labor day weekend

This weekend we had raspberry donuts (one of my favorites!) and watched Moana (shocker!!) We took naps and and read books. We went to a cousin baptism and spent some happy time with family (we are right in the thick of Packer cousins reaching the age of eight!) Unfortunately, Rudger got sick Saturday morning, so he spent the day at home with dad and Corbin.

On Sunday we got to have Grandma and Grandpa Morris spend the day with us. They came to our ward, we had lunch, (roast beef and all kinds of garden produce), the boys shot targets in the backyard with the bee bee gun while grandma and I chatted away, then we ended the day with chocolate chip cookies and introducing grandma and grandpa to Moana. Adeline was in heaven.

And Labor day was pretty uneventful, but felt soooo good to have a day off.

I seriously love weekends during the school year!

tuesday tidbits

:: corbin ::

1. This week Corbin is at scout camp. Monday to Saturday, that's a long time. He did take his phone and on his way to dinner we sent texts back and forth. I liked that. He told me it poured and all his things got wet. :(

2. Before camp, I took Corbin to buy some snacks to take to camp. He showed much gratitude for this.

3. At the family reunion last weekend, Corbin fell in love with paddle boarding. He has amazing balance.

:: taylor ::

1. The other day, while at Lagoon, Taylor started complaining about a headache. Within 30 minutes he was leaning over a fence throwing up :(  He was sick for almost two days after that.

2. On our summer hiking adventures, Taylor is usually the only one who doesn't complain. He might not love it, but he pushes through the entire hike without a negative word.

3. Taylor built up the courage to ride the rocket at Lagoon and LOVES it!

:: levi ::

1. Our neighbor came over last week and asked if one of our boys could water their plants. Levi excitedly volunteered first and has been very diligent and making sure it happens.

2. Levi loves to get his back massaged. When he's feeling really tense or upset, that seems to be the thing that helps the most.

3. Last Thursday, Levi got to spend the day with dad up in the mountains on the four-wheeler and then out to eat at Golden Corral. They both came home stuffed.

:: rudger ::

1. We got an email from Rudger's Kindergarten teacher (who's also in our ward!) telling the kids she is so excited for them to come to school. Rudger told me he wants to go back in time and change it to NOT excited, because he does not want to go to school. 
2. When we were at the reservoir on Saturday, Rudger LOVED the water! Water is his happy place.
3. Rudger's two favorite books are Green Eggs and Ham + Franklin Is Messy. I love listening to him read it to himself. He surprisingly has it memorized pretty good. 

:: adeline ::

1. Her obsession with Moana should probably be considered unhealthy. Every morning she begs to watch it. If she finds my phone she will run to one of her brothers to have them put the password in, then she'll take it back, swipe until she finds Netflix, then swipe till she finds Moana. She sits down triumphantly to watch it. 21 months old. Her favorites are MMnana and Heihei. 
2. If she doesn't see me as soon as she wakes up, she walks around the house saying, "where mum" "where mum"
3. "Daydees" (babies) are her other favorite right now. Especially cousin Henry.

packer reunion

This weekend was the Packer Family Reunion. We really missed a couple of families and mostly my dad who just had knee surgery. There was a definite void. However we managed to still have quite a bit of fun with campfires, hot dogs, smores, Edgar Allan Poe reading, never ending supply of pop, kayaking, paddle boarding, jumping off docks, and most important...cousin time! It's THE very best part!

This year we camped at our family campsite, Shady Acres. The weather was perfect, although during the night it was actually a little too warm. We had Breakfast burritos for breakfast and then headed to Mantua reservoir for a perfect afternoon. (which I managed to get zero pictures) I guess some of the funnest adventures don't get recorded.   

 :: grandma with just over 1/3 of her grandchildren (wish we thought of this when the others were there) ::

 :: grandma sharing her pop + uncle janzen is pretty cool ::

:: sitting around the fire listening to uncle janzen read a scary story, I've hired him to come read to my children :: 

:: she found every spare pop can she could :: 

 :: who couldn't use some hot chocolate and soda in the morning ::

 :: oh abby and adeline! + oh henry (haha, candybar!)

:: I really like these pictures of Finn :) ::

Thank you Mandi for planning such a fun reunion. It's hard work, but these memories are some of the best!

in the middle of july

 :: we keep things balanced around here - books and electronics ::

 :: frog hunting, kayaking, and mud ::

 :: lollipop cookies while watching the new beauty and the beast ::

 :: wednesday night at Lagoon and just waiting for the others to finish riding the bat ::

:: lunch with grandma and grandpa :: 

 :: visiting cousin Scarlett for her birthday + having a lightsaber fight with the cutest one year old cousin ::

:: waiting for icecream and lemon custard + I am in love with this picture :: 

:: ♥ reading beauty and the beast ♥ :: 

 :: lagoon a beach on a friday night ::

:: this is Adeline trying to be like her brothers giving peace signs + I love seeing these brothers walk and chat and play games

 :: a tough hike up to adam's canyon, but these kids did awesome and it was worth it ::

These summer days have been extra busy, but full of adventure and hopefully good memories for these kids. I went to the store the other day and they actually had school stuff out...in the middle of July! That's cruelty. But we'll try to continue to make the most of our summer.