Pioneer Day Celebrations

Samantha loving the kitty! She is found outside with that cat so much during the day. Badge puts up with a lot and doesn't put up a fuss. She has grown a whole bunch lately.
The kids had so much fun catching candy at the parade. Deonne and Greg's family even came to see the parade with us.
Friday morning bike ride on the Legacy Trail. What a great trail that is.
Scott and his family walked the trail with their cute kids.
At the park after swimming the kids choose one thing to do. We had to cheer for Abigail every time she went by so she wouldn't cry.
They had handcarts people could try out with their family
Daddy is home! Devin was gone for a week with scout camp. We are so glad he is home.

Hope you all had a great Pioneer day!

Poll Results: Nylons

THE LAST TIME YOU WENT TO CHURCH WHAT FOOTWEAR DID YOU WEAR?

Results: 12 people voted

41% wore church shoes and nylons

41% wore just church shoes

16% wore only sandals

0% wore flip flops

I needed to post this now because I'm working on changing the background and when I did it to my other blog childrenareworthit.blogspot.com it deleted the poll about napping when I put a new template on. Oops. So if you voted on the other blog could you do me a favor and do it again and it will give you an excuse to check out the face lift I just put on. I think it's much more fun!

So the nylon issue was really interesting to get feedback from all of you. In the meantime I've done some investigating and found a few things out I thought I would share. I talked to a sister missionary helping at the temple open house in May and she said it is a requirement for her mission that the sister missionaries where nylons with their dress shoes.

I was also thinking about men and their attire. It's pretty cut and dry. White shirt, tie, dress shoes and usually dark socks, and if your really looking snazzy you put a suit on or blazer. I personally decided until it's OK for the men to wear sandals to church I'll save mine for the other days of the week, which is hard for me because I love my sandals and flip flops. And the nylon thing is hard for me as well for a few reasons: 1. my legs are so long I have to get mongoloid sized nylons to fit right 2. They are hotter especially in the summer 3. Not many younger girls are wearing them 4. It takes me longer to get ready

Despite these very important points I've concluded to wear them to church and to the temple every time. I may not be in fashion but I do feel dressier and the extra minutes to put them on may help me get in the right frame of mind for worshiping the Lord I love.

Super Saturday

(Pictured above Kids doing the sponge game and Abigail even helping out. Gwenda getting Traeden back for getting her wet. )

What a day it's been. We got up bright and early to head to Grandma and Grandpa Overly's home. They were selling their truck and we have been contemplating getting a truck for quite some time so the timing was great for us. We were told by Dad Overly that the tires were so bad they would need new tires. Kent and Don were going to put new tires on but Devin would rather get them himself and have the tires in his name. They agreed on one condition: that we drive straight to the tire store. It's always good for the kids to visit their Great Grandparents. Conrad is completely terrified of their tiny dog "Lady" She is a bit spastic but harmless. Conrad wanted to stay in the van during the visit but Devin had him get out with tears running down his face. I noticed Grandma's shoelaces were the coiled and stretchy. She got so excited to show us these laces and she showed us how they worked. She was so tired of the laces coming undone and a store clerk showed her these "elastic" laces. It was cute to see her so excited about something simple. We got a tour of their yard. I can't believe she still is growing tomatoes at age 93. If I live that long I hope I can still do as much as she does. Grandpa was moving slow but he is still walking relatively well with his cane. Speaking of old age, today I ran into a man at the bank who is 96 and walks all over. He wears really cool hats (the bank tellers told me) and has so much spunk and zest for life.

After our visit we headed to Jack's Tires in Orem since they have one close to Devin's work, but we didn't make it. Devin got a flat about two or three miles down the road. We got split up because of a parade going on and he called me to come find him. The tool that gets the spare tire lowered down bent while Devin was using it (the mounting bolt was rusted). This was also the tool that you use to jack up the car so we were in big trouble. Luckily Big O Tire was very helpful and drove to us and helped get the tire off and drove Devin to the store and got a new tire and then drove the whole truck to get the rest of the tires on. Wow what an ordeal.

The kids and I headed to the Grow family reunion while Devin stayed with the truck. The reunion was huge. I was suprised how many people came. We filled the park with people. It was great to visit with some family I haven't seen in a while. I found out that the game we played, the sponge game is a traditional game. You divide into two teams and the kids run a sponge from a full bucket and squeeze the sponge into the empty bucket. The goal is to get all the water from the start bucket to the end. The winning team gets to pour the bucket on the losing team. The kids thought that was so much fun. The first time we played it where all the kids stood in between the line and they passed the wet sponge down the line and the little kids froze up and were confused and the older kids got upset with the younger ones who were not fast enough. Individual runs worked better for the age group we had.

