Vacation!

We decided to plan a "Stay-Cation" this summer. So when Dave found out he got the 24th and 25th off work, we decided to make a LONG weekend out of it and took the following Monday and Tuesday off too! So 6 days off. It was such a nice break, and quite possibly more relaxing for us all. I mean, we slept in our own beds (which means we actually slept well). There was minimal packing, unpacking and laundry (ok, some since we went camping).

On the 24th (Thursday) we woke up bright and early to go watch Dave run his first 1/2 marathon! My mom picked us up so we could drive home with Dave. When Logan saw Dave all dressed up, he insisted he got some numbers for the race too! So we made him some.

Dave's parents came too, and we all waited for Dave to run by!

 And he went cruising by! I ran after him for a while and got a few pictures of him running.

This face says it all "what are you doing following me?"

He finished the race (13.1 miles) in 2 hours and 19 minutes! It's about average, which is fabulous for his first race. The sky was overcast and a little rainy for most of his race, which was perfect weather.

He finished, got some snacks, a massage, and iced his calves. After that we slowly walked back to my mom's car while watching the Days of 47 Parade. We saw horses, motorcycles, a few floats, and even the Prophet.

That night we got to see most of Dave's siblings (and the cousins) at a family BBQ. The kids had fun time playing in the pool, and we also got to enjoy some peach frozen yogurt and raspberry sherbet. It was a very relaxing evening.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are all a blur! We went to the splash pad every day (and Wednesday night too). Logan LOVES the splash pad, and by the end of our week, Dustin was having fun too. 

The best way to describe Logan is to imagine him dancing around the splash pad. He jumps into the water, waits for it to shoot up (in his face), and begs for Dave or myself to join him!

 At first Dustin would cry every time he even got a little water on him (he hates the cold), but he got a little acclimated at a time. By the end of Sunday we had him reaching for it and splashing in it.

We also got ice cream a few times in there and made a trip to FYE to get Logan a new movie. We got the Lego's Star Wars Trilogy. They're 20 minutes a piece so throughout the day Saturday we watched all three. They're actually quite funny for those familiar with Star Wars, but also kid friendly.

 Monday morning we packed up and went camping up Albion Basin! We got up to the site, set up our tent, and it started torrential pouring. Sigh, so we spent the first hour and a half playing in the tent. Logan was bored by that point, so he said a prayer that it would stop raining so we could have fun!

We moved to the car out of desperation (and need for Cheetoes). We hung out there for about a half hour before the rain calmed down to a little sprinkle!

So we hiked to the bathroom and saw three moose on our way back! The park ranger joined us and commented that he had never seen three together at once. By then it had started raining harder again so we went back to our tent. We decided to call it a trip and packed up our tent.

But by the time we were done packing the tent the rain had practically stopped. So we decided to hike until the rain started again.

The mountains looked really cool covered in clouds, and the alpine flowers that are always there were beautiful!

We ate rice cakes, granola bars, and fruit leather while enjoying the scenery. I tried to teach Logan how to play i-spy. Our version goes like this "I spy something purple, it's a flower!" he doesn't quite get you let the other person guess, but it's cute anyway.

We loved touching and smelling the flowers, and playing in the mud!

Dave decided to climb this boulder, and of course needed a picture at the top

After being coped up in the tent for almost 2 hours we really enjoyed our time! Both boys were just laughing as we hiked around.

When we got back to our site, it was 7pm and the rain hadn't come back (well, no more than a drizzle anyway). So I unpacked our tent and Dave cooked our foil dinners. We were glad we decided to stay, even if it rained all night. Logan kept telling us it was an adventure. But by Tuesday morning we were all ready to eat and head home.

That evening we ate at In-n-out for dinner and stopped by the library to get some books. It was casual, but just what we needed to unwind.

As for today, it looks like rain outside (although it hasn't actually rained yet). Logan, Dustin and I have been cleaning up the house, washing dishes, and doing laundry. Nothing major, but after so much fun, it was time for a down day.

Catching Up

I don't know where the past two weeks has gone! It's been busy busy busy! Part of the reason is my mom went out of town, and offered to let me borrow her amazing quilting sewing machine while she was gone! So I've been sewing like crazy to get my quilt done before she got back. And I got the top quilted. Now I just have to sew the binding on and I'm done! I love how it's turning out.

Dustin LOVES brushing teeth!

Other than that, Dustin's been teething. He's had a fever, runny nose, drool like crazy, and diarrhea. We thought he was sick for a week and a half, until the first tooth broke through. Tooth number two broke through this weekend, so we're hoping the symptoms will wind down. I'm so tired of 6 poop-ie diapers a day! But he's still happy as a clam.

Dave's been home on time this week! WOO HOO! We've loved spending time with him again. Yesterday I had to go to Costco, so I dropped Dave and Logan off at the splash pad while Dustin and I went over to Costco. They had so much fun! Dustin and I came and splashed after we were done, and had a grand time too. We got home a half hour past bedtime, but it was totally worth it!

We've been preparing for Dave's first half marathon. He runs it tomorrow, and he's ready. He's been preparing for 3 months, and I've spent today making food and packing our bag for tomorrow. I'm sure he'll do great! I can't imagine running that far, and I'm so proud of him for doing it. He has Thursday and Friday off work, and took off Monday and Tuesday too. So we're going to have a casual almost week off. We've got a BBQ planned, camping, a trip to the splash pad, and hopefully some relaxing! I'm sure it will be fabulous.

