Happy 7th of July!

OK, I know I'm three days late and way too many dollars short to count, but have we had some craziness over here!  The good kind of crazy, but crazy is crazy, and when you add any kind of crazy to the crazy we already have, well, you get the picture.

A week ago, my darling Ashlynn, my born on the freeway baby, turned 8.  How this is possible, I don't know, but there was no way on earth she was going to let us forget it.  Turning 8 is a big deal when you're a Mormon, so not only did I find myself planning for a birthday, but also a birthday party, an activity for her actual birthday, ("What are we going to do for my actual birthday, Mom?  Because I know we're having a party on Friday and my baptism on Saturday, but what are we going to do for my actual birthday?  Because it's my actual birthday and we have to do something!") a baptism and brunch afterwards, but also planning to get out of town for our annual 4th of July in Torrey, and then prepping to drop the girls off for a few weeks with Tom's parents in Kansas.  Did I mention that all of this took place last week while my husband was out of town? 

Yeah, crazy.

So in the spirit of the good blogger mom, I sat Ashlynn down and "interviewed" her for my blog, which made her all excited because she was "going to be famous on mom's blog."  Love that kid.  She's so good for my ego.

Favorite food: Fried chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers.
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite Movie: "Chestnut"  (Huh?  I've never even heard of this movie!)
Favorite TV Show: "Good Luck Charlie"  (The whole family watches this one.  Including Tom.)
Favorite Music: Taylor Swift
Best thing to do for a birthday party: Go to Seven Peaks and then have a sleepover.
Favorite Thing to Do With Family: "The fun things we do together.  But not chores."
Most exciting thing about being 8: Getting baptized.

So Wednesday, Ashlynn's actual birthday, I rounded up a bunch of friends and suckered them into coming to Trafalga with me.  If you're wondering, 1 pm on Wednesday is not the best time to go to Trafalga with a bunch of little kids without your husband.  It was hot, sticky, crowded, and Max had approximately 32 meltdowns by the time we left.  The big kids had fun, though, and when all the adults had had their fill of the screaming and whining, we piled more kids than legally should have fit in our and headed home for pizza and a movie.  Ashlynn declared it the most fun birthday ever, so it must have been ok.

Friday, I wrangled up most of the same friends (why are they all still friends with me?!) and we headed to Seven Peaks.  I was incredibly proud of myself for getting all four kids ready and out the door a few mimutes early, until I realized I had no idea where my wallet was.  We searched the house.  We searched the car.  Then I remembered that I had taken all four kdis to Target with me the day before and I sighed, knowing that we were going to be heading to Seven Peaks in Provo via a Target in Salt Lake.  Luckily, my wallet was intact, and we made it just over an hour late.  Remarkably, we all had a good time, and no one got lost, sunburned or drowned, so I'm counting it a grand success.

Baptism day dawned bright and very early.  Ashlynn was bouncing off the walls, and Tom and I were propping our eyes open with toothpicks.  I had been up until an obscene hour cooking for the brunch, and Tom's flight from whereeverhewasthatweek didn't even get into the airport until after midnight. 

There is something very special about watching  your child so excited for such a milestone.  Ashylnn's smile already can light up a room, but on Saturday morning, she was grinning from ear to ear non-stop.  My mom made Ashlynn's dress, and it was amazing.  Ashlynn picked out the pattern, and my mom had no idea the amount of work that was going to go in it- there was 9 yards of lace in the skirt alone!  In a happy coincidence, the fabric that my mom picked for the baptism dress was the exact same fabric that she picked for her blessing dress 8 years before.  Once Ash gets too big for the baptism dress, I'm going to have them both preserved for her.

The service itself was intiamte and sweet.  Ashlynn played the opening song on the piano, which had me crying before two notes were up, and Abby impressed me with her ability to put together a musical number in less than a week.  Being with Ashlynn after the baptism, helping her back into her dress, gave me an inkling of what it will be like to help her into her wedding dress in a few short years. 

Brunch was a success, and a few hours later, we threw everything in our van and headed to Torrey for our annual Fourth of July party.  Unfortunately, the town of Torrey decided to do all their celebrating on Saturday, so we missed the pie eating contest and the parade, but we made our own fun.  We rode four wheelers, we played in the water, we napped and relaxed, and we shot off a lot of fireworks.  Neither of the boys appreciated them, and one of the funniest moments of the whole trip came when Max announced "I so scared!  I go inside and go to bed!" 

It turns out that we're not great picture takers.  When I came home and started downloading pictures from the weekend, I realized that we had taken a grand total of one picture the whole weekend.

That's Ian, passed out asleep.  He was fed up with being in the carseat on the way there, so out of desperation, I gave him the cookie part of an Oreo.  It may not be the most nutritionally sound choice, but it obviously did the trick.

Two days later, we were back in the car.  Tom's parents live on a farm in Kansas, and we don't get to spend much time with them.  The girls have been begging to see the farm, the grandparents have been begging to see the girls, so we met up with them in Grand Junction, CO.  After spending the ngiht playing together, Grandma and Grandpa took Abby and Ashlynn and went East, and we took the boys and headed West.  The girls are thrilled to be spending time on a real farm.  There are at least 3 litters of kittens, 4 dogs, 20 chickens, a bunch of horses and cows, and a duck.  They're staying for about three weeks, give or take.  Which makes for a very quiet ride home and an oddly empty house. 

So there you have it.  We've never had such a nutty summer, but for us, the traveling is over.  Max and Ian and I are going to hang out, go swimming, and  try and dig ourselves out of the 7 loads of laundry that are piled all over the house.  (And I would love to know how one 3 day trip can turn into 7 loads of laundry!  Seriously!  It defied the laws of physics.)  Tom is going to travel to whereeverhesgoingthisweek and we'll see him when we see him. 

And we're definitely going to nap.  *Yawn*