Dawson Update

Dawson is growing up sooo fast!  He is my little cuddle baby.  He loves to cuddle.  He loves to be held and give hugs.  He will snuggle his little head on my shoulder.  He loves his Mama :-).  He has figured out how to pull up and stand!  Sometimes I even find him standing and balancing for a few seconds.  He really has great balance!!  He loves to eat!  He is getting chunkier and chunkier.  His height is below average, and his weight is a little above average, so that means he is short and chunky!  I love it. We call him a Mini Cooper, since he resembles Cooper a lot.  However, lately he is resembling Kaylee quite a bit with his blond hair and blue eyes.  He loves Grandpa, and he loves to bite into apples!  He also loves the sand!!! He doesn't eat it as much as he used to, but he loves to get his hands all dirty in the wet sand!! I love you Dawson!!

Father Son Campout

Nate took the big boys to the Father Son Campout on Saturday morning.  They made an egg breakfast and spent some time on the lake.  It sounds like they had a blast, and the kids enjoyed spending some Dad time together.  Nate said the kids were trying so hard to row their canoe.  They were doing everything they could to get it to go.  With two uncoordinated rowers rowing along with Nate trying to row at the same time, they were literally getting nowhere.  :-)  Finally, the boys turned to Nate and asked him to row for them.  It was a neat analogy that Nate used later in a talk at church.  Sometimes we do all we can, we try our hardest, but our human weakness just doesn't allow us to succeed.  Sometimes we have to turn to our Father in Heaven and just ask Him to help us, to carry us.  It was a neat interpretation of their experience in the row boat.  I'm so grateful for Nate and for his love for his boys! 

Night at the Drive-In

We took the family to the Garrett Drive-In, a very old fashioned style drive in.  It was soo much fun!  We folded down the seats in the Odyssey and covered it with sleeping bags and blankets.  We filled up our buckets of popcorn and all got cozy together.  What a blast!  Dawson fell asleep half way through and slept in his car seat - how convenient!  We watched Dispicable Me 2, and Monsters University followed.  It was a super late night!  We got home close to 2am and Kaylee surprisingly did not fall asleep until the car ride home!  You can imagine how tired these kids were the next day!!

Unbirthday Party

On Monday, our final full day of our trip we decided to throw an Unbirthday Party with all the kiddos. Since we are never able to spend birthdays together because of the distance, we had a giant unbirthday party for everyone.  The day started off with the kids drawing names for each other and shopping at the dollar store for a $1 gift for their cousin.  Cooper and Amanda got gifts for each other.  Dillon & Jaxton got gifts for each other, and Kaylee & Spencer got gifts for each other.  When we got back to Grandma's house, the kids separated and wrapped up their presents.  Then they got to decorate the basement with streamers and balloons.  Once the room was "party ready" the kids exchanged gifts.  We baked some cookies and sent them all outside to play in the kiddie pool, slip and slide and to fill and toss water balloons.  What a fun filled summer day!  We will never forget it.  

When it was time for Melissa to take her kids home, we realized that this would be goodbye.  We would be flying home in the morning and we would not see them for another year or two.  When it was time to say goodbye, Amanda and Dillon began to cry.  I don't know if my kids fully understood what was happening, that they would not be able to see these good friends of theirs for a very long time.  Jaxton began getting a little teary eyed, but Cooper was happy as could be.  He wasn't sure why Amanda would not stop crying.  They hugged and we said our goodbyes.  I cried too as I hugged my sister.  We have so much in common and it was a lot of fun to be together and let the kids grow such wonderful friendships with each other.  

On the airplane home the next day, it finally truly hit Cooper.  He looked out the airplane window and started to cry.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said he didn't want to leave.  He knew he wouldn't see his cousins or grandparents for a very long time.  And it truly made him sad.  He closed up the window, and about halfway through the flight, he quickly jerked open the airplane window and looked out.  Then he turned to me with teary eyes.  I asked if he was feeling sad.  He said, "The mountains were my clue that we were in Utah.  And now the mountains are gone."  What a sweet boy. No worries, though.  We will return!!  What a wonderful trip!

