Beautiful Sunday

Today was a Beautiful Sunday! The weather was awesome! Our morning schedule was a bit different than usual though. We only stayed at church for sacrament meeting since the water pump at the church building broke and there was no running water for the bathrooms or drinking fountains. So we spent some extra time playing together when we got home and set up the race car track for the kids. That provided hours of fun! We need to get that thing out more often! We then had the missionaries over for dinner, and sat in front of our window air conditioner. Then Dan took Kiera out for an evening walk while Emma, Ethan and I hung out here. It was lovely. Sure hope the sun sticks around!

Oh, and by the way...I got our house colors approved today! We are good to go. Maybe we can start on it this weekend. YAY!

Grabbing a few hours to myself

Yesterday I was feeling the need for some "me" time. I don't get much of that these days; especially with two toddlers and our now 4 month old. But yesterday morning was particularly hard on me. The weather blues had started to set in and I was feeling almost as gloomy as the sky looked. YUCKY! Who know when or if summer will ever show its face here in NW Washington. So I decided I needed to take some time and do something fun just for mommy. Y'all know what I consider fun don't ya? Being crafty!

And to be just that I decided to go with a sewing project. I have been wanting to redo the cover for our baby swing for quite some time. The swing was a hand-me-down from a family friend when I had Kiera almost 5 years ago and it looked pretty sad. I have had the fabric to redo it for almost 5 months now. I believe I bought it before Emma was born. It was about time I put it to use.

The old cover was sun faded and worn but the padding still had a lot of wear left so what I did was remove the old bias tape/binding around the edges and used the entire old pad to fill the new one. I just used the old cover as a pattern, cut out a new one on my new fabric, and sewed it directly on top of the old cover. I then serged around the entire perimeter, and then added my own bias tape/binding. I love how it turned out!

Here's a before picture I took when I was halfway finished tearing the old one apart. You can see how worn it was. It originally was a very dark navy color.

And here's it is when the bright new cover. I absolutely love the fabric! It screamed at me in the store for the longest time and I finally gave in at that last visit to the store and bought some.

Now it's ready to go for 3 more kids! Oh wait... let's just get through this one first shall we.

Fourth of July post #3 and final

Our last night we had a farewell sort of party. We ended the night setting off fireworks we had originally bought in Boise but never got the chance to set off. The kids had fun with the pop-its and sparklers. I tried getting some fun shots with the smoke but am not sure how well I like the way they turned out.

 

 

 

We had so much fun in Utah. It seemed like such a short visit. We are happy to know we'll be seeing our cousins next month in August for our annual Glenn family beach trip.

On our way out of Utah we picked up some books on CD so that our "oh so lovely" ride home would be more pleasant. We ended up listening to the Hobbit. I had never read it and so Dan bought it so I could listen. Or so he says...wink wink. I was actually pretty good.
And since we were already in town we decided to stop by the Bountiful Temple grounds to get some family photos and to fulfill one of our goals for the year. We had made it a goal to take the kids to the temple at the beginning of the year.

We weren't exactly dressed for family portraits, nor did I have my tripod on me but I will take what I can get.

We drove the 6 hours from Utah back to Boise and went to a movie in the park with my mom that evening. We then drove the 10+ hours back to Washington the next afternoon. I am sooo not doing that again until we have a minivan! We're thinking about inviting everyone over here next year for the 4th. Family from both sides. Maybe even doing a multi-site camping trip up here. I wish I could say the trip home went smoothly, but it was one of those, "He's looking at me!" "He's touching me", "She's looking out my window!" sorts. Why couldn't it have been like the drive there and look like this?

Oh well. It was worth it and we now have some fun memories to share. Back to reality.

Fourth of July post #2

I was so bad at taking pictures while we were in Boise. I must have been busy enjoying my family. We had lots of fun with picnics and family BBQ's, parades, watching fireworks, going to the pool, and teasing my newly wed brother. I just wish I had whipped the camera out a bit more. I did however get some pictures of our trip to watch the parade. In Middleton they have a community carnival type thing with snow cones, bouncy houses, shooting ranges, face painting and eating contests. Its all free and so much fun!

Halfway through our trip we continued on over to Utah to see Dan's brother. We hadn't ever been to his house before and they had recently had a new baby so it was fun to see them and catch up. The kids were so excited to see their cousins.  They just played and played and played the entire stay. They got along so well and only had a few little spouts that dealt with sharing. I was impressed.

The weather was great! I was happy to see real summer weather!

The kids played on the slip n' slide and in the kiddiepool. 

It made for a great opportunity for some candid shots!

And here's the newest Glenn family addition! Luke is 2 weeks old.

 Later in the day Dan's brother got off work for an extra long lunch break. We went out for a picnic lunch at Bridal Veil Falls Park and went for a walk up to the falls to play in the water. It was a HOT day! The water felt so nice.

 

It was so nice to hang out at the house too. 

Here's the boys and Michelle enjoying a puzzle after breakfast.

The next day we had fun at the water park. At first we weren't sure if we were going to pull it off since it looked like a summer thunderstorm was on its way. Luckily the storm just missed us. It was so much fun! There was a splash park, kiddie pool with a little slide, a lazy river, and the kids had their first experience going down a big water slide with mom and dad. Emma even got her feet wet.

Ethan was a little unsure at first. Whenever he is nervous he has the habit of putting his fingers in his mouth while assessing the situation. It didn't take him too long to warm up to the idea though.

Don't really know what was going on in this picture. I think Emma had been crying and Dan put her hat on to block the sun out of her eyes when the wind picked up. Either way I think it is adorable!

After we all had a bit too much sun (for which my shoulders are still paying the price) we headed back to the house to change. Then we were off again on a new adventure. We went to The Mayan in Sandy, UT. If you've never been I highly recommend it. It reminds me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land. While you eat they have divers jumping off cliffs and putting on a show every 30 mins. There is background music and jungle ambiance. It it really cool.

4th of July Trip post #1

I just have a few minutes before the kids wake up but wanted to at least put up some of my favorite pictures that I took while on our week long trip to Boise and Utah for the Fourth of July. We had so much fun! The drive was NOT my favorite but everything that happened in between was well worth it!

The day we arrived we had a surprise birthday picnic for my mom's 50th birthday. We went to Ann Morrison park which was where we used to go a lot growing up. It was the place of many fun memories, which is why we chose it for this occasion.

Four Generations

 My cousin Courtney had her baby girl just a month after Emma was born. It was fun to see the two together.

 My sister is so adorable. Sorry boys, she is spoken for.

 My family with all my siblings

 oops

Still alive

Don't give up on me just yet. We just got back from a week long vacation. Posts coming soon.