Ryan's farewell trip to St. George

The week before Ryan went into the MTC we loaded up the kids and the boat and made our way to St. George for a "last hurrah" trip with the Durrants. Thank heavens for the dvd player in our van!My parents rented a really beautiful house that had plenty of room for all the married couples and the two grandkids. We went boating at Sand Hollow two of the days we were there. The weather was actually only in the 90's (which is pretty amazing for July) and the water at the lake was smooth-perfect for the wakeboarders of our group.

It was fun to just be together at the house after a long day of boating. We all took turns cooking meals and presenting a thought at our evening devotionals. Of course, the real highlight of the trip was spending time laughing and crying (and reading books) with Ryan.

The pool in the backyard was a huge hit with Eleyna! In fact, one time she was having so much fun she walked right off the edge and in to the water with no floaties on. Uncle Joseph had to make a quick rescue grab. My little daredevil...
The recap of this trip wouldn't be complete without a picture of me (7 months pregnant) in my swimsuit at one of our devotionals-taken by mom. Just trying to do what I can to maintain a faithful family history for posterity and serve as birth control for my married sisters. At least the couch is sort of shielding me. :)

I know that this is biased but I must say that family vacations with my family are the best. I'm sad we're going to have to do without Ryan for a few years. Sure love that boy!

The Latest of Leyna

Favorite foods: She loves popsicles, noodles and cheese, carrots, apples and Dora or Ariel fruit snacks.Outdoor activities she enjoys: Swimming, boating, pretty much anything involving water

Things she names while we're driving around: Library, church, temple, tractors, towers, balloons, yellow cars, flags, big trucksSongs she can sing: Twinkle, Twinkle, Rock-a-bye baby, I am a child of God, ABC's, Popcorn popping, Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam, I'm so glad when daddy comes home

Places she's always asking to go: Pirate Island, the pool, Kyser and Nash's house, grandma's, nursery

Cute phrases: "I have a question" "Too high, can't reach it" "Mommy big belly" "Stay in the jungle like Mowgli" (from Jungle Book) "Um hmm, ya sure" "Watch a show?" "Down the hill!" "Happy to see you" "Excuse me" "Nice to meet you"

Missionary

My cute brother Ryan left on his mission to Paraguay on August 5. The night before the whole family came to support him as he was set apart. It was a tender couple of days. We miss him of course, but are so proud at the same time.
Ryan has always been a special guy in my children's lives and I think that's what I'll miss the most. That, or maybe the frequent texts I got from him this past summer near dinnertime begging me to feed him so he wouldn't have to subsist on my mom's vegan cooking. It was kind of a nice compliment to my cooking skills in a roundabout way. :)

Eleyna prays for Ryan every time she says a prayer and it soothes my heart to hear it.

We love you Elder Durrant!

Provo Canyon

We needed a way to beat the heat so... we headed for the mountains!
Eleyna tried her hand at softball for the first time.We think she's got pretty good form for a two year old.

Coolin' their heels in the river

Munchin' an apple with Mom

Throwin' rocks

Life doesn't get much better...

What a glorious creation this earth is! We are so lucky we get to enjoy it.

4th of July

The Saturday before the 4th of July we got to go swimming at the Lindon pool with our cousins, Kyser and Nash. Afterwards, we went to their house for a bbq and presents for Nash's 3rd birthday. Bryson had to go patrol at the apartments once the Stadium of Fire started so we didn't do any fireworks that night.

(My little pool bum-so cute!)

However, we made up for it on Monday. Leyna was a little scared during the first couple of fireworks, but she warmed up once we got around to the sparklers. She thought those were lots of fun!!!


Uncle Ryan and Grandpa came down to watch the fireworks with us. It's so fun having family close by.

Boating on Utah Lake

Eleyna LOVES to go out on the boat this year. She has a little hippo floatie that we put her in so she can swim off the back of boat with daddy. Even when it is choppy she wants to be in the water in her hippo.She's fearless. We put her on the tube for the first time the other day and she did awesome. Smiled the whole time!
She's only two and I'm amazed that she is so adventurous. It is so fun to watch her experience things for the first time.
Hunter hasn't enjoyed the boat quite as much this year. As he has gotten older he has started to get overstimulated a lot easier. The heat, sunlight and movement is a tough combination for him to handle. We still like going out as a whole family though so sometimes we bring him anyway. Luckily he has a special spot that we can keep shaded for him. Thanks for being such a trooper little man.

Baby Eisley

(Doesn't Bryson look handsome in this picture? What a hunk!)

This is Bry and Eleyna with our new little niecey Eisley. She was born on July 9.
Holding Eisley made me ache for my own sweet baby. She's so cute!
Hunter isn't going to know what hit him when our little one makes landfall. However, I think it is going to be an even tougher adjustment for our toddler who is something of an only child at this point.
Nash and Eleyna were being too crazy to really notice the baby much.

Cousins are so much fun!