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!

A Good Sport

I don't know if I ever mentioned this or not, but I was called awhile back to be the Assistant Girls Camp director in our ward. The stake YW Presidency challenged all the YW to read the Book of Mormon before Girls Camp. As part of that challenge, the wards were supposed to have two activities that focused on the Book of Mormon. For one of the activities we did a skit night. They asked my husband to be Samuel the Lamanite. They were supposed to be funny. I thought it would be really funny to have him do a rap while being Samuel. He was extremely hesitant, but agreed. He did a really good job. He was very nervous so he forgot a lot of the words, but I was super impressed that he would get up there.
The kids were assigned to throw things at Brian as wicked Nephites. When I explained this to them Maya was very upset. "I don't want to be one of the evil people, I want to be one of the ones that listened to Samuel!" I told her it was just pretend, but then she still wanted to pretend to be a good Nephite. I guess I should be happy that she recognizes what the story represents and wants to follow Jesus. I wonder if on the other hand I should be worried about Kaitlyn who was more than willing to shoot ammunition at dad! She was fine to be wicked! They all did a great job. I appreciate them being good sports!

A Day Out With Thomas

Gavin got to go for his ride on Thomas the train this week. When we pulled up to the railway station he could see Thomas through the window and was instantly screaming, "CHOO, CHOO!" I could barely get him out of his carseat before he took off at full sprint to see the train. You are not actually allowed to touch the train, but you try and explain that to a 2-year-old who is obsessed with Thomas! He really enjoyed playing with all the train tables they had set up at the venue. He got to see Sir Topham hat, but he didn't want to go up to him at all. He was a little intimidating I thought!

Then it was time for our ride on the train. He was not very patient waiting in line. Plus, we needed extra help for Brian to get on the train. On their website for Heber Valley Railroad, it said that we just needed to inform them when we got there that we would need additional help to get on the train. So Brian went to inform them, and they rudely said they need a 24 hour notice. WHATEVER! He said he would try to get on, but it did not workat all. So I threw a fit which caused a scene, and guess what happened, magically a lift appeared. So much for needing a 24 hour notice! I seriously doubt that they would have behaved any differently had we called them the day before. It took them all of 5 minutes to get the lift and the train still left on time. Gavin had a really good time which made the whole day worth it.

Guess Who's Two?!

It's Thomas mania at our house this weekend because it was Dylan and Gavin's birthday. We went all out with the Thomas the Train stuff. We ordered pizza for lunch because he loves pizza, especially all the toppings! He really likes the mushrooms, olives, and green peppers. He eats better than Brian and I on lots of occasions. We got a Thomas pinata for the kids to hit. My nephew Austin and Gavin had a blast smacking the train. Even when the candy fell out, Austin still wanted to hit the train. He was excited that a few more pieces fell out when he hit it. For presents Gavin got lots of Thomas stuff. A few movies, lots of Thomas clothes and PJ's, an engineer hat with whistle and handkerchief, and he got a Thomas Ride-On car. After all of his presents he was saying, "This is awesome!" It was pretty funny!
He really liked his ride on car. He rode it all day yesterday, and all this morning! Of course he also got tickets to "A Day Out With Thomas" on the Heber Valley Railroad. They dress up the train to look like Thomas and all the kids get to ride on it. He will be beyond excited! Thomas Cake! We went up to the cemetary later on in the day. We got a Thomas balloon for Dylan as well. It was really nice to let the kids celebrate Dylan too. I was doing really good emotionally until I picked up the balloons and cake. I wanted so badly for the cake to have both of their names on it. Dylan is definitely missed. One of these birthdays I am going to get through it without crying! Gavin might be 40 by then, but it will happen!

Week in Review

Wow we had a crazy busy week last week. The week started off with the passing of my Grandfather. He was my Dad's dad. He was also my last grandparent. I am grandparentless now. Luckily for me, Brian has two sets of grandparents that treat me like one of their own grandchildren. My grandpa Bullock was 93 years old. He was amazing. He was at church just last Sunday on Mother's Day. His caretaker/Bishop said that he had born his testimony the week before. I think that gives a whole new meaning to enduring to the end. He served in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints his whole life. I can only wish to be half the person he was. He was completely all there to the end also. He simply died of old age. I guess a person's body has to give out sometime. We expected that he probably would not live much longer. My dad and six of his siblings. It was a whirlwind trying to get family called and all in town. My dad is the oldest of 9 children. My grandfather was the oldest of 10 children. He is survived by 2 brothers, 9 children, 57 grandchildren, 81 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren! That is one heck of a legacy to leave behind. So it was crazy to get together this weekend. Many of them were able to make it. He will be missed. Maya, Kaitlyn, and 2nd Cousin Maddie. Maya had tryouts for the Swim team again. She of course mad the team. She is looking really good already this season. We are expecting awesome things from her this summer! She is excited to try and qualify to get a trophy this year. Kaitlyn had her pre-school program. She loves to perform so this was a lot of fun for her. She reminded Brian everyday that her program was coming up. He missed the last program because Maya's was at the same time. She was not going to let him live that down! He is lucky he was able to come because I don't think she would have ever forgiven him!