The Great Flood

You want crazy weather? Come to Utah!!!
A few weeks back we were enjoying a typical sunny summer day. Just as it was getting time for Junior to come home it started clouding up and sprinkling some so I called and asked if he wanted a ride home (he rides his bike to work). He said he guessed so (had no idea it had gone cloudy so wasn't sure why I was asking) I hung up the phone and told the kids to get in the car. On their way out it litterally started raining harder then I've ever seen in my life (beat any storm in Hawaii). By the time I raced out to save them it started hailing and HARD and the wind blew HARD. Keep in mind that 15 minutes earlier and had been clear blue skies. We got Junior and headed home and went back to clear skies but in the 15 minute downpour it left quite a bit of damage.
Our basement flooded! We have a seperate entrance down there. It rained so hard that the drain in front of the door couldn't drain fast enough and in just started filling the stairwell. Luckily we have a nice flat foor so it just kept filling the basement with 1/4-1/2 in of water, never deep enough to really go over the lip of the transition piece from the wood laminate to the carpet. But man was there a lot of water everywhere. I grabbed the shop vac and started vaccuming up a storm while Junior ran to see if he could get the drain going faster. He pounds on the window and says not to open the door (I was just about to). The stairwell was so full it was up and over the first step. Luckily all went smoothly and everyting was cleaned up with no damage.
Once we got this relatively clean, I left Junior to finish (I'm so good and making him do all the work!) and took the kids to swim.
Where you ask?
Why in the street of course!




These pics were taken 1/2 hour after the rain subsided so the water had already started going down the storm drains but there was stil A LOT of water left. It nearly reached some peoples front doors.
And that my friends is Utah weather for you!

Battle Creek

Like I said earlier, one of the reason I love July in Utah is the hikes. One hike we love is Battle Creek Falls. It's nice and short, perfect for the kids but has a beautiful destination
Daddy, Leilei, and Bowzer gearing up to go

Any hike with these two always takes at least twice as long because they have to climb and explore everything around them

Trying to get a family picture in. Brayden was terrified of hanging over the rushing water.

Beware of the wild animals coming out of the cave.

Another visitor we had with us for awhile in July was Grandma. And yet again, I got hardly any pictures of her. During her stay here she managed to dethrone me as Kalei's favorite (and if you know Kalei that is saying a lot). For awhile after she left Kalei would start crying for Grandma, realize she was gone then start crying for me instead.

We all shimmied across this log, skipped over a few rocks and explored the other side. Things are always so much more heartstopping when you do things with kids. But they really wanted to go and we made it so it was well worth it!

It's my Party

In addition to the killer Pioneer Day celebration Junior made sure I had an incredible birthday weekend. He surprised me on Friday by coming home from work early and having a killer date planned. He had packed the car with all the different changes of clothes needed for our festivities.
We started of by going to the temple only to remember it's closed every year at this time for cleaning.
Headed to the waterpark (I'd been saying how much I'd love to go and actually ride all the slides I look at everytime I take the kids). It was so fun to go and actually relax and have fun on all the slides. Though we are useless typical parents and kept talking about how much fun it would be to have the kids there too.
Changed for dinner to try a new Brazilian place I've been wanting to try, but were sadly disappointed. Regardless it's always nice to be able to enjoy a dinner with jus tthe two of us.
Headed over to watch Soul Surfer. We both really enjoyed the movie a lot, in fact are considering adding it to our collection.
Finished off the night with a delicious ice cream sundae.
Then on Sunday he made delicious fajitas for dinner and this yummy peaches n cream pie for dessert. Did I mention he made homemade ice cream too.


Here's to my final year in my 20s!

The Pioneer Children Sang...

July is hands down my favorite month here in Utah. The weather is BEAUTIFUL, there are mountains in our backyard begging to be explored and there are nonstop parties to attend. Several of them put on the city. Namely the 4th of July celebration and the Pioneer Day celebration. My kids look forward to it all year (ok, I also look forward to it) My camera pulled it's favorite trick and shuffled all the pictures when I was downloading it so they are in no particular order.
The boys made some staches to sport and Kalei a bonnet. She wore that bonnet for days.

Watching the hoop dancers is always a favorite

Another favorite is the petting zoo. Kalei squealed with delight everytime they ate from her hands.

The boys taking their turn.

Can't forget the horse rides.


Kalei's horse was a little agitated (for some reason I don't think he liked being stuck in the hot sun walking in circles with countless kids on his back) He wouldn't stop neighing and snorting which Kalei thought made the experience that 10x better. She was in heaven.

The wagon ride was new and the boys were way excited to go.

They took a break from all the activities to do a little shopping 19th century style

They were enthralled by the blacksmith and Tavita now has high aspirations of one day "making metal" When we were at camp this last weekend he kept putting a stick in the fire, pulling it out and hammering it out.

There is the cutest man (has to be in his 90s) that has made it his life effort to recover and restore the fire truck the city of Provo used back in the early 1900s. He is kind enough to bring it to the celebration every year and let the kids sit on it, crank the siren and take pictures. He's always so fun to sit and talk to.

Brayden was in disbelief over all the vintage cars. They were pretty amazing.

