Happy Fourth!

Yes, you may all stare in awe. We FINALLY took a family picture. It is truly sad that it has taken me this long, and that we are going to add another family member in just a couple of weeks who isn't pictured here (great timing right?), but I feel like I have accomplished something amazing. I told myself that I would no longer try to get a picture around Christmas because it is too busy, so July it is. I love my little family. They are beautiful.

p.s. We didn't choose the flag background merely because it was the fourth of July...it just happened to be the best picture out of the bunch.

Chukars? Seriously?

Tyler's work has a company barbeque every year and a lot of festivities that go with it. They have a fun-run and a golf tournament. Our family has never done the run, but Tyler participates in the golf part each year with his internet team. In the evening there is a huge barbeque (featuring steak) and they give away prizes and money. Tyler, unfortunately, has never been a recipient of money but it is still enjoyable to go to the barbeque and see people from his work.
The company also provides a t-shirt for anyone wanting one and we usually get one for each member of our family. This year they were tan (weird choice, but whatever). The only problem is that once my children joined the playground, they were surrounded by children that looked exactly like them. Ivory wore her squeaky shoes so she was pretty easy to find, but the other two blended in like camouflage and it kept my eyes busy the entire time.

To finish off the evening, the company buys tickets for a baseball game for any families or employees who want to attend. We have never gone to the game before because of having younger children but we thought we might venture out this year and try something new.
So we packed up the family and headed to see the Orem Owlz play. Our family is not heavily into sports so this is the first real baseball game our kids have been to and it was fun trying to explain the rules to the girls. June seemed to understand fairly well and she got excited when the 'red' team would hit the ball and run the bases. Robyn and Ivory usually just clapped when everyone else did. The stadium they built at UVU is well designed because there is an area with just grass, which lets children run around a bit more, and a playground (which we took full advantage of). Tyler took the girls over to play and I stayed in our seats for about 3 innings. It was just as well because not much happened in the middle of the game. The family came back to watch the last two innings and the Orem Owlz pulled out the win. They were playing the Idaho Falls Chukars so Tyler was rooting for the other team (since he is from IF) and the girls went back and forth between the red and blue teams. I was teasing Tyler a bit since he was cheering for the wrong team, and I asked him what a Chukar was anyway. He thought it was probably some kind of wood chuck. Okay...there are plenty of weird mascots out there and the wood chuck seemed appropriate for Idaho (no offense). Upon returning home, Tyler looked it up and apparently a Chukar is more of a pheasant bird. Here is a picture.

Seriously? Who chose THAT as their mascot. I would rather be a woodchuck. They try to make it look more fierce, (shown here on the right), but let's face it...it's a game bird.
To be fair, the whole game was fowl and I don't think of owls as particularly fearsome creatures but they do have large talons and are considered a predator. And in movies they can be quite terrifying (I am thinking more of Secret of Nimh not Bambi). I personally like the little eyes they have chosen to represent the owlz, but it is more of the same --trying to make a bird look mean. They handed out hats to the first 1,500 people. Um... we didn't get any, but the people behind us were very nice and gave their hats to the girls at the end of the game. They are a bit large for the kids, but the thought was really nice. You may have noticed by now that I did NOT take my camera that night but here is a picture of the girls wearing the hats the next day.

Look at those fierce owl eyes :)

Roughing it??

We had our ward campout recently. Tyler complains that it isn't really camping when there is grass, bathrooms, running water, and you don't have to hike to get there. I, on the other hand, am perfectly happy with this pseudo camping our ward practices, and with all the young children, it is more necessary.

I am not as outdoorsy as I would like to be. My family NEVER went camping, EVER! I don't think we owned a tent and every year for girls' camp my parents would have to borrow camping supplies from the neighbors (I may have gotten my own sleeping bag about three years into it). Then compound my lack of camping experience with the fact that I am allergic to the outdoors and you get a non-camping Mom. I think Tyler does not approve of these things, but he is patient with me. I do want my girls to grow up knowing something about camping, so I try to participate when the opportunity arises (namely, the ward campout). I shamefully admit that I was NOT going to spend the night but it was too hard trying to find someone to drive me back the next morning. Laziness won out and I decided to stay. Plus, I knew it would make Tyler happy...and it did.
The girls loved our huge tent.

