june: pretty much everything else

June 1st was the first official day of summer, wooo! In order to somewhat slow the screen-time-induced rotting of brains, Chuck and I came up with a list of daily tasks that the older boys had to complete before asking for screens: breakfast, brush teeth, exercise, read scriptures/the Friend, journal, practice typing, chore, and practice piano. As you can see, the younger kids opted to participate as well:

The boys checked out another bike park in town and heartily endorse it.

Jackers went under the knife! Cute boy got tubes put in his ears and his adenoids taken out. He was a champ, although waking up from the anesthesia was a little rough; he basically hated the world. BUT the nurse thought I was in some sort of child development field because of my "amazing" "parenting" (her words, and also mine) sooooo at least someone left the hospital feeling good!

Jack's recovery at home was really smooth, he was up and running around right away, and happily joined us for a family walk... the next day? Ish?

Clyde earned his Wolf Award at Cub Scouts! What a superstar kiddo. Someday I will sew on his little badges and stuff. That day is not today.

Chuck, Clyde, and Will got to go see the new Avengers movie in the theater. The expensive one. For a while we had a little big of a waffle addiction (not classy homemade waffles, waffles of the eggo variety...) and you got a free ticket with every box purchased so off they went! (we're now on a bagel addiction. Jack calls them magels. It's perplexing and hilarious).

The big boys took swimming lessons the last two weeks of June (spoiler alert: also in July and August) and keeping Jack and Carma happy poolside was F-U-N. I was 88% sure Carma was going to end up in the water at some point, but we managed to avoid that, so I'm calling it all a success.

One fun Carma milestone in June was learning to climb onto the trampoline all alone, grrrr. One day the boys ran in and yelled, "Carma's on the trampoline!" so I went out and plucked her off and put her on the ground and watched (and documented!) what happened next. Sure enough, the little (nakey!) monkey climbed back on (well, almost. I couldn't watch that last final slither so I plucked her off again). If our summer had a soundtrack, it would feature "SHUT THE BACK DOOR SO CARMA DOESN'T GET OUT" as one of the biggest hits.

Carma had her one-year check up at the doctor one Friday morning and because I HAVE ISSUES I dressed her in a blue and white striped polo shirt. The same shirt each of the boys wore to their one-year check ups. Why? Who knows. I think for Will's appt I was like, "Oh hey, I (weirdly) remember that Clyde wore this shirt, it's cute, Will can wear it too." and then for Jack I was like, "Oh hey, I (weirdly) dressed both older boys in this for this appt, might as well make it a trifecta" and then for Carma I was like "Chuck, do you think there's a name for this behavior?" and he patiently smiled (although I think his eyes had a hint of panic) and told me, as always, to dress her in whatever I wanted. So here's the line up, oldest to youngest, in their carseats:

and standing/wobbling up. Honestly, if we're playing "who wore it best?" I think it was Will.

Aaand since after Will and Jack's appts we visited my grandpa Braden (to maximize our road trip into the big city, aka Boise), this time we opted to visit my dad! We started off in his amazing backyard (greenery! ponds! rabbits!)...

and then headed basically next door to play at the Boise River for a bit! The boys braved the water and Grandpa taught some rock-skipping lessons and Carma enjoyed snacks and dirt, possibly in equal amounts ;).

That Sunday was Father's Day! We made Chuck a sign... and hopefully some food? I know he was at the church most of the morning for meetings... and after for a bit. Let's just say I made him an amazing dinner; this is the official family record so it's now truth. Seriously though, Chuck is a completely stellar dad to our wee band of yahoos.

June found us out and about on our bikes quite a bit. Terri sent me some Mother's Day money, so I hooked myself up with one of those fantastically comfortable gel-filled bike seats and I'll never look back.

Oh man, one day Chuck found this fantastic app where as you brush your teeth, a cool like Disney picture is revealed and it revolutionaryized our twice daily routine... for a few months. Alas, the allure has now worn off and it's back to "Keep brushing! That wasn't two minutes! Nope, ALL your teeth!" But it's fun to look back at happier times haha.

OH, this was not really a happier time. Clyde had an appt with his pediatric surgeon about possibly having another surgery. It was not a fun exam for Clyde (... putting it mildly...) and then it's highly possibly we got the runaround at the hospital when we ventured over for an x-ray. BUT like four hours later Clyde got an ice cream and sometime during he got a treat from the vending machine - which somehow he had never experienced before?? Honestly not sure how that's possible. Mostly I just love love love this kid (and I also LOVE Grandma Pam for being home with the other three kids for this marathon afternoon since it was scheduled while Chuck was at scout camp).

Random cute Carma in one of my favorite little outfits. Spoiler alert: we're about due for another round-up of Carma fashion. I'd say two posts away.

Jack is my best eater and also the kid least likely to starve because he'll just get things done. Like making himself a roast beef sandwich. I seriously walked into the kitchen to find this one day, hahaha.

