Jaron turns 7

 Jaron turned 7.  He had another great birthday.  It's fun having a summer birthday because we are able to celebrate all day and have some great ideas for a birthday party. 

Since we got Jaron a bike for his birthday earlier this month, we had told him that was his big present.  But we still of course had to get him a few things.  We made him cinnamon rolls for his birthday and sang to him.

The one thing all the kids wanted to do this summer was go camping.  So we got a camp site reservation up American Fork Canyon at Granite Flats for that night.  Shane and I are not camper but the kids were so super excited.  We packed up all our stuff (which is a lot of stuff for just one night!) and headed up late in the afternoon.  We set up camp and as soon as we got out of the car the area smelled like skunk but soon went away.  The kids went exploring, we roasted hot dogs and tried a quesadilla since Jaron doesn't really like hot dogs right now and then of course had some smores.  We watched part of a movie in the tent and then the kids were tired so we took a final trip to the bathroom and on our way back we saw the skunk!  I was so freaked out but we made it to our tent and didn't get sprayed.  That night we kept smelling and hearing things right outside our tent and I'm sure that skunk lived right where we had our tent!  The kids slept the entire night and didn't move a muscle.  Shane and I on the other hand tossed and turned all night long.  Neither of us slept much at all but we were glad the kids slept.  That morning we had breakfast and packed up our stuff.  We then drove over to another area of the canyon and went on a hike called Scout Falls.  It was more up hill then I remember and Siena had a really rough time of it.  We were all tired but were glad when we made it.  It was a fun experience and the kids are already asking when we can go again.  Not sure when that will be.

The Monday after his birthday we had a birthday party.  Because of Covid-19 I didn't want to go anywhere for the party so we decided to rent a water bounce house.  The boys loved it and besides providing pizza and treats I didn't have to do much else, they entertained themselves and had a blast.  After the party we invited some neighbors and the Pace's to come over and pretty much had to pull everyone inside for dinner.  We definitely got some good use out of the bounce house.  Jaron has some fun friends and everyone had a good time.

We also got to celebrate all the July family birthday's together outside in Jennifer's backyard.  It was fun to see everyone since we don't get to see everyone very often right now.

Jaron is a good kid.  He is most often the one that will run and get something for me, compromise with his sisters when they're arguing over something and genuinely is a good kid.  He is smart and is ahead of most his class in math and reading and probably other subjects.  He loves school and loves his friends.  He has a good friend name Graham that he would play with all day everyday if he could.  He's had fun with him this summer and hopefully they'll be good friends for a long time.  He is always on the go and if he isn't playing with a friend he still wants me to throw the ball with him.  And yes he'll still snuggle with me from time to time and I cherish those times because I know they won't last.

July 2020

We went to the Salem pond again with the Pace's.  We had a fun time and the kids want a canoe or kayak so bad now.  

I think I said this earlier but Jaron is so into Mountain biking right now.  Graham's dad has taken them a couple times and Shane has taken him a few times.  Shane decided to have me drive them to the top of Suncrest and they rode a trail down back to the house.  They had a good time.

We got new bikes for everyone within a few days.  The girls needed bigger bikes really bad and Jaron wanted a bike with gears to help with mountain biking.  They were excited when we found them all bikes that fit him and Jaron's was partly for his birthday since his was a little pricier than the girls.

His first mountain bike ride after getting his new bike didn't quite go as well.  He fell a few times and came home so dirty.  Luckily he didn't get hurt cuz I sure got a good laugh at his face when I took this picture of his dirty face.

The 4th of July was a bit different due to Covid but we still had a fun day.  The kids were sad we couldn't have our ward breakfast and bike parade so we decided to use their new bikes and go on a family bike ride to a donut shop.  It was fun until the way back when Siena decided she couldn't go one more inch.  She is quite dramatic when it comes to things that she decides she doesn't want to do.  So I stayed with her while the other finished the ride and Shane came back to get her and then I rode home.  That night we got In-N-Out and ate a park then met up with Jennifer and kids to watch the Provo fireworks, socially distanced and safe but oh so fun.  The fireworks were amazing and it turned out to be a great night.

We met up with the Pace's again at Bridal Veil falls.  We ate lunch at a park, looked at some old trains and let the kids climb up the falls.  It's always fun to get out of the house for some outdoor time.