The Grows had a bazaar like the Titensors. They didn't do an auction though they did a number deal where you sign your name by the item on a number then they drew out your number and you pay the asking price. I got some really cute girl bows made by Evonne and a pink winter hat with a ribbon in it. Traeden wanted the candy sacks for a dollar. It was an awfully hot day so luckily there was lots of shade trees to keep us cooler.

Samantha is getting quite independent. She wanted to go to the bathroom and half way there she says to me, "You stay right here and I'll go to the bathroom." I thought that was pretty cute. Last week I forgot to mention that the Doctor called Abigail a little fire starter. She was climbing all over his equipment which is very normal. She even climbs up the playset ladder outside which is crazy because she isn't even walking, yet she loves to climb ladders--it sure scared Devin and I to death the first time we saw here half way up the ladder. Now we have to keep a close eye out for her. Her hair is getting lighter and longer so I can finally put a tiny pony in it.

Traeden is way into Pokemon cards. He has a few neighbor friends that get together and trade and look at cards.

Side note is I just love Pandora radio. I made a Mormon Tabernacle Station that is awesome. It rarely plays Mo-tab but it plays some beautiful arrangements of hymns. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon while I'm blogging. =)

Introducing Badge

We took Abigail to the doctor for her 1 year well visit this past week. She is in the 5 percentile in weight and 30th of height. This is crazy for our family. Our others have usually been off the charts in weight almost their whole first year. Conrad was on the smaller side but not this small.

I wanted to give a report of our curbing fiasco. We did get it resolved with the contractor. He ended up redoing the whole thing for $1 a foot (we had already paid $3 a foot for the first pouring). Yesterday I spent two hours rolling a sealant on it so it will stay nice. With all the rain it was really hard to find a day in June that didn't rain so he ended up doing it and then protecting it with a cover and sand over the top of it. I'm just glad we are done with it.

Samantha is feeling much better. She bounced back on Monday but I kept her mostly indoors for Monday and Tuesday. She sure loves to play outside with friends and with our kitten-Badge. Yes we just got a new kitten. She is a calico cat and so adorable. She has a pink collar with a bell on her so we can keep track of her. The kids adore her and spend quite a bit of their day playing with her outside. Samantha carries her around everywhere. It's been interesting to see Devin get attached to the kitten as well. Before we got Badge did not like cats one bit. But he is really warming up to this cute one. He even installed a cat door in the garage last night. Devin let the kids get the cat on two conditions: 1-The cat only stays outside or in the garage 2-the kids are responsible for feeding and cleaning out the litter box. They are doing very well with both.

Bus Adventures and Working Day

Friday for our field trip, the kids and I went on an adventure. We decided to take the bus into Logan and go to the Fairgrounds for a Children's Sale. They had used clothes, toys, books all for kids. The kids decided to buy foam swords which they have had a fun time playing with. I was hoping to find some school clothes for Traeden for next year but I struck out. I think finding clothes for boys past the age of four is impossible at yard sells or even the DI. Boys play so rough and tumble that they usually wear holes through everything before they can pass it on to someone else. After the sell we decided to eat our lunch at the park. We ate cherries under a tree. I sure love local produce! Since we had a little more time before the bus came we decided to go to a local bakery that was a block away and I let the kids choose a treat. After bathroom breaks we headed for the bus stop. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the but coming from behind and we were still a block away so I told Traeden to run ahead and get to the bus stop. Running up the hill with the stroller and Samantha on my back we were not fast enough and the bus passed us by. So we sat by the bus stop and played in the canal which had a momma duck and her four ducklings swimming close by. It ended up being really fun. We practiced skipping stones. After a half hour the next bus came and we got on. Since the Nibley bus only come every hour we had another half hour to spare so we headed to main street and dropped off our tent pole that needs repair at the post office and then we went to the sidewalk sale on main street. The kids rode on kids ride and then looked at a few things and then it was time to get on the bus. And we saw the bus coming, we could have made it but with a stroller going down a crowded sidewalk with vendors and shoppers we were stuck in traffic. Traeden said he could made it so he ran ahead to the stop. As I got to the bus stop I couldn't see Traeden. I saw bus stop very briefly and I saw one man get off it but no Traeden. I thought maybe he had jumped on the bus and I started worrying just a little bit. We stood at the bus stop for a minute then we asked a vendor close by if he saw a boy get on the bus. They said that only one guy got on and no one got off. Well Traeden didn't see the bus stop and he just kept running for another block then he decided to turn around. I stayed put and another minute later Traeden came back and found us and I was relieved. The kids learned a lot by taking the bus. You have to be on time, it doesn't wait for you. When you get off the bus you have to be fast as well. Samantha was taking her time off the bus on time and the doors started closing on her. It didn't hurt her just startled her a bit and she was much faster in moving the next time we got off the bus. We also met some really nice people on the bus. Free fare busing in Logan is pretty cool so we decided we are going to try to ride more often and I'm sure we will get better at it. The boys also like not having seat belts after I explained to them that the bus was so safe that you don't need seat belts.

