Three Weeks of Summer Vacation So Far

Its been filled with........



.....newborn babies



.....cousin Alyson from Utah


...fun toe nail polish experiments


.....friends and hanging out


.....marble jars for good and bad behavior


....swim team, swim meets and swim practice!





....and (my favorite) Peyton's swimsuits. That's all she wears and changes like 5 times a day.

....sisters hanging out together on lazy mornings

Blackberries

A few years ago, I innocently bought a tiny blackberry plant for $5. Now, about four years later (maybe five?) have blackberries coming out of my ears!

Blackerries grow their vines one year, and then fruit on them the next. So there is constantly REALLLLLY pokey, prickly vines on the side of my house. Just waiting to attack a passerby. We have to be careful how many we let grow because they can easily overtake every single plant near them. The roots travel underground and start to grow up in the middle of our grass even!

The blackberries turn ripe for about a three week period in late May to mid June. But, sadly, no one in my family really eats them! So I give them to my mom and sister usually.

This is the second summer I've made blackberry freezer jam. It made so much, we were able to give lots of it away.



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We also decided to try something different one day and make a blackberry stand! Sadly, we live on a quiet street so we didn't have a complete sell-out...but some very nice neighbors were our customers! The girls had fun.

Lindy's Baby #3: Kylee Reese!

On Tuesday June 15th, Lindy was scheduled to be induced with baby #3. It was a blessing that my mom, my dad and I got to be there with she and Mike. It's quite a special experience and like a fun world you enter when you are all sitting in a hospital room for hours and hours together. Lots of anticipation!

Lindy makes labor look easy. She had a successful epidural, so I think the pain was kept minimal. And she pushed the baby out in three short pushes! The longest part was waiting to dialate!

She was admitted at 6:00 am and had Kylee at about 7:45 pm. Long day for her, but thankfully it was a smooth labor (as smooth as it can be) and a sweet, healthy 8lb 14oz baby emerged!

Lyric and Paxton spent the night since Lindy and Mike had to be at the hospital at 6:00 am! Kids had a movie night and played musical beds. Always fun memories for them!

So cool that you can have a laptop in the delivery room! Helps pass by the hours and hours of waiting that can happen!

Mom has not missed a birth yet! We figured (including her own) this was her 12th!

Dad/Grandpa is always the numbers guy! Reads the stats and studies the details!

Me and Mom...enjoying our non-pregnant, comfortableness. But glad Lindy is willing to produce such a cute baby for us to cuddle!

Helping Lindy get into the "criss cross applesauce" position that sped up her labor x100!

And literally like three pushes...Kylee was out! Lindy makes it look so easy!

The epidural made LIndy feel really sleepy and out of it but she still got some cuddles in! Kylee immediately started nursing and is a CHAMP!

Daddy and daughter! Awww, pep lip!

Admiring the sweet newborn!

Mommy and Daddy with their sweet #3

The next day, we got to pay a quick visit to our new cousin! Pey Pey got her turn. She was so fascinated by every single baby thing around!

Mischevious 3 year olds can be so cute! Pey and Pax with Kylee (Pax still wouldn't hold her yet)

And Jordyn was SOOOOO excited to meet Kylee. She keeps begging me to have a baby. She really would be a great help! (I know....that was MY role growing up!)

Big sister Lyric and Jordyn with baby Kylee

All SIX of mine and Lindy's kids!

Lexi was a little nervous, but got her turn too :-)

Kylee and her 33 year old Aunt

Mmmm, the smell of a baby!

The beautiful Mama x 3!

My Big Girl

It seems obvious to say that Jordyn is getting older. I mean, of course she is. But sometimes you notice it with your kids like all of the sudden.

I can tell she gets frustrated with me sometimes. I forget how capable she is and I try to keep her too young maybe? I am trying to work on individualizing her more and not just clump her in a group with her sisters ALL the time.

Lately, I've been letting her do some baking. I've had her make brownies a few times...all on her own with NO help from me except some verbal tips. She's done a GREAT job and I can tell she has felt so proud of herself. Tomorrow, she will help me make dinner for Lindy.

Last week, I had her come with me as I taught a Relief Society Enrichment Night (or whatever they are calling it these days) on "hair care". They asked me months ago to teach it. So I had Jordyn come help, as well as model for me. Lindy was even kind enough to come with her hair half-fixed and show them how she straightens her hair (at 38 weeks prego!). It was a fun night and I'm glad Jordyn got to share it with me!



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Another fun thing that has been special is Jordyn has started to go to Activity Days (is that what its called? man, something's wrong with me!). In our church, when girls turn 8, they get to go with other girls ages 8-11 twice a month and do some sort of fun activity. Amanda Huff (far left) is her leader and she is VERY creative.

(Some of the girls that go with Jordyn)

I just hope I can be the Mom Jordyn needs. For some reason, I feel so intimidated by the job sometimes! I know I love her very much...and just hope I can keep up with her!

Dance Recital 2010

Our annual dance recital has come and gone! I always breathe a sigh of relief when it's over!

Let's see....

...it was Jordyn's 7th

...Lexi's 5th

...and Peyton's 1st!

I tell ya, getting three girls ready for such an event is quite a task! It's fun and stressful at the same time.

Aside from Peyton's strong three year old opinions....the girls all really do LOVE dance. They wish they could take more classes (maybe we need to do some fundraisers!). Whenever I ask them which thing they love the most out of everything they are involved in....the answer is ALWAYS dance. J and L have LOVED jazz this year. We were so proud of all of them. Smiled and danced just beautifully on that HUGE stage!! WAY TO GO GIRLS!!

NO ONE can pout like Peyton!

Peyton and Ava

Miss Jessica is a great teacher! Ready to go on stage!

Sisters...and friends :-)

Posing with Grandma

I love this picture. Pey is truly crying that hard. And only because I wanted her in the picture! What a mean mom I am! But everyone else knows how to strike a pose...including Grandma!

Go Lexi!

Pey ripped her dance outfit off within .02 seconds of finishing her dance.

My Mom with Lindy and Lyric (Lindy two days from delivering)

Navison girls....Kira and Kayla. Good friends.