Temple Service Project

As part of the family reunion, we did a temple service project with the kids.  Grandma put together little mint packages with a small note that said "in honor of our Great Grandpa's 100th birthday, thanks for your service at the temple today." Each cousin got a small white temple bag full of mints and each cousin out several little packages onto different cars along a parking row.  a couple times Poole were just arriving back at their cars or just pulling the parking spot. The kids talked withthesepeople to make sure they knew there was something on their windshield.  The people always gave the kids smiles.  

Grandma

 Grandma welcomed the kids into her home with individual packages sitting on their beds, filled with goodies just like the packages we receive from her in the mail.  Of course they were thrilled,  Jaxton and Cooper remember Grandma and Grandpa well, but Kaylee had to take a few moments to reunite with them.  I think she remembered, but was a bit unsure and a little confused.  Grandma spent lots of her time holding kids and reading books.  Cooper spent an entire afternoon on Grandmas lap while she told him stories about her as a kid and about me as a child.  The kids played outside in the slip and slide and in the sprinklers and Ina fun blow up pool.  One day Grandma took Jaxton to an Eagle Scout service project.  They washed, dried, and sorted thousands and thousands of Legos to be donated to schools in the area.  That was really fun for Jax since he loves Legos.  He got just a few minutes at the end to build something, but most of the time was all work.  It sounds like they had a good time.

Grandma tells the kids that the Utah mountains are "Grandma's Mountains."when we were on the airplane to go home, Cooper's airplane window was closed.  About halfway through the flight he opened it, and then shut it really fast and got upset.  I asked him what was wrong.  He said that his "clue" to Utah was the mountains and now the mountains were gone.  And that meant Utah was gone.    We all will miss Utah and all our family very very much!

Grandpa

Kaylee remembered Grandpa I think.  She adored Grandpa.  He read her book after book and even put her down for several naps during our stay.  Grandpa took the kids to Cabelas individually, to see the giant fish tank and all the animals.  

One morning he took Cooper with him to run some errands.  They went to Costco and got lots of sample snacks-Cooper's favorite thing!  Then they went to Home Depot for some supplies.  Apparently, they heard a bunch of kids and voices and found a kids building workshop going on.  So, they sat down and built a wooden car project together.  Grandpa said that he enjoyed helping Coop to figure out how to work the different tools and how to hold the hammer to get just the right swing.  He looked adorable in his orange work apron!   

On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpas church doesn't start till 2:30. So we had all morning and lunchtime to spend before church.  Jaxton really wanted to go into the mountains.  Grandpa and Jaxton and I took a drive into American Fork Canyon.  It is beautiful up there.  We got out at a little picnic area next to the river and spent some wonderful time in nature.  We all got our feet wet as we went river walking along the river.  As we watched and listened to the rapid water flowing constantover and through the rocks, it just amazed me the beauty of the earth's creations.  It was a very uplifting Sabbath Day activity with Grandpa.  

Cousins

All of Melissa's kids have gotten so big!  They almost don't look like the same kids.  Amanda is tall and such a huge helper.  Cooper adores her to pieces.  The two of them would play together every minute.  Dillon has grown too, and he and Jaxton became quick buddies.  They both love Legos and spent a lot of time building together.  Spencer and Kaylee are close in age and it was fun to see them play alongside one another.  He has such a cute personality and tries to keep up with all the big kids.  Baby Bella is an adorable, chubby one year old, a little bit sassy.  She is very partial to her mom, and gives cute dirty looks to anyone in the way.  It was fun to see Dawson and Bella crawl and toddle around together.  

One day the kids went to open gym at Amanda's gymnastics place.  Cooper was excited, but got super nervous when he saw all the teenage gymnasts doing all sorts of crazy flips and tricks.  He warmed up after a few moments as he watched other smaller kids like him just playing on all the balance beam, bars, ad mats and jumping in the foam pit.  I couldn't get them to leave.  They stayed for 2 solid hours till the very end and helped put away all the equipment at the end.  It was a blast to watch them and boy were they tired! 

 The big kids had a fun slumber party at Amanda and Dillons house two nights during our stay.  They were up super late, but had a blast.  I'm not sure all that they did at their slumber party, but I am sure that they made some awesome memories with their cousins.   I'm so glad that their friendship could continue where it left off two years ago.  And I pray that it will continue the same for when we come out again next time to visit.  

