Canning peaches

Our peach tree was loaded this year!  We picked about 50 pounds in an hour Friday night.  Our friends, the Wades, came up from Tooele yesterday to pick the rest,  about 40 pounds,  and have dinner and smores with us. We had a great time!  Bethany helped me make some jam because, but half of the batch didn't set up so w have 12 half pints of peach syrup. I think we are going to give syrup and pancake mix to neighbors for Christmas this year. I have three gallons of frozen peaches so far,  and two coolers full of blanched peaches were didn't get to yesterday.  There's also peaches set aside to make two fresh peach pies today. Harvesting is hard work,  but worth every minute! I am so thankful we live in Utah,  on a property that has mature fruit trees and garden space.

First day of school

First day of school! Zenock is in 4, Gideon in kindergarten, and Ammon is in 6. This is the first year they are riding the bus to school as well. Ayla wanted to go to school so bad too. We hope to get her in speech therapy preschool again soon. It doesn't start until September 6th. Until then, she and Rydon get to be errand buddies. We are all ready to get a regular schedule back in the family. Yeah for school!

Funny kids

Let's play the parent game. You know you're a parent when you say: "who put a ketchup packet in the vacuum hose?" I asked my kids that tonight and Gideon immediately blamed Ammon!

Kids are hilarious! I'm thankful I found the ketchup before turning the vacuum on. What a clog that would have been!

The surgery results

For those curious to know, this is a before and after of Rydon's cleft palate. He is two weeks post op and doing great. We have one week left of puree food regimen, and he is now back to normal with his bottle. I'm looking forward to teaching him how to suck after next week so he can have regular bottles and sippy cups. Thank you for all your prayers on his behalf these last few weeks.

Palate surgery day!

The last two weeks

Rydon is loving having Ayla's noisy toys more accessible all the time. He loves her noisy house. We went to California for a checkup. He rode four planes in one day and did so well!
Gideon is adorable in his hat. He often doesn't want his picture taken so we get it when we can.
Ammon and Zenock are liking Utah. They each have a friend from church already. Our ward is short on boys because there's only one other boy their age in each of their classes.
We are so grateful to be where we are!

Unpacking helpers

When unpacking books and putting them away, it turned into a reading party for everyone. Gideon and Zenock kept looking at the books and saying, "OH! I remember this one!" Such cute kids. They have a bookself in their room, so just about every night Zenock reads several books to Gideon before they go to sleep. It's so adorable! I can't believe Zenock used to hate to read. Now he reads all the time. What a difference a year can make!

Friends and fireworks

We visited our dear friends, who moved away from the ward almost two years ago, in Herriman. We had great food and did our fireworks together. Utah allows the big ones that go in the sky, so this year was extra fun to watch.

 WE LOVE THE SPACE!!! 3000 sq ft is an amazing improvement from our tiny townhouse! We have tons of stairs, so that means lots of exercise for me! Rydon has now become a pro a climbing and descending the stairs by himself too!

Moving

While we were in Utah we found a house to rent. We got approved the 15th of June and began packing right away. According to the lease requirement we had to move into the property on July 1st. We went back to Utah the 24th so we could sign the lease and get the keys since we couldn't get to the house until the evening of the 2nd. The kids were a nice help in loading up boxes. I packed up the entire house with the help of many, many sisters in my ward. I could not have gotten everything ready in time without them. I cried on several occasions because I was so grateful for their service. I will miss a few of the families in my ward very much. Specifically the Cox's, Kelly's, Bowers', and the Cummings', and the Lawrence's. Ammon really got to know the Lawrence family really well. The have boys his age, and he really misses playing sports with them. I think Zenock will miss the Kelly's the most, since their son is basically his best friend. By the time moving day came, I had counted over ten sisters who helped me pack, clean, bring dinner, and watch my kids so I could pack more.

Our last night in Henderson was at the hotel where my parents were staying because they had painters coming early in the morning. Earlier in the evening we had a huge party to say goodbye to everyone at the same time. I had 13 pounds of meat to use up so we did a nacho bar. Tons of families in the ward contributed various parts of the meal so we could all enjoy it together. Sadly, I was too distracted to get any photos of my friends.

All the kids, except Rydon, LOVED riding in the big truck with Brady. Ayla and Gideon had a very hard time taking turns. This surprised me a little because I had the movie watching in my van, but then again, big trucks are pretty fun!

Utah trip to visit Brady

 First major car trip with the kids by myself...I think? They did great!!

 Christa and the kids came with us to Hogle Zoo

 They were so funny to listen to! They were all chatting away while watching the seals swim in the tank. There were lots of "woah's!"

 The next day we went to the air force museum.

 Ayla's favorite plane

 Ammon's favorite plane inside the building

 Zenock liked this model the best

 Gideon didn't want to choose a favorite plane and wouldn't let me take his picture so I snuck this one.

 Brady's favorite plane

My favorite

 Ammon's favorite plane outside

 Hills after a rainstorm. From the IKEA parking lot

 Oquirrh Mountain Temple