I think the kids always wanted to remember what they see when they're mom is working. lol...I'm sure they'll never forget because I'm like this a lot!!

We got invited to swim at Whitney's parents house.  My kids can swim for a very long time without getting bored.  Jaron has learned to do a back flip off the diving board and wanted me to get an action shot we could put on his birthday invitation...well I guess I got too good of an action shot because I captured this when he came down and hit his head on the diving board.  Although hurt and crying, luckily he was ok but he did have a very big goose egg on his head.

We got a bike trailer from my parents and bought a hitch so we've been able to drive places and then go on bike rides.  This day we rode to Artic circle and got ice cream cones.  It's nice when we have flat places to ride because the kids are a lot happier, especially Siena.

Jaron and some neighbors put together a bake sale/lemonade stand.  Jaron was happy he finally got to participate in a lemonade stand.

We signed up for a Harry Potter wizard night at the library.  They had a few different stations with games and a craft and we had a fun evening.

Our neighbor Bentley got a go-kart for his birthday so he and Jaron have had fun driving their go-karts around the street together.

June 2020

With schools closing down in March, the kids didn't get to participate in guest and goodies where they eat donuts and read to a special guest.  It used to be called Dads and Donuts.  So Shane decided to hold his own Dad's and Donuts and made his own homemade yummy donuts.  It was a fun surprise morning for the kids.

I got to get my hair done for the first time in 8 months!  I've never gone that long.  Alicia, who does my hair was having health problems and took some time off and I just kept putting off finding someone else, then Covid hit and everything shut down.  So finally in June Alicia started doing hair again and I don't think I've ever been so excited to get my hair done, it felt like Christmas.  It had grown a ton and happy to get my gray hair covered up.

The Pace's came visit and spent the night at our house.  We had a great time, as always.  We swam, played in the yard, got snow cones and went to a park.  We always have a good time and the kids pick up right where they left off every time.

Being Primary President has certainly gotten a lot easier.  It's been a nice break not always stressing about finding subs, getting names submitted for new callings and everything else that goes on top of that.  I've been coordinating baptisms and as of now, only immediate family and maybe grandparents are allowed, with no songs or talks, the whole focus is on the ordinances.  It's caused quite a bit of angst among families.  However, as a presidency we decided to do a Primary donut drive-by one day.  We picked the day and thought the weather would be fine...only to realize it was the coldest day.  We had wind, rain, sleet and a little snow and it was freezing but it was fun to see all the kids and their parents drive up and and wave to us and get a donut and drink.  I do miss seeing all the kids on Sundays.

We took 2 trips down to Salem to go to the pond there with the Pace's.  Her parents have this fun canoe and it was fun going out in it.  Even more entertaining to watch the 3 girls go out by themselves and try to maneuver the canoe.  They also loved going to Brigitte's parents house and trying to catch one of his goldfish in his stream with a bucket. And Siena actually caught one...they were so excited!!

My ministering sister, Dana Leavitt, who got us into the the Farm also let us get into the butterfly biosphere at Thanksgiving Point.  The girls have wanted to go to that since it opened but I just couldn't justify the money to go look at some butterfly's.  Well it turned out, it was so super fun and the kids were in heaven.  They got to hold butterfly's, they landed on their clothes and there were so many butterfly's everywhere.  A super fun day there.

We celebrated Shane's birthday.  Shane took the kids swimming that morning and then we took the kids to the Edwards and Shane and I got take out from Chili's and ate it in a church parking lot nearby.  It was fun to get some food from a restaurant and it tasted so good.  Then we celebrated with the kids with brownies afterwards.

The girls and their friend Sorena and sister Ashley decided to do a lemonade stand.  They made all the treats at Sorena's, set it up and did the whole thing themselves.  It was great for me and they loved it.  The neighborhood was more then generous and several came by and gave them 10 or 20 dollars and told them to keep the change.  They each ended up making $20 and I took them all to Target that night to buy a toy they wanted.

The girls made grass heads in school before it shut down and have been watering them and keeping them alive for months.  The kept measuring them and finally decided to plant their grass heads at the edge of our grass.  We took pictures so they could find it and see if they continue to grow outside.