax says, "Look at that guy in line behind us, he is totally Andy Bizarro." Sure enough it was. Anyway, he ended up sitting at the table next to us so Fax held is camera phone up to his ear like he was talking to someone and I looked at the screen until Andy Bizarro was in view. Then Fax took his picture. I know it's lopsided, but if you tip your head to the left you will see just how much they look alike. Love you Andy!! We would have rather had you and Christy at dinner with us than your bizarre look-alike. (Click on the picture to get an up-close look.)
I hope everyone had a great Father's Day. We did. This is a picture of Fax and Summer asleep on the couch Saturday afternoon. Fax had just gotten back from work, and we had just gotten home from the pool. They look pretty comfy, huh?
Tomorrow we're going to the Lehi pool. Kessa is even coming with us and the kids are very excited. Anyway, Mom wouldn't go because she said she doesn't want to get into her swimsuit. She also said that I would probably take a picture of her in her swimsuit at the pool and put it on my blog. Now I ask you.....does she have anything to be self conscious about? I think she looks fabulous. We'll miss you at the pool Mom!!! LOVE YOU!! (I hope you'll still speak to me after posting this! Pretty funny though, huh?)
Jake, asleep in my bed. Why do kids always sleep better in Mom and Dad's bed?
Summer always falls asleep on the couch when she's sick.
I had a better vantage point to take pictures of Jake. He was right in the front. (And he really got into it.) I don't have as many good pictures of Brook because she was behind other kids.
Brook and her friend, Emily.
It seems like winter lasted way too long this year. As a mom I follow the rule that I grew up with: It has to be at least in the 70s to wear shorts, and at least in the 80s to play outside in the water. On May 17th it finally got into the 80s. We don't have a pool yet this year, so I turned on a very old sprinkler and the kids seemed to have a great time. Here are some pics:
