One of those days that make you wonder how other see you...

These may not seem as embarrassing in print, but I swear they sure felt embarrassing!  My mom and sister (in an effort to make me feel better) tell me they have instances like these all the time, but I have my doubts.  As I recounted my embarrassing day to Casey he said "I'm sure things like this just make you more endearing to others."  Then he asked "Who do you think doesn't do things like this?" to which I replied "EVERYONE.  I can't imagine ANYONE else being less "with it" than me!".

I swear this pregnancy is making me certifiably INSANE!!!  I forget everything, say things I shouldn't, look at people blankly because it takes me forever to formulate responses, and worse of all I'm afraid I'm getting a permanent reputation as and airhead. 
  For some reason yesterday seemed to be the tipping point where it became undeniable that there are most definitely some screws loose.  The first embarrassing moment wasn't really my fault, but as I was getting ready for church I had to use the bathroom and because It was the bathroom in my bedroom I didn't bother with shutting the door.  A few moments later Miles comes walking in with an iPad.  I didn't think too much about it until I realized he was face timing someone and the camera was aimed in my direction!  I hopped up and snatched the iPad away only to discover it was my Mother-in-Law on the other end.  It was probably around 6:00 her time, so hopefully she was too drowsy to register what was going on.  Still super embarrassing. 
  The day just got better from there.  We all hustled off to church where we wrestled children through a Sacrament Meeting that's theme was the Sabbath day (day of rest and peace my foot).  
  As I was leaving Sacrament Meeting I ran into my Visiting Teacher who had offered to arrange a little get together to celebrate the new baby.  I was supposed to have gotten a guest list to her forever ago, and kept forgetting!  I had to apologize and beg her to still be my friend and not to tell anyone how ditzy I've been about the whole thing. 
  Then I was in charge of teaching Sharing Time in Primary, so I sat waiting for my turn as our music leader played a fun game where the kids got to use their arm as and elephant trunk to lead the music.  Then they practiced a song for the primary program, and then they were going to let a few more kids lead with the elephant trunk.  Unfortunately I didn't pick up on this so I jumped up and started complimenting the kids on how reverent they were being and was preparing to launch into my sharing time when the music leader looked at me and kindly said "I wasn't quite done yet.  Do I still have a few minutes?".  I sheepishly headed back to my chair where I contemplated becoming a hermit and never leaving the house again.  I am my own worse enemy!

Summer Happenings

 Elmer Reunions

 

 We had an awesome vacation to Utah where we had a reunion with the Elmer and the Wilder side of Casey's family.  Some of the highlights from the Elmer reunion were swimming (of course), money hunt, amazing race (for Porters age group), rockets, playing with cousins, Karaoke night,  and fun was had by all!  Then we headed up to Park City where we had a really nice memorial for Grandpa Art and spread some of his ashes over his favorite ski run on Alta (the other part of his ashes were spread in California), we did the alpine sides, watched fireworks, playing at the park, flying remote airplanes, and celebrating Poppy's birthday.  The only negative of the trip was the extreme heat that had all the adults on edge:) but didn't phase the kiddo's. 

Porter, Maya, and Bennett got to stay with Grammy and Poppy and drive back to Washington where they stayed for an extra 10 days!!!  While we boarded a plane and headed back home.

Chick-Fil-A 

 When we got home someone told us about Chick-fil-a having a Cow Appreciation Day where we got free chicken for dressing the boys up like the Chick-fil-a cow.  It was fun.  The boys were pretty cranky, but Casey and I had Fun. 

The Bunny Park

 We took field trip and went to the Bunny park in Dublin.  The kids were surprisingly easy to keep track of even though the splash park was crazy busy.  It's been a tough summer trying to keep everyone busy and entertained, so this trip was a much needed enjoyable time for us!

 The Corn Field

 

 They say the bunnies are so large because they feed on this gigantic corn that is right down the street, so we decided to head over and check it out.  They were huge and the kids had a good time running around the field for a while. 

 The Palmyra/Niagara Falls Trip

 We also took some time to leash up the children and go to Niagara Falls with the Porter clan. 

 It was drop your jaw amazing:)

 The whole Gang minus me and mom.  We must have been taking the pictures.

 A family picture minus Ender

 The kids had a blast together as always!  Then we headed to Palmyra where we continued the good times. 

 I don't have a picture of it, but Brad and Jessica did a fun game for us in Palmyra where they had duct taped a huge ball with random toys and goodies dispersed throughout the tape ball.  We could work on unwrapping the tape ball until the person next to us rolled doubles on a pair of dice, then it was their turn until the next person rolled doubles.  The kids loved it, but we did the adult game after the kids were in bed, and I think the adults loved it even more.  Definitely one of the highlights!

 We stayed at a nice place with a big yard and plenty of room for everyone.  The weather was beautiful so we took advantage of the yard space.  We played kickball, tag, lit sparklers, and foursquare. 

