Gabe's Birthday Party

We had Gabe's birthday party today. It was going to be at the park, but we woke up this morning to rain that didn't seem to want to stop in time for the party, so we moved the party to my parent's house. It was the 4 of us, plus my parents, Josh, Alyssa, Brandon and Angela, Gary, and Dan and Kelly. So, it was just a family party anyway. The adults all got to visit while Carissa and Gabe played with Gabe's new toys. It did stop raining and dried up outside by the afternoon, so Gabe could try out some of his new outside toys. Also, I went for my first little motorcycle ride since I got my license, and my dad rode his motorcycle, and the two ATVs also had riders taking turns in my parents neighborhood. All the riding was started by Gabe's little remote controled ATV, which turned into him and Carissa getting rides on the real ATVs. We all got to enjoy spending time together along with some pizza and cake. Tomorrow is Gabe's birthday, so we'll go out to dinner at his choice of restaurant.

Our first Harvest

It was a very little harvest, but there is still more to come. This summer was our first attempt at growing food, and while some plants didn't make it others did. We should have green beans, peas, cucumber, and sage. Today, we picked the first bunch that was ready. We should have enough green beans to have with dinner tonight, but we'll have to save the peas for another day when we have more.

Balloon Glow

Last night we went to the Balloon Glow here in Sandy to see what it was like. It was fun, but much smaller than the one I went to in CO when I was younger. There were 8 balloons there and it was fun to watch them pull the balloons out and then blow them up. Carissa and Gabe were both amazed at how big they were. Also, when we first got there we saw the fire truck and the kids got to get in the truck and look around at everything. That was a lot fun and I wished I would have had my camera with me, but I didn't. We got to get right up under the balloon by the basket and look up in side the balloon and every so often they would blow the fire to keep the balloon up. Carissa was very interested in it all, but Gabe was afraid of the fire and it made him nervous. Then we went over to where the band was playing and the kids danced for a little while before we left. Well, mostly Carissa danced, because it was too loud for Gabe and he ended up hiding between my legs so that he could cover his ears with my legs while he sat down.

More Roller Skating

This time I managed to get a couple of pictures of the kids while they were playing with the roller skates outside. And this time, Gabe has his own helmet and pads instead of his sister's.

Jack's house

Gabriel has had an imaginary friend named Jack for quite some time now, and sometimes we will hear about Jack everyday and sometimes not for weeks. This time Gabe told me that he was building Jack's house. He gave me all the details about the rooms and windows at Jack's house.

Roller Skates

So, a little while back we got a pair of roller skates from Ben's mom for the kids to have. They are a little bit big size wise, but close enough and today Carissa and Gabe got to try them out. It was their very first time using roller skates and they both did pretty well, and even though they would fall down they would get right back up and try again. Also, they did a great job sharing since we only have the one pair of roller skates. I wanted to get a picture, but by the time I had the camera they were pretty much done with skating. Also, we have a helmet and pads for Gabe on our list to buy as soon as we can afford it, because all we have right now is two pink/purple helmets and one set of pink/purple knee and elbow pads. So, Gabe looks pretty silly in all that pink and purple, at least he isn't complaining about it yet. Some neighbor kids were looking at him a little funny today though.

4th of July

We spent a few days in Jackpot, NV at my grandparents house for the 4th of July weekend. My parents, Josh, and Alyssa were also there for the weekend. So, on the 4th we went out to the lake were my uncle and aunt were camping. Carissa and Gabriel had a great time playing in the lake, and they even got to go on a boat ride. Then, they got to go on the tube behind the boat for the first time ever. We spent a few hours at the lake, then went back to the house for a snack. After that we went over to the pool to go swimming for about an hour then we came back and had showers. Followed by a nice big dinner out on the deck and then dessert with fireworks display. You can watch the town fireworks display from the deck at my grandparents, which was very nice. Carissa managed to stay up all day through everything and Gabe made it until the middle of the fireworks display before falling asleep. I saw that Gabe was getting sleepy, and said something about and he said that he was tired and that he was just going to keep one eye open to watch the fireworks. Then he woke up when we were laying him down in bed after the fireworks were over and he said that he still wanted to watch the fireworks. It was a very busy day, but a lot of fun.

I really like the floaties that I bought for the kids, and I think that it looks like my sister is posing in this pic.


Josh and Alyssa were sitting with Gabe and Carissa on the tube.