One Child Short

We thought it wouldn't be a big deal to leave Noah with his cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents for a week, boy were we wrong.  Jon and I really struggled all week because we missed him so much.  We called almost every day to ask Teri and Grandma how he was doing and a few times even talked to Noah himself.  I think I wanted just a little part of me to have someone say he got homesick just one day and that he missed us, but come to find out, there wasn't a day that went by that he even mentioned us.  Only once did he look at Teri when she was taking pictures and he told her, “Please send those to my mom and dad and Jamie the babysitter.”  Dang!  Break my heart.  J  Tayton didn't  seem to miss him either, so it was just Jon and I that moped around all week.  As you'll see from the pictures at the end, there's no wonder he didn't miss us.  Look at all the fun they had!  Now that's what I call a summer camp with cousins!

We enjoyed some one-on-one time with Tayton, but didn't do anything too extravagant because it was a hard week for us working and because we knew that Noah would be sad if he learned we'd done some things without him. . . so we played a lot at home.  

Napping with the farm

She looks so old in these 2 pics

Jon did have an opportunity to finally finish the chicken coop run.  It's been a few months in the making since we had all the landscaping going on in that same area, but it's finally done and we can both walk upright in it.  

We all really missed Noah and gave him big hugs when we got home.  Even Sony missed Noah.  So cute together.  

I stole all theses pictures from Teri.  She takes great photos and you can tell they had a blast.  Here's a video that shows how kids can turn anything into hours of fun!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVVuLoY6sZI   Thanks Teri for letting me show these photos!  So great!  Thanks for taking such good care of him, letting him play hard for the week and returning him to us better than when we left him!  

Freedom Celebration

We had the opportunity to experience our first camping trip as an entire family.  Last time we went camping was when Jon and I were first married and we didn't have children.  We took went to the Uinta's and enjoyed 2-3 days camping in a tent in May or June when there was still snow up by Mirror Lake, so we had to camp at a lower elevation to avoid the snow.  My sister brought one of her kids for the day, so we set up a pack and play in our tent for the little one to sleep.  That was many moons ago.  Then a few months ago, Jon was able to take Noah on the ward's Father/Son camp out up Ogden Canyon to the Northfork Campground. Noah really enjoyed it until the next day when we asked him if he wanted to go camping again and he said no, because he missed Sony and Mom. Awwww.  The Lund's and Crane's together have now purchased a camp trailer, so we took it on its maiden voyage to Star Valley, Wyoming this weekend.  We camped in a great little spot up Tincup that was perfect for our family.  We were 5 miles from my parent's house, so we slept in the trailer and made dinner at camp, but spent much of the day at my parent's house working on projects, letting the cousins play together and hanging out.  We got Grandma, Grandpa, Teri and the cousins to come up for dinner one night.  It was fun to make tinfoil dinners. The kids loved them as well as the adults.  Jon worked his master hand at the Dutch oven and made a fabulous cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.  We love cooking dinner over the fire.  

The best part about camping out is laying in the dark at night listening to the crickets and the sound of the river.  It's really nice when you get to enjoy the outdoors while in the warmth of a trailer with a heater, fridge and running water.  We got to learn a lot about setting up a trailer and also found out all the additional things that we didn't remember to bring this time as well as some repairs that need to be made to the trailer, but we enjoyed the trip and loved being in Wyoming.  One morning we enjoyed going to the river and throwing rocks and sticks in the river while getting our feet a little wet.  Even Sony seemed to enjoy himself even though it was apparent that he was confused about where he was and what we were doing the entire time we were there.  

