Earl & Marilyn Lindley Family Reunion Week

Kason is going to be 13 months old next week! He is growing and learning lots.  He is now pro at opening the back door to the patio and has now opened the front door once. Yikes! He did his second sign this week for the first time. He asked for "More" at dinner time.  It will be a great thing when he can communicate with us as he is quite persistent with particular things.  He is a happy baby outside; when we are outside, you will never hear from him.  He goes from one thing to the next, checking everything out.  He is definitely a goer.  He is getting to be a good walker. It helps when he is around older cousins who show him how much fun it is to walk! He loves bath time and now likes to slide back and forth on his belly in the tub.  Kason is still being a great sleeper when he is in his own bed.  He is pretty consistently sleeping 8-9 hours on his own which is great for mom and dad. He is drinking much more milk now from a bottle; he seems to really like a bottle throughout the day and especially at bed time. He has been a little onery the last week due to teeth #7, 8 and 9 making their way through his gums. Ouch!

Here's our first attempt at 12 month pics...he would not smile!!

 

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday my mom and I put on the 2nd part of our Hamer Skills Camp.  This week was basketball week.  My mom did most of the daily planning, and I worked with the younger kids all week.  It is sure fun to coach cousins and their friends and see their progress each day and over the years.  We look forward to that camp every year. On Wednesday, Kason came with me while Kolt was at work.  Kason was a little overwhelmed with the flood of girls, but started to feel a little more comfortable with Aunt Trish by the end of the session!

We have also had 3 boys from Tahiti stay at our house while they are touring the US and learning English.  They are cute boys, one speaks lots of English, one speaks hardly any English.  They are cute 11 and 12 year old boys and have started to really look after Kason.  One of them lifted Kason to the piano and played with him for a half hour the other night.  Michael made Kason a bracelet today! They are nice boys and are starting to warm up!

The highlight of the week was definitely the Earl & Marilyn Lindley Family Reunion.  We have been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time.  Thursday evening the family arrived for hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner.  We also made crafts, including tiles for the girls and hot dog sticks for the boys. I spent most of the night, and weekend, taking pictures for the reunion book that I'm putting together this week.  During the reunion, we stayed out Kolt's parents house, so there were extra bedrooms for family at our house.  We had a great time staying with Grandpa & Grandma and are grateful for them letting us use one of their bedrooms.  Kason had a great time with his Grandma & Grandpa Piquet!

Early Friday morning, we attended a temple session with the family.  We dropped off Kason with my cousin Alysa and Hallie Hufford from our ward.  He did great with them! It was a great session, and it was even better to be with so much family. After the temple, we picked up the kids and went to the Tautphus Park Zoo.  Kason slept the entire time! We enjoyed the park though, taking pictures and enjoying the animals, including the penguin walking down the path and the baby cubs.  We went to a park on Sunnyside for lunch.  Kason woke up just in time to eat, of course! He loved playing on the playground, especially going down the slide!  Friday evening, we rode horses in the arena at Piquet's.  Kolt and I got the horses ready and gave a short intro to riding before everyone jumped in. It was a great night! Some even did some barrel racing and steer wrestling in the round pen.  The kids were covered in dirt by the time it was over! Kason was definitely professional at playing in the dirt! It was a great night. Thank you to Shane and Angela for letting us use the horses and arena for the night! It was definitely a reunion highlight.

Saturday morning we participated in the Annual Iona Days 5K Fun Run.  Kolt did great finishing 2nd in his age group ages 20-29, and Kason and I....finished the race!! Our family did great overall, including Kelsi who was the 1st out of all the women.  Kolt and I decided that was definitely something we would like to do every year!  Saturday afternoon we went up to Heise Hot Springs to swim.  Kason went down the slide with Kolt twice! The first time he wasn't so sure, but the second time he loved it! We loved swimming with family! Kason got brave at jumping into the pool and got better at going under water! He is getting so big!

Sunday morning we went to church.  Corey & Janis spoke to the adults and youth a couple of times throughout the block.  I sure enjoyed listening to them and am excited to start the "Set the Date" program that Corey talked about in Sunday school.  I sure look up to both of them as great members of the church.  After the block, we ate lunch and then said goodbye to everyone as they headed home.  I love reunions! I had such a good time visiting with cousins, sharing stories and learning from their experiences.  I definitely feel that reunions are important and strengthing family relationships is critical.  I'm already looking forward to next year's reunion.

Birthday Month

Well, this is quickly changing from a weekly family letter to a monthly family letter! I am going to get better, I promise. Kason turned a year old a couple weeks ago! I still can’t believe he is a year old! At his one year appointment, Kason weighed 23 pounds 3 ounces (77%) and 31 ½ (98%).  He is still at the top of the charts, although getting much thinner than he used to be.  He is definitely a walker now. He takes off everywhere.  Sometimes he will still bear crawl when he wants to go really fast! He learned how to open the back door today which he has been trying to do for weeks.  He is now trying to figure out how to unlock it.  Kason still loves to be outside for any reason.  He eats a lot! At his 1 year checkup, the doctor said he needs to have lots more milk, so we have been increasing quickly. He has been great about that now and definitely is ready for milk at several times throughout the day.  He is a good sleeper now, going down at about 9:30 and sleeping until 6:30 all by himself in his crib.  He has come a long wit sleeping and his mom and dad are very grateful! Kason is a vocal kid with opinions about how his toys should work and every other thing.  He loves to play catch and drive cars, tractors, and all other toys along the floor while making the sound of an engine. It is pretty cute! Kason just got his 7^th, 8^th and 9^th teeth.  The poor kid has been a little sad during all of this teething! Thank goodness for medicine!

