Impromptu Date

Jeremy needed to check on getting something fixed in our van. I volunteered to go with him. It turns out the person said he could get to it right then so Jeremy and I went across the street to wait at a park.

It was North Park in Provo and the pioneer museum was open. I'd never been to the museum just the pioneer village once.

We decided to go in, look around, learn a little bit about pioneer history, put a few pieces on a jigsaw puzzle (It was an Eric Dowdle puzzle of Nauvoo), and enjoy ourselves. 

Jeremy said it's been a long time since we've been able to do something spontaneous like that. It was little impromptu date and it was very pleasant.

Raspberries 'n Cream Day 2022

August 7 was Raspberries 'n Cream Day.

I figured frozen mixed berries have raspberries so that would work with whipped topping. Then I made cupcakes so we could have a sort of strawberry shortcake with mixed berries.

Sigh. I seriously thought we had mixed berries in the freezer. I found multiple bags of blueberries and strawberries but nothing with raspberries.

So we celebrated Raspberries 'n Cream Day with strawberry/blueberry shortcake.

Later that night, Jeremy blew a raspberry at me... you know... to celebrate.

 

That day was also National Sisters Day so I wished a Happy National Sisters Day to my sisters.

Practice What You Preach

The beginning of August Nichole and Jr. went off to FSY (For the Strength of Youth conference) at BYU. Jeremy went to a county fair in Downey, Idaho, then when he came back he was doing balloons at the Utah County Fair (which meant he could sleep at home both nights of that fair. Yay!).

We were also studying Job that week for scripture study so we got to put into practice what we taught the boys. Continue to turn to the Lord in trials and you'll be better off in the end and recognize blessings in the midst of trials.

We started off strong. Monday, Jeremy was at work, Nichole and Jr. were getting ready for FSY, and Lucky said, "I feel sick," then threw up. Sigh. I'm sure it was from the heat. I mentioned it has been a hot Summer. Someone was going to let the younger boys play at their house while I took the older kids to FSY so I had to cancel that. I was able to find someone to come over and be an older person here while Jr. Jr. took care of Jet and Lucky rested (Lucky helped, too, because it didn't take long for him to feel better since he wasn't actually sick, just a bit dehydrated probably). That was really appreciated since it took longer than I thought to check them in and get them to their housing, say goodbye, etc.

And I forgot to take a picture of Nichole before I left but I got a picture of Jr.

The first night, Jet was calling out, "Goodnight," to his siblings, even the ones who weren't there. That little guy is so cute.

While Jeremy and the older kids were gone, we did some work and play, work and play. Jr. Jr. wrote down things to work on (dishes, cleaning our rooms, etc.) and some fun things to do (video games, eating treats, etc.), made them into strips, and picked them out of a bag. Work and play.

We also celebrated some holidays. 

Wednesday, August 3, was Grab Some Nuts Day. We opened our container of mixed nuts. Yumm. Jeremy said he ate peanuts that day while he was in Idaho.

It was also National Watermelon Day. I didn't eat watermelon but I watched the Studio C sketch, "Cool Guy Can't Eat Fruit Casually." That's what it's called on YouTube.

 

One of the days that week, a friend stopped by to say Hi then she came back a few minutes later and brought us pizza. What a sweetheart. 

Jeremy got to see his friend, Dan, again. They were at the fair convention together back in November and he was at the juggling BBQ in June. Dan was manning a photo booth at the fair in Idaho.

Jeremy also built a large sasquatch scene out of balloons. He managed to get a bald eagle and mountain bluebird in there. Love those birds.

 

Friday, August 5, was Work Like a Dog Day. I thought that meant we'd get a lot done at home. Nope. Here's where we got to look at our blessings again amidst trials. Jeremy was headed down to Spanish Fork when the car engine light went on and the car made sputtering sounds. He was only a few minutes from home so I took Jet away from eating his breakfast (luckily we had snacks in the van), woke Jr. Jr. up, and packed the boys in the van to go pick Jeremy up and get him to the fair on time. Then we came back to get the car to the mechanic who couldn't look at it until Monday. At least it didn't happen in Idaho.

