Home again Home again jiggety jig...

or something like that.  It was hard to leave Oregon, both because I loved it but also I knew that I was coming home to 2 crazy weeks of STUFF!  I think it took me about 2 weeks to truly catch up on the laundry as I was so busy with other things to really focus on it.  I am happy to report that no one had to go naked during that time although some mornings we were pulling things out of the dryer.

Tuesday, August 18--UDSF Lagoon Day

This time I handed out discount tickets with Liam as one of my partners so that Jessica and Elessia could ride some rides.  Then I headed out and enjoyed some rides as well as baby-tending Liam.  It was a fun day.

This is the new ride at Lagoon called the Cannibal--Gary loved it and rode on it twice despite the very long lines.

At 6:00 pm I ran Jena to her friend's Kaitlyn's birthday party at a pool in Kaysville.  She had a great time and Gary and I finished up the night at Lagoon with Jessica, Elessia, and Liam.  Mostly I was the smart one and held Liam while they rode the crazy rides that I am too old for.

Wednesday we had Scarlett as usual then Jena had pictures taken for her mission application and then headed to a practice for an upcoming concert in Layton that she was performing in.

Waiting for her turn
She loves being with friends and singing and dancing.

Thursday and Friday were spent in preparations for our upcoming Buddy Walk for the foundation.  More about that later.

Friday through Sunday was a special treat as it was Scarlett's first sleep over at our house.  We had a busy couple of days and she went everywhere with us and seemed to love every minute of it.

Right after she arrived we headed to Centerpoint where Jena had a dance practice for the concert on Saturday night.  Scarlett loved the music and the big mirror.  She would dance along with all of the dancers when ever the music was going.

Friday night we had an invitation to a summer BBQ with my visiting teachers.  There were lots of kids and Scarlett loved watching them and being a part of everything although she was careful to avoid the water fights.

We played at the park during Jena's early Saturday morning swimming time with Special Olympics.

For some reason almost every time Jena comes in the room, Scarlett goes over and hugs her or gives her a kiss and then she goes back to playing.  Jena has gotten more kisses than any one of us at our house.  I guess Jena is just more huggable than the rest of us.  It is so sweet and Jena loves it too.

 

We had a double treat because Jessica came up with Liam to spend some time with Scarlett and us.

Ben with Liam

Of course that made us miss sweet Niki and his family.  Oh how we wish they lived closer although we are thrilled for all of their adventures.

Saturday night we attended Zach's Summer Concert.  Zach is a young man with Down syndrome who sings, dances and plays some instruments. They organized this concert to raise money for some local groups that help people with Down syndrome--Gigi's Playhouse and the Friend to Friend class.  Jena performed in song and dance numbers  with both Gigi's and F2F.  She loves being on stage and dancing and singing.  It was a perfect night for an outdoor concert.

Gigi Playhouse and the Layton Dancers
"We are All in This Together"

Checking out the seats

IN the F2F number, she was Gertrude, I think.

Zach gave each of the girls a rose

Scarlett did great while she was here except for falling asleep.  She seemed very confused by me trying to get her to bed.  Once asleep she did stay asleep all night which was nice.  She was one happy girl to see her parents again when they arrived on Sunday.

Monday, August 24th-Jena was off to her first day at post-secondary school--STEPS.  The bus picks her up and brings her home right to our door each day.  She is liking it so far but mostly they have done field trips.

Second day, waiting for the bus and I am getting ready to go on my walk.

 

Still working on laundry at this point and four more days until our big Buddy Walk-----