4th of July

 The 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year, which means that we celebrated on Saturday AND Sunday AND Monday (the official work holiday). It made it so fun! We got to spread the celebrating out over several days and do all the stuff and see fireworks three separate times!

On  we did a big swim party at my parents house with the whole Newbold family- these pictures of Lila and Rosie are so cute! 

The theme for dinner was "Men who grill" and Will, Ben and my dad all brought their grills (we had all three going) and grilled different specialties for dinner. Ben got really creative and made two different types of sliders. Everything was super delicious and the company was lovely. Then everyone left but me and the boys (Ben took Lila home to bed) and we watched fireworks from my parents balcony- which is my favorite thing ever.

Layton City had their celebrations on Monday, so we ventured over to the Layton parade and crashed Hickman's party there. Let me tell you- it was HOT. So hot. The kids got tons of candy and loved it, but man it was HOT. Afterwards I drove the boys straight to my parents house so they could take a quick dip in the pool because everyone was so hot and sweaty.

On the 5th we did our traditional red, white and blue breakfast. Ben made biscuits topped with berries and cream and it was delicious!

This was on the 4th, which was Sunday. Ben and our 14 year old neighbor George matched at church! They both humored me with a picture on the walk home.

Lila had so many cute, festive dress up options! I kept passing that section in Target and thinking about buying her a special 4th of July outfit, but I'm glad I didn't. Turns out her wardrobe at home was perfect already. So we started on July 1st and she got to wear them all before the 5th was over! 

Before church on the 4th of July. I maybe could have found some red ties for the big kids to wear, but they didn't care. They went with Ben to set up chairs at church, so I snapped some pictures of my two tinies and while they didn't exactly cooperate, I love their candid shots!

We are so thankful to have my parents beautiful pool which makes life a party! These kids are all fearless in the water and we love watching them have so much fun!

This little outfit was a gift last year- it was size 6-9 month which she could have feasibly fit into last 4th if she wasn't such a tiny, slow growing baby! But it actually still fit this year and was just perfect!

We watched fireworks three nights in a row! On the 3rd we watched from my parents balcony, which is our favorite spot. Right after I put the boys to bed on the 4th a lot of people in our neighborhood were setting them off, so I grabbed the boys out of bed and we all went out and watched. Davis LOVES fireworks and was a wild little man running up and down the sidewalk and pointing out every one of them! On the 5th we did the same thing, we could see the Layton City fireworks from our next door neighbors driveway, so we set up chairs and enjoyed the show from there! In all of these firework shows, Hudson lasted for maybe 10 minutes and then we sent him to bed to the relief of everyone, including him. Lila slept through all of them without a peep (thankfully!) and Chase and Davis were excited to the very end! 

The Rest of June

We spent so much of June playing outside. Davis and Lila love playing in the front yard, a lot of times with a gaggle of other little kids. I am thankful every single day for our beautiful neighbors!

Hudson, being the sweetest brother ever, practicing the piano with Lila on his lap. He has done this before and I always think it's darling, even though it isn't the best way to practice.

Davis is officially "deep end certified" (a term Hudson coined years ago). He can jump off the board and swim to the side. He's been amazing! He doesn't panic at all- so he'll be swimming across the pool, lift his head up to get a breath and sweetly declare "Almost there!" and then put his head in again to swim! We are so proud of him!

Sweet cousins, enjoying swim night! 

Chase and I started running together last spring. We just go once a week (my knees can't handle more than that). He's done amazing! We are up to 2.2 miles, no stopping, and even though it feels super hard to him, he keeps going! He told me the cool down is his favorite part because he feels so accomplished. I love this time with this cool kid.

I turned 33! It was during one of the weeks I taught swim lessons. I had Anna and Nora in classes that week, so Kate came early and they decorated the yard for me! It was a fun surprise! Ben and I went out to dinner and did a little shopping that night, which was also wonderful.

I was super excited to be done teaching swim lessons! The two weeks went really well, but it was so nice to have it behind me. I put all my boys in classes the first session and I loved having them, they all enjoyed it too.

Classic Huds

I think this was the last time we went to a park- this is like the first week of June. It got HOT so early this year, it's too hot for parks! It's been high 90s or 100s every day for weeks and we are all getting a little tired of it!

 

The Beginning of our Summer

Summer is off to a really great start! It has been packed full lately, and we are less than two weeks in! We've created so many fun memories with the kids and spent a lot of time outside, so I'll call it all a win!

