Quick Visit

Back on the 20th of August, my sister-in-law Adrienne and her kids stopped by on their way to the airport in SLC. It's always so fun to see her and her kids, as they live so far away, and we hardly ever get to see them. This is the second time this year that we've been able to see her, Jax, and Breklin, so we consider ourselves lucky!

Both kids were a little tired and shy at first, but as soon as we gave Jax some LEGOs we had bought him, and Greg took Brek outside, they began to open up towards us a bit more. Greg always finds a way to do that with kids. They just love him.

I am pretty sure all you really need to entertain kids, is water balloons. It has worked so well with our other nieces and nephews, and was just as fun with these two.

As they were getting ready to leave, Greg grabbed a rag to wash Brek's hands. She thought he was giving it to her to clean up the water balloon  that had popped on the porch, so she started wiping the porch. It was too cute.

Looking up at Uncle Greg with her big puppy dog eyes. Love this cute girl!

Handsome Jax with his box of LEGOs. Definitely all you need to get a kid to like you.

Like I said, it is always so good to see these guys, especially since we only get to see them MAYBE once a year, so to see them twice in one year was pretty awesome. I think it just means that Greg and I need to take a trip back East to visit them every now and them. We love you guys!!

4th of July with Pop-Its

Kandyce, Clay, Liam and Myka came over on the 2nd (my birthday) to say hi. They are always so good to come visit when they're in town, and I really appreciate it. I shared my cupcakes that mom & dad had given me, then we went outside for a bit.

 We sat on the swing, then I remembered that we had gotten some pop-its for my birthday celebration at work, so I grabbed them for the kids to play with. We had a lot of fun with them. Myka was the cutest. She's hasn't been one to be very warm towards me, but she was this day. She would go sit on the swing and tell me to come sit with her. She's just a doll.

Liam was a beast. He's such a cute kid. He was pretending to be a dinosaur, and spitting all over. It was pretty funny though.

I forgot that Liam doesn't like loud noises, so I think the first one I threw scared him a bit, but after that he warmed up and had fun popping them.

Here is a cute little video of them playing with the pop-its.

When we were out of pop-its, we decided to play in the sprinkler. Liam was a bit more hesitant than his sister, but Myka just went right in there and stood while the sprinkler got her soaked. It was pretty funny. Then Liam would grab my hand and pull me into the sprinkler, then say, "Stay here," while he would run away.

It was a lot of fun spending time with these two, and playing around, and hearing them actually talk to me. I can't believe how big they are getting. Myka just is more and more grown up every time I see her. I'm thinking it's time for another niece or nephew to come along.

And one last video of them playing in the water. It was lots of fun!

Family Time in Logan

The family all came down to Logan to do some temple work. The kids came over to my house while the adults were off partying.

Greg bought this silly little "decision maker" toy. You ask it a question, and then let the pendulum swing until it stops on one of the answers (definitely, maybe, try again, etc.) They played with it for a good 20 minutes before Alex decided that he had had enough waiting for cotton candy, then they all got up and went into the kitchen to see what they could find.

They finally found the cotton candy machine, and spent another good 30 minutes or so making cotton candy.

Then we went for a walk to the park around the corner from our trailer park. Alex, up front with Greg, while Aidan stayed back with me. Their personalities kill me.

They had fun playing and climbing.

For the record, I DID NOT condone this behavior. I told them to not jump and grab on while it spun around, however, once I left with Aidan, leaving Greg in charge, he let them do it....haha

This was a fun toy...until Aidan went flying off and hit his head. I do have video, but it's over on my instagram page if you want to see it. It was funny, but sad at the same time. Poor kid! He and I left early and went to get some ice for his head.

After the park, and once Greg and the other two got there, We pulled out some water guns that we had. We couldn't find our water balloons, so the guns would have to do. They of course had fun, especially when it came to squirting m. Little punks! You can see that they enjoyed getting Greg too, which was funny because he had the hose.

After water guns, their parents came and we all went to Pizza Pie Cafe.

Aidan's battle wound, with Shar's stank face in the background.

And a picture of all of us who were there. Just missing a few spouses and Kandyce's kids (who were at their Grandma Kaylene's house, because my parents didn't think we could handle 5 kids! Psh, they under estimate our abilities. Only 1/3 left with any injuries, so the odds were clearly in our favor!)

Left Side: Me, Aidan, Lilli, Kenz, Ben

Right Side: Dad, Mom, Kandyce, Brady, Ashbee, Alex

Photo Cred: Shari

It was good to see family again and we miss them all so much!

Family Time in Cokeville

June 10 my sister & brother-in-law picked me up in Logan to take me to Cokeville for some family time. My entire family was there, with the exception of my little brother Kennan, who is currently in Florida, and some spouses. It was a lot of fun to see everyone, and to spend some time back in Cokeville. I forget how much I really loved growing up there.

This is how I felt about my safety, being in the car with two crazy drivers....

This view never gets old.

The boys were nice enough to let me sleep in the back room, while they slept in the living room. Remember how we could sleep wherever, whenever we wanted? How nice would that be.

