Jordan Family Reunion

The entire Jordan family (minus Brent and Jen) were able to gather at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Lakepoint for a reunion before Eric entered the MTC on Wednesday bound for the Dominican Republic. It was wonderful to see everyone, especially the Garners who traveled from Canada. We had lunch and visited most of the afternoon (before the rain drove us indoors).
A very old tradition in the Jordan family is to pelt the newest member (by marriage, we don't do this to babies!) with marshmallows. It is great fun and we all look forward to it. This year was Dave's turn. He took off as soon as he knew what was going on and locked himself in his car. Party Pooper! We can't wait for our next marshmallow party (hint, hint Jarom!).

Isn't Grandma's house fun. Enoch had a great time. The little boys were bored so Great-Grandma Jordan gave them cups of water and sponge brushes. They 'painted' the bricks and sidewalk for 30 minutes! Enoch also made friends with the neighbor dog who was very calm (just how he likes them). Gavin is at an in-between age with cousins. He hung out and talked with the adults and raided Grandma's kitchen for snacks a few times. Kate had fun being passed around and spending time with Brynnley. Our family had a great day and are so glad to have such a fantastic family.

Kate's First Rice Cereal

The way Kate has been downing her bottles you would think that we are starving her. After days of feeding her every two hours and a couple time a night, we decided it was time for solids. I tried to put her off as long as we could, but she really was ready for more food.


She did so well her first feeding session; very few yucky faces and spitting food out. She devoured all the cereal we gave her and enjoyed her few sips of water. What a great eater! We hope this keeps up and that she will like all of her new food.

Ice Cream Party

Every year (almost, usually) our neighborhood celebrates National Ice Cream Day. This holiday falls on the 3rd Sunday in July but we always observe on the Monday afterward. Our party consists of me delivering invites, providing spoons and bowls while the rest of the neighborhood supplies the ice cream. Then we sit around in the cul-de-sac (moving chairs a few times to chase the shade), eat our ice cream, watch the kids play and visit. It is a great time! Nothing fancy, just a chance for a neighborhood get-together without having to stress about fixing a elaborate salad or defrosting your meat for a BBQ.

The kids had fun playing wagon train. They tied together all the neighborhood wagons and took turns pulling and riding. All ages could participate and they had a great time. Gavin, of course, was in charge and organizing the turns. Enoch loved playing with the big kids and Kate was completely entertained by the Ellis girls. The adults had fun visiting, catching up and having a breather from the summer bustle.
While we were cleaning up, Enoch grabbed a blanket and laid out in the front yard to look at the stars. He told Greg that the stars weren't very bright and that Heavenly Father needed to put new batteries in the stars. Also, Enoch would like a star. His Grandpa has a ladder big enough to reach the stars if we put a stool on top of the ladder. I would like a star too, but only if it has new batteries!

Camp Invention

A few weeks ago (Jul 7-11) I went to Camp Invention. At Camp Invention we did different modules. Those modules are Fair Games, Lost Treasure, Sea Worthy, I Can Invent and Real and Fantasy Inventions. My favorite was Lost Treasure because I liked to make inventions to help find the treasure. The inventions we made were shelters, protection gear, gadget to retrieve a piece of the note, and a gadget to retrieve a piece of food stuck on the wall to give to the hungry native in exchange for the piece of note she had.
For I Can Invent we had to invent a Rube-Goldberg machine to break a water balloon in four steps. My group took apart appliances and we had to use two parts of each appliance. It was made out of three cardboard boxes, a slanted piece of cardboard, one pipe, one hard drive with wheels and axles glued to the bottom and pins stuck through through duct tape. We loaded the water balloon on the hard drive with wheels on the bottom, then the water balloon car would roll down the ramp, hit a block that was taped in front of the tube, which would cause the water balloon to fly off into the tube, roll down and hit the pins at the bottom causing it to pop.

In Fair Games my team made scales and high striker games (when you hit the button with a hammer and the ball flies to the top and hits the bell), a ball obstacle course, mini golf courses and different carnival games that we made up. This is the mini golf course.

In Sea Worthy we made tin foil boats, boats from assorted recycable materials, underwater vehicles, fish and lobster traps and marine research center. We used a lot of duct tape! Our boats had to float in the kiddie pool while the camp counselor used a plunger to create waves.

On Friday, Mom, Dad, Enoch, Kate and Grandma Randall came and got to see all my inventions. I had lots of fun and would recommend it for kids who like inventing things!

The Most Amazing Pack Meeting Ever!