One morning I took the crew up to Silver Lake. This place is one of my very favorite spots in Utah! The drive up the canyon itself is just so gorgeous, it leaves me in awe every time. And once we got out the car, Chase even kept remarking on how amazing it is to be up in the mountains and how beautiful the scenery is! We met the Bennetts up there and the kids had a really great time together. Chase, Ryder and Hudson kept track of the little guys as they ran ahead and climbed on all the rocks, while Alyse and I very slowly walked around the lake with very independent one year olds.

Every time we visit here I promise myself we will be back SOON! 

Lila had her 15 month well check and she's perfect! She was 21 pounds and 30 inches, which puts her right around the 40th percentile in both. She did NOT like the doctor assessing her at all! Even though he did the whole exam with her in my lap, she was super unimpressed with his stethoscope, or flashlight, or touching her in any way. She's very friendly to people from a distance, but she is very selective on who can touch or hold her and when. She's definitely a mama's girl! 

Hudson's baseball team won the 2nd grade championship! It was so exciting! They were a talented little team, and although Hudson didn't add many points to the scoreboard, he loved being part of it! He cheered for his teammates, had so much fun in the dugout, and had a lot of courage to keep getting up to bat even after so many strike outs. He was thrilled with his trophy! Right after they won, one of the coaches came and got all the parents and families to come out onto the field to make a tunnel for them to run through. It was so fun to celebrate with them! 

 I'm sure Chase was a little jealous that Hudson's team got to the championship game and won! His team got out in the first round of the playoffs. However, instead of showing any jealousy, he went to the other extreme of being SO excited and enthusiastic for Hudson that it was almost a little annoying. I was proud of him though, and Hudson really soaked up the attention. And I love that Hudson couldn't even put his donut down for me to take a picture of him and Richie with their trophies!

Memorial Day and the End of School

Memorial Day my parents opened the pool! Davis has been asking to swim since about February and he was ALL OVER IT! Lila surprised us by mostly really liking the pool and she lasted for a long time (although she didn't love her life jacket).

I wanted to do something fun as a family on Memorial Day morning, and this is what Ben came up with! Family bike ride on the legacy trail. It was seriously so fun! Ben and I don't have bikes, but Chase wanted to roller blade anyway so Ben rode his bike. And then I just pushed Lila in the stroller. It was beautiful and lovely and a great way to spend the morning!

It got so hot that the last week of school the kids were in the pool or the sprinklers every day! This is the best part of childhood.

And then the boys finished up their school year! What a year! Definitely not a typical year and one we won't soon forget! From starting on hybrid schedule, to four days a week, lots of remote learning, masks every day (until the last week!)- these boys had a positive attitude through it all! Yes, they would have loved to go 5 days a week with no masks all year, but they didn't complain. They really made the best of it and have a new appreciation for school.

They had such great teachers this year. Hudson had Mrs. Evans (who Chase also had in 2nd grade) and we love her so much. I might have colluded with Richie and Hyrum's moms to all request her so the boys could get another year together and it was so great. I love that he has these sweet friends. He also made so many new friends and tells me all the time about the girls who chase him at recess (Becca, Megan, Lyla) and he's well aware that they chase him because they all have crushes on him. His reading really took off this year- he started reading short chapter books and ended the year being able to cruise through much harder, longer books. He did so well in math, too. And I always loved seeing his writing. He's really gotten into art this year as well, always drawing different characters or ideas. I love his creative little mind.

Chase had Mrs. Blankinship, who was really nice and really pushed him (a first for him). I didn't request a teacher for him, but he managed to get in the same class as all his best friends anyway, which made the year really fun. Chase struggled a lot with perfectionism this year and being really hard on himself, something we are working on. He was one of only 10 kids in his grade to finish the "read across Utah" challenge, 29 books of varying genres. He finished it by March. So he got a book of his choice and to attend a special waffle breakfast. This kid just devours books, and truly enjoyed the challenge. They also did a lot of science this year, which he really loved. He disliked his music prep class, and tried to form a class boycott against it. It didn't work, their teacher made him go anyway, but she was proud of them for using their vocab words (boycott!). Otherwise I think he really loved 4th grade. In fact, he told me once school was out that "I'm so excited for summer, but I'm sad that 4th grade is over."

 

May

 Oh I love May! The weather is just dreamy, blossoms are blooming, the air is fresh and smells amazing- and it's so full of fun activities with my kiddos! The kiwi crates arrived late one night and I found the kids are 6:30 on Saturday morning busily putting them together. These have been such a fun activity for these smart boys!

We had the cousins over to play one afternoon and I can never pass up an opportunity to photograph these two together. On this particular day they were struggling to share, well, anything. Including the chair. But they did settle on sitting in it together.

She looks so cute all dressed up for church- I love it when I can actually capture her sweetness in a photo. 

