May - July

May

This year Mother's Day and the birthday of Brian's mom was on the same day.  So we went to the cemetery to leave some flowers.  We only go to the cemetery a few times a year, and the boys often complain -- but once we are there they are content and happy.  There is a pond and some ducks there.  Tanner got a little nervous when the ducks got too close.  The plaque in the bottom right is in memory of those who died in the 9/11 attack.

Eric and Brian went on a 5-mile hike with the Webelos.  They had a nice time and got some exercise.

June

Brian took Eric to a "Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband" concert.  Eric was not familiar with this group, but he really enjoyed it.  The group is entertaining and great for families.  

The boys finished years 6th, 4th, and Kindergarten.  Here is Tanner with his lovely teacher.  They had a fun program with some great songs.  I did feel a little bad because the flyer said to dress their best -- well, I kind of missed that detail and let him pick out his outfit as usual.  Ooops.    He was still super handsome!

For several years now I have given Brian a photo album for Father's Day.  I always include highlights from the previous year -- so in this case it was our 2016 family album.  I have several pictures of the boys all looking the book over like this.  They always enjoy seeing the pictures and reminiscing. Brian requested Shepherd's Pie for dinner and we had Banana Splits for dessert.  

We're in for another year of CFC soccer.  Each year they go to a Real Salt Lake game.  This year his team got to sit on the team's bench while they did their pre-game warmup.  

We decided to take a vacation in nearby Park City this year.  Often we are driving many hours to California.  But this time, we packed up the car and less than 30 minutes later we were checking in to our hotel.  We had a great time.  I especially enjoyed the cooler weather.  Most days were in the high 60's and 70's -- warm enough to swim, but still very comfortable.  One day it cooled down considerably and actually SNOWED!  You can't tell from the picture below, but it is snowing out there.  I loved it!

We took a day and went to Heber City.  This is the town where my grandparent's and other relatives are buried.  We went by the cemetery.  Tanner requested to take a picture by my Grandpa's grave since his middle name is the same as his.  :)  We also went to a War Memorial in Midway.  The view of the valley was beautiful -- storm clouds and all.  The memorial has plaques for several wars that the US was involved in.  They listed people who had served in those wars, so we went around and found our relatives' names.

We also spent a day at the Utah Olympic Park.  In 2002, Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics.  Park City held some events in skiing, bobsledding, etc.  We had already been to the Olympic Museum, so this year we splurged and bought all day passes to do some zip-lining, climbing on the obstacle course, and riding the Alpine Slide.  The kids had a great time.  

We also did a little golfing, played at a local elementary (the boys liked the Tether Ball having seen it on Napolean Dynamite) and played at the resort (swimming, ping pong, and fuseball.)  Brian's sister was in Utah that same week (she lives in West Virginia).  So she and a few of her kids came to visit us at the resort.

July

I didn't take very many pictures in July.   All that excitement in June must have worn us out!  We didn't do much for the 4th of July.  We even got away with not buying any fireworks because our neighbors up the street invited us, and several others, to watch their fireworks.  That was a much better show than we ever do.  They had some nice aerial fireworks -- pretty, but loud.  Tanner didn't like the noise and as we left to walk home, he said to me, "My favorite part of the fireworks is going home!" :)

One very sad thing that happened is that my brother and his wife had a stillborn baby.  He was full-term and just 2 days before Allyson's induction date, she couldn't feel the baby move.  They found out he had died and after giving birth discovered he had the cord wrapped around his neck.  We had a funeral for little Elijah.  Despite the sadness, it was a very spiritual experience.  My brother and his wife have been amazing through it all.  Our siblings flew in for the funeral and we had a nice time visiting and spending time as a family. 

On a lighter note, in July we watched our friends' bunny for a couple of days.  It was very fun for the kids.  We don't have any pets, and probably never will, so this was a real novelty.  The bunny was very cute and Eric and Tanner visited him often.