Late May, Early June

Life has been a bit hectic for us Mondays lately, but it has been really wonderful. Friday, May 30 was Alden's last day of school. He had a really great year, far better than I ever imagined that it could be. I absolutely love his teacher, Tracey Curl. She was truly a blessing in Alden's life that made Alden's Kindergarten experience amazing. The things she did for her students amazed me. It was clear that she loved the kids and worked her head off to teach them. Alden learned so much last year and improved remarkably. I really feel like all she did for us was an answer to our prayers. When Alden was getting ready to start Kindergarten, I was so nervous. I prayed and prayed that he could have a really wonderful experience. God really answered my prayers in allowing Alden to have Mrs. Curl for his teacher. I really can't say enough good things about her. We are so thankful for all she did for him.

Thobe also finished Joy School. He still asks me when we are having Joy School. I'm so thankful for all the hard work that Laura Talbot did to help me do this. I think it was such a positive thing in Thobe's life. I miss seeing Laura and her girls twice a week though. It was really fun. We had a little Joy School graduation party to celebrate the kids' accomplishment!

Anyway, Alden kept telling me that now that school is out that it is officially summer. He told me that he can now where the sandals that he got for his birthday because it's summer now. So far, we've had a great summer. We just got back from a trip to Utah where we were able to see all the boys' cousins and aunts and uncles. It was so much fun to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Humphries. As a matter of fact, in the journal entry that Alden wrote when we got back, he said that was his favorite part.

On June 3, we flew to Utah. Despite going from Columbus, Ohio, to New York City to Las Vegas, having an hour and a half delay while trapped in the plane on the runway, having Delta lose our luggage along the way, having a few issues with our rental car, and not getting into Enterprise at 6:30 a.m. Ohio time, our trip started out fantastically. Really in all honesty it went fine. The boys were great travelers, even little Hyrum. Michael and I were both able to get a significant amount of sleep on the 5 1/2 hour plane ride--something that happens happened for me when flying with kids since I had them. We also go a free upgrade from a car to a minivan--another plus!

The boys were thrilled to see Grandpa and Grandma and were excited to see all their cousins. After Michael got up around 10:30, we headed for Vernon, Utah to see my sister Kristi and her family and to drop my mom off at her house. We had a fun trip riding with Grandma. Hyrum loved playing peekaboo with her and hearing Grandma sing her Hyrum song, "Oh Hyrum, Oh Hyrum, how you can love..." When we got to Kristi's house, my sister Diane was there with her family. Alden and Thobe were thrilled because that meant that all his cousins on my side were there. He, Davin, Noah, and James were inseparable. I also go to finally meet my new nephew Joshua. I must admit that he was cuter than the pictures I've seen. He is adorable. My biggest surprise with it was that Hyrum loved him!!!! He wanted to hug him and hold him and smile at him constantly. I had no idea that Hyrum loves babies. Just before we left, the boys got to feed Noah and Sierra's horse named Feathers.

After spending awhile there, we went to Michael's sister's new house. Alden, Thobe & Hyrum got to see all their cousins on Michael's side there and were thrilled. They love all of Michelle's kids--Ethan, Charity, Elijah, Calvin, Levi, Naomi, and Ivy. Alden spent much of his time with Calvin and Levi. They watched movies, played with a lot of toys, and even got to have sleepovers. Hyrum enjoyed playing with Ivy, and Thobe and Naomi got along the best they even have! They even got to go to Dinosaur Land and watched a rather interesting movie about reproduction at the IMAX theater. We figured that a movie at the IMAX theater in a children's museum would be somewhat harmless, but .... Anyway, I don't think it was too graphic. We had so much fun eating Aunt Michelle's green smoothies, going on fun walks to the temple, and just spending time as a family. We were also able to go to the LDS temple and do some temple work for Michael's grandma. It was very special and an experience I hope I'll always remember.

Also in the middle of our stay with Michelle, we also went to a family reunion for the Thomas' family (my Mom's side). I saw all of my cousins except one or two. It was really fun for me to see so many of them, especially since I hadn't seen many of them since my grandma died almost three years ago. It was so much fun catching up and hearing how things are going for them. I feel really blessed to come from such a great heritage. It was neat to hear about all the good things that they are doing in their lives and meet all their kids. I loved every minute of it.

After spending a day or two more with Michelle, we went back down to Enterprise and spent the remainder of our trip in Enterprise. The boys have so much fun there. Thobe has a constant smile on his face when we are there. He is a happy boy anyway, but he seems to be happy from the top of his head to the tip of his toes while we were there. My whole family was there for a lot of the time, and Diane and Kristi (my two sisters with kids) were there nearly all of the time that we were. That was also a lot of fun for the boys. Hyrum was able to admire Joshua, and Alden and Thobe were able to play with their cousins. Bridger, Diane's third boy, is a tease, especially to Thobe. Thobe was constantly telling Bridger, "Don't push me! Give that back to me! Be nice to Hyrum!" I was surprised what a protector he was of his brother. Alden spent so much time with Davin, Noah, and James that he didn't notice much, that is, until we were riding back from seeing Aunt Amy play racquetball at the Utah Summer Games. Alden sat between Bridger and Thobe, and Bridger began punching Alden and teasing him. Alden reprimanded Bridger and told him that he needed to stop. Bridger continued. Then Alden told Bridger, "Bridger, if you don't stop that, I'm going to tell on you." Bridger laughed and leaned over and WHOPPED Alden again. Finally, exasperated, Alden said, "Bridger, Heavenly Father is sad when you hit me. God doesn't like it when you hit. If you keep hitting, we won't be a forever family. You want to be a forever family, right Bridger." Alden always makes me smile.

Anyway, we had a really great trip. It was so nice to spend time with my family and catch up with them. I love them so much and am so grateful for them. We even took a family picture; something we haven't done for awhile. It will be outdated in November when my brother John and his wife Lindsay have their first baby--a boy!! We're so excited!

Just before we left, the boys went down to the farm and rode the tractor with Grandpa. They really liked that and had a lot of fun doing that. We also got to see our good friends, the Luongs and the Hardys, before we left Las Vegas. The Luongs fed us yummy Vietnamese food that makes my mouth water just thinking about it, and the Hardys let us stay at their house. It's always so much fun to see old friends.