I think at one point there were five or so children in there having a huge pillow fight. I really didn't mind as long as it was giggling and not crying coming from the tent. I should definitely thank my in-laws for the awesome tent that we have. It is for 8 people and we can even fit the bassinet in there when our children are small. We don't use it often (yes, still my fault) but when we do, it is wonderful.
Friday evening was mostly just playing and exploring. I learned that quesadillas cook very quickly in one layer of tin-foil and that my kids don't like charcoaled tortillas. Fortunately, I also brought hot dogs so no one starved.
Tyler spent most of his time on the hill of death. That is not the official name, but I am certain I can convince the mothers to name it that soon. The hill is ridiculously steep and the only way kids come down is sliding on their rear ends (which doesn't do wonders for the clothing, but hey...we're camping right?). Here is a picture that does not portray adequately enough how terribly steep it is. If you look to the far left you can see Tyler on his way up with Robyn on his back.

Next, there is a rope swing at the top that adult men have trouble controlling. And if you happen to lose your grip on the swing, the only place to fall is on the hill of death which is not forgiving (see above). I try to stay as far away from this hill and Tyler insists on taking all the girls up it. I don't watch. He dutifully took each child up and let them hold on to him while he braved the rope swing. This worked well until he realized he had taken the kids in the wrong order and he saved the heaviest for last. I am very glad I was NOT around to see this next part, because I may have gone into labor early.

Apparently during June's ride, when Tyler came back from swinging, he didn't catch the tree (‘as well as anticipated’—his words) and they plummeted onto the steep slope. Tyler was amazing. He hit the ground in a surfer pose and skimmed down, chased by a landslide of gravel, coming to a perfect landing at the bottom. However, none of the other Dads were fooled. After watching this event, they quickly evacuated the hill so no other children could be foolish enough to try that stunt. I am glad that Tyler gets his girls involved, but I would still love it if he stayed clear of the hill of death.
Ivory was content to spend most of her time on the swings.

She is getting really good at holding on without an infant swing. It still scares me, but after the hill, it was nothing.
June spent the majority of her time finding treasures and reveling in the fact that all the flowers she found were NOT part of someone's garden and mom would actually let her pick them to her heart's content. I still think it is sweet that she brings them all to me. I even allowed her take a picture of me (this is to make you all think what a trooper I am for camping with my big belly. :)

I took a picture of June with her treasures.

This is my favorite part and I am glad that we happened to get a picture of it. She found a shell somewhere under the swings and she was happy with her find. She put it in the car to save it and in the morning when we were packing up, Robyn came tearing back to the tent to show us a surprise. Turns out the shell was inhabited: a snail was slurping around the back on the van. He was quite the stowaway. We couldn't find him later and he traveled all the way home with us and kept himself cozy until I found him after shopping on Monday. Does slug slime come off easily? I haven't even tried to clean it yet.
The kids slept pretty well, although Ivory seemed to be suffering from her eczema and she squirmed some of the night. Other than that, we feasted on a delicious breakfast provided by a very generous Bro. Johnson in our ward and then we headed home. Not really roughing it, I would say, but we had a good time and hopefully the girls will develop some "camping" memories along the way.

Water works

So life doesn't ever slow down around here...just my motivation to blog. But I'll catch you up on some water events in the home. First, we found a delightful surprise in our downstairs closet. I saw some water spots and I figured Ivory must have spilled a drink, so I got out a towel to soak up the water. Our carpet is rather forgiving and usually just a dab here and there will let the liquid leave the carpet and soak into the towel. So, I was a little surprised when my repeated attempts to dry the carpet weren't doing much. The spots remained while the towel got wetter and wetter. Hmmm....something didn't compute. Well, it didn't take me long to get worried and tell Tyler my theory that something was wet UNDER the carpet, and like the good husband he is, he came home that afternoon and tore up the carpet.

