Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

All who know Harrison are aware that when he loves something, he REALLY loves something.  He lives it, eats it, breathes it, becomes it.  This was the case with Captain America, Pirates and for the summer of 2018 SPIDERMAN.  

Throughout the hot months, you would not see our little Harry, but Peter Parker in full costume.  He would fly through the air, try to climb walls and watch every single Spidey movie he could, even Spider-Man three, which is terrible.  In fact, we had to watch that one half the time.  The best part is when he would walk around like creepy Toby Macguire with slick back hair (he really did wet it in the bathroom) and do the strut across the room clicking his fingers shaped as a gun at anyone watching.    

Naturally, for his birthday, we needed to celebrate in Spider-Man style.  Harrison chose to go to Chuck E Cheese with the family instead of a friend party.  To be honest, it may not have lived up to his expectations.  It didn't live up to mine either! Ha!  Gone are the days with the giant puppets putting on a concert.  Drats!  We did rack up some serious tickets, but the prizes were so lame.  Good thing his family party focused on his love of the Spider-Man.

 The love runs so deep that when a spider was crawling around our basement, Harrison ran up to tell me, but did so as he knocked his fist against his head.  Clearly he was torn.  He told me about the arachnid and that I should go get it, but he really needed it to bite him so he could become Spider-Man.  Not sure it was radioactive, so I went ahead and got rid of that bug!

 We love Harrison so much!  He has the best sense of humor and belly laugh.  He cracks up at so many things and it just ripples through all of us.  He has a sweet/sensitive side too.  I had a particularly hard day, facing some pretty tough stuff and ended up on my bed crying a bit.  Harrison saw me like that, and was so concerned.  He grabbed a blanket, wrapped me up and laid his head on me.  Later that day he said, "remember when I wrapped you in a blanket?  I felt all  Jesus-y" Haha!  He is a little gift to us...but he is super scary with his temper at times.  Since it is his birthday post, I won't mention specifics right now!     

Harrison's birthday always falls right when school is starting for the year.    Here are the kiddos' first day photos....

Harrison Pre-K (yes it is a Spider-man backpack)

 Grant 8th grade (I lost a lot of pictures, so this had to be retrieved from our family's Cluster site.  Pretty sad.)  Notice Dave's photo bomb.   We really are looking over Grant's shoulder more often than he would like, but we do it because we love him so darn much.

Here is Katelee's first day of 6th grade-finally ruling the elementary school.  She pretty much could have been in my 6th grade class-overalls and crimped hair, she would have fit right in!  She has Mrs. Chang who we heard is great, so should be an awesome year!

Brenna has Mrs. Brooks for 3rd grade, who is a new teacher this year.  Brenna is thrilled because Mrs. Brooks is so beautiful and is having a baby.  She's going to rock 3rd grade!

So, they begin a new journey, a new chapter.  I think our whole family does.  Ages, decisions, experiences take us to new places we didn't anticipate visiting or being a part of.  Some are amazing some are terribly difficult, but either way, they are shaping who we are becoming, and hopefully that is in a positive way.  What we do know is that we can draw off of good days, fun memories (like the day at the zoo I forgot to add to the last post...)

 Or our last summer fling to Bear Lake with a couple of neighbor families.   We went glamping (because that's the closest thing to camping we could get Dave to do)

 Most of my pictures were deleted-the ones of us at the lake and in our amazing tent (that actually had electricity and a bathroom, so not sure how much it is camping at all).  Our friends stayed in the covered wagons.  We enjoyed biking, the game tent, shakes 

 smores and mostly playing all day at the lake.  We rented a wave runner for a couple of hours, kayaks, paddle board, and a water trampoline.  It was so great.  

 The beginning of September is always Snowbird week.  We have been keeping a secret from the kids that we got our very own time share.  All leading up to our stay there, the kids would keep asking which condo we would sleep in but we would put them off or tell them we would figure it out when we got there.  So, when I brought up some of the kids and I grabbed our key the first night (Brenna came late because of a birthday party).  Katelee let out a scream of joy!  It was such a fun surprise.  No pictures, but it was a fun Snowbird week as always.  

So, we've got a lot of good times ahead.  We have beautiful views like this from our glamping tent to draw from, but we also have many memories and happiness to come.  Sometimes being stuck in the middle of something hard makes you look down, but we need to look up and all around because the joy is there!  

