The Great Outdoors and Such

Do you feel that panic at the end of July/beginning of August like I do?  That summer is almost over?  Retailers don't help with their "back to school" ads coming out right after Independence Day.  Justin has been feeling it more than me and is making the most of every last weekend until he has to go back to school.  And by "making the most of it", I mean trying his hardest to live in the mountains.

But first, what I wanted to do all summer, Mapleton's Pioneer Day celebration.  Pancake breakfast, parade, games, fireworks.  Feels like summer.

 The first 10 minutes of the parade are every automobile that Mapleton owns that has a siren.  It gets a little old, especially if you have kids with sensitive ears.

We took Sarah to play a few games at the park.  It feels like a big ward party.  Keeping with the pioneer spirit, all the games are cheap and simple like this classic fishing pole game.

 Sarah's favorite was giving the lady a ticket and picking a sucker. Everyone's a winner.

The fireworks that night were a-mazing. Better than Stadium of Fire for 2 reasons. 1. You don't have to go 5 hours early to get a spot and spend 2 hours getting home. And 2. You sit so close, ash lands on you.  And you get to play with glo-sticks.

Justin took Sarah camping with his parents Sunday night. I don't know who was more excited to go, Sarah or Justin.  She was so excited to go camping and sleep in a tent. He was excited to be in the mountains and fish. Sarah went fishing and even ate some fish. I missed her but it was kind of nice only to have Henry to take care of for 24 hours.

Wednesday my friend Tiana, brought over her twin boys.  They were born a week before Henry but check out the size difference. They were so quiet and calm the whole time they were here.  I thought Henry was a calm baby but he seemed like a spaz compared to them.

 Friday we went to Scofield to go to the cabin and so Justin could fish again (and again and again).  Sarah talks about the cabin all the time.  The last time we went was in March and it was snowy and we went sledding and snowmobiling.  Right before we headed out the door, Sarah ran to her room to get her hat and scarf.  Then half-way there, she asked where her snowboots were.  She had it in her mind that it was still snowy up there, it was so cute. 

 Eating pancakes with Papa Saturday morning. It was a long night.  I started out trying to sleep in the bat room but the sounds of the bats creeped me out and there was no way I was staying, nevermind sleeping.  So I made Justin and Henry move out to the loft.  Henry grunts in his sleep a lot, like every 10 minutes so when Sarah woke up in her room, I went in to reassure her and ended up staying since it was so quiet. But then she woke up every hour or so to accuse me of things like eating her Starbursts or to whine about being thirsty or that her stomach needed a wipe (still figuring out that one). I lost track of time since there was no clock around but I'm pretty sure I got a solid hour of sleep at some point.

 Sarah swung for like 20 minutes and would have kept going for who knows how long.

 Henry was sad he couldn't swing.

Justin's massive splinter he pulled this out of his shin. That's what you get for fishing, I told him. I don't know why he's smiling since it was in there pretty deep and it hurt.

 Sarah's new dress.  Gotta love Target clearance.  She's looking up at her dad which makes me love her smile that much more.

With only 4 weekends left, I've got to make sure I check off everything on my Summer To-Do list.  All I can think of is see Cowboys and Aliens and eat corn on the cob and smores.

Henry's Blessing

Sunday was Henry's blessing.  Thank you to all that came and made it a special day.  Henry was especially excited.

This is his 4-generation picture.

This is Sarah's second cousin Tanner.  Tanner is moving this week so we thought we had better get a picture of these two together.

These are pictures of Henry and Sarah at about the same age.  You'd think they were related....

 

I have cute babies.



2 Months Old

Henry is 2 months old today.  Justin thinks that time is just flying by.  Sounds like Justin needs to get up in the night more.

He actually is a first-rate sleeper...at night. He sleeps 5-6 hours, eats, then sleeps 2-3 more. So of course his naps are suffering. He kind of naps mid-morning then he sleeps from 12-5pm if I take him for a ride then it's anyone's bet during the evening. Maybe he'll sleep between 5-9, maybe he won't.

  This smile cracks me up.

 This is his go-to expression for most of the day.

This photo also makes me smile but at the same time freaks me out.  If I told you Sarah was heading out the door for kindergarten, would you belive me? What the heck happened to my toddler?

 Last Friday we went up the canyon for a picnic. I don't know which I love more on her: my sunglasses or her neon green headband worn Jazzercize style.

 "I'm going to Macey's to get an ice cream cone."

She puts her toys in timeout for not listening. Today Justin's football fell victim to her tough parenting and has been in the closet for 3 1/2 hours for not listening. (Just to be clear, she gets sent to the corner, not put in a closet.)  This girl has crazy ideas.

Buckle up. This is a long one.

I am just now getting around to posting our eventful 4th of July due to Sarah's surprise sickness.  The night of the 4th, she woke up barfing at 1 am.  I thought it was from too much fun and junk food so we bathed her, changed her sheets and blankets and put her back in bed.  She threw up 20+ more times in the next 8 hours. After 5 changes of clothes, 3 changes of sheets/bedding, and 9 loads of laundry we figured it must be something a little more serious. 
Here's Sarah Wednesday morning.  After breakfast, she said she was cold so I told her to get a blanket behind the couch.  She didn't come back and this is how I found her. She threw up 30 minutes later but seemed to be on the mend after that.

