Enjoying the last of summer

 Look at this boy-  

This picture makes him look so grown up.  

 He's still adored by everyone around here.  

Abbi has become quite the fashionista around here.  She plans her outfits days ahead, wears dresses to school, wears boots with shorts.  I'm not quite sure what happened.  Maybe it's just growing up. 

Tom's work had a family bbq.  There were bouncy houses and food.  The kids had a great time.

  

 Once again... this kid is looking so grown up.  He's still a baby!

Zac had been waiting a long time for his middle school (junior high whatever you want to call it) schedule and it finally came in the mail! 

 Abbi is a bit crazy.  This is her latest talent.  

 We went to the library and got more Garfield books.  Like I said before, there are a lot of Garfield books we could go through.  Garfield books are scattered all over our house.  If you want Carter to do something-- put his socks and shoes on to go to school, come to dinner, get ready for church, go to bed, etc. he'll probably be reading Garfield somewhere instead of doing what he's supposed to be doing.  

Blake is entertained by taking selfies. He wonders who that sweet little white boy is in the phone.  

Before school started Tom took Zac to the temple to do baptisms.  

Blake turned 5 months old!  I seriously don't know how that happened.  From month to month he doesn't seem to change much to me.  

 But looking over 4 months he really has changed.  Well he's definitely chunked up!

On Saturday August 23rd we went with my brothers and families, my cousins and families and aunt to the Ogden temple open house.  Tom was working.  It was beautiful inside and I'm glad we were able to go.  Inside I tried to tell Gavin which rooms we were in.  In the sealing room I told him this is where people get married.  He looked at me and gave me the "blah" sign with his tongue sticking out. I asked him if he wants to get married one day.  I got the same reaction.  Gavin and his cousin Noah kept commenting that it was taking forever to walk through the temple.  I carried Blake through the temple with the help of my brothers.  That boy is heavy!  He slept through most of it. His first nap in the temple ;)

Afterwards we went to to a fish farm near my aunt and uncle's house in North Ogden.  The kids were thrilled at the idea of fishing.  Tom has taken Zac fishing but the other kids haven't been exposed to it much.  I'm not sure it would qualify as real fishing though.  You throw fish food in the pond and then pull the fishing hook out of the water quickly trying to snag a fish.  Gavin was the first to catch one and it was a biggie.  Here is Carter holding it.  

Carter sat by the bucket of fish and loved touching and holding them.  He was curious about their gills and everything about them.  Tom needs to take him fishing.  

The other kids all caught small ones.  (Which was ok since we paid for them by how big they were.)

 Abbi screamed and pulled this face when she caught her fish.  She's truly a girl.  

Thank goodness for Chad and Shelley who took the hooks out of the fish.  I wasn't too interested in doing that.  

After catching the fish you can take them to the counter and the people working there filet them and then you pay for them.  We then took them to my aunt and uncle's and grilled them.  They were delicious! Carter declared fish his new favorite food!  He loved them (as did I).  The other kids wouldn't touch them.  They loved catching them but not eating them.  Not even Abbi who usually loves fish.  

The day was long for Blake with little cat naps here and there.  He was exhausted and fell asleep in my brother's lap.  It was a long day for him.   

Here is the whole group.  It's always great to see my Grandpa.  He's living in Ogden for the summer.  I asked him what he'd been up to.  He said he really misses his woodworking shop (in his winter home in St. George).  He told me he's been fixing things around his condo and also volunteered to clean up the grounds around the condo.  What other almost 90 year old does such things??  He's amazing. 

Anyway, Blake is loving his bumbo.  He loves sitting up.   Plus it keeps him away from the dog who licks him.  The other kids love when he joins us on the table for dinner. 

Zac finally started school.  7th grade!  Wow kids grow up fast!

Abbi started doing a study for the meningitis vaccine.  Don't worry, it's nothing crazy.  They are just testing if they give the vaccine in .5 higher dose if it helps. She ended up being in the control group that just got the normal vaccine though.  It was a big deal for her though.  She hasn't had a shot since her kindergarten shots and that was a traumatic experience.  Back then they couldn't even get her blood pressure taken because she panicked and cried through the whole doctor visit.  We had lots of talks about getting over fears and not being afraid of something that wasn't a big deal.  We talked about how a shot only hurts for a few seconds, how there are things much worse and how shots are actually good things.  She was motivated to do this shot though because they were paying her money! They even did a blood draw too.  She learned that blood draws barely hurt.  And she survived the shot.  It was a bit worse than the blood draw but not bad and she barely shed any tears.  I was proud of her for overcoming her fear.  It was a good learning experience.  They even gave her a cinderella bandaid!