Oh Alex, such a beast! We had a nice pillow fight, and then he came into the gym with me where I taught him the proper way to hold your hands when playing volleyball...Wrist & hands people. Wrist & hands always! He's such a goofball.

Liam pretending this was a motorcycle. He would pretend to put a key into the ignition, start it, while making motorcycle noises then fly down the ramp. He is his father's child.

It was a beautiful, rainy day in Cokeville. Liam is enjoying licking the rain off of the rails. Gross kid.

Walking to Grandma Norene's house.

The other reason I went to Cokeville was for a volleyball tournament. While I wish I was able to play, I wasn't able to. I will also write more about this over on my other blog, but it was a great day, and I loved seeing all the support from those in our small community!

The Thompson team. Sisters, Cousins, Sisters of Sisters, and Friends of Sisters.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. I slept in (oops! ;) and when everyone came home, I went out to the swing set with the kiddos, Liam, Myka, & Aiden. Lots of fun was had.

Kandyce on the left, and Myka on the right. Total twinners!

It was a great weekend, and always fun to spend time with the family, and especially the nieces and nephews.

Hipster, Anniversary, New Hair, Ice Cream

One of my favorite things about the co-workers I have had over the last few years, is they still want to get together every now and then for dinner. Those of us still working at the credit union met up with Kim and Cole on night at a newer restaurant in Logan called Even Stevens. Food was interesting, but I rather enjoyed my sandwich. Company was excellent. I love those  people that I have worked with, and I miss the ones that have left lots. It's good to see them every now and then. It's just too mad Caleb isn't closer to join us on occasion.

I actually convinced Greg to go with me. He loves hanging out with people.

I totally felt hipster after eating here.Not that I really know whawt hipster means...I guess I could google it.

"Hipsters are people who enjoy clothing, music, food and activities considered outside of the social mainstream."

There ya go. Totes Hipster!

May 27th was our 11th anniversary. Seems like forever, but has also flown by. I couldn't imagine life without him. It'd be totally boring...or more adventurous...probably a combination of the two. Needless to say, I still love him lots.

"Don't 'fudge' it up"

Our anniversary falls on Memorial weekend most of the time, so I took the next Tuesday off as well just to spend some time with Greg. I still don't think it's fair that he gets summers off, and I get to work. Oh well. Such is life. Maybe someday!

Anyway, we went to "Allegiant". Good movie, but I was disappointed to learn that there is a part 2! Ugh, for reals! Well, I think there is a part 2. There better be because it did not cover all that was in the book.

The NBA Finals were on, so Greg had to make sure the Warriors were going to pull ahead to move on to the Championship.

Greg working on the swamp cooler. Ugh, I swear this place causes more issues than what it's worth! JK, I am grateful for a great place to live that only costs us $280/month (which I still feel is way too much), but at least we can sell it if we ever decide to leave this place.

Grateful that he is willing to help the Relief Society clean the church. Take pressure off of me, as I have a harder time doing stuff like this. He's the greatest.

One Tuesday we had a chiropractor and massage therapist come to the CU where we all got free massages. Holy moly it was amazing. I need one of those at least once a day!

I am obsessed with getting my hair done. Granted, it helps that I love my hairstylist. We always have such a fun time together. We went a little more burgundy w/ some teal underneath. (Teal for Scleroderma awareness) We also cute it a little shorter. It's been fantastic. I love it!

The final results....

My sister and her family are here from Texas, so they came to Logan one day where we went out to eat during my lunch break. Here I am with McKenzie and my favorite niece Lilli.

Back in March, my good friend Melanie moved out to Providence. Not only was she a great friend, but she was also my Relief Society Activity Board Chairperson. She was AMAZING. I never questioned if things would get done, and she always went above and beyond. She basically did the activities by herself, as I was very little help. Now, of course I miss her more as a friend right around the corner, but I also miss her help with the activities.

We only do them every 3 months, but in the last 3 months she has not been replaced. I had a very great debate as to whether I should host an activity in June or not. I decided to go with it, and kept it very simple with an Ice Cream Social.

Greg was a huge help, and did quite a bit for me. (Also, can we talk about Hobby Lobby? I honestly think I could live there. Not even kidding! Made me want to plan parties all the time!)

After getting supplies we stopped by the carwarsh. One of our favorite things to do together...mostly because he likes to spray me.

So we have become obsessed with Red Button Ice Cream. Instead of just doing vanilla with lots of toppings, we went with a variety of flavors. 9 to be exact. They included, Key Lime Pie, Cotton Candy, Huckleberry Pie, Raspberry Lemonade, Raspberry Cheesecake, Vanilla, Animal Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake, and Peach.

I won't get into how there were complaints that I didn't have "their favorite kind." Honestly, I love my calling, but people are just never happy. Frustrates the heck out of me. Also, we only had 15 people show. So, was it a waste of time? I don't know. It kind of felt like it.

Maybe I'll just forego our next meeting. See how many complaints we can get. But it was fun to spend time in the kitchen with Greg anyway, sampling all the flavors. He's the coolest.