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July weekend! We went camping up American Fork Canyon on the 4th with my family. We played in the river, in the dirt, went on a hike, and just enjoyed the time with our cousins. Logan has been talking about his cousins since.

Grandma Sheila brought bubbles so all the cousins enjoyed picking their own color and blowing bubbles like crazy. Sara blew so much she had a bubble goatee.

Logan loved the little signs along the trail. He would stop at everyone and ask me what they said. Then we would run to the next sign. He and his cousin Max loved to be at the front of the pack of kids.

We had so much fun! Dustin didn't get to sleep until 9 and Logan was around 11:30, so we were pretty grumpy for the next few days. Driving home I found the Oreos we brought, and Logan had two and promptly fell asleep. He looked pretty funny with his Oreo ring around the mouth.

Ever since Logan keeps telling me it's time to get a new baby, like Rae and Sara got Timothy. He wants another brother too, but he wants to name our baby Pigger (I think like Tigger with a P). The baby will have little chubby feet and thumbs. Or so Logan requests. Oh, and he can fly.

Dave's been working like crazy again this week (will it never end?!?) Logan drew this picture on the drive way. When I asked it who it was he said "It's Daddy. He's sad because he has to work late tonight and he can't play with me and Dustin." It broke my heart! It's been such a hard month and a half for us all.

Monday we unpacked, did tons of laundry, and cleaned the house. It was a mess from all the fun we had over the weekend. Tuesday I was called and asked to volunteer at the soap factory. My friend RiKelle offered to watch the boys if I could watch her boy when she volunteered on Friday. Logan had so much fun, when we left he said he wanted to stay all day! I enjoyed making shampoo (until the machine exploded), and off brand Ajax. The Ajax machine only threw 2 cans at me (it's an old crappie machine), and we cranked out 6 cans a minute.

Back of the quilt accent

Dave worked until about 10 both Monday and Tuesday, so I was able to get the front and back of my quilting class quilt done! This is the accent (on the left side at a slight diagonal). So originally the hexagons were supposed to go at the base of the quilt on the front, but I decided it looked weird. So I sewed 6 extra stars and 5 square within a squares and made those go all around the outside. I wanted to use the hexagons, thus appliquéing the flower on the back. I should have made more leaves, but I was too lazy. But it's the back, so it will be fine.

My finished front!

I also changed the center of the quilt a little. I added an extra flower and changed the position of the big flower. The way they had it laid out I thought it looked like an umbrella was hanging over the top of the house. In comparison, the quilt below was the one they finished for the class. I love mine so much better!

Source: American Quilting Blog

Tomorrow my Mom will come over and help me pin the quilt so I can finish it! I'm so excited for it to be done so I can hang it up! I don't think I will let the boys and Dave use this quilt. It's so white, I'm afraid of stains. I learned how to machine appliqué for this quilt. I like it a lot better than hand appliquéing, although the look of hand appliquéing is so much better (it's just WAY too much work for me).

Busy Again

It's been a busy week for us! Dave was supposed to be done with over time, but he worked more. So we missed Dave like crazy. Logan got better, but Dustin had a lingering cough. He's finally gotten over it, but it took 2 weeks.

Last weekend we were exhausted from all Dave's overtime, so we took the weekend off! We relaxed, went on walks, and only did things we wanted to do. Friday we got to go to the temple and it was very relaxing to be able to enjoy a session and feel the spirit. I think we missed going to the temple last month, and we really needed it!

There was a Munch & Mingle at church, and it was fun to get to know more people in our ward. When we moved in there were 6 - 8 young (like our age) families in the ward, and over the past 6 years we've really had an influx of young families and couples move in. It's great! It will give our boys people to play with.

Monday Logan and I were on clean up duty! We did laundry, dishes, put away toys, vacuumed, swept and mopped. All the things we didn't feel like doing over the weekend. I also started an exercise class that a lady in the ward teaches 3 times a week. I came home so sore! I plan to continue to take the class Mondays and Wednesdays. It will help keep me motivated to exercise and it's fun for Logan and Dustin to play with the other kids.

Tuesday we went Strawberry picking at my parents house. Since my parents had been out of town for the weekend we got TONS of berries! I picked for about an hour and a half. I dried a batch of berries (to use in granola, granola bars, etc). But Logan has been eating them, so I might have to do a second batch. We'll see after I freeze as many as I want. It's a slow process, but this way we can enjoy fruit all year!

Wednesday we had a casual day. I did a little quilting during nap time and I even convinced Logan to take a nap! Last month we had the last of our quilting classes for the year and it usually takes me a few months to get the top of the quilt pulled together (because life is too busy), but with Dave working so much lately I've had a lot of free nights to work on it. I think I will finish the top of my quilt by the end of next week (which is perfect since next Sat is the first class for next year).

Thursday I packed like crazy for our 4th of July camping trip! It's shocking how much you need for a family of 4 to go over night! I am starting to wish we were staying more than one night since it's so much work to pull it all together. I'm sure we'll have a fun time though.

We also watched Dave's old roommate Ramsey's son for a few hours so he could take a test at school. So Logan got to play with someone new. We hadn't met the baby before watching him, but it worked out ok. Other than that we're just counting down the hours until we can go camping!