June Catch Up

A recap of June...

Last summer when we were putting our grass and curbing in, we left a space in the corner of our yard for a vegetable garden.  We were really excited this year to plant and see what we were able to grow.  The soil in our area has a lot of clay and rocks in it, so we had to buy quite a bit of topsoil to give the garden a chance at growing and surviving.  We decided to grow 2 types of carrots (orange and purple), romaine lettuce, radishes, peas, white onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers.  Of those, the carrots, radishes, peas, onions, tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers survived.  Not too bad for our first year.  We knew it was kind of a trial year anyway so we were happy with how much we actually got.  Our zucchini plant was definitely the most successful as far as bigger plants go.  Our radishes were small, but yummy.  The peas were really good--Makadie loved them!  I'm already looking forward to next year's crop!

Our tomato plant

Romaine Lettuce

At the beginning of the month, our city held their annual Art City Days events.  We went to the carnival one night with Makadie for a little bit.  Mostly we rode the merry-go-round and the big slide since we could go on those with her.  She wasn't so sure about the merry-go-round and didn't want to sit on the horse.  She did better with the slide since we were holding her.  There weren't a ton of rides she could go on this year, but next year will be better since she'll be bigger and able to ride the rides by herself.

Being summer in Utah, it was really hot during the day.  Makadie loves being outside so we spent a lot of time in her pool and playing in the sprinklers.  We also went on walks around the neighborhood when it was cool in the mornings or evenings.

I showed her how to drink from the sprinklers.  She thought it was so fun!  (Don't worry, it's culinary water.)

My sister, Dani, had a couple more baby showers in June.  It was so fun to see all the cute things she got from friends and family.

Makadie and I met up with my friend Lindsay and her daughter Lily at a park in Orem one morning to let the girls play on the playground.  Lindsay and I have been friends since 5th grade (18 years!) and it is so fun that our girls are so close in age--only a couple of weeks apart.

We went to a ward activity up the canyon.  They had roasted a couple of smaller pigs for dinner and everything else was pot luck.  There was lots of yummy food and it was fun to let Makadie run around the grassy area around the pavilion.

Father's Day was this month as well.  We went up to my dad and step-mom's house in Herriman to celebrate with them.  Then we stopped by Covey's parent's house on the way back home.  I am so grateful that Covey is such a good dad and that he loves Makadie so much.  I am also grateful for my own dad, who has been such a great example to me of a worthy priesthood holder and father.  Without him, I don't think I would have been able to marry someone as wonderful as Covey.

Makadie loved licking the cream off the spatula

Covey and Makadie took a nap together.  It was the only way she'd fall asleep.

On a sad note, this was the month that we had to put down our family dog, Sable.  On Labor Day last year, my mom had called me in a panic because Sable was having a really bad seizure and she wasn't sure if she was going to make it.  Thankfully, she did, but the seizure was pretty severe and caused some problems with her ability to walk very well, especially up and down stairs, and she had a hard time going from sitting to standing and vise versa.  She seemed like she was improving, but she started to have more problems again and had a couple more seizures at the beginning of the summer.  After taking Sable into the vet, they told my mom that there wasn't much they could do for her.  She was about 11 years old and had lived a good life, but now she was just old.  It was really sad to have to let her go.  We have always had animals growing up and we've had to put down 2 dogs and 1 cat so far.  It doesn't get any easier. :(

As for Makadie, she just got bigger and bigger everyday, I swear!  She started to get a cute little tan from being outside so much, even with the SPF 70 I put on her.  She loves to run around outside and I remember looking at her and having a hard time believing that she just started to walk around her first birthday, which was only about 6 months prior.  Makadie was also getting more teeth and loved to eat pretty much anything we put in front of her.  If I remember right, she had about 8-10 teeth by this time.  We had been trying to get Makadie to be more comfortable with using a fork and spoon, but more often than not, she would choose using her hands over any utensil.  When she did decide to use one though, she made a total mess.  Ah, well, I guess that's how it goes huh?

During this time, we were also getting ready to drop her morning nap and transition her to one longer afternoon nap.  I thought that it was going to be a really difficult transition, but she eased into it pretty well.  It was more that I had a hard time because I had less time that she was sleeping in order to get stuff done.  :)  It was good timing though, since she was going to be going into nursery the following month.  It also meant that Covey and I got to attend sacrament meeting together instead of just one of us.  We have 11 o'clock church this year, which normally isn't bad, but I've decided that pretty much any time is bad for church when you have kids because it is always during at least one child's nap time.  (Our ward is about 50% kids ages 12 and under so sacrament is kind of loud.)

Towards the end of the month, Kadie got sick with some 24 hour bug.  It was pretty sad.  She was so tired, but couldn't sleep very well.  I basically just wrapped her up in a blanket and held her while we watched Elmo.  She actually fell completely asleep while I was holding her, which she hadn't done since she was less than a year old.  Poor girl.  I loved snuggling her, but felt sad she wasn't feeling well.

We also went to Seven Peaks a couple of times.  We had bought a Pass of All Passes and decided to make good use of it.  I really liked being able to go for any length of time and not feeling obligated to stay a long time.  Makadie and I went with my sister-in-law, Shannon, and her two girls one day and we went another time with Covey.  Makadie LOVED it!  She could not get enough of the water and got mad when I pulled her out to get a snack and a drink.  She's turned into a little water rat between last summer and this summer.  Last year, it was all we could do to get her to put her foot in the water, but this year was just the opposite.

At the very end of the month, we got a text from my dad letting us know that our grandpa (my step-mom's dad) wasn't doing well and probably wouldn't be here much longer.  He'd had a couple of bad falls and been sick and he just never fully recovered.  He was living in a treatment center in Riverton while he was recovering.  It was a Sunday and we drove out after sacrament meeting to see him.  It was so sad to see him lying there on the hospital bed when the last time I'd seen him, he'd been up and about and smiling.  We had to leave for a little bit to take Makadie up the street to my dad's house to give her a nap and on our way back to the center, he passed away.  It was both a relief and a tragedy that he was gone.  My dad and Sharon have been married for 18 years, so he had been my grandpa for longer than he hadn't.  He had the most beautiful, full, white head of hair and twinkling blue eyes that everyone who ever met him would remember.  He was truly one of the sweetest, kindest men I've ever know and I'm sad that Makadie and my other kids won't get to know him.

And, of course, I have to include the few random photos at the end of this entry that I always do.  :)

There is a little white speck that is a butterfly.  Makadie kept chasing it around our yard saying "please" and holding her hand out because she wanted to hold it.

For some reason, she started putting our shoes on her hands.

Makadie went through a period of time where she would get really upset every morning when Covey had to go to work.  He had to start sneaking out so she wouldn't see him go.

We bought her a little monkey backpack with a tail that we can hold on to when we go busy places.  Some people might think that is mean, but I think it's a great idea.  Makadie gets a little bit of independence and I get a little more control over how far away she gets from me.

 
This girl loves her dad so much.  They love to play together and wrestle in the yard.