Pioneers

Barrett and I love hearing about the Utah Pioneers. It may have a little to do with the fact that it played a part in our "courtship."


Anyway, July 24th is Pioneer Day. A day to wear your bonnets and aprons or cowboy hats and sing those fun Primary pioneer songs. I love them! I am the Primary Chorister right now and am loving it! I have been singing pioneer songs the last 2 weeks and keep changing my mind all week which song I want to add the next Sunday. Lately, we have been using my Primary props for our Family Home Evenings the next day. The boys love them...and it makes me want to finally create things in the purpose of saving them for family use! So, I decided that tonight for Family Home Evening was going to be about pioneers. We pulled out my primary song charts and props, Damon and Barrett reinacted a pioneer story, then we watched the amazing 4 minute video: Tried in All Things (this is one I used in seminary this last year and absolutely LOVE...it is definitely a tear-jerker.) We then made covered wagon treats. Tommy loved wearing the cowboy hat and running around with his pistol...which ended up getting confiscated because Damon got hurt and thought Tommy really shot a hole through his hand:) Never a dull moment...

Another Beach Day!

We haven't seen our good ol' friends in awhile, so we were really excited when our schedules worked out to meet up at the beach! We had fun catching up and chatting, jumping in the waves, playing in the sand (rolling in it if your name is Tommy), playing with a big sand crab, watching a guy needing to be rescued and carried out on a stretcher by the lifeguards, digging a giant hole and filling it with water, watching Tommy run and jump over (or land on his belly) a big pile of sand, enjoying the day, eating turkey burgers and hotdogs for dinner, and discovering many sunscreen mishaps. Fun times!!

Giant Water Slide

One day last week, a friend invited us over to play on their giant water slide. The boys had so much fun! I couldn't believe how they could keep going...and going...and going. They had a blast!

Chick-Fil-A and Camping

I found out Wednesday night or Thursday morning that Chick-Fil-A was having customer appreciation week...which meant free food all week. On Friday, if you dressed up like a cow, you got a free meal...sandwich, drink, fries. Awesome! Well, Barrett had a funeral to go to, so I would have to go with the boys by myself. I was hesitant, but when I told Damon, he was really excited. He helped me make costumes by drawing on garbage bags...but the permanent marker was too stinky, so we just cut out spots and taped them on. We found a sign on the internet, so taped that on too. The boys and I walked into the restaurant and got 3 free meals. There weren't very many people dressed up...they had these hats you could put on, so almost everyone had those on. After we started eating, a lot more families came in decked out in cow gear...it was really fun!! The boys had a great time playing on the indoor playground, but we had to make an emergency exit because Tommy came down the slide with soggy britches...of course it was pouring outside by then too. When we got home, we got so drenched getting in the house that we had to towel-dry our hair, dry out our clothes, and get in our jammies. We had a great time!



Tommy's saying MOO!


On Sunday afternoon, I was reading with Damon when we noticed Tommy stuffing animals under a little chair. We asked him what he was doing and he said they were playing in their tent...the chair was tipped on its side so it had a triangle opening kind of like a tent. Well, that got Damon's attention, so they pulled out their tent and we set it up. Then Damon built a campfire. I love the red he sprinkled on the pieces of wood for fire. Of course they had to roast some marshmallows. They even got Barrett to open the new flashlights for them to play with. It was really cute to watch them play.

Fourth of July

Our Fourth of July was a little different this year. Barrett had to take some boys to Scout Camp early in the morning and stayed all day and overnight. So, the boys and I were hanging out like it was any other normal old day. We tried to make it a little special, though. We made pancakes with blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream...we all chowed down! We made Fruit Loop necklaces with just blue and red...I made Tommy's because he was grumpy and only wanted to eat them. They also colored a picture I printed off for them. We ate with some friends then went to the parade with them. The boys love parades. I'm pretty sure Tommy devoured 4 lollipops and a mint lifesaver. After the parade, we walked downtown to see the other festivities, but Tommy was all over the place and not cooperating, so we took off. Tommy fell asleep on the way home. Damon and I had some homemade ice cream and ate it on the couch while watching the Capitol Fourth production on tv. He eventually fell asleep on my lap, so I rushed him up to bed, so I wouldn't miss anything good. I saw the fireworks outside my window and on tv. Go America!

July 1, 2, 3

July 1

I took the boys to pick blueberries at Fifers Orchards. Damon was all business and did awesome. Tommy did great too. I told him to only pick the blue ones and he did! He would fill up his little fist, then go put them in the bucket. We found some apple cider donuts that were discounted because they needed to sell that day, so we sat at a picnic table and enjoyed them! We found a little ant carrying a huge piece of donut and we followed him and tried to take a picture...then he fell down a crack in the table. Tommy said he went to find his mommy:)






July 2

We went down to the temple. It ended up being a beautiful day, sunny but no humidity...or at least not much. The boys and I walked around, found acorns, jumped off tree stumps, benches, and rocks (well, I didn't), went into the Visitor's Center, picnicked in the shade outside, and drew pictures. Barrett later took them to the "motorcycle park."



July 3

Church as usual. Normal crazy Sunday afternoon. Delicious roast dinner. Homemade vanilla ice cream with strawberries and blueberries. I have decided there is nothing cuter than red and blue fruit amongst something white. Beautiful combo:)


Here's a really cute picture of Tommy...not sure when I took it, but thought it was a keeper!