Utah Trip in Pictures...and a short recap

We got to Utah late on Friday night.  Chamae and Donovan were exhausted, but excited to see their Grandma Mindy and Papa Glenn.

 We did Goodman family pictures the next evening after a busy day of running errands and preparing.  We were missing a few, but it was better than nothing.  Chamae wasn't born the last time we had Goodman family pictures taken.

 These are just the pictures from my camera.  Chamae was being really cute in the beginning, but decided to be a pill the rest of the time.

 Chamae and her Uncle Clint. 

 She adores both of her Papa's.

 We stayed pretty chill on Sunday and Monday.  Played outside and got wet.

 On Tuesday, we all went to Seven Peaks.  ShayLea and Clint have passes too, so they met up with us.

 Donovan LOVED it!  Chamae did too, but Donovan was jumping up and down and going crazy after every ride. 

 Even Chamae enjoyed some of the slides:)

 Chamae didn't last long in the tube, and the water was FREEZING!! 

 On Wednesday, we spent the day in Lehi and hung out with my friend Jessica and her 3 boys.  Donovan and Heath were in the pool for a really long time, they had a blast!  I love getting to see and chat with Jessica.  We don't get to chat as much as we used to now that we both have multiple kids, but it's still fun, and our kids get along really well!

 That night, Brad and I went to the RSL vs Galaxy game.  The owner's daughter got us tickets for the box, so that made it even more fun!  The atmosphere was insane!  It was such a fun game to go to.

 Plus I got some awesome pictures of some of the players.  I had to get one of Landon Donovan.

 Love Beckerman.

 Hannah nailed it when she said Beckham looks like a blonde Zorro.

 On Thursday, Brad and I spent the day in Lagoon without kids.  It was a lot of fun!  There weren't many people there, so we really didn't have to wait in line to do anything.  We stayed the night in Lehi and took the kids to the splash pad in Highland on Friday.

 On Saturday, we just relaxed and played in the pool in Lehi.

 Chamae loved it.  I loved that she could stand up and do her own thing.  I didn't worry about her as long as someone was in there watching her.  She played for a long time on the floatie.

 On Sunday, Brad's Aunt Gina and Uncle Dennis and their daughter, Brianna, brought Granny back from their younger daughter's wedding in Montana.  It was fun for the kids to play with their 2nd cousins. 

 Donovan, Little Lenna, and Traven.

 All of the cousins that played together. 

 On Monday night, we fed the ducks in Springville.

 Then stopped for some delicious shaved ice.

 Papa Sam wanted pictures of the kids on the horse swing...

Now we're home!!  It was a fun trip and we'll miss everyone, like always, but we are really glad to be home!!!

The boy

Donovan is a pretty awesome little boy. He keeps me busy and on my toes, but he makes me feel better about my mothering. He was frustrated because I told him he couldn't do something and I said, "I know, I am just an awful mother." and he replied in his frustrated voice, "you're not an awful mother, I just got disappointed." I am convinced that all of this comes naturally to him, but it still makes me feel like an okay mom. I got pretty lucky to have such adorable, sweet kids.

Perspective

My heart is full of love and joy right now.  Nothing huge happened today, but after the kids went to bed I watched Little Women and then decided to look through the pictures I posted a couple of days ago.  It's difficult to explain the love I have for my kids.  They get to me during the day sometimes and I can get a little uptight with things that go on, like Donovan scratching the back of my van this morning because he lowered the garage door while the back door of the van was still open.  I was so upset about it and told him that it is no longer his job until he is old enough to pay attention.  And it won't be his job again for a while, but the fact that he sat in the car when it was time to go to the grocery store this afternoon and said to me, when I climbed in and pushed the garage door opener, "See, I didnt push it mom," made me feel a little guilty for getting so angry about it.  He really is a good boy.  As distracted as he can get sometimes, I wouldn't change him or his personality for anything.  He is such a sweet, good boy.  I look through the pictures of them smiling and it melts my heart.  I just want to hug them and smother them with kisses.  Little Chamae is a little sweetheart as well, even though it's mixed with quite a bit more sass than her brother.  I say, "I love you," and she blows me a kiss.  If I ask for a kiss, she'll either pucker up, or say, "No."  She's still polite about it.  She has been really snuggly since she ruptured her ear drum last Friday.  Thankfully Dr Jones' office was still open and they let us in for a last minute appointment before they left for the day.  I didn't even know the poor thing had an ear infection until bloody pus was coming out of her ear after a nap.  She has been pretty good about taking the nasty Amoxicillin and has been clinging to me quite a bit.  She gets even more clingy when Brad is out of town, and he'll be gone until Saturday, but she gives the best loves so it's usually not hard to hold and hug her.  Anyway, I love my kids, and looking through those pictures this evening made me realize what's truly important and what my job is all about.  It's not about how flawless my minivan looks.  It's about teaching them and loving them and enjoying the little moments together.  I want to be less uptight so I can enjoy them more.  I'm going to work on that tomorrow.  I won't even worry about Chamae looking like a boy if I don't get her hair up in pigtails before we go out the door.

Finally...

I am getting really bad at blogging, and taking pictures of my kids!  I know my parents check the blog most days, so at least I will always have them as followers!!

We are loving summer in our backyard.  The kids love the swingset and spend a lot of time on it. 

I can't get enough of those gorgeous blue eyes...not mine, Chamae's.

 When I tore up some of our grass to make room for strawberries (that may or may not survive...)  we went searching for worms.  Donovan loves them and he's really good about putting them back in their homes after he "studies" them.

 Searching for new kinds of bugs.

 He couldn't find any.  This is his silly pouty face.

 We went to all of the high school home games this year.  Brad left this afternoon to go to the state tournament with them!  They have had an awesome season and as much as we'll miss our Bradley, we want them to make it to the championship on Saturday!  The kids loved going to the games and having snacks and running around.

 Scotty was in town for a  week and then we went to Utah for a week and he came back with us again for another week...if that makes sense.  The kids loved having him around, but I'm sure he was glad to get back to his quiet, always clean home!!

 Can you see the blue streaks everywhere?  Chamae's Gogurt priveleges are limited to outside.  Crazy girl.

 When we were in Utah, Brad and Scotty tried to get some yardwork done for their mom.  When they pulled out a bush, Donovan found this disgusting snail.  But to him, it was the coolest snail ever...of course.

 It was kind of cool, I've never seen a snail that big before.

We also spent some time at the SF splash pad.  I didn't get pictures of Donovan in the water because he was too fast, but Chamae LOVED it!

 I love her swimsuit.  I wish I could look that cute in a one-piece.

 "Come on Kate, don't be a wuss, it's fun."  Not that Kate is a wuss, but I imagine that's what she would say if she could talk since we say it to her and Donovan all the time.

 The tuesday after we got back, the kids and I met up with the Hiatt's to do some weiner roasting and make smores.  The place we went to has a fun playground for the kids, crazy geese, and a lot of fire pits.  It was a lot of fun!  We will have to go back this summer.

And that was over a week ago and I haven't taken pictures since....oops.  I will try to be better at pictures and blogging...  I have a few videos I'd like to post, but blogger is being too slow, I'll try again tomorrow.