Archibald Girls trip and my birthday

For Dixie's birthday we decided to do a girls trip to St. George, stay in a friend's condo, get pedicures, and go see The Little Mermaid at the gorgeous Tuacahn Outdoor Theater.  It was originally, Brittany's idea and it was such a good one! We had a great time!  This was not only the first time for Dixie to get a pedicure but also the first time EVER that Dixie's toenails were even painted. Crazy!  It was all of our first time at the Tuacahn and it did not disappoint.  The costumes were bright and fun, the music was great, there were some new songs and some good renditions of favorite songs and the set was so pretty. It didn't start until 8:30 and so it didn't get over until almost midnight and it was SO HOT, despite the large fans spinning overhead. 

The condo was really nice and we enjoyed lots of talk time and a morning at the pool. I was a little teeny bit nervous to be so far away from Chris 3.5 weeks before my due date, especially with all the Braxton Hicks contractions I've been feeling, but I survived and was very happy to be in Chris' arms again after 3 days.

I turned 35 this year! Chris managed to provide a yummy breakfast in bed despite the sad Gestational Diabetes diet: a piece of toast, eggs, a few bites of fruit, plain yogurt, water and almond milk.  I got to watch a house full of kids on my birthday as Jess's kids were over all day and the other adults gone to work. Chris surprised me with table full of gifts wrapped a whole day BEFORE my birthday. He actually planned ahead!  He really did well this year with a new garmin watch, two body pillows and covers (we lost my body pillow at one of the hotels on our move/drive to from MS to UT and have been using 5+ pillows at night to build my 'pillow palace' so I can sleep safely in a reclined position to avoid my 8 month pregnant hips aching) The best surprise arrived a few days late but it was AMAZING. It was a book called "Brittney is..." with excerpts from friends talking about words that describe me and some fun memories. Each page was full of pictures, some I had never seen before! I was amazed to see evidence of me being in shape for some of my 35 years and of all the nice things people said about me. It was so sweet.  Dixie watched our kids so Chris and I could go out to eat with some of my siblings and head over to Tiffany's for a game night. I tried a cauliflower pizza crust (thinking it would be lower carb) so I could have some low-glycemic brownies Tiffany made, but when I tested my blood sugar 2 hours after dinner, it was quite high and I couldn't have any. :(  We decided on creme brulee for Dixie and my birthday treats at the Sunday dinner we had with the Archibalds since it was low-ish carb and still delicious.  I. CAN'T. WAIT. for diabetes to be over!!!

Get together with cousins, Tessa's Born!

My mom came in town for an extended family reunion with all her Moncur cousins. It is so fun being able to go to things like this that we've not been able to attend previously due to the massive distance of living far away! I got to see some of my cousins that I haven't seen in a long time.  My mom's immediate family sang some of the hymns and children songs that my mom and her sister, Tara wrote for the church's new song/hymnbook collection. Also, two of my second cousins played some fun violin duets to popular songs and really inspired Charlie to want to learn how to play the violin. They were really good!

Chris and I left a little bit early because there was another family get together with Chris's family and some of  his cousins that I've never really met before. They had some bouncy water slides and a bunch of games for the kids and more yummy food. It was really fun.

We left that a bit early because Tiffany was going into labor! Chris dropped me off so I could be there and help.  She was doing a home water birth with a midwife. It was really interesting and beautiful. Tiffany is such a strong, intuitive women. (For these reasons, I ALMOST didn't want to be there since I would be doing the same thing very soon, I didn't want to compare myself to her and feel less... but I was really interested in how a water birth would go and I thought I could overcome any feelings of inadequacy!)

I got there and she was in the bath in the middle of intense labor and my mom had just arrived a little bit earlier with Cafe Rio dinner for the kids.  I checked in with Tiff and then helped the kids find food.  I didn't want to be in the way and there was already enough people to help hold her hands, or air her face that I ended up entertaining her 3 year old, Henry, downstairs. After a while, I wanted to check in on them so Henry and I went upstairs and she was pushing! Tessa was born moments later, with Andrew, Mary, Henry, Todd, Mom, her midwife and I supporting her.