Our garden this year is out of control.  Tom has some magic or something.  The garden is usually big but this year we can't even walk through it.  We've been enjoying all the tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and even potatoes.  

The first BYU football game was on and my brothers don't have cable at my parents' house anymore so everyone came to our house.  The kids had fun (and stayed out of the room because Scott told them they couldn't talk in the TV room) and the men watched the game and their phones.  And BYU won which makes all things better!

On Saturday, August 30th we went to Seven Peaks.  I had told the kids we would go this summer and the summer was about over.  I had been trying to find a day Tom could go with us in the afternoon but with his schedule and everything a day wasn't happening.  So finally on the second to last day Seven Peaks was open we went.  I asked our favorite babysitter Kenzie to come with us because I couldn't do it alone.  Kenzie took the 3 older kids while Gavin, Blake and I hung out at the kiddie pool and wave pool.  All the kids had so much fun.  Even Blake just enjoyed being outside.  

I didn't get many pictures since my phone was in a locker most of the time but this is Blake in his little swimsuit right before we left.  

We tried getting out the playpen for Blake to sleep in since he doesn't have a room yet.  The top has a 3/4 bassinet and he barely fits in it!  He napped it in once and it was a short nap so we haven't tried it again.  

On Sunday we went to my cousin Colton's house for dinner.  We had them over for dinner a couple weeks before since they missed the big fast Sunday dinner.  It was fun to see their new house and they had fun playing outside. Aiden wanted to hold Blake.  Blake doesn't last long being held by kids anymore.  

And here's all the kids.  

On Labor Day I took Zac and Abbi running with me.  Actually I begged Zac to go with me and Abbi was dying to come with.  I was worried they would want to quit but Zac passed me a few times and Abbi held her own.  That would be because their mom is slow.  To take this picture they had to stop fighting.  

 Gavin started preschool on September 2nd.  He's going to a neighborhood preschool that is just down the street.  He's excited to go with his friend Tegan.  Luckily he remembered we bought this ninja turtle shirt weeks ago for the first day of school.  Luckily I found it.  

Gavin is definitely our most reserved quiet child.  Over the past year he talks more to people but with new people he barely talks and just stares at them.  So as we walked to school I talked to him about what he should do as he meets the new kids.  I told him he could say, "Hi I'm Gavin. What's your name?"  I told him that's how we make new friends.  I was feeling pretty proud of myself for teaching my child some social skills. Then he said to me, "I have enough friends."  I just laughed and laughed (and am still laughing thinking about it).  Later I told Tom I think we passed some social anxiety to our kid.  Not surprising but I always wished social skills came easier to me (and still do).  I guess Gavin will have similar struggles even though I wish he didn't.  

But so far he has loved preschool.  He goes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  His preschool has been learning about their "kingdom" and on Thursday he came home with this awesome knight hat and sword.  He has been loving it!  

He even shared it with Blake for a minute.  

On Wednesday, September 3rd we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon for dinner.  I made foil dinners to cook in the fire and we roasted marshmallows.  Tom was glad to burn some wood scraps he had. 

Everyone surprisingly ate the foil dinners.  I used cabbage leaves on the bottom and top of the food to prevent everything from burning (thanks internet) and it worked really well.  Of course bacon always provides some good flavor.  The carrots were so delicious!  

The kids loved going to the river and throwing in rocks.  Abbi was proud of herself for figuring out how to skip rocks.

On Saturday we went to Zac's soccer game.  We even took Molly.  

Tom has let Blake discover grass and he hasn't hated it so far.  

 Yesterday at church I discovered Blake is getting his first tooth! After feeding him I happened to notice the little white in his mouth. I always hope for late teeth (especially since I'm breastfeeding) but this kid is growing up! 

I tried to get a picture of it but it wasn't happening.  

(Yes these pictures are taken in the mother's room :))