Fast forward a few hours and I was taking one child to the ER while the other two went to a football game and a parade with friends. I cannot thank them enough for taking the boys last minute and entertaining them for 5 hours.

Recognizing blessings again, it wasn't as bad as it could be and only needed a few stitches and he was such a trooper at the hospital. He was totally fine. After the initial hurt, he was running around like normal and in a good mood (including in the waiting room of the ER. Sigh). He got to play with cars and one of the people there drew a track for him on paper for him to race the cars on. She later drew a dinosaur for him when she found out he likes dinosaurs.

My wonderful husband was so patient about getting picked up an hour late from the fair because we picked up the boys first before going to get him.

 

Saturday morning, August 6, I picked up Nichole and Jr. from FSY and made sure to get a picture of Nichole. They both had a good time. Jr. said it was like a spiritual UVU Prep.

I was able to take Jeremy down to his fair and pick him up no problem. We even wiggled our toes in the van on the way to celebrate Wiggle Your Toes Day (the kids wiggled their toes later).

That night we celebrated National Root Beer Float Day as things calmed down a bit after the long week.

We really did have the opportunity to look on the bright side of things that week. There were definite challenges but blessings as well.

By the way, the car is fine, and Jet is healing nicely.

Catch of the Day

 

Hogle Zoo

I'm pretty sure the last time we went to Hogle Zoo was when Jr. was little, before Jr. Jr. was born, before I had started this blog. I remember my in-laws taking us and yep... I just found pictures from that trip from 2009. This is going to be fun.

 

First of all, the lion drinking fountain. I remember coming to Utah to visit relatives when I was a kid and we all went to Hogle Zoo. One thing I remember was the lion drinking fountain... from when I was a kid. Obviously it's had some changes to it over the years (compare 2009 to 2022) but the lion drinking fountain is a thing that has been around for many years.

Next let's talk about the gorilla statue. I don't remember it from my childhood. I do remember it from when Jeremy and I were dating and when we were first married and when we had just one child. I'm not putting the effort into finding those pictures but it is tradition (from even before we were married) to get a family picture with the gorilla statue. So I have pictures again from 2009 and 2022 to compare.

 

We had a great time this trip seeing a lot of animals. And just because I can, here is a comparison picture of an elephant from 2009 and from 2022.

Jet had fun flapping his ears like the elephant.

 

We saw a gorilla taking a drink so Jet decided to take a drink at the same time.

 

Because we are Dino Dan/Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures/Dino Dana fans (it's an Amazon Prime Video thing. Look it up), when it was time to move on to a new area of the zoo, we would say, "And we're moving," because that's what Dan and Trek's grandma would say when they visited the zoo and later a reptile house with Dana. When they were at the reptile area, they talked about how the crocodiles were like Deinosuchus, so when we saw crocodiles at Hogle Zoo, I kept telling Jet about them being like Deinosuchus. You know that kid likes dinosaurs (and prehistoric reptiles).

  

It was a fun trip to the zoo. We didn't see everything because it was getting hotter and hotter (It's been a hot Summer) and we decided to go home after a while, but it was awesome.

And I'm so glad we were able to get our family picture with the gorilla statue.

End of July

July 28 was Refreshment Day. We put out a cooler of drinks and snacks for delivery people and people working on a leak in a pipe in our yard.

July 29 was Talk in an Elevator Day. It just so happens I took all the kids with me to an appointment that day in a building with elevators. We talked.

 

July 31 was National Cotton Candy Day. Apparently there are two dates because we also celebrate it in December. Check out what's in our home. Right?

Summer Reading Finishes

More Summer library activities with both Orem Library and Provo Library.

We did the escape room at the Orem Library. 

 

We did activities at the library.

 

We did crafts from both libraries. 

 

We played board games. 

Jeremy created a new piece of art- Bob Ross out of ramen noodles.

We did more Provo Story Trails.

"Dotson'Sa, the Great Raven, Makes the World" at Paul Ream Wilderness Park.

 

"Crocodile's Treason" at "Lakeview Park.

We picked up prizes from both libraries. 

We went to Stories in the Park.

Jr. won a ticket drawing prize from Orem Library, a Harry Potter decorative quidditch set. See my post about Southern Utah for why I don't have a picture to show of that.