Oh man we love the library. Our new thing is parking on the verrrry top of the parking garage (aka the fourth floor). The kids love it. And then Clyde takes the stairs down and the rest of us take the elevator and we race. He always beats us. The only downside is having to hurry a wee bit as the parking garage is only free for the first hour... but luckily we're there like three times a week ;).

Oh man, some random shots. Upper right: Courtney! While we were in Utah for Grandma's party, I sneaked over to see Court and her amazing house. They bought a fixer-upper (I saw it in April) and a gazillion hours were put in by Courtney and Ben and dedicated family and friends and I was so thrilled to see it now that they were all moved in. Bottom left: girls' night! Only three of us were there and my hair was not flattering, but life happens. Middle: I just love boys with no personal space hahaha. The other two pictures are some I texted Chuck while he was at Scout Camp, just so he'd know I wasn't really having the opportunity to miss him because children were smothering me day and night haha.

But whenever we started missing Chuck, we just ate ice cream. It was fantastic. 

Yay June! I'll post about Scout camp itself, possibly with Chuck's other summer campouts and activities. He told me he'd help! I'll hold him to it!

june: church stuff

Someday when my great great great grandchildren are forced by my great great grandchildren to dust off my old blog books (that I will print! someday...) in an effort to "connect" with their "ancestors", those poor great great great grandchildren are going to be like, "Seriously? Did this lady's life revolve around trips to Utah and 'church stuff'? Did she ever write about anything else?" and my ghost whisper response will be "Nooooooo. Sorrrry. I threw away all my angst-filled diaries from junior high, so you're stuck with my boring adult life that did, indeed, revolve around family and the good Lord. Also I'm haunting yoooouuuuu." I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited for that day.

But in the meantime, here are cute Sunday evening Jack and Carma to kick off this post about all the church-related activities the Izatts hit up during the month of June!

OH man, the orchard. I actually don't blame my descendants for skimming over this - but I can't not include a cute picture of Carma so here it is. AND here's a photo illustration of what thinning looks like, before and after! #educational And thus ends the pictures from the orchard... until like August. Then we went back five times to pick the fruit!!

Ward Temple Night was early in the month. The amazingly sweet Kiki watched our kids and I knew Carma would be a handful and our ward succeeded in getting a lot of members to the temple that night so Chuck and I opted to do initiatory. I ended up having about fifteen minutes afterwards to sit in the main corridor of the temple waiting for Chuck, which I loved. Sitting in a beautiful, peaceful environment is always so soothing, and I took the opportunity to look around and ponder how to better replicate that same feeling in our home. I jotted down some of my ideas later that night and it's something I think about a lot, but I haven't focused on as much as I want to...

That weekend was the Youth Carnival Fundraiser, aka the culmination of months of hard work from both the youth aaaand their leaders.They had a bajillion different booths/activities and then some entertainment and a spaghetti feed and a dessert/service auction and the whole thing was so well done. (For the record, aka in case we do this again sometime, here were some of the booths: four way tug of war, 'kissing booth' aka guess how many Hershey's kisses are in a container, fishing, family photos, Jedi training academy, bean bag toss, washer toss, dunk tank, I Spy... I might be missing some...)

Chuck volunteered to head up an 'I Spy' activity so we put together this board and then had a paper with 15? 20? items to find. I'm not going to lie; I was ex.treme.ly. proud of this. In my head, it was the most popular activity there.

 Okay, the actual favorite one was probably the dunk tank, generously lent to us by Brother Walker Sr. The Bishopric + Chuck were recruited as the dunkees and my jump in the lower left is when I knocked Chuck into the tank hahaha. Good times!!

  

The ridiculously darling Brooklyn and I (and Carma!) sneaked out for an adventure one night. We admired the cool jewelry at Savers before hitting up the books and CDs and cookies at Target. Brooklyn is very up on all the cool bands and youtube stars and so I shamelessly grilled her so that I can fake my way through future conversations with teenagers. And even though she declined to try my orange milanos, I still love her so so so much and I'm glad she fit me in between driver's ed and Supernatural netflix marathons ;).

As previously mentioned, we headed back to town quickly from Utah for a temple sealing - my grandpa's! Grandpa passed away two and a half years ago and still hadn't been sealed to his parents, so we were able to see that ordinance completed on their behalf. My aunt and uncle had all of their kids + spouses in town for the weekend and Chuck and I loved being able to be there as well, especially since it fell the day after our anniversary and we were in the same room (well, pre-remodel) that we were sealed in all those many (eleven, hahaha) years ago ;). Hearing those beautiful promises about eternity is always special. And it was so fun to see so many cousins - although we joked that with facebook, it seems like we all see each other pretty often!

 Chuck was back at the temple the following Saturday for a youth trip - these kids were able to go and be baptized for family members and others who have passed away, and now have the opportunity to accept that baptism. Good looking group of leaders and youth!