Brayden's favorite is always the obstacle course. The first time we did it (he wasn't quite two) he was TERRIFIED of the fake snake and refused to complete the course, ran and hid in the little covered wagon and we had to pull him out. Now, he runs the course like a champ and loves every moment.

Leilei had a little too much partying

But perked right back up at the playground. She seriously hung from this bar for minutes without letting go.

The best part of the whole deal was having dear Berty here visiting. I can't believe this is the only picture I took while they were here. We loved having her, her sister Stacey and their cute kiddos hanging out here for a couple weeks. Just glad they finally made it home in their van. She sure gave it their best to get them back!

No one would've guessed 10 years ago that we'd ever be responsible to raise this brood. yes I know they aren't all looking and smiling but you try to get 5 kids under 5 to do that.

Panning for gold

Another thing they love for some reason is the jail



Lassoing herself a bull

Kalei with her princess packet Daddy helped her make

Tavita and Mommy making his packet

Having a root beer drinking contest. The guy that won had his can gone before anyone could even get their's to their lips


Gotta have a little axe throwing in the mix.

And some slingshot action too.

Jammin Out

Ahh homemade jam, there's few things better in life. At least that's how we feel in this house. Just so happens our friends across the street think the same thing. So, we held the 2nd annual jam making fest a couple months back. Only problem is none of us are experienced "jammers". We're capabale of making some beautiful jam but as for the amount of each thing needed we're clueless. The end result was over 80 jars of jam. And that's just where we decided to stop and just freeze the rest of the strawberries for smoothies and what not.
So, how does one go about making such mass amounts of jam?
Make sure you have your washer/decorer (aka Jeremy), your masher (aka Junior) and most importantly make sure you leave the measuring and keeping track of how long each batch has set to the WOMEN. We appreciated the men for their grunt work but allowed them few liberties.

When things get to crazy you enlist child labor (this isn't even halfway through, we forgot to take a final picture of the towers upon towers of jam)

And no, being 8 months pregnant does not get you out of any work!

What do you do with 80 jars of jam?
Why divide them between the two families and chow down of course. We're already on jar number 6.
It could be said we have an unhealthy addiction but what do you do?

The wind in his hair!!!

Man, if I ever take a break from blogging, I dread doing it because it seems such an ominous task.
Junior did finally make it back safe and sound from Samoa. The kids were pretty well glued to his side for awhile. They got worried whenever he left for work and would ask if he ever was coming back. haha
Anyway, as I mentioned in some earlier posts, Brayden has been working hard to learn to ride a two-wheeler. To a 5 year-old riding a two wheeler is the definition of freedom. I realized his major need for this when his two best friends Carson and Jeremy both learned to ride two-wheelers and took off for the park one day. Poor Brayden was left walking alongside the stroller with Jeremy's mom. Poor kid didn't even have a bike to learn to ride on (well, he had a 12 in one he got for his 3rd birthday and his knees were to his ears everytime he rides it, Tavita had taken it over MONTHS earlier). We knew he needed a bike but never put much thought into it because wiggle riders were the obsession and he never showed interest in bikes (the previously mentioned bike was in almost brand new condition when Tavita took it on, he has now done a wonderful job breaking it in)
Anyway, in the end we decided an early birthday present was in order. He was over the moon excited when it arrived (lets hope the excitement was enough to get him through the dissapointment of the lack of presents on his birthday next week) and bought him a bike. My brother and I put it together and he was filled with all the confidence in the world. Then he went on his first practice run...
He did great for his first time. He had the balance from the beginning. Problem was he's always been my conservative child (at least in some aspects) and he was very conerned about crashing. As soon as I would let go he would ride into the grass and jump off his bike. By the end of the first day (which last about 20 min or so) he was convinced he was never going to learn to ride a bike.
We had a pep talk, discussed the importance of believing in yourself.
Tried a few more times, took a few hard falls, his fear of crashing got worse.
Then one day we were practicing in our cul-de-sac. I started him off then let go but kept running behind him like I was still holding on and he did great. It wasn't until he lost balance that I let him know what was going on.
The confidence returned. He was shouting and dancing in the street. Then I let him know I was letting go and he went right to the grass again.
Enter Daddy!
The day after Junior got home we went out to practice. Within 15 minutes he was riding like a pro. His only hold up was starting on his own but he got that the next day. Guess there's just somethings that is better with Daddy then with Mommy!
When Junior got home I could finally stand back and take some pictures to remember it all.
Starting out and heading for the grass

Daddy helping him get started.

Going a little distance on his own but still a bit nervous

Moved to the street so he could use the grass as a crutch

Crashed a few times but was doing great!

Minutes later he was off!

