Swimming, Fireworks, Surprise!, FUN, Reunion!!!

I can't believe half of this month is already gone!  And so much has happened so far.  There will probably lots of swimming pictures this summer--I just can't get enough of them in their swimsuits.  :)  These were taken on 7/2; their friend next door came over and swam that day, too:

 

 

On Independence Day, we had Timmy over (Kiki and fam were supposed to come over but Carma and Kiki were sick); we went swimming, BBQ'd some hot dogs and zucchini and squash, ate Oreo pie, then went to the neighbors' and shot fireworks (some may or may not have been illegal ones from Louisiana, ha ha!), and had root beer floats with them.  It was super fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents drove here, Ben and his 2 girls flew here from Louisiana, Nikki flew here from Texas, and Michelle and her clan drove down for my surprise 40th birthday party last Sat. (plus lots of other family and friends in attendance).  It was awesome!  Jared took me to dinner and a movie on Friday, 7/5, then we stayed at a hotel that night:  

Little did I know, it was all so Kiki and my family could decorate and get ready for the party the next day.  I was so shocked!  I'll post video later of when I walked in the door.  Jared gave Kiki the money and she went all out with the decorations (tiki/luau), food (BBQ pork and chicken sandwiches), and everything (I'll have to get photos from her to post later of all the decorations before everyone got there).  They even rented a karaoke machine and we had so much fun!  Makenna was so funny with the "microphone" (we gave her the fake mic that goes with our Elmo toy) and she was "singing" into it while shaking her hips and playing the tambourine and shaker egg at some points.  When a song was over, she would stand microphone stand back up, then pull it down when another song started.  It was hilarious!  Avery opted for the Elmo bongos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been going non-stop since the party.  Here are some of the activities we did last week:

Sunday, 7/7: Jared stayed home to work while the girls and I drove up Aspen Grove with all of my family to Cascade Falls.  We then took the back road to Heber, then drove home through Provo Canyon.  That night, we played Tripoly at our house.  :)

 

 

Monday, 7/8: Nikki flew home that mid-morning.  We had our adoption home study (last thing to do before we're "on the list"!) that afternoon, then the girls and I went to Kiki's for dinner, after which we all went to a park by her house.  Makenna went down the "big" slide over and over again.  Avery preferred the small one.

Judson let Makenna play soccer with him

Tuesday, 7/9: The girls and I, Kiki and her kids, Ben and his girls, and my parents all went up to Tibble Fork Reservoir in American Fork Canyon and had a picnic.  It was gorgeous up there!

Wednesday, 7/10: My parents left early that morning.  Ben and Kiki and their kids, and Jared and the girls and I went swimming at the Lehi pool.  Jared took Avery down that big slide again.  Nope, she still didn't like it, ha ha!  That night, we all drove up to Squaw Peak.

Thursday, 7/11: Jared, Ben and I took all the kids, except for Wyatt (Kiki had school and Michael stayed home with Wyatt), to Bridal Veil Falls.  Ben, Belle, and Judson hiked up to the lower falls while the rest of us stayed down at the bottom and fed the fish and waded in the cold water (well, Carma and Brenna did, anyway).  Everyone came to our house for dinner and my choc. chip pecan cookies.  Ben and his girls flew out really early the next morning. :(  We had so much fun with them!!!

 

 

 

Makenna jumping!

Carma and Avery.  Aaaaaaaw!!!

 Friday, 7/12:  We drove up to Hoytsville for the Ted Crittenden reunion and slept in our camper that night.  I'll post pics later of that. 

Sat., 7/13: There was breakfast that morning but hardly anyone had camped out.  Then the C.H. Crittenden family gathering was that afternoon; we only stayed for a little while, then went and saw Grandma for a few minutes before the girls and I drove home to eat dinner and get ready for bed while Jared stayed and cut some firewood for Grandma and drive Uncle Jason's car to our house to sell.

We were exhausted by Sunday but it was all so worth it!  I love spending time with family!

Family Reunion, Jason's Farewell and Good-bye

Thursday, June 6--The day after the hayride, our family reunion officially started.  Jared and I had our individual interviews with our adoption counselor (one of the last steps before we do our home study in less than 2 weeks), so we got there later in the day and the girls joined in some of the water fun (not much of it, though--they don't like be sprayed with cold water, ha ha).

