Last week was one of our busiest weeks this summer! It certainly seemed like we had plans every day and I swear we did not get to stay home and relax! But that is fine because we get to make a lot of fun memories with our boys. We will get to relax again when it's time for winter hibernation!
At the beginning of this week; my little sister, Claire, stayed with us. On Monday, we had a zombie 5K planned but Claire didn't want to walk with zombies! Instead, my other sister Caroline came to hang out with Claire and we went on the walk with my brother, Mark. The walk was fun and I'm proud to say that I did not even get sore from this walk! We even ran parts of it! James brought his toy wooden rifle and pretended to shoot the zombies. He was not all that freaked out until one zombie came up and growled at him. He was not a fan of that! But I kept explaining to him that they weren't real. Mark wore the flagged belt that the zombies were suppose to pull off if you were caught. He had two flags to start with and finished the race with one flag! So half bitten...
On Tuesday, I set up sprinklers in our backyard for some splashing fun. The kids were all a bit hesitant at first, so I pulled out the playground set we have. We had water down the slides and the kids loved playing with the water! They all got wet and had a blast!
After the hot day in the sun, I found out that the circus was in town. Tuesday evening, we went to check out the circus. James thought it was really cool and loved all of the animals they had. He unfortunately wanted one of the toys they were selling which was very cheaply made, but very pricey. I told him no and he started asking if we could go home and buy some money and then come back. He is really trying to understand the concept of money! Sadly, that includes the not fun parts of money. All the same, he still thought it was fun. Claire's favorite part would have to be the tigers!
Wednesday was another fun filled day. Claire helped me walk the kids to the library for story time. I loved this more than Terrific Tuesdays. It was very well done for the age group that I have. They read the children a book and then sing a song and dance. They read another and then they do a simple craft. Afterwards, the children get to play with some toys. That was definitely James' favorite part!
Later that evening, it was time for Claire to go home. James was so bummed that she wasn't spending another night with him! Before she left, she went to Home Depo with us and helped me pick out flowers. This was extremely difficult! There are so many different flowers. All sorts of sizes and colors. I had no clue what I should pick. This is a horrible task for an indecisive person! I do love how it all turned out. This was my first time planting and I thought it was a lot of fun. I hope my flowers grow and thrive!
Thursday we had our summer kid movies. But before we left, James made a fort with the kids! It looks like such a mess but he thinks it is so much fun, if only I agreed! We then went and saw Free Birds. Almost all of these movies are on Netflix so basically as soon as we get home, James tries to watch the same movie again! At least I know he is enjoying this.
The lovely fort. Yes, those are cushions from my couch!
James is becoming accustom to our walks; now he wants to run them Turbo style. Caroline has to chase him just to make him hold her hand. I didn't get a very good picture but he runs with his arms behind him. It's how the ninja turtles run on the new cartoon!
On Friday, we had a family photo shoot! This is the family session that we had won from our burger challenge. Thank you, James, for being so stinking cute! I cannot wait to see how the turn out! After our pictures James went to a wedding rehearsal for my brother in law, Jake. James was the ring bearer. Matt told me that at the rehearsal, James ran down the isle! That same evening my sister, Caroline, came over to spend the night. James has been having a blast with all of these sleep overs. We did try to go to bed early because we planned an early and busy day on Saturday.
James holding hands with his soon-to-be aunt at the rehearsal!
On Saturday morning, our ward was doing a six mile trek at the sixth crossing just past Lander, WY. We woke up and met at the church at 6:15 that morning! Onward we drove until reaching our destination only to find out that we may have to go right back home. Turned out there were no pets allowed and we had brought along Lexi. We were very blessed that the missionaries guiding us on the trek were understanding. They allowed us to bring Lexi with the promise that we clean up after her. Luckily for us, Lexi is awful picky about where she potties and doesn't go while we are on walks!
I am very grateful for the experience of this trek. The boys were relaxed and actually fell asleep as we walked. The wind did get bad and dirt kicked up in the air. But the eye opener was that no matter how tough we had it; those that had travelled before us experienced much more. It was a huge humbling oppurtunity. Caroline told me that she really enjoyed it. Our guides shared several stories of the pioneers and I could really appreciate the efforts those faithful saints had made.
Such a vast open space. One member said it best when she stated she was grateful for the wind otherwise we would be too hot!
The whole thing was a wonderful experience!
Afterwards we had to hurry back home for Jake's and Marianna's wedding! We were suppose to take pictures at 3:00 but we had to turn back towards Lander for gas and that wasted so much time. Unfortunately, we missed these pictures but we were able to take family ones at the wedding. Everything was very beautiful and it was exciting to see James in the wedding. He was nervous to come out so instead of going first he held his Aunt Rachel's hand. We were so proud of him for walking down and standing in place. He did it all with a smile on his face. We rewarded with him with glow sticks afterwards. Let me say, nothing is better than glow sticks according to the world of James!
Peter with Grandma Tolhurst.
Kaity caught the flower bouquet!
James absolutely loved dancing at the wedding. He danced with everyone and thought it was so much fun! There were three little girls dancing and Matt told Janes to go dance with them. James didn't want to at first but then he tried once. For the rest of the night James held those girls hands and danced with them! When we were on our way out he saw one and went up to her. Very nonchalant he says, "I'm sorry but I'm leaving now to go home and sleep." What is this mama going to do with this boy?!
Dancing with the girls.
And of course dancing with the bride!
The wedding was very fun and beautiful. Congratulations to Uncle Jake and Aunt Mari!
Sunday things finally settled down. First we had church and then we did not even have to cook. Instead, we went to my Dad's to celebrate his birthday and have yummy food! This is definitely been a fun and crazy summer so far. But we had made a ton of great memories! Now, I need to start writing these posts on Subday when it's not as crazy and I can actually get it posted before another week has gone by!
And now for some random pictures from this week!
And I guess just for explanation. Our cat, Aladdin, thinks he is an outdoor cat. Unfortunately, he keeps going into my neighbor's yard. This is my compromise. He stays in the backyard and has a dog bodyguard!
