Trip to Arizona

 My sister Becky had her 3rd baby, Remmy Mae, on May 31st.  I had wanted to be there for her birth so bad, but with Remmy being born a couple of weeks early and it was right during a week of waiting to confirm another miscarriage for us.   So, I wasn't able to go right after she was born.

We knew that the first weekend of August was the Baxter family reunion (Jon's side of the family) in Oregon and we planned on going.      But, with 2 miscarriages and other family issues that have happened, I just needed to do something for myself.   Jon was so kind and so sweet to let me go to Arizona that weekend with my parents to visit Becky and be there for Remmy's blessing.  That meant that Jon would take the 5 oldest kids (I took Hailey with me) and make the drive to Oregon.   They had a wonderful time and Jon was such an amazing dad to do that.

I looked forward to this weekend in Arizona so much!    I was even able to hand deliver Remmy's quilt to her:

We arrived on Thursday early evening and it was so fun to see Becky's cute house and her cute family.  Brooklyn and Jake got along so well with Hailey and Hailey LOVED playing with their toys.   Remmy was an absolute doll and it was fun to hold her and kiss her cute cheeks.   

It's so dreamy to go on walks early in the morning with Becky, run on errands with my mom and Becky and stop at gas stations to run in and grab a Diet Coke.   We were able to go to a music class, swimming, the mall to play, McDonald's play area and to dinner at Red Robin.

 Worn out from all their fun!

 

John's parents, Marc & Betty, were also able to come into town.   One night, all the grownups were visiting and these 2 put on dress-up dresses and danced.

Thankfully, a superhero arrived to keep an eye on the girls!

 

 Brooklyn was cracking us up - she really got into her dancing :)

 

On Sunday,  we all got ready and went to Church.  Remmy's blessing was wonderful!  She looked so beautiful in the blessing dress (it's the same one that Brooklyn & Hailey were also blessed in).   Becky and John have a wonderful ward and so many amazing friends.

They hosted a get-together at their house after and it was fun to meet more of Becky's friends and also have Camille Curto (my cousin) and her little boy, Vinnie come over.  I had never met Vinnie in person before and it was fun to visit with them.   Vinnie is such a cute little boy.

I hated to see the weekend go by so fast!  We left Sunday afternoon and had a great flight home.  Hailey was the best little traveler.  She was so good and sweet and it was a piece of cake to have just one child.   I was so happy to see Jon and the other kids and was so grateful for the chance to go!

Swimming Lessons

 One of the things that has become a tradition during summer break, is taking swimming lessons at Ms. Lorie's house.  This summer, Kate & Hannah did 2 sessions of lessons and Jack did 1.    Jack and Kate are great swimmers and worked on getting better on their strokes.  Hannah went from not swimming at all to being able to swim across the pool.  She's not quite able to get all the way AND take a breath, but she definitely made a lot of improvements.

Ms. Lorie is so great with the kids - especially Hannah.   She is patient and understanding, but she also doesn't take any crap.  If she asks the kids to do something, she expects them to do it.

Hannah

 



 Ms. Lorie explaining (for the 100th time at least) to take a breath

 

 Jack became a much better diver over the course of his session.

 

 Hannah again

 

 Flipping to her back

 

 Kate also became a much better diver

 

 Hannah diving from the side of the pool

 

 Hailey was an angel at these lessons. She'd have a snack and do activities.  She was also in the middle of potty-training (which went great and fast!)!

 

 Jumping off the diving board is not Hannah's favorite thing to do, but she still did it :)

 

 Of course, it's more of a launch then a jump, but still so cute!

 

Hannah's Birthday

On July 28th, Hannah turned 6!  The night before, we had a birthday dinner for her. She chose grilled chicken and noodles with alfredo sauce.  She was kind enough to let me just buy cookies for her dessert.  (I had hosted the 24th of July on Thursday, held our annual Buckeye BBQ on Saturday and then done her birthday dinner on Sunday).

 

On her actual birthday, she woke up during the night and had thrown up.  Poor girl!  She slept fine the rest of the night, but we had to cancel playdate plans with her best friend Heidi that morning just to be sure.   (Emily & Lindsey left for Girl's Camp this same morning).    But, she seemed to feel fine, so we still went to swimming lessons and she played with Kate & Hailey during the day.   Then, on Wednesday, we had Heidi for most of the day and had a birthday celebration at McDonald's for lunch.

