Grandma Asay

One of my favorite things about our trip to Utah for Brian's wedding was that Scott's grandma, Grandma Asay, came out from Lovell, WY.  We haven't seen her since Brynn was a baby when she went to Nauvoo with our family when we lived in Kansas City.

Grandma Asay is 94.  She lives by herself, goes to the temple every week and drives herself all over town!

 She made the silky blankets that Nate and Ellie are addicted to.  I was grateful my kids had a chance to visit with her for a couple of days.

Brian Got Married

Brian and Carolyn got married at the end of May.  Our family actually flew to Utah for this event.  The kids thought flying was the greatest thing ever, and made our trip an even better adventure!  We stayed in a hotel close to temple square which made it much easier to go back and forth between wedding events.  We all love Carolyn and can't wait to get to know her better.  

It started to get cold and windy while we were taking pictures after their ceremony.   It is always so fun to be with everyone in the family--it makes me wish we could all live in the same cul de sac and raise our children together.

If I wanted to take the time I'd cut me out of this picture--ignore me and my eyes closed and jutting chin.  This is the only picture I have of cute Abby and Kameron who drove all the way up to Salt Lake on Saturday to stay with my kids during the sealing of Brian and Carolyn.  I just love these guys--they helped so much, and I thought it was so much fun to spend time with them too.  

Kaitlyn and Elise.  Kaitlyn couldn't wait to see Elise again and hung out with her most of the time.

 The older cousins waiting for Brian and Carolyn to come out of the temple.

I loved this picture, because you can see all the adoring kids watching Carolyn.  She was bombarded with kids the minute she walked out of the temple, and was such a good sport about sharing her wedding day with a million nieces and nephews.

There was a beautiful luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the reception was at the Beehive house.

Rock Canyon Rafting

I promise we had a really fun summer...I just never blogged about it.  I've been looking through some pictures, and thought I'd better document some of the good times we had.

Utah was blessed with more rain than usual this year.  The mountains were greener than I ever remember seeing them--even in July!  With all the extra water run-off from the mountains, Grandpa Esplin didn't have to go far to take the kids rafting!  

This is at Rock Canyon Park!  When Max said he wanted to raft at Rock Canyon park, I didn't know what he was talking about.  There isn't usually any water in this ditch!

 It was a perfect place for the kids to wade in the water and just enough to raft too!  They loved every minute of it.

Ellie and cousin Kate. 

 Kaitlyn and Brynn with Tanner and Carter.

A Milestone for Nate

This summer Nate gave up his binkie!  Or rather, I took it away.  My friend is adamant that 18 months is the best age to take away the pacifier--she claims they are young enough that it is easier to take it away.  It's like they forget easier about it.  The reasoning sounded great but I wasn't sure I was ready for the challenge.  When we took away Kaitlyn's binkie when she was two we were unprepared for the crazy convulsions she had like a drug addict trying to come clean!

And let's face it--the binkie is fabulous.  Nate was a screamer, seriously high-pitched like you've never heard before.  Plop in the binkie and it stopped immediately.  Could I really get rid of it?

And Nate LOVED his binkie.  I wanted him to have it on our trip to Utah to help him sleep, and I wanted him to have it while my mom was watching him while I did CMT--to keep her sane.

I couldn't imagine it would really be easy. The morning after we dropped my mom off at the airport after CMT was over we came home and I could NOT find that pacifier.  I was sick of looking, and Nate was very tired.  I told him I was sorry but I couldn't find his binkie and he'd have to go to bed without it.  I put him in his bed, sang a song and went searching for the binkie just sure that he'd never go to sleep without it. 

Nate lightly cried for about five minutes and then fell right to sleep.  I found the binkie, but I never gave it back to him.  I seriously could not believe how easy it was! 

It is liberating to be free of pacifier searching! And gratefully, Nathan's vocabulary has exploded and he rarely bursts my eardrums with his shrill scream--just during Sacrament Meeting when he's bored and wants to go out :)  Smart...

I Wanna Be A Pirate!

Sharee and I directed another year of Children's Music Theater.  This year we had two casts and two different plays.  Both plays were about pirates so we could use the same set.  We had 78 children participate this year!  It was a lot of work, but I still love it.  I love helping my kids and so many others have an opportunity like this to perform and build confidence.  In years past, we rehearsed for three weeks before the show in Sharee's living room.  This year we condensed it to 5 days of practice with the performance on Saturday.  We were able to rehearse and perform at a high school, which was really nice.  It was an intense week!

 Elementary Cast

50 Kids ages 5-10

"Pirates! The Musical"

Elementary Cast performing on stage

My three pirates!

This is the best picture of the set I have.  When the elementary kids first saw it one of the girls said in awe, "This is going to be the best day of our lives!"

This is the Elementary kids practicing at dress rehersal.

In years past, Kaitlyn would not try out for any main part.  This year she tried out for everything she could and did amazing.  She got to say a lot of lines and sing some solos too.  I'm proud of her for pushing past her fear and showing what I knew she's always had inside her.

Jared was NOT happy about wearing make-up, but he relented.

This is what it takes to help five year olds understand what they need to do!

Middle School Cast

28 Kids ages 11-14

"How I Became a Pirate"

The middle school kids had a blast together.  Their show was much more difficult, but they pulled it off amazingly!

I am so grateful to my mom for coming out for the week to help watch the kids so I could do this again this year.  She watched kids, cleaned, did laundry, made meals and yummy desserts too.  My kids had a lot of fun with her, and I'm glad they got to spend some time with her.  Thank you so much Mom!

Our Cute Ellie

Our little Ellie Muff is one of a kind--she keeps us all laughing.  She had a birthday in May and turned 4!  We love this funny girl.

I love Ellie's hair this length and wish I could convince her to get it cut again.  She told me again and again after this haircut that she did NOT like it short and she never wanted it cut again.  Silly girl--especially since she throws a fit every morning when it's time to brush it.  She never wants to wear a pony tail of any kind, and only likes a barrette.  I told her we'll have to cut it if she won't let me fix it for her.

Ellie is rough and tumble and wants to play everything with Jared.

Doesn't Ellie look so cute in a dress?!  She doesn't like to wear dresses or skirts EVER!  Every Sunday it is a battle to get her to wear one.  She has some leggings that she wears almost every Sunday under her dress that she calls her "church pants."  Her church pants don't always look so hot with what she is wearing, but I figure it's better than nothing.  Some Sunday's she brings her clothes to change into immediately after church in the car.

She really is the best big sister ever.  She is nurturing and always makes sure Nathan is okay.  I love to hear her every morning when she sees him say, "Hey, bud" and rub his head or back. 

She loves every baby she sees and told me the next time I have a boy I should name him "Jacent."  I told her I didn't really like that name so she thought for a minute and said, "OK, how about Carlos?"  Hmmm.
She also loves to dress her bears up and plays with them all day long.  She likes to dress up in bear, clown and pirate costumes, but never in princess costumes.

Ellie loves her swimming goggles and wears them on her head like this a lot--we call her Amelia Earhart.

She loves her tie-dyed t-shirt and her green shoes. She definitely has her own sense of fashion, and I've come to really appreciate her uniqueness.

Ellie loves reading books and knows all her letters.  Like her big sisters, she loves to craft, cut, draw, etc.  Tonight while I was reading her bedtime stories she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, and I loved it! She brightens our day!