Our ward has the best Cub Scout Pack! We have amazing leaders, parents and boys who love Scouting and love to participate. Our Pack Meetings are always fun but this month was probably the best Pack Meeting we've ever had. We took the entire Pack and their families to Classic Waterslides in Sandy. It was an incredible evening and so much great fun. I have to give a great big thanks to Jared Halls who made this possible, went way beyond the extra mile to make it easy for us and genuinely seemed happy to do it. Like I said, we have amazing parents in our Pack.
We had a very abbreviated awards ceremony, a dinner of hot dogs, chip and soda and a ton of watersliding. The kids were crazy; I was surprised at the fearlessness of the smaller kids and the absolute lack of inhibition of the older kids and even some parents! I'm pretty sure nobody was injured, maybe just some pride. What a great time. It is a great feeling to relax and have fun with friends.

Enoch had a great time in the kiddie pool. He didn't really like the little slides, but the depth of water was just right for him. He would lay in the pool on his tummy, float and just watch people. We called Enochgator because he looked like an alligator laying in wait.

Gavin had an incredible time with the waterslides. This isn't something we have done a lot as a family and he absolutely loved them. He could still be in the water without being in the dreaded deep end of the pool. He slid down the slides on the blue pads which make you go faster. We had to physically drag him away when it was ready to go.

Greg was one of the few parents who actually braved the swim suit in public and played in the kiddie pool with Enoch and went down the slides with Gavin. He had an awesome time and the kids loved him playing with them. I held Kate and supervised the kids, visited with friends and took pictures for the Primary DVD.

Stealing Posts

I'm stealing this post from my sister's blog. It was so cute and already written and I couldn't resist. We had a great time when she spent the afternoon with us and we can't wait to do it again. Thanks, Michelle!

Yesterday I visited my sister Tresa and her kids. I haven't spent a lot of time with my nieces and nephew because of studying for my licensing exam and looking for a job. So I went with them to the park and hung out all day. I love being an aunt because you get to spoil your nieces and nephews like their parents can't! Here are a few fun moments from yesterday at the Fowler's. I went in to Kate's (my niece) room to change her diaper and my 10 year old nephew Gavin was sitting in her car seat singing an ad he had heard on the radio. I started laughing because he was rocking back and forth and didn't seem to care that he was in a baby car seat. His mom told him to get out and said car seats were for babies only. He asked if he could get one and how much they were. She said around $80, and Gavin said after he thought about it for a second "oh, I guess I can't afford that". After I changed Kate's diaper I went out to the living room and asked Gavin where he had heard that ad that was he was singing. He said the radio. I asked him where he was listening to the radio and he said at night before he goes to bed. I was curious as to what he would be listening to and he said he listens to 102.7 Nightside. I asked what that was and he said "talk radio". I looked at my sister Tresa who was laughing and then I started laughing. My 10 year old nephew listens to talk radio and LOVES it!! My sister told me he came up to her a couple of months ago and said "Mom, I don't think Barack O'bama would be a good president because he doesn't.." and then he said a sophisticated answer. I have the smartest nephews in the world!! Another fun experience from yesterday was when I was outside jumping with my nephew Enoch on the trampoline. He is fascinated with bugs. So he saw one land on the tramp pad and immediately told me to stop jumping and come and look at it. He was so intriqued with it and started explaining to me that it had red eyes and little legs. I asked him if we should name it. He said yes and I said how about "bob". His eyes lit up and he said yes. Then he got really close to the bug and said "Hi Bob". It was the cutest thing ever. After we chased bob around the yard I saw that my sister had raspberries growing in her garden. So I asked if we could pick some. So Enoch and I picked a bowl full of raspberries and then ate them on the trampoline. As we sat on the trampoline he would say how good the raspberries are and then look at me and smile. I was so impressed with how content he was with the small things. What an amazing day to learn so much from my nieces and nephews. Kate is only about 3 months old so she didn't say too much but she is getting to be quite a chunker. And her mom will even admit that. I can't believe how much she has grown in just a few weeks since I have seen her. So I dedicate this post to all the nieces and nephews out there. I love being an aunt and learning so many things from what my nieces and nephews can teach me!!

In Progress

I'm trying something new with our blog. As I don't have hours at one time to spent on the blog, it will have to be in stages. I switched to the stretch template so I could make my pictures bigger without having a long string of pictures for each post. However, I'm having difficulties finding free backgrounds for the stretch template (stress on the free!). If anyone knows of a good website let me know. I've tried cutest blog on the block and simply chic but came up with nothing I liked. Please pass on any good finds and hopefully we'll get away from the boring white! Thanks for being patient while I'm still learning. A few minutes after publishing this post I started fiddling around with my settings. I think I actually like the blue and green. Let me know what you think.

