June 2017

Dear friend,

Elias had to travel a lot for work this month.  Between that and our family trips, I could count the days he was home on my fingers.  But we were still able to get a few things done.  One Saturday he noticed that our gate to the walking path was broken.  He was determined to fix it with $10 of 2x4s.  I was pretty skeptical, but he totally pulled it off!

It turned out great, but it just about killed Joy to have to watch him from the window.

Our sweet little Joy turned one on the 1st and I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.  

After months of training, she has become a great cuddler.  

She is full-on walking now and has developed a new love for climbing on things.  She moved more than both my boys combined while she was in the womb and it still holds true today.  She is constantly doing laps around the house and prefers to eat on the go.  

For as much as she moves, I am grateful that she is such a great sleeper.  She loves her cuddle blanket and will stay in bed and relax just for more time with that blanket.  She sleeps ten hours at night and gives me two 2.5-3 hour naps during the day, so I am counting my blessings!

She is totally obsessed with Elias, which works out well because he is completely smitten with her. Elias and I have accepted the fact that it's just easier to give Joy five minutes to herself with Daddy when he arrives home from work before we tell the other kids that he's home.  Otherwise, she gets crazy defensive of his lap and becomes pretty feisty.  

But when Elias isn't around, we're best pals.  She is so friendly toward every new face, but prefers to be your friend from Mommy's arms.  

We are so grateful that our family was blessed to have Joy join us one year ago.  Before she was born, I had some hesitations naming her "Joy", but Elias was confident that was the name for her.  And wow!  This little girl is joy personified.  We love you sweet thing.  

Elias taught everyone to ride a two-wheeler this month.  

They were so excited to show our neighbors John & Debbie.  

We went to the planetarium in Los Alamos

and enjoyed the great weather. 

It was another month of forts, 

clubs, 

and clubhouses.

One day they came to me with a sketch and poles and asked for my "assistance".  

And then there was the day of the teepee.  (See the text I sent to Elias.)

We took the entire family on the ward campout and it was a blast!  Joy had a perma-grin the entire time and actually fell asleep in her crib when it was time for everyone to go to bed.  

We slept well

and had fun exploring the river the next day.  

My boys turned four on the 11th.  FOUR!  A piece of my heart is being crushed.  I love this stage.  I love these boys. I don't want them to go through puberty.  But it is darling to watch them passionately explain to me why they HAVE TO grow up. 

They wanted to make their own monster truck cakes and Summer was thrilled to assist them.  The combination of the candy they picked, mixed with how often they licked everything, resulted in a truly disgusting concoction that they couldn't have been more proud of.  

Their monster truck remote control cars were a hit.  Even though I intentionally bought two different kinds of cars, the entire ordeal became more complicated when we discovered that each remote controlled both cars.  

I love these boys but they are totally giving me gray hairs.  Each week after FHE we offer them a treat if they can tell us what we talked about.  Each week, I'm continually amazed at how difficult a task that is.  One Saturday afternoon Boyd and Smith were having a particularly hard time listening to us, so Elias sat them down on the couch.  I sat down next to him so we could come off as a united front.  He starts by telling them that obeying our parents is a commandment from God.  He goes on to tell them why it is so important to listen to Mom and Dad.  He then continues by telling them a story of how 2-year old Boyd almost got hit by a car because he didn't listen to Mom and Dad.  After reiterating the importance of listening to Mom and Dad to the point that I'm thinking, "okay Elias, I have other things to do today," he then concludes by saying, "So what do we need to do?"...crickets...Elias asks again, "Who do we need to listen to?"  Boyd immediately looks around waiting for Summer to respond because he knows she won't be able to help herself.  But she isn't in the room so he decides to take a shot..."the Holy Ghost" (Nice try buddy, considering that is the answer we were looking for in order to give you last Monday's FHE treat.)  Elias' facial expression doesn't change, so Boyd takes another shot, "...Jesus?"  By this time I can't help but laugh, but Elias keeps a straight face, turns to Smith and asks, "Smith, who do you need to listen to?" And as casually as someone in New York would respond to the question of what time is it in Singapore, Smith responds, "I don't know."

Some of my favorite Smith lines this month include: 

Me: "Smith, why did you unravel an entire roll of paper towels!?!"

Smith: "Well...all that stuff was on my telescope."