 That night the Elder's Quorum hosted a Father's Day BBQ/party at the church so the ambitious Izatts biked there! You can't go wrong with hot dogs, ping pong, icees, and water balloon volleyball in the sand pit.

Towards the end of the month Clyde got attend his very first Cub Scout day camp! As a veteran of such camps (I went three years in a row back in my Cub Scout days. Feeling a bit nostalgic now...), I was thrilled to pack his lunch and send him out the door, haha. He was thrilled to shoot a bb gun and do archery and hang out with Brenden and Andrew! (pictures courtesy of Sister Eckert, thank you!!)

 

 And June concluded with this ridiculously handsome fellow spending a week up at Scout camp! That'll be its own post because I'm tired and there's a bajillion pictures associated with that week. But definitely keep an eye out for that one, maybe even some day soon... ;).

june: UTAH for Grandma's bday!

In mid-June we found ourselves traveling to Utah for a momentous occasion: Grandma Thomas' 81st and a half birthday party! Granted, not the usual milestone age for a big celebration but that's how we roll and it was so, so fun!

The beautiful honoree, Patricia Thomas.

(Photo definitely stolen from fb, thanks Brei!)

We piled the kids into the van that morning and headed south. It was actually Chuck's and my 11th anniversary that day and I kid you not, a road trip was the perfect date: we just got to sit and talk for five hours straight. Minus, you know, the road and the four children behind us, we had the beautiful gift of undivided attention ;).

We met up with other assorted family members at Melissa's house and headed to a nearby splash park for some fun. Carma was NOT a fan, possibly because she straight up looked like a boy. The (actual) boys had a blast running around between the water and the playground and having fun with their cousins.

At this point, Grandma was thrilled to see so many grandchildren in town but was still unaware of the birthday celebration to come. We took a brief recess to change clothes and gather food and then reconvened at a different park to party :). Because Grandma lives in Pennsylvania, we aren't able to celebrate with her in late January for her actual birthday, but she comes out west to visit every summer - hence the '1/2' aspect. It was so fun to watch her walk up to the picnic area and see all of us and put it together!

The party came together in large part due to the amazing efforts of Sue, Terri, Melissa, and Amanda. Miss Amanda in particular spearheaded a beautiful birthday book project - she gathered pictures and memories and birthday wishes from the entire extended family (requiring lots of reminders and follow-up!!) and spent hours creating an amazing keepsake for Grandma. So, so special.

We spent the evening eating and playing and relaxing and taking pictures, of course! We had to do some 'second cousin' pictures: here are some of Carma and Maverick, just six weeks apart in age (Mav's older) and James and Hudson, just about two months apart (James is older).

Some sporting events transpired, including ultimate frisbee during which there may have been some mid-game fraternizing between opponents Steve and Amanda ;).

Cousin pictures! George and Clyde are the cutest.

Ahh, the babies of '08 - Lily, Will, and Bri. Sweetest trio around!!

These pictures just melt me - Anna is five months older than Jackers and it's obviously now my goal to take a picture of them hugging like this annually until they refuse to cooperate (18 maybe? Sooner?)

 Mallory and Courtney and I forced Carma into some group selfies with us. Carma was... difficult this trip. She was tired and fussy and just had a rough time overall... which translated to a bit of a rough time for me... but we caught her smiling a couple times at least!!

 At one point we all gathered for some more 'official' pictures, starting with Grandma and all the great-grandkids in attendance: 

Bri, Lily, Will, Jack, Clyde, Carma, Eli, Hudson, George, Anna, Courtney, James, Mallory, Maverick. Not pictured: Pennsylvania residents Raelyn and Xavier.

Next we added in the grandkids and spouses - I'll include three here since they all make me laugh.

 In no particular order: Lehi, Brei, Rachel, Taylor, Melissa, Kevin, Chuck, Jana, Lee, Aleesha, Amanda, Steve, Rebekah, Nickie. Not pictured (man I hope I get everyone...): Jesse, Kit, Brian, Chris, Liz, Jared, Amanda, Matt, Sam.

And then finally we got Grandma's kids in the picture! Dave, Terri, and Sue were in attendance with East Coasters Bill, Gina, Bob, and Melissa not pictured.

Grandma with her two daughters!

And while we had these four Izatt kids together, we stuck them together for a couple quick pictures:

 Lee, Melissa, Amanda, Chuck. I'm such a sucker for sibling pictures ;).

And a couple more to commemorate our anniversary:

 

I'm not saying we're the best at family pictures... but everyone else is free to say it, haha.

This was yet another suuuper quick trip for us; we crashed that night at Amanda's and then availed ourselves of delicious breakfast at Melissa's and then hit the road to be back in Boise for a temple sealing that afternoon. We are so glad we could make it for the party and for the company. I've long been a proponent of celebrating half-birthdays and this cemented my dedication to the cause! Thanks to everyone who put in so much time and effort and to Terri and Melissa for all the pictures I stole from fb and HAPPY birthday again Grandma!!