Friday, June 28, 2013

Day Camp with Grandma

Jarem had the special experience of getting to go to cub scout day camp with his grandma in Burley, Idaho.  We have been here in Idaho for almost 3 weeks, and it just so happened that Jarem's grandma is a Wolf cub scout leader and Jarem is a Wolf.  She had day camp while we were here, so Jarem got to go.  Here are some pictures of some things that they did.

They learned about fire safety. The fire truck came and sprayed foam for them to play in.



Jarem and his partner learning about first aid.

Learning knots


Playing a game where they jumped over these balls

Balancing activity

Jarem had a great time, and we really appreciate grandma taking him to this activity!  I am excited to see what he gets to pass off in his book now!!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

4 Months Old

 Our little four month old is still as adorable as ever!  He is more and more fun with each passing month.  His personality and sense of humor continue to develop.  His new and exciting thing is sticking his tongue out ALL THE TIME!  It is so funny.  He is also especially fascinated with his hands.  He is always holding them together and chewing on them.  He is starting to grab things quite well.  He sleeps 8-10 hours ever night with rare exception.  He loves music and continues to enjoy his swing for naps.

On the day these pictures were taken, we were preparing to leave for Idaho the following and day and evening was coming and I had been busy all day.  I didn't know when I was going to find time to take his 4 month pictures.  Eric and I left Micah with the kids while he was asleep while running some errands.  When we got back, Alex had cleaned up the kitchen and dishes and we found Micah in the middle of the table with a blanket in a basket that said, "A Gift from Above".  No one else was around, just Micah cooing in the basket on the table when we walked in.  The kids were so proud of themselves.  It was really cute.  There is a picture below, but it doesn't do it justice.  That was when I got the 4 month sticker out and said, "It's time to do your 4 month pictures!"



There's that tongue that's always sticking out.

In the basket on the table

what? look


Cute smirk

Sleepy tongue smile



Typical hands together and in the mouth

He was done with pictures. :)


Thursday, June 6, 2013

Girls camp 2013


This week is Girls Camp and both girls got to go! It just so happened that Tessa's 12th birthday was the second day of girls camp, so she barely got to go!!  She was very excited. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get to get her ears pierced until after camp, but she got over it in a minute!  We promised her a birthday shopping trip including ear piercing when she gets back. 

All the girls before leaving on Tuesday morning. 

Getting ready to leave

The leaders filled Tessa's tent with balloons while she was at morning flag ceremony yesterday! And since her birthday was also bishops night, Micah and I tagged along with Eric last night. We took cupcakes for all the girls. They all sang her Happy Birthday and she blew out her candle. 
Kaitlin got Saran wrapped in the hammock. She loved it. :)
All the girls with Eric on Bishops night. This is the first time Eric has been to girls camp. He loved it. Each ward presented their bishop with an award. Eric got the "inconceivable" award. It was clever. Then he got to do a little bishop's fireside around the campfire. Afterwards they played the game, "signs" together. Micah got a little tired and grumpy after awhile and finally fell asleep. A little before we left, there was a sudden downpour. Fortunately Micah had timed his feeding well because I gathered his stuff and went to the truck to feed him and it started raining about 5 minutes later. Eric thought it was funny when all the girls started screaming. 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Hilton Head Island

The first full week after school was out, we took the family and went to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It was the last full week of May.  Micah was only 3 months old so we made it a pretty low key trip. We didn't plan anything, we figured since we were staying at a resort with lots to do, we could just come and go as we felt like it.  We actually bought a portable swing for Micah to take his naps during the days since he would only nap in his swing then. He slept awesome in his pack n play every night!!  I don't remember him waking up at all. We spent most of our time at the resort either at the pool or at the beach. We did go out to dinner a couple of times and we spent a day going out to breakfast, mini golfing, and going to a movie, "Epic". Alex discovered a new hobby while on this trip--reading!!!!  He has never liked to read so it was quite shocking!!  I think he read something like 4 books during the week. 