On Saturday, we attended the annual Freedom 24th of July celebration. They have dinner, a candy drop and fireworks.  It was nice to mingle with a few of the folks I grew up with as well as folks from around the neighborhood as we ate ham, fabulous dutch oven potatoes and homemade salads and desserts.  We watched many locals get dunked in the dunk tank and the kids enjoyed rides on the makeshift train.  Then it was time for the kid's favorite part where an airplane flies by dropping candy to the kids below.  In the area with the little kids, they provide plastic hard hats for them to wear so they don't suffer the wrath of being beaned on the head with hard candy.  Noah and Tayton were so excited about this.  They both would stand there quivering saying, "Here it comes!!!  Here it comes!!!" every time the airplane would make a pass.  The folks dropping candy would tear the bottom out of a paper bag filled with candy, let the candy drop, then throw the bad.  Noah kept finding pieces of paper bag and bring them to me so excited that he found something.  The best part was when he brought me a brown paper bag all excited because it was the remains of the bag with about 15 pieces of candy still left inside. What a find!  Then Noah would run off saying he had to find Teri and be next to her.  Guess he thought my strategy of finding candy wasn't efficient enough, but he was excited to bring me additional pieces of brown bag and candy to add to his existing stash.  Little Tayton was so thrilled with the experience.  A neighbor caught me at one point asking if she was my daughter and laughed because he said she was so excited to chase after the dropping candy that she was running her heart out and in the process was dropping candy out of her hard hat where she was storing it, as she ran.  This dear man would walk behind her picking up her dropped candy and give it back to her again.  Jon developed a good strategy of walking around where all the kids had left the last drop zone and getting all the candy that the other kids missed in all the excitement.  He would then point it out to Noah or Tayton for them to add to their stash or if he was a little ways from them, he'd pick it up, drop it near the kids when we found them again and say "Look" pointing to the candy in the grass and let them find it and pick it up. So much fun!  The kids run around wildly chasing after the airplane attempting to get as much candy as possible.  Then there were fireworks at dark.  Tayton is still scare and hid under her blanket, but everyone else had a fabulous time.  When we arrived back at Grandma's and Grandpa's the kids were so excited to tell all the details of the evening over a shared bucket of popcorn. 

The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa more than anything else in the world.  Its so much to see them together and the bonus is that they wear each other out.  Bad part is they are so excited to be together, that they stay up way past their bedtimes playing, chatting and anticipating the next day's adventure.  We have to be very cautious of Noah, Sydney and Charlie.  Together they are the 3 stooges and are always in trouble, throwing rocks on the roofs of buildings, digging in the driveway and whatever trouble they can stir up.  They're the best of buds but sometimes bring out the worst in each other.  

Teri volunteered to keep Noah for the additional week she will be in Wyoming and send him back with Kelly next Sunday.  I was a little nervous about letting him stay, mostly concerned that he'd get homesick, but when I asked him if he wanted to say. . . it was an emphatic Yes, with a little help from Sydney whispering in his ear that he needed to stay.  Tayton still isn't potty trained, so she's not big enough yet to stay for "summer camp" but it will also be nice to have a little one on one time with her.  I thought I would be ok with this. . . Noah would have fun, we'd get some one-on-one time with Tayton and a little less commotion at the house for a week, but the minute I gave him a hug to say Goodbye, I was on the downhill slide, crying then and then off and on again all the way home.  When I called to check on him that night, they said he wasn't sad and didn't even ask about us once all day.  That made me even sadder.  I'm a baby!  I think I wanted him to miss us more, but on the other hand, I don't want him to be sad and homesick at all, because if he's sad, I'll fall apart.  He's having fun and not even thinking about us, but let me tell you, we are thinking about him constantly!  It's too quiet at home, his bedroom lies empty and there is a hole in my heart this week where is little laugh and smile normal fill my day!  We love you Noah!  Play hard, enjoy the time, then come running home on Sunday, happier for the experience, but happy to see us too!  I have fond memories spending a week or two each year at "summer camp" with the Galloway cousin whenever my mom had to go out of town for work.  Hopefully we'll have years to come of "summer camp" with the cousins coming to our house sometimes and the kids getting to go to their house sometimes. It's true that cousins really are your first very best friends.  Hopefully it stays that way!