reunions

This last week we had two reunions.  My family reunion...the S&S Reunion.  (Stan and Sylvia), and my extended family reunion....the K&K Reunion.  (Kay and Karma Belnap).

We drove to Pocatello Tuesday evening, after the dog's vet appointment, and after Mary participated in the 24th of July Parade in Spanish Fork for her cheer team.  Kelsey and Taylor and their baby, Emmett, also got there that night.  Unfortunately, the reunion was just us.  Tyler was going to come with his kids, but he was asked to participate in my cousin's wedding, so he was in Boise instead.  Devin is in New York, and Ryan is in Alaska.  Hopefully, we will all be together next year.  That is the plan anyway.

Even though it was only our two families, and my parents, we had a great time!!  We went boating the first day.  All of my kids love the tube, but Luke was crazy on it! He had no fear.  He went faster and higher than any of the other kids wanted to go.  He could not get enough of it.  It was hilarious!
 Taylor talked Mary and Sam in to jumping off of the bridge while we were there.  Mary did a back flip off of it!   Seriously, my kids have no fear.  It's amazing!  We were all able to get in some good ski runs as well.  Molly had a great time playing on beach and having boat rides.  It was a really fun day on the lake. 

 

After a full day on the lake, we came back, ate dinner,  had a bonfire, and watched a movie.  The boys loved snuggling with their little cousin Emmett.

Ben had to leave that night, because he had a work trip in Reno, but the kids and I stayed.

The next morning, after I got back from the gym, we all headed to Lava Hot Springs swimming pool.  This was the pool I went to growing up, and I couldn't believe my kids had never been there.  We all decided to make a day out of it.  It was so much fun!!!  The kids had an absolute blast!  Mary did a back flip off of the second platform, which is very, very high!  And Sam jumped off the third platform...which is 35 feet high!!  William and Luke loved the waterslides, and Molly swam and swam and swam in the toddler pool.  William also jumped off the diving board without a lifejacket for the first time.  It was a great day!

Sam and Taylor jumping off the third platform

We got back from the pool completely exhausted, but Taylor, who has never ending energy, wanted to take Mary and Sam rock climbing!  So, they went.  I stayed back with the littles, and baby Emmett and my parents, and we watched a movie.  Mary and Sam loved rock climbing.  This was a first for them.

Mary

Sam

The next morning, we basically packed up and headed home.  The drive home ended up being pretty terrible.
William got car sick, the dog got car sick, Molly threw up several times, we got stuck in a 40 minute long traffic jam when Molly had to pee, so she peed her pants and cried, and I backed into a car in the Wendy's parking lot, because the dog jumped in my lap while I was backing out, and I was focusing on William who was about to throw up.  I put a good size dent in our car as well as the other car.  The people weren't rude, but they weren't nice.  It really sucked.  The 3 hour drive home ended up being 5 1/2 hours, and I came home completely undone.  Ugh.  Thank goodness it was such a fun trip though, and Ben was home when I got back, so I could just crash.

We had a VERY busy next few days with piano lessons, soccer, football, gymnastics, cheer, babysitting, house cleaning, lawn mowing, scouts and mutual.  And then, on Friday we headed to Lagoon to start the K&K reunion!!!

Tyler and his kids, Kelsey and Taylor and Emmett, and my parents met us there.  There were also several members of my Belnap side of the family there.  It was crazy hot, but it was so much fun!  My kids are seriously fearless!  Mary and Sam and William just bounced from one big ride to the next with whoever would take them and wasn't motion sick at the moment, haha!  I stayed with the little kids and took them on one ride after the next.

Toward the end of the day, Molly and Luke started asking to do bigger rides.  I was nervous about it, but we let them....and they laughed their heads off!!!  Luke would laugh and yell and scream and beg for more.  Molly, who I thought would bawl her eyes out on the big rides, laughed and laughed and laughed.  It was amazing!  It was a very exhausting, but very fun day!  It was really fun for William to have his cousin Jack there to hang out with as well.

We all came back to our house that evening and crashed.  I got up early the next morning and decorated the house for my brother Tyler's Birthday.  We all ate breakfast and then we all headed to Orem for more of the reunion.  We did games, learned about ancestors, at yummy food, visited and had a talent show. 

