Family Reunions: Sitterud Reunion and Cook Reunion

We had 2 family reunions this summer. The first reunion was a Sitterud Family Reunion the end of July. This is my mom's side of the family. It was great to see my cousins and reconnect a little.  I look forward to it every year! Some of my fondest memories are from trips to Orangeville, Utah to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Sitterud. The first thing we wanted to do (after giving grandma and grandpa a hug and kiss of course :D) was run two houses down to play with our cousins.  We had so much fun together! We would make up dances and perform them for our parents. We would pull out sleeping bags and sleep in my aunt's basement (not that we'd actually sleep... lol). We also had a blast playing night games! Now that we are busy with our own families we never see each other anymore, so I LOVE and look forward to going to the Sitterud reunion every year! 

I unfortunately can't find my flip cam (surprise, surprise ... I swear that thing is cursed. I never know where it is!) and I didn't take any pictures (I used my mom's camera and haven't gotten them from her yet). Anyway we had tons of fun this year. The theme for the reunion was "All Because 2 People Fell In Love." My cousin Jenny put together a great video starting with pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa down to the great grandchildren! It was a lot of work for her and I'm so grateful she did it! We all enjoyed watching how the family has grown! During the day we had crafts for the kids to do. Crystal and Lily both "made" (more like "I made" ... lol) bracelets with their initials; they decorated over the shoulder bags; and they painted prayer rocks. My Grandma loved flowers and my Grandpa always talks about how much she loved her flower garden and rose bushes, so my Aunt Karen cleared out a spot on the property (my grandpa owns property in Joe's Valley named after my grandma: Lola's Place. It's where we have the reunion every year. My Grandma loved it there.) Anyway my aunt put a rock border around the area she had cleared out and let us plant several boxes of wildflowers in it. Hopefully next year there will be a small garden full of flowers there! I can't wait for the reunion next year! :D

A week later we off again to another reunion! This time it was the Cook Reunion. We went to a place called Camelot Resort an hour or so South of Heber City, Utah. The first thing Crystal found when we got there was the swing set and tire swing! She would have spent the ENTIRE 4 days we were there at the swing set/tire swing had we let her.

Playing on the swingset!

Minnie on the swing and Crystal finding creative ways to go down the slide!

Crystal was so cute the way she "helped" minnie go down the slide.

Lily did a lot of sitting on laps because she would eat the dirt if we put her on the ground...lol.

Crystal standing by the stream that came off Strawberry River (the river was super high and fast and even the 'stream' was overflowing and made me pretty nervous)

Posing for the camera

Standing on a rock/dam on the edge of the stream posing again for daddy.

Playing tetherball! I used to love tetherball when I was a kid. My dad even built one in our backyard for us. But when I tried playing it this summer, I lost every time. lol. Even when I CHEATED, I still couldn't beat Ty!

Lily enjoyed posing for the camera!

Isn't she just adorable!?! :D

Both my girls! 

Crystal wanted to go down but Lily wanted to go back up it!

Posing for the camera again!

Helping Lily down the slide was more fun than helping Minnie go down!

Ty enjoyed making fun pictures with the pinnacles behind us. I'd have to say we did a pretty good job! lol! 

The mountain just in front of the lodge we stayed at jutted out towards us more and more the higher up it went (It looked similar to this but I can't find the picture we took of it specifically). When looking at it, it always looked like it was falling on top of us. I spent 4 days praying there wasn't an earthquake. lol. The slightest movement would have brought it tumbling down on top of us!

Random super-old abandoned shack we found while 4-wheeling.

Crystal really loved the 4-wheelers. She never really left the little circle driveway, but she still enjoyed going in circles on them.

Uncle Greg took the kids for a ride. It was the one time Crystal actually left the driveway on a 4-wheeler. This was a historic day in the Cook Family because Nicole (the red head in back) started the week afraid of being near a 4 wheeler. This was the first time she stayed on long enough for her dad to go anywhere.

 On the 4 wheeler with Grandma Cook!

We really enjoyed spending time with family at all our reunions this summer and look forward to doing it again next summer! Next year we look forward to a Lapray Reunion at Priest Lake! We haven't gone with them to Priest Lake since Ty and I got married, so I'm excited to go for the first time next year!

Microwave

Some time in May our loyal microwave of nearly 5 yrs just suddenly stopped working. I opened and closed the door and it started back up again. At first we thought it was the outlet causing the problem but as time went on it became obvious that there was something internally wrong with it. Ty did his research and picked what he thought to be the best microwave at what we could afford. But then he decided we should wait to buy a new microwave until the old one died completely. I was a little upset because most of the time it died while warming Crystal milk in the evenings while Ty was gone to work (yes that's right. Crystal will ONLY drink warm milk. She refuses to drink it cold like a normal person. lol). I would have a very upset child which would result in an upset momma. Upset mommas will pound on just about  anything to make an upset child happy. Which always worked, until a month or so ago when it finally died for the last time. It was of course on a Sunday and I had to wait an entire day for a new one.  Yes I know I should be able to survive one day without a microwave, but do you realize how much a mother of young children uses the microwave on any given day? Its ridiculous! lol! 