Now she's really committed to walking and walks everywhere these days. It's darling, and also so much easier on the toes of her shoes. Also, I'm a little lazy so she doesn't actually wear shoes all that often.

Davis has so much energy, but when he does chillax on the couch he looks so cute and grown up! He actually doesn't watch that much TV, but when he does he takes it very, very seriously.

The big boys started baseball! I love baseball season so much. I love watching my boys play. I love spending so much of our spring outside (it's so pleasant!). I love seeing them learn new things and make new friends. Davis was sure he was playing this year. We've been reading "Froggy plays T-ball" every single day (Davis likes to choose a set of about 5 books that we read over and over for weeks at a time). At Hudson's first game, he stood on the bleachers and yelled "I gotta GET IN THERE! I've gotta hit the ball up, up, up and out of the park!" (Direct quote from Froggy). It was so cute and funny.

But Davis actually meant business. I think he figured that his exclusion from the game had nothing to do with his age, and everything to do with lack of proper gear. So he came to the next game prepared. He wore a jersey. He grabbed this old football helmet. And with his little plastic bat in hand, literally just tried to scale the fence to join the game! (As soon as I snapped this picture I went to retrieve him, and he was almost over the top at the fence at that point). Ben tried to let him play there on the sidelines, but he was adamant that he only wanted to play on the legit field. He's going to be so excited when it's finally his turn!

Of course we had to celebrate May the 4th! It was actually a busy evening full of baseball games- but I did make these R2D2 brownies for the boys after school snack, which they were thrilled about. It was funny to remember this day last year. It was a Monday, but since EVERYTHING was cancelled back then (school, sports, church, all social activity) we had the whole day at home. We did festive brownies AND watched a movie. No time this year! It made me appreciate the sweetness of the time we had together last year, and appreciate the beauty of getting to be involved in the busyness this year.

We had an early Mothers Day dinner with my family. It's always a party with this gang!

Hudson's baseball season was so fun! He hit the ball twice and actually got on base! One of those times he actually got home! He was on a team with lots of good players and they won almost every game. Mostly, he loved hanging out with his team, laughing in the dugout and sometimes playing in the dirt in the outfield. I'm so glad he got on the same team as Richie- that was a blast!

This is Davis's little gang! This group of boys plays together all the time, mostly bopping between our yards. He loves his little friends! Next year they'll all be in school, except Davis, and I'm not sure how he'll handle it!

Lila started wearing little pony tails and pig tails and it's the cutest thing ever. 

Chase's house at school (Isibindi) won their little house challenge, and the reward was a chalk dust fight! He was so excited and came home from school so messy! I made him go straight to take a shower.

Doing Lila's hair became a real highlight of May for me :)

Just my sweet boys dressed up before church one Sunday. We are back to two hours of church! They kids get to go to primary! Davis is officially a sunbeam, or a "butterbean" as he's been calling it. For our first time back in Relief Society we decided to make it a little party and we had cupcakes and balloons and it was so cute and fun! Lindsay helped me decorate like 100 cupcakes and they turned out so pretty, I felt like we were ready to host a wedding or something!

The boys are helping Papa put in a huge garden at Aaron's. Their plan is to have a little farmers market in the fall and sell all the produce. The boys have big plans of what they'll do with all their money! Davis is the most enthusiastic helper.

Chase's baseball season has been a real growth opportunity for him! They let the kids pitch this year- which is a huge challenge. Chase got to pitch in a few different games and did great! He's been practicing pitching at home with Ben and he's got quite a good arm. He's also hit some great runs this year. Chase's competitive side has really come out and sometimes he's struggled to control his emotions when the game didn't go well, or he struck out, or had unfair calls made. I think he's learned a lot though! 

For Chase's 4th grade county report he got Garfield county- which is kind of nice because we actually visited it earlier in the year! That's where Bryce Canyon is! He had to choose a special project to do about his county and he chose to make a diorama. I love how it turned out! Literally all I did was make the salt dough and buy him paint, he did the rest by himself. For a kid who doesn't necessarily love an art project, it was fun to see him enjoy doing this.

The cutest little spectator at brother's games!

I snapped this photo of Hudson on first base! This was after he got his 2nd hit of the season. I wish I could have captured his face when he actually hit the ball- mix of surprise and excitement!

May went so fast! It was so busy with school, end of year activities, baseball and playing outside in the beautiful weather as much as we could. Over the last few months we've been playing the game of "this time last year" and remembering what the world was like. May was a big month of settling back into mostly normal- baseball resuming, 2 hours of church, mask mandate went away. We are getting back to normal and it feels so good!