Jenna and I are heading off to camp. We will be camping in the mountains. Julia left early Monday morning for her 20-25 mile back packing trip. She should arrive in base camp late afternoon on Thursday.

We will be back Saturday. We will head to UT on Monday right after Jenna's ortho appointment at 8:00 a.m. to put spacers for braces.

Jaley Monday happenings in UT

The girls woke up in time for swim team (10am). Jaley decided to watch.We went over to the school for lunch (they have free lunch through June.) Then we went to pick out fabric for skirts.

When we got home we washed the fabric and Jaley joined Max on some video games, while Jadey started an eclair bundt. Jadey and Jaley made their way over to grandmas, followed by the little girls, where they are learning to crochet a blanket edge. They also watched Meet me in St. Lois. Max and his friend made their way over there too. The house was so quiet I actually fell asleep while feeding Sam.

We had yummy Costco chicken that Grandma had picked up, for dinner.

We finished the bundt eclair and had FHE and then ate it.

Reed had activity so we went over to the Jr High and launched water balloons. It was so much fun (as Kelly captured). Of course they wanted to invite Kelly and Mike over.

When I went to bed they were starting Ella Enchanted...Jadey fell asleep at the beginning and slept out there the whole night, we'll see what happened to Jaley when she wakes up.

All cabinets are in the kitchen (minus the pantry; that will require plumbing and moving a portion of the wall)! John has to fasten 3 more cabinets to the wall near the dishwasher and then fasten the island cabinets together as well as run some electrical in the island (the wire we keep tripping on in the middle of the kitchen floor!).

Counter tops are still about 2 weeks out, maybe 3. It will be nice to at least have most if the work done.

I hope to put the shelves in my upper cabinets today and start to unpack...a little. I hear installing granite can be dusty so I don't want to put my kitchen stuff in the base cabinets yet.

Jaley Sunday happenings in UT

Well today was Sunday.
So of course she went to church.
But first we had waffles.
After church they held the baby and sat around and then had dinner...where Jaley discovered she likes barbecue sauce on rice.

After dinner the 4 oldest headed over to Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) for a game of Monopoly where Mike joined in, and the use
of a whole roll of toilet paper (I'm not sure what was up with the toilet use, but they thought it was pretty funny). Then Uncle
Mike came over and jumped on the tramp with them.

It's 10:30 and they are having a snack...I'm thinking it will be another 11pm bedtime and some sleeping in.

Jaley in UT ... Saturday happenings

From Brooke:
We started and ended the day with baseball games.

Reed picked the girls up and then met us at Max's baseball game.

After the game we went home and did some chores while Reed headed off to a sealing of one our friends families (they just adopted 2 children from Guatemala). Jadey and Jaley took turns holding Sam. It was great, I got a lot done.

Jadey and Jaley stayed home and chilled (they were tired) while the rest of us went to the blessing and luncheon for the family.

Next was getting ready for Max's party.

One of the boys he invited offered an inflatable for us to use. So Reed rounded up some good buddies and put them to work. It ended up being about as wide as our house, with a maze and slide. The kids played on it until the party and then during the party. Then Jadey and Jaley went with the boys (and Emily) to the Orem Owlz game. They got home around 10:30. Played on the inflatable again and then played outside while Reed and his buddy took it down. They went to bed around 11:00.

Hadley is anxious for them to get up "it's morning time", but I figure after their long day yesterday (5am to 11pm) they'll be out for a while!

Another kitchen update

We have 2 walls in (practically), changed the plumbing in the sink corner, John artistically and masterfully measured the places in the sink cabinet for holes for the plumbing and electrical. Right on the money. He's good!

One more wall of base cabinets and the island will go quickly. Our pantry will take more time due to moving the ceiling up and plumbing.

Kendall prayers

The day after Kendall's birthday we did our normal announcement "prayers" to prepare others for prayer at the dinner table. Kendall immediately folded his arms!!! I was shocked. I was irreverent and took a picture (during the prayer). I couldn't pass up this first! We have worked with him for a long time to do this and it finally clicked!

I honestly believe that doing the song "Book of Mormon Stories" after reading family scriptures and ending the song with the arms folded and going right into family prayers helped this "click" with him! We got the idea from Julianne several years ago.

Jaley and Jadey Friday

The girls started their laundry last night. We are finishing it up today. I'm afraid Jadey might think all we do is play and no chores...the kids are going to moan and groan when we get back to the normal routine. We are WAY off schedule but for a great reason!!!