Needless to say we got our new microwave. It wasn't cheap, but if it lasts longer than the first one it will have been worth the extra few dollars. And not to mention its twice the size on the inside as our old microwave. I have yet to find anything I can't fit in it! lol!

This is our new microwave!

 This is where our old microwave sat until Ty decided he couldn't get into it to even attempt to fix whatever was wrong with it (probably better for us and our neighbors. lol)

 Lily was more than willing to help him fix it! 

 She did everything she could to get it open.

 The screw driver just wasn't working the way it was supposed to.

Maybe if someone told her she was holding it from the wrong end?

Summer Fun at Seven Peaks

In August of 2010, Ty and I came across a deal to get a Pass of All Passes for $35 each. In Utah County the pass of all passes includes free admission to Utah Flash and Orem Owlz games, free rides and mini golf at Trafalga Fun Center, and free admission to Seven Peaks for the entire season. As a result, we spent most of our spare time this summer (when we weren't in Idaho Falls or at family reunions) at the pool!

Crystal absolutely LOVES the water! She was always begging to go to the pool. When the pool closed for the season, for weeks she would say, "My pool is closed. We can't go to my pool." It was pretty sad, but I was glad she somewhat understood and wasn't throwing tantrums about not being able to go anymore.

These pictures were taken towards the end of the summer when Crystal was quite a bit more comfortable in the water. At the beginning of the summer she was pretty hesitant with all of it. But by the end of the summer she was "diving" right in. We had to keep a sharp eye on her!

 Crystal riding the waves in the wave pool!

Crystal standing in the wave pool waiting for the waves!  

 When the waves weren't going, she loved to slide around on her stomach like a snake.

 Lily LOVED the water too! 

 Me and my baby girls (though one of them isn't a baby anymore :'( just in case no one noticed)!

 One of Lily's favorite things to do was to sit in the shallow end splashing (and later crawling around) in the water!

 The beginning of the summer Crystal refused to go down the slides (She would even cry while in line for the tube slides ... at least until she got going then she would love it!). As the summer went on, she loved to go down the slides with Ty or me with her and by the end of the summer she INSISTED on going down by herself (at least the kiddie slides).

Crystal going down the slide by herself!

 If Ty did go with her to get to the slide she would make him go first, so she could go by herself!

 Crystal and her daddy floating at the Tadpole Pond!

 Crystal trusted with all her heart that her daddy would keep her safe... even in the deep end when her toes couldn't reach!

Going down the slide by herself again! 

 She even got brave enough to go down the big kid slide ALL ALONE! Ty would go up with her (to make sure she waited her turn in line) and she would make him go first and then go down all by herself! I couldn't believe how brave she was!

 This is Crystal in the Splash Pool (I apparently didn't get any pics of her on the toy).

 Crystal has always been quite hesitant to walk through spraying water/waterfalls, but by the end of the summer she was walking through it and playing in it like crazy!

 Lily loved our trips to the pool, but they were pretty tiring for her. She also quite disliked the sun hat I made her wear, but relented to it eventually.

 I think one of her favorite things to do was play with the tube while we sat at our towels! lol. All that fun to have and this is what she wanted to do!

We really had a great and super busy summer! It disappeared WAY too fast! I wasn't ready for the cold weather to come AT ALL! None of us were ready to give up our days playing in the water and soaking up the sun!

We were however able to renew our passes for only $30 each (the girls are still free... yay!). And it includes ice skating this year too! We're going to have to try it out the fall/winter.  And we are already looking forward to next summer when we can hang out at the pool again! :D

July 2011 - Making Dinner

So I'm super behind and its going to take a few posts to catch up. These pictures were taken back in July...

I am still amazed at how early Lily started playing pretend.  By 8 mo old one of her favorite things to do was pull herself up on her kitchen and play with the dishes as if she was making something!

The only "food" we currently have for the girls' kitchen are plastic eggs from Easter. lol. But Lily LOVES playing with them and putting them in the pan to cook.

I think one of the reasons Lily has learned so early on how to play pretend is because she watches Crystal play with herself a good portion of the day. Crystal LOVES "making dinner" for everyone.

Crystal wants Lily to play with her so much. She loves it when Lily sits at the kitchen with her stirring the latest concoction

 She even tries to sit at her level so they can play TOGETHER!

 Lily eating her egg.

 Both girls playing with the dishes.