Now Brayden has the long awaited freedom that comes from riding a bike. He rides every spare minute he has. He'll ride until dinner, come in gobble dinner down and be right back out there. If I'm ever not sure where he and Tavita are I can rest assured I need only to look out the front window and there they will be zipping down our neighbors driveway (has a perfect hill and straight shot out) and into the street (good thing we live on a cul-de-sac). He's taken a lot of nasty falls due to his need for speed but he gets right back up. His poor bike has taken a beating but that's what first bikes are for. It still his pride and joy.
For some reason I haven't gotten any pictures of the little speed demon but do have a picture of his resulting battle wounds. This was taken will icing his knee after a major fall. He loves zipping to the end of the street then flipping around as fast as he could. Well this time he flipped a little too fast and the momentum sent him flying into the curb sideways. We heard HIM, not the bike, hit from where we standing at the other end of the cul-de-sac. Seriously thought there would be a broken arm or something. My dear neighbor carried him inside for me (between that and pumping his tire for him, Brayden now feels Russ is a bike guru and no one should work on his bike but him). Luckily it was just a bruised kneee, to match his other knee, and the ones all down his shins, and the cuts and bruises on his elbows, and face. None of these came from learning to ride the bike but from his love of the wind in his hair!

As for me, well it's another bittersweet reminder that my little boy is growing up. Now I just have to face him heading off to kindergarten in a few weeks!
(and yes we did this polynesian style with no shoes. Probably not the safest thing in the world but I can't get my kids to keep shoes on their feet for the life of me)

Memories for Daddy Part 7

I'm not gonna lie, I was really hoping that Part 6 would be the last chapter. Turns out you were enjoying your vacation in Samoa too much and decided to stay a few extra days. Haha!
We're doing another sleepover in our room tonight. Think the kids are still going to push for these when you get back. It'll be interesting trying to fit all 5 of us in the bed.
Well, the past three days have been as busy as ever.
Tuesday was friends, friends and more friends. The friend count got up to 8 extras that day. Then I found out you missed your flight, panicked and kicked them all out the door.
Wednesday was another waterpark day (went with Hoovers and Gees. Since there were more "big kids" Brayden got to try the Vortex aka "toilet bowl" he loved it), then friends, friends, and more friends.
Today was library day (craft time and canopy capers) then friends, friends and more friends.
There of course has been the usual chores and preschool mixed in there. Brayden suprised me and did quite a bit of his math workbook without me even asking. He did a great job on it too!
Some of the highlights from the past three days:
-Finding Kalei scraping then eating chewed gum off the sidewalk at Seven Peaks! Yes, it was as gross to see as you are imagining. Stringy gum, compliments of some total stranger and steped on by who knows how many people, stuck all over her hands and mouth.
- Brayden yelling "Now that's the spirit!" Then turning to me asking, "What does that mean anyway"
- The kids helping me carry the groceries in last night. They were all carrying them in so happily and seemed so grown up doing it (Even little Leilei insisted i give her two bags at a time to carry). It was one of those moments where I just sat back and thought about how fast they're growing up.
- We had the Whitaker's grandkids (in visiting from Georgia) over today and their grandson walked around with one of Kalei's tutus on the ENTIRE time. I laughed everytime I saw him. Not sure what he thought it was, but he was usually slinging a gun or sword along wih it.
- Tavita's epic tantrum when leaving Seven Peaks yesterday. Ok, it wasn't a favorite moment, but boy was it memorable. I'll spare you the details but it involved: unheard of volumes of yelling and screaming, having to strap him into the stroller, him dragging his feet trying to keep me from pushing the stroller, things flying all over the place and oh so much more.
He FINALLY calmed down on the way home when he realized he was getting no where with the fit. Then by the time we got home he was walking a little gingerly saying his feet hurt really bad. Hmmmm...I wonder why.
At one point in our talk about behavior he said (all very calmly), "No Mom, you need to listen to me! I'm the one in charge." and at another point (in regards as to why he was throwing a fit) "I'm a little kid and that's what we do!"
All in all it was pretty impressive for a usually quiet kid.
- Trevor and Brianna moved on Tuesday. The kids had a blast watching them load up the truck/playing in the truck while they were trying to load it. Apparently they think people just empty their houses on occasion and pack them into trucks for fun because they had no idea they were moving. It wasn't until that night I was putting them in bed and said somethign that is struck them.
It was heartbreaking. They just started sobbing and noting I could say would console them. Hopefully Rodney stays down in the aparment for awhile because they sure don't like people moving out of there.
-Brayden's reaction when he realized he had been riding his bike by himself for a good distance. Everytime I let go he freaks out and jumps off the bike. So I decided to let go but keep running alongside him like I was still holding on and he did great! Once he stopped I told him and he was grinning ear to ear. He was so proud/excited he couldn't even speak.
- Kalei's new habit of calling me "Wissa" all the time instead of "Mommy"
-Tavita being a sweetheart and choosing the movie Brayden wanted instead of the one he was "really, really wanting" (it was his pick tonight). Decided he could watch his movie anytime and wanted to "make Brayden so, so, so excited"
- Tavita being too scared to go down to eat his breakfast because "a giant flying mosquito liked the way he tasted". He brought me downstairs to see it and I saw/heard nothing. "Mom, move out of the way and let him see me. Once he sees me he'll come because he loves eating me" Never found the culrpit but he did have a bite on his forehead.
Lastly, I loved walking in the other night and seeing this:


It was the night they realized Trevor and Brianna were moving. Tavita was so sad he was down with me and these two had cuddled up to comfort each other.