Birthday Dinner

Last night for our Primary Presidency meeting we went to Applebee's. I know, not typical but it was so much fun. We used the excuse of celebrating Cynthia's birthday (July 9) and my birthday (July 29). Frankly, I don't care why we went, I'm just glad we did. It was wonderful to relax among friends and talk, commiserate, support and laugh with such amazing women. It made me remember how important it is to have good friends who are great examples and encourage me to be better. I am so blessed to be able to work with, play with, talk with and laugh with these women. I love serving in Primary but it would not be the same without Melissa, Winnie, Cynthia and Lesley (in no particular order!). Let's do it again soon, girls! Remember, Lesley's birthday is in September!

"This Is Good!"

Every night for the last year after bedtime books, Greg and I take turns laying in Enoch's bed with him and looking at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to his ceiling. I really don't think it's about the stars; more just one-on-one time to talk to Mom or Dad. We have been telling him that when the weather warms up we could look at the real stars and sleep on the trampoline. A few afternoons ago he excitedly came inside and said, "Mom, it is warm up and not windy. I want to look at stars on trampoline tonight". With a lot of talking we were able to put off the sleep-out till Friday. Friday evening, we took our Harry Potter out to the tramp with our sleeping bags and read for a bit with Enoch jumping up and down hardly able to contain himself. I took Kate inside to put her to bed (and to sleep inside; I know party-pooper but somebody has to be the Mom). The boys snuggled down into their sleeping bags and LOOKED AT THE STARS. Enoch didn't last long, it being 10:30pm at this point. But everybody did sleep through the night. The boys woke up with the sun about 5:30am and came inside. As you can imagine, Enoch was incredibly whiny the next day but it was worth it. While we were reading, Enoch turned to me and said, "This is good". This is good, I thought to myself. It's all about the memories and family, and even if we did have grumpy consequences it was a magical night. Every night since then he has asked to sleep out on the tramp and look at the stars. We haven't slept out, but we do read Harry Potter on the tramp every evening. Kate loves listening to Greg and looking up at the tree, Gavin and I laugh at the book we haven't read in a while and Enoch just loves to be outside on the trampoline. Magical memories!

Memories

I got this from a friends blog and thought it would be fun! I hope you will play along.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments

So Much Fun in One Day

How much fun can we have in one day? A lot! We started the morning just hanging out at home; eating Otter Pops(which usually have to wait until after lunch), reading books and watching Super Why! After lunch we met up with Carson at the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was the museum's birthday this week so they were having a party. The boys really didn't care about the birthday activities and just wanted to see the dinosaurs. They ran through the museum holding hands, pulling each other along and tripping and falling over the other and having a great time. The water table and sand box were so crowded that their wasn't a lot of room to play, but they still had a good time together (despite a sand throwing incident, sorry again Carson).

After Greg got home the boys took off to the Legacy Center for some rock climbing (again, Kate was sleeping and I stayed home with her. I seem to say that a lot.) This was especially exciting because our family earned our rock climbing. We earn house points by doing good deeds, not whining, saying our prayers and reading our scriptures and being kind to each other. Each house point is put into our house cup to go towards family outings. It's a great way to remember to be good.

Anyway, rock climbing was our first goal and we finally reached it! All the boys had a wonderful time. Greg and Gavin had so much fun climbing and would race to the top. Greg went one-handed, one-footed and still could keep up with Gavin. Enoch was too light to climb and ended up coming home with a bruise anyway. Apparently he ran into the glass wall surrounding the climbing wall. The guy helping them climb closed down the wall and got him an ice pack. Enoch was so proud to tell me what happened when he got home. I'm happy he still had a good time. Now, we get to work toward our next outing: the Zoo. (A few days after going rock climbing, Enoch was drawing a picture. I asked him to tell me about his picture and he said it was of the rock climbing wall at the swimming suit house. How cute is that?!)