They sure did look cute in their swimsuits!

Makenna not enjoying being splashed or sprayed by someone

I think Cleo got a little more walking and loving by all of the kids than she would prefer; we had to go and "hide" her several times, ha ha.

I think the swings were the girls' favorite part, of course

She wouldn't be smiling like that if it actually popped on her.  :P

Avery looking a bit nervous to be carrying that water balloon!

Fun throwing the soccer ball to each other for a bit

Then a walk across the field to see the neighboring sheep

Some throwing around by Daddy

Mommy joining in on the swinging fun...

Then Daddy

S'mores that night after dinner

Friday, June 7--

Jason had slept in a hammock under the playset with some of the kids under him

We did pictures of all the grandkids with their birthorder # on their shirts.  The twins, especially Avery, did NOT cooperate!

Drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk

And riding on "bikes"/trikes

Avery thought it was fun to just pile all of the chalk in her lap

Jared had not been feeling well all week and I started to feel pretty crappy that day, so we napped when the girls napped, then everyone took the big family photo together that evening (I don't have a copy of any of them and don't know if it would be OK for me to post it, anyway).  After dinner, there was a video presentation for Jason with tons of photos from his life then he was presented with a gift from the family to take on his mission.

Watching the picture slideshow in honor of Jason

Jason getting a photo book from the family to take on his mission

All of the adults were supposed to go do a session together in the Mt. Timp temple but, since Jared and I were sick (and getting very little sleep for several nights in a row didn't help), we stayed home.  We were very sad to miss it but we just couldn't do it.  And there was no way I was gonna go and cough my lungs up through an entire temple session.  To make matters worse, our a/c wasn't working so it was getting quite warm in our house.  The day of rest did us well, though (plus I got to watch LSU win the baseball game that got them into the College World Series (not that they got very far in it but that's another story...), and we were, thankfully, feeling well enough to go to Jason's farewell the next day...

June 9-- Jason and Grandma spoke in church in their ward, after which tons of family and some of Jason's friends went to the local middle school for a luncheon, which was really nice.

Jason and his parents and siblings

Daddy's girls!

Avery was getting grumpy and tired by this point

She didn't even make it until we left--she konked out in Jared's teenage cousin's arms

A kiss for Uncle Jason

Monday, June 10--we stayed home to have our a/c checked out but the guy (the co. owner's son) wasn't able to fix it that day; he came back the next day and still wasn't able to fix it, so his dad came out to fix it on Wed.  FB post that day:

86 degrees in the house right now. A/C guy came today and said it's the motor. He'll come first thing in the morning to fix it. Trying to stay cool in the meantime while still dealing with a bad cough. Will be happy when it's fixed!

Tuesday, June 11--We left the house after the a/c guy left, then went and ran some errands and bought some stuff for Jason that he needed for his mission.  It was lunchtime and we were still in our town, so we decided to stop and eat at the new Popeye's!

FB post: Popeyes! In Utah! In my town! Great to have a taste of home.

Once we got to Grandma's house, the girls had fun playing with cousins, except that I had to keep Makenna away from everyone and sanitize everything she touched because I thought she maybe had pink eye.  I gave her drops that night and it was better by the next day.  Who knows if it was really pink eye or not.

The girls giving Jason some tie tacks we bought for him

A goodbye hug from Makenna

And one from Avery

Our last photo as a group with Jason for 2 years

And, of course, we had to do a silly photo!

After my goodbye hug

I posted this on FB later that night:

I can't believe this kid, who was the most adorable, flirtatious 5-year-old I've ever known when I met him and the cutest 6yo best man there ever was, will be 20 in 2 1/2 weeks and is leaving in the morning for his mission in Scotland/Ireland. I'll miss you, Jason Norman Crittenden! — with Jared Crittenden.

I brought the girls home and Jared stayed the night to go to Jason's setting apart and to stay up late with him and their sisters.

 

June 12--Jared went with his parents to the airport to see Jason off:

Goodbye for 2 years, Elder Crittenden!  We love you and will miss you so much but we are so proud of you and know you will do great things!