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August 2018 - Visitors, Dinosaurs, and Bunnies

When we read scriptures together at night Tad repeats Kyle or I.  However, he has started adding stuff on his own.  Very randomly.  And it's hilarious.  For example, Kyle or I will say "And it came to pass.." and Tad will say, "and it came to pass snakes" or "and it came to pass pancakes."  It's seamless, no break in between the words like he's thinking of something to throw in there.  And with a completely straight face.  He does it all the time!  I don't know where he gets this stuff from.

Tad loves Coco and he is often found singing and/or playing guitar to Liam.  His favorite song right now is Twinkle Twinkle Little Moon.  Here's a darling video capturing one of his jam sessions.  I love how he starts and ends the song with hugs.

We had lots of wonderful guests come through our construction zone house this month, including Marmie and Grandpa Swingle, Todd and Melissa, Brendan and Whitney, and Richy and Megan.

We also hosted Swingle Cousin Camp while Dean was here, complete with a shark bounce house and snow cone machine.

We miss Todd and Melissa and wish they were closer.  Tyler and Dean were attached at the hip.

When Richy and Megan came to visit we tried out the Cowabunga Bay water park and had lots of fun playing with them and the kids all weekend.



This summer has been really busy, so we decided we needed a getaway.  We hit the road and headed for Flaming Gorge.  It was absolutely wonderful to get away from work, cleaning, house projects, unpacking, etc. and just be together as a family.  We played at the beach, ate lots of s'mores and hot dogs, and did a tour of the Flaming Gorge Dam.  We also did a day trip to Vernal to see the dinosaurs at the National Dinosaur Monument.  The actual Visitor's Center was a disappointment and had a general lack of dinosaurs, but you can take a shuttle to an exhibit where a group was excavating and agreed to leave a canyon-side COVERED in dinosaur bones piled on top of each other to become part of the national monument.  It was incredible.  A nearby river pushed all the bones down to the same area and there was a long list of discoveries made there.  Dozens of complete sets were sent to museums all over the world from that specific canyon.




School started!  Alexa has moved up to 2nd grade and Tyler is in kindergarten.  They're excited to get to know more friends in the neighborhood at school.  We've been practicing riding their bikes and they are doing a great job riding the mile together there in the mornings.  Alexa rides her bike home and Kyle picks Tyler up.  Kyle started working at the VASA Gym Kid Care in American Fork at the end of July.  The little boys go with him in the mornings and they are there for a few hours a day.  VASA loves having a guy in the kid care, it's nice for a lot of the kids plus he can easily get everyone's attention when it's time to clean up ;).



Cute baby Wesley Tate was born and Ellie came to stay with us for one night.  He is adorable and we're excited for another cousin in the family.

We got bunnies this month and the kids are in love!  We are slowly building our little farm...  We surprised the kids by picking them up one night on the way home.  I jumped out of the car and came back with bunnies and it was so cute to listen to Alexa and Tyler on the drive home.  Tyler's bunny is a Lionhead and Alexa's is a super soft black otter.  All of the rest of the otter litter was sold for pelts :(.  Tyler's has an amazing mane and on the drive home they talked a lot about how maybe Tyler's was actually really a baby lion pretending to be a bunny, or possibly wearing a bunny costume because he was really a baby lion.  Alexa named her's Bun Bun and Tyler's is Asgard, "after the lion in Narnia."  Who we later remembered is actually named Aslan.  And Asgard is the planet Thor is from.  Haha, oops.  Oh well, the name has stuck.

They are often found laying on the trampoline or swinging next to each other with the bunnies in their laps.  Sometimes going down the slide on our playground.  They will bring them inside and feed them lettuce and carrots or cuddle and watch cartoons.  They have become instant friends.



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