Enoch says the darnedest things

I don't mean to single out Enoch and dedicate so much time to him on our blog (trying to make it all even, right Moms) but he is at that age when he says the craziest things. This past weekend he kept us laughing at his outrageous comments. While we were loading up our gear after watching the hot-air balloons, Greg set Enoch on the roof of the van to tease him. Greg asked Enoch if we should leave him up there while we drove home. Enoch replied, "NO! I would fall off in the road, get ran over, get squished and turn into a turtle!" Huh? The next day completely out of the blue he said, "Aunt Michelle is a oatmeal head! I'm so silly. I spank myself!" Okay. The odd part is is that Enoch has never been spanked so we really don't know where that came from. Today while we were out running errands he asked at every, single stop sign, "Why are we stopped?" Every, single stop sign! I'm highly debating keeping him out of the car for a few weeks. What a crazy kid. I don't know where he comes up with these things. Enoch took his time talking so I'm just glad that he has silly things to say that keep us laughing. I'll keep you posted on the going ons in Enoch's head.
Enoch was playing with the camera (is that why it is acting up?) the other day and snapped some self photos. Even though he has his own toddler camera, playing with Mom and Dad's camera is one of his favorite things to do. Cute picture; at least his nose is clean!

Little Miss Fourth of July

I've mentioned before that the Fourth of July is by far by favorite holiday. I bought glow-in-the-dark t-shirts for the boys a few weeks ago but hadn't been able to find anything I liked for Kate. I saw a cute shirt at the Quilting Cottage and talked myself into trying to make one without a pattern. It turned out so cute that I made another. So, Kate had two fun holiday outfits (she's not spoiled or anything!!)

Greg calls the plaid outfit her Gone With the Wind shirt because it was my experiment shirt and I made it out of left over fabric from the curtains in Enoch's room!

Independence Weekend

So, I've discovered when the Fourth of July falls on a weekend, we party all weekend and not just on the Fourth. Yikes! We are tired and ornery today. But, we had a great time with family doing some really fun things. Our weekend started on Thursday at 5:30am. One of our family traditions that I love the most is going to see the hot-air balloons in Provo. This year was a total bust. All the balloons were off the ground when we got there and only one made it back to the target. The rest landed else where in Provo. It was pretty boring. But we had fun visiting with family (Grandpa and Grandma Randall, Valerie, Carson & Brynnley, Michelle and Jarom) and eating breakfast at the balloons.


After the balloons, Greg left for work and I took the kids to Scera Park for Ellis Island in the Park. While waiting for Grandpa and Grandma, the boys played at the park and I fed Kate. Then we headed over to the presentation. It was interesting to learn a bit more about Ellis Island (although the speaker went on way too long for the boys; I think I lost them before we even started the walk). After the presentation, we walked around a large star of flags, stopping at each point to discuss a different way of being a good citizen. Gavin and Enoch were both tired and bored so it wasn't the great patriotic experience I had hoped for, but we tried. We also listened to a short musical about historical events that lead to the founding of our nation. Jarom and I did pretty well until they started singing Neil Diamond's We're Coming to America while talking about the pilgrams. That was a deal breaker for us; we left after that.

We headed home (I was hoping to take naps; didn't happen). Later that afternoon we drove to the splash pad park in Herrimann and had a great time. Enoch loved getting sprayed and playing with Carson. The little girls liked to sit on the blanket in the shade and just talk to each other. Gavin was highly disappointed in the splash pad ("It's for little kids. Whhhhhyyyyy did IIIIIIIII have to come?" Think whining.) However, he had fun reading his book. That night we did get to bed early, thank goodness.

Friday morning started with a Dutch-oven breakfast at our house. The entire Randall crew came over about 10am and we ate around 11:30am. The kids played games on the trampoline, the girls enjoyed being spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa, and Dave and Greg had fun playing with their dutch ovens. Greg fixed his famous Mountain Man Breakfast and Dave and Michelle made orange rolls in their dutch-oven. It was all so yummy!

After breakfast we cleaned up, chatted and headed off to the movies. We saw WALL-E; have to say, not my favorite Pixar movie. Everyone else seemed to like it and Kate sat through the entire movie with hardly a peep. I think she was completely overstimulated after that. We went back to our house for awhile before leaving for Ford's for a BBQ (we hadn't eaten together enough this weekend!). Dinner was great and the kids had fun jumping and playing in the small pool. We lit off some Costco fireworks, packed up and headed over to Thanksgiving Point.


Yes, by this time my head was pounding. But it's only the Fourth once a year, you gotta enjoy it! We played a few games while waiting for it to get dark. The games were fun, but the kids loved the glow-in-the-dark bracelets. Fireworks were a bit of a disappointment because we sat so far away (we wanted to get out fast and avoid some of the noise for Kate; she slept through all of it).
By the time we got home, Enoch was screaming from exhaustion, Gavin was sleeping and we couldn't have woken up Kate if we wanted to (we didn't want to). It was a great time, but maybe we overdid it with the kids. We are still recovering and by next year we'll be ready to go again!