Last Vacation of Summer

Hi everyone. Welcome to my last post of the summer. It’s hard to believe, but school starts tomorrow! Summer has flown by at warp speed. I’m both happy and sad about that. Happy that we will benefit from the structure that a school schedule provides, but sad that the fun, crazy casualness of summer will be over. (I’m not sure I’m quite ready for hours of homework yet)

It’s been a good summer for us. To end it with a bang, we decided to take a  mini vacation with our good friends the Crafts. We managed to cram lots of fun into just a couple days, but it wasn’t so crazy as to not be relaxing.

The best part of the vacation was the company of course, and the only bad part was that we were missing Mary Kate. She was off having a vacation of her own in Colorado with Grandma and Grandpa Dickey. She had some exciting tales of  begging squirrels, hikes in the dark without flashlights, thunder storms, warm socks, adorable little boy cousins, bear scares, Zack the garbage disposal, and family love to tell.

While listening to the boys tell Mary Kate their tales of our vacation we discovered that their favorite part of the trip was the bathrooms at our camp site. That’s all they could talk about? I have visual evidence to prove that our vacation was much more fun than just some campsite bathrooms, as deluxe as they were.

So, without further ado, our vacation in photos….

First, Bear Lake for some quality beach time, jet skiing, and famous raspberry shakes at La Beau’s…

 Winnie’s first time at the beach, not a big fan

Then, camping at Beaver Mountain, a camping spot I would highly recommend. Great bathrooms! Flushing toilets, showers and everything. Just ask the boys. I can’t believe I didn’t take pictures of those great bathrooms!

 There’s Jonathan’s pirate look again

 Best camping breakfast ever!

Then a hike at our favorite mountain spot, Tony Grove. Simply lovely….

 Winnie was a much bigger fan of Tony Grove, check out the smile

And then, as if we hadn’t done enough, we had even more fun four wheeling up Millville canyon….

Throw in a trip to Aggie Ice Cream, some pizza a Fredrico’s, a few well told campfire stories and well sung campfire songs, s’mores and popcorn popped over the fire. Add the no bugs aspect, great weather, and some serious belly laughs and you have the perfect end-of-summer vacation. Thank you Crafts for helping us make it perfect. We love you guys more than our luggage!

Farewell to summer and all the fun it has brought. I hope you all had great summers too.

I Keep Hearing That Michael McLean Song In My Head (and getting a little weepy)

Today I want to introduce you all to my new nephew, Mason Bee Dickey. Born Wednesday, August 11th at 2:05 in the a.m. He weighs 6 lbs. 5 oz. and is 19 inches long. He’s a beautiful, tiny little peanut with lots of soft black hair, and a very sweet disposition.

My brother-in-law Lance, Mike’s youngest brother, and his wife Dani are Mason’s adoptive parents. Mason’s birth mother’s name is Brittany, and is someone we will love and be grateful to forever and ever because she has just given Lance and Dani, and in turn our entire family, a precious-beyond-words, absolutely amazing gift. When I stop to think about what she’s done, I have no words, and I’ll admit, tears keep coming up unexpectedly. To talk to Lance and Dani about it, having this little baby boy turned over to them was the most overwhelmingly spiritual, bitter-sweet experience of their young lives.

I can only imagine.

I held Mason for the first time yesterday. When you hold him you can’t help but ponder on what has just taken place and the incredible sacrifice that has been made. I’m having a difficult time coming up with something that could be more unselfish and more loving than giving up a child for the sole purpose of giving him a better life. Like I said, as corny as Michael McLean’s songs can be, I can’t get his adoption song out of my head… “From God’s arms, to my arms, to yours.” It takes on a whole new meaning when it becomes personal… even if I’m only the aunt.

We cuddled this little guy for hours yesterday….

 

My favorite was watching Lance and Dani with him. They are completely and totally in love, and so happy to have their long awaited for dream come true. (That may sound a bit melodramatic, but it’s the truth)

Now we all get the privilege of sitting back and watching them discover the crazy and insane world of parenting. Buckle your seatbelts guys!

Here’s Lance the Daddy (who, by the way was only 9 years old when Mike and I were married) changing Mason’s diaper. Watching him do this was heart melting and a bit of a shock to my system at the same time. He’s a dad now for crying out loud! And I’m old!

So, Lance and Dani now have a little boy baby boy. Mike’s parents now have 14 grandchildren, the kids have a new cousin, and I have a beautiful new nephew. Thank you Brittany, from all of us. Words cannot express the gratitude.

One Last Picture

I couldn’t resist posting this one last picture of my dad during his school teaching years. My brother had this taped to a filing cabinet in his office. When I saw it I had to have a copy for myself. I’m sure one of my dad’s students took it years ago. I love it!

P.S. He didn’t really wear taped glasses to school. Not sure why he’s wearing them in the picture?

Now is the time of year when my dad should be going back to school, readying his classroom for another year, but instead he and my mom are readying themselves for something entirely different. Last month my parents received a call to serve an 18 month Church Education Systems mission to Wellington, NEW ZEALAND! How awesome is that? Could you even a imagine a better, more beautiful place to serve?

They leave in November and have a lot to do to prepare, getting visas, figuring out what to do with their house and such. I’m very excited for them, but when I really stop to think about them being gone for that long I start to cry, so I’m going to stop typing about it. Just thought I’d get the announcement out there.

Check this place out…

…and yes, we will be going for a visit.

Photos from Google Images

So We Had a Little Sewing Lessons

Mary Kate’s friend Elizabeth came over the other day and she and MK decided they wanted to sew. Mary Kate has never really learned how to sew with a needle and thread (I’m not a very good mother like that) so when she discovered how fun it was, she became obsessed with sewing little pillowcases and stuffing them to the max. This is her growing pillow collection. Not exactly sure what she’s going to do with them all?

My mom caught wind of Mary Kate’s new obsession and she decided that Mary Kate’s next adventure should be to learn to sew on a machine. We all headed over to the fabric store and picked out a few very simple patterns, some fabric and notions, and we set to work.

 

Mary Kate’s very first project…. a simple pair of purple tie dyed, fleece pajama pants. And who better to teacher her than my excellent seamstress mother? SEW exciting!

We (mostly my mom) taught her how to read a pattern, cut and piece, and then to sew on the machine….

Mary Kate was actually kind of a natural at it. After a few practice rounds on a scrap of fabric, she was sewing like a pro.

Mary Kate has great hands and she’s good with them. Earlier that day she performed at her summer piano recital and received a score of A++, one of only three students who did.  I’m discovering that I have a daughter with many talents. Things come much more easily to her than they do to me, things like piano playing, sewing, doing math, swimming and turning cartwheels. She’s a talented little thing, but the best thing about Mary Kate, and I’ve mentioned this before, is how truly nice she is. She’s got it all, that one.

(Hey, I can brag, I’m her mom)

Here she is with her new PJ pants hot off the sewing machine. They turned out great, even if they are a little too warm for summer wear.

Our next project….hats and scarves. Again, a little warm for summer, but cold weather’s just around the corner, and like Boy Scouts, we like to be prepared.

Thanks Grandma for the lovely sewing lessons!