2nd Week of Swimming Lessons

Well, we survived swimming lessons. After talking to my sister-in-law who has taught swimming lessons I decided to try leaving Isaac with the teachers and see if he did any better when I wasn't there to rescue him. So on Monday I put him screaming and kicking into the pool and told Lynette that I would be in the front yard if she needed me to come and get him. I dragged the other two with me because I didn't want him to try to enlist their help either. They were not happy that they had to sit on the driveway with me for an hour instead of playing in the backyard with the other kids, but it was worth it because Isaac did much better! He cried for most of it, but he did everything they asked him to do, and he stayed in the pool.
Tuesday was worse getting him in the pool (I had to bribe him with string cheese and fruit snacks) but they told me that he didn't cry for as long and he did what they asked once again. Wednesday was easier because I told him it was his last day and that Daddy would swim with him for family swim day the next day if he got in. He was a little hesitant, but he got in and didn't put up much of a fuss. Thanks for the good advice Amber. You were right on the money, as usual. I asked one of the other moms to take some pictures of Isaac for me so I would have some to remember the experience by. She did an a great job and got some really cute pics.


Isaac in his comfort zone on the steps.


Blowing bubbles and "swimming" back to the steps.



Cute (sad) boy.

Sticking his chin up as high as he can.

Doing a front float.

Face all the way in the water!

Will someone get me out of here please?

The other two kids had a great time the second week as well. They were both anxious every day to get in and do whatever they were told. Savannah especially was much improved this week. I hardly recognized her. She was sitting on the bottom of the pool and opening her eyes without her goggles. She was diving and jumping through hoops and doing her best to do back floats and front floats. It was great! Will was trying his best to do what he was supposed to and he did great also. It was kind of interesting what swimming lessons did for him though. Before lessons he was fearless and had no problem jumping off the diving board or the side and he was convinced that he could already swim. After lessons, he was pretty nervous about jumping off the diving board and he didn't like to be near the deep unless he had a noodle or a life jacket. I think swimming lessons were good for him in that it gave him a good dose of healthy fear of the water. Hopefully we won't have any more experiences where he is jumping into the deep lazy river at the public pool by himself like last summer.

Savannah doing a back float.

Will doing a back float and learning about the back stroke.

Playtime is always the best.

Both kids diving through the hoop.

Savannah tried about 10 times to do a knee dive off of the diving board. I don't know what the difference was from doing it off the side, but she did a belly flop every time. It was so great that she kept trying though. Will chickened out here, but then he jumped off later with some noodles.

Swimming Lessons

We started swimming lessons this week at my neighbors' house. She has been teaching for over 10 years and we tried to get in last year, but were too late signing up. So we were very excited to get in this year. I'm ashamed to admit that this is the first year for swimming lessons for all three of my kids. Not so bad for Isaac, but the other two are a bit behind the kids their age.
It has been so cold and rainy for June so I was a little worried about making the kids get in the pool if it is cold, but that has only been a problem for Isaac so far. His lesson is first at 9:00 in the morning and the first day he was very excited. After seeing the other kids and realizing that I would not be getting in the pool with him he became quiet and then started crying when the teacher tried to get him to put his face in the pool and blow bubbles. He made it through the whole hour though and even had fun during the last 15 minutes of class when it is play time. Tuesday was great at first. He got right in and was participating happily, but by play time he was ready to get out. Wednesday and Thursday were a bit of a nightmare. He was crying the whole time and would scream every time the teachers took him from the side of the pool where I was. I had to force him to stay in the pool and I wondered if it was even worth it since he is likely developing a dislike for swimming. It didn't help that it was cold and raining both of these days, although the pool was very warm. I felt bad making him get in at all and I didn't make him stay in the whole time. Maybe he'll do better next week?

Savannah and Will did much better than Isaac did. The first day we had Will in the 5-7 year old class and he did awesome! I was so proud of him. He did everything they asked him to do and he was happy with how it all went. We had Savannah in the 8 and up class, but it was soon evident that she was not ready to be in this class. The other kids in her class have all taken lessons for years and were a lot more advanced than she was. We decided she would be better off in Will's class and the next 3 days were a lot better for her. For a girl who has always been terrified of water and never wanted to get her face wet I hardly recognized her! She was doing knee dives and cannon balls and excitedly trying to do front floats and back floats. She is doing so well! I have been so proud of her! And it worked out better for them to be in class together since neither one knew very many of the other kids. They have really enjoyed the play time at the end of class each day too.


