We didn't plan anything, and we still had a fun summer! We had a school's out party with all-you-can-eat scones and an airsoft war. The boys had so much fun, they wanted to repeat it every week, which happened for a couple weeks, until Elijah got an infection and landed in the hospital again. Grandma Kay took our kids on a fun trip through the middle of Utah on Memorial Day. They ate a yummy picnic at Johnston's Army Encampment, put on war uniforms, played games, drove down the pony express route, ect. They stopped in Hinckley to see where Grandpa Hinckley was born and the canal he was baptized in, then they drove west to dig for ancient trilobites. They had to hit the rock just right, so that they could uncover a trilobite without breaking it. It's a art and the kids loved it! We looked online and found that some of the trilobites they uncovered were selling for $40-60 each!
Vera enjoyed playing school with Brigham and Jaynie, so I gave her an early b-day present of 2 school desks, that she enjoyed all summer. All the kids got a new or used bike to ride around, and play with friends.
We went to Herriman Beach a couple times until they were re-doing the parking lot, then we went to the splash park a couple times, and iceskating a couple times. Hyrum enjoyed his birthday at Classic Skating with Sanders and the whole family minus Caleb who didn't do his chore that day.
Elijah invited the Lowry twins to the outdoor Olympic pool in Kearns with the really high diving boards for his birthday. All of our kids got to experience those waterslides and the huge bucket dumping on them. Elijah got $60 from his Birthday and gave it all to the hospital when he got a leg infection again because I can't afford to keep paying for him to not take care of himself. Elijah also got big money for taking care of Mathew's chickens for 10 days while the neighbors were on vacation.
Hyrum and Vera got early birthday pet hampsters that got lost by Brigham and Jaynie several times throughout the summer. So far, we keep finding them still alive a day, even a week later! Caleb and Elijah and I volunteered helping at the animal shelter in Murray twice a week for a month. We had fun walking dogs, playing with cats, and Elijah was able to buy a Cockatil the first day he was brought in. His name is Chipper and he's 9 years old which is about 75 to us. He's elderly and has gone through alot with Brigham and Jaynie. He came to us able to say his name over and over, and whistling the tune to the Andy Griffith show. He says, "Pretty Bird" and whistles the "wow!" whistle.
For pioneer day, we went to the Ranch and had a sleepover with Dallin and Gabriell, Quinn and Barbara, Katie and Jared, Grandma and Grandpa Cannon. We played crocket, went on a big long hike, swung on a long rope, and played games like Risk and Cork and Beans. Vera helped get algae out of the pond in her bathing suit. We left at 8am Sat. morning to Roosevelt for the Eddington Family Reunion and Keith and Diana's house. We had so much fun there too! They have a huge yard with volleyball and a long tire swing, and they fed us such wonderful food the whole time! The kids had water fights, arm wrestling, leg wrestling, played tennis with my cousin Dann, the PRO, rode 4 wheelers in the yard behind the yard, slept in tent city, which was in cousin Angie's backyard(they live next door to their parents)...We went on a pioneer trek with our bonnets on, we had a wonderful time singing around the piano on Sunday, and then had a very spiritual fireside.
Grandma Vera finally shared with her grandchildren stories of her life. How she lived on a farm where there was so much work to do, and since her mother had to work, she had to be the mother and take care of her four younger brothers and do all the farm work by her self starting at age 12. By the time she fell in love with Grandpa, she was set on having no children, but Grandpa's patriarchial blessing said that he would have many and he wanted to have 12! So either his blessing was wrong, or she was wrong and she had to pray about it, to make sure that she was marrying the right guy! She was told that he was the right one, that she would have sons and daughters and a posterity that would bring her much joy, so she married him and had 12 kids! My grandma did what she didn't want to do, because she knew it was right. And what an amazing job she did! All sons and even daughters served missions, and all have been married in the temple, and many have already served as bishops and releif society presidents in their wards. I want my Vera to have that kind of faithfulness and dedication to doing the Lord's will. That's why I named her after Grandma. I'm still struggling to be her example.
Anyway, what a summer, huh? We also got a swim pass to the new Herriman Rec Center for the last month of summer. We didn't use it as much as I had hoped, but we still had a blast. Brigham and Jaynie learned to swim and race me accross the pool with their life jackets on. They learned to float peacefully down the lazy river, had a blast on the waterslides and liked to "get stuck" in the whirlpool. The older kids enjoyed the diving boards, the bigger water slide, and the lily pads that they tried to walk across without falling in the pool.
We ended our summer by taking our first Elliott camping trip to Echo Camperworld, where the Carvers got us in free and provided all the meals for us. We enjoyed swimming in the camp swimming pools, playing on the playground next to the Carver's Camper, roasting marshmellows with starbursts and the choc. stripped cookies, and playing games with my siblings, and their cousins. They played hands up stands up and statues, frisbee, uno, apples to apples, caught frogs, etc.
Vera wanted to take a friend to Classic Skating for her birthday, like Hyrum did, but friend after friend coudn't go. Hailey and her mom helped me throw a last minute party that turned out great! They decorated, while I called and invited the neighbor girls. The Gundstrups not only let us borrow their bounce house, but they brought it over, set it up, and took it down after! The girls also had fun with our home made water slide, and a water fight. Lexi stayed all day. They did creative dancing, and glitter fairies, etc.
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