June

The highlights:

Benson turned one! Four kids has been a bit of a wild ride, but we are alive so we count it as a success!

We’ve been playing in the pool a lot, it’s going to be a hot summer.

Teddy is still growing, and he’s pretty obnoxious. We still love him though, he’s a great dog for kids.

May 2015

In a great attempt to catch up on blogging… I am just going to do a post per month of our 2015 year.

 

May:

Tracker-Jacker had a birthday and turned 3. He had a construction site cake we celebrated with our family.

 

My oldest graduated from Kindergarten. I can’t believe I have one this old.

And we ended the month with my dancing queen having a birthday and turning 5.

Heaven is a little closer in a cabin by a stream

Dustin just finished being busy at work, so we decided it was time to head up to Papa and Nana’s cabin for some family time. The cabin is hidden in the woods up in a little valley called Teton. I love this place. It’s so quiet and peaceful. And the inside of the cabin looks like it came out of a fairy tale or something. It was the perfect get-a-way for us. We ate on paper plates, so dish duty was minimal, the kids slept in sleeping bags so there was no need to hound them to make their beds. And Dustin would take them adventuring while I sat with this view and a book while the baby napped.

We spent our time exploring, going on adventures, playing in the tire swing, and in the cabin. It was relaxing and fun.

We took our Friday and went swimming in Jackson Hole with cousins and grandparents, then came back to the cabin and had dinner with a marshmallow roast. Oh, how my kids loved the smores.

 

This next sequence of photos is my favorite. This girl always wants to be big, so she was thrilled that she got to roast her own marshmallows… and then they caught on fire. 

Uncle pat helped save one of them, but the disappointment had already set in. Poor thing.

We were about to tell campfire stories when we realized that two of the kids get nightmares easily, so it changed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stories told by cousin Ledger. The kids loved staying at the cabin. Tracker-Jacker keeps asking when we are going back and why we can’t go right now. It was a blissful weekend!

The Preslee Race

Sophie talked about this race forever, she was so excited to run in the “Preslee Race” as she called it. It was really the Anything For A Friend 5k, or F2TF (Fight to the Finish) 5k. It was a great cause with all proceeds going to help terminally ill children. There were 30 teams in the race, each racing for a loved one and each team had a different colored shirt with their team name on the back. Ashley and Pat got a team of 70 people put together of family and friends and we ran for Team Preslee. It was really neat to be part of. Ash brought pink necklaces for all the girls to wear, which was entirely appropriate because Pres loved her necklaces. I’m not sure that Sophie even remembers her cousin. I’d like to think she does. She’ll tell me that she does, and then she’ll tell me about a memory she has, which is usually something I had taken pictures of. So it might be a memory of looking at photos, and it might be an actual memory that is brought back by seeing the pictures. I’m not really sure since she was so young. But there was that special connection between the two of them and I know that connection goes beyond this life. So it wouldn’t be entirely shocking to me if she does have some memories of their short time together. Sophie was so thrilled that she was bursting with excitement before we got going. She was going to win this race.

The girls literally were sprinting every chance they got. I had a hard time keeping up with them at some places. I was shocked at how well they did. I thought they’d have a rough time and ride in the stroller for most of it.

It was a great race, and a great way to remember such a sweet little girl that we miss so much.