Fairy Lights

Jake decided to get some fairy lights with his end of school money.  He set them up in his room and likes to lay there and watch them change colors.  I love fairy lights too.  They are pretty cool!

Mongo Pongo

Jason used his end of school money to buy a giant stuffed penguin.  He's had his eye on this penguin for months.  He could hardly wait for delivery.  He counted down the days. 

It's the same as his beloved Pongo...but bigger.  

He thought about names for a few days, but he finally settled on Mongo Pongo (dad's suggestion).

Welcome to Jason's family Mongo Pongo!  I think you'll find that you have more love and exciting experiences being Jason's toy than you could have imagined.

Conversation in the Car

The funny things the kids say are getting few and far between.  The kids are growing up and just getting less cute in general.

So, when I get caught off guard with a laugh, I have to write about it.

Jake and I were driving to his friend's house.  Earlier, this friend had been hurt near his eye, so I asked how he was doing....

Jake:  It un swoll so he's going to be fine.

Me:  (laughing) Did you just say "un swoll"?  

Jake:  How would you say it?

Me: The swelling went down?  (still laughing)

Jake: That sounds like we're trying to be more medical.

Me:  So instead, you just want to sound uneducated?  Hang on, I've got to text this conversation to myself.

Jake:  You going to post it on the blog?  (laughing).

Me:  Yes!  Un swoll?  That's gold.  Haha.  

Jake:  (sighing in the way only a teenage boy can sigh when he's embarrassed to own me as his mother.)

Summer Storms

We've had some crazy weather.  Hail and rain like crazy.  

The littles made snowcones. 

They also sat outside to watch the storm.  It was a really cool storm.

I had a pretty funny conversation with Jason.  As it was storming, he said "In all my almost 8 years, I've only seen hail three times.  Hail is kinda close to the "h" word, so I don't really like saying it."  

Trail Ride

My brother was in Utah for a little while and his friend had arranged for a ride in Cache Valley.  We invited ourselves along for the ride and we had such a good time.  The area was beautiful.  It was up Logan Canyon and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.

Jake was at Driver's Ed, so he couldn't come.  We were bummed not to have him there with us.  

We passed dozens of Beaver Dams.

I cracked up at Nate's face when we stopped for lunch.  Sunscreen makes a perfect sticky surface for dirt.

We had fun visiting with cousins.

And loving on Grandma.

Warren's got some fun toys.

Mom had to share her seat with Jack.

Nate's little motorcycle couldn't make it up some of the stuff, so he got to ride with one of Warren's friends.

Allie and I drove the wheeler and Mike took Jason (or swapped with Nate) on his motorcycle.

I don't know why I don't have better pictures of Mike or Jason.  They were there.  

Mike got a flat tire shortly after lunch.  We were super far away from the trucks and not so far away from Bear Lake, so we planned for Mike to drop back into Bear Lake and then we'd load up and pick him up there.

I'm glad everything worked out in the end, but Mike was a bit nervous when he couldn't find his way back right off.  It could have been bad.  Next time, we won't split  up.

Anyway, it was a lovely impromptu visit with Mom and my brother and his family.  We love them all and we love seeing this beautiful world we live in.  

Hairy Potter?

17 Years

My Dad died 17 years ago today.  

Today was a busy day in the bakery.  The kids had lots of orders so we were hopping all morning.  Jake has been taking driver's ed, so he isn't around in the morning.  Allie takes the morning shift and Jake takes the afternoon shift. 

Anyway, as I helped the kids out, I kept thinking of my dad.  I was a bit melancholy.  I really wish he could be here to see my kids.  I know he'd get a kick out of them.  He'd love that they have a bakery.

He'd love that Jason looks so much like him.  He'd love that Nathan loves to do a bit of everything (just like him).  He'd love that Allie is "purdy as a picture".  He'd love that Jake is now taller than him.  He'd just love all the things that I love about my kids.  He'd brag about them to complete strangers.  

It would just be fun to have him around.

Instead, he gets to brag about my cute Sam to anyone who will listen in heaven, and I guess that's pretty cool too.  

I'm glad that I had him for as many years as I did and I'm even more glad that I have my awesome mom to brag about my kids and love everything about them.  Life is still good, even though it's sometimes sad.

I know the picture is random, but Jake emptied out his driver's ed bag and wanted to take Charlie for a ride and it made me laugh.  Poor Charlie.

Score!

I could hardly believe it when I went to the store and was actually able to buy toilet paper.  I've seen toilet paper in the stores, but not the kind I usually buy.  So, here we are, almost 4 months later, I was able to find the kind we usually just go and get off the shelf without trouble.

Maybe things are going back to normal?  I'm not sure.  I still haven't been able to buy yeast so things aren't "normal" yet.  Let's hope for the bakery that we can find some soon.

Fairly Busy

Nathan came to me and was sad that the tooth fairy still hadn't come to the house to collect his tooth.  Jason still has two teeth under his pillow, so we have come to the conclusion that the tooth fairy must be really busy.  Maybe she isn't making house calls due to covid 19.  Who knows.

Either way, I told Nathan that I happened to have some of the same kinds of coins that the tooth fairy gives out for teeth and I told him I'd gladly give him one.  Problem solved....

Masks

Nathan found a mask and put it on.  I intended to get a picture of everyone in a mask to mark this time in our lives, but so far, I've only got Nathan.

We had a funny conversation about how I could tell that he wasn't smiling and he kept trying to get me to take a picture when he wasn't smiling.  I told him that I could see it in his eyes when he wasn't smiling.  Now I wish I had snapped a picture of when he wasn't smiling so I could show you the ridiculousness of this kid trying not to smile.  :)

He just has such a happy little face and I love every bit about him.  I love that his eyes light up with a smile, even when he's trying not to smile.  He is such a handsome boy.

I'm so glad he's mine.