Music and the Spoken Word

We headed up with the Jensen’s and Maria to see Music and the Spoken Word at the Conference Center. 

After the program, we walked around Temple Square.  As always, it was very beautiful.

We fulfilled one item on Sandy’s Bucket list by riding on Trax.  All in all a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

TIME to TIE-DYE

We had a great time this summer learning to Tie-Dye.  I think we did a pretty great job for our first time!

Summer Basketball Camp

Jayden and Parker participated in a basketball camp one week this summer.  They had a blast going with friends Josh and Coop.

FHE

One night this summer after our Family Home Evening lesson, we learned to tie ties for our activity! It was very informative, although I am not sure I could do it again without assistance. My favorite is the double Windsor knot.

Halle’s Room

During Spring Break in April, I started re-doing Halle’s room.  I wanted to be done with it by the end of the month.  Needless to say, I finally finished it at the end of July.  Just in time for all the wedding guests to arrive.  I think it all turned out pretty cute.Here is the way Halle’s room looked before.  It was VERY pink!  I know it was past the time to decorate because she was too old to have that much pink!I struggled with the idea of painting her room because I did not want to have to paint over the mural that my brother Jimmy had painted for her when she was a baby.  I knew that the only way to keep the painting would be to leave her room pink.  I knew that I couldn’t do that to her, no matter how bad it hurt to paint over it.  It was a bitter/sweet moment when Halle picked up the roller and started painting right over the mural.  I was glad that she did it, because I knew that I could not but it was sad to see it go!

Halle picked out the blue and green bedding online.  When it arrived, I was less than pleased with the quality but she insisted that we keep it.  I improvised by buying a nicer white comforter to be the main bedding while the patterned one became the accent.  I ended up pretty happy with the result.Halle fell in love with the pillow on the chair, so we ended up finding some curtains to match. My favorite part was that both the curtains and pillow were really inexpensive!Halle had some really nice picture frames on three shelves in the pink room that I just loved but I really didn’t want to mess with the shelves anymore, so I made a collage out of all of her favorite pictures.I was disappointed that I could not find a lamp shade in the color green that we were using, so I ended up spending way too much for this one at Pottery Barn!  Oh well, you win some, you lose some! Right?!?!

I made this bulletin board all by myself!  My sister Misty has made them for years, but I thought maybe I could just buy one pre-made.  I guess you can call me lazy!  Anyway, I couldn’t find one that I liked so I was left with no choice but to “be creative”.  I found fabric that matched Halle’s chair and some adorable buttons that are the color of her silver frames.  I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt. 

All in all, I think her room turned out close to perfect even if it took me FOREVER to finish it.  Hopefully it will be sufficient until she moves away to college!

Build A Bear

I find that more and more I am realizing all the things that Parker is missing out on because he is the baby of the family.  I always think that we have “been there and done that” and don’t realize that we did so many things when the older boys were little, but not since.  Building a bear was one of these things, so I loaded up the little ones and we had a great time!

Jayden insisted on making a Kitty.  He loved the experience.They both thought it was so cool to get to “bath” the new stuffed animal.

I think as an older mom, I forget how little Parker is.  Because he is growing up in a houseful of teenagers he is often expected to act older than he really is.  It was fun to see him get so excited about this cute little stuffed animal.

Introducing FIRE BEARAnd JACK SPARROW KITTY

Halle got a new outfit for her bear too.

Once we were home, every build a bear animal came out to play.  The kids had a blast playing with their new friends.

SWIM TEAM 2012

It was another great year for the swimmers in our family.  Halle and Braden participated in swim team and Parker took lessons.

Braden loves Swim Team, but I think it is mostly for Social reasons.  He really has made some great friends!He is learning a thing or two and it gets him out of bed in the mornings!The swim meets are painfully long!  Halle has improved so much!  I am very proud of all her hard work.Halle did great at the County meet.  She won her heat in backstroke and came in third overall.

Parker moved up to Level 4 and the first day the instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.  To say that I was worried would be an understatement!  He got in and did his best. 

Parker did great.  By the end of the two weeks he had a lot more endurance.  He has a lot more to work on, but I was so proud of his effort.  He was very brave.

At the first day of swim lessons, Jayden would not float on his back or front.  His teachers were awesome and by the end of the week, he was gliding through the water and floating by himself.  He even jumped into the deep end!  He made such great progress and I was very proud of him. I have some great little swimmers in my family.  I am so proud of all their hard work this summer!