Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Let the Summer Begin!!

 May was a great month and we have been enjoying the warming weather and had some fun beginning summer fun. The Sunday before Mother's Day, Carter asked me if he could draw a picture for Grandma. Which was a great reminder to the following weeks celebration. With that we decided to make it our Sunday Morning activity. The kids were very diligent in their drawing and card writing it warmed my heart.

A new van has been a decision we have been talking about for probably a year. With our cross country journey to Idaho soon approaching we decided now would be the perfect time. We love our new van and it has been a great decision.
Visitors from Idaho!  We were so excited to hear that my Grandpa and Grandma Wood were coming to Michigan to visit my Aunt and Uncle, and we were going to be able to spend a few hours with them. We went to visit some of the Wright Brother Museums, and Carter loved holding Grandma's hand, and I am pretty sure she didn't mind too much either. Carter also came up with a new name for Great Grandma Wood, to keep up the Grandma Woods straight. She is now in our family called "White Haired Grandma Wood." We loved our visit and we were so glad to talk and spend time with them. 
Getting Ready for Swimming!

Spending time with Cousins is one our very favorite things here in Dayton and we had some time to go enjoy the sun and picnic at the park. 


To kick off the summer we went to the local pool that was having a free swimming day. It was so fun they had games, trail mix snacks and best of all hardly anyone there. It was a fun, peaceful afternoon and we love SWIMMING! 




 KINGS ISLAND!! 
We have been fortunate to have the opportunity to go with Chad and Tosha's family to King's Island. We were so excited to go and we decided to go to SoakCity which is the water park that is there. Along our way to the waterpark we couldn't resist the short lines, which was amazing because we feared it was going to be crowded.

 Once at the waterpark it started to rain and we were having a great time. We enjoyed the low numbers of the people, due to rain, and were able to go on lots of slides without much wait at all. During this time I tried to get Carter to do a slide that was uncomfortable to him, and I learned somethings about myself and about Carter that I had not yet known. I will have to modify my approach of new experiences for Carter. 

He is a cautious, tender hearted little boy and wants to know all case scenarios before attempting anything new. As for me, someone who has loved the adrenaline of roller coasters, waterslides and all things of that nature, has to remember that he is different and needs kind and understanding encouragement. We recovered from our meltdown and had an awesome rest of our time at King's Island.







 Memorial Day!
For this years Memorial Day we were able to go the Ward breakfast they do every year. We also participated in the 5k. Mike being in Young Men's, and also a sprained ankle, helped the racers and Kam. While Carter and I were ready to do our best. With our experience at King's Island, Mike and I felt very strongly to help Carter try new and hard things. With enthusiasm and love we told him we were going to do the race. He was nervous at first and wanted to know exactly everything that could happen. However, when we started running he stopped being nervous and we had a very fun rewarding experience. He never once complained and ran the entire time. We were so proud of him and he even told me he could of gone faster, next year. We finished the 3.1 miles in 36:10! 

Back in Pocatello we had huge red Peonies that would bloom every Memorial Day. It was our five year tradition to pick them and bring them to Mike's Mother's grave. This Memorial Day being so far from home that tradition had to be changed. However, here in our new house we have the most amazing pink Peonies and I couldn't help, but think of Mike's Mom on this Memorial afternoon as Kamry asked to pick the giant peonies. It felt as though we could still hold on to a part of our old tradition, and remember a woman I never got meet, but know she was amazing because of the family I was so fortunate to marry into. Also because of Mike's love and devotion to me and our sweet kids. I look forward to the day I am able to meet her.