Harvest Time

We planted a very small garden this year--a first for our family. Every year I say I want a garden, but always procrastinate and never get it done. This year we had a small area for it, but we quit procrastinating and just started planting. Here is a small sampling from our garden that I quickly picked this morning. It's so fun having fresh veggies straight from our own yard. We've had enough peas and beans for dinners and snacking and we've had tons of cucumbers, not to mention the squash and zucchini. My kids are in zucchini bread heaven! I am truly converted now and can't wait to plant even more next year!

Cherry Creek

For years my dad's family has been gathering at Cherry Creek up near Sun Valley. It was something I looked forward to every year when I was kid--lots of cousins to play with, dirt to run in, water to splash in, food to eat, and games to play. We've only been able to go a few times in the last few years, so we were excited to go this year. As the pictures show, the kids definitely enjoyed all the food, dirt and fun.
My sweet grandparents were able to come up one day. Grandma had pretty major surgery just a few weeks ago and Grandpa is down to one leg and one eye. They are amazing people and I was so glad they made the trip--of course they got some good card playing in while they were there and it was Grandpa's birthday!
My cute little Jakey wasn't quite sure about this camping thing at first.
Here are two of my cousins and we all had babies about the same age: Amber and her baby Savannah, Jakey and me, and then Leilani and Cameron.
Ellie and Madelyn were inseparable the whole time. I was so glad Mckay and his kids came up.
It didn't take Jakey too long to figure out how to enjoy camping--too bad washing-up in the creek water was so miserable =(

Thomas and Carter spent much of the time contriving different bridges in the creek. A little boys' dream.

Grandma Sue taking part in the most important event at Cherry Creek--the horse shoe tournament. She and Dad made it to the championship round--too bad Cory and Brandy are so darn good!
The captive audience--cheering for Grandma and Grandpa. (David and I were out in two swift games--it stinks when even Spencer and Summer can beat you--just kidding Spencer, you guys are awesome.)

We used one of our camping storage bins as a make-shift bath for Jacob. He was thrilled with the idea!
As you can see, he needed baths often. This was taken just before swimming at Easley's.
My kids were seriously exhausted after all that fun. This is what they looked like as we pulled into town.

And this is what Jacob looked like--he was very excited to be back in his own bed and have his toys again.

Cup Cake Wars

We love watching "Cup Cake Wars" on the Food Network. So we decided to have a little cup cake challenge of our own. The kids each picked a cup cake and we started baking. My kitchen was a complete disaster and we had way too much sugar, but it was definitely a fun event we'll try again sometime. Ellie picked Rocky Road Cupcakes with Rocky Road filling. Yummy!
Thomas picked Oreo cupcakes with whipped cream Oreo frosting, garnished with, you guessed it, an Oreo. Super yummy!
And our winner of the event was Jackson with his raspberry lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting and garnished with raspberries. Super summery and super duper yummy!

Lagoon

As part of our visit to Utah we took the kids to Lagoon. They had been anticipating it for several weeks and they were soooooo excited. My kids are major roller coaster fans--Ellie especially. She loved all the roller coasters, but her favorite was Wicked (hello, straight up and then straight back down again!). Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa came with us so we usually split up, two of us taking Jakey and Thomas and then the other two taking Ellie and Jackson on the more intense rides. It was such a fun day and we were exhausted by closing time that night.

I think Thomas was a little excited in this picture =)

Thomas and Jakey on the carousel--happy boys!

Ellie and Thomas on the Lady Bug Drop--pretty intense for Thomas.

Dad, Thomas, Jackson and Ellie ready for take-off on The Bat--one of the few coasters Thomas could go on. He said once was enough =)

Cotton candy--perfect ending for a fun day!

The next morning we packed-up and said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. It was a fun trip, but we were sure glad to be heading home.