Tessa Jane stayed on her tummy for a good hour as they waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing and deliver the placenta. Mary and Andrew helped cut the cord.  Her midwife was very informative, spewing forth bits of knowledge as it pertained to whatever the topic was. She talked the kids through the newborn check explaining what she was doing and why she was doing it and what it meant for Tessa.  So fun to have the kids so involved and I'm glad I could be a part of it!

Washington and Gwen's Birthday

I haven't been home for over 4 years and my parents sort of surprised everyone a bit by saying a month and a half ago that they were ready to sell their home and hoped to have it on the market this summer. Even though we just barely finished a move across the country We had one more week before Chris started work and we were only 14 hours from my beloved University Place, Washington.  So we said, "Its only 14 hours! threw the kids in the car and left on Sunday afternoon. Chris wasn't feeling well so I took the kids to an earlier sacrament meeting and let him sleep in. I packed the car and tried not to be too upset at our late exit. The drive was actually terrible. Turns out 14 hours is still a very long time to drive, even when you did 31 two weeks before...maybe especially when you did 31 two weeks before. But we made it and we pulled in super late and went straight to bed. This was my first time seeing the addition my parents finished above the garage.  In the morning we got a better look around and was so impressed with how beautiful and clean everything was. My parents were hoping to get the house on the market that very week.  To be honest, it did not feel like home. With cranky kids and Chris still not feeling all that great and needing to sleep alot, I wondered why in the world we took this trip. But as I warmed up to how different the house looked and as I saw the kids appreciate a lot of my favorite things about Washington, I decided it was worth it.

My Aunt and Uncle who live just next door (or one of them, as there are 2 more sets) set up a fun bouncy water play thing and invited us over to hang out the first morning. Favorite thing number 1: Cousins and fun play time literally next door.   Then we spent some time at the beach skipping rocks at both Point Defiance and Titlow Beach. Max tried to copy the rock skipping form. He's such a good imitator.  Favorite thing number 2: beautiful sunsets on the rocky Pacific Northwest Beaches.

We met two of my best friends from Highschool, my cousin Jessica and our friend, Sandra, at a park one morning. We had to get Lakewood Donuts on our way.  Because of my gestational diabetes, I couldn't indulge like I normally would but I decided a few bites of my favorite donuts would be alright.

Wednesday is the day that we thought the photographers were coming to take pictures of the house to put on the listing so we had planned a bunch of things to do away from home for Gwen's birthday! We were going out for breakfast so we just gave her some hot chocolate and toast in bed as a tide-me-over.  Then we ate out at IHOP. Yum.

Next door to IHOP was the indoor gymnastics/bounce place called Defy. The kids LOVED it.  Chris took Max and ran an errand while Grandma and I watched the kids play around. Freddy was a little nervous/needy and wanted to be RIGHT by me or Grandma the whole time.  Gwen is a little gymnast!  She was amazing on the ninja ropes course.

Everyone was having such a fun time that when Max and Chris arrived and we paid for another 30 minutes.  Max was pretty impressive on the trampolines and he showed no fear on anything! He was so happy to just follow the big kids around.

Then we went out to a movie in the nice reclining seats. We saw Toy Story 4. Movie Theaters are one of Grandma Betteridge's happy places.

Gwen picked out a birthday treat (since we would be having birthday cake with the Archibald family on Sunday when we got back to Utah) and we opened presents at home.  We ended the day by going to the Farmer's Market in Steilacoom and buying Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches from Sandra's husband's food truck "Philly This."

Our last day in Washington and Grandma and I took the kids to see Anderson Island, favorite thing number 3. Chris wasn't feeling well and stayed home to rest.  We saw some jelly fish, seals and even a jumping porpoise on the ferry! Then we visited Merlene and Loren's Eco-Shack and swung on the rope swing. I really wanted to see their new Island house but they had renters in it for the week. So we didn't stay long and went to the swimming hole. The kids swam despite the cold and chilly weather. Max is so brave and wanted to go everywhere by himself without someone holding on to him. I even had to roll up my pants to my mid-thigh to stand at the bottom on the slide and catch him.

