June 2015

We started off the summer in fine clothes for a piano recital. Our recitals are low-key and are held at the teacher's house with all of her students, about 5 total. Its a great chance for the kids to show off their wonderful piano skills in front of a small audience. They both did great. 

We tried some new camps this summer, one of which was archery. It was a hot month so the shade of the archery area was very pleasant and the kids enjoyed learning how to shoot a bow and arrow.

Our other new camp was called Scratch Camp where the kids learned to program in a language called Scratch. They hooked up the computer to their Lego creations, then learned to control the Lego creations using the Scratch language. They made a good team - Carson did the building and Rachel did the programming.

Our summer would not be complete without swim lessons and this year was no exception. Getting braver this year jumping off the diving board, not as much agonizing over it before taking the plunge!

One of our favorite spots in Salt Lake City is Red Butte Gardens. We get a short hike in and then the kids get to do their favorite thing - feed the ducks and fish.

  

May 2015

May was another wet month here in Utah, we certainly made up for our dry winter. The kids are getting better at biking, here is a paved track near our house where they can master their biking skills.

Rachel had Rome day at school in the third grade. Here she is in her Roman attire.

One weekend we decided to explore an area of Utah known as 9-mile canyon. We found a little cabin to stay in which had a wood stove in it, thank goodness because it was a cold and damp weekend. But it was worth the trip! Driving through the canyon we had many opportunities to get out and hike around to see the petroglyphs! So much ancient artwork on the rocks and caves around here, it was amazing to see.

Rachel has been thinking about getting her ears pierced for a long time, but she was too afraid of the pain. Since she did so well at the karate tournament in May we gave her the chance to get her ears pierced afterwards and she was ready to do it! How nice that Claire's will do both ears at once so the pain is over quickly. She was very brave. BTW, Carson did great in the karate tournament too!

We headed to San Diego for Memorial Day weekend to see Veronica graduate from the University of San Diego. Great job Veronica, magna cum laude even!

We decided to visit Sea World for a day while in San Diego. We had lots of fun seeing Shamu and going on rides.

Rachel was in her first play in May, done by Up With Kids, a theater group for children. They put on Frostbite, similar to Frozen, and she had lots of fun doing the performance. 

April 2015

We had a wet spring here in Utah but we were able to get out to Red Butte Gardens to enjoy a sunny day in early April. We had a visit from Grammy and since she loves flowers and gardens we knew she would love Red Butte. The kids favorite part is feeding the fish and ducks at the small pond in the gardens.

April 2015 was a very difficult month for me, Mom. This was the month that rheumatoid arthritis set in and made my joints very painful - mostly hips, shoulders and knees. Walking became difficult and I needed 800 mg of ibuprofen per day just to get by. This is why I have gotten so behind on the family blog. As I write this entry it is now March 2016 and thank goodness I am feeling much better (and off all drugs). Hoping to get caught up and post more pictures in the next few weeks. Thanks everyone for prayers and good wishes.

March 2015

We had a beautiful March here, lots of warmth and sunshine during a month that can typically be quite cold. One sunny weekend we decided to take a picnic lunch to a park in Salt Lake City. It was fun to feed the ducks, try out the playground equipment and enjoy the great outdoors.

Who can pass up the chance to roll down a big, grassy hill?

We celebrated Carson's 8th birthday in March with a party at Kangaroo Zoo. This is a favorite place of ours for parties - lots of bounce houses to jump in, plenty of room to run around, and our own party room for cake and snacks. Cocoa the kangaroo even made an appearance for Carson's party!

I'm always amazed at the vivid imaginations of my children. One day they were bored so went down to the basement to see what they could find in the dress-up bin. They came back up with these outfits on and told me they were immigrants coming to America. Too cute.

February 2015

One of my favorite winter pastimes is ice skating so every year I drag the kids down to the local ice rink and put them on skates hoping that someday they will like it as much as I do. They are getting the hang of it and each year is a little more fun for them.

We celebrated my birthday in February - John and the kids made me a delicious chocolate cake!

Grandma moved into her town home nearby in late February! Its so nice to have a Grandma living close by. Here are the kids testing out her carpet for comfort.

Notice the glasses on Carson! We've discovered that he is near-sighted. He does not mind wearing them, he was amazed at what he could see when he first put them on!

During the move Grandma was getting rid of some unnecessary things and gave us her pasta maker. Rachel and Carson LOVE pasta and were very eager to try making some so we gave it a shot. It was actually very good and easy to make!

In late February Rachel and I had an opportunity to meet Shannon Hale at our local library. She is one of Rachel favorite authors and has written the Ever After High series of books. Shannon gave a great talk about her road to becoming a writer, and even had with her a stack of rejection letters she received before she had anything accepted by a publisher. After the talk we waited in line for over an hour but finally it was Rachel's turn to meet her and have her sign some books. And Rachel's tooth came out while we were standing in line!