Molly was thrilled to be able to perform her "hula dance" that she learned.  She is definitely not afraid to be in front of people.

Molly and her cousin Ivie

 

Our family left the reunion a little early, in order to drive back to Heber for the Rodeo.  I don't have any pictures, but it was great!  Molly LOVES the rodeo, and she was so excited to see the horses, and to see the pretty girls and the cowboys riding them.  The rodeo is quickly becoming a tradition with our family, and I love that we can do that together.

After the rodeo, we stayed up talking with my family for a while, then we all crashed once again. 
We got up early Sunday morning and headed down to Orem once more for the testimony meeting.  This is always my favorite part of the K&K reunion.  It is so special and it is such a very powerful experience for everyone who is there.  I love that my children are able to experience it.  We got the traditional number shirt picture, ate a yummy dinner, and I got my last few snuggles with Kelsey's baby Emmett.  I am totally addicted to that sweet, happy, baby.  He is so precious.  We could not get enough of him!

We all eventually said goodbye, and headed our separate ways.  It was pretty sad for me to say goodbye to my siblings.  We all live in a different state, and I don't see them much anymore.  There is such a comfortable, happy, fun feeling when we are all together, and I miss it more than I realize.  I am so glad that we have these reunions to help me remember how special and important family is, and to feel the love and the true goodness of family. 

derby time

Ben took the boys to the demolition derby a few weeks ago.  It is a HUGE deal here in Heber, and we have never been able to get tickets, because they sell out so fast.  I was finally able to snag tickets for the boys this year.

While the boys were at the derby, the girls rented a chick flick, got some yummy treats, and had a fun girls night here at home.  We made it a fun night for everyone.

The boys arrived home so full of testosterone, talking non stop about smashing, cars, noise, crashing, and so on.  Ben said it was quite the experience.  The LOVED it!  I can't quite explain it on here, but the boys could go on and on and on.  It is definitely something that has to be done if you live here. 

A few days later, we found Luke and his friend Tucker, outside doing this.

They had helmets on, and their power wheels out.  They were slamming and smashing and yelling and cheering.  In their world, they were totally in the derby!  hahahah!  It was so cute and hilarious all at once.

Oh, the life of a boy.

big buddy starts football

Last month, I saw a banner hanging up outside the High School.  It said that there was registration for tackle football for William's age group!  William has been wanting to play tackle football for a while now, but so far, for his age, there is only flag football.

I quickly registered William, and he had his first practice last week.  After practice, was equipment pick up. 

It might has well have been Christmas Day!!!  William strutted through the door wearing his gear, and he was beaming, but trying to act cool.  It was hilarious!

his tough football face

William displayed all of his equipment on the kitchen table, and he took turns showing it to his brothers and having them try it all on.  He, himself, tried it all on at least three times that night, and again the next day.
He came down the stairs the next morning wearing his helmet so he could "get used to it."  haha!!  It is awesome.

He has since had another practice, and tomorrow they will wear full pads and "finally get to smash each other."  William is so excited he can hardly stand it.

I can't wait to see what this boy of mine can do.  He is fast, has a good arm, and is really athletic.  This will be fun!

when weed wacker meets rock

Ben was trimming the lawn the other day, and the weed whacker got a rock. It threw the rock into our front window by our door.  And this happened....

Yikes!

dog diggity dog

A few weeks ago, as our family was headed out to the duck pond to go fishing with our neighbors, I was trying to put Charlie outside.  Charlie hates being put outside when he knows we are leaving, so he ran downstairs to get away from me.  While he was down there, he got ahold of Sam's rattlesnake head keychain.  He ran back up the stairs with it, and I continued to chase him all around the dang house with that thing in his mouth.  At one point, I grabbed Charlie, and he swallowed the keychain.  It is really big, about 5 inches long, so of course he started choking.  In order to save him, I put my hand down his throat, and I got ahold of the keychain.  I yanked it, but only the keychain came out, Charlie swallowed the entire 5 inch preserved rattlesnake head.  UGH!!!  I kind of freaked out for a while, and watched him, but he seemed fine, so I just put him outside and we left.

