Foster Family: July 2009

Steve's birthday was July 2nd. I did remember - and we did celebrate. I'm just very belated in posting the pictures from his big day. :)

Steve doesn't necessarily enjoy his birthdays and doesn't like being singled out, so he's generally not terribly excited when it rolls around. This year, by lovely chance, he had the day off. (He'd never ask for his b-day off.) We decided to spend the day together in the Ogden area, as we were meeting his mom for dinner that night there.

We went to lunch at a buffet which the kids loved. Something for everyone, right? Just a little sidenote: I didn't really like buffets before I met Steve - mostly because people put foods together in one meal and on one plate that should never be eaten together. You know, like mashed potatoes and lasagna on one plate. --shudder-- (Remember that I was the kid who couldn't let food touch on my plate...) Since meeting and marrying my Sweetheart, I am happy to say that I have developed a deep appreciation for the art of buffet.

So, our lunch was delightful and my children even decided to be mostly calm and civil through the meal.

After lunch we went for a drive up Ogden canyon to Huntsville. Several years ago Steve visited the monastery there and had been wanting to take us there. It was a beautiful drive -- even if certain children who were supposed to fall asleep and take a little napper, didn't.

We were a little disappointed to find that we were there during a time that we wouldn't be able to hear the monks chant. I guess it's really cool. We just walked on the grounds and enjoyed the scenery until the torrential downpour chased us back to the car and down the canyon.

Dad and his girls. (Matt took this one.)

It was a great day. We loved being together and just hanging out. We got to meet up with Steve's mom that evening and ate tacos at one of Steve's favorite places in the entire world - Del Taco. :) Yay! Happy Birthday, Steve!

I can hardly believe that June is over and we're well on our way through July. I'm thinking that I'd kinda like a "re-do" of June. It was rainy, cool, and zipped by waaay too fast! In elementary school when I needed a re-do on a pitch in base soccer, it was the pitcher I'd petition. Since I'm not certain who I need to talk to for the June re-do, I guess I'll just have to pull up the ol' boot straps and move on. So anyhow, here is a quick catch up on some things we managed to fit in between rain drops in June.

This summer not only did we get to attend the Logan Summer Fest, but Matthew got to help out in the children's art yard. Now, for a boy who's loved being "the guy" since the moment he could walk and talk (the store guy, the restaurant guy, the worker guy, etc.), this opportunity to help was heaven sent.

Rachel got to participate. She made a windsock, Fathers' Day cards, a sun catcher, a bracelet, and some other fun things. Her favorite, by far, was painting on the easel.

Right outside the Art Yard was this wonderful, giant contraption that spewed out oodles of bubbles. Rachel loved it and chased bubbles until we had to drag her little body away. It was a huge hit among the little bubble-chasing crowd and I have to admit, I was pretty entertained also. Part of the reason is because it was just plain funny watching the kids run around crazy and crashing into each other. The other part, I have to admit, was that I was fascinated by the guy who owned this bubbly monstrosity. He's the one with the lovely big hat in the bottom right hand corner of the pic. What a fun-loving guy to build something like this... and wear that lovely big hat. I can't quite pin point why I was so taken by him, but it was kind of like my wonderment at circus carnies. He took his creation and his job very seriously. Both of my daughters adored it.

Father's Day! At the risk of getting all mushy and gooshy, I have to take a moment and say that my husband is an absolutely amazing father. I have been immensely blessed to have an incredible father and I have been equally blessed to have married a man who is a wonderful father to our children. I love him dearly. So I was severely disappointed that he had to work on Father's Day. We made him breakfast before we sent him off to work, but then had to have the rest of our celebration the next day. We were able to completely surprise him with a totally rocking Fathers' Day present, though. Let me back up for a sec. The entire time I've known Steve, he has talked about these tapes that he listened to as a child. They were stories (accompanied by books) about values such as honesty, hard work, obedience, etc. His favorite was honesty. The biggest reason being that there was this song sung by a grumpy old man, "Who broke my window?" Steve so vividly remembers listening to it as a kid and has sung the song for us like a gajillion times (in his big, deep, grumpy old man voice) over the years. So the week before Fathers' day I was treasure hunting at the DI and found the whole set of tapes for like a buck!! It was a Fathers' Day Miracle!! We even had a handful of the books. So on the morning of Fathers' day, we dragged Steven out to the car because there is a tape deck in the car along with the CD player. (The only thing in the house that we have anymore that plays tapes is a Fisher Price tape player and it's batteries had been pillaged for something else long ago.) We piled into the car and played, "Who broke my window" for him. It was awesome! He was totally stunned and loved it. Yay, DI!

With the end of June, came some sunshine -- finally! The kids have loved that they are finally able to play outside more. Matt and Rachel have had some great time on their bikes, and Bailey is VERY much enjoying her new vehicle!