Savannah doing a cannon ball into the pool with Will about to do one next.


Will practicing his front crawl with the kick board.



Savannah doing a back float.



Play time!

I took video of both kids doing knee dives, but I don't know how to turn the video the right way, so I hope you can see it OK sideways.

Savannah was doing them so fast I could hardly get the camera out and ready before she was in the water.

Will's dive is more of a flop, but that's why we have lessons, right?

Well, one week down and one more to go. I'm anxious to see how they do next week and if Isaac will even get in the pool by then.

Burton Family Reunion

We had such a good time at the family reunion for my mom's side of the family this weekend! We left on Thursday morning to drive 5 hours to Mt. Carmel Junction-which is about 15 minutes north of Kanab. I rode in my parents car with the boys and Heather and Randy were nice enough to take Savannah in their car for us. Robby was unable to take work off for two days, so he sat this one out unfortunately. It was a very long drive, but it was worth it when we got there.
We stopped at the cabin and the kids ran to play on the swingset. There was a tire swing and Isaac looked up at me and said "Mom, will you push me on the bagel swing?" I thought it was so funny considering that I don't think he's ever had a bagel. There was also a rope swing which Will was very excited about. We played for a few minutes and then some people pulled up to the house and got out of their car and asked who we were. We had stopped a little too soon and the next house up the road was actually the one we wanted. It was pretty funny.
We spent the next two days talking, catching up, eating, playing volleyball, horseshoes and redneck golf, hiking, riding horses, swimming and relaxing. It was so much fun! The kids were in heaven the whole time. There were so many kids to play with, lots of games to play (thanks to my cousin Melanie), and they were free to pretty much run around and do what they wanted. It was nice that all of mine were old enought to go play by themselves. That left me with lots of time to do what I wanted to also. It was so fun to catch up with all my cousins that I haven't seen forever and see how their families are growing. It was beautiful there and so relaxing. On Thursday night we watched a slideshow of my mom's family growing up and another one of my grandparents (Who have both passed away) singing at another family reunion many years ago. On Friday night we had a talent show complete with some fabulous singing and a magic show that the kids loved and then we had a wonderful testimony meeting. It was really a special night and much needed on my part. Saturday morning we played with some water balloons and the I went with a couple of the other adults on a hike with all the kids. It turned out to be a really cool one! It was a slot canyon, but it wasn't at all difficult for the kids and it was so beautiful. I'm really glad I went. Thanks Mom and Dad and Heather and Randy for making it possible for us to go. We made memories we won't soon forget!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Videos of the kids riding the horses. Definitely the highlight for my kids. They all LOVED it!

This and That

So, we've been doing this Home Depot craft Saturday since January and the kids have racked up quite a few wooden thing that need painting so on Monday I (finally) let them paint. They had so much fun!


Isaac is so into it he's sticking his tongue out in concentration.


Will trying very hard to make it look perfect.



Savannah about to start painting.

On Monday night the kids were a little hyper and they decided to play dress up so they looked around and found the silliest outfit they could find to show us. It was pretty funny. They even made paper rabbit ears and taped them on their hats. Silly kids!

Isaac just put a hat on over his face for his outfit. I had to laugh at that one!


Savannah looks cute even when she's trying to look silly.

And finally, last Wednesday my mom picked up the boys and me and we went to Logan to my sister Ali's house where we had lunch and did some beading for a little girls' day. It was so much fun! For our birthday's in April, Ali gave my mom and me and my sister Heather a watch face and then she invited us up to make beaded watch bands. I think they turned out really cute and it was fun to hang out with the girls. It's so fun to be able to switch out the bands for different colors too. My sister Amberly was able to come over on her lunch break and play with us for a little while too. Unfortunately Heather wasn't able to come, but we will definitely have to do this again so she can play too. (Maybe when Dan and Amber are in town so that Amber can come?) Thanks again Ali! I LOVE my new watch!

