July = Fun with Hunsaker Cousins

We loved playing with cousins from the Hunsaker side during the month of July. Cousin Max was in town from Texas; Brynn, Heidi, and Paul were in town from Kansas. And Brooke's kids live in Alpine.

We all celebrated the Fourth of July together.

We met up with Max and Heather in Vernal to stay with the McClellans. It was our first time visiting Vernal, and we enjoyed seeing where Uncle Mitch grew up and getting to know Gary and Linda. The boys loved playing with Max and new toys. We also enjoyed visiting Dinosaur National Monument and hiking to local petroglyphs. What Kyle and I didn't enjoy was having Levi sleep horribly at night. Jason and Noah keep asking when we can go back on that "exact same vacation."

Jason, Noah and Max enjoyed having Grandpa Jesse do real eye exams with them. Aunt Karren was the technician helping Grandpa. After the eye exams, we all went to lunch at JCW's, and the three boys enjoyed wearing the new sun glasses they received at Grandpa's office.

We even got to have sleep-overs! Max and Heather slept at our house one night. Natalie and her kids slept at our house two nights.

Levi 15 Months

At 15 Months Old
Weight: 23 lbs (27th percentile)
Height: 29.82 in (14th percentile)

Levi is my CLIMBER. He is determined to get up onto things. He doesn't give up as easily as his older brothers did. He also is more interested in the toilet than the others were. He requires a lot of attention, and he loves to have a buddy to play with. I am grateful for nice weather because I can let him crawl around in our back yard and in the sand box.

He is not officially walking yet, but he is taking steps. He laughs and laughs when he practices walking. It is so dang cute.

Jason Turns 7

Jason and Austin at Jason's party

Jason is officially 7 years old, although I've been telling people he's seven for a while now. He just seems so grown up to me. For his birthday party, we did yet another Angry Bird themed party. If you've lost count, that makes this the third Angry Bird birthday party we've done with Jason. Kyle made these really cute Red and King Pig cupcakes. We had the kids meet at our house first for cupcakes and presents, then we drove them to the movie theater to watch The Angry Bird Movie. After the movie we dropped the kids off at their houses and handed them a party bag. We were very grateful to Grandma Linda for babysitting Levi for us, and to Grandma Diane for helping drive kids.

We held the party two days before Jason's actual birthday. On Jason's actual birthday, I wanted to still do something special, so I let him choose the activity. He chose to do a Lemonade stand since I had been refusing to do one with him. I did give in and let him do the Lemonade stand on his birthday. It was predictably hot, business was slow, and the kids went inside before an hour was up. But Jason was happy. For dinner he requested I make "noodles."

Dear Jason,

I love having you as my oldest child. You have such a great smile, and you are great at picking up your toys. You help us remember to do our family traditions, such as Family Home Evening and Telling of Days. You love to give hugs to Levi. Mostly you help me by playing with Noah. Noah adores you and wants to play with you all the time. You two play together all day long, but sometimes you tell me you need 30 minutes of playing alone time.

First grade is finished, and I am impressed with how good your math and reading skills have become. This is your first summer being able to read regular chapter books to yourself, and so I have checked out several books from the library for you to read. Additionally, you and I created a "Moms and Kids Summer Book Club" to help us get lots of reading in this summer. Your favorite book series is The Magic Tree House. We've listened to lots of those books in the car, and you like to read them at home too.

You love to spend your outdoor time playing with friends, swimming, riding bikes, and swinging. You love to spend your indoor time doing magic tricks, playing Angry birds, playing Pokemon, and playing games on the Kindle.

You hope to do more camping with dad. He took you camping in May at the Father's and Sons campout, and you loved it. You also want to do more swimming, more water balloon fights, and more trips to Disneyland.

Happy 7th Birthday!

love,

mom