Here, there & everywhere (part 2)

Less than a month later, follow up post.  I'm pretty impressed with myself.  So, on with the rest of summer...

First,  have to amend my March recap.  So I missed that Crystal, Jonathan & Rylee came to visit us.  It was so fun to have family visit!  They managed to keep busy, and keep up busy in the process...

Tucanos - Eric did NOT like the waitresses singing Happy Birthday to another patron!

We took all the kids - who knew that kids 7 and under were FREE? 

Crystal & gang went up to Draper to visit a friend.  Lots of snow!

Crystal & her friend, Beth, with their cute girlies.

Crystal & Jonathan on their trip to SL.

Sara got to tote Rylee.  The Miltons stayed home...too many people to keep up with!

Uncle Jonathan with Eric, Rylee & Caitlyn.

Hiking the Y:

We had the Gunter gang over for a Sunday evening.

It snowed a tiny bit while we were wondering on BYU campus.

Bowling: 

Uncle Gene & Aunt Andrea over for dinner before they head to China.

The gang.

Happy, Crystal?  We were so glad they came to visit!

July (in Utah):  As we were packing here and there, we tried to squeeze in as much fun as possible into our remaining time in Utah.  The first weekend in July we went camping with some of our best friends in Utah:  the Lovelaces, Thomas & Exons.  There were 16 kids between the 4 families...so lots of fun.  It was FREEZING that night, but we all had a blast.

Caitlyn, Jeffrey, Audrey & Hinckley.  Kids playing in the COLD river!

Andrew - happy and cold.

Jeffrey, Caitlyn & Jordan.  Gotta have a fire!

Curtis & Ryker, little Thomas girl that I can't name right now, Cayden, Ariana & Corrin

For the 4th of July, we went to a Colonial Fest up in Orem.  They had lots of tents and activities for the kids to see what life was like back in the Revolutionary times.

Jeffrey loved the cannons.

Andrew was terrified that the cannon would fire.

Jeffrey talking with the soldiers.  He learned a lot.

Caitlyn smashing cornmeal.

 Dan carrying water.

Jeffrey giving it a shot.

Dad helping the kids churn butter.

Eric loves to push this little car around.  Cute boy!

Okay, so that's enough fun for one night.  Guess I'll have to do a 'part 3' to "not catch up" on the time that I missed.  Next time:  Sara's wedding, Leckie reunion and move.  Ah the memories of sheer craziness...

Here, there & everywhere

So the idea of 'catching up' terrifies me, so I really wanted to just skip to the present and forget the 8 months that I missed.  I'm mostly going to do that, but I wanted to just hit a few highlights since my last post in January.

February:  Dan got an interview from the University of Tennessee and we were pretty sure that he would get a job offer.  We had the kids singing and dancing to "Rocky Top Tennessee" and were planning the move when we learned that we were NOT getting a job offer.

March:  We embraced the idea of staying in Utah for another year, registered Caitlyn in Kindergarten, and got excited for the relaxing summer coming up.  Sara & I ran the Rex Lee run at BYU.  Eric turned 1.

April: We enjoyed the nice weather and went to several sporting events and the hot pots with Sara & her soon to be fiance.

Eric at the hot pots

Sara, Andrew, Caitlyn, Jared & Jeffrey

Andrew & Jared eating lunch

Too cold to get out to eat sandwiches

Dan took Jeffrey and Caitlyn to a BYU softball game.

BYU softball

Sara kept Andrew & Eric while Dan and I took Jeffrey & Caitlyn to another BYU baseball game. 

May:  Change of plans... we got a VERY unexpected call from Arkansas State University, asking if Dan would fly out for an interview.  A few days later we got the offer for a tenure track job in Jonesboro, AR.  We REALLY had a tough time deciding what to do, but in the end decided to leave the beautiful Rockies and head East.  In the mean time, Jeffrey started playing baseball, Jeffrey & Sara had birthdays, and we went on some fun walks and hikes.

Sara's birthday cupcakes. 

  

Jeffrey wanted an ice cream sandwich cake.  So I opened them and put them on a tray.  Best cake ever!

                                     

Jeffrey opening his spoils.

Jeffrey loved his baseball hat so much he wanted to sleep with it...

Eric would be happy in the stroller all day...

Feeding the horses on our walk home from getting Jeffrey from school.

Sara & Cailtyn and I had our blue theme going on.

Hiking up Payson Canyon. 

Lots of bridges to cross.

Falls at the end of the hike.

June:  Went to the Springville fair, Dan & Jeffrey drove to Arkansas to look for housing and started packing boxes.

Jeffrey with the Arkansas State Red Wolf

Andrew hanging out on Dan's back at the fair.

We let each child choose one ride.  Caitlyn picked the cars.

Andrew picked another car.

Jeffrey wanted to do the farris wheel.

Okay, so I'm not done, but I'm going to take a break and try to finish up the "catching up," which I was NOT going to do, very soon.  We'll see if I can actually get back on here before taking another 8 month break...

Movin' and groovin'

Just a few random moments from our children on the go..

Dan recently interviewed for a job at the University of Tennessee.  We have no idea if we'll actually get a job offer or move to Tennessee, but just in case, Andrew is warming up on his 'banjo' (which could easily be confused for a spatula).

When you gotta ride, no snow can stop you.

Jeffrey rolling up snow for a snowman.

Caitlyn and the latest Frosty.

Andrew wouldn't hold my hand while stepping off of the sidewalk onto the icy church parking lot today.  Yeah...hopefully we can wash the dirt from the back of his shirt after his big spill.

So sad...I had 2 more videos to upload (the whole reason that I was writing this post) but I can't get them to upload.  Maybe next time...