The next day, we noticed that Charlie had a huge lump under his eye, about the size of a golf ball.  It really hurt him if we touched it.  I started to wonder if I had somehow broken his nose when I was yanking out the keychain the previous evening. Our friend and neighbor is a vet, so I gave him a call.

It was next to impossible to explain that my dog swallowed and chocked on a preserved rattlesnake head keychain, and possibly broke his nose.  It sounded so ridiculous, and hilarious, and crazy!!!  Our friend came over, and ended up doing some x-rays on Charlie's stomach (to see if the snake head was blocking his stomach), and his face.

Sure enough, Charlie had a broken bone in his nose.  The stomach x-ray didn't show anything, but he told us to go to our vet the next day, so we did.

I had to tell the story all over again.  The vet had a great laugh about it, but told me that he has seen and heard about everything when it comes to dogs swallowing stuff.  He confirmed the break in Charlie's nose, but said it was just a tiny bone, that is very common to break in puppies, and that it was two weeks old.  I did not cause the break, and it wasn't a big deal.  Few!

The lump on his nose though, didn't look good.  The vet did a biopsy of it, and it showed that it was full of some bad infection.  The vet's guess was a poisonous spider bite.  The lump on the nose wasn't even related to the break!  huh!

Charlie's stomach xray did show the snake head (insert eye roll), but it was not blocking anything.

We came home with antibiotics for the infected lump, and instructions to watch his poop for the snake head.  oh joy!

Charlie seemed fine after that.  The lump went down, and he was pooping.  However, one night, he started gagging THE ENTIRE NIGHT!  We seriously thought he was dying.  I called the vet, and took him in again.  I was terrified that he was going to die, for real.  The noise he was making was horrible!
On top of that, we were headed to Idaho that very day for a reunion.  Great timing.

It ended up being kennel cough, which is very common, and he probably got it from the last vet visit, because it is extremely contagious.  It sounds WAY worse than it actually is.
The vet had pity on me, and didn't charge us for that visit.  I think he was just thrilled that we still took Charlie home with us.  Believe me, by this point, it was tempting.

So there you have it.  Spider bite, snake swallowing, broken nose, kennel cough, and car sickness.  Go Charlie.

camps and trips

The day after we arrived home from Idaho for the 4th of July, William had his very first scout camp and Mary left for LA for a week long trip with her best friend Alina.

William left early that morning, and got back later that evening.  He was absolutely filthy from head to toe, he was tired, he had two pocket knives, a piece of gold, and some animal skin, and he could not stop talking about how much fun he had!  He has been watching Sam go to scout camp for years now, and he has always wanted to be a part of it.  He was so excited for it to finally be his turn, and it did not disappoint.  He had a blast!  I love that he gets to be in scouts now!

Mary spent that week in LA with Alina.  They went to the beach every single day, and Mary was in heaven!  She had been looking forward to this trip for months!  I missed her terribly, but we talked on the phone every day, and she sounded to excited and happy.  What an adventure for a teenager to get to do with her best friend and her family.  Mary had a great time, and is now, more than ever, in love with California and the beach.

beach babes

4th of july

By the time the 4th of July rolled around, the absolutely crazy summer was catching up to all of us.  I was drained, the kids were starting to crave something outside of Heber, and we were all ready to bust out of here.  We decided last minute to head to Idaho, and hang with my family.

Mary and Sam actually headed to Idaho with my parents after William's baptism.  It was the first time they had ever spent a few days alone with my parents.  They had so much fun!  I'm so glad they were able to have that time.

It was a really quick trip, but it was so much fun! We brought Charlie, which was his first trip ever, and he had a blast in my parents huge yard!  He did throw up all over the car on the way there, which was not fun at all, but other than that, he did really well.

We went boating one day, ate yummy food, got in some good workouts, set off some huge fireworks, had a bonfire, watched movies, went shopping, and just enjoyed not having an insane schedule for a few days.

I love spending the 4th of July in Idaho, I always have.  It is one of my most favorite holidays, and it holds some of my absolute most fun and best memories.  I hope to give that same gift to my kids.