July - summer finally came!!

Wow! July! We had a busy month. Tyler worked like crazy and we tried to keep busy. We had lots of fun and summer in Oregon finally hit. It warmed up (though it wasn't warm on the 4th) and there were lots of things to do outside sans the rain. :) We had a blast

4th of July...

Our ward does an annual 4th of July breakfast. We had breakfast casserole, muffins and fruit for breakfast and enjoyed a parade put on by the primary kiddos. They dressed up to represent different states.

 Jessica and Brooklyn at the ward 4th of July breakfast. Brookie's pretty attached to her Flynn Rider doll.  He's been everywhere with us. :)

 Amber and Coleman at the 4th of July breakfast. We're lucky to have such sweet friends. It was fun to be with ward friends, especially since Tyler was at work all day.

 Cole getting ready for the parade. He's dressed as a rock climber to represent Nevada. :)

 Brookie brought her guitar and is wearing "make-up" to represent Mississippi - she's supposed to be a country singer. :)

 After the parade, we headed over to the park to watch part of the ward baseball game. The kids mostly played on the playground. I agree with them - playing baseball is way more interesting than watching baseball. After awhile I promised them we could play in the water, so, even though it was chilly, we headed up to the water feature. They had  a blast!!

 That evening (I wish I had pictures) Tyler came home and we headed over to our friends, the Coombs', for a BBQ. It was a great evening with good friends and good food. :) We stayed for a few fireworks, then headed home for an early bedtime. Too bad we were too tired to stay up. Maybe we're getting old... :)

Tyler participated in the Bend Oyster race this month too - once again, no pictures sadly. He camped down there with Peter and some of his family. It was a crazy weekend, then right back to work, but I think it was worth it. I'm glad they survived. Peter had a less than 1 week old baby and Tyler was going on about 4 hours of sleep every night that week. :) What tough guys! The kids really enjoyed the cowbell Dad brought home and the tent that he set up in the yard afterwards.... a few tent pictures. :)

Most of this month we've spent trying to get back into the swing of things. When we leave for a long time, it's tough sometimes to get back into the groove. The new work schedule has been interesting too and people are in and out of town. We spent time almost every day riding bikes. :) The kids are getting really good! They like to play a game with me where they go so fast I can't catch them on camera. They laugh and giggle until I think they're going to fall off. They are pretty quick - and getting quicker every time!! Way to go guys! (Just as a side note, we went on a little outing last week to Minto Brown park and the kids rode about 4 miles without thinking twice - even in this heat!!!) Way to go bikers!!

 Look at this girl balance!!

 This is our cautious child. He's so careful and has been a little afraid of hills until recently. The other day when we went to Minto Brown Park, however, he rolled down even the steep ones at mach speed! Way to go pal! We hope this fearlessness transfers to the hills around our house. :)

We've needed to do some cleaning around here. We did clean out a bunch when we unpacked from our Utah/California trip. We even had a garage sale with our friends the Harris's and the Mizes. Unfortunately, I haven't been super up to par with the other cleaning situations. It only takes a few days for our potties to get really gross, but now that I have a new helper, I don't forsee this being a problem ever again. She's great!

More fun at another splash park downtown. :) This was a ward park day. We've loved going to a different park every week with our ward friends. We've discovered a ton of new fun things - our most favorite being Woodmansee Park, about a mile from our house. It has a creek we love to play in, a playground and all sorts of trails to explore. Fun, fun fun! This day was at Riverfront Park. We already knew we love it there!

 Washing the car with Daddy. EVERYONE got clean :)!!

 Berries and waffles - who could ask for anything more?

 Yup! I like em too!

 Brookie had a blast helping me make jam. :)

We've been picking a ton of berries this season. They're absolutely delicious and if you pick your own, they're only about a dollar a pound. One week we went 3 or 4 times. It was fabulous. The kids run and play on the farm and pick berries to eat (or they "pick" them out of my bowls) and the moms pick. We loved the time we spent at the farms this season - we went to Fordyce and Greens Bridges. I think my new favorite is Greens Bridges. So fun! We mostly ate berries, froze them in bags and made freezer jam. It's too hot to cook anything right now.

 Coleman opted not to make jam, but to work on his cool Zoob belt. He's quite the little inventor. He's loving building with Zoobs right now. I think we've done that every day too.

A popsicle picnic in our garage. :)

24th of July...

Of course nobody here celebrates the entrance of the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley, but we had a little party just for us. Nothing fancy, just more sparklers. It's so fun that these kiddos are so easy to please. They thought it was great!!

To do it or not to do it??  Our stake did a triathlon sponsored by the Relief Society. I had been looking forward to doing it for a long time, decided not to do it because I am pregnant, then at the last minute decided I needed to do it. I showed up at the information meeting the night before just to see what I was really going to do or to tell them I wasn't going to show up, but after seeing the amazing turnout of women I knew I had to participate. I  am slow and fat and out of shape. The heat has killed my exercising routine. But it was a wonderful and inspiring experience!!

 These guys showed up and walked with me when I was ready to quit because it was so hot.  They were so amazing! Thank you dear family for being there! You are my heroes!! I love you with all my heart!!

 Good friends Melanie and Taylor after the race.  Melanie says her outfits kept her going. I think they pushed other people along too. I wasn't that brave, but it was fun to see her creativity.

 Kiersten, Melanie and me. These ladies kept me going during the biking part - they just generated positive vibes - the shower caps and flowers on their helmets were entertaining too. :) Melanie cheered for Kiersten and me while we swam and that was awesome too! I love church activities. Pretty sure this was way more happy than a regular tri. :)

 Our lovely tatoos :)

It's been an athletic month. :) The kids started swimming lessons and did amazingly well. We don't get the chance to swim very often here - it's not warm enough most of the year and the club pools are really expensive. This pool, however, is right by our house and the kids had a blast. Coleman ended up being the only one to take a real lesson - Brookie said she'd rather just swim in the little pool, so that was ok too.  Here they are - Cole warming up for his lesson and Brookie happily passing the time enjoying herself in the kiddie pool :).

  I have to brag just a little about Cole.  He's not quite tall enough to reach the bottom of the pool in the shallow end and still keep his head above water. His teacher said that most of the time smaller kids are afraid to do the things they ask because it's hard when they can't touch. He laughed when he told me Cole was not that way. I loved watching his lessons. If the teacher asked for 2 bobs, Cole did 20. When they told him big arms, he made BIG arms. He was very into his lessons. He passed on the first try with flying colors. Are we ready for Level 2? I guess we'll see. He sure loved it. He started the class not wanting to float on his back even with help and finished floating on his stomach and back, switching between the two, swimming with his face in the water, bobbing across the pool when the water was above his head and even jumping in to his teacher. We're so impressed with you Mr. Swim! Great job! Can't wait to take more lessons - maybe this winter...

 This little diva has worn her swimming suit at least every other day whether she's going to swim or not. She loves even her really old ones that give her wedgies... :) Funny little lady. She's also way into art - cutting coloring, drawing, painting - you name it. She could color all day. She's getting really good too!!

I loved playing with these math sticks when I was a kid. It was so fun and I always wanted to buy some while I was teaching school, but never did it. Memorization has got to be fun. I've been tutoring a friend's little girl in math this summer trying to help her get ahead by working on multiplication facts. It occurred to me this week that my pinking sheers are perfect for this. :) I was so excited. Hope she was too. :)