After rough-housing for nearly an hour, 

Elias: "Wow.  You all need to take a bath tonight."

Smith: "Not me!  My body's already watery!"

Elias: "...that's sweat Smith."

I sure love this kind-hearted explorer.  But he can't seem to help himself from sticking EVERYTHING in his mouth.  For real.  It's a good thing he's so cute.  

He loves all things super-hero and continues to enjoy reading.  And he looks so much like Elias.  

Boyd is our action man.  He loves to rough-house and thrives on competition.  We are still working on being a good sport whether you win or lose.  But really, any kind of chore chart whips this kid into action.  He knows how to work.  

He really has a gentle side and can be so sweet around babies. 

He loves cars and I'm pretty sure he discovered a truer version of himself when he put on the go-cart helmet at Tober.  

I love my boys and what they bring to our family.  It continues to amaze me what Summer can talk them into doing.  

While Elias was in Chicago I drove the kids up to Denver to have some fun.  We met up with some dear friends from high school.  

And I got to visit with Katie BP!  I need more of her in my life.  

The kids and I had fun in Denver 

and the real fun began when we joined my parents and Corie's family at Tober.  We rode the tractor, 

looked through old photos, 

saw a moose, 

set up a zipline, 

and got crazy dirty while exploring, 

so Grandpa Peter washed off everyone's feet.  

Side note - I saw my Mom do something that I have vivid memories of as a child.  She helped Jasmine have a "cute, modest top".  It totally cracked me up.  I love her.  Corie, Chelsea, Hannah...do you not remember this!?!

Anyway, Elias flew into Denver on Thursday night so Joy, the boys and I went down to meet him.  We needed a little us time before Carter and his girls flew in and drove Elias up to Summer at Tober for Daddy/Daughter Weekend.  

On Friday and Saturday all the men and their daughters in my family enjoyed an awesome time at Tober.  Summer absolutely loves her cousins.  

They crafted, swam, shot guns, 

rode the boat, played games, cuddled, napped, 

sang, danced,

and rode horses.  

Meanwhile, I snatched up my boys (and Joy) for an epic Mommy/Son Weekend down in Denver

We painted the town with my mom, Corie and Peter.  

We saw Cars 3 in the theater, 

went to the pool and the splash pad, 

rocked out at the bounce house, 

cuddled, 

and rode the escalator, oh, so many times!

 Joy had some good laughs with Nana. 

On Saturday evening we headed up to Tober to spend the final night with our girls and men.  Boyd and Smith were anxious to get some time on the new go-cart.  

 After a delicious dinner, we enjoyed a awesome talent show, 

which concluded with some killer dance numbers.  

My mom, sisters and I performed, "Not giving up today" from the movie "Trolls".  

I love dancing with them.  

We prepared it Friday night after putting the kids to bed, 

and a lot of laughs and tears went into it.  

But the show-stopper of the night was hands-down the daddy/daughter number.  

Their performance of "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" was darling.   

You could tell the girls were in heaven.  

Melted mommy hearts were all over the floor.  I will forever love the memory of that performance.

From there, Elias flew off to Florida and I head home with the kids a few days later.  I had to go up to girls camp one day and host a University of Faith and then the next week Elias was home and it was off to Boston.  

We enjoyed a wonderful Erickson Reunion back at Elias' childhood home.  Their home backs up onto conservation land and yes, it has given Elias a totally skewed reality of what he can hope for in a backyard.  

Our family of six shared one room.  (I'm standing on the bed; see if you can find five others sleeping!)  I don't know why Elias and I kind of like this.  Maybe it's a little pride that we can pull it off, maybe it something about having all our kids asleep around us, but it's pretty precious.  

While we were missing some cousins, we still enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach

followed by some ice cream.  

We loved our day exploring Groton

and visiting Gram's school.  

We loved going to the lake and to the park, 

playing

 

and snacking in the yard, 

and of course, reading with Gram.  

We spent an awesome (and hot) day in Boston.

The kids loved the trolly

and the carousel. 

We enjoyed some hilarious water fights

and delicious meals.  

The grandkids made an engagement cake for Kate and Alex, 

and loved cutting into it with them.  

We had a little engagement party that the kids got really into.  

We love being Ericksons.  

And then, after two more flights, we were home again.  

Phew, June.  What a rush!

Much love,
Brittany et al.