Fireworks and President's Club #9

We started out July with a bang-Fourth of July Fireworks included! Jason, Paige and kids, Shannon, Grandpa and Grandma all came over for dinner and we made our way over to the city park. 

Every year Dave asks how early we are going to the park and after our answer, he acts shocked every single time.  As if he hasn't spent the last decade doing the same thing...

We love sitting for hours and playing games.  But, the heat is not always so bearable, so we enjoyed the umbrella shade!

Celebrating with family always makes it fun!

  

We love the lazy days of summer! 

Not every day was lazy, of course.  Grant busily worked on his Eagle Project.  He loves working with special needs kids and people with differing abilities.  He decided he wanted to benefit the Kauri Sue Hamilton School where he has been volunteering the previous 2 summers.  After meeting with the principal, he came up with a plan to construct a set of corn holes for the kids to use during PE and also to spend a couple of days there during the summer bringing activities and youth to help.  

Grant's troop earned money by working for an old neighbor sorting nuts and bolts.  

It was a hot day and they busted it out!  My job was to replenish the beverage supply and bring treats.  They did great! One little bolt at a time...it took hours, but they earned all the money Grant would need for the construction. 

On to the building...

Grant is lucky to have some handy leaders and they helped him and the fellas build those cornholes like it was no big deal.  We aren't skilled in any sort of building so I was impressed. 

The volunteer mornings turned out great as well.  

One day the kids did a reading day and took books to different classrooms to read to the students.  The other day was a sensory activity day.

Katelee enjoyed helping out as well.  There was pudding finger paint...which maybe was a little bit of a messy idea!  This poor guy had choc pudding for days in his beard. 

The other table had sensory objects to play with.  Grant definitely has a gift connecting with kids with different abilities.  It was neat to see him in his element.  Everything turned out great.

Next step...paperwork and interviews.  This eagle business is no joke!!

Katelee participated in a theatre camp that did a mini musical-Annie.  

Not only did our family particpate on stage in a production, we made our way to view one-

NEWSIES! 

Hale Center Theatre did a great job with the show.  I was nervous, since it's pretty much my fav, but it was awesome.  It was particularly fun to see a familiar face from some Riverton Jr shows.

She got to be Grace and had a fun time with that!  I went on Youth Conference to Snow College with the youth in our church and taught them very vital things-how to macarena, electric slide etc  I think it will impact their life greatly.  Ha!

Shortly after was the 24th of July.  We always go to the 24th of July float preview.  This year we met up with Paige and Co.  We love hanging with her and Porter and Jaylee.  Harrison asked me recently,

"Do you know what I am a fan of?"  I told him I did not and he replied with "Babies."  So, there you go.  Our baby fan was able to hang with baby cousins.  

This part of the 24th was delightful.  The actual 24th of July; however, was not.  We hosted a firework show in our neighborhood and there was a huge mishap.  A firework flipped over, shot out into the crowd full of kids, families, etc  One piece of the firework got stuck in a woman's shirt and she pulled it out with her hand.  This caused 3rd degree burns on her hand, shoulder etc  and she spent the evening in the emergency room and then follow up visits at the Burn Unit up north.  It was a terrible experience and everyone there was pretty shaken up. 

 A couple days later we were off on Dave's ADP trip, so we had a lot on our minds as we embarked.  

While we are so lucky to go on these trips with Dave's work, this one I may have had to force the smiles some of the time...

ADP rented out the entire ship and so some of the entertainment wasn't offered, or wasn't geared towards families.  I would accurately describe it as being trapped on a Spring Break Girls Gone Wild boat. Yikes.

But, we did get to enjoy some time at the different ports: St Kitt's, Antigua and St Lucia.  St Lucia was my favorite with the gorgeous views of the Pitons.  We took a relaxing catamaran ride on that island and enjoyed it a lot.  We also did a chocolate making tour.  

Pretty sure they just ran up to the local Walmart like store and grabbed some ingredients for us to play with, but hey, we got some fetching hair nets.  

We were yelled at and chased by the man with monkeys because we didn't want to pay him when he placed his animals on us 

We did pay him a little and then we tried to escape

 

by going on an island tour of St Kitts with the Bevans. 

 We were bummed because we had plans to attend the branch on St Kitt's but our boat did not reach the port in time to get there.  We were able to find the meetinghouse while we were on our little tour so we jumped out to feel some peace and connection to these island saints.

