I forgot, at the Wilson Family Reunion my Dad was in charge of a fun-run. Now, I am not a runner. I don’t enjoy running, but most of my family does, especially my dad, brothers, and Julia. Last year they did this same run and Dad was the one who organized it, so they asked Dad to do it again because it was so much fun. I thought it would be fun to see how far I could get. It was a 5k. I had the girls in the double stroller and I didn’t bring any shoes except for flip flops. The track was full of little hills and was a good challenge. It looped around like a 9 and we started in the middle. After pushing the girls all the way around the loop, I dropped the girls off with some of the people who were going half way and cheered as my brother Jace ran in and finished the race. He got second place! I kept going and my competitiveness started to kick in. I knew I wasn’t going to win, obviously, and I wasn’t in shape to run it, so I decided that I just wouldn’t be the last in. The last half is just as long but there are a ton of hills that are pretty steep, and once you get to the end you turn around and come back up to the middle. (So, if you took the 9 example you do the bottom leg down and then back up) I was the last to finish the first half with the girls by quite a bit, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I was so proud of myself, not only did I do the whole race, but I did half pushing the girls and I passed quite a few people and didn’t finish last. That was a big accomplishment for me. Ryan was very impressed when I called to tell him how it went.
So, after we got back I had only a little time with Ryan before he had to leave to go up to Madison to take the bar exam. That was so hard to let him go after just getting back. Especially since I no longer had help with the girls and didn’t know anyone in town. I was very worried that it would go badly. Luckily, it went pretty well and I didn’t go crazy or anything. Ryan had a day of orientation, then the next day was two sessions of essay exams both with 4 essays each. So 8 total. That must have been no fun, what a long day. Then the next day was a 200 question test and he could finally come home. We were so glad to have Ryan back for good! I am so glad the exam is over. Now, we just wait to see if he passes. They are supposed to send the letter on September 7th, so we hope to know by Tuesday. That may seem fast, but he took the exam at the end of July, so it’s really been quite a wait. If he passes they don’t do the ceremony until OCTOBER!! The students that graduated from Wisconsin have been working since May! Ryan’s hoping that they will induct him sooner, because he can’t work until after that.
The next weekend Ryan took us down to Debuke Iowa (about 45 mins from here) to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. We had a great time; here are some pictures from our adventure:

Ryan and Kaitlyn standing in front of one of the aquariums. Kaitlyn LOVED looking at all the fish!



Ryan at the wheel



Kaitlyn being just like Daddy, isn’t she so cute!



This was part of the outside exhibit, were the kids could play. Kaitlyn thought it was way fun!



Daddy and Kaitlyn on one of the boats we got to tour



Me, trying to hold Kaitlyn still for a picture with Emily in my arms. We were at the very top of the ship in the hurricane deck.



The top of the ship



Looking towards the water from the same spot



I think Kaitlyn would have jumped right off the ship into the water if she could have



Kaitlyn playing. She wanted to steer the little ships in the pond



Kaitlyn loves animals, just not up close. She didn’t like this!



I tried to get a picture that looked like Emily was in the water, this was the closest



A big fish you could go inside of

Contest

I won this fun little contest on Sister Matheney's (Heather) blog and part of the deal is that I would post the same contest on my blog!

Here you go: PAY IT FORWARD I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (So, you must have a blog to participate.)

How fun! Now let's all pay it forward, give each other gifts just for fun, and comment away! If you are one of the three, I'll contact you to get your mailing info (if I don't already have it.) If you're not one of the three, hurry and click over to the winners' blogs to see if you can make it!

** "Handmade" could mean something crafty, something pretty or something yummy coming from me. I'll cater it to the recipient.

