A Little Bit of Everything

Shortly after the his dance recital, George took a flying leap off a trampoline and tried to clear a table.  He missed and caught himself with his hand and sustained a minor buckle fracture.  Lucky for him, he didn't have to get a cast, but can just wear a removable brace. 

Faith played sidewalk chalk with Greta.

Cannon is in the middle of week 2 of 3 for summer workshops.  So basically he's getting his trash kicked for five hours everyday.   And he loves it.

Bethany and I took a day trip up to Logan to check out Utah State.  She is hoping to transfer there this fall.  She enjoyed BYU-Idaho, but Utah State has the major (music therapy) she is hoping to do.  She's waiting to hear back, but I don't see any reason why transferring would be a problem. 

I think she'll make a great Aggie-- Cache Valley is gorgeous, she loved the campus, and it's closer than Rexburg!  Yay!

And since we were in Logan, of course we had to pay a visit at Stratford Ranch.  They just got a new Polaris covered 4-wheeler thing (I don't even know what they are called). 

We went for a ride up to the top of the property.  So fun!

The setting is so picturesque!  I just love being up there.  And I loved having a day with my Bethany.

And while Bethany and I were gone, Abe spent a day with the little kids at Thanksgiving Point.

The butterfly is camoflauged on his hair.

The Butterfly Whisperer.

The Butterfly Biosphere is one place that everyone is happy to go.

This is how Cannon feels about Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.  The boy has never appreciated it.

A pony ride is such a treat.

A day with Dad is good for everyone.

Clark and Alexa stopped by for a cookout.

Want to see something adorable?

They both went to Texas on missions-- Clark to Dallas,  Alexa to Fort Worth.  I'm dying, they are so cute!

They are sisters, so sometimes there are hurt feelings or short tempers.  Even so, I am happy they love each other and are there for each other.  

We recently purchased this little beauty of a car from my brother.  We've got lots of drivers needing to go lots of places for work.  It might be possible for me to drive everyone where they need to go, but I would be in the car ALL DAY long.  It's so much better when they can get themselves there and back again.

I am so pleased with how hard working our three oldest are this summer.  Well, all the time really, but especially this summer.  Clark works 30 hours a week for Natures Sunshine doing customer service.  Lucky for him, he gets to do it from his apartment right now. He's taking a full load of classes online through UVU this summer as well.  Bethany has three jobs-- nanny for my sister's kids, life guarding at JL Sorenson, and teaching swim lessons at Lifetime Fitness.  Elinor swims to two hours every morning, then works cleaning my brothers house three days a week and she teaches five hours of swim lessons everyday.  And if she has a week off of teaching at Fuller's Swim School, she substitutes teaching lessons at another private pool.  So yeah.  We don't see much of any of them.  But I am glad they are so responsible and hardworking.

I'm getting older and they gray hairs are having babies.  I've not been happy about the gray hairs, but I've also been resistant to coloring my hair.  Mostly because I've always really liked  the color of my hair.  A few weeks ago I bought a box of hair color, but I didn't do anything about it.  I was nervous.  Finally my girls dragged me into their room and said, "We are doing this right now!"  So they took care of me.  

The end result it so close to my normal hair color, that hopefully nobody has even noticed;)

Wasatch Arts Dance Recital Spring 2020

Peter and Greta did end up having a spring dance recital-- the studio did 8 mini recitals.  They did the pictures, dress rehearsal, and recital in about 45 minutes.  Yes, please!  Can we always have it that simple?  No, I don't really want that-- we missed seeing the other dances and kids in our neighborhood.  I was impressed Wasatch Arts Center was able to put some sort of recital experience together.

This shirt.  Peter hated this shirt.  I don't blame him.  It was itchy and uncomfortable and sparkly with sequins.  When the recital was done I just handed it back to Ms. Alice (even though we'd bought it) and said, "Peter will never want this for dress up, so save it for another kid someday.  Peter approved of that choice.

Greta improved so much from the beginning of the year.  She really enjoyed her little class.

There were twice this many kids in the class-- but with Covid and the accompanying changes, only these four did the recital.  Here is their dress rehearsal video:

George and Peter ended up being the only ones in their hip-hop class-- although once again, before Covid there were several more boys in the class.  So they had an awesome brothers duet.

What a little looker!

This ballet boy is pretty good at hip hop as well.

So cool.

Here is their hip-hop video

I like this picture of George.  I really hope tap can fit in his dance schedule next year.

George wasn't a fan of this year's tap costume.  But it might make a nice Halloween costume sometime, so I didn't give it back.
Here's  the video.

Cannon's 12th Birthday

Cannon  is TWELVE!!!! He is a wonderful son and life is always a party when Cannon is around.  His birthday celebrating options were somewhat limited with COVID and all, but he decided on an  outing to the skate park with his best buddies, followed by a movie in the backyard.

I think this exact grouping has been at pretty much every single one of Cannon's birthday celebrations for his entire life.  I think that's awesome!  There are definite advantages to getting to move all over and see the world.  And there are definite advantages to getting to grow up with the same people year after year.  I love that we get to watch them all grow up.

I would most likely die if I attempted any tricks at the skate park.  Even so, I love watching the grace and athleticism of so many young people there. 

Pizza at the park.

Cannon opted for brownies and icecream.

Presents--

They watched Scoob!-- the newest Scooby-Doo movie.  You've got to hand it to the Scooby-Doo empire, they've done a pretty good job of continuing to reinvent themselves over the years by using the same formula over and over.  I mean, I don't think I'm their target audience, but it kept the boys interest.