 The place we stayed was within walking distance of the sacred grove, so we walked over there one day and it was a really nice experience.  The kids did their best to be reverent, and they each took some personal time to say a prayer while we were there. 

 As we were walking through the sacred grove I asked Miles "Why is this place special?"  He didn't know so I tried to get an answer from him by asking "Who said a prayer here?"  and he proudly said "Moronhi!".  That kid cracks me up!

Gender Reveal Cake

 I went to my moms for CRAFT WEEKEND!!!  I love craft weekend.  I wish we could do it more often.  While we were there we went to an ultrasound studio and found out what type of new baby we would be welcoming into our family in September.  I covered my eyes so my mom and Sarah would know what the baby was then the plan was they would make a cake that was either pink or blue, and I would cut the cake with Casey and the kids when I got home.  I couldn't handle the suspense, so I called Casey and begged him to let me find out early, and lo and behold it was a GIRL!!!  Needless to say we are pretty excited around here about this new little lady.  Now if we could just pick a name.  I love the name Lemon but I do not think I'll be able to convince Casey, so we will continue to rack our brains. 

 Last Day of School Party

We decided to celebrate the last day of school with a huge water fight.  Dad even came home early from work for it!  While the kids were at school I filled up TONS of water balloons, and put them in a bucket by the gate with a big sign that said "These are your weapons, we are armed and dangerous.  Come find us.  Dad, Mom, Bennett, Miles, and Ender."  A great time was had by all and Dad made a great target:)

Hawiian Vacation (Caseys pictures)

 

 First time checking out the beach that was just right down from the hotel.  It was a super nice clean beach.  There was no seaweed washed up on the sand, and it didn't even smell like fish! The first morning we woke up so early (like 3am) so Casey and I went down to the beach and watched the sunrise.  It was so peaceful and beautiful, and it was whale season so you could sit on the shore and see whales breaching in the distance!

 Casey and Jeff got to take a surfing class.  Casey seemed to be a natural!  They both loved it and wished they would have done it earlier so they could have utilized their new found skills.  While they were surfing Peggy and I had a spa day at the Grand Wailia.  It was AMAZING but they have a no photo's rule so there are no pictures of the amazing facility.  Before your spa treatment they have a huge area of of different soaking pools.  There were a bunch of scented pools, a cascading waterfall that massaged you back, a few different hot tubs, and this weird shower that shot out pinpoint streams of water all along the walls (I was not a fan of the shower). 

 

 

 We had some time for games in the evening, and even though some of us weren't exercising our good sportsmanship skills (Jeff!), we had a lot of fun! 

 On the second morning we woke up early and drove up to the top of a volcano to watch the sunrise.  It was very pretty but also super cold!!!  I was not expecting such extreme temperature changes, luckily the hotel staff had suggested we take blankets, so we walked around looking ghosts. 

 I got a pretty bad sunburn right away so for the first two days Casey and Jeff (and Peggy on one of the days) scuba-dived and I sat at the pool and just lounged.  It was awesome.  At the pool they brought you little cups of frozen grapes, and cups of pineapple slices.  It was so relaxing.  They also had a little area where they could prepare food and another for drinks.  There were guys walking around so if you wanted something you could just order with them and they would bring you your order.  Talk about luxury!

 We rented kayak and went out for a while one day.  We were hoping to see whales, but we didn't.  The water was super clear though so we could look down and see the coral. 

 We got to try out lots of little ice cream shops and restaurants.  (In the below picture we are showing off our cherry stem tying skills)

 Hands down our favorite dinner was COCONUT"S fish cafe.  We couldn't get enough of those fish tacos.  They had this amazing mango salsa on top. 

 

The other favorite was U shaved ice.  It was seriously so good.  I never though I (a devout ice cream lover) would give shaved ice any type of acclaim, but this stuff was magic.  The mango was the best, it was like biting into a fresh mango. Also they have an option to put ice cream on the bottom!!!  Talk about perfection.

 

 

We went to see a waterfall and on the way there we saw banana trees.  Pretty exciting.  We were just wishing there were monkeys there also:)

 We went on a snorkel cruise.  They took us to this little moon shaped island (Molokini) and we snorkeled around there.  There were tons of fish and coral.  Then we went to a turtle cleaning station and snorkeled with the turtles.  It was pretty cool to see those big sea turtles swimming around with us.  The water was pretty cold but they had food and drinks on the boat so whenever you were finished you could sit on the boat and warm up.

 We discovered shuffle board isn't just for old people.  We all enjoyed it and Jeff was determined to be the king.  I think he won almost every game he played regardless of partner. 

At the end of the week it was time to come home and we got to Denver and realized we had been living in an alternate reality.  It was really stormy in Denver and pretty much all the flights were being canceled.  We were rerouted and did eventually make it home after about 24 hours of flying. 

 At least United hooked us up with some sweet food vouchers!