Wilson Family Reunion

At the end of our Utah trip, we went to the Wilson Family Reunion. This is a treasured childhood tradition. We drove up to Utah almost every summer to go to the family reunion, and also visit my mom’s side of the family. I hadn’t been to a reunion since the summer after I graduated high school, so I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again. I am the first cousin to get married and the fist to have kids, so it was very fun to have everyone met my girls. I actually have 3 aunts that were pregnant at with me when I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. 2 of my mom’s sisters and one of my dad’s. It’s kinda fun to have kids the same age as my aunts. Plus it was fun that all my aunts and uncles are now great aunts and uncles. Besides the one aunt (Aunt Laurie) that was pregnant (with Jack) at the same time as me, all the other children were much older. That made it a little harder at first. I had two of the three youngest. Luckily everyone thought that the girls were cute, so I had a lot of volunteers to help me watch the girls. Kaitlyn loved being outside all the time (we go camping in the mountains), but most days she refused a nap. By the time we got to bed time she was a monster, I mean walking zombie. Well probably both. Em’s had a hard time with naps too, because it was so hot during the day I worried when I put her down in the tent. Fortunetly aunt Michelle and Grandpa had an RV with AC, so a couple of times the girls slept in there. For the reunion we spend about 3 days camping. We play volley ball (my team got 2nd place!) and other games, swim in the creek, cook outdoors, do a craft (a REALLY cute photo fame this year), the kids do a bunch of games, and end with a talent show. Plus lots of other fun stuff. My cousin Jill is in a band and they came up to play for us. It was really cool. Adam joined in and here’s a picture of them playing.



Jill also cut hair for a lot of people, including me. Thanks Jill! It's really cool to see some of my cousins growing up and doing cool stuff.
Here's Ashley holding Kaitlyn and Kirsty



A bunch of kids during the kids games. My sister Jessica and cousin Kate are holding the beach ball. Kate is the cute red head.



These are pictures from the talent show. I have some very talented cousins, it was fun to watch. Kaitlyn enjoyed sitting on Uncle Cody’s lap, other wise I don’t think we would have stayed up and watched it. It was very late, and Kaitlyn was VERY tired. Cody did a great job with her, and I think he even enjoyed holding her (it’s a good thing cause I was done!)
My cousins Kate and Todd singing 50 Nifty United States by MEMORY!! Their mom, Aunt Laurie is amazing. These two are so cute!



My cousins, Stephanie and Kirsty singing a cute mormon boy song I’d never heard before, but it was really cute. I guess that’s what I get for not living in Utah or Idaho.



Uncle Brad and Aunt Laurie singing together. They both have amazing voices. Uncle Brad looks EXACTLY like my dad did when I was growing up! I love talking to him. It’s so fun to see all the little things that he and my dad do the same. Their voices even sound the same. When he came to my sister’s wedding he was sitting, working on his computer and cell phone catching up on work. I had to take a double take. That is were my dad would sit doing the exact same thing.



Aunt Sherri, Amber, and Adam doing a skit



My brother Jace and sister Jessica doing a dance. I thought they did a great job! It was so cute to see little Jess dancing with Jace. I didn’t know the boy could move. I was very impressed.



And Uncle Jimmy doing a monologue.



There were a lot more talents, but these were the ones I got pictures of. Also I wish I would have taken pictures of more people, and more of the activities. I always forget to take enough pictures. My Grandpa’s sister also put together a really cool DVD with some film and pictures from when they were kids. It was so weird to see Grandpa as a young adult and some of my aunts as young children. It was really cool, and I’m sure it will be a family treasure.

Then we headed for home. I got to spend another evening with my Aunt Michelle and then she took us to the airport bright and early the next morning. The flight went a lot better this time! No blow outs, and I think the girls even napped for part of it. Seeing as I can’t really remember any detail, it must have been smooth sailing. I was SOOO glad to see Ryan when we finally got to Minnesota! Ryan’s pretty sure we drove over the bridge that later collapsed or at least one of the ones close to it. I’m really glad we weren’t there when it did. That was pretty scary when I saw all the news reports. We are so sad for all the people who didn’t make it.
On the way home we stopped somewhere to get out and stretch our legs. Kaitlyn and Ryan were having so much fun playing together! It was SOO cute. I love seeing Ryan play with the girls. Dad is always way more fun than mom. He comes up with the craziest fun games, and the girls just adore him. Here’s my handsome hubby with the girls, back together for the first time in 2 ½ weeks.