Pics by the pool.  Jesikah wanted a "pouty lips" picture.
Smiles...



Tessa burying herself in the sand

Another sand picture

The girls swimming.  They were buddies on this trip going everywhere together.


Micah would make up around 6-7am to nurse and then fall back asleep until around 8-9 which worked out great for sleeping in.  This was one morning right after I nursed him in and he was sleeping in my arms.  He was so precious I couldn't resist a picture.  I just love those quiet moments early in the morning when I get to hold and cuddle this sleeping baby.

That same morning I looked over at Eric still asleep and he was folding his arms.  I thought it was so cute and immediately thought I had to post it and write, "The bishop even folds his arms while he's sleeping." :)

Everyone begged to have turns holding Micah


This cute little golf cart gave us rides to and from the ocean which was only a couple minute ride, but nice with the baby.

There's a funny story about this shell.  Jesikah and Tessa always like to shell hunt when we go to the ocean.  One of the days when they went down, they were searching in the shallow water for shells and Jesikah pulled this perfect shell up.  It was big and she was SO excited, especially since there were no shells to be seen on the shore.  After she picked it up, this giant slug started emerging and she panicked, but managed to get a picture to prove it before throwing it back.  She was SO disappointed.

This was the view from our room.  We could actually go on the balcony and see the kids swim.

Jesikah's sand creation

At the beach

Alex with Micah and his sunglasses

Breakfast at Staxx again.  It was yummy!

Micah still has his sunglasses on.

The family at the table.

Eric and I both got the bananas foster creme brule french toast.  He was SO good!

After breakfast we went mini-golfing.  Micah was ready for a nap, so I decided to try this sling.  Before we even got our clubs, he was asleep and slept until the end.  It worked very well, and since I am writing this months later, I can say that this was the one and only time he ever slept in this sling.  :)  It didn't fit quite right and he hated being confined, but it worked beautifully for this one day out.

Taking a quick picture break next to the last hole.

Alex putting while the others look on.

Micah holding up the flag.  He really liked this little flag although you can't tell in this picture


Still has the Pirates' flag.  He was shaking it.  The mini-golf place was a pirate's theme.

Alex insisted that we buy him this flag.  It was kind of funny.

Hanging out with dad in our villa.

We went to a ocean explorer activity at the resort.  A lady told all about the creatures that live in and around the ocean there.  Micah was pretty good.


Jarem wasn't too interested, but the girls liked learning about the creatures and types of shells

Lady teaching the activity

Micah got tired of it part way through and Eric took him a little ways off so he wouldn't disturb the rest

They went swinging on a bench

One of my favorite pictures of the trip
In the next few pictures, the kids found some hammocks on the resort grounds and were having fun laying in them:




When we were in the car driving, we would give Micah his blanket and put a cover over him when it was time to go to sleep.  This time, his cute little bare feet were sticking out.
This was one of our last pictures on the way out leaving the resort.  It was a nice, relaxing week.  As part of this trip, we had to go to a "timeshare type" presentation for Marriott.  We had gone to the same one last year and it was pretty low pressure, and we thought we might be interested as soon as we new if Eric's job was secure so we had signed up to come back for $1000 for the week and go to another meeting.  Mid-way through the week, we also got suckered into another timeshare presentation.  We coming out of the restaurant for breakfast and this guy was standing with a little cover over him handing out coupons.  We were heading mini-golfing next and he was handing out coupons for the mini-golf place.  I am a sucker for coupons, so I took the bait and then were we stuck going to 2 timeshare meetings!! UGH!!  The promised 90 minute presentation was not 90 minutes and I kept telling him we had to leave cause Micah was back at the villa with the kids and was crying.  It was frustrating and finally we left.  In the end, we did get a $100 dining voucher for a crab place that we ate on the last day.  I don't really think it was worth it for the frustration though.  Then we did buy some points into Marriott on the last day.  I think its a good deal, but now, a few months later, I am still not sure.