August 2016

Dear friend,

This month was crazy, busy, and fun, fun, fun!

We had a little of this, 

not enough of this, 

and a whole lot of this.  

 We enjoyed a wonderful weekend at Tober as a family.

Elias spent hours pushing everyone on the moose swing,

 as well as the other swings.

 We went on little hikes, 

 enjoyed our time with one another,

 and explored all around us.

 Joy loved it there just as much as her siblings.

  Everyone (especially Boyd) continues to love the tractor,

and all the kids adore the talking tree.  

 Sure, we had to deal with a little fit every now and then,

 but mostly it was R&R,

and enjoying time as a family. 

From there, it was on to Bolder where Elias had a business conference.  We quickly hit up the pool,

and then Elias went to his conference while the kids and I went out on the town.

Unfortunatley, a pipe burst in the basement of our hotel and we were all evacuated at 3am.  If sleeping as a family of six in a hotel room isn't exciting enough, this sure upped the bar.

While Elias was at work the next day, the kids and I explored Bolder

and met up with my dear friends from high school.  

It was so fun to see all our kids play together!

Once we arrived home from Bolder, we enjoyed three short days before heading out to Utah.  Joy woke up for a feeding at 4am, so right after I fed her we loaded everyone into the car and hit the road. It was awesome to have everyone sleep for the first four hours.  The rest the ride went so smoothly and they kids were great.  

We went straight to Chelsea's new house and had fun with her and Taylor.

They even surprised the boys with a tractor in their garage (a sure way to their hearts).

After joining them for church the next day, we headed up to see Grandpa Boyd.

Oh, how we love you Grandpa Boyd!  And Summer fell in love with Grandma Jean's decorating.  "I love this house!  There is so much pink!  It is so beautiful!"

Elias then had a packed three-day conference in Park City while the kids and I had a packed three-day social schedule.  

We enjoyed Park City

visiting Chelsea at work, 

and exploring a few parks with her.

We enjoyed swimming at the hotel, 

 

relaxing in our room, 

and going to the science museum 

and planetarium.  

We visited my dear friend Laura in Bountiful, 

and the Hatches and Farrs in Park City.  

Some moments with my little entourage of four were pure bliss.  

Others were a little crazy (shortly after this picture was taken for example).  

One morning we went to Kneaders so I could introduce my kids to their amazing french toast.  The kids were well-behaved while we waited in line and so when we sat down to wait for our food, I thought it would be a good time to feed Joy.  But as soon as I began, our food arrived and everyone insisted on having their french toast cut up.  As I try to quickly cup up french toast with a flimsy plastic knife while breast feeding, the older three decide to literally act like monkeys until their food is ready.  While standing on his chair, Boyd knocks over his milk, and I dive to save it with my third hand (while continuing to give Joy a private and comfortable eating environment of course).  I save the milk, but accidentally spill hot syrup all over my pants and sandals.  It's at that moment, while I am realizing that the wipes are in the car and I have no napkins at the table that Summer loudly announces, "Mom!  I have to poop now!"  Needless to say the next 20 minutes were quite unenjoyable for us all.  

After breakfast I was so frustrated as I shuttled everyone back to our car to change Joy (because of course she pooped during those 20 minutes).  But then as I changed her, she gave me the biggest smiles.  She cooed and giggled at me for a five minutes and helped me forget the craziness.  As I tell Elias, Joy speeds up my recovery time with her sweet disposition.

Once Elias finished his conference on Wednesday, we picked him and Grandpa up to take them out to eat.

I love these men.

Boyd, I hope you always remember the legacy and power of your name.  

Elias took the rest of the week off to join us in all the fun.

We went to the natural history museum,

the Salt Lake temple,

and out to dinner with Kate.

We went to the children's museum,

the Provo temple, 

and swimming at the rec center.

It was so fun to meet up with the Lundeens and they invited us to the Qualtrics company party.  

It was our children's first introduction to fireworks and they loved it.  

Summer was absolutely enchanted.

We had they kids try pop rocks for the first time,

went to the dinosaur museum,

and multiple parks.  This picture shows the time when "Fun Dad" Elias agreed to ride down the slide head-first on his back, with all three kids on his stomach.  Everyone had fun and then it concluded with Elias dropping the three feet to the ground with 100 pounds of kid on him.  

We visited Grandma Bonnie,

and spent a day with John's family.

It was fun to relax and spend a day with cousins.

It was an awesome trip.  This is our second year joining Elias for the Park City conference and turning it into a family vacation and we hope to make it an annual thing.  Utah knows how to do summer right and we have so many loved ones there.  It was great to see all of you!

The day we arrived home from Utah we had a "school starts tomorrow" celebration!

Elias gave everyone haircuts and blessings.

Our three big kids now go to school from 11:45-2:45 M-Th. They are all in different classes and their teachers are amazing.  Boyd took a week to warm up to the idea, but now they all love it.  

And I have to admit...so do I!  The first day I dropped them off, I had this wave come over me as I drove away.  "This is a huge milestone!" I thought to myself.  While I am sad they are growing up so quickly, I love having twelve hours a week just me and this little darling.  

We try to meet Elias for lunch once a week and running errands with just one kid is such a breeze!

SummerGirl is loving school.  It's as though she is on parade when we walk through the halls.  She waves to everyone and greets them by name.  She loves it!  

She has had this backpack for three years now and wanted to make it more "girly".  I found a Bedazzler on sale and taught her how to use it.  Wow!  She was in her element.  After she attached every jewel to her backpack, she looked at it and sighed, "Perfect.  It just needed a little sparkle."

I am thrilled to announce that she can now pump herself on the swings!!! Yay!

And she is in circus gymnastics and loving it.  The boys and I try to arrive ten minutes early when picking her up just so we can catch a glance.  They do the tightrope, trapeze and even arial fabrics.  It's a riot.  

And Joy, sweet Joy!  

I can't sing her praises loud enough.  Oh, how we love her!

She has been sleeping pretty consistently from 8pm-5:30am lately.  

She loves baths, 

ceiling fans, 

and her siblings.  

The boys had their 3-year wellness check and showed their muscles to prove how strong they had become.  

They really are quite the duo.  

It has been fun to watch them play together. 

And it's fun to spend time with them while Summer is at gymnastics because they can finally get a word in and suddenly have a lot they want to talk about.  

And they are such sweet big brothers to Joy.  

(Yes, we are still trying to tone down Smith's excitement toward her.)

As busy as we were, we also fit in some family exercises, 

a trip to the pet store (just to look, not to buy!)

bike rides, 

crafts at the museum, 

play-doh creations, 

trips to the park, 

and some old-fashion goofing off.  

I am so grateful I get to spend my days with these four amazing little people.  We have such a good time together.  When I have to stop and feed Joy while we are on the go, we now throw a little dance party in the car.  Even the boys get pretty into it.  

I love being a mom.  

Much love,
Brittany et al.