Ahhh...Summer

Mowing the lawn
Learning to ride your new bike!
Eating Popsicles
Bike riding with Dad
Playing in the water...
...with friends.

Camping on Antelope Island

In May Jason decided to do a test run with Jacob in his tent. May was too rainy to do it outside, so we pitched the tent in the family room. Overall it went pretty well and signaled that we could go camping and expect to sleep for most of the night.

On the Friday of Memorial Day weekend we went camping out on Antelope Island. When we arrived at the park there was a sign that said, "Biting gnats are out." They meant it! When we got out of the car they were all over. But we forged on, got out our tent, etc. and got set up. After setting up we went down to the "beach" and then drove out to see the buffalo. They are so big and amazing!!


Dinner that night was interesting. The meal was fine, but the gnats were all over. We were one of the first to set up camp and we watched the campers at the next sight over, pull up, open their camper door, the teenage daughter stepped out and immediately began screaming and flailing her arms as she encountered the gnats for the first time. It was so funny! We took turns fanning each other to keep them away while we ate. Finally Jason had us put our shirts up over our heads to keep them out of our ears and off our necks. It helped quite a bit and we were a sight to behold. I wasn't cold in this picture, just trying to keep them off of me!
That night the wind kicked up a little bit which got rid of the gnats and we enjoyed our smores by the camp fire.

That night went pretty well for sleeping too. Jacob slept until about 4 a.m. and the began trading sleeping spots--first cuddling with me and then moving over to Jason's bag. Not too bad for our first camping experience as a family.

Second Guessing

Do you ever do something and then, after it is done, you think of all the ways you could have done it better? I do.

I think sometimes about all I have done, my mission, my career and now as a mother. In the moment you do the best you can, but looking back you can always see ways you could have done better.

My job is a good example. I worked for 19 years and I still identify myself with that--probably more than I identify myself as a mother. When you work there are markers of immediate success and with education there is always a beginning (September) and an end (May)of the school year.

I belong to the BYU School of Education Alumni Committee and yesterday we had a meeting. The HR director for Provo District is on the committee and I talked to him for a few minutes afterward. The principal position for my old school, Spring Creek, is open again. I knew about it and have thought about what it would be like to go back. He asked if I knew about the opening, I told him I did and it was a little tempting. He said that if I wanted to come back they would take me right now to fill the position.

That was a great thing to hear. You always wonder (at least I do) if you reapplied for your old job if they would take you back? I have looked back on my job and thought of all the things I could have done better and the new perspective that I have now as a mother that would add to what I do.

Then I think about Jacob. If I went back to work he would be at daycare a minimum of 10 hours a day! He would miss me and I would miss him. When it comes down to it, for all the positives that come with work ($$$, retirement, etc.), there are too many things I would miss with Jacob and I look forward to getting involved with him in his own school.

Hearing that they would take me back at work is nice because even though there are things I didn't do, they did value and appreciate the things I did do. Kind of nice to know :)

I Knew It was TOO Quiet

I was upstairs, he was downstairs...supposed to be playing with HIS toys. Instead he was dumping out every game we own.

I asked him to help me clean up. (Half of these games are Jason's and I don't know which pieces go with which game. AUGH!!) :) He ran after the camera to take pictures of ME cleaning up. Me running to grab the camera.

What a Lot of Work for a Spare Tire

We've been trying to get out (even though it is still kind of cold) on the days we can take the chill. We went to This is the Place for Baby Animals day and Thanksgiving Point to see the tulips.
But this takes the cake for things I have seen on people's cars. It actually says "Pioneer Spinster" above it. Soooo funny! How much work did that take and how does she keep it white???

The Tree

We had a huge globe willow in our back yard. It produced great shade for our neighbors and quite a bit of privacy for all of us. But it did a number on the fence (the roots were pushing the boards up, they were bowing, etc.)...ruining it in the process. There were sections of grass, underneath it, that did not grow--thus a muddy mess, and the tree also drops branches all over the place (you can see the pile below the tree to the left.) They also do not live long. So we decided to cut it down.

Going...
Going...
Gone...

Now you can see what a hole it leaves. This was after Jason fixed the section of fence to the left of the corner. The other section is being worked on now. Our neighbors are not too happy about it and we have heard subtle remarks about it. But better than one of the big branches falling on their house, car or child.

I wish we could plant another type of tree there, but we can't for a while...the nursery said that the root ball of the globe willow would cause it to die after a few years. We're trying to figure out how to make it more private too. Sad...

Things I Missed in March

On March 2nd, Jason's brother, Stephen, received his mission call to the Philippines. He reports to the MTC on May 25th.

On March 7th I had my birthday. Joy was in town and we went to see the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was wonderful. Then we met up with our college roommates, Lisa, Inez and Birthe and had lunch. Had a great time. Too bad I forgot to pull out my camera!

We celebrated the March birthdays (Linde, Sarah and Jacob's) at Grandma and Grandpa Wong's.

We went with our cousins to see the Easter Bunny.


And we've been taking swimming lessons on Saturday mornings.

This past Sunday Jacob went into our closet and picked out a tie he wanted to wear to church. I had already gone to church for a meeting and when I saw him, I thought this was so funny. He wants to be just like Dad.