experiences

June and July: pack, cousins in town, unpack, laundry, repack, Wright family reunion, unpack, laundry, repack, 4th of July, unpack, laundry, repack, business trip, unpack, laundry, repack, Techmeyer family reunion, unpack, laundry, repack, girls camp, unpack, laundry... um, what shall we do this week? :)

We've had a great couple of months. Pictures to be posted soon...

our newest cousin

Welcome sweet Autumn, we look forward to watching you grow. :)

swim team

Zachary and Anna are on the swim team this summer. They swim 4 times a week in the morning, have learned a lot, and are getting better and faster. The first swim meet was last week. They both swam in a handful of races and performed well. We were so tickled that Anna got 1st place in the 25 meter free style and Zachary got 2nd place in the relay. Way to go!

fireworks and family

July 2: Zachary bought $25 worth of fireworks. Everyone was excited about them and discussed them. It turned out to be quite a good investment as the selection was varied.

July 3: We had a tasty barbeque at my mom's house with my siblings. Then we headed over to

West Point Park to sell glow sticks (and other glowing, blinking toys). For several years we've been having fund raising type events and then spending the money on our family trips. It's not so much about the money, but the good times that we have together. We watched the fireworks show and finished off the night counting money and eating ice cream. Good times. :)

July 4: We had dinner with the Wrights and then came back to our place for Zachary's fireworks show. Suzy and Brannon came and enjoyed with us. The weather was cool enough that we needed jackets. It was pleasant, relaxing, and enjoyable.

As a point of interest (and family history), I was blessed 34 years ago on Sunday, July 4, 1976 in California. President Jimmy Carter encouraged all Americans to participate in a Bicentennial Project, something that would make a difference. I've heard my parents say many times that I was their Bicentennial Project, and that's neat to me.

more cousins

We spent a week with the Wrights at Aspen Meadows (our cabin). During the week, all but one of Jeremy's siblings were there and it was so great to see everyone. There are 24 (almost 25) Wright grandchildren (we got to spend time with all but 5); it's such a blessing for our children to have so many cousins.

We drove to Smith and Morehouse and spent a bit of time canoeing on the lake. We rode on the zip line, played water balloon volleyball, launched water balloons, hiked to Elaine's Meadow, went swimming at the Kamas Pool (the most fabulous pool we've ever been to, it was used for athlete training during the 2002 Olympics), hiked to Timpanogos Cave, enjoyed the campfire, ate smores and lots of good food, celebrated my birthday (thanks for the calls and emails!), played in the ponds by the cabin, played and visited. It was such a nice week!

good times with cousins

Several weeks ago my sister, Becky, and her family were in town and oh, we had a good time.

The kids prepared and performed for the family a play called "The 8 Angry Pigs." It's a funny play we found online that my sister, Sarah, adapted for our group. Thanks to a kindergarten teacher for the pig "costumes" and thanks to my brothers for being good sports and each taking a part.

The girls decorated flip flops, the boys played air soft and the x-box 360, we played cards and capture the flag. We had a birthday party and good food, lots of visiting, and not enough sleep. Everyone was here except Mindy and her family who live back east (we missed you!).

The grand finale of our time together was a day at Boondocks (a family fun center). We drove race cars, squirted people on the bumper boats, played laser tag and video games, and finished with a round of miniature golf. It was loads of fun! (We went on a Tuesday, crowds were minimal, and we got a group (10 or more) discount, so it worked out well!).

What a great way to spend five days!

field trips

We feel like we have a nice situation going on. We have a home based business which, of course, has pros and cons. The number one pro is that both Jeremy and I are home. Since we both work, we developed a nice plan for the summer. Said plan fills the needs of our children whilst filling the needs of our business. One of us works (depending on who has the biggest workload) while the other one is the parent. It's not completely perfect, but it protects against our children running the streets of the neighborhood unsupervised and, for the most part, it works.

Jeremy took the kids on the first field trip of the summer to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah. It's a great museum with some really cool exhibits, and is ideal for all ages. Admission is free on the first Monday of the month; if you go, you'll want to get there when they open (9).

The first week of summer, the children prepared a Parks Assessment chart (Zachary created it in excel) so we're trying to go to several parks a week. The kids are keeping track of several items (shown in the chart) including how many slides, if there's adequate shade, type of ground cover, if there is a drinking fountain, and a handful of other important park aspects. So by the end of the summer we should have a pretty good list of the best parks in the area.