We are doing some basic chores today (clean up room, clean up basement, clean bathrooom) and will see what kind of playing we can do today.

The girls are busy packing...we will miss Jadey. They leave bright and early tomorrow for a 7:00 a.m. flight.

Jadey and Jaley on Thursday

The girls must have been wiped out because they slept in until after 10:00! They keep meaning to hop in the hot tub at 5:00 in the morning but that still hasn't happened!

Today we went to Elitch Gardens (Six Flags) downtown Denver. The lines were pretty short. Jaley got motion sick on the first ride and had to take it easy for an hour or so. Jadey and Kerst lived it up the entire time! We had cotton candy.

Kendall hung out in the stroller and people watched with me. I don't do well on circular rides...in fact, I can't even watch them!

I got some cute pictures of the girls. Also a picture of Kendall having his first cotton candy (didn't like it at first).

We had a funnel cake just before we left. I took Kendall on the carousel while Jadey and Jaley (aka Jadely) finished their treat. Kendall went crazy on the horse...neighing the entire time! When it stopped and had to get off, he cried. I got a picture of that. He cried "neigh" all the way to the car.

The girls are once again wiped out. We got home, they started a load of wash and headed down to see a movie.

Oh, Jadey and Julia were a riot. They were both giving me their version (and thoughts) about the recent musicals they watched. Our own Siskel and Ebert

Busy day....we will have to celebrate Kendall's birthday maybe tomorrow. We haven't even done a cake. We did sing happy birthday many times to him today.

Jadey and Jaley on Wednesday

Once again, the girls stayed up WAY late watching a musical with Julia last night. I think Jadey and Jaley didn't finish it. Jadey fell asleep on the floor and didn't seem to mind; she must have been really tired. Jaley passed out first on the couch.

Julia, Kerst and Jaley had dentist appointments this morning (Jenna is at BYU at a swim camp). Jadey stayed behind with Kendall and read him book after book after book. She was a great help!

We made lunches and headed out to the zoo. First I had to drop off a camp form for a new girl in our ward, pick up the two little girls of our friends moving into our ward (their moving truck arrived) and then we headed to the zoo with a van full! They have a 3 year old girl and a two year old girl with a baby boy due in 2 weeks. Kendall and Claire (the 2 year old) talked the ENTIRE way to the zoo! It was so cute! I hadn't heard Kendall get so excited around other kids before.

It was fun to see Kendall react to the animals. He loved it. Kerst's legs got tired. Jaley got hot. Jadey plugged along with a grin.

We stopped off and had a DQ blizzard afterwards (if you haven't had the Cotton Candy Blizzard, you need to before the end of June because it will be gone since it is the flavor of the month).

We got home, Jaley and Jadey watched part of a movie on Jaley's Ipod while I dropped our two additions for the day off at their new home. They headed off to the pool when I got home for an hour or so. They came back and hopped in the hot tub. Got out, ate dinner, hopped in again and they are currently watching another musical (we have no TV, just DVDs and we discovered that our Library checks them out for free for 1 week!).

The cousins have been having fun together. We have to do this every summer if possible (at least the summers we don't have reunions...but then again, every summer would be nice!).

Jadey and Jaley on Tuesday

The girls didn't get up early today. They were up too late giggling with Julia in the basement. They had fun at Casa Bonita last night. Julia did their hair up cute; they wore a cute new outfit that matched each other...so fun being cousins!

Today they wanted to do the hot tub in the early morning and go to swim team. John couldn't stir them. It is almost 7:30 and they are still out.

We have a free movie at 10:00 (Flushed Away and something else to choose from).

We'll go swimming later.

Jadey and Jaley are babysitting (service since it is a church function) for a cute family around the corner. We are having an Enrichment garden party in someone's backyard.

Tomorrow we plan to hit the zoo...(after dentist appointments in the am)

Jaley and Jadey on Monday

Jaley and Jadey requested to be awakened at 5:00 am so they could hop in our hot tub. They looked so tired, I let them sleep. They are still out....and it is after 7:00. I'll get them up soon... (yesterday the hopped in the hot tub at least 2 or 3 times...)

Today they want to go to the mall. (I also have to shop for Julia's hiking gear for her 25 mile back packing trip next week during girl's camp).

