Parentheticals

Monday we went to the park near the Dalia's house, and discovered a huge mulberry tree, and picked tons of berries. We made them into jelly and ice cream and smoothie, and plan on making a pie. On Wednesday Mike called an arborist to schedule them chopping down our cottonwood tree. It died this year, and we miss it. Timmy is very sad about chopping down the tree, but we don't want it falling on our house, so we have to do it. Mike also took Gideon in to set up his surgery (for removing his extra toes) and got a date for that (July 9th). We ordered LED strip lights for the front room, and they arrived Wednesday. Thursday we went out and bought a bunch of stuff to finish installing them including a Costa Rican mask to hide the electronics. We got the crown molding installed, and the mask, but not the lights themselves. Mike needs to do some electrical work before we are ready for that, but we think that it is gonna look great. Thursday we also walked Rea to activ...

We were so exhausted after Elizabeth's birth, Grandma Sheila decided to drive down Monday and help us out. She got a hotel with a pool and took the big kids to stay there with her for two days. It was heavenly! We managed to get enough naps to feel recovered from the birth, and the kids had a fabulous time. Alison mentioned it to her midwife, and she said that was the best idea she'd ever heard for out of town relatives and she was going to suggest it to other families. We loved it! Grandma even orchestrated Timmy's birthday party on Tuesday. He wanted Logan and Dustin to play and ice cream cake, so Grandma brought pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream cake and invited Logan and Dustin over to eat with us. Timmy loved it. He also loved his gifts: eggs you chisel open to reveal sea creatures from Grandma Sheila and Grandpa Mike, and two decks of Pokemon cards from Mom and Dad. He got money from Grandma Julie and Grandpa Craig, which he decided to spend on a LEGO set with a dra...

Baby Elizabeth arrived at 4:46 pm on Saturday June 15th. She is a big girl, 8 lbs 3 oz and 22 in. She is a fabulous eater and is working on learning to sleep in her own bed. The kids all love her so much (just like the parents). Her birth was quite an experience. We thought after four kids, we had this down, but she was determined to do things her own way. The first three kids all had very similar labors: Alison woke up knowing she was in labor, contractions got stronger and more frequent for several hours, eventually we went in and she used her hypnosis (or an epidural) to make it through transition and pushed the baby out really fast. Gideon bucked the trend by giving Alison contractions for an hour and then nothing for several hours for two days straight, and she didn't realize that she was progressing until she hit transition. We went to the midwife and quickly pushed him out. The midwife asked us to try to get there a little earlier this time! Elizabeth started off like ...

We did not have a baby this week. We did, however, get everything packed up and ready for when the baby does decide to come. Alison is betting on the week after next. On Sunday, for Family Night, Rea wanted to visit the temple grounds. So we drove to the Draper temple and walked around. It was very beautiful and the kids enjoyed seeing the flowers and walking on the wide edge of the oval flower bed in front of the temple. It was a good family night. Thank you, Rea! We actually had nice weather most of the week, finally! There were still some storms, but mostly at night, so we could play outside a lot. The kids spent lots of time in the backyard. They are really enjoying the new tree fort. Some day this week Mike ran a 5k. He had a fun time running beside one of his coworkers, and his new shoes fit so well that his feet didn't hurt afterward. Mike signed up to be a playtester for the new version of High Frontier. It's supposed to take only 2 hours, but it's taking hi...

On Monday we celebrated Memorial day with Mike's family, having a picnic at the park and playing with the cousins. The kids all had a fun time together while the adults talked. The kids then all wandered too far away, so we had to break up the conversation to discover where they all had gone off to. Grandpa Mike helped them catch a little garter snake, and they all loved holding it. After that, we worked some more on the fort, and also prepared to swap all of the winter clothes with summer clothes. The girls needed new clothing, but aunt Amy had supplied enough boy clothes for Timmy and Gideon that we didn't need to buy them anything. The day was blessedly free of rain - We like rain normally, but picnics in the rain is another thing altogether. Overall this week was pretty rain free, so we got more time outside, however the kids still fought a lot, so perhaps we have to break the habit from them. Tuesday Alison and the kids went to Wheeler farm. The kids met up with some...