So to back up a week, Friday the 1st was Justin's brother Nate's wedding.  Yes, 2 weddings in one summer for us.  We've also got a baby blessing coming up and a mission farewell by September.  We all decided to make the biggest life changes possible this summer, just to give Corey and Nadine the most stressful summer possible. Anyway, here are some pictures.

 Waiting patiently for the bride and groom.

 Nate was the first person after Justin and I that Sarah tolerated as an infant.  He is still one of her favorites.  And she loves Melissa so she could care less about her parents when she's got these two.

 Our little family.

 The brothers mocking Dallin that he doesn't have a wedding ring. He leaves on his mission in September so in 2 1/2 years he should have it.

After the luncheon but before the reception, Braden and Kristen went with us to the Living Planet Aquarium.  I've wanted to go for a long time and since we had some time to kill up in Sandy and Sarah is free for just a few more months, we went.  Sarah was so excited to see the penguins.  When we got her out of the car, Justin told her to leave the blanket in the car.  She said, "Yeah, or the penguins will eat it."

Sorry for the red eyes, Kristen.  Henry doesn't nap like he used to so I've got to be quick.  

 I don't remember what is in this tank.  Fish, I'd bet.

 Huge lobster.

 Seahorses [Side story: When I was 22, Justin and I were nursery leaders in our ward. One of the kids wanted me to read them a book about sea creatures. I read it to him and thought to myself, "I don't know if seahorses are real or not. How can I be an adult with a college degree and not know if seahorses are mythical animals are not?"]
Well in case anyone else has doubts, they are real.

 Yucky octopus.

 Pretty friendly stingrays.  Stingrays are the puppies of the sea.  I made that up.

 The beloved penguins. Sarah ran back twice to see them again and we had to make a special trip to say good-bye before we left.

 I think she would love to have a pet penguin.  But not an emperor penguin.  It could knock her over.

Wedding reception. After the aquarium, we were pretty tired by this point.  Sarah looks like a Sugarplum Fairy.

Saturday morning I woke up with a sugar hangover.  Dang all you can eat cupcakes and icecream at the reception. I really didn't do much that day. Sunday was Dallin's 19th birthday so we went to Justin's parents' house along with most of his mom's side of the family.  We played 9 Square and I'm sorry to say I didn't get any pictures of it.  It's 4 Square on steroids.  The king square is in the center and it is stressful to be king, just like in real life.

Monday we went on a hike up Payson Canyon.  We hiked up the Grotto Trail.  It was a short and easy hike with some bridges over water.  Perfect for me carrying Henry in a pack and for Sarah.  My mom, sister Rachel and her husband Kenny and their boys Tyler and Zack came too. 

Afterwards we found a nice shady spot higher up and ate a picnic lunch.  Sarah likes Bugles on her fingers.

Gosh I hate Bugles.

Later that day we went back to Justin's parents and ate 4 different kinds of steak, chicken and brats. We played 9 square and ate cheesecake and had an Independence Day themed FHE.  By then it was really stormy so we didn't do fireworks.  But when I put Sarah to bed, we could see fireworks going off all over the valley from her window.  I like this new fireworks law.  I think we saw more than 20 fireworks go off at nearly the same time from Provo to Payson. And then she woke up a few hours later and puked her guts out.  I will just finish where I began. Thank you for reading.

What do those Dye kids do all day??

Sarah helped Justin adjust the sprinklers (or sprinkles, as she calls them). It turned into a waterfight as any good activity with dad does.

Henry is growing so fast.  It must be because he sleeps and eats so much. Once in a while he'll sleep 6 hours straight at night.  I love him so much when he does that and I tell him so to encourage him to keep it up.

 We hiked up Maple Canyon.  That was a rough hike, especially since I couldn't see my feet over the Snugli carrier I was wearing with Henry in it.  Justin and Sarah are good looking.  Those two did much better and went on ahead without me.

 I sometimes wonder if Sarah thinks Henry is just another one of her dolls.  He just happens to move and cry. She picked out his outfit and insisted that these shoes that are ginormous on him were just what he needed.

Justin and I left Sarah and Henry in the next room alone.  When we came back in, this is what we found. He's so lucky to have a big sister.

 We went to the park for a little while but left because it got too hot. Sarah is all about the climbing.

 Henry finally smiled last week!  I was so excited. I think I want my kids to smile more than any other milestone. I can't get a good picture of it yet because he's too unpredictable and quick for me.  But here's some good expressions. 

 I bought a big stack of puzzles at a garage sale.  Sarah is obsessed with puzzles. Ask her what she wants to do today.  "Do puzzles."

 See how happy she is?  She's doing a puzzle.

 

One Month Old

You know the feeling. You go back and forth between "I can't believe he's already a month old," versus "He's only a month old? Feels like I've had him forever."

 Henry slept a 4 hour stretch last night! Crazy the things you're grateful for when you have a newborn.

I love these kids.  Especially right now when they are napping at the same time.