Visit to Utah

On the last day of school, we packed up and headed down to Utah for a long over-due visit to see family. We had a great time--especially having the cousins spend so much time together. After spending a few days at my mom's and celebrating Jacob's birthday (see previous post), we spent the next day in Salt Lake with Ashley and her kids and Breanna and Seth and their boys. It was so fun and the kids had a great time. Then we headed down to Saratoga Springs and Cedar Hills to spend a few days with David's sisters and parents. It was a great start to our summer!

Here is cute Jacob at the petting zoo at This is the Place Park. He loves animals! Then below is my sweet sister, Breanna with her husband, Seth and their new baby, Campbell. This was our last visit with them for quite a while as they are moving (actually as I write this) to Houston.

Here are two little nine-year-old cuties--Ellie and Madeline. They are looking pretty grown-up!

Ellie, Erika and Natalie trying to win at tug-o-war at Saratoga Splash. Girl power! The girls kept dominating at this event.

Pictued below: Thomas showing off his cool tattoo; the boys in the tug-o-war (we couldn't get away from that thing--we kept getting sucked back into tug-o-warring!!!); an exhausted Jacob; all the Stewart grandchildren; Jackson, Madison, Will and Jacob (four beautiful kids)

Then here are David, me and his wonderful parents. They are amazing people of faith and I hope to raise my children in righteousness as they have done and continue to do. Wonderful examples! It was a great visit and luckily we are going back next week to drop off our kids for another visit with their cousins and grandparents.

Jakey Turns One!

My little Jaker-Jake turned 1 on June 9th! We were in Utah visiting family, so the festivities took place at Grandma's house, but he seemed to love the cake and presents. It's hard to believe that we've had little Jakey in our family for a year now. He is genuinely loved and adored by all of us and he keeps us all laughing with his wrinkle-nosed smile, adorable babbling and pretty much every little thing he does. There is always a captive audience around here. What a joy and a blessing he has been. Happy Birthday, big one year-old!

End of an Era

The last day of school marked the end of another great year at Siena K-8. Since moving here in 2008 and its opening that fall, we have loved Siena and have had a great experience with the teachers and programs. This was Jackson's last year at Siena as he will be moving on to Lake Hazel Middle School next year (tears from his mom). He was privileged to have Mrs. Lenon for the fifth grade and I was so impressed with the wide range of interesting and fun projects and topics their class covered. Jackson was always bringing home a new project to work on. We had an earth model made out of fruit, various book reports ranging from cereal boxes and commercial to paper sandwiches; he had to memorize all the states and their capitols (a personal favorite of mine), and study U.S. History. She was a fabulous teacher for Jackson. Jackson also received the Presidential Award for Academics. Way to go Jackson!

Ellie had the party class this year. For the 3rd Grade Ellie had Mrs. Logsdon. She is a very fun teacher and their class earned many parties this year. They were seriously having pizza almost once a month! They also worked hard to earn those parties. Their class walked over 900 miles collectively to win the Mileage Club award! They also earned several awards for the most donations, participation, etc. Ellie had a blast with Mrs. Logsdon and did great in her school work. Ellie earned an award in the elite 25 miler club--those students who walked 25 miles or more during the year. Way to go, Elle Belle!


This was Thomas' first year in elementary school--Kindergarten! He has Mrs. Bott and we were a little nervous at first because it was her first year teaching Kindergarten (she has taught 7 years of Special Ed. before this). My worries were completely unfounded because she was fabulous! She had high expectations for the little kindergartners, but Thomas quickly found out what he needed to do and made sure he did it! He is now my most responsible child about homework and other items that need to be returned to his teacher. He had such a fun year, making lots of new friends since he only knew a few kids in the class when the year began. Thomas also made it into the 25 mile club! Way to go, Tommy!


Right after we had our annual last day of school picnic lunch at Siena, we ran home to load up the car and leave on a trip to Utah to visit family and go to Lagoon. See next post for details of the big trip and Jacob's first birthday!!