Utah: Where summer can always be found!

So it's been a pretty rough winter, spring, and beginning to summer here in the northwest. This made heading to UT for our annual summer vacation very easy to do. The only thing I would change would be having Jack out there longer with us and squeezing in a few more visits with friends!

Here were some of the highlights:

All the cousins LOVE Uncle Paul. So when he was playing in the championship softball series, they all wanted to go and show their support. Congrats to Paul and his team for taking 1st place in the tournament! It was so fun watching you win those last three championship games!!!



Cousin Power! Nothing beats having all the cousins together. This was our first time meeting baby Chaz who is clearly no longer a baby. The kids spent their first few hours together enjoying Teagen's slip n slide!





Sunday shots, minus Jack, Steve, and Paul...




Celebrating Paul's and Teagen's birthday...



Enjoying Provo Canyon and the Moe's cabin at Sundance...





We can always count on plenty of sun and pool time. I decided to enroll Sage in her first round of swim lessons while we were out in UT. I was worried since she was five and had yet to take classes that she'd be the oldest in her class. To our surprise, she was the youngest by a long shot and she did fantastic. Her favorite things to do include floating on her back for as long as someone is willing to count to, doing dives (belly flops), and searching for rubber fish on the bottom of the pool (shallower end). In the meantime, the boys continue to grow in their swimming abilities. Ty now can do great dives and almost has a perfect back flip while Connor still continues to love practicing his laps and would someday like to do swim team!





A big highlight to the trip to UT is going boating. This is Jack's thing and if he's in town for three days you can bet this is how we spend his first day in town. Last year Ty had given the knee board a try and enjoyed it. This year he took it to a new level going over the wake, doing 360's and doing it backwards. He tried out the wake board but decided he'd work on that next year. In the meantime, Connor tried the knee board for the first time and loved it. Sage sticks to the tube for now. It's so fun to watch the boys develop their skills and talents and watch them push each other to do things that the other may be less inclined to try. I know one thing for sure and that is that they all have more guts than I do...









The boys had a blast at the BYU sports camp they attended this year. I'm guessing it had less to do with the actual camp and more to do with the fact that they were doing it with Harrison and Wyatt. Although these boys hadn't seen each other in a year, they immediately became the band of brothers doing everything together and having a blast doing it! They enjoyed afternoons in the pool and going to the movies together. Countdown until next summer...





Seeing Michele! It had been close to ten years since Michele and I had seen each other but how delighted I was when she said she wanted to fly up from Southern Cali. to spend a few days with me. We had a great time catching up and remembering old times. Thanks also to Marsha H., the Merril's, Moe's, Gibson's, Moore's, Kristen H., Jodi W., and Jack's missions President and his wife, the Lee's for sharing some of your time with us. It was so nice seeing all of you! It's always so hard finding time to see all our friends who now live in UT or visit during the summers. For those we missed, we'll look forward to catching you soon!




Finally, here are a couple favorite photos with some of the boys favorite people!



Thanks again mom and dad for a fabulous time! xo

Up in smoke...

The 4th of July weekend began first with Jack taking the boys on the father son campout. In true Roddy fashion, the campout began with a trip to McDonalds. I mean, really why make things difficult on yourself and add cooking to the mix? Apparently the church campsites have these open A-frame structures that the families can sleep in. Each A-frame hold two-three families. Lesson learned this year is select the other family very carefully. Apparently someone out their snores a whole lot louder than Jack and it kept them up most of the night. The highlights of the camp seemed to be the rope swing and sliding down a huge tarp covered hill on inner tubes with water running down it. Apparently there would be huge puddles of water on the hills so the kids would splash through it and slide down at amazingly fast speeds! From the footage Jack captured on his phone, I have to say it looked like loads of fun. I also learned another highlight of the trip was Jack adding some excitement to the day by handing out $20 to any of the kids that could climb to the very top of the rope swing. He said it was a lot tougher than it looked. In the end Connor was actually the only one that was able to do it while another kid came so close that Jack gave him the money so he wouldn't continue tearing up his hands trying to get up the last foot. Leave it to sweet Connor to tell Ty that he deserved the money more than himself and handed his money over to him. Apparently Ty had made numerous attempts yet just didn't have the strength to get to the very top. Connor felt Ty deserved the money more for all the pain he went though. Unfortunately I don't have any photos to share from their excursion but from the stories the boys have told me I think the memories will be engraved in their minds for a while!

While the boys were doing all of this Sage and I were at Alderbrook, a beautiful resort on the Hood Canal. Unlike camping, we were enjoying lovely accommodations, good food and friends, amazing scenery with views of the Olympic Mountain range, one of the best firework shows I've been to and a great band. We'll definitely have to come back with the whole family. And of course we have some photos to share from our mother daughter trip...





On the morning of the 4th, Jack and the boys went mountain biking with some friends. After they returned we headed up to the annual Homeowners association carnival which the kids always love.



We divided our evening by having a barbecue with some friends and then returning to our neighborhood to do fireworks with some of our neighbors. Yup, 4th of July is pretty much about watching your husband and kids get a huge thrill watching hundreds of dollars go up in smoke. This year was no different. Admittedly, as much as I hate seeing money being spent in seconds with nothing to show for it in the end, nothing beats seeing the huge smiles on your kids faces as they watch with anticipation what will come next! Indeed, it was another successful 4th of July...

School is out, Summer is in, and I keep telling myself this is a good thing...

How cute it is to watch your 5 year old graduate from Preschool! Sage has loved attending Discovery Preschool. In part it was because she attended with a a few of her pals but she also loved her teachers Ms. Wendy and Ms. Kristen. It was only three days a week for 2 1/2 hours each day but this was perfect. Anything longer would have been too tough on her mommy. It's hard to believe she'll be joining her brothers at the elementary school in the fall! Bring on the tissue...

The Ugly: 1st Year Kid Pitch Baseball

Well, let's just say this season wasn't one of the better ones for the LA Dodgers. Sadly there were many more losses than wins and the weather was far from cooperative with most practices being cancelled and several games too!

Early in the season Ty came off as a strong hitter and did pretty good at bat making some great hits. He pitched in one game and did well as one parent pointed out, pitching pitches that kids could actually hit. There was also one game in particular where I got so nervous because the three times he got up to bat there were two outs and he managed to get hits every time, keeping the team alive. Ty's a hitter and if he was going to strike out he was going to do it swinging. Connor on the other hand was much more cautious. He wasn't swinging unless it was perfect and his patience paid off many times with some great hits and quite a few walks. In the end however the team just never seemed to find their rhythm. They all did their best though and it's always fun watching them grow and develop into little ball players on the field.

A couple highlights from the season included the baseball Jamboree and Parade which kicks off the season, and Little League Night at Safeco Field which has turned into a family tradition over the years and is always a fun time! Unfortunately we missed the end of season team party because we were on our cruise but the boys seemed to be just fine with that... :)