It seems half of our summer was made up of ho-hum "everyday" activities, while the other half was filled with new things and experiences. Since I haven't blogged in several months (AGAIN!), here's a run down:
The Traveling Wiltbanks
I think we made more trips this summer than Mike and I ever made as a newly married couple (which was a lot!). And now we did it with 3 kids! You'd think it'd be exhausting-which it sometimes was-but I LOVE going places with our little family and we had some new adventures!More than half of our trips were to the Valley. First, my sister went to the Temple for the first time so we got to go through with her. I got to be her escort and it was one of the spiritual highlights of my life! I'm SO proud of her! She wouldn't let me take a picture with her, so all I got were some pictures of our kids with Cozi at a splash pad, since the Boddekers are always kind enough to take us in!
Next, we headed to Salt Lake to spend some time with Mike's family in Utah. Again, I didn't get many pictures, but it was SO good to see everyone and SO hard to leave! We got to take the kids to see some model trains and they got to spend a lot of time with their cousins! We stayed up too late talking with Emily and Nate most nights, but that's what makes it fun, right?
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| T.R.O.U.B.L.E.!!! |
Then, we headed back to the Valley again for a follow up for Sawyer's feet. He's not walking yet, but the doctor says everything looks on track and we got a prescription for new boots since he's grown out of his old ones. This time, the Strouds were generous enough to put us up, and the kids had a great time swimming and rocking out. Here's Remi giving us a stirring rendition of "Let it Go".
After that, we headed to Colorado with some friends for a family/friend vacation. It was beautiful! We got to visit a train station and take the kids to a petting zoo. I took a lot more pictures, but had to narrow it down!
DISNEYLAND!
This deserves its own post, and I'll probably make one once I get all the rest of the pictures on the computer (we just got back this week), but I had to at least mention it! We met our friends the Kelepolos there and it was pretty close to a perfect trip (if there is such a thing!)!
Morning Walks
For a while there, Saw Man was the first one to wake up in the morning. I was having a hard time staying awake once he woke up, so we started going for walks. It was a GREAT way to start the day! I need to get into the habit again! He's been sleeping in later lately, so it's not as motivating to go, but I got some good documentation of some of our mornings.
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| Remi woke up early enough to join us one morning... |
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| We saw our little buddy "Trey"almost every morning. |
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| After a while, he knew us well enough to let us get pretty close. |
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| Our view of Home |
Outdoor Fun and Projects
Mike's had this idea to make this playhouse for his kids ever since he was a kid. It's been fun seeing it come together (especially since I was mostly a spectator!)! It's not QUITE finished yet, but here's a good progress picture! We attempted a sleepover in it one night. It got too cold to stay out
there all night, but it sure made us excited for next summer!
I've always wanted to plant a garden and that's another dream that came to life this year. We were SO excited when our food started to come up! It was awesome to need a tomato and be able to just go pick one! We're so excited to go for it next year too!
We finally took the opportunity to spend some time at the park. I'm so excited to have our backyard finished next summer and hopefully we can spend all our time there!
Every year, around the end of September, these vines in our yard turn a gorgeous red, before any of the other leaves start to change. I never seem to get a picture of it because it doesn't last very long (literally only a few days in its peak), but we finally traipsed out there and did it this year!
This isn't an outdoor project, but it's a project that's been in the works for a LONG time! It doesn't look like much now, but this is the future home of our laundry room. I'm realizing that I really need to post some "before and after" pictures of some of the projects we've done around here...they just never feel like they're actually DONE enough to call an official "after"!
Sibling Fun
I LOVE how well our kids get along! For the most part, they love to be together and look out for each other. I've seen Grant stick up for Remi to his friends and it make me so proud! They definitely have their days where it seems like I'm breaking up fights every two seconds, but luckily, most of the time, they're happy to be together!
Do you think he's ready for a BABY BROTHER in April?????
Cause I took this picture in July, and on our last trip to the Valley, we found out, IT'S A BOY!!
**Did you notice Velda's face in the picture from Utah?
