swimming with our cousins

I feel like a big kid today. We had so much fun swimming in our little pool with our cousins. The plan was for mom and Megan to watch and throw waterballoons at everyone else, but we just couldn't resist the temptation to join in on the fun. So we wrapped up the arm and were extra careful not to submerge it at all or deliberatly splash it. It really did stay dry, even though I feel kind of naughty for letting my little girl go swimming with a broken arm. We had so much fun though being silly and playing together.
We made a train, this was a big hit! The girls begged for more and faster, but my legs got too tired.

 

Anna and Dakota

 

Megan rode in the "chicken" tube holding her arm up out of the water. Mommy held it and gaurded it the whole time. Megan begged for me to let it go and get her whole body wet. Sorry kido this is as close as its going to get. I just hope she doesn't expect doing this everyday.

 

Megan and Courtney

 

better than swimming lessons

This pool has been so worth it! I really feel that its done more for teaching my girls to swim and getting them comfortable in the water than taking swimming lessons this summer. This will definately be a repeat purchase one day. Anna glides, floats, and today she flips!

 

 

They also love jumping in! Cannonball!

 

 

Today Anna tried jumping in backwards. She comes up laughing, Mommy that slapped my back it hurt! She is even learning how to backflop!

a real water slide!

We have a little slide that isn't attatched to the playground. So today Anna wanted to bring it into the pool. Her original idea was to try to surf on it, but we ended up getting it to work jammed into our ladder. She said, its like a real waterslide Mom! Cool!
Ready, Set...

 

Splash!

 

Then she got creative trying it on her belly...

 

and even backwards!

 

Broken Arm

Megan's Story:
This is Megan's version of what happened probablly pretty close to it, but with a dramatic four year old its hard to tell. Thursday Megan was playing outside, she was getting out the winter sled to play with. It was up in "Daddy's shed". Our room built above the trusses in the shed. She said that the rope from the sled was around her neck and the sled fell, pulling her off the deck. She fell on her arm and her forehead. She cried a lot and came to the back door. Anna helped her open the door to show Mommy. Then we went to the Emergency Room. Megan was a very brave girl and the nurses and doctors took good care of her. She had some xrays then went to the Operating Room, where Dr. Mason reset her arm and put in some pins, then wrapped it all up good for her. She spent the afternoon and evening in the hospital recovering then came home to sleep in her own bed. She is doing really well, and doesn't complain too much just wants to play and be as normal as she can. In three weeks she'll get her pins out and spend another three weeks in a hard cast.

 

Mommy and Daddy's story:
This really helps us remember what a big responsibility we have as parents, and also that our children and their health and safety are so important to us. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to be parents to such great kids. We are also so thankful for the great family and friends who give us so much support. By Saturday morning we also had completed a railing and handrails around the deck and staircase on the shed, so hopefully no more accidents.

 

Megan's xray. It was a pretty bad break, just above the elbow joint and dislocated, there was also quite a bit of soft tissue damage inside. They keep telling us kids heal pretty good, we sure hope so.

 

Camping at Moon Lake

A couple of weeks ago we had fun time camping up at Moon Lake. We invited the Snows to come with us and that made it really fun. THanks guys!
Girls love posing for the camera, riding their bikes and trying to catch chipmunks.

 

The boys played together with their cars and trucks, and loved the "sand box".

 

The lake was really pretty and looked fun, we were wishing we brought our boat for some fishing. Next time.

 

It was a lot of fun to go on a little hike together.

 

Along the trail we had a little muddy spot to cross. The kids did really well 'balancing' on the rock to get across. What a great adventure! They collected little rocks, sticks, flowers and things along the way. It was so fun for each of them to have a 'buddy'. And it was great to visit with Ryan and Debra along the way and get to know them a little better. They are super friends!

 

The kids did really well we made it longer than I expected before they got too tired. After a little break and some snacks we headed back to camp.

 

The bridge was lots of fun.

 

I love the image of little hands holding each other helping one another along the trail. So sweet.