Julia's pregnant

So, we went back to Aunt Michelle’s house, and that night Jules had to go shopping. She was with her in-laws while we were in Logan. So she missed the other shopping trip. We went down to the mall in Provo, and my cousin Ashley came with us. I got to go with out the girls. That was really nice, and I think Ashley had fun. I’m not sure she knew what she was signing up for when she volunteered to go shopping with us. Julia can be a crazy shopper, and if I hadn’t already spent my birthday money I would have been just as crazy! In the end she found a cute shirt and Jules (after trying on about 50) found a few shirts too. I found a cute tankini, so I had a swim siut that actually fit! We came back and later that night Julia was talking about taking a pregnancy test when she got home, she was pretty late. So, I talked her into doing it then. Why wait? The last time she took one she called me up and I was on the phone with her from when she left work to buy the test all the way tell after she found out she wasn’t pregnant. So, I convinced her, since I wasn’t go back to Texas with them, she should do it then. So we planned a way to get to the store without everyone knowing what was up. That was a little harder because we had just gotten back form shopping. We decided I needed some stuff from Wal-Mart that I didn’t get earlier in the day. One can always make a trip to Wal-Mart. So, Mom and Jace not knowing the real reason for the trip said they needed to come along too. When we got in the car Jules let them in on the secret and they (at least mom) were very excited. When we got back Julia told us she was going to wait tell the morning, because that’s what’s recommended. I wanted to say, who cares do it now!!!, but I didn’t. If you can’t tell I was really excited and hoping it would be positive. Well, around 5 in the morning Emily woke up, so I fed her and went and laid back down to go to sleep. Mom came in to check on me and make sure the girls went back to sleep (isn’t she wonderful!) and then maybe 2 minutes later Julia came in to see if I was still awake. I was really tired, but I knew what she was really asking, so I jumped out of bed. She had been up for a long time waiting tell she heard the girls so she could come in and get me. She was too excited and nervous to go to sleep. So she went and took the test and we nervously waited for the results. She was pregnant!!!! Imagine me jumping up and down as quietly as I can, whispering CONGRATULATIONS!!!! It was so fun to be able to share that moment with her! Julia’s husband had told her before that he doesn’t want to know if she’s taking a test, just to let him know if it was positive, so I got to be there with her. Well it was like 5:30 in the morning still and Julia didn’t want to wake Cody up (she’s too nice!) so I told her that when I found out I was pregnant I took a picture of my test. We went outside to get her camera and took a picture. It was so cute. She was so excited. She decided she couldn’t wait any longer and went in and woke her husband up. They later told me it was a good thing she had the picture, because he wanted to see the proof. They are going to be such good parents, the whole time we were there Julia couldn’t put Emily down, and Cody loved playing with Kaitlyn. I’m so excited for them! Next is the Wilson Family Reunion.

More Utah trip

Ok, so it has been forever since we got back from our Utah trip, but here’s some more pictures and the rest of what we did. We spent a few days at Grammy’s house in Delta. They have lots of land and live near a reservoir. We went down to play in the water twice while we were there. Also my Grandpa loves tractors. This is Kaitlyn with my dad on one of grandpa’s tractors at the house.



We had a nice time just hanging out, and I got to relax a lot. That was really nice. Here’s some pictures of the girls with my family.
My sister Jessica and Emily



My brother Jace helping Kaitlyn climb the ceiling



Emily sleeping



Dad and Emily



My sister Julia and Emily



My grandpa Hale, as I said LOVES tractors. He actually collects them. So when we visit we always go down to the workshop. It’s his grown up toy land. He’s got lots of fun things to look at. Here are some pictures of us there.

