A little power-washing...

There isn't a shadow of a doubt how much Gavin LOVES to be WITH his Dad and LIKE his Dad. Even though lately it is driving Spencer mad. Mostly because Gavin is always getting into his stuff and basically taking it apart and losing things. Spencer is kind of particular about his stuff, he takes very good care of it for one, and second he tries to keep it pretty organized. Unfortunately due to Gavin's curiosity and determination not much of anything is organized these days. Yesterday Spencer was spraying out the trailer with the power washer and of course Gavin was all over that. Spencer was great and let him do it. It was pretty funny to see his little body jerk every time he pushed the button. It is pretty clean now, Gavin did a great job, now if he could only clean my house with that kind of passion...

Reeve Round-up 2009

Every other year Spencer's family puts on a reunion. It is down in Oak City, UT, near Delta. They usually rent the town hall and those that want to spend the night in the hall or camp-out on the lawn outside. The first year we were married we slept in the fall but in the recent past we have either stayed at a hotel in Delta or pulled our trailer down. This year Spencer's immediate family decided to camp up Oak City canyon before the reunion, so that is what we did. We got there the second night after the rain stopped and left as the rain came back. So I think it went pretty well and the kids had a ball of course playing with tons of cousins. As always they played some games. One of them is volleyball. Spencer's Aunt Joey who coached volleyball at Ricks brings this ginormous ball, probably as tall as me and pretty heavy. It gets pretty competitive and intense. This time we had to play inside the gym since it was rainy. Unfortunately the game had to be called due to the many ceiling tiles that had crashed to the ground and lights broken...oops! I got really upset and I'm not going to lie I made some comments I probably should have kept to myself...it reminded me why I stay away from participating in team sports..the competitiveness in me comes out, and I don't really like that..
Shawna & cute little Emma Dee
Sabrina & BJ
I used reverse psychology to get Gavin to smile here :)
Brooklyn & Emma
Grandpa Reeve & Gavin playing with some tools
Spencer & Gavin

Hovenweep

The Friday that school got out, we headed out camping with some friends the Smarts down to Monticello to camp. It was a super long drive and while in the past our kids have been amazing, the last few drives have become a bit cumbersome. A few weeks previous we had traveled down to Moab to camp, and the week before driven to Idaho for Memorial Day, so I think they had had their fill of traveling. Although once we arrive to our destination they are always thrilled. Our kids really enjoy camping. So do I as long as we are in a trailer :).
We camped in a canyon right out of Monticello called Blue Mountain, and it was beautiful! It rained at least once a day which actually was nice (except for the giant thunderbolt that I thought had to have hit right by us!) and kept it cool and also everything so green! There was a little pond that the kids fished at, and luckily we were with master fisherman Calvin, who helped Gavin catch a fish.
One of the days we drove a ways away to an Indian ruin called Hovenweap. There were a bunch of ruins that you hiked through. Brooklyn thought it was the coolest thing ever and kept asking my to take a million pictures of everything. It was pretty hot and the bugs were biting like crazy! Gavin is not a hiker, so poor Spencer had to carry him most of the way since he was whining so much, we'll have to work on that.

Strawberry Days Festivities

Since I grew up in Pleasant Grove, and lived here practically my entire married life I LOVE Strawberry Days. They say it is the longest running city tradition in the state. I was sad this year because Spencer's family planned their reunion during Strawberry Days, so we had to jam pack as much action in at the beginning of the week as possible.
Wednesday was the children's parade, it was raining but we decided to brave it anyway. Surprisingly this was the best parade we've ever done, because it was perfect weather! Usually it is so HOT! With our umbrella in hand it was nice cool weather and the kids did great. Gavin even walked...for a minute or two.


After the parade we headed down to the carnival it was crazy, since it was 50 cent night. We didn't even use all our tickets, because the lines were way long and we didn't want to wait.


Next was the rodeo and luckily we came prepared with lots of blankets and our umbrella. It poured during a good portion of the rodeo, but it wasn't windy or anything so it wasn't even cold. It was the first time we dared bring our kids to the rodeo and they loved it. It is so nice that our kids are getting to a stage where we can do things like that and they don't have to be entertained the whole time.

Even though all our Strawberry Day's festivities were packed into one day and it felt a little crazy we still had fun. At least I got my strawberries and cream!

Underwater Adventures

When Brooklyn was a newborn she had colic. It always started around 6 p.m. at night and would only last until 10p.m. or so. Spencer and I would hold out as long as we could and then put her in the tub, because she would immediately calm down. We would then leave her in there as long as the water was warm. So, since Brooklyn was a newborn she has LOVED the water. I put her in swimming lessons right before she turned three, because she would just jump right in without any reservations whatsoever...SCARY!! That is why I started her in swimming lessons so early, so that hopefully she would learn to swim before she drowned!
This year for my birthday I picked out a new camera specially designed for underwater!! It is so awesome! It has a float strap so if you drop it in the water by accident,it just bounces right back to the top. It also has a silicone cover that is like a shock absorber (perfect for my kids who are always handling my cameras!).
Last Friday we swam at Spencer's brother's pool and tried it out. I have to say I was way nervous submerging my brand new camera in the water but it was fine! Brooklyn was having a blast taking pictures underwater.
Although Brooklyn is my fish, Gavin is more of my beached whale. He would much rather look at the water or float on TOP of the water, rather than get in. I'm working on him though. I make him plug his nose and go under, hopefully by the end of the summer he will like it a little more.

PGHS Class of 1999

So, this past weekend was my High School ten year reunion. This may sound strange but in one aspect I don't feel like I should be old enough to attend a ten year reunion, but on the other hand high school seems like it was soooo long ago( like ten years ago haha!) Maybe because I have been married for the past nine and so many things have happened in my life in ten years. I feel good about what I have done with the past ten years of my life, even though things haven't and aren't going according to my "plan." I am a very methodical person, not too spontaneous or crazy. I really just like to plan things out. Even my children were planned down to the month they were born. The best thing that has happened to me in my life is my children and I am learning to appreciate them more and more every day and savour the small things. They teach me that the planned out things aren't always the best, sometimes the spontaneous things end up being the most fun. I am also realizing that I don't need to get so uptight if things don't work out right now, because eventually they always do. I love my husband Spencer he is so good to me and our kids. Hearing about what everyone has been up to for the past ten years really made me reflect on our life and it has been a busy one, but well worth it. Here is to ten more great years to come.

Summerfest

A few weeks ago a friend and I sat down and planned something once a week to take our kids to, to keep them busy this summer. This week we decided to visit Summerfest in Orem. Friday they were bringing in the AirMed Helicopter and I though my kids would really like seeing that, especially Gavin. To my surprise he was totally terrified to get inside it, for whatever reason I have no idea. That kid is so random somtimes. Brooklyn however was thrilled and loved it. They also had the Orem City Fire Dept. there with one of their fire engines and an ambulance. They were so nice they showed the kids all the compartments and gadgets everywhere and let them sit inside. He had them hold the hose and showed them how you turn it on. Brooklyn got to try on one of their coats. They also had crafts the kids made and then we played at the park. Pretty fun day for the kids and even better it was totally free!

Brooklyn sitting inside the AirMed Helicopter, pretty cozy in there I didn't realize how small they were inside.

Gavin holding the hose, this is his favorite thing in the world spraying people with hoses, ask my Mother-in-law he soaked her a couple weeks ago!

Brooklyn pulling back the lever that lets the water out of the hose.

Brooklyn in the fireman's jacket, she said "its not heavy!" I wasn't convinced..