 

We took a fun picture in the "middle of the river".

 

It was fun to have some visitors Saturday night. Mom and Dad showed up for dessert, and Steve and Connie and Stacy and Christina came for our Dutch oven dinner. It turned out great, THanks for all your help Ryan!

 

We were sad to leave such a beautiful place, we are so fortunate to live so close to these awesome mountains and campgrounds.

 

 

Megan, Summer age 4

Megan is loving having her sister around everyday to play with. They play really well together most of the time. She also loves swimming in our pool. They want to go everyday and are both getting much more comfortable in the water. She has also really loved having her cousins around to play with. She has such a playful adventuresome spirit. We had a lot of fun camping at Moon Lake. Megan played with Bekkah and Anna and Kaden. She doesn't mind who she plays with just has fun with everyone.

 

She has started to love posing for the camera. What a little cheese!

 

We survived the drive down to St. George, Megan did really well. She is getting to be such a good little artist and enjoyed coloring and working in a workbook.

 

 

Anna, Summer age 6

Anna is sure having a fun summer. She does miss Kindergarten a little. The first couple of weeks of summer vacation she kept saying "I really wish I could go back to Kindergarten and be in Mrs. Betts class again." She loved her class and her teacher and she learned so much. We are doing some little workbooks this summer, she actually asks to do them and will go through pages at a time! We are looking forward to 1st grade, it will be a big adjustment for our whole family.

 

While we were in St. George we went to an IN and Out for the 1st time. Anna loved it! She kept wanting to go again, its amazing what a little new adventure is for a kid. She absolutely loves spending time with her Mom and Grandma, and is getting to be such a good helper. Every morning she helps Mommy do chores and reminds us to read our scriptures, she really does like routine.

 

 

Anna also enjoyed camping at Bear Lake with our friends the Snows. She loved playing with Bekkah, chasing the chimpmunks, and riding bikes. We had fun on a little hike around the lake. Anna hid under the bridge like the grumpy old troll.

 

Trip to St. George

In June we had a fun girls trip to St. George with Grandma. We stayed at the Marriot, a really nice hotel. Anna and Megan got a ride on the luggage cart from Grandma. We loved the "fancy hotel" with all the pretty flowers, rocks and lizards around it.

 

OF course we had some fun shopping too! Anna and Megan got new swimsuits, some fun craft projects and books. We ate at our favorite places: Neilsens frozen custard, Cafe Rio and also tried out In and Out. We swam in the hotel's pool and burned our feet on the hot cement around it.

 

The weather was not too unbearable, it was a nice time to go in early June. The gilrs really enjoyed Tuachann with the "waterfalls" and lots of flying actors in Tarzan. We watched Tarzan the first night and were amazed! It was one of the best I've ever seen. The 2nd night we watched Cats and didn't care for it too much, not really our style.

 

What a wonderful trip to St. George, we will remember it fondly, Thanks Grandma Clayburn and Daddy for taking care of David.

 

David 19 months

What a fun boy! David is busy, he loves to get wild with his sisters, cousins and friends. He runs, screams, plays chasing, throws, and tries to wrestle/head butt. What a tough little guy! Sometimes he gets to rough and pushes other kids around... we are working on that(as much as we can with a 19 mo old). He really loves his grandma and grandpa. They spoil him and he loves all the attention. He also loves playing with cars, animals, tractors and everything boy. Daddy likes buying him new "boy" toys too.
Recently we went camping at Moon Lake and took this fun picture by the bridge/river. David loves being outdoors and has an adventuresome spirit. He wants to explore and discover everything.

 

David also liked throwing rocks and sticks into the lake. He was leery of going in the water, he is a little nervous around water, and is starting to learn what danger is.

 

What a sweet little boy! He still loves to cuddle and give kisses and hugs. He is learning so many more words: bird, chicken, eggs, and the best "no" (he shakes his head and makes the na na sound). Its so cute we can't resist asking him questions we know he'll say no to, "Are you ready to go to bed?" "Do you want to go inside?"...