First Half of August

One of the last things on our Summer bucket list was to go to the BYU art museum. I knew they were having a Patrick Doherty exhibit, an artist my Mom really likes. He makes these amazing sculptures out of sticks! The kids thought it was pretty magical. art museums, and places like that, are always a little challenging with small kids, but always worth it.


Richie has been working on an awesome stache. He's grown one here and there for a month or so, throughout our marriage. But he recently grew one out and kept it for quite some time! I think he can pull it off, but I'm not fond of mustache kisses. :) His uncle Chuck (pictured here) has always had a mustache, so we had to snap a picture.


We finished another book! "James and the Giant Peach"Rhode Dahl. Such a fun, quick read. The kids loved it. We had a quick celebration the night before we left to CA by watching the movie and eating all things peach (which turned out to be better in theory than in execution). We had a peach smoothie, peach salsa with chips, and cheesecake peaches for dessert.



Here's documentation of Davy's first taste of solid foods! We started him on slippery elm bark powder, since it's supposed to be easy on the gut. I think he may have handled it the best out of any of the kids! Not really any gagging. He seemed to really like it. Since then he's tried zucchini, blueberries and avocado. :)



You know you're a homeschool mom when you turn wrapping a birthday present into a math lesson. :) We checked out a tessellation kit from Canyon Grove and put it to good use by using some scratch paper and wrapping Ethan's birthday present in it. :) He had an outer space birthday party, and I got a kick out og Gwen dressing up in the astronaut costume with her high heels. :)


Great Grandma Garner was in town for weddings and missionary homecomings. So we were able to see her briefly at dinner at Keith and Ada's. :)



We had our first official first day of homeschool! We decided to celebrate by staying in our pajama's all day. :) I also tried to make breakfast a little festive. They each got to pick out whatever cereal they wanted! big deal since usually I monitor that pretty closely. And of course they picked the most sugary ones. Ha! I wrapped some books I had for them to open that morning and we had a nice, easing into our school year. :)

Garner Family Reunion

We made the trek out to Granite Bay, California to participate in Baby Jade's blessing day. Almost all of us Garners were able to make it, so we turned it into a family reunion. :) We prepped hard for the 20 hour round trip car ride there and back with new movies, lots of snacks, breaks built in, little presents to open, candy every 100 miles etc. It all paid off. The kids did really well. I mentioned to Richie that I think this will be our most difficult road trip ever, because next time we make a long trip like this, Davy will be old enough to be entertained by a movie. Poor kid just sat in his car seat the whole time. He did really well, until the last hour or so on the way home. We caravanned with everyone else, so it was nice to have play mates and food whenever we stopped for a break.



We spent a lot of time at Ross and Amanda's home. The kids loved having all that cousin time and a new place to explore, especially their huge backyard! We ate yummy food and played lots of games. One of my favorite memories was watching Miles play a card game with his uncles. He was laughing so hard he was crying. He's entering this new phase of being an older kid, and I could just tell he felt so special being included in this setting. Made my mama heart happy.



We spent the majority of one day at Folsom Lake. Lots os swimming, game playing, snacking, and trying to get Davy to nap. Babies are totally worth it, don't get me wrong. But I don't think I will miss the days of trying to work around multiple naps and trying to keep crying babies quiet when you're at someone's house, or in a public place.


The next day we hit up old-town Sacramento and visited a really cool train museum. The kids all had a good time checking out these huge trains. We got there a while before everyone else, so we walked down the boardwalk checking out all the old buildings and shops. The kids were tired and hot, so we treated them to some ice cream, which drastically improved their attitudes. :) That night, Amanda's parents were nice enough to let us swim in their pool. Davy really enjoyed his first real swim and it really tired him out. After everyone was out of the pool, Benson decided to jump back in without his puddle jumper, forcing me to get half way in and grab him out. That kid....Send reinforcements please.



We had a lovely Sunday together. Jade did great during the blessing. :) It's nice to be able to participate in these special events where we can. Ross and Amanda, and Grandma kept us well fed all weekend. We are a large crowd to feed and entertain! We were very grateful.

2nd half of July

It was a little bit of a slower second half of the month. We had just got done with the Crosby family reunion, and were prepping for the Garner one at the beginning of August. I say it was "slower", but is there really such a thing with 5 little kids? It all feels like a lot of work. I guess less outings that merited picture taking, were happening. :)


Another Summer day, another splash pad. :) This is the only picture I snapped of this outing. Benson sporting his shiner. Ha!


Miles had a hard time having a good attitude about Math last year, which seeped into all aspects of school until his outlook about it was pretty negative. I thought the summer break would help refresh him. And I think it has to some extent, but when I brought it up the other day, it nearly sent him spiraling. It has caused great reflection on our part to determine what type of schooling would be best for him. I'm sure he would do well in public school and enjoy lots of it, but I'm still hoping we can make homeschool work this upcoming year. I think it's the better option of the two. So I told him he needs to start actively praying for help to change his attitude, and then we came up with 5 positive affirmations that he needs to say everyday. Hopefully this helps improve his attitude. If it doesn't, within a month or so, we'll revisit the idea of public school. Maybe it would work wonders??? I don't know. This parenting thing is hard.


Grandpa Garner got himself a rocket, lego set for Father's Day that he could build with the grandkids. So over the course of the last couple of Sundays, they've been working on this rocket. Ethan and Miles were the main children contributors. They really enjoyed working on it with their Grandpa!


Let it be known that on July 21, 2019, my last baby got his first tooth. Waahhhh!! He already has another one since this picture.



Apricot season!! We were able to utilize a bunch from Aunt Laura's tree. We made jam, and pie, and froze a bunch. :)


We now have a picture of Richie with each other boys just like this. One of these days, I'll have to put them all side by side. :)


Tanner came home from his mission! It's always so exciting to see them coming off the escalator! The kids are especially happy to have him home. :) It was fun to introduce him to Davy.