Working on house and yard projects can be crazy with kids! We started a project of staining the play set Saturday morning and thought it would take about three hours and then we would reset some sprinklers that are too low, seal our newly poured edging and run some errands. We have seen some other neighbors playsets get pretty worn by the weather and so we hope this will help protect it. Well the staining took ALL day. The kids were unbelievably good workers and in the end, Conrad said that he loves to paint. Samantha and her friend Camry even helped for about 1/2 hour. The great thing is we got it done and even had fun doing it together. Abigail played well in her playpen that we set up close to us for a good hour. She ate in her highchair and took two great naps so that helped out a ton. Samantha helped in the morning and then after lunch she took a nap. I tried to picture on the camera the mess the boys got all over them. They paint like their Grandma T. She gets paint all over her when she paints. When they took their shirts off they even had stain in their arm pits from the stain running down their arm. We will have to do the other projects another day. We had a great time painting together. The playset looks great and now it will hopefully last long enough for Abigail to play on it till she out grows it.
Today I am home with Samantha and Abigail. Samantha is not feeling well. She started running a fever last night and has a cough. Devin and I had a date night planned but we ended up coming home an hour into the date since the babysitters called and said Samantha was sick. We hope she will have a quick recovery.

Happy 4th Weekend

The Roscoe and Elnor Titensor Family reunion was this weekend in Afton Wyo. They do this every other year. My parents, our family, and Danny's family went to Lava Hot Springs on Friday. It has been so long since I have been there. Both Danny and I were reminiscing of the last time we were there, we thought Lava (the town) was so much bigger. I remember how hard it was to walk through town-it was just so far. Well now that I have four kids who walked it, I'm sure that is exactly how they will remember it. We did the river on tubes which was a blast. We rented a double tube and then a quad tube which holds at least four adults. We all took turns watching the babies so we could all go on the river. Traeden loved the river most of all. He was so into the adventure and had a great time. Conrad was pretty nervous after the first run when he got covered in water. He said, "Can we stop please?"

After the river fun we had dinner and went up to the hot tubs. Wow I don't remember them being quite so hot. It rained the entire time we were in the tubs, which helped cool us off. The kids liked it but you just can't stay in the pool for a long time because it was so hot.

Our family tented and slept really well, despite the various interruptions of drunk people coming back to their sites most of the night. I could not believe how many young adults, (they looked like kids to me) were there with their friends, drinking and smoking.

Saturday day we got up and drove to Afton for the reunion. Every reunion we hold an auction. Devin helped bring up items that people made or donated to auction off to help pay for the next reunion. There was quite the variety of items. We got to some chimney cleaner, fire place gate, and fire place tools. My dad was the auctioneer and asked for a starting bid and then someone said, is there a story behind this bid. No one claimed to brought it and then we all realized that Devin brought it up on mistake and it goes with the fireplace in the pavilion. We all got a good laugh at that.

After the reunion we went to the Afton rodeo. This was so much fun for the kids. Both Traeden and Conrad participated in the ribbon pull where they chased baby calves and try to catch the ribbon off their tail. Those calves were really fast. They even gave cash prizes, of 50, 25 and $10 to the winners. Every participant got dollar bill and Conrad's age category got a cowboy hat too. One downer is all the kids feet got covered in mud, as it had rained the night before. They did this by age category and the oldest group had quite a bit bigger calf to chase. At the end of the pull one of the girls got chased by one of the calves and started bucking the girl with her head. She lost her shoe in the run-it was pretty scary and exciting. The rodeo ended with a fireworks show. We had great seats and the kids loved it. Samantha did a little yip after every blast, it was so cute. Hope you all had a happy 4th of July!

Traeden in Honor Recital-Suzuki Institute

Traeden got to play in the Honor Recital at the Suzuki Institute last week. Thought you might enjoy seeing him play. He is playing Ecossaise by Hummel. I think he is getting really good. Last week he did music all day everyday and he loved it. His favorite class was the African drumming class. He has really good clave rhythm. This week of intense music was so great for him, I would love for Conrad to do it next year. My mom was so helpful last week. She watched the other kids so I could support Traeden and take him to his classes. My grandparents also helped out as well. Thank you thank you!!