Playing Catch Up

We've been doing so much running, and playing, and planning Youth Conference's and Girls Camps; it's been a heck of a month. Just thought I'd post a few random pics of our goings on.

First up, this picture just makes me smile. Everyone looking at a book. If I could give my kids one gift, it would be a love of reading.

And these are all the thank you cards I got from Maisie's class for volunteering there this year. So sweet and colorful, and the messages were very thoughtful.

The first day after school got out, the kids decided to build a fort in the living room. I usually hate forts, but given the fact that they were all working together and playing nicely, I helped them build a large one. It cracked me up listening to them claim their "territory" inside.

A few days after Finn's birthday, he got a present from Grandma McKinley of two miniature airliners. He loved them so much, he had to sleep with them for his nap that day.

A few days later we went swimming at Aunt Katie's pool. It was quite the eventful afternoon. Finn nearly drowned himself jumping into the big pool by himself. I thank my lucky stars I saw him do it, and that Teag was right there to grab him when he heard me scream. Meanwhile, I was getting baked like a toasted cheeser on the tops of my legs, which hadn't seen the sun in quite some time. The best part is, I managed to somehow put a sunscreen-covered hand directly on my thigh, leaving this lovely tattoo. It's a long story.

For Father's Day, I decided to try something I'd seen online and made this bouquet out of sweet peppers. It was easier than I thought it would be, and the end result was pretty cool.

This picture is just for fun.

The triplets had a birthday later in June, and this is what it looks like to feed five toddlers cupcakes.

The girls and I all had our semi-annual checkups at the dentist, and despite the fact that Rory has been before, she felt nervous having her teeth cleaned. So they let her climb up in a chair with Dany, and the two chilled out together, watching the TV's on the ceiling. Such a good big sister.

And last but not least, here is a picture of us tie-dying some shirts for our 4th of July celebrations a week from now. A new yearly tradition? Maybe! The kids had a lot of fun, and the end results were cool. More on that when I post about our actual 4th of July festivities.

So this is what our life has been the past several weeks. You know you wish it were yours :).

Happy Birthday Mr. Finn!

Today we celebrated our tiny man's 2nd birthday! First off, we fed him a serious breakfast of pancakes and strawberries, with whip cream. He had to have two servings of cream to get through it.

After that, we got all loaded up and headed to the zoo, Rory in tow now that she's out of school as well. The new African Savanna opened just last week, and we thought it would be a good time to check it out. Suffice it to say, we were underwhelmed. They haven't introduced all the animals yet, and it mostly felt like a big, empty space. The only pictures we even got were from these bronze statues.

Shortly after leaving the Savanna, Finn decided he didn't want to walk any further. Not sure why, but he just decided to plop down right in the middle of the path, traffic be damned.

Until we told him there was a slide, and he was off like a tiny rocket.

We wandered over to the elephants, where both Rory and Finn got some really good views of them snacking, walking and playing. Finn would have happily climbed over the railing to join them.

Up next were the rhinos, which we got to see up close and personal.

That was followed by the seals, otters and bears, which actually managed to hold Finn's attention the longest I think.

We walked past the tiger and found him pacing back and forth in a very tight figure eight. Which was odd, because the cheetah we'd just passed had been doing the exact same thing. Teag and I wondered if maybe they were anxious for lunch time.

Notice the tiger in the background

Rory had spent most of the time up to this point angling for a ride on the carousel, so we acquiesced, and she managed to snag the giraffe she wanted.

Finn seemed especially pleased to be riding around in circles on his mount, and kept saying "Go faster, giraffe!"

Last of all we took a train ride, which is actually more interesting than it used to be, as it goes right through the Savanna. We actually got to see the lions this time around.

On our way home, we stopped for "nuggins" at Finn's request, and then went and picked up all the kids for carpool. They treated Finny to this very energetic rendition of the Birthday Song.

When asking Finn what he wanted for his birthday dinner that night, his answers were, "Broccoli, fishies, and nuggins." Well, he is two. After awhile (with a little help), he decided on hotdogs and Cheetohs. Once dinner was over, we went straight to presents. Finn was very excited to get an outfit with airplanes on it, and a book complete with toy airplane from the movie "Planes" from Grandma and Grandpa Rogers. That kid is majorly into anything plane related these days.

From mom and dad he got the actual movie "Planes"...

As well as a toy from his other favorite, Team Umi Zoomi; his very own Umi Car.

That toy turned out to be a definite hit. He played with it all through that night, and even wanted to sleep with it at bedtime.

Happy birthday to our hilarious, energetic, lovable, and ridiculously adorable little sir! We love you more than words could ever possibly describe!

Forty Freakin' Years!