Hannah was so excited to get the "Rebecca" American Girl doll from my mom.   My mom actually ordered the doll a couple of years ago and it's been high in my closet.   Hannah's middle name is Rebecca, so it fits perfectly.    Hannah absolutely loves her.  (Thankfully the night of the throw up, the Rebecca doll was on the opposite side of the throw up).

 

 Kate made the little blanket for her.

 

She waited patiently until Jon got home in the evening to open her big present from us.  She was so excited to also get the Lego Cinderella Castle.  This family of ours loves Legos!   She puts them together all by herself.

 

We sure love this Hannah of ours!  She is a big first grader now and still cracks us up daily.   She loves building Legos, doing melty beads, playing with Heidi, teasing Hailey, dancing and watching movies.     She is in the 30th percentile for her weight and height - but has to be in the 120% for cuteness!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

The Esco's visit!

During the middle of July, my cousin Ashlie and 3 out of her 4 kids were able to fly into SLC and spend a week with us!  They came all the way from Boston and we just absolutely love when we get to see them!

They came in on Thursday night.  On Friday night, we decided to go to a Bee's baseball game.  It was a great night - the ballpark wasn't super crowded and we sat in the shade.  My mom (and later Mike & Mandy) also came!

Hailey loves the Bee and gets excited every time she sees it.

 Max (almost 15), Emily (14), Hailey (3), Hannah (almost 6), the Bee (age unknown), Kate (8), Abby (13), & Tom (10).  (Lindsey was at a birthday party and Jack was there at the game too but had gone with a friend.  Jon was at work).

 It filled in a little more than this - but it was wonderful!

 These two were angels - they were happy to just play with this My Little Pony book and then eat treats.

 Kate knows how to relax at a game :)

 My mom was so sweet and bought all the kids a treat.  Hannah wanted an icecream cone and came back with this!

We loved spending the days with Ashlie & the kids.  On Monday morning, she drove Max, Abby, Emily & Lindsey down to BYU so they could attend sports camps.  (Max did baseball, Abby did volleyball & my girls did soccer).  

While they were gone, we went to a movie, we went to the float preview to see the 24th of July floats, we spent an evening at the zoo with Meg, and Tom & Jack just played and played.

The girls got home on Thursday (July 24th) just in time for a big family BBQ - which included a taffy pull.  I wish I had gotten more pictures!

I'm working on convincing the Esco's to just move to Utah and be our next door neighbors!  They are so, so wonderful!

Patriot Camp

During the middle of July, the girls got to participate in Patriot Camp!  This is the most amazing camp and I am so grateful for all the hundreds of volunteer hours that went into providing this.

Emily & Lindsey were able to be volunteers at it (which also can be counted as a Young Women's value experience).   They were each assigned an age group to help take to each station every day.  Kate & Hannah were able to be "campers" and attend.  (I originally signed Jack up as well, but then realized I had already signed him up for the annual Johnsen & Johnsen basketball camp that he loves to go to).

The kids go each day for an entire week from 9 a.m. to noon.   They learn about our founding fathers and the principles & values that our founding fathers built our nation on.  They learned about historical events, historical figures, they learned great songs and made great new friends.  They got the cutest shirts and every day came home with fun reminders about what they talked about that day.   All for $30.   Can you believe it?  Amazing!

I love Patriot Camp!  I love that they can learn about our amazing country!   On the last day, the parents can come and watch them perform their songs.

 Kate

 

 Hannah

 

 Kate's the blond on the right (looking at the camera)

 

Hannah

 

 

On that last day too, they had visits from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and a Revolutionary War soldier!

 



 This is the group - the kids in the blue shirts are the "campers."  The kids in the tan shirts are the youth volunteers (Lindsey wasn't here this day - she was playing in a soccer tournament).

 

 Can you spot Hannah?  She's on the 2nd row - 1st "camper" on the left.  I love that they smile when they see me with the camera.

 

 This is Emily's group - she's on the back row - 2nd one in.

 

 Emily's best friend, Kate, also volunteered.  She was over Hannah's group.  This was also the group that Lindsey helped with.  Hannah's on the front row, far left.

 

Kate made this cute friend, Grace