Yankee Doodle: July 2006

We went to, I think, three parades while in Provo. I enjoyed watching Delia and Milo march in the kids parade for the Fourth of July. We also enjoyed the festivities in downtown Provo on the fourth. Here we are dressed up to celebrate and on our way to the parade.

How Delia see it: July/August 2006

When I downloaded all the photos from the summer I came upon a collection of Delia's work. I thought you might enjoy a view of life at our Provo apartment from her perspective. The renegade school bus is my favorite.

A few Highlights: July 2006

There was something so good about being in Provo for the summer. A different, hard, arid simplicity in day to day life punctuated by remarkable moments. Here are a few.

• Eloise eats first solid food



• Jeremy has a birthday



• Seeing my parents all the time



• Seeing my old running partners with whom I ran the marathon and triathlon



• Delia gets her first library card

Oh what do you do in the summertime: July 2006

Here is where I tell you what our day to day life looked like during our stay in Provo. Steve taught 3 seperate summer courses at BYU which proved to be extremely time consuming. Most days he was gone at least 12 hours. Luckily the campus was very close to our house and we often walked up to visit him in his office or for lunch. Some days we just went up there to be in the air conditioning. We spent many hours with my parents at thier tempory apartment behind Seth and Miriams house, we went to the library but mostly we would swim in a pool to keep ourselves cool. The kids took swim lessons every morning at the Veterans Memorial Pool and then we would swim through the afternoon. It is now a year later and the children still wonder if they get to take swim lessons there again. They loved the experience. We also spent many evenings as a family there. One memorable family night Delia swam the length of the pool by herself in order to get her wristband to go on the big waterslide. We think sheer determination is what got her across. There was something so moving about her swim across that pool. It was a physical representation of the grit of Delia's character. If you look closely at the picture of Delia in the life jacket you can see the hard won wristband.

What ho Pioneer? July 2006

The only thing different between us and the early pioneers is that Steve drove a car and the kids and I flew to Utah. Other than that we are exactly like them. Unless you count electricity and all the other modern day conveniences. I do have to say, though, that setting up house for 2 months in Provo did feel a bit like trail blazing to me. Here are some pictures of our temporary digs in single women's housing. Steve and I slept on an air mattress on the top of two twin beds pushed together. It was a hot summer and there was no air conditioning. See what I mean...pioneers. We were all quite cheerful though and spent a lot of time outdoors with family and friends...pioneers.

Canal Days: June 2006

Although unseasonably cold, Canal Days in the village was still an enjoyable occasion. By the end Delia and Milo had every bauble you could imagine from different booths and we were all stuffed with...well...food. I think they should make kettle corn its own food group. Neither could I resist the funnel cake. Well who could with Kelly and the wind machine making it look so alluring? Here you see Bop Bop in the streets of Fairport, Delia trying her hand at the rock wall, and the kids and I eating cotton candy.

Summer Portraits : June 2006

Oh yeah, we also got our pitchas taken while we were in New York. The ones outside are at the Eastman house in Rochester and the others are in a studio somewheres. My, what a lovely family you have Mrs. Vaisey.

June is busting out all over: June 2006

We drove to Fairport, New York to spend the month swimming and carousing with the Vaisey Clan. Steve set up an office in the aromatic basement at 14 Hulbert drive. He was like a monk in a dank cell totally content to do his work while the kids and I went to movies, swam, ate good food (that I didn't prepare) and spent time with Bop Bop, Baba Juje, Dylan, Jeff, Kelly and baby Lena. He joined us in the evenings a better man. One of the biggest highlights was seeing Eloise with little Baby Lena. COUSINS!! As always Delia and Milo loved being with this crew. Enjoy the photos of baby cousins, swimming kids, and BBJJ loving up Delia.

quick and dirty update: May 2006

We spent May of 2006 packing up our beloved apartment at Autumn Woods and getting ready for our odyssey to BYU for the summer. Steve