Sure enough, the pad was soaked through. This led to scouting around to find the leak. It was in the utility closet where part of the AC unit had come unattached and the condensation was leaking out and draining into the carpet (not the drain where it was supposed to go). Bad construction all around but certainly nothing hard to fix.

Too bad the AC has been on for over a month now (that can't be good for the carpet). But we dried things out as best we could and I think the carpet is back to normal, besides needing a good cleaning.

On a much happier water note, I gave Ivory her first bubble bath ever. I am such a lame mom! I never have bubble bath around and I found some under the sink, so I thought she might enjoy it. All the kids had a lot of fun playing in the bubbles, although I think June prefers the bath without them (but then again, that is what she is used to). I guess on the other hand, it is good that I don't have everything for my kids. That way, it makes things (like bubbles) much more novel when we get to do them.

To Give of Oneself

Today I just needed to write a little tribute to my husband. There are not too many people in life who answer the call when it comes regardless of what the request is. Tyler seems to be one of these people. He doesn't know how to fix everything, but he will try and solve the problem no matter what the cost or work; and most of the time a little hard work will get the job done.

Yesterday evening a sister in the ward called because some kind of water line (most likely attached to the sprinkler system) had broken. She was looking for some Elders to help her fix the problem. At 8:30 pm a few choice men went to dig up some sprinklers and help someone in need. The mosquitoes joined the party along the way and eventually Tyler got out his large utility light as the sun set behind the horizon. They were out working until almost 10:30 pm.

Here are some men who are not scared of hard work. I am so impressed. I would be the one to make a phone call and stand back idly watching someone else do the job.

My husband came back pretty filthy. He had mud caked up his arms and in his hair. I took a picture merely to remind myself that I should work harder. He already washed his hands in this picture and you have to ignore the smug face. That isn't because he is prideful, but merely because he can't take a serious picture.



I also liked this picture of his back. I think it is Skyler's hand holding him down as a counter weight.



We sang the song Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel on Monday at Family Home Evening. The girls really enjoyed the song, but they are still trying to grasp the concept of 'we all have work, let no one shirk.' At least I know that the girls will always have an amazing example in their father.

There are no words

Tyler barbecued chicken this evening. It was so incredibly delicious that I completely forgot about So You Think You Can Dance until it was over half an hour into it. That is some amazing chicken.

I am still thinking about it.

Wishes do come true...

...so be careful what you wish for.

When I got pregnant this last time, I was really hoping that someone would ask me if this was my first pregnancy. I thought it would make me feel young, and then I could shock whoever asked with, "Why no, it is my fourth."
Well, I take my kids most of the places I go so no one is going to ask me that, when it is obvious I am traveling with my brood. But even when I have gone somewhere alone, no one has asked me if this were my first baby. I finally had to admit to myself that maybe I don't look so young after all, or the fact that it is Utah, and you can be on your fourth baby by the time you are in your early twenties.

Then...I went to the temple. I was waiting for a friend to come out of the dressing room and this sweet little lady looked at me and asked when I was due. "Late July," I said. And then my wish came true. "Is this your first?" I wanted to sing the response. She proceeded to totally make my day by telling me that I looked 21 and couldn't possibly have three other children. I wanted to kiss her. I guess you really do get blessings by going to the temple.



On the other side of my wishes is this vague hope that I will go into labor by myself. I never have before and I think it would be a novel experience. At the same time, I am perfectly content to be induced again. My mother will be here a couple of days past my due date and it would be fine to have it all planned out again. So here I am wishing for something to happen, and voila, I started having contractions last week. Now, I know that many of you are thinking, BIG DEAL...I had contractions for months before I had my baby.

Well, this IS a big deal for me. I have NEVER had a contraction before being induced. My first thought was great, I am totally going to go into labor by myself. But the more I hear about how commonplace these early contractions are, I am thinking that maybe I may have wished in vain. The truth is also, that even when they induce me and I start having serious contractions, they don't really help me dilate, so I can't imagine that these measly squeezings I am having now will do much for me. So, in reality I have just wished uncomfortable contractions on myself for no good reason. Awesome, I am a genius.