Pedicures and Planes

We had such a fun weekend, but Robby had the camera with him so no pictures. Robby took off with his Dad early Friday morning to go camping/hiking/fishing at a place called Little Hole which is about a 7 mile hike from the dam at Flaming Gorge.
Meanwhile we were celebrating Savannah's last day of 2nd grade. We played all afternoon and then we watched The Wizard of Oz together in Isaac's new play tent on Friday night. The kids absolutely LOVED it! Will was so into the movie that I had to laugh. He was yelling "RUN!!!" at the TV when the flying monkeys were coming after Dorothy and her friends. It was pretty cute.
Saturday morning we went to the Home Depot for the craft Saturday and picked up the craft to do later at home. A few minutes later my mom and my sister Heather and her family came over and her husband Randy watched the kids while my mom, Heather and I went to get a pedicure. Heather treated my mom and I as payment for watching her kids while she and Randy were in Washington DC. It was well worth it to me! It was so much fun hanging out and talking while getting pampered. Thanks again Heather!
After our pedicures we had lunch at my house and then we all headed over to the Air Force Base for the air show. What is normally a 10 minute drive took about an hour. I couldn't believe how packed it was! We finally got parked and went inside and found a nice spot to watch the show. It was a lot of fun and the kids liked seeing all the planes (and also all the booths giving out free stuff). We lucked out and got perfect weather too. It was about 75 and sunny with a little breeze every now and then. It was great! We had a lot of fun hanging out with the family-we only wish Robby could have been there too.

Isaac's 3rd Birthday

We had a lot of fun yesterday for Isaac's birthday. We started off by going to the doctor for his 3 year well child checkup. He was only 36th percentile (30.4 lbs) for his weight and 52nd (37.5 inches) for his height, but the doctor said he looks really healthy. I thought we were getting close to him being able to ride in a booster in the car but the doctor said it is usually around when they turn 5! I guess the official guidlines are age 4 and 40 lbs. I don't know if they have changed, but I know we didn't wait that long with the other two. Ooops! Live and learn I guess.
After the doctor we went to KMart and the boys got to ride on the carousel and the horse for a few minutes. Then we bought Isaac a birthday present that all the kids love. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with something that he would like because he doesn't really need anything. After shopping at three different stores I came across this play tent that comes with a play campfire and everything. My mother-in-law bought this for Will for his birthday last year and the kids loved it, but it was missing a piece so we took it back to exchange it and unfortunately they didn't have another one so we ended up just returning it and buying something else. I have since thought many times that we should have just kept it, but by then it was too late. So, anyway I found it at KMart yesterday and bought it for Isaac's birthday and the boys played in it all day yesterday.


I gave them skewers and mini marshmellows and let them pretend to roast them over the fire. It was really cute.

After dinner Isaac opened his presents and we had cake and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cones.

Isaac LOVES books.

And sticker books too!


And here he is blowing out three candles for the 2nd year in a row-only this time it is acurate.

The Past Three Years with Isaac

My baby turned three yesterday! I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

It was June 3, 2006 and I was due on June 30. Robby and I lived in a duplex at 1300 East and 3900 South in Salt Lake. We were preparing to move to West Jordan and Robby was helping his brother build some shelves in his garage to make room for us to move in to their basement. I was packing up the kids' room when my water broke. It couldn't have been worse timing, but I guess Isaac didn't want to miss all the fun. Luckily my mother-in-law was able to come help with the kids and Robby and I went to the hospital.

Here we are heading to the hospital to have Isaac.

About an hour after Isaac was born I got to hold him.

It was a really easy labor and delivery, but he had a little trouble breathing right after he was born. Thank goodness he was four weeks early because he was almost 8 pounds at 36 weeks!

Luckily he didn't have to be in the NICU and we were able to bring him home after the ususal 2-day stay.

Heading home from the hospital.

Isaac at about 2 weeks old.

Four months old.

About six months old (I think)

Isaac's first Easter-9 months old. We were at my sister's house for their baby blessing and that is my nephew Tyler in the picture with my kids.


11 months old and getting ready to move to Layton.

Isaac's first birthday party.

About 18 months old.

Isaac's new sandbox for his 2nd birthday.

Isaac blowing out the candles last year. Yes, there are three there. Don't ask me why because I have no idea why I put three on instead of two.

My big three-year-old last month at Antelope Island.

It has been so fun to watch Isaac growing up so far. It's hard to remember how we got along without him. He is so much fun and he is such a little sweetheart. We love him so much and we are so glad that he is part of our family.