We borrowed this projector from one of the boy's family.  It was so enjoyable to watch a movie outdoors.  I think we may need to invest in one for ourselves.

This is'nt from the party, but it was a fun little art project for Faith.

Fun With Fox Families

We were spoiled to get to go to a movie in an actual movie theater this past Friday with Abe's brother Daniel and his family.  It was kind of spooky going into the open common area of the theaters and having it be dark and lifeless.  Kind of zombie apocalypse.  But once we were into our theater, it was glorious to have it all to ourselves.

We watched Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark.  It was SO much fun.

We each got to fill up our own drink and we got our own large popcorn.  Which meant I ate an obscene amount of popcorn, but I was in heaven.  I swear, I lose my humanity when confronted with movie theater popcorn.  I just can't control myself.  I don't even see the point of going to a movie theater without popcorn.

Elinor with her dear cousin, Gentri-- who just graduated high school!  (and Gentri's friend, Anabelle)

Clark and Alexa joined at the movie as well, which was great for Alexa to get Aunt Lori's stamp of approval! Not that we had any worries on that front.  She's delightful.

Last weekend we hung out with Abe's brother Stuart's family.  

We cooked out, but then it got quit windy. So we moved the party indoors for games.

A very loud and fun game of Secret Hitler along with all-you-can-eat popsicles.  

Then the wind died down and we headed back out for a late outdoor movie-- Karate Kid--which no joke, is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It's the perfect movie for all ages and genres.  

Love that Ralph Macchio.

Greta fell asleep during the movie.  Greta wears lot of strange combinations of clothing and we pretty much let her wear whatever she wants because she is the youngest.  Here she has on her swim suit under her gymnastics leotard.  STYLE!

Farewell to the Mini Van?

Elinor was rear-ended pretty hard last Saturday.  She was stopped at a red light on 106th in Sandy and a guy ran into her, which pushed her in the person in front of her, who was pushed into the person on front of them.  So it was a four car accident.  Thankfully, Elinor was not injured-- except for a sore neck for a couple days.  The "mini" still drove for a few days.  Until it completely died at her friend's house later in the week.  Now it's at the shop to see if she has any life left in her.  Either way, the insurance company will give us a check for more than we would have thought she was worth, so that's a good thing.

George mowed the front and back lawns by himself this week-- Hooray for more lawn-mowing children!

Cannon found this six square mini-wheat.  And now his life has meaning.

I love listening to George practice his drums in the basement.  I'm no expert on playing the drums, but I think he's slaying it!  Especially considering he's only nine.

We loved the new paint and floors in our kitchen and living room SO MUCH, that we decided to do the same flooring throughout the house.  It's been a work in progress for a few weeks, but it's looking like it will be finished this week.  It's pretty fun to get a new house-- or at least it feels new!  The boys took the opportunity to have a good old-fashioned nerf war in the empty construction zone.

It's been kind of nice having everything moved out of the house-- so much less to keep clean.  That being said, I think we're all ready to get our house fully functional again.  Pretty much since the middle of March we've had some kind of project going.  Totally worth it, but a little tiring. 
Maybe that's what's been causing whacked out emotions at our house lately.  It was a rough weekend for us.  Lots of hurt feelings, tears, unkind words.  You know how that goes sometimes.  My hope and goal is to do better myself this week in hopes of setting a better example.  

Welcome Mushi

Well, well.  What have we here?  You may recall that our cat of the last three years passed away a few weeks ago.  We don't know how or why "The Cat" expired in the manner she did,  But truth be told,  it was not a nice cat and our mourning period was brief.  I understand that might be offensive to some animal lovers.  But they didn't live with her.
On the evening of Memorial Day, Elinor saw a friend had kittens they were giving away and we jumped at the chance.  And seriously, is this not the most beautiful cat ever!!  He actually likes to be around us!  He does not attack us.

I understand it is normal and healthy for people to like their pets and the pets to like their owners.  Fascinating.

I like his blue eyes.

I love cats sleeping in weird positions.

We're quite pleased with Mushi-- pronounced Mooshi, not Mushy.

Greta LOVES all things KITTY-- so to get a have a little kitty makes her very happy.  In fact, she hasn't been acting like a kitty nearly as much since we got the kitty.

In other very exciting news, Miss Greta started her tumbling class this last week.  She loved it and it was so fun to be back at Jolley's-- the same place Faith went for nine years.  Greta did great in her class and she loved it.  And all of a sudden she just got a lot more grown up.

Also last week, Peter got to try our a class of Tae Kwon Do with Master Kim-- at the same place Clark and Elinor went when they were younger.  To say that Peter loved it would be a major understatement.  He has a few Korean words he needs to memorize and he has been so determined and focused all weekend practicing.  He cannot wait for his regular classes next week.
I think Tae Kwon Do will suit Peter really, really well.  He is smart and loves to be engaging his brain.  There is a lot of memorization of forms in Tae Kwon Do and it is structured and challenging.  I am really excited to be back and think it will be a great thing for Peter.

Peter has had a huge breakthrough in reading.  It took him about three weeks to work his way through The Cat in the Hat.  He was so proud of himself!  It was a tough read for him.

He was so thrilled with his accomplishment that the following day he read ALL of Green Eggs and Ham!
And the next day he read Go, Dog, Go! He's really getting the hang of this reading thing!  Peter's enthusiasm is one of his most endearing (and sometimes exasperating) traits.