Update

I just spent the last hour reading through old journal entries I did about my family pre-blog days. I loved it. It has reminded me how important it is to record things. It also reminded me how important it is to be fully present in my day to day life. So I am trying to do better on both accounts.

Summer is in full swing around here. We are swimming, boating, taking trips to the library, reading, playing, and just generally having a good time. It feels really busy. Having all 5 kids home was an adjustment. It just seems like I'm always doing food prep and I'm always doing dishes. Or going to the store for more food. Oh, and I am never alone. Ever. I've really enjoyed having Ashley around more this summer. The middle 3 are in summer camps and for three hours each morning it is just Ashley and Liam with me. We've gone to Barnes and Noble, for runs, shopping, to the pool to swim laps (where I can't keep up), and just hung out. It's been great. Then we head to the pool for fun and come home to do our school (I'm mean), music lessons, and chores. Then I crash. Usually before the kids do. I've really enjoyed running outside and running on trails and hiking. It's been heavenly. I'm still teaching yoga and working at the Endo place. Working 10-15 hours a week doesn't sound like a lot, but it really does feel like a lot. I somehow end up not feeling totally engaged at work because I'm not there enough and I don't feel fully engaged in the at-home world because everyone assumes I'm working. It's been tricky. I haven't figured it out. This summer I haven't been very resilient and I'm hoping to turn that around with practice. And prayer. Lots of prayer.

Ashley is doing great. She turns 12 next week! She had her meeting with the Beehive advisors today and is excited for personal progress and girls camp and dance festival. Her life just got busier. She quit swim team in the spring and I think it was a good move. She has had more time to spend at home with the family and I think that is oh so important at her age. I love her because she is just confident and content with who she is. She doesn't have anything to prove and I admire that in her. She has had her share of heartache over friends, but she always moves forward and is learning to be kind through it all. She starts 7th grade, which is middle school and she is excited to be treated a little more grown up. She really is a lovely person.

Katelyn is my busy girl. She loves to play games, do crafts, sew, jump on the trampoline, make up dances, and be with Haley and Annalise. She loves, loves, loves being with cousins and would move to Utah without me if the opportunity came up. I'd miss her though. She is such a joyful kid and I hope she keeps that with her. She did a movie makers camp this summer and was so fun to watch in her play. She loves that stuff. She made commercials and new casts and thoroughly enjoyed herself. She is my most daring on the boat and can already comfortably slalom. I love it.

Justin is full of life and loves to try new things. He has a hard time sticking with things though. He begged to do baseball this summer and never wants to go. He also begged to do summer camp and never wanted to go. He loves his flexibility. He doesn't want to be tied down to anything. He loves spending time with friends, but his school friend is just so busy this summer. He loves everything that has to do with maintenance - cars, motorcycles, boats. He makes sure we are safe on the boat and loves to hook up the trailer and undo it. He puts the plug in and pulls it out. He drives the boat and is just curious about it all. He bought his first pet, which is a hamster. It promptly died and now he has two disgusting gerbils. He talks my ear off and just loves to be with people. He doesn't do alone.

Mia is busy with gymnastics and piano lessons and playing. She is my best independent player and I love her for that. She also loves to be with friends, but knows how to be alone. She grows bigger everyday. She is a great reader and is making progress through the Book of Mormon. She is just passed halfway. I'm impressed with her ability to stick with it. She is a great friend to Justin and they spend hours together playing. I will miss her when she starts all day first grade in August. Yipes.

Liam is 15 months old. It's hard to believe. He is full on walking now and tries to run. He makes us laugh daily. He is picking up words and talks constantly. He says hi, bye, uh oh, dad, mom, did it, up, dog, and more. He isn't as easy to understand as the other kids were for me, but I can tell that he is trying. He is an easy going toddler and is just so much fun. He loves to be outside of the house and will run around the store. He is my curious kid. He loves to drop stuff into the toilet to see what'll happen. He drops stuff off the loft to see where it will go. He is constantly re-arranging my cupboards and I'll find stuff in the weirdest places. I adore him.

Hans is busy with dentistry and family. We have managed more time together and I love that time. I'm so grateful for our family and for these kids. They are so good and want to do good. Parenting is tricky business, as I feel like I'm passing my own issues onto my kids, but I'm telling them that I'm making mistakes, but doing my best under my circumstances. I hope they don't need too much therapy:)

Miscellaneous Pictures

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Moab

We had a great time in Moab. We drove to Glenwood Springs and spent the night there so we could be in Moab for as long as possible with the Conleys. We had a great time hiking, swimming, running, and being together. The cousins love each other. Liam spent the weekend, which happened to be his birthday, with Roseola. So he screamed the whole trip. Other then that we had a perfect trip!

Mia and Liam

 I spend a lot of time with Mia in the mornings before afternoon kindergarten. I love that I have this time with her. I am not anxious for her to be in full time school. I'm worried about having one more kid to give time to in the afternoon and evening, but I'm sure we will figure it out. I just love this girl. She is fun, funny, and full of energy and life. Lots of pictures of Liam through the last few months. He has grown so so much. He has brought oh so much joy into our home and we all adore him. He has turned into his very own person and it is really fun getting to know his personality. He is cautious and curious. He startles easily. He needs to touch and hold what anyone else is touching and holding. He makes his rounds around the house. He goes into the bathrooms, lifts the toilet lid and splashes and then unrolls the toilet paper and tears it into little pieces. Then he crawls over to the TV and pulls out the controllers and x box stuff and all the movies. Then he crawls to the kitchen and empties out the cupboards. He especially loves climbing into the fridge if I leave the door open. Then he crawls upstairs and pulls out Katelyn's crafts. Then he goes into his bedroom and dumps out the humidifier. He loves driving things around and everything becomes a car to push around. His current favorite is Justin's inhaler. He pushes it all over Justin's floor. He is very musical. He loves to sing and play the guitar and the piano. If anyone is practicing the piano he has to go play too. He loves my phone, of course. And already knows how to turn it on and swipe it open. He moves all my apps around and keeps me on my toes. I sure love this kid.

 Learning to go down the stairs. He fell down once. 

 He loves his bath time. Especially when his sisters get in their swimsuits and bathe with him.

 Not sure why I have all these toys. He much prefers stuff out of the cupboards.

 He didn't eat real food forever. Then he went straight to taquitos. He loves food now. He still won't drink and nurses full time. He also is still up in the night several times to eat. It wears me out, which is why I always look tired like in this picture below.

 Playing at the park. And his cute two  bottom teeth.

 He spent a few weeks like this in his crib. He knew how to pull himself up, but not how to get down. It made for a few sleepless weeks for me. He would stumble over to the side of the crib and climb up to standing with his eyes closed and his head hanging down. It's like he couldn't help but climb up.

 He rarely wears cute clothes, but he is looking sharp for church here. I project my sensory issues onto my babies, which means he is dressed with no socks and in sweats most of the time. 

 He does like his alphabet train.

 He's so cute.

 He is very fast up the stairs now.

 He doesn't love being confined to the high chair, but he does love eating.

 He finds everything. He found a starburst and put it in his mouth whole. Yummy!

 He has been sick for at least half his life. He's had a million sinus infections and an ear infection. He had Roseola in these pictures and refused to sleep unless he was on Hans or I. It was tiring, but he is sweet. 

 He much prefers playing in the front seat to sitting in his car seat.

The lot Hans and I are thinking of buying in Cordera. I keep getting cold feet, although I think we will do it.