We kept really busy this summer. We spent a lot of days at a pool, the Farmington Pond, or just doing family stuff. There never was really a shortage of extended family time, which is always fun for Gavin because he loves nothing more than hanging out with his cousins.
One of our fist trips to the South Davis Rec Center Pool.
I made an attempt to get Gavin more comfortable with water by signing him up for swim lessons. I decided to do some private lessons in hopes that Gavin would do better with a teacher and not having me in the water with him He is totally one of those kids that listens better when I am not around. Most of the lessons for 2 year olds I found required the parent to be in the water with their child, but this one didn't. I won't lie, I wasn't super impressed. I did like his teacher, but I felt like for what we spent it wasn't worth it. There were four kids in his class and so half the time he just sat on the steps waiting for his turn and the lessons were so short that by the time he got used to being in the water it was time to get out. To top it off, for his last lesson his regular teacher was gone and her teenage brother substituted and lets just say it was nothing short of a disaster. I left super frustrated and mad because Gavin had done well on his first three lessons but by the end of this one he was sobbing and was totally afraid of the water. Later that day we luckily were able to go to another pool and help him "get back on the horse" and learn to enjoy swimming again, so luckily he wasn't too scarred. Needless to say, I am not sure we will do swim lessons next year. We might just try to teach him as parents next year and we definitely won't go back to this place. Here he is at his first lesson.
Sam luckily won some tickets through his work to a Women's National soccer team game that was played at Rio Tinto Stadium. The sweet thing is that we got to sit in their company suite and got a little taste of luxury for the night. We had a sweet parking spot, enjoyed the free food, the shady seats, the cold drinks, and of course a great soccer match. The women's team dominated the Chinese team and had a great win. In the box next to us were the cutest girls who were probably a soccer team. They were so excited to be there and so it was fun to have them next to us. We even got to ride up the elevator with Brooks Lennon (an RSL player) but Sam was too star struck to say anything to him. Me being oblivious didn't even notice because he just looked like a regular guy. Sam is a big RSL fan and so he was pretty excited about it. We usually go to an RSL game at least once a year so now I will feel like I am missing out not getting to sit in the Bank of Utah suite every time!
In June we went to the Bountiful Car Show with my parents. It has kind of been a tradition to take my Dad every year. It was pretty hot and sticky out but we staked out a shady spot and enjoyed the little car parade and some delicious food. We even took the time to watch the tire burnout and although stinky, it was pretty cool. Gavin enjoyed being sugared up on cotton candy and popsicles.
This spring we bought this blow up raft to take fishing. We are really not fishermen, but we are sure trying to be. It is one of my New Year's Resolutions to catch just one fish this year because I have never caught one in my life. We took the raft out to Causey Reservoir which isn't too far from us. It was a little stressful of a trip because we are still figuring out how to make it relaxing with a two year old, three fishing rods, and a blow up raft. It may never be as relaxing as we hope it to be! Unfortunately we did not catch any fish on this trip, but it was still fun and I think I gained some serious muscle rowing most of the time.
For Father's Day I bought Sam these matching RSL shirts and I think they are just adorable. We just ate dinner on our own for Father's Day and then went and visited the Grandpas afterwards.
Our anniversary this year was pretty low key. On our actual anniversary we actually had Sam's Dad's retirement party. He retired from Davis School District after over 35 years. But later we celebrated by going out to dinner. Here is our romantic picture, ha ha, just kidding. All I remember is that I was super tired when we took this picture. Here is to 6 years of marriage!
We were so lucky to have my Grandpa come and visit all week for the 4th of July. We usually see him in July for his birthday, but we got to see him at the beginning of the month too! It was so fun to take him to the Centerville Parade and bring him to the fireworks that my sister does at her house. Everyone took turns taking pictures with him on the bench on my Mom's front porch. Later in the month we celebrated my Grandpa's 97th birthday in Utah at a big party with a lot of our extended family. The 4th was a fun but pretty tiring day. Every year we say we will simplify and do less, and maybe next year will finally be the time that we do.
I can't remember if this is from the 4th of July or the 24th of July, but we spent the middle of the day at Sam's parents. They set up this cute kiddie pool that Sam so kindly played in with Gavin. I thought it was hilarious as I sat in the shade and just watched. I guess I didn't take many, or any, pictures of the 24th of July but we did go to the Bountiful parade with my family.
I just really love this picture.
Gavin taking a nap at my sister's house. I almost never get to be by him when he is sleeping so I felt the need to snap a picture.
Sam and I decided to take a family camping trip to the Uintas. We camped at Lily Lake and once again took our little fishing raft out in an attempt to catch some fish. We must be the worst fishermen because we caught nothing but this father and son duo fishing at the same time as us said they caught like 7 fish! What the heck, ha ha. We must be doing something wrong. We did have fun, but after this trip we decided it is more fun to camp with family members so Gavin has someone to play with. Also, our last night we got caught in a bad rain and thunderstorm. It kept me up for a long time so I barely got any sleep and I was so stressed out about how close the lightening was with being so high up in the mountains. Somehow Gavin slept through the whole thing! It was crazy. Luckily it was just in the night and we stayed dry, but we stupidly had left our camp chairs and Gavin's shoes outside and so they were soaked. The next morning we pretty much just packed up and left because everything was soaked.
Learning some new tricks.
In August we had Sam's work party. This year they had BBQ at Rio Tinto and everyone got tickets to an RSL game, so that was right up our alley. It was particularly fun because we got to bring Gavin. When we go to games we haven't been brave enough to take Gavin because he does not have a very long attention span for sporting events and we never wanted to waste money on buying him a ticket. But when the tickets are free, there is no risk! Unfortunately it started pouring rain about half way through the game. It was already kind of a late game so we decided to just call it and go home early. The game had been delayed because of the rain so by the time we got home we actually got to watch the rest on TV. Unfortunately they lost, but overall it was a fun night.
This summer I got to go to Girl's Camp with my ward as a Young Women's leader. I have loved being in Young Women's and we had a great time. It was a little crazy and a long week, but it was an amazing experience. I love these girls so much. I literally took like 3 photos the whole week. This one is from our hike, which ended up being very grueling and much longer and harder than we were told it would be. It actually became an amazing experience of endurance for these girls (and me) to finish the hike. I ended up in the back with some of the girls that were really struggling and it was such a bonding experience to help them continue on. We had camp at Heber Valley, which is such a beautiful and amazing place. You can literally feel the spirit just walking through the woods there and can feel close to Christ just being there. It had such an amazing feeling. So overall, it was a challenge but was well worth it. And I lost 5 pounds from all the crazy hiking we did, so that's always a bonus. Despite having a great time, I was very eager to get back to Sam and Gavin because 5 days away from them just felt way too long. I felt like Gavin had grown in just a week of being away.
One of our favorite things that we have taken advantage of living outside of Ogden is the Weber County Fair. We go on the $1 night that also has the Rodeo. Gavin loved it this year and particularly loved riding the ponies and the petting zoo portion. We are definitely not country people, but its fun to pretend for one night, right?
Before summer was over we snuck in another camping trip to the Unitas with my family. We camped at Mirror Lake this time and although it is very busy there, it was a lot of fun. We cramped in as many people we could at the camp site. We fished at the lake (of course we didn't catch anything) and Gavin had a blast playing with his cousins. We got rained on again in the night just like we had the time before, but amazingly Gavin slept through it again. I wish he was that sound of a sleeper at home. I love that he loves hiking and camping and playing in the outdoors.
We had a great summer but as usual I can not wait until Fall! Enough of the sticky sweaty days for me. I can't wait for cooler days and for all that Fall with bring!
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