 We just love that we can find our place everywhere in the world! 

 No matter the trip, whether it is an incredible European experience or an MTV shocker... it's always such a huge accomplishment for Dave.  He has done so well in his career and it is great to see him recognized at these events.  

While the kids didn't get to join us on the boat, they had plenty of activites going on here at home:

Their first ever sleepover at a friends (I guess Grant had one last year), 

Airborne: 

 Leatherby's 

a bike parade

and the zoo...so you can't feel too bad for them!  Summer lovin had them a blast indeed!

Busy Busy Busy

Just because school was out, we did not get to kick our feet up and chill for the beginning of summer.  One week into our June, I had girls camp.  Girls camp may be a time of kicking it for some people...but not so much for the camp director...which was me.  

This was my second year for the position so I knew it was a big job and I knew the girls are awesome!  We had the theme Bee His Hands and it was so great!!  We had an epic lip sync, canoeing, hikes, crafts, service project, devotionals, camp fire singing, delish meals cooked on a smoker, marshmallows, smores, testimony meeting and so much more.  Phew...it was a great and exhausting time! Thank heavens for an awesome assistant-Tristen and the other leaders.  

I honestly have learned that when we are turning to the Savior we can Be His Hands as we interact and go through this world.  Last year after camp, I came home crashed and maybe cried...ha!  But this year, we had family in town.  So, no rest for me!  It was Michael and Hayley's wedding so there were people all over.  It was a lovely wedding, but I got no pictures. 

Grant went to Scout Camp the following week with his troop.  They went up to Bear Lake where he earned his Small Boat Sailing and other badges.  I am sure a good time was had by all.  The same week, I was out the door again.  This time to New York tagging along on ADP business.  Dave had a work trip and I got to benefit from the hotel room! I went to the Met, explored the city and saw shows while Dave worked.  It was pretty much a dream come true!  I got to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 

which was pretty much the most amazing thing I have seen on stage! I was scared, I cried, I was amazed by the magic.  Wow!!  

I usually would spend every minute in a musical, but this production was worth every penny and moment I had.  It was done in two shows, so part one I saw right when we arrived in New York and the next day I wrapped it up.  

Dave and I did get to spend a little time together one or two days.  We walked Chelsea Market, went to a session at the Manhattan Temple...

This temple amazes me at how all the outside noise is not even a faint sound as you sit inside.  Man, how we need those peaceful places where we can let all the chaos and distractions go.  We also spent hours at the 9/11 museum.  It was quite the emotional experience.  

New York is so fun!!!  Till next time, Big Apple! 

When we got back, it was Katelee's turn for a Hogwarts experience.  She and her friend Emily had a magical time at the library day camp.  

 They learned spells, drank butterbeer and were sorted-Gryffindor for these brave ladies! 

 Because why not have another crazy week?  We left a few days after that for a small get away to Colorado. We wanted to go visit Brad and Angelique and family in Castle Rock, so we drove out there way.

 First stop was Steamboat Springs.  We took a cool short hike by a waterfall that had tons of butterflies.  We stepped gingerly around the rocks and slowly would extend our hands hoping to catch a Monarch.  We all got to hold one!  It was a pretty exciting day! 

We had a fun hotel in the middle of the ski resort and dined before we hit the hay.

 On our way to see the Colorado Petricks, we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. 

The elevation in Rocky Mountain is so high, we were driving right through the clouds.  We tried to keep everyone awake the whole time...but the boys snoozed for a bit of the drive.  

We walked out on the tundra and experienced the cool temps and thin air.  It was awesome! 

We took no pics of our time with the family...but we really did go!  Harrison was scared of Jax and Maizie, the new additions (dogs!), but everyone else had a great time together.  We ate, went to a park, attended their church and hung out.  It was so good to see them!

This was a whirlwind month and only possibly with some divine help!  I was praying for assistance and safety everyday.  Harrison finds it pretty comical to interrupt by prayers, so I literally have to hide in a closet in the dark while I pray.  He gets disappointed if I am successful with out interruption.  So, while I tend to be quicker than I should so I don't have an electronic toy buzzing in my ear or yelling to stop, I still rely on those prayers!!

Harrison's prayers consistently were pleading that 'Jesus would come here and hold that sheep again.' He has seen a picture of the Savior lovingly holding a lamb.  I am all in favor of Jesus coming here soon!  Second coming anytime, please!!!