Second half of June

Just some pictures of garden produce! Every little harvest we get it exciting! Our garden became overrun with volunteer squash plants of different varieties. When they were tiny, we decided to just let them grow and were excited for extra produce. But as time went on they started to overtake things, choking out the plants we really wanted. So this is a picture of the garden before we ripped out most of the vine-y things. We just don't have enough room in our tiny garden plot to grow pumpkins and the like. Now it's less of a jungle, and you can actually walk between rows!


I am a very un-skilled seamstress. In the highest degree. I wish I had that talent, without all the effort it takes to learn it. I desperately want someone to teach my kids! But I can teach them how to sew straight lines on the sewing machine, and that's a start. They've been asking to sew for years, so this is progress. I cut up a bunch of old jeans and other tough fabric scraps we had, and we're going to make ourselves a new picnic blanket, since our current one is shredded. The kids feel very grown up using the machine and are very excited about the new blanket.


Another uke concert for Miles! This time it was at Bluffdale Park, with free treats for everyone. Which made the wonderful (but sometimes lengthy) concerts more do-able with small children. He did a great job.



We checked out a new (to us) park in Daybreak. It was really cool, we may have to go back again. It had this "natural" creek running through it that kept the kids so entertained, they hardly checked out the actual playground equipment. Benson had to be torn away kicking and screaming.



Richie's Mom volunteers at a weekly workshop for people going through cancer who want to treat it more holistically. She wanted to put on a night of music and good food that would be uplifting for them. She arranged lots of musical numbers from those of us in the family. Richie and the kids performed "All of Me" which they've been working on for family band. Gwen had the music down, she could have done it blindfolded. But when she got up in front of a biggish crowd, she froze a little and stumbled through the entire piece. She was in tears half way through and ran off "the stage" immediately. I was in back and couldn't get to her. Luckily Uncle Jacob comforted her while Dad sang a solo on his uke. Then he invited Gwen up to sing a song with him, "If Wishes Were Horses" (One of our favorites, and one that Gwen and Richie love singing together). I wasn't sure she would be up for it, but she got up there and sang every word perfectly, even without practicing. I was so proud of her resilience!!!


If I haven't mentioned it before, Miles is....moody these days. I'm blaming it on pre-teen hormones, but holy cow, it's really throwing us for a loop. On this particular day, he was upset over something really small, and it escalated until he decided he'd run away. I'm documenting this awesome runaway note here for his future posterity. :) He got so far as to pack his backpack, but then decided he'd stay home.


Richie is at a new school this year, and they all had to take training on how to handle kids with different types of disabilities. This picture cracks me up. Him and Chris Beames, holding up someone who is "fainting". They had to get really up close and personal with each other. :)


Miles is playing rec center basketball again this summer. He says he really loves basketball, but doesn't ever practice at home. So when it's time for games, he's still a little lost. :) And he's so polite that if someone from another team tries to take the ball from him, he readily gives it to them. :) We'll have to get him into some skills camps. He's improved a lot from last year though and it's fun to watch him out there.


The ward campout came around again. And once again I opted not to go. :) Camping with a baby sounds awful. Plus it was really cold. Richie is a saint and took the other 4, and camped in the van. They had a fantastic time camping, and I had a fantastic time with Davy, deep cleaning the kitchen without interruption.


Richie was home from work one day, so I let him take the van in to get some repairs done so that I didn't have to haul 5 kids to the dealership and entertain them while the car was being fixed. He decided to bring Benson along for some one-on-one time. He really needed it. The older kids have been doing swimming lessons and he doesn't get to participate and feels left out. So this was fun for him to feel special. They went to Scheels during the down time and had a blast.


The older 3 loved their swimming lessons and improved a lot. I was sad I couldn't sit and watch them learn like I have in the past, but Benson makes that nearly impossible. Especially with a backyard playground that he's not allowed on, and a pool he's not allowed in. Luckily the lessons have been close by so I can just drop the kids off for their lesson and come home. I did however get to witness Lindy's signature diving board move, "The Bellyflop", and let me tell ya, she really commits to that flop!