She Did It!!!

Finally, everything that Maya has been working for came to a head last night! She finally qualified in the Breaststroke! She has been working harder than any other six-year-old that I know to perfect the stroke so she wouldn't get disqualified. We are so super proud of her. She really put in the effort to learn and practice.

The day started out not so great. In fact, she showed up at the swim meet with no towels, no swimcap, no goggles, and only one shoe! I figured the swim meet was going to be a total disaster! I was way wrong. She took overall 1st place in Freestyle (knocking 2 seconds off her best time!) and 2nd place overall in the Backstroke (also knocking 2 seconds off her time!). We are pretty sure she placed in the Breaststroke too, but it is the last event so she won't know until Wednesday how she did. She is just doing phenomenally well this season. She will probably medal at the county meet in a few weeks. Because she has qualified in three events, she will get to participate in those events at the county meet and she will get a trophy at the end of the season! We couldn't be happier for her!

4th of July!

Brian's work provided tickets to the Stadium of Fire in Provo again this year. The main entertainer was Carrie Underwood. We were pretty excited to see her in concert. We had our special matching Monavie shirts on. The coloring on them was not so cute this year, but the kids liked that we all matched. We had really close seats this year too. We were right next to the grass.
I was really impressed with the Stadium of Fire this year. They started with a big salute to the military. They played the songs that corresponded with each branch of the military and had people in the audience stand if they were members of that branch. It was cool to see each branch out there on the field flanked by boy scouts. I love that we can take time to let them know how much we appreciate what they do for our country. They also held an eagle court of honor for all the boy scouts that received their eagle this year. It is the 100th year for the Boy Scouts of America. They had a 98-year-old eagle scout there to start the court of honor. I was seriously impressed by this guy. The entire stadium was silent as he spoke. He is my new hero! They also printed a page in the program that said, "Proud to be an Eagle Scout" and all the men who were in the audience that were eagle scouts stood up and held open that page to create the largest eagle's nest ever. It was pretty spectacular to see thousands of men old and young rise from their seats. I have serious respect for eagle scouts. I promised I would marry me one someday, and boy was Brian glad he could say yes when I asked him if he was one! The whole night was just awesome. I found myself in tears many times through the night. Carrie Underwood did a really good job. We had fun dancing and singing to the songs.

There was a point during the fireworks where the dancers and boyscouts created the USA with lights. It was the most incredible thing I have seen in awhile. The fireworks were amazing. I just love the 4th of July. It is one of my favorite holidays. I love this country and I think it is awesome we get to celebrate our forefathers and our freedom!

Family Reunions

We had two family reunions 1 week apart. It was crazy! We are barely getting back to normal. Our first trip was to Island Park, ID. We stayed in a big bunk house with some of Brian's extended family. The bunkhouse sleeps a lot of people so you can imagine that it was not easy to get the little ones to bed! So nobody got very much sleep. It snowed when we first go there! It warmed up before we left, but it was a little more like camping instead of a summer vacation! It was fun to get to know some of Brian's cousins and let all the kids get to know each other. I had really bad allergies, and then I got really sick from the allergies, so my experience was not so great! The others had a great time though. There was an indoor pool for the kids to play in.
They also jumped from bed to bed in the bunkhouse and played lots of hide and go seek. Brian's sister Lindsay was kind enough to let me borrow their bike so I could take Gavin on a little bike ride! He was very excited! Gavin was so tired by the end of the weekend, he asked to be put in his playpen so he could have his pacifier and a moment alone!
Our next adventure (2 days later!) was at Bear Lake, UT. We stayed in some condomiums by the lake. It was for my Dad's family. I was in charge of the food for my siblings and parents. It wasn't too much work, but it was difficult since we were gone right before this reunion. I was still sick with a cold when we left for this reunion so again my time was pretty miserable. Then Gavin got really sick while we were there and didn't get any sleep. My niece Savannah got really sick too. Gavin and Savannah both had to go to the doctor. Savannah was more serious and had to go to the hospital because of dehydration. Then my brother got really ill on the day that we left and had to go to the doctor too. So all in all, I think it was stressful for everyone!
We did have some good times though. We rented some wave runners for a few hours on the lake. All the kids got to ride with an aunt, uncle, or parent.
I enjoyed myself immensely on them even though I wasn't feeling that great. The kids got to play in the lake too. There was a section of lake water that was pretty shallow so the water was warm. The kids like to lay in there and get warm. The regular lake water was extremely cold so it was a nice change. My nephew Carter didn't seem to mind the coldness of the lake. He sat right on the edge of the water and let the waves run up his legs. He screamed in delight each time!
The kids played at the pool everyday too.
I managed to not get sunburned or get any bug bites the whole trip! I got to see a lot of cousins, aunts, and uncles. We played games and had dinners together. It is fun to see everyone's kids because they grow so fast! We spent many a late night playing Settler of Catan. (One of our favorites!)
Gavin had a really good time playing with Savannah. They are getting to be quite good buds. They like to hug and give kisses!
Maya and Kaitlyn had a posse of little girls they played with like crazy.
They are all 2nd cousins and nearly the same age. They had a blast together.
Needless to say, I am still working on getting my house back to normal. We are all feeling a little better now and trying to get back into the swing of things. My life just gets busier because I am leaving for Girls Camp in 2 weeks! No rest for the weary!