We are also going to go to Casa Bonita in downtown Denver. It is similar to the Aztec in Salt Lake. A goofy show is put on while you eat along with a neat Mexican Band to play while the show takes a break. They also juggle fire sticks and dive off cliffs. It is a place you have to go when visiting Denver.

We have Jadey!

Cousin Jadey is here! We are excited to have her around for the week (sorry Brooke, you just lost a great baby holder/changer/cuddler).

Heat Proofing Our Home

The summer sun in CO is brutal...but the weather is gorgeous! No humidity. We LOVE it! The 92 degree day last week was NOTHING compared to the humidity in IL.

With the new wood floors (and how hot the house gets even on super nice days like in the 60's), I put up the Gila Film (Gila is the brand). WOW. What a difference!

Notes...
Use LOTS of the soapy mixture on the window to help move the film around and position it. You can mix 4 cups of water to 1/4 tsp of baby shampoo for this soapy mixture rather than buying their solution. Plus it smells better! Jaley calls it Kendall ala Sunday.

You need 2 people to do the job. The film is super sticky and you don't want it to roll up on with you are peeling the two sides apart. Use tape on the corner of each side to separate the 2 films.

Use a sharp box cutter/exacto knife to trim the edges along the window. Change it when you don't think it is cutting well. It is worth it!

Don't hang the film when the sun is shining on the window. It dries up the soapy mixture quickly. It is neat to do it while the sun is in the window; you can feel the difference with the sections you haven't done on the same window wall.

If you have to put another piece up because the window is wider, make sure that you have the factor cut side to meet the next piece you will install (also a factory cut edge). Wait SEVERAL hours or even the next day to put up the adjoining piece. You will get air bubbles pushed back and forth to each since one side hasn't had time to somewhat dry.

Just what I learned....

More updates on the house

We have survived (John might not agree to survive...he has suffered a little) 7 months of not having my entire kitchen. 2 months in the "pretend house" and then the rest of the time in this house with a partial kitchen (fully functional with sink, cook top, oven, etc).

The counter tops have been delayed (4 weeks) due to the high cost of fuel, the ship in Hong Kong was delayed until it was full. I still plan on unpacking without counter tops, we just won't have a sink installed. Hopefully a cook top in a makeshift counter top section. We have been eating pretty normal, it is the cleanup that is tricky...water is in the laundry room. I have missed having my cook top. Gravy, pancakes, etc.

This should be the last big project. The lawn is slowly coming back to life. It was in bad shape due to neglect. A leak in the hot tub needs to be located. John drained the hot tub until he can get around to it.

Windows are in the future...hopefully years down the road.

Kitchen cabinets have arrived

Our cabinets for the kitchen arrived late last week. John flew out to UT to help me drive back home so he didn't get started on our huge project.

John and I hung up 6 cabinets last night! This is exciting! Hopefully we can hang the microwave tonight and reroute some electrical and plumbing.

I'm official an official

John and I are turn and stroke judges for the swim meets. I'm official because I had to DQ (disqualify) Kerst today. He wasn't happy....flutter kick with the breast stroke...

Summer Swim Team

Jenna, Jaley and Kerst are on the swim team this summer. We practice at our pool which is just around the corner (I bet any of the guys in our family could throw a ball from our deck and hit the pool grounds...not necessarily the pool). Jaley leaves the house at 6:50 a.m. and walk to the pool for daily practice. Kerst and I follow at 7:55. Jenna heads over at 8:45 and Kerst comes back (I go pick him up, although he wants to do it himself...).

The coaching staff has more adults on it here. They are great, although we loved the teenagers at the other pool (Kerst loved the girl coaches there ;o) ). Same rules in swimming. The meets are longer. Yesterday the meet went from 8-2. In IL they ended by noon. Larger teams. The team we raced yesterday was for a neighboring city. These kids had to try out for the team. Over 80,000 homes in in that city. I'm glad our little community pool (not that small of a pool, just the right size) has a swimteam that doesn't require trying out. Our team this year is a lot larger and they are thrilled. We have about 160 swimmers. In IL we had about 40.

I LOVE having the pool so close. We can just zip over there really quick for a quick dip. Our cul-de-sac is well enough hidden that pool over flow parking doesn't make it to our street. It will be awesome next Saturday when the swimmeet is at our pool. We won't have to worry about parking at all!

Come visit! Visitors are free at our pool!