We packed up our stuff and planned to take the 12:30 ferry back so we could drive up to Seattle and see our friends the Talbots for the afternoon and then grab dinner somewhere on our way out of town to start the drive back to Utah.... but WE MISSED THE FERRY! We were there 20 minutes early and there was a huge line. The kids were being so cranky that Mom offered to walk on with some of them and just have Chris pick them up on the other side. Charlie stayed with Max and I as we just waited the 2 hours for the next ferry.  We got out the door much later than we'd like and the Talbots offered to make dinner for us. They're such great friends. We loved seeing them and spending some time talking and catching up. Then we hit the road and drove 6 hours before finding a hotel to sleep in for the night.  We drove the rest of the way back Friday morning. 

My mom is the best. She's so happy and helpful and never made us feel bad for staying at (and messing up!) their house during such an important week. Dad even searched through the garage to find the lego train set that Alec remembered from 5 years ago and wanted to play with really really bad.  Even though it was short and stressful at times I'm so glad we went. I'm so glad my kids had a chance to see the area and house I lived in for 6 years. 

That Sunday, we had Jess and Ryan and Thom and Brittany and their families over for dinner and Grandma made a butterfly cake for Gwen, which Gwen decorated herself! Birthday festivities lasted a full week for this girl since the Saturday BEFORE we left for Washington, Grandma Dixie paid for her to get her ears pierced! Since Gwen totally freaked out just a week prior when she had to get a shot, I wasn't sure she'd actually go through with it and as the workers lined up the piercing guns she started to jerk back and say, "wait! wait!" but the workers were great and told her, "You're never going to be ready, we'll just line them up" and then bam! They punched them and she didn't even flinch. She was so brave her younger cousin, Isla (3) was watching and decided she'd get her ears peirced too. 

Independence Day Celebrations

Edward and Kayla and their cute babies, Penelope and Oliver came to stay for the week over the 4th of July. My kids LOVED having these babies to hold and play with, especially Gwen and Charlie. 

The Archibald's planned to do a BBQ with water balloon fun one afternoon. Jess and Ryan and Thom and Brittany brought their families over and we ate yummy food and played water balloon volleyball all together. Kayla found the water balloons that fill and tie themselves when you hook it up to a spout. It was awesome. It was also hard to keep Max away from the water balloons before it was time. He LOVED to grab one and squeeze and squeeze until he got a small stream of water to squirt out of the tied end. He squirted himself in the face as much as anything and loved every second of it.  Of course the volleyball game ended up in a water balloon fight and most of the kids were ok with this. :)

Max helped grandma make the raspberry ice cream.

Other fun activities that week were a 4th of July Pancake Breakfast put on by the ward and going to see the Hot Air Balloons take off early in the morning. We scored another free pancake breakfast with a bunch of extra tickets from Ryan's dad.

We walked over to a friend/neighbors house that was empty and for sale that had a great view of the Stadium of Fire fireworks. On our walk over we passed lots of neighbors doing their own firework show. As we approached the cul-de-sac of the house we were heading to, a firework tipped over and shot out fireworks across the ground in various directions, one went under a car, and another shot across our path and into the dead, grassy, empty lot next door. Immediately a small fire started!! I was pretty scared but Chris thought fast and told me to turn on the closest hose and he ran over and sprayed it down! Whew! The kids were getting really cranky as we waited for the fireworks to start. (Gwen didn't want to come at all and stayed home with Grandma, Grandpa and sleeping Max.)  It was chilly enough that we wished we'd had more blankets and fought over the ones we had. Eventually the show started, and Gwen, Jane and Grandma joined us for some before heading back after a little while.  It was a great show, and really long. I headed back a little early too with Freddy and Charlie.

Also, this picture made me laugh so I'm including it.

Chris hiked the Y with the kids one morning this week and randomly ran into Brooke and Evan Millar and their kids!! How crazy!  They still live in California and were just here visiting family.  We were able to find a time to get together for treats one evening. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun talking and watching our kids play. One cool bonus about living in Utah is running into friends.