Family Pictures

The last day of our Clegg Family Reunion we did family pictures.  I was so excited because my family hasn't done family pictures since I was in college - before I was married with three kiddos!  We got so many fun pictures - but I will try and limit them to just my favorites!

Camping

Last weekend we went on our first family camp out!  We have been meaning to do this for years but it seems like every summer something has come up...like moving, the last two summers.  So we were determined to get it done this year!  It just so happened to fall on a week that was really stressful.  We were trying to finalize things for the draft of our home among other things regarding our build and without getting into all of the details of that...Mark and I were swimming in a sea of stress!  The camp out was kind of the last thing on our minds but we went and it was the perfect thing for us.  We NEEDED to get away and it gave us some much needed perspective on things.  

The kiddos were really excited to go and sleep outside!  Because of some things with the house we didn't get to leave until a little later than we wanted to but we got up to our campsite around 5:30 on Friday.  We decided to go to Summit View Campground up Georgetown Canyon.  Mark remembered coming up there a lot growing up and it was fun to go to a place that had so many memories for him.  

It was also great because although there were other people around, I would say at least half of the sites were empty so you still felt like you had a lot of space.  

Our campsite was filled with wildflowers!  Jacob told me right when we got there that he was going to be brave about the bees.  He got stung two years ago and ever since has been terrified of bees!  I overheard him and Sarah plan to "rip all of the flowers so that the bees will stay away"!  Haha!  So that is pretty much what occupied their time.  Whenever there was downtime they would go off together to pull the flowers.  

We made english muffin pizzas over the fire to eat with some veggies for dinner.  Benjamin was a perfect little gem all evening.  He was really content to just sit in his bumbo (which is definitely hit or miss with him) on the picnic table and just watch what was going on.  

We set up our tent and my oh my was it cozy!  It's a four man tent and even though we have little kids we were all pretty snug in there!  Plus, it doesn't help that Benjamin easily had a third of the tent all to himself with his pack n' play!  We put Benjamin down to bed and the rest of us got out the marshmallows. 

We have decided that smores are definitely not our family's thing!  We all made them and I had brought all of the add-ons but we all ended up eating each thing separately.  Haha!  But you can't go camping without having them, right?!

At about 9:30 we cleaned up our site and got ready to go to bed.  Benjamin was not doing too great in the sleep department and was wide awake when we came in!  Jacob fell asleep first and Sarah kept trying to talk to Benjamin for awhile.  Finally, after picking up and putting down Benjamin several times we just ended up letting him sleep with Mark and me.  Of course, Benjamin was absolutely in love with this arrangement and once he was all snuggled in slept like a little angel until morning!

Benjamin was just the happiest little boy once morning came.  We couldn't get enough of his smiles and giggles.  And Jacob was OUT!  We had a good time watching him sleep!  

We had this cinnamon roll french toast thing for breakfast and it was delicious!  But, I don't know if it's possible to go wrong with anything involving cinnamon rolls!  Everyone guzzled it up with some yogurt and orange juice.  We then headed out for a little hike.  There were a couple hikes out of the campground but we decided to go up one that led to an amphitheater.  It was beautiful with all of the flowers.  We walked a little past there through a bunch of huckleberry bushes before it became too dense and I was a little worried about stumbling on some wildlife with our little tribe.  

The kiddos had a great time exploring and it was the perfect escape for Mark and I too.  We hope to make this a summer tradition for our family!

7 Months

This sweet boy is seven months old!

He is still our little man but is steadily growing too.  He is 26.5 inches in length (31%), weighs 16 pounds 13 ounces (21%) and has a head circumference of 43 cm (16%).  He is still in six month size clothes.  His routine has mostly stayed the same and he continues to have two naps, each about two hours.

Benjamin is crawling!  He's been army crawling for weeks now and loves it.  He is quite the mover and groover and loves to be on the go!  He is still not sitting up on his own - not even close!  He definitely doesn't seem to have time for it.  Whenever we try and sit him up he just lays back down and rolls or crawls away.  Even in his bumbo he is trying to get out!

He is also a lot more interested in toys and anything else that can fit into his mouth!  His rattle seems to be his favorite toy - but nothing beats his binky!  

Benjamin loves to chat.  He definitely tries to mimic the sounds you make and it is so fun.  Jacob is CONVINCED that Benjamin is fully communicating now and is always telling me what Benjamin has "said".  

We love you, Benji!

Independence Day

I LOVE the fourth of July!  We had a great day!

We got up and headed up to Soda Springs to spend the day.  The fourth of July is just better there!  We started our day at the parade and it did not disappoint!  The kids have enough candy to last them the rest of the their life and they had a blast.  We then headed over to the park and walked around for a little bit and the kiddos played on the playground.  All of my younger cousins are so good at playing with my kids and it is a sweet thing to see.

Next, we headed over to my Grandpa and Grandma Cleggs.  We had a yummy lunch and all had a chance to talk and spend time with one another.  Benjamin and Sarah took a much needed nap (with Mark!) and Jacob relaxed and played baseball and legos while most of the others went to the shooting range.  

Once the kiddos all got up, our little family drove over to the geyser and watched that.  We will have to remember their swimsuits next year so they can get wet but they still had a fun time watching it go off and stomping in the water and it definitely brought back lots of memories from my visits here as a little kid.  

We then headed back over to Grandpa and Grandmas and played in the family baseball game.  It was quite the game (and I am sadly not very athletic) but we had a good time!  Jacob and Sarah headed over to my Grandma Dixie's while Mark and I played and Benjamin cheered us on from the sidelines!

  

After the game we headed over to Grandma Dixie's to spend the evening with her.  It was wonderful to be over at her place and watch my kiddos play with the same toys I played with.  It is always so sweet to see that.  It was a beautiful evening and Grandma had made a scrumptious meal for us to enjoy.

After dinner we put Benjamin down for bed and we started our fireworks.  And boy did we have fireworks this year!  Between Melina and Tanner we had quite the show!  Jacob was in HEAVEN with the fireworks!  He couldn't get enough of them and had a smile on his face the entire time.  His hands were just a moving!  Sarah, on the other hand, was completely terrified by the fireworks.  She snuggled up with my mom and had her blanket covering her eyes most of the time, trying to be brave, and wanting to be a part of things.  Bless her little heart.

Once, our fireworks were over it was getting pretty late and the big city ones were about to start.  I went to go put Sarah down to bed and we were going to let Jacob stay up late and watch them when he told me he was ready for bed.  This was probably the first time Jacob has ever asked to go to bed and I told him that was just fine.  Benjamin had gotten up and was fussing and we just decided that we were good to go.  

The kiddos all had a great time and conked out on the drive home.  And Mark and I got to watch fireworks going off the whole drive back.  It was a great day.  I feel so blessed to live in this great nation and be apart of this country and grateful for all of those that have fought to give me the freedoms that I enjoy.  

The next day we got up early once again to do family pictures.  This is the first time my family has done family pictures since before I was married.  I can't wait to see how they turned out!

Everyone then came back to our place, packed up and headed back home.  It was a great reunion!