Life's a Bowl of Cherries!

Two weeks ago we were able to enjoy a visit from the J's of the Pearcy family: Julie, Jonah, and Jackson!

What do you get when you buy 50 pounds of cherries...besides a whole lotta pits? Well, jam of course! And pie filling, and syrup, and cherry juice EVERYWHERE! And I'm not over-exaggerating...in your hair, all over your arms and clothes, up your nose, in your eye, cherry juice speckles dotting the floor...we are still finding it! Thanks to Michelle Brimhall saving the day with what we refer to as the power pitter, otherwise we'd still be here pitting cherries!

At one point during the cherry pitting/jam making/kitchen hotter-than-an-oven mayhem, I loaded up the kids for a visit to the new Highland Splash Park next to the new library. The kids got some energy out and I was able to chat with my friend Rachel, who happened to be there also...yay for me!

Being the pioneer women that we are, no summertime visit would be complete without a visit to the local fair, right? We ventured into town for the annual American Fork Steel Days Carnival. The kids had fun on the rides while we amused ourselves with people watching...the lack of teeth in carnival-goers sure did inspire our kids to brush theirs!!!




Zoe and Jackson feeling a little bit queasy after the "RING of FIRE":

Treating ourselves to "Gel Toes"....a little less pioneering! :)

Seven Peaks was not to be missed and the kids had a great time while we slow-cooked in the 100+ degree heat. It was hot! We stopped on the way home at Red Robin to pick up some of their delicious onion straws to make BBQ Chicken Salad for dinner...YUMMY!

Continuing with the food theme, we finally made it to Kneader's on Saturday and enjoyed a late lunch and the oh, so delicious Napoleon. (why didn't we think to take pictures of these???) Later on that evening, we enjoyed fireworks in honor of Steel Days.


Friendships can easily be lost due to distance and so I'm very grateful to have a friend that is willing to make the trip to visit and is just as willing to let our clan invade her house, too! Thanks for coming Jules! You're the BEST!!!

Jacquelynne's 18th Birthday!

I can't believe it's been 18 years since our first little girl was born! Wow, how time flies! I still remember our little baby that always wanted her mommy...most of the time, Jacquelynne could be found firmly planted on my hip and didn't like to be out of my sight. When we couldn't find her, all we had to do was look up, as she was usually at the top of some jungle gym or in a tree. One time we heard giggling coming from inside her closet...there she was on the top shelf!

We recognize that it's been hard, at times, being the oldest of 6. But Jacquelynne has always been a great big sister! She has taken on much responsibility and is the first to pitch in to get a job done. She has proven over and over again that there is nothing that she cannot accomplish!!! She is a great example to everyone!

We love you Jacquelynne and can't wait to see what the future has in store for you!

Let Freedom Ring!

A quick summary of the King's Independence Day...

A loooonnnnggg, but super fun day that began with this:

My first 10K...that is a whole 6.2 miles and I am proud to report that I ran the ENTIRE way...and believe me, you are not the only person wondering why one would get up at 5 AM to submit themselves to this! This is my friend Carli Oyler, fromTemecula, who now lives in Lehi, and her sister, Marni, visiting from California. With about a quarter of a mile to go, she ran the rest of the way with me (she had already finished!) and pushed me and cheered me on...that's a sign of a true friend...honestly, I don't know that I would do the same, as I just wanted to lie down and die at that point...she's the best! I was hoping to finish in under an hour, but it took me 1:04, oh well!

Then...

We watched the Freedom Festival Parade from the sidewalk in front of a business owned by one of Jacquelynne's friends. It was loud and fun, hot and then rainy. I don't know that we've actually ever gone to this parade, so it was fun to experience!

The kids went scrambling for the FREE Coke Zero...this is a perfect beverage for children at 9AM
Katie Eastman and me...Luckily for her, I was able to shower after the race!

Walking to the Freedom Festival on Center Street in Provo...

Free Activities

Art

Face Painting
The Stockade
And hey, come on over and pet our boa...don't worry, he doesn't bite...



And finally (about 17 hours later!) this:

Fireworks at Thanksgiving Point! Zoe and Kirsten were lucky enough to go to the Stadium of Fire and see the Jonas Brothers with the Brinkerhoff's. Both Emma and Jacquelynne opted to hang out with friends/boys. So it was just Jeff and I, along with Zach and Jaymison. We met up with the Huffman clan and enjoyed the music and show. It's a great tradition!

Pre-School Graduation!

The elementary school offers a pre-school program that Jaymison was so excited to be a part of this year. She loved the fact that she got to go to school. When Dad was home, she was always so glad to have him walk her and pick her up. She had a great teacher, Ms. Chris, who didn't take no gruff! Jaymison learned so much but sometimes gave Ms. Chris a hard time, by trying to write in cursive...gee I wonder if she has a big brother that learned to write in cursive this year???

Black sheep, black sheep, what do you see?

I see a gold fish looking at me!

She just HAD to sit up on the wall!

Field Day!

This was Zoe's class (my zoom feature is broken).... they performed

Laughter in the Rain

They were each supposed to bring a raincoat and an umbrella

This was Zach's class...performing the theme song from Footloose...

And here's Jaymison's preschool class...

Going on a Bear Hunt!

High School Graduation!

Our little baby...graduating from High School??? Yep!

I don't know if I'm the only one that feels this way, but the day your child graduates from High School is a little bittersweet. On the one hand, you are so excited for the next chapter in their life. All that life has in store for them, adventures that they might have, things that they'll get to experience....the possibilities are endless!

On the other hand, it's a little sad, too. They are spreading their wings, making their own choices, wanting freedom in a whole new way. And there's a little part of you thinking, wait...don't go, don't you want to stay with us? Memories come flooding in and you can't imagine your home without them in it!

But it wasn't about us, graduation was about Jacquelynne...and we're so proud of her!!!

Jacquelynne has accomplished so many things...she wore the silver cord, signifying a GPA of higher than 3.6. She held down and a job and has been working her way through Cosmetology school also. She was accepted at BYU-Idaho, BYU-Provo, and the U of U!

Jacquelynne has been a great example to her younger siblings and has been valiant in her efforts to make good choices and be the best that she can be! Great things are in store for you, Jacq! We love you!

We were lucky to have Grandma Sandy here to be a part of it! It was so nice of her to take the time out of her busy schedule and come up from Las Vegas. Being here was enough, but being the wonderful grandma that she is, she did a lot of nice things to ensure that Jacquelynne's day was special...she bought her beautiful flowers and she treated everyone to a nice dinner at Magleby's in Provo! I know that Jacquelynne really appreciated her thoughtfulness and the time we had together.

PS~ A big THANK YOU to everyone that sent cards and gifts!!!!

Jacquelynne reading the novel I wrote in her card....




Jacquelynne and Dad...

Jacquelynne's Seminary Graduation

Jacquelynne completed a great task...she graduated from Seminary!

Seminary is a class that you take every year from 9th through 12th grade. It's a religion class and each year has a different focus- New Testament, Old Testament, The Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. In other states, it's usually everyday at 6am. This induces much grumbling from other members of our faith, who have to arrange carpools and get up early in the morning, but here in Utah, being the land of Zion that it is, kids get to take it as one of their class periods. And since our school district has an A/B schedule, they only have to go every other day. Sorry...we can't help it that Utah is cool like that!

But, students are technically on release time here, and whether they go or not is completely up to them. Because of this, many students do not complete Seminary. Also, some opt to take different classes, foregoing it altogether. So we think that it's a big deal that she endured and even chose to take early-morning Seminary (at 6am) for one semester, so that she could complete it...way to go Jacquelynne!!!