Here are the highlights of the past 3 weeks:

On the 1^st, I celebrated my 22^nd birthday.  I was bummed to have to work a full 8-5 day on my birthday, and I had no idea how much Kolt was doing at home.  Kolt and Kason had the laundry done and the house spotless!! Both of them picked me up at work in shirts and ties! It was a great surprise.  We went shopping for a new swimming suit which I had wanted for a long time. Kolt knows me well-enough to know I like to have a say in new clothes; hence, he took me shopping to pick it out which was great! We found just the perfect swimming suit and ordered the right size online.  We then dropped off Kason to my parents for a birthday dinner at Stockman’s.  As we were leaving the restaurant, I began to notice that Kolt wasn’t going the right way home.  When I asked him about it, he just made a joke.  Out of nowhere, he surprised me by pulling into the Destinations Inn Hotel, the place we stayed the first night we were married.  I was SOO surprised! Kolt had our bag already packed and in the room. We stayed in the Rio de Janeiro room which was beautiful, and we enjoyed every minute of a quiet evening and good night’s sleep.  Kolt was even nice enough to let me watch my Tuesday night TV series to top off the night! Kason did great with Grandpa & Grandma Lindley and had his best night of sleep to that date! It was a great birthday. I’m still amazed at how perfectly Kolt planned it all!

On the 3^rd, Kason turned 1 year old! In the morning, we watched Nathan’s teeball game.  We spent most of the day thinking of the memories from the past year.  Kolt took Kason to the park while I was at work. They had a blast.  He loves sitting in the swing.  In the evening, Grandpa & Grandma Lindley, Natalie, Brady, Nathan, Brooke and Great-Grandma Lindley came to eat cake and ice cream with us.  Nathan & Brooke got Kason a big truck and trailer toy set.  Grandma & Grandpa Lindley got him a farm set and some clothes.  Great-Grandma Lindley helped us get Kason a new basketball, clothes and several other fun toys.  I also decided I wanted to decorate my first cake for Kason’s birthday.  I couldn’t decide which one to do, so I did them both! I made a football one and a John Deere one. I am still pretty excited about it! Later in the evening, we had a visit from Daniel Price and his kids.  Kolt took the kids on the horse.  Kason had a great birthday!

We had a fun 4^th of July this year with Kason! This was his first 4^th celebration, since last year, we spent the day in the hospital.  The day started with the Idaho Falls parade.  We brought Rope with us, and he thought it was pretty cool.  Kason like the parade; he loves watching cars on the road, so it was right up his alley. We had great seats in the shade too which was nice! In the evening, we went out to Aunt Karla’s for a BBQ to see Kolt’s family in town.  We got some dinner and then hurried off to the Chuckars game.  It was a great game, and they even won! Kason wasn’t much for watching the game.  He loved being on Kolt’s shoulders, so we spent most of the game walking around the top.  It was a little hot for me! After the game, we watched down to the river to watch the fireworks.  Kason liked watching them for about 15 seconds. After that, he remembered that he was tired and ready to go home! We are sure grateful for this country.

On the 6^th, we had my and Kason’s birthday party celebration with the Piquet’s.  We had an awesome lasagna dinner and then cake and ice cream.  Kason got a ball popping vacuum, cars, and dinosaurs.  Kolt and I got him a basketball hoop.  He still picks up his ball and stands at the hoop until we lift him up.  It is pretty cute! I got lots of new clothes and sandals and a pink fishing pole! It was a great time! We definitely got spoiled rotten. Kason was a pro at opening his gifts.  It was fun to watch!

I spent a few days early in July at the BHS Skills Camp.  It was great to see the incoming freshman and to see my team this year.  I am getting excited. 

On the 7^th, we had Kason’s doctor’s appointment.  We got his weight and height.  His doctor told us he needs more milk, but other than that, he is doing great.  He got some blood work and 4 shots.  He was a champ, especially with Dad not being there.

Kolt and I have both been working a lot. We are so grateful for all the help with Kason.  He has definitely turned into a Momma’s boy with me being gone from 12-5 every day.  I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t have to leave him anymore.

Kason and I have been to a couple of reunions so far this summer.  We went to the Heileson reunion in Alta, WY with Grandpa Lindley, Grandma Lindley and Great-Grandma Lindley.  We also went to the John Loader Dalling reunion the following Saturday.  I really enjoy going to reunions and visiting with family that we don’t see very often.  Now that I have Kason, it is fun to have some posterity to bring as well.

On the 17^th we attended the ward adult dinner.  It was nice dinner and hot, hot, hot!

My mom and I started the Hamer Skills Camp.  I’ve spent lots of time collecting waivers and fees, as well as ordering basketballs and volleyballs.  We host each day of the camp at Hamer Elementary.  We did 3 days of volleyball last week and just started the 3 days of basketball this week.  I really enjoy doing that camp; the girls love learning and are excited when they do things right.  We have had a great turnout this year, our 3^rd year hosting the camp, with a record number of kids in attendance.

I have enjoyed having my cousin Ashley stay with us for the week to trade babysitting for some volleyball.  She was a great help, and I still owe her big time! She took great care of Kason and was great to do everything with me. 

At church, I filled in for Primary chorister and sunbeams teacher.  I love being in Primary and am grateful for the chance to serve with kids.  Kolt went to his 2^nd cousin Brody Eaton’s mission report.  I met up with them for dinner.