When we had to say goodbye to Melissa and the cousins, both Amanda and Dillon broke down in tears.  Cooper was a little caught off guard.  I think he didn't know exactly what to think.  I don't think he fully understood what was happening.  Jaxton understood and got teary eyed, but was trying not to show emotion.   On the airplane, it finally hit Cooper.  As the plane lifted off, cooper started to cry and said, "we won't see them for a long time." I told him he was right and gave him a hug.  He truly was sad.  As for Amanda and Dillon, they don't have cousins that live close by that they can play with and make super close friendships with the way that the four of them really bonded.  The four big kids grew to love each other like family.  You can't love other friends that much.  So this was very unique for all the kids.  They definitely will miss one another, but we are determined to stay in touch.

Provo Freedom Run

Nate and I got up bright and early on the Fourth of July to run the annual Provo Freedom Run 5k.  There were hundreds and hundreds of runners, and thousands of spectators.  It was a huge, huge event.  It was so fun to be a part of it.  We got to Provo and walked down tithe race starting line and gathered amongst hordes of runners.  It was a magnificent start as everyone took off and was fun to run around the Provo roads and neighborhoods that I had walked so many times before.  The finish was in Kawanis Park.  Nate finished in 25 minutes, the 22nd finisher in his age bracket.  I finished in 27 minutes, also the 22nd finisher in my age bracket.  We both loveProvo, for the memories we hold there.  It was a great run!

We had been trying to get up and run early I the morning several mornings during our trip to prepare for our 5k.  There truly is no more beautiful place to run.  We ran up on Traverse Mountain where the views of the valley are just incredible to behold.  Even in Provo for our race, there is no more beautiful place to run than by being surrounded by such magnificent mountains. 

Fourth of July in Utah

The Fourth of July in Utah was a fun day, especially with the kids and their cousins.  We had a BBQ at Melissa and Marcos's house where the kids played in the sand and on a fun kids jeep outside.  Melissa's neighborhood has a celebration at the end of their cul de sac with food and a full show of fireworks.  Each family pitched in and they had truly the best fireworks show we have seen close up.  It actually was quite dangerous because the cul de sac was small and was surrounded by houses.  At one point, one of the firework cans tipped over and shot out sideways, hitting someone's chair!  Everyone scooted their chairs back at that point, a little nervous and a little bit more aware of how dangerous this activity was.  The kids loved it though and enjoyed every minute. 

By now, it was about 10:00.  The Thanksgiving Point fireworks show had begun.  We drove back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to watch this gigantic show from their deck on the back of their house.  They have a spectacular view.  The show was wonderful and peaceful up on the deck.  It was a great Fourth and the kids slept in till 8:30 and 9:00 Utah time the next morning!

Temple Square

We spent one of our days at Temple Square with Grandma.  It is always one of the places you can't come to Utah and not see.  It was super hot, but we still walked around The tabernacle, the temple, and the beautiful grounds.  We got some updated family photos in front of the temple.  The we headed over to the Church History Museum where we met up with our cousins.  The kids love to play I the kids  hands on area of the museum.  Kaylee got dressed up and went dancing with mom.  The boys and even Dawson spent lots of time in Nephi's ship, building planks and going fishing.  Kaylee also spent time in the kitchen cooking for the pretend missionaries.  

When everyone was hungry, we headed over to the new mall and Nate got a pizza to share.  We ate 

Pizza and let the kids play in the small splash pad there in the mall.  The mall had all sorts of silly rules though.  They did not allow swim suits, so Kaylee was asked to put on shorts over her suit.  And the boys all had to put shirts on.  They were not allowed to put their feet in the fountains that's were flowing to the ground, and weren't allowed to go in the kids splash area without shoes.  Cups to carry water were not allowed in some of the fountains, but the police never said anything about cups in the kids fountain.  The kids came up with a fun game with their cups.  They would Put the cup on the ground where the water was going to come up and when the water shot up, the cups would go flying. It was a fun idea, invented by Jaxton, and adopted by all the kids there at the splash pad.  What a fun day in Salt Lake.