August Recap

Here's what we DID:

A.) EFY/Pageant/Ward Campout
B.) Birthday Boys
C.) SCHOOL!!!

Here's how I FELT about it:

A.) Maelynn got to spend the week up at EFY. She went up with the son of Greg's BFF, Alan Withers. His name is Spencer and he and Maelynn are only weeks apart and have literally known each other their entire lives. Only problem is - they live in Michigan. So, needless to say, we never get to hang out with them and as a result - this was one of the first times that these two had to really get to know each other.

Maelynn, Spencer, Seth, Ethan, Sadie, Miles, Lane, Emerson - down inside 17 mile cave.

Spencer Withers and Maelynn Bailey - long lost siblings! Don't let her stature fool you - she is like 20 days older than he is! Haha.

Lane saying goodbye to Maelynn for the week.  (He is available for rental on most weekdays if anyone is interested!)

Emerson kissing his Maelynn goodbye when we dropped her off at the dorms!

Greg took these guys out to eat at the Lion House Pantry in SLC on their way to take Spender back to the airport after EFY was over!

They were each in separate groups, of course. But both of them reported that it was a lot of fun and that they would love to do it again. So happy for them!

Maelynn's Young Women's group got tickets for everyone to travel to Utah together and see the Martin Harris Pageant. They asked me to drive (go figure - with a 12 passenger van and all)! It was a lot of fun and I was impressed at how much work went in to putting it on. If you are anywhere close - I would definitely recommend seeing it.

All of the YW and the leaders from the Iona 3rd Ward.

We had nosebleed seats - but it was still excellent.

We had our ward campout up at Kelly's Island. It is a pretty cool little spot. We are most definitely outgrowing our family tent. Luckily, we pawned out both girls and Landen was spending a week as a youth counselor up at Woodbadge, so there were just 6 of us in the tent that night. The wind kicked up somethin' fierce and even knocked down a few branches - but luckily nobody was injured in our ward. One of the cool parts was a magic show put on by a very talented guy in our ward, Casey Denning. He is really good. Also - it was just fun to visit with people and see the kids running around having fun.

Crazy Lane hiding inside of the giant Jenga game.

Miles standing on top of the giant Jenga game with Lane inside of it.

I really wish it wasn't so stormy and dark when I took this cute pic of Greg taking the little boys into the tent.

Seth standing on top of the giant Jenga...getting ready to launch himself off of it.

And Seth post-launch!

Gathering around for breakfast being cooked and served by the Bishopric.

Our ward is pretty sweet.

B.)  We get to celebrate TWO birthdays each August in our family. First Greg's on the 16th and then Mile's on the 27th. Greg loves German Chocolate cake, so it is becoming a tradition to make it for him each year on his birthday. This year I decided to try a new recipe I found for German Chocolate Cupcakes. They turned out so yummy. We took them in to his clinic for his to enjoy at work and to share with his co-workers and patients.

They looked yummier in real life!

 Also - to help celebrate even more - Mile's decided to get into a fight with Lane over something which ended up looking like this: Miles bites Lane. Lane pushes Miles. Into a table. Mile's mouth smacks the table. Upper tooth pierces all the way through bottom lip. Sadie hears the screaming and sees the blood and calmly brings crying bloody child downstairs to me in the kitchen (mid-cupcakes). After initial assessment, it is determined that stitches would be needed, so we get to add that unexpected fun into the day as well. He was actually quite a trooper about it - and he ended up with 3 stitches on the inside of his lip and 2 on the outside. The inside ones lasted approximately 28 minutes and were completely chewed out and swallowed by the time we got home. I am sure that they were in the way of his fingers. Ah - what to do with a finger sucker?

hard to see it real well...

just laying there waiting for the 'numbing gel' to kick in...

Dr. Ory Brown did a great job...

Tying up the knots...

I just got 'holding hands down' duty - it's nice to get to play Mom instead of Nurse sometimes!

      Which brings me to the next great news of the month....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...... Mile's Ivan Bailey got potty trained and turned 4! I repeat: GOT POTTYTRAINED turned 4! What a big boy.

He fought it for months and months of attempts at it - but I insisted all along that I would only make him a Birthday cake if he were a big boy before his birthday - so, he finally did it. He just decided that a huge chocolate cake with his favorite cartoon characters (Jake and the Neverland Pirates) on it was worth the change in behavior and he just did it. He has been really good about it. Hardly any accidents (compared with some of my other children who potty trained much earlier) and he is so proud of himself that he will tell anyone and everyone that he "goed poop on the potty"!

The traditional wake-up-and-open-presents  on your birthday morning!

So proud to be in his big boy underwear!

He loves the Neverland Pirates. What a sweet boy Miles is!

All the siblings ready to share in his cake!

I am really enjoying Miles and doing our own version of "Homeschool Preschool" and seeing how smart he is. I am so happy to have Miles in our family - he is a happy influence on us all and I can't wait to see what a great young man he will become.

C.) School. School. School. It was back to school time for 4 of the kids that are returning to Taylor's Crossing this year. Landen is in the 9th grade (but taking mostly 10th grade courses)...

Landen Greg Bailey - smart, fun, good kid. Started Cross Country.

Seth is in the 7th grade...

Seth Merrill Bailey - great smile, great prankster, great student - started in Football.

Sadie is in the 5th grade...

Sadie Ann Bailey - love the freckles, love the smile, love this girl - started in Soccer.

 ...and Lane is in 2nd grade....

Lane Delbert Bailey - crazy, hyper, funny, intelligent - started in 3rd Year Music Lessons.

 I love that all my kids love school so much and try their hardest to do their best in school. It has never been an issue for me to get them to go - and I am grateful for that.

 (Speaking of school - Maelynn and I both will have a 'school' section in September's recap as we both start then!)

Here's to a wonderful FALL - my favorite season of all! ;)