Shopping for Chase's Birthday

Chase wanted to continue on the tradition and go shopping with Grandma and Grandpa R for church clothes for his birthday.  It took awhile for us to find a time to go shopping but we finally made it work.  Chase wanted blue church pants.  He found some at Dillards that he really liked.  Then he found a white dress shirt that he loved!  He likes the more fitted style.  Grandma had a coupon so they generously bought the pants, shirt and even a belt.  They spoiled him.  Chase was thrilled!!!

The next day after church, I sent Grandma and Grandpa R a picture of Chase in his new clothes.  He looked so sharp.  What a handsome young man!

Sunday Walks

On the Sundays that we stick around, we usually go for a later evening walk.  I love our Sunday walks.  I love looking at our beautiful valley.  I captured this picture on one of our walks.  Chase has been improving on his long board.  We make him hold it while we go down the hill.  I even captured Sophie in this picture.  I think she likes the walks the best.  She's so happy to not be on a leash and run free.  If we could get rid of the mosquitos and move Shantelle up here, it would be perfect.  It really is a pretty valley.

Love Nap Pictures

I can never get enough "nap" pictures.  I love to see the boys curled up sleeping.  Especially when they're curled up with their stuffed animals.  Tanner is starting to phase out of naps.  He'll go about three days and then crash and need a long nap.  He's been staying up so late during the summer that he needs naps on most days.  He'll sleep for 2-3 hours which is wonderful!

Tanner's Back Flip

Tanner has watched his older brothers for years do back flips.  He's been determined to learn how to do a back flip.  One afternoon, Bridger and his friend Bracken worked with Tanner and helped him learn how to do a back flip.  He did it!  Tanner was so excited!  For about a week he was constantly on the trampoline practicing his new trick.  But then he landed on his head and tweaked his neck.  It really scared him so he's been too afraid to do back flips.  I told him that was ok and he can wait until he's a little older to do back flips.  

Reunion with the L's

The L's invited us to a family reunion.  They rented a 20 plus bedroom cabin in Heber City for a few days.  They invited us to come up one of the days and spend the day with them.  It was so good to spend time with Pauline and her children.  Pauline is so genuine and loving.  When we went to say goodbye, Bridger hugged Pauline.  She then held his hand and apologized that she didn't connect with him during the day to hear about his life.  It was so sweet.  She's lost most of her sight.  She stays so pleasant.  She and Charlene were thrilled to have everyone together.  Chase unfortunately couldn't get work off especially since it was a holiday.  Bridger and Tanner had fun swimming.  There was a bouncy house on the top floor and then Bob had brought up all of his virtual reality gaming system.  Bridger loved it!  We played "CANDY" bingo and traded gifts.  Then we ate a Cafe Rio style dinner.  Everyone from the L family was so kind to us.  It was wonderful to reconnect with them.  They are such good people.  It was a great day!

New Washer and Dryer

So the washer that we have had for the last 8 years, broke down.  I tried a couple of suggestions that I found online but nothing worked.  It looked like we needed a new water pump and it was going to be expensive.  Plus I couldn't find a repairman that would fix it.  So I did a lot of research and ended up going with a top loader LG washer.  It's a 5.2 cubic feet tub!!  It's huge!!!  It fits two loads of what my other washer did.  I love it!  We ended up getting a dryer too because we wanted it to match plus our dryer has had multiple problems over the years.

Celebrating Grandma A's Birthday

We invited Grandma and Grandpa A to come up for dinner.  We celebrated Charlene's birthday.  She was thrilled to celebrate with us.  It was nice being able to focus on just them and soak up the time together.

Tanner's Boots

Tanner yelled to me from the garage to come out and see his new boots.  I looked out and he had Bridger's big work boots on.  He looked so darn cute that I had to capture the moment.  

Chase CV Soccer Tournament

Chase hesitantly agreed to play fall competitive soccer.  One of the assistant soccer coaches, Gideon, put together a team with some of the high school kids.  They signed up to play in the CV tournament. At first, Chase didn't know if he'd be able to make it to any of the games because of his work schedule.  But he switched his shifts around and was able to make it to all three games.  They didn't make it to the championship game but Chase was ok with that because he had to work.  I love watching Chase play soccer!  He's worked so hard to come back to sports.  It makes me happy seeing him out on the field (and nervous).  He's a great soccer player.

Chase has been disappointed that he's not playing football because the majority of this friends are playing.  (After two different doctors tell you that you need to be done with football, it's probably a good idea to listen even though it's hard to sit out).  His coach had him take the corner kicks.  He's got a really strong kick and most of the time, nails it close to the goal.

After his first game, I took Tanner and Chase to my favorite restaurant in L called Hermes.  Chase and Tanner were very impressed with the giant cinnamon swirl pancake.  Tanner was a good sport and cheered Chase on.  We tried to stay in the shade because it was 95*!  Chase's poor feet do not like his new cleats that he got this past spring.  He had a huge blister on his big toe after the first game.  He didn't want to play in the second game but his coach told him that they needed him.  So he put some mole skin on it and played.  The mole skin didn't stay on.  Chase was super tough and kept playing!

I love this picture of Tanner and Chase.  There's a special bond between these boys!  Tanner idolizes Chase and Chase is so sweet with Tanner.

Bridger Scout Camp

Bridger came home a day early from the cabin so he could go to scout camp.  At first I was going to run him up once we got home from the cabin but then I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find their camp site.  The W's were heading home a day early because of girls camp so they took Bridger home with them and dropped Bridger off at our house.  Matt and Chase were able to have Bridger all packed.  Bridger got home and 30 minutes later, he was heading off to scout camp.  Layne was recently called as the new Scout Master (2nd counselor in the Young Mens Presidency).  The boys stayed in a camp site that was close to Tony's Grove.  They fished, and went hiking every day.  Bridger had a great time!  I'm so grateful for his leaders and the time they devote to their callings.

Graybee's Back from the Dead

Our silly cat Graybee comes and visits for a few days and then disappears for weeks on end.  He'd been gone since Mother's Day so I thought for sure that he was dead.  Just when I've written him off, he shows up skinny as can be.  I'm always so happy to see him.  He's so skinny and scraggly! I can't figure out why he won't stick around because he has unlimited food and a warm place to stay.  He must be using up all of his nine lives.