Pearsons visit and more summer fun

Last week I dropped my camera. Face down. Broke it. Luckily I have a warranty on it. Not so luckily, it will take another week or so before I get it back. I've been avoiding my blog because it just reminds me I'm cameraless. It's pretty sad.


So, what have we been up to?


Celeste, Bryan, and their kids came to visit last week. Technically, they came to Utah for a Pearson family reunion, but I know deep down they were really coming here just to see me! We went to Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove with the boys, but didn't stay as long because we were all dying from the heat. So we headed to Arctic Circle for ice cream cones before the Pearsons took off for their family reunion. Upon returning from their adventures, we took the kids to Jumpin' Jacks and then over to Christina's for lunch (bbq chicken salad!) and craft day. The kids splashed in the kiddie pool, jumped on the trampoline, and played with their cousins. Aubrey even climbed into the kiddie pool, a big step for her! Finally, I drove out to Heber and met Celeste and her family at McDonalds for lunch and some play time - yeah, I know, a half hour drive for McDs? I really was just there for the company, I needed some sister time. Celeste and I then went to dessert that night at CPK. It was the only time we had to ourselves to hang out, although a trip to Park City would have been pretty awesome too.



I found myself feeling selfish for my time with Celeste. With three kids, a part-time job, and a husband studying for the bar, I don't get much time to get out of the house with friends. I especially miss my sisters and my mom, knowing that they are only a few miles from each other yet a thousand miles from me. Even though I saw Celeste on several occasions, it wasn't enough for me, and I'm lucky that my mom came a few days later to fill the void. Now, how am I going to get Carissa out here?


I loved seeing Celeste's kids. Rix and Hayden are very similar, which makes me feel better because I thought Hayden's mood swings and desire to be in control were just a Hayden thing, but now I'm thinking it might be a six-year-old thing. Rix used to be quite unimaginative, everything needed to make sense to him, so it was nice to see him playing pretend with the kids, dressing up like a ninja (and scaring Aubrey with his costume!). Bryce loved Aubrey, too. He kept playing with her and making sure she was okay. Aubrey now thinks any redheaded boy is "Bice." And Cole just melts my heart, although his scream kills my ears!


Hayden had his last tee ball game last Saturday. He finally got to play first base, which everyone fights over because they get to catch the ball a lot. He really enjoyed his team this year, his coaches taught him a lot about throwing and catching the ball, and he loved that his games were right across the street from the hospital because it meant he sometimes got to see the Life Flight helicopter come and go.


The boys have been doing homework every day since summer started. I got some workbooks at the dollar store that they breezed through, and I've been working on teaching Hayden addition and subtraction. As long as he can count on his fingers he's good! Roman is learning to write his name. He gets easily frustrated and I have to sit down with him and encourage him to keep trying, but eventually he gets his name down and is quite proud of himself. I find out in a few weeks if Roman is accepted into the Headstart program. Hayden starts 1st grade on August 25.


Aubrey is walking and slightly running. Mom says she walks like a man, which I'm pretending to not be offended by. Aubrey says a lot of words now, even if to a stranger she still sounds like she's speaking gibberish. At least I can understand her, right? She says play, ball, mom, dad, nana, papa, Bryce, Cole, Jack, up, please, thanks, hot (learned that after touching my flat iron), baby, binky, guys (aka brothers), sorry, me, more, bite, dog, fries, want that, and Lady Gaga (sounds like Gay gaga) :) She loves to "play" games, mostly Trouble and Connect 4. She runs to the game cabinet and says, "Me play!" and then spends 15 minutes deciding what to play. She's really good about picking up her games before she goes for another, though.

Jeremiah is in the final stretch of studying for the bar. He leaves in two days for Dallas and he's starting to feel the pressure. I've been trying to support him as much as I can, taking care of the house and kids so that he doesn't have anything else to worry about. He studies from 8am until sometime late at night, far after I've gone to bed. He usually takes a few breaks for meals and to gather his sanity, and the kids look forward to seeing him when they can. I can easily say that we are all looking forward to the end of all this!

