Grammy's 60th Birthday

I am so behind with my blog this year. I guess being abnormally large with your fourth child will do that to you. The beginning of the month Mark's mom turned 60. For her birthday she wanted all her kids to be together so she paid for hotel rooms for us all in Utah. We got together and played and went swimming the next day with a bbq that followed at her brother's house. It was great. We appreciated her generosity when it was her special day. I didn't get many pictures and somehow most of them ended up being of Jonas but what can ya do?

The ride down was great. My kids have always loved the car. They're all saying "Utah!" Love my little travelers.

 Jonas got antsy so he had a ring pop. This picture does not even kind of capture the mess.

 Once we got there the kids had fun running down the hall and jumping on the beds and going from room to room (we had 6 reserved for Mark's whole family). We had dinner and then followed that with swimming at the hotel. Jonas was incredibly upset when we hauled him out.

 But they were exhausted! It took a little bit for them to settle down but when they did, they were out.

We went to this great water park last year for the Norris family reunion and we all wanted to go back. They are super cheap and they have a section for everyone of every age. My kids loved going down this slide with Mark and then, much to my surprise, Weston ended up going down this slide over and over all by himself!! I was so proud of him. Mark would catch him but even if he didn't Wes would pop right up and start doggy paddling to the side. So glad we did swimming lessons this year!

 

 Jonas stuck to his daddy like glue. He loved the little kiddie area where he could splash all day long.

 

Marlene requested that each family choose a color for a group picture. So here we are at her brother's house. The food was great and the company too but we didn't get to stay long. We had to get back for church the next day but next time we will make sure we plan more time there.

 The siblings. Not very often are they all together.

It was a great trip and we were glad to have a break in our every day life. I will have to do one last post before the baby comes with updated belly pics (mainly just to capture the shock of how big I am) and my big boy starts kindergarten on the 3rd! We most definitely will be documenting that. For now we are just surviving summer and waiting for fall to get here. I'm ready for cooler weather and a new baby boy!

Girl's Camp

Not very often in life do we get second chances. Fortunately, I was given just that when I was called to serve in Young Women's. For many reasons I won't get into, I never did go to girl's camp when I was growing up. As an adult it's always been something I kind of regretted. A couple weeks ago I got to go for the first time, and it did not disappoint.We started out with nine girls (which is actually quite a lot for our ward) but three ended up going home sick. Love these girls. Every one of 'em. We went to Wright Creek, which is owned by the church. Hence the random board we found laying around. =)

I missed the first day and a half so by the time I got up there it was mostly Megan Dixon and I. I just love her. She is such a special person and a wonderful example to the girls. We had a great time together.

The girls got to go rappelling (I tried to convince them to let a 30 week pregnant lady go but in the end figured it wasn't the safest thing for my little bambino). This is my niece, Hannah, and Megan Stephenson who also happens to be my neighbor. Her mom is my kids' preschool teacher too. It was super special to be there with my niece and hear her testimony and watch her grow and experience things on her own. She is a special girl.

Bishop's night was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. Someone used the phrase "sacred ground" and that was certainly how it felt. I have only ever felt the spirit that strong when I am in the temple. The things the girls shared were wonderful and our bishop and a member of the Stake Presidency shared great messages too that we so perfect for what our girls had experienced all week.

A lot of people expressed how crazy I was to go camping and sleep in a tent for two nights when I was 7 months pregnant but I am so glad I went and didn't miss the opportunity. I have been hurting a lot with this pregnancy and for the two days I was at camp I had no pain at all. Except my feet from all the walking but that was manageable! As soon as I got home it came back. But I suppose that could've been because I came home and found out my kids had been barfing the whole time I was gone! Way to break daddy in kiddos. ;)