Fall in Instas

Before we wind up 2014, there are a few more events via my phone that I want to record.

A week before Finn was born, we took Blake and Nash to the new Ogden temple open house. Before a temple is dedicated for worship, it is open to the public. Everyone can enter and feel of the special spirit within it's walls. The boys loved the "sparkly room" (the celestial room) the best.

Once Finn was born, he never left my side. Newborns make the sweetest faces.

A week after Finn was born, I was feeling pretty good about having all three older boys bathed on a Sunday morning and was ready to give Finn his first bath. I went in the bedroom to get him, and when I came back, I found Crew fully clothed in the baby tub full of water. We got a little stir crazy on those first days trapped at home with a newborn, so I took the older boys for a jaunt around the Great Salt Lake that evening.

Crew was a good sport about running errands with me while Blake and Nash were at school. Sometimes he was lucky enough to score a balloon. We usually grabbed lunch on Fridays because Blake got out of school early and there wasn't enough time to run all the way back home after picking Nash up from preschool.

There were many Saturdays filled with college football. We didn't kid around when it came to the Michigan State/Michigan game.

We enjoyed many weekend date nights with our good friends as always. We kicked off the holidays with dinner and dessert downtown and a walk through the shopping center admiring the lights.

iPhoneography: Summering

July was our month for living up summer with no vacations on the agenda. We definitely did not lack in the number of outings we fit in. Even though it got a little too busy for my liking sometimes, I'm glad that at the end of the summer, we'll be able to say that we both worked and played to the fullest extent.

The boys fell into a good system of accomplishing some homework and chores each morning with a new family system we implemented. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard for me to see them lazing around in front of a screen unless they've accomplished a few things that feel productive. 

We lived in the water whenever possible. We pool hopped from our neighbor's pool to the community pool to my brother's apartment pool to the waterpark pool to the swimming lessons pool. Anything to cool down in the crazy summer heat.

Crew cheerfully toted along while I tried to make the days fun for the older boys. I was happy to discover that he shares my love for all things nautical.

We put the boys to work to clean up our SUV, sold it, and officially became a minivan family. My cool factor definitely went down several notches, but the boys are delighted about our new (used) mode of transportation. At least we can all come home from the hospital in one car. 

We had to pick Troy up from work a couple of times because we were shuffling vehicles. Blake and Nash couldn't have been more eager to wait as close as possible to the doors and run to their dad at the first sighting. We headed up to a park in Park City one of the evenings to take a break from all of the vehicle arrangements.

Our friends from Colorado stayed with us for a weekend and of course wanted to soak in the beauty of Temple Square. We ate at a restaurant overlooking the temple and I kicked myself for not having my nice camera with me as we strolled the grounds afterwards. I'm always amazed by the upkeep and variety of flowers.

Troy had the opportunity to go to Girls' Camp again this year with the Bishopric. It looks like they had a completely serious and mature evening...

My mom took Blake to see his first play at our local professional theater while we were in New York and Troy and I went a few weeks later. Our cousin played the lead in Mary Poppins and she was phenomenal. I'm not sure what Blake was more thrilled about; all of the moving sets onstage or the fact that Mary Poppins knew his name and greeted him after the production. Summer wouldn't be summer without a few summer dollar movies with friends thrown into the mix as well. The boys didn't actually see Guardians of the Galaxy, but they were sure excited to view some of their favorite family friendly movies.

We played with friends from school a few times as well. One of our outings in particular was challenged by rain clouds, but the boys were grinning from ear to ear when we let them play in the mud. Crew slipped and fell into a puddle almost instantly upon walking outside, so I thought, why not? What is childhood without a little dirt every now and then?

Add in our weekly library trips, boating, reunion-ing, doctor and dentist visiting, book clubbing and working towards our goal of visiting 20 parks this summer, and we had a pretty full month. Summer is exhausting in a whole different way than the school year, but I wouldn't trade our hot school-free days for anything. 

Spring in Instas

There isn't a ton for me to document via my phone from the first half of this year because we were down and out most of the time. But I want to record a few things before we move on to an active summer and fall.

We didn't do anything very festive for Valentine's Day (we spent it in the ER) or St. Patrick's Day, so it's a good thing my mom pulled through and sent the boys Valentine's buckets. And Kindergarten pulled through and sent the kids home with homemade apparel.

Crew was pretty excited to join his big brothers in the bathtub. And Troy and I were excited to see Les Miserables and relive our first date - in a slightly modified fashion.

Crew started out the year by flatlining on his growth charts. He had to have some blood draws to make sure everything was normal. It was heartbreaking to see him all bandaged up. He was much happier to take a little swing snooze in the fresh spring air, stand on the dishwasher, and get his first "crew" cut.

Once Troy could finally start putting some weight on his foot, he spent lots of time on the trampoline with the boys, throwing them around. We ended the spring with two big milestones; Blake scoring his first soccer goal and Crew taking his first steps on the same day.

Even though some fun events were sprinkled in over the last few months, we are not too sad to put this spring behind us.

Fall in Instas

We kicked off fall with my birthday (although technically it was still 100°). Troy surprised me with a fancy handbag and I celebrated with my best friends at our usual dinner venue. September activities included a trip to the natural history museum, adorning Crew in bandana bibs, and soccer.

Then it was off to Disneyland in October. Packing for five was so much work. Each boy got to fill one tote with toys for the road trip. I'm not sure what I was more excited about - an opportunity to hit Pinkberry or Disneyland.

We soaked up any remaining warm weather days in November while we still could. Crew graduated to the highchair, where he despised every bite of baby food for a month. He did, however, enjoy ripping up his big brother's art masterpieces.

December brought our first snowfall, which inevitably also led to sickness. Strep, stomach flu, colds, you name it. We celebrated Blake's sixth birthday with a pirate party and the aftermath was strewn across the house. He wrote his first thank you notes to his friends who brought him gifts. Crew learned to pull himself to standing - in his crib and every other surface imaginable.

And that wraps up our fall in an Instagram nutshell since tomorrow marks the first official day of winter. This fall really was delightful. I was so grateful to enjoy it without constant sickness looming over me.