My parents just recently celebrated their 40th anniversary. Forty years! That is an amazing accomplishment, and I must say that they are absolutely the example that I most look up to. My parents had a rather unconventional beginning, but they beat about every odd out there and are still going strong.

I've learned so much about patience, communication, kindness and the importance of laughter in a marriage. I've learned sometimes it's necessary to light a fire under your spouse, as long as you understand that it's a two-way street. I've come to understand that the best marriages are ones where you put your spouse first, and try to think of their needs above your own. I've learned that marriage is work, but valuable work; beyond price. I've learned that there are two sides to every story, and rarely is just one person to blame when something is amiss. I've learned that it's important to recognize that there is more than one right way to do something, and that working together accomplishes so much more than working against each other. All this, and much much more, I've learned from my parents.

I am in awe of them, and what they have accomplished. I pray that when Teag and I hit the 40 year mark, we'll look back and be half as amazing as these two. Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, for what you have done for us, Mom and Dad. I love you like crazy.

Farewell Pre-K!

Rory had her preschool program to finish the year, and as of now, she is on her way to Kindergarten! The program was a little odd, in that it wasn't really what I would call a graduation, so much as an interactive reading experience with the kids. After that part, Rory got some recognition as a summer birthday.

 Then one by one, the kids were called forward to receive their diploma, and get a large packet full of their art work and other classroom projects, along with their very own book.

Rory tried to take the Spanish version, and when I called out for her to not take that one, she shouted "just kidding!" and reached for the English version instead.

We had to get a picture with Rory's two awesome teachers, Ms. Katie, and Ms. Lindsey.

 And one with her best friend Lucy.

 After the program, we enjoyed a little lunch outside, where Rory devoured a very large, very pink cupcake.

We're very proud of Rory, for all she's learned this year, and for the progress she's made with her behavior. She's very excited to start Kindergarten next year, and to be able to eat lunch at the school, like her sisters. Congratulations Rory!

Memorial Day Property Trip

There's been so much going on, that it hasn't left much time to actually blog about it! As a result, I've become accustomed to machine gun blogging; doing three or four posts at once to catch up on everything. First up, our first trip to the property this year! Due to a lot of extraneous circumstances, we didn't actually get up there until Friday night at about 9:30, driving through a fair downpour, and some pretty intense fog. Oddly enough, the property itself was pretty dry, and the weather was decent. The following day, all the menfolk decided to go on a kayaking trip, but being menfolk, not a one of them took a picture. Us women had a relatively eventful day ourselves, which included a call to poison control when two of Katie's triplets discovered and may or may not have eaten some D-Con. Other than that, the kids ran around entertaining themselves with fort building, rock collecting, and butterfly catching, to name a few.

Some ended up a little worse for wear. We told him it makes him look tough.

When the weather started to turn fairly chilly, we herded the smaller kids into Grandma's trailer, and turned on Frozen, mostly so we could listen to them sing along to the various songs.

Little Ben held Grandma's hand for a good portion of the time, it was so cute to see.

The kayaking trip ended up going for a much longer time than anticipated, so there were still no men by the time dinner rolled around, and even into fire and S'more building time. And in case you were wondering, this is how you feed triplets while camping.

Rather than making the kids wait, we went on without them, as Steve and Katie planned to head home that night.

The men finally returned after dark, even after most the kids were in bed, alive but chilled and very sore. Once everyone can laugh about it, I think this will become one of those stories that lives on forever in the Rogers oral history.

The next day was Sunday, and once again, we attended sacrament meeting at the Frisby's pieces of land down the road. It's a little weird being there in jeans and campfire smell, but it's certainly a cool experience, and I like going. Kevin set up a slack line after that, and most of us took several turns trying to find our balance and make it across.

Even Finn.

Kevin showed us all up by not only making it across unassisted, but then turning around and coming back.

I don't think I even made it one step without help, so I settled for taking pictures.

That night it rained quite a bit, putting out the fire the men had built up, and forcing all of us to see shelter in the shed. The kids piled into the loft to watch a movie, a nice quiet way to settle them down before bed.

Finn, however, decided he didn't want to share, and scooted himself directly in front of the iPad. What makes me laugh about this next pic, is how irritated everyone else looks, while he looks quite delighted.

The weather turned warm and sunny on Monday, which was lovely as we needed our tent trailers to dry out before we could all pack up. While we waited, the men decided to build some more sections of fence out of fallen Aspen trees. As soon as Finn saw tools being used, he had to come check it out.

That kid is a boy through and through. After that, he decided to lounge around and get some rays.

Despite some of our weather and other mishaps, we had another great and memorable trip to our favorite place to camp!