Viva Las Vegas!

WARNING-Extremely long post. Feel free to just look at the pictures of our trip to Beaver, Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada and Hoover Dam

Last Thursday we headed out of town at about 5:00. We stopped in downtown Salt Lake and picked Robby up from work and we drove to Beaver to stay with my Aunt and Uncle there. I think the kids would have been fine if that had been the extent of our trip. They had such much fun in Beaver. We got there at about 9:00 pm so they just went right to bed, but they were so excited that they didn't go to sleep until about 10:30. The next morning they could hardly wait to get outside to the swingset in the backyard and they had a blast playing and running around. My aunt fed us a delicious breakfast of Wheat pancakes (no, really, they are actually very good) and raspberries and she made her famous Green smoothies. After breakfast Janice entertained the kids with some nerf guns while Robby and I got cleaned up and ready to go.


Savannah and Will on the swing in front of my Aunt's house.

All three kids decided they liked the swing in the front of the house better than the playground in the backyard.

So, after a stop at the Chesse factory in Beaver for some squeeky cheese (also known as Cheese Curd) we were on our way to Las Vegas. I am so glad we decided to leave on Thursday and split the drive between two days. The kids did pretty well, but by the time we got within sight of Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, they were pretty much done with the car. They had fun looking at the big hotels on the strip as we drove by on the freeway, but that is about as close as we got to downtown Las Vegas.

Robby has a lot of extended family in Las Vegas, and they are all out in Henderson now. After getting some lunch at McDonalds we headed out to visit Robby's grandparents. We had a nice visit with them and then we headed over to his Aunt Brenda's house where we were going to be staying. We got there and got the car unloaded and a little while later Brenda showed up with dinner for us. The kids really wanted to swim so after dinner we did a little swimming in Brenda's pool. It was weird because it was only about 80-85 degrees there the whole trip and it was overcast most of the time we were there also. I don't remember ever going to Las Vegas and not getting sunburned.

Saturday morning we got up and headed out to Hoover Dam. The kids and I had never seen it before. It was really cool! They are building a huge new road and a suspension bridge to bypass the road across the dam.

The view from where we parked of the dam and the new bridge.

We had a couple of very nice people offer to take a family picture for us.

Another look at the bridge and part of the dam.

View from the dam looking up at Lake Mead. You can see where the water level usually is. It is extremely low right now.

The kids were so excited that they could stand halfway in Nevada and halfway in Arizona.

All of us at the visitors center which was closed.

Robby with the bridge.

The river side of the dam.

It was really worth the trip out there. The kids really liked seeing everything and it was amazing to see the work on that bridge. I don't know how the people who are working on it dare to be up that high and working right on the edge. That would really freak me out!

After our trip to the dam we got some lunch and headed back to Brenda's house. The kids (of course) wanted to swim again so we had a little quiet time/nap time and then we swam for awhile. I have all the kids signed up for swimming lessons in June, but none of them know how to swim yet. They sure loved swimming around in the floaties that were there. I can't wait for swimming lessons now.

Will in the hot tub.

Savannah-posing as usual.

Isaac anxious to jump of the diving board again.

And a couple of videos of the kids swimming.

Saturday night Brenda invited the whole family over for pizza, watermelon, swimming and visiting. It was a lot of fun! I love Robby's family so much. They are all such great people. We had such a great time visiting with everyone, and it is always fun to show the kids off to people who don't see them very often. I am so grateful that we had a place to stay for free too because otherwise we probably couldn't have gone down there and it was so nice to be able to see Robby's grandparents and all his other family too. One funny thing (and also sad thing) that happened-I was sitting on the patio talking with Robby's aunt and his mom and Isaac came and told me he wanted more pizza. So I sat him on the chair next to me, but he started squirming so I asked him if he had to go potty. He, of course, said no but I could tell he had to go so I made him leave the pizza and head into the house. The whole patio and the kitchen were filled with people and Isaac didn't realize the sliding glass door was closed and he ran smack right into it. I felt so bad for him because he was already upset before it happened, but it was kind of funny too. Luckily, he was fine and we made it to the potty in time.

Sunday morning we packed up and hit the road. We spent pretty much the whole day in the car, but at least we got home in time to unwind a bit before starting another week. The kids actually did really well too. We only had a few minor fights and fits. It was a really successful trip!