I've been keeping busy with work and kids. I'm trying to stay organized with a chore chart for the kids, they just earned enough stickers to have a pajama party with their cousins, complete with pizza, a movie, and milkshakes. And a lot of blankets on the floor! Besides work and kids, I've been playing Lego Harry Potter on the Wii, watching tv, reading, and spending time in the kitchen (I made my first souffle on Monday!).

We are surviving and enjoying our summer. The best part? It's not over yet!

Fourth with the Family

Our July 4th holiday was spread throughout the weekend, starting on Friday night with a trip to the park and a campout in my mother-in-law's backyard. We played tag in the park, went to Macey's for ice cream, and dropped Aubrey off at home with Jeremiah to sleep in her own bed. I shared a tent with the boys and Steve and Melanie were our tent neighbors with their kids. We finally made it to bed around 10:30pm and I'm pretty sure we were all asleep by midnight, after the boys were done getting over the novelty of the tent and all the zippered windows.

The next morning, I woke up at 6am to drive home and prepare my cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting for our ward's Boy Scout breakfast. I'd made the cinnamon rolls the day before, and just popped them back in the oven for a few minutes to make them nice and warm. They were the first things gone at the breakfast, always a compliment in my book! Kory and AnaLee met me at the breakfast since Hayden and Roman were still at my mother-in-law's and Jeremiah was asleep with Aubrey still. Aubrey went back with me to get the boys later in the morning.

After we cleaned up from the campout, we went home. Jeremiah and I cleaned the house and then I took a well-deserved nap with the boys while Jeremiah did a little studying. We then grabbed Subways and headed over to Josette's for dinner and fireworks.

You can see how I did Aubrey's hair for the holiday. She's getting better at sitting still for me, even if she is bawling her eyes out, and I got her bow from my friend Jen.

Can you see the stains on her dress? What was I thinking letting her eat strawberries in a white dress? After this, it turned into a challenge for me to see how else she could get dirty :) Gotta love OxyClean!

The boys were begging to run in the sprinklers with their cousin Taylor. At what age is running around in just your underwear inappropriate? :)

Before fireworks, we gave the boys a haircut. And by "we" I mean Jeremiah. The boys' hair is so thick and with this Utah heat I thought a good buzz cut would cool them down. Except Jeremiah decided to give Hayden the "Cristiano Ronaldo" haircut, meaning a mohawk-ish thing, except Hayden doesn't like product in his hair and prefers to wear it "flat" - Hayden's words, not mine - so I ended up cutting his mohawk the next morning before church.

No, Steve isn't really annoyed...okay, well maybe a little. And yes, Jeremiah really is that obnoxious.

The sparklers gave off so much smoke! Does anyone see my son? I think I've lost him!

Kory and AnaLee joined us for fireworks at Josette's house before we headed back to my house to watch the Stadium of Fire from my backyard. I'd made cheesecake for everyone, but by the time the fireworks ended, everyone was exhausted and went back home. We ended up having Kory and AnaLee back over on Sunday for cheesecake - we had to share our calories!

Monday morning we went to Provo's parade. People seriously get there at 4am just to get a good spot! Unfortunately, my kids slept until 8:15am so we had to rush to get there by 9am for the parade. Josette found a spot for her and the boys, and I found a tiny area of curb for Aubrey and me. The family next to us had several blankets laid out but had a lot of room and invited Aubrey and I to join them for a better view. Hayden later joined us and the family offered them some juice boxes. They were so nice to us!

A float with "How to Train your Dragon" characters. I love that movie!

Is this supposed to be President Obama? I can't tell.

These were some of my favorite floats. They also had a lot of fire trucks and police cars with their sirens on (much to Aubrey's dismay) and the parents of Utah's fallen soldiers, which received standing ovations. We left a little early because it was getting really hot. Next year, we are going to borrow Steve and Melanie's canopy and get there nice and early to get good seats (although I swear I say that every year).