Swimming Lessons

 Grandma taught swimming lessons this summer to her lucky grandkids.  Thanks Grandma!

Beautiful Bear Lake

August 2012

Josie is 5

Ah summer birthdays!  We celebrated June 15 with a "Splish Splash 5th Birthday Bash" for Josie. Friends, water, games, food, pinata, and presents!  (Thanks Lins for being my life guard). We even had Val's girls here for the weekend so it was a cousin sleepover to boot!  The day was crazy and full- even included a trip to the hospital for little sis who fell off the barstool.  Nice huh?

We have had five wonderful years with Jo- she is mellow and sweet, with a personality that flies under the radar usually, but she has an under-lying spunk that makes her quite irresistible. She is really a favorite among favorites :) She is a "darling to look at" and had a fellow kindergarten gentleman tell her at orientation that she is beautiful.  She was so relieved to find that he didn't turn out to be in her class!

She likes dressing up and picking her own clothes.  She has a unique style sometimes and I've had people tell me in public she really had put a smile on their face with some of her combos.  She loves leggings the most of all and likes to wear dresses and skirts as well.  She is very tender-headed and hates to have her hair done.  She is a trusting eater and not afraid to try new things.  She is quite brave and friendly and she loves to dance around the house singing her own versions of pop songs.  She likes to be the big sister to Cassie and boss her around a bit but also has to take orders being #3.  So overall she is a pretty well-rounded child.  She is easy to please and has a collection of treasures like shiny rocks, happy meal toys, squinkies, bits of paper, jewelry, and shells on her special shelf.  She loves animals- especially dogs and claims to want to be a mom and a doctor when she grows up.  She's smart enough and I say more power to ya little one!

Dancing Queen

Josie had a dance recital June 4 at Sandy Amphitheater.  It was FOREVER long but was a very pretty venue and the kids all enjoyed running around on the grassy hill.  Josie looked adorable and was fun to watch.  Thanks to our brave family members who came to support.  JoJo seems to be a fan of dancing (I think she is mostly a fan of dressing in her costume and has worn it several times since the big performance).  She told me today she is sad that dance is over for the summer.  Mom is not sad.  It's nice to have a break from all our extra-curricular right now.  Summer Rocks!

Fun in the Sun

The six of us- aren't we lovely?

 Montego Bay, Jamaica
We went on a "safari" through windy town roads to an old church on a former sugar plantation. Then we proceeded up the mountain and through an orange grove to a natural waterfall.  It was very tropical and lovely. The water was cold but refreshing after the long, hot drive.

Formal Dinner Night

Grand Cayman- our favorite port- so gorgeous!  We took a very fun tour to the reef for snorkeling- even saw a huge eel- and some BIG fish- one that wasn't as scared of me as I was of it.  Steve took me uncomfortably close to the coral at one point, and I didn't enjoy that, but we did find the sting rays on the sand bar pretty incredible.  We even held them- but did not kiss them.

 
 Cozumel, Mexico- we wanted to see Tulum but alas not enough time in port.  We settled on dune buggys on the bumpiest road known to man, with a stop at the world's smelliest sulfur pond-looks can be deceiving.  I did jump into it amazingly, and have to admit that the excursion was a fun memory already.

Sunset in Jamaica

We loved our Balcony!

Ice Sculpture and Cake Display

We were on the Carnival Magic- their largest ship- and we celebrated the ship's first birthday while cruising. It was a lovely vessel.  We were very impressed.  It was huge and as I am prone to getting lost even at church, a bit intimidating, but I got the hang of it right before we debarked!  We dined every evening at a round corner table over looking the water.  We ate all kinds of lovely food- some familiar and others not so much.  Overall we did a lot of eating, lounging, sunning, eating, laughing, gabbing, eating, walking, exploring and having a great time.  I thought cruising with friends was fantastic.

  I questioned my ability to relax worrying that I'd be fretting about the kids at home, but I knew they were in good hands and honestly completely let go of all that a couple days into the trip. Thank you to our family who took such good care of them.  We love you for it. We had a fabulous time, and relaxed enough to be anxious to come back to real life.  As unglamorous as my job is at times, it is beautiful and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

It was a perfect day.

Griffin is 8!!!

Our little guy is a big guy now!  The big 8 happened April 6.  It was a fun weekend of birthday and Easter festivities.  We started out with breakfast burritos in the morning, delivered a Happy Meal at lunch, ice cream cups to classmates, then met Dad at Boondocks who scored big time at the arcades and won us all sorts of loot.  Then pizza, cake, and presents and hand sanitizer at home.


We are so lucky to have Griffin as part of our family.  He brings balance, humor, sensitivity, and energy to this house of otherwise girls.  GO GRIFFIN!

Park City

We pulled off a weekend get-away to Park City! Steve has had this work conference on the calendar for several weeks but I was seriously doubting we would really be able to pull it off. I have had bronchitis and Cassie was just taken off her meds for C Diff, so I was worried she would be super sick, but the stars aligned and we felt well enough to go. It was so nice to have a change of scenery. We stayed at the Grand Summit Hotel at The Canyons in a lovely suite. Thank you Sims MM! We enjoyed the pool, movies, the view, gondola ride, a walk around the ritzy place, and eating out. Steve and I enjoyed some fancy dinners with his colleagues while his boss's teenage daughter Liz tended our kids back in the room. So fun! Steve and the older two kids hit the slopes Saturday and did skiing (Brinley) and snowboarding (Griffin and Dad) lessons. Funny that we have never been around the world of ski resorts much and they are so close. It's a different culture but I think we could get used to it! :)

Birthday Brinley in Double Digits!

Wow, our first-born is 10! What?! I can hardly believe it, but we have a true tween over here! She is our Valentine's Day bundle of joy and we had a really fun and full day celebrating. (It was extra lovely that everyone was feeling good that day). We got her ears pierced the night before so she could show off her new lobes at school. She was very brave even after her Dad teased and traumatized her about piercing them himself...She opened presents before school on V/B day. I dropped off a special Wendy's lunch for her, and then after school we loaded up and headed to the bowling alley to met up with some family members. It was fun, and we all enjoyed ourselves until the very end when poor Grandpa Allen slipped over the "do not cross line" and fell, resulting in a fractured wrist :( Some went to the ER and others home for angel food cake. Mostly lovely day.

Brinley is such a good girl and example. We think she is as gorgeous inside as she is out. We are lucky to call her ours.

Some more about Brinley at age 10:

She likes art work and being creative. She has a good imagination and is always creating things around the house.

She has been taking a hiatus from piano and has been happy about that.

She has good taste and has been supervising the make-over of her room down to the paint color and everything. I think she has a good eye for decorating...pics of completed room coming soon.

She accuses us of embarrassing her sometimes.

She is not a big fan of reading unless the book is funny.

She likes to be in charge, but doesn't like being the oldest...because she says the babies get more attention.

She likes Monster High Dolls, Harry Potter, and Taylor Swift, and her iTouch.

She has started a pretty good collection of earrings. It may be a long 6-8 weeks but she has been really responsible about cleaning and taking care of her piercings thus far.

She has a kind heart and helps keep our family on track.

We LOVE YOU VALENTINE BRINLEY!!!