Father's Day, Camping, and Other Adventures!

And the "Best Dad Ever" award goes to...

This guy!!

Happy Father's Day Dad. The kids made him little paper ties that said what they loved about him. Isn't he handsome?!?

He's also the best because he has the patience and energy to take the kids fishing, without me!!

What did I do instead? I'll let Archie demonstrate, he looks cuter doing it than I do :)

 The kids were so cute on their one mile children's run. I love it so much. They were wonderful. Elliott was so happy that he even ran it faster then last year. 

 I think it is a new summer tradition that Lucy collapses for her yearly nap on the first day of Summer.

During restricted screen-time, Elliott got a little creative :)

 We kind of happened onto a little strawberry garden when we moved in, and we were pretty excited for our little harvest. Lucy and I made Strawberry-water, which was actually pretty yummy.

 Harmony and Had Abogi took the kids morel hunting. Mmmmmm...

What's the only thing crazier than 65 degree weather in June?

 The kids swimming in it of course!

I taught the kids how to do the 80s style Stussy 'S', and they loved it. 

 They were even able to sit nicely by each other and practice drawing them: Mommy Win!

 Lucy was my little baker this summer. If she had it her way, she would have made cupcakes every day, but, being the non-consenting mother that I am, she got to make them twice. 

 After our less-than-successful trial run camping trip, we decided a one-nighter was all we could take in the mountains, but we were determined to get at least one camping trip in this summer (and we did....just one :)

Here are the kids' obligatory pre-camping, clean-faced pictures.

 And all the fun we could squeeze into two days and one night.

 Oh, I forgot to mention that we even convinced Jason and Kristine and family to join us on their first camping trip EVER!

 Looks like one night was plenty for these crazies.

 And finally, last summer we started our 100 Miles of Summer goal. This year, we CRUSHED IT!!! We started where we left off, at 47, and we got our 100 miles before June was done!! All that bike-riding around the new neighborhood paid off! To celebrate, we went to Jump Time, and a dinner-movie theater. I am so proud of these kids. 

Summer is our kind of season!

I don't know how I missed this very important even in my last post, but SCHOOL IS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!! Look how happy Lucy and Elliott look on their last day. I think Archie is leery of how this will affect his free time!!

Hooray for HEAT!!!! One of the wonderful perks of our new neighborhood is a great pool! We made good use of it all summer long. Archie has always been tentative around water: he panics when it gets in his face, and he hates it in his ears. But, he also likes to be scared, so it kinda worked. He LOVES splashing, and he got to do a lot if it here. By the end of the summer, he even let me carry him around in the pool a bit!

We knew we wanted to go camping this summer, but we also know that Archie is a champion sleeper in his own bed...everywhere else, not so much. So, we decided to do a dry run in our backyard. We called it at 11:30pm, after 3 hours of wrestling with him. We are counting on actual camping to wear him out enough to get him to sleep!

 We had many bike adventures this summer; safety was always a priority of course!

Archie got a medal for finishing his first semester at the Little Gym! He is doing so well at taking turns and waiting for instructions!! Now if we could just get him to stay at his stations, we'll be doing fine!

 Kicking summer off right with a trip to the ice-cream truck!

 Elliott finished up baseball season. His favorite position is still catcher--that's my boy!

 We were planning on riding our bikes to the Library, but about half way, we passed a very enticing-looking park, and decided to make this our destination instead: well played I think.

 And of course there's alway lots of fishing with Dad. Somehow, Lucy always ends up catching the most fish!! She's a natural.

 Summer days are the best.

Coming to June

I may have already said this, but when we bought our house, we realized it was much bigger than we needed, but we also knew that it was God's plan for our family. So, we decided to make the best of it by trying to make it a gathering place, a home of fun and love. It didn't take long for our vision to become reality!! About a week after moving in, my parents, Gramma Karen and Papa Lund, came to visit, along with Great Grandma Frazier. YAY!!! We had plenty of room for everyone, and when we all gathered for family dinners, we fit just fine!!!

 It was a beautiful visit. For Family Home Evening on Monday night, we listened and recorded all the grandparents telling stories from their childhoods. That was priceless. We come from a mighty lineage, and their power and experiences make us who we are. I loved it, and the kids were entranced!!

 Grandma Frazier has such a beautiful healing energy, I used to look forward to her visits as a child because that meant a Grandma Massage!! Archie was having one of his meltdowns, and she just bent over and laid her hand on him. She didn't say anything, or move it at all, she just rested it there. Her calming love was perfect. I was so happy to capture the moment.

 For so long, we only got to see my grandmother at her beautiful California home once a year, so it was so special to have her in MY home for once!! She would mostly just observe, but it was so nice to know she was here.

After the grandparents left, Aunt Juliet cam to stay for a business meeting!! SWEET, ANOTHER GATHERING!! We always love when Aunt Juliet comes because she pays such special and focused attention to each child...something that, as a mother, I often forget to do. Thank you for your example, Juliet!!

 Once all the guests left us, we had to make our own fun, so we went to play at some parks.

 HAPPY-HEART MOMENT!!! Big brothers are the BEST!!

 Lucy got to play volleyball league this spring, and it was SOOOOO fun to watch!! She is tall, and she is strong, and she is amazing!!!

 And, a gratuitous Archie picture just because I think sleeping babies are cute.

 The kids ran in their 3rd district-wide fun-run, I always love to see them run!!

 Then we headed down to Utah for Dad's Marathon. Harmony took them to get their hair painted while we waited :)

 Here's the big finisher!!! We always love to see him race too!!

 Of course, we had to enjoy the hotel pool while Dad recovered from his race. These trips aren't all hard work you know!