Pioneer Day

While Dilan was recovering from her surgery and Dakota was asleep, I took the kids to the annual Pioneer Day celebration. Colleen, David's mom, came to visit us for the weekend and so she came with us too. 

It was a fun event with a lot of work by the stake to make it special. Our ward was in charge of displaying pioneer stories from our families so I contributed mine from a "modern day pioneer." 

Here is a picture of me with my boys in front of my poster.

 They had awesome cotton candy which Drake was happy about. He thought he was supposed to eat it like ice cream and licked it over and over. :)

 Stick pulling! Drew and Drake had fun with this.

 Walking on stilts

 Mimi teaching Drew how to play marbles which was his favorite game of the entire day. Drake even got in on the action too.

 Then we dressed up like pioneers

 Drake went fishing...

 and so did Drew. 

 Bean bag toss was a lot of fun. I kept having Drew move farther back because it was too easy for him. 

 Drake celebrated as he made his bean bags go in! If he started missing the shots, he leaned on the board with his stomach so he could make it in more easily. :)

Then, later in the evening we all went to have snow cones!

Dilan's surgery

Dilan had her tonsillectomy and her adenoidectomy last Friday. She did so good! She was very brave. I had to wake her up at 5:45 a.m. to get to the surgery center by 6:10 a.m. I thought she'd just sleep in the car but she got right up and wanted to be alert for everything. We brought her pillow pet, Bubbles, and some books too. We got checked in and she didn't like the hospital bracelet too much -so much so that the lady gave her a new one. Then she got to pick between a bunny and a bear for a new stuffed animal. She chose the bunny and named it "Red." Then, she told me she was going to give it to Drake when she got home because he didn't have a bunny and she already did. I got Dilan dressed in her tiger hospital gown, we put on her bright green socks, and then she took her "medicine juice" which made her calm. The nurse had me get in bed with Dilan because she said the medicine sometimes makes kids do funny things. But Dilan just got relaxed and we laid together in the bed cuddling before they wheeled her off!

Here is Dilan and "Red"

 Talking to Daddy and Drake on the phone

 Ready to go!

 Dilan chose a purple popsicle for her recover room. The doctor warned me that she would wake up "mad" but Dilan was very calm and happy when I saw her. But in fact, she had a delayed reaction and got upset at the heart monitor on her toe. She started kicking to get it off and not knowing how to tell me what she wanted. I finally figured it out after taking off her sock. She cried a lot and the anesthesiologist and the nurse seemed confused because they said she should have had this reaction right when she woke up, not that much later. But leave it to my little girl to surprise us all!

Dilan received a care package from her sweet friend full of goodies like a Barbie color and sticker book,  La la loopsy notebook, pencil, eraser and pencil sharpner, Minnie Mouse/Daisy Duck best friend coloring book, along with popsicles too. It was the sweetest thing and Dilan loved it!

Dilan has been recovering at home now for four days and she is doing so well! I was told to expect day 3 to be the worst but we are smooth sailing through it. I am keeping her on her meds and hoping she will surprise me and not have any bad days at all. We'll see!

July 4, 2013

We traveled to Houston for the whole week of July 4th to see our family. We had way too much fun if there is such a thing and made lots of memories. 

The first memory being this awesome slide at my mom's house. The kids couldn't wait so we even slid down the slide in the evening once it got dark. 

 Dakota with Keely

 Cousin and grandma time, what is better?

 Drew and David ran the 4 miler on July 4th. It is hot here in Texas so it's quite the race. I ran it two years ago and it was hard. Drew and David did a great job! I can't believe Drew can run 4 miles at 8 years old. He had to be the youngest kid running this race.

 The finish line

 After their accomplishment

 Colleen came for the day to swim and hang out with us on July 4th. We loved seeing her!

 We also celebrated Keely and my birthday

 and saw fireworks of course!

 Dakota was crowned a princess by Dilan and she really enjoyed swimming

 Dakota trying on Dilan's cowgirl hat

 I love taking a picture of these three each time we see them. Only 5 days apart, Dakota loves her twin cousins, Leif and Liam! 

Slip 'n Slide, Cub Scout Camp, and Bowling

We had a great time with our Utah cousins for a few more days after everyone left. We had to try out the slip 'n slide! :)

Dakota working on sitting up

 But at 6 months old, she started scooting everywhere! And even getting up on her knees.

  

Drew is a cub scout now that he's 8 and he went to his first cub scout camp. David volunteered one day as well. Drew had so much fun and loved trading "swaps" which stand for something with a pin. He chose to bring swaps with whistles on them representing a train whistle. You pin all the swaps you trade on your hat for the remainder of the week.

 lunch time

 making things

 relay with his troop

 archery

 shooting bb guns

 making his own teepee

We also went bowling with friends for the first time. The kids loved it! But Drake was the most animated. He would scream and yell when he hit pins but also cry when he had difficultly waiting his turn.

We are having the best summer ever. Drew even told me at the end of June that he knows he is having the best summer because he hasn't said, "I'm bored!" once. And that's so true!!! :)