House Guests

So, if you have been following life with the Leslies, you'll remember that July has been very busy for us. And the second week in July was definitely no exception. On Monday evening, our niece and nephew came to stay the rest of the week with us while their parents were vacationing in Hawaii (hardly seems fair, right?).

Anyway, going from a family of one child to a family of three children was quite an adjustment for us and definitely came with some pros and cons. The pros were that we love these kids (Leah especially loves them) and it was great having them there to entertain and help take care of Leah. And it was good insight into the years ahead when Leah (and any other children that might come along) reach their age. Another advantage of having them there was that it gave us an excuse to do some fun things.

While they were there, we watched lots of movies, played outside a bit, and Ross even taught them how to play Bocce Ball. One of the evenings, we took them miniature golfing. Since they have much different levels of skill, Ross took William with him and I kept Sierra and Leah with me. We kept things VERY casual and the kids had a ball. We even gave Leah a ball and club to play with and she thought she was just as big as the rest of us.

These two girls were so funny to watch. They both started out the course by hitting the ball. But by the end, Sierra had resorted to more of a hockey style of play and Leah would just pick up the ball and put it in the hole. Plus, we started out a hole behind Ross and William, but somehow ended up getting ahead of and finishing before them. But I didn't care as long as the kids were having a good time, which they were. Here's a couple pictures of the girls chasing their balls around one of the holes. It kind of turned into a "free for all."

During the weekdays, the kids had day camp activities that they got to attend. So while they were gone, Leah had a nap and I enjoyed the peace and quiet for a couple of hours. And on Friday, Sierra and I got to have some "girl time" while Leah napped and William and Ross were gone. I let her pick out a movie to watch while I did her hair. Then we got out the foot spa and did pedicures and manicures. Sierra loved all the one-on-one attention!

Another fun thing we did was attend a Scottish Festival on Saturday. We had to get up early to get there in time for the parade, but I was glad we did because it ended up being really cool to see. Here are some spectators waiting for the parade to start.

Hearing the bagpipes and drums was amazing. After the main parade, the bands all lined up for a mass band and together played "Amazing Grace" and "Scotland the Brave" (that's the traditional song you often hear played on a bagpipe - it kind of sounds like "Praise to the Man"). It was so moving to hear them play like that, it kind of got me choked up at times. After the mass band, we walked around to look at the booths, watched the Scottish dancers and saw some of the athletic events. Unfortunately it started raining on us, so we didn't get to see as much as I would have liked.

We actually heard about the festival from my dad. He and my uncle Rod were planning on attending. So we decided to join them. They love them and have been to a few Scottish Festivals together (Ross has even joined them before). I now can see why. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did and would enjoy going again. I just wish I knew more about my Scottish heritage. In any case, Leah LOVED spending the morning with her Grandpa!

We also went with Ross's mom, Kyle, Amy and Jackson. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures with them. They didn't stay too long, but they wanted to come check it out since the three of them went to Scotland on vacation before Jackson was born.

But we did meet up with them later that evening when we took William and Sierra to Ross's mom's house for their next stay. After dinner, we took the kids to the park to play and to run off the rest of their energy. Leah loves playgrounds and went down the slide over and over again. Jackson was really unsure at first, but ended up liking it too.

 

The kids found a playful kitten to play with for a while. It was pretty good to let them play with it but sometimes it got a little rough. It even pounced on and attacked Leah once when she tried to play with its leg. And it ran away if all four kids tried to get it at once (I probably would too!). But it always came back before too long.

 Ross and Kyle had a great time chatting and throwing the football around with William.

Here coms a picture for all of you that think that Leah is always so sweet and good. Remember the cons of having house guests that I mentioned earlier. I won't bother dwelling on a list of them, but I will say that by the end of the week, we were all VERY tired. Leah was a beast that night. She was clingy and cried over the tiniest things. So even though Leah got upset when she realized that the kids wouldn't be going home with us, Ross and I were looking forward to getting back to our normal routine with just one child. So at the park, Leah reached meltdown mode, but she was happier for the picture back at Grandma's house. (It also helped that she had her beloved binky for the second picture.)

So that concludes week two of our busy July. Stay tuned for more, things haven't stopped yet!

My Favorite Scripture

Yesterday as part of the Young Women lesson in our Beehive class, we learned about scripture study. And each of shared our favorite scripture. Over the course of my life I have had many favorite scriptures. But my current favorite is 2 Nephi 25:26:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

I like this scripture because it very eloquently expresses my personal feelings and testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not sure why, but I really felt impressed that I needed to share this scripture somewhere. So I decided to put it on my blog,  mostly so that my family, especially my posterity, will know that I have a testimony of Jesus Christ.

A Visit with the Prices & Kynee Turns 2

If I thought that our June was busy, then I obviously didn't see July coming! Life with the Leslies has been pretty non-stop lately.

The weekend right after the 4th of July we had a few things going on. One of those was a visit with the Prices, who were in town from San Jose. Leah and I got to visit with them on the 3rd when my sister gave their whole family haircuts. But we decided to get together again when Ross could visit too.

So on Friday we met up with them to have lunch at Zupas and to go watch the new movie "Brave." The lunch, of course, was delicious. And we all enjoyed the movie. Even Leah was good to just sit and watch it during the little bit that she stayed awake. Afterwards, we went to Brian's parents' house so we could visit some more and play with Baby Seth. We even Skyped with Lesley's parents who are serving a mission in the Nauvoo Temple. It was nice to get to visit with them too.