Jessica and Kaitlyn in the middle of the trains and tiny town



Kaitlyn on a tractor



Cody (Julia’s husband) Jessica and Kaitlyn on a tractor



Watching the trains go by



While we were in Delta I got to have a lot of down time witch I needed. The boys (my bothers) and Uncle Cody, Aunt Julia, and the girls (my 2 youngest sisters), and all the grandparents and great grammy were more than happy to watch and play with my girls. I even got to go watch a movie with Julia and Cody. We saw Ratatouie, and then came home and had ice cream with everyone. And just before we left Kaitlyn found a marker, what fun!



From there we left and went back to American Fork to Aunt Michelle’s house to get ready for the Family Reunion.

Moe Dow C Ah

That was the phrase Kaitlyn said most of the ride home. Only with an almost 2 year old can a family trip to the bank become an adventure. We had to drive to Dodgeville to clear up some “flatulent” charges (not really, that was just for you Dad!), which is an hour drive there and back. Not much happened on the ride there, but we just barely left town when Ryan and I heard a car door open. We looked back and Kaitlyn had gotten her arms loose from the car seat and had leaned forward and opened the back door! We were driving on a highway at the time. Talk about scary, so we pulled over and shut and locked the door. I was trying not to laugh as Ryan told Kaitlyn it’s not funny. I can’t believe the things that girl comes up with. Well, we live in Wisconsin now, so cows are everywhere! When we pulled over to close the door Kaitlyn noticed a cow and pointed and said “C Ah” which means something like “see it? Ya!” So I thought, oh this is great, we can learn the words Cow and Moo. So I told her, cow, cows say moo. She said cow right away. The rest of the way home we played where’s the cow. I kept saying look moo cow, because she wasn’t saying moo yet. Then she started calling all the cows Moe (moo) Dow (cow). Ryan and I thought that was pretty cute. So she would wait with her pointers ready and her mouth in the M shape, ready and waiting to see Moe the Dow. As soon as one was spoted Moe Dow C Ah! C, C, Moe, MOE!! That was the funniest hour ride home ever. So cute.

Unfortunately Kaitlyn has been up to some not so cute things recently. Last week was pretty rough for her and me. I borrowed the book Eclipse from the library. I was the first one to check it out (yay me!) Kaitlyn was playing in the bath, and wanted to get out so I cleaned her up and gave her the option to stay in the tub while I put Emily in, or get out then. She loves having Em in the tub too, so she got back in the tub. Ususally that’s fine. But this particular day about two seconds after I got Emily in the tub Kaitlyn climbed out and ran out of the room. I decided that was going to have to be fine, I couldn’t do anything about it at the moment, cause I had to keep a hold of Emily, when all of a sudden her comes Kaitlyn again but with a toy that can’t come in the tub. So I’m trying to keep Emily safe in the water with one hand and trying to stop Kaitlyn with the other. Finally I get the toy thrown out of the bathroom and the door shut, with Kaitlyn in the bathroom (all one handed) and I think all is well. So I turn my attention to Emily, poor girl, and all of a sudden I see something flying past me into the tub. Eclipse, brand new, now soaking wet. Boy was I mad! I had already had it before she threw the book in the tub. Ryan happened to be home so I screamed for him to come! It took me a while to calm down, I couldn’t even talk to Ryan for about a half hour, I was so mad and upset. The most upsetting part was poor Emily in the tub, with not enough of my attention. I was terrified the whole time that she was going to slip out of my hands. I have a huge fear of babies and water. If it wasn’t neglectful and babies didn’t start to stink after a while, I probably wouldn’t bath a baby more than once a month (don’t worry I bath her WAY more that that!) just because it’s always so nerve racking for me. So once I got the book all dried it was pretty obvious I was going to have to buy a new one. I took it to the library to tell them and see what they wanted me to do. So I took it in and showed the guy at the desk and we decided I should just go get a new one. So later that day we were at Walmart and I picked up the book. When I went back a different guy was at the desk, but when he saw the old book, he goes oh you’re the one who dropped it in the tub. So, yes, I’m already That lady. I was so worried about moving to a new SMALL town and becoming That lady. Oh well too late now.
Earlier in the week we had another fun day. I heard Kaitlyn waking up from her nap, so I quickly got Emily and everything together because I wanted to take the girls to the library (to go pick up Eclipse). I noticed it was taking a while for Kaitlyn to really get up, and I thought that was kinda weird. So finally she came to the door and knocked (that’s how I now when I can come in and get her, if you go before that your in BIG trouble!) so I went in to get her. Well I had a nice surprise waiting for me! Kaitlyn had taken her diaper off sometime during the nap time and peed on her bed. Not too far out of the ordinary, but then I noticed she went to the bathroom too. On the floor! So gross! This is the reason why we had children and not animals. I don’t do poop on the floor. So gross. So Ryan, who was in the tub at the time, got Emily (luckily) and laughed the entire time I was cleaning it up. It did sound pretty funny. I was saying
Ewww! GROSS! No! This is soo Gross! We don’t poop on the floor!
and things like that, over and over while Kaitlyn would coppy me and say
EWWWW, EWWW, No, EWWWW, EWWWW.
Oh the joys of being a mother.

Another Kaitlyn story from last week (it was a rough week). I went to Piggly Wiggly to grab a few things, just really quick. So, even though Ryan was home, I brought Kaitlyn with me. I thought she would like to get out of the house for a little bit. Well we went to the store and she was great, until I checked out. Just as I was paying she got away from me and ran out to the display at the front of the store. I wasn’t too worried because I could see her. So I finished paying and am almost to her when she dumpes a bag of grapes on the floor, all over the floor. So we cleaned them up and walked back around to buy the grapes. They were 4 dollars! I couldn’t believe it. That was twice in one week that I had to buy something because of Kaitlyn, so I was not happy about it. Oh well. At least this week has gone much better. I promise!

July 9-13

Monday and Tuesday July 9-10
I have to say I was really nervous about Monday and Tuesday. I was going to Ryan’s grandma’s house, and I’d never been there before, so I didn’t know what to expect. But I didn’t need to worry. The girls had a great time, and so did I. Marsha, Ryan’s mom, is just like Grandma Fox, so I felt at home right away. I loved how much she reminded me of my mother in law. We just hung out most of the day and then that night I think all the Fox’s in the area came over and had dinner and talked. It was so much fun. I got to meet a few of Ryan’s cousins, and see some aunts and uncles again. Kaitlyn had so much fun and was hamming it up for everyone. I love how confident she is, and that she can be herself anywhere. I hope she doesn’t grow out of that. That night I heard trains going by, and I realized that Ryan’s grandma lives right by a railroad. I LOVE that. My grandma lives by a railroad too, so it just made me smile and think of my grandma. I think it’s great that both Ryan and I grew up with trains by grandma’s house. So I’m totally bummed because I forgot to take pictures the entire time I was at Ryan’s grandmas, so I don’t have any pictures of Ryan’s family. Tuesday afternoon we went to lunch with Grandma, Aunt Laurel, her son Dillon, and Aunt Debbi who came during her lunch break. It was so much fun. Ryan’s family is great; I couldn’t have been blessed with better in-laws. After that Jules and Cody came to pick us up and we went back to Aunt Michele’s where my family had stayed. Then we drove up to Logan. I LOVE Logan! I was born there, and I went to school there for a year and loved it. I stayed with my aunt before school started and I visited her almost every weekend while I was at Utah State, so I have a lot of great memories with these cousins and Logan. So I was very excited to go back for a little bit. I have a cousin that is only a month younger than me, Adam. It was so fun to see him again, I hadn’t seen him since before his mission and he’s been back a while. He is very talented in music and loves to play the guitar. So a couple of times there were mini concerts in his room. Kaitlyn loved rocking out to his music. All the kids would get together and listen to Adam play and Kaitlyn would start dancing and soon everyone else was too. It was so cute and very fun! I wanted to get a picture of everyone dancing, but when Kaitlyn would see me she’d either stop dancing or run to me, either way it was hard to get a pic. of everyone, so here’s one of Adam playing:



Wednesday- Friday July 11-13
So any Harry Potter fans would remember July 11th was when HP 5 the movie was released. My family and I ware all fans so, Wednesday morning we went to see the movie. Aunt Sherri watched not only my 2 girls, but also my 2 youngest sisters! Thank you so much! We come and invade the house and then have you baby sit too. Luckily the girls were good for her and she loved getting to spend time with them. I loved the movie, and I can’t wait to buy it when it comes out. It was such a fast paced movie that I’ll need to see it a few more times. The only thing I didn’t like was that Cho was the one blamed for telling on the DA instead of her friend. I like Cho’s character, and hate that she was the snitch in the movie. But really it was a great movie. Of course a lot was left out of the movie, but it was a huge book. There’s no way they could have done the whole thing in only 2 hours. I heard someone say they’d have to do a whole TV series to include everything. I think it’s a great idea, I’d watch the show. But I doubt they’d actually do one. Anyway, after the movie we came back and hung out until Aunt Diane and her family showed up. They live in Idaho, so it was fun to have them come down to visit is while we were in Logan. Well, if you know Aunt Diane then you won’t be surprised at our next activity, shopping of course! Actually we went shopping quite a lot in Logan, it was a blast. I had some birthday money (YES!) so I could actually shop. It was so much fun! I love shopping in Utah, I think there is just so much more there, because there’s such a high demand for modest clothes. We found a Down East Basics that had a ton of clearance clothes, so I got LOTS of cute new shirts, and some new under shirts. I love the ones with lace at the bottom, so cute. So the next day we went swimming at the Logan aquatic center. Kaitlyn loved it. They had a huge wadding pool that we could swim in. Mom watched Emily so I could be in the water with Kaitlyn. Then Uncle Jace and Adam each took Kaitlyn down the huge slide. She LOVED it! I tried the first time and got half way up the stairs and chickened out. I was worried I’d drop her on the way down or something. So after a while I decided to go down by myself to see what it was like. It was so much fun, so I took Kaitlyn up and we went down together! I was so proud of myself. And I didn’t even drop her at the end either. Yay me, super mom. So I was feeling like a daredevil and decided to jump off the high dive! I did it, more than once and Kaitlyn even got to see her cool mom be brave. Aunt Sherri got some cool pictures and videos. We all had a great time at the pool, and then came home for pizza. Then Mom, Aunt Sherri, and I went out shopping again, without the kids. That was fun too. The next day we got packed up to leave, but before we left Aunt Sherri taught us how to make jewelry. That was a lot of fun. I made a necklace to go with a beautiful bracelet and earrings Lindsay made for me before we left Iowa. After we finished we drove down to Salt Lake area to spend time with my Uncle Anthony and his family. They have a really cool fish tank that Kaitlyn loved. She loves fish and spent a good amount of time checking out the tank.



We all got together for dinner. This was an eventful night. First, Uncle Anthony burned his foot on a piece of coal that fell out of the grill. After that we finished eating and hanging out. I tried to put Kaitlyn to bed, but ended up taking a nap myself. A little after I got up my cousin left to drop off some friends at their houses. The rest of us just stayed up and talked. Well it kept getting later and later, and I was getting nervous. Then my other cousin and his girlfriend started to worry. Finally, we got a phone call, Dallin had been hit by a drunk driver. So Jace and my Uncle and cousins went to go pick him up. Luckily he was not hurt. He was running on adrenaline still. He had just dropped off the last friend so he was the only one in the car when he was hit. That was kinda scary. So we were up really late checking on him, and I don’t think my mom ever did go to sleep. She was picking up Dad the next day and was too excited to sleep. Isn’t that cute? I love that my parents are still so in love, and couldn’t wait to see each other again. So Saturday morning we drove to SLC to pick up dad from the airport. It was so good to see him, and the girls were excited to have Grandpa there. After that we drove to Delta to see my Grammy.