July

July has been fun, and crazy.  My sister and her family have come and gone now, but we certainly painted the town while they were here.  My brother, Nate and his girls, me and my 3, my parents, and Shannon and 3 of her kids  got a 3 day City Pass for Salt Lake, which had to be used in 3 consecutive days...what a crazy trip!  On day one, we went to Thanksgiving Point.  We saw all the gardens, including the children's garden with all it's fun mazes and water features.  We also saw the dinosaur museum.  Afterwards, we headed to Snowbird to ride the tram.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there, a lightning storm picked up, so we got a return ticket for a later date.  While up in the canyon, we encountered a moose, which was pretty cool.  We also got to witness the fullest the river has been this summer..it was a scary, wicked river! 

On day two, we went to the "This is the Place" state park.  We thought the kids would be bored there, but 5 hours later, we finally pulled them out!  We then headed over to the zoo and caught a show and checked out the dinosaur exhibits.  Then, decided to add a little more culture to our kids lives, we took them to the downtown Pie.  That brought back some memories to this old lady of times there in high school...back when the place was so smokey you couldn't even taste the pizza!  The kids were amazed at the 28" pizza!

Day three we went to the Planetarium and caught two shows. On this day, we were joined by 9 months pregnant Mallary and Greg.  The IMAX show was pretty good, but the star show put Mallary to sleep.  One of my neices walked out of the star show since the "big bang" scared her.  Not the highlight of her day!  I think it was the highlight of Mallary's though..she really needed that nap since, unbeknownst to any of us, she was in labor!!  We then headed over to the Lion House for a nice lunch..well what was supposed to be anyway.  Paige threw such a fit over not wanting chicken fingers that this mom was about ready to throw her into the lions den and leave her there!  We then went to the children's museum and playing in the fountains..well most of us did.  Mallary and Greg were "tired" and I was "fried" so the three of us took off  a bit early.  I had to get ready for the next days adventure..Ben's birthday!

The next day, was the big guys 12th bday.  He wanted to do his traditional birthday celebration in the evening which includes going to Classic Waterslides, followed by fireworks, smores and water games in our backyard with the neighborhood friends.  That was the plan, but when Ben woke up, I decided to take him on a mommy-son date to Kneaders for breakfast.  When I got in the car, I checked my cell phone for the first time that day, and discovered that Baby Gage had been born on Ben's bday!  We read the text..went and announced the news to the rest of the family, then got on the phone for the details.  Ben and I enjoyed a french toast breakfast and enjoyed the idea that both Ben and Gage had the same birthday.  Gage was the best bday present Ben had ever received. 

After breakfast, we got the rest of the family and headed to the hospital for the bday boys to meet.  That little guy is the cutest little thing.  We are so happy to have him in the family.

The next day, we threw a party celebrating Ben's ordination to the priesthood.  We had both families over for dinner.  Thankfully I had help, because after this crazy week, I hadn't had much time to cook OR clean..and frankly, I was too tired to care how my house looked.  It was a great day for our family to celebrate Ben..and to light fireworks.

The next day was the 4th of July..and more fire.  We went to the neighborhood parade in the morning, then just relaxed the rest of the day..we needed it.  That evening we went to a neighborhood fireworks/ picnic and socialized with the riff raff that surrounds our home.

Somewhere in the midst of this week, Ben had a track meet.  He has discovered the joy of running (I have never discovered that myself..but some say it exists)  He ran the mile, the 800, and a 4X100 relay.  He also did the long jump.  He is pretty good at the long jump, but I am just impressed that he finds joy in the distance races.  He told me that the only time his brain stops churning is while he is running.  I am glad he has found a positive outlet.  His grandparents came to 2 of his meets and helped cheer him on, which was really nice.

Well, that is a week in the life of me..kinda crazy!  I am so glad I have the kids I have that enjoy hanging out with me ( for now anyway)  I hope to stretch this out for as long as possible!