Before we left, we tried to get a few pictures of the kids together. They weren't real excited about stopping to take pictures, but we still got a few cute ones. Here's the kids sitting on the stairs. I like the second one because it looks like Hannah and Leah are sharing a secret behind the pillow!

Seth is getting so big! He's such a cutie and I love kissing those chubby cheeks!

This is about the best shot we could get of our two families together. I really miss having my best friend, Lesley, around. But at least we are able to chat on the phone a lot and still get to see each other twice a year or so. I keep hoping that one day they will move back here for good. I know they want to, it just better be sooner rather than later.

On Saturday, we celebrated my niece, Makynlee's, 2nd birthday. She had a "Tangled" pool party. My aunt and uncle have a pool in their backyard where we love to swim and they were nice enough to let Kynee have her party there. I wasn't sure how much Leah would like it, but she had a ball and even stayed in the water longer than any of the other little kids. Here she is having a grand time with Kynee, Aunt MoMo and Aunt Lyndsee.

After swimming, we went to my parents' Stake property to have cake and ice cream and open presents. Here's sweet Kynee blowing out her "2" candle.

Leah of course had to watch Disney shows on MoMo's phone while she ate her cake and ice cream.

After it got dark, we lit hot air lanterns and sent them up into the sky like they do in "Tangled." It was really cool watching them float up into the sky. But we all watched anxiously to see if they would blow out before they sunk down to the ground. (Don't worry, they all burnt out before they had a chance to start any fires.)

While we were lighting lanterns, Lyndsee and Jason's friend, Dave, and his sister sang "I See the Light" (the song played in the movie when the whole town releases the floating lanterns). Here's a picture of them singing (sorry it's such a poor picture-it's hard to get good pictures in the dark) and a picture of Kynee dancing while they are singing (she loves dancing).

One other great thing about the party was that my grandparents were able to come too. Here's a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Putnam (on the right) and Grandma Tucker and Walt (sitting on the left).

So that gets us through the first week of July. Stay tuned if you want to read more about the Leslies' busy July adventures.

"Stadium of Fire" - 2012

We had a pretty fun, but relatively low-key 4th of July this year. We decided not to attend the parade this year. We didn't know of anyone going and didn't want to venture into the throngs by ourselves. So we all slept in instead (definitely okay with me). Then in the afternoon, we went to Brian and Norma's for a BBQ along with Ross's mom.

But the highlight of our day was being able to go to Stadium of Fire. A friend  called me the night before and said she had been given a couple of tickets from work and wouldn't be using them. So she gave them to Ross and me. I have enjoyed the Stadium of Fire a couple of times in the past, but Ross had never been before. So it was fun to be able to go and enjoy that together.

I love all the great patriotic components of the Stadium of Fire. They do a great job of celebrating the American spirit of the 4th of July. Here's a picture of representatives from each of the military branches bringing in flags for the flag ceremony.

 I always enjoy seeing the young local talent in the dance and musical numbers.

The opening musical guest was Scott McCreery. I didn't even know who he was before going to the concert (sorry to all you "American Idol" fans out there). But Ross and I were both pleasantly surprised by his songs and great voice.

Celebrity Sighting! Here's a picture of Steve Young and his wife climbing over everyone to get to their seats six rows in front of us. (Later in the evening, The Beach Boys dedicated their song "Barbara Ann" to them. So they both got up and jammed out during that song along with most of us around them.)

Stan Ellsworth from "American Ride" made an appearance to talk about some of Provo's first 4th of July celebrations.

The main attraction for the night was The Beach Boys. This year marks their 50th anniversary tour. I have to admit, I really didn't think that The Beach Boys would bring much of a crowd. I thought it was silly to bring in such an "old" band. But boy was I surprised! Granted, I'm sure they didn't have the same moves and level of energy that they once had. But it turned out to be one of the funnest concerts I've ever been to. Beach balls were bouncing all around, and it seemed like everyone (young and old) knew the songs and enjoyed singing and dancing along. They are such icons in American music, that afterward I thought it was a great idea to have them sing at a patriotic event like the Stadium of Fire. It was also great because I felt like it was a nice family-friendly atmosphere that people of all ages could enjoy together. This picture of them is not great, but it is my proof that I saw The Beach Boys perform live in concert.

And of course there was my favorite part of the night...THE FIREWORKS!!! (I have always loved fireworks!) This year they did a tribute to James Bond since it has also been 50 years since the first movie starring "Agent 007." The fireworks were synchronized to music from the movies.

These pictures clearly don't do the event justice, but I wanted to include them anyway. I love fireworks!

I also want to send a big shout out to Ross's cousin, Katie, who was willing to take Leah that night so we could enjoy the concert without a restless two-year-old in tow. Leah had a great time with Katie and Julie. They bought her Coldstone ice cream, took her to watch some of the fireworks, taught her how to roll down grassy hills, and let her watch "Up" until we came to pick her up. I know Leah had a lot more fun with Katie than she would have had stuck on our laps for three hours. Thanks Katie, you're a life saver!!!

Familiy Photo Shoot 2012

I hired my wonderful cousin, Britta, to take our family pictures. She has just gotten into photography in the last few years, but obviously has a natural talent. Plus, she is a whiz at photo editing, touch ups and restoration.

We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon and she took some great pictures. And I definitely credit how great these pictures look to her skill and talent because the subjects of these photos were not easy to photograph. Ross and I will both admit to not being very photogenic. And even though Leah is naturally cute, she was not a very cooperative two-year-old that night. With those odds against her, Britta got some great shots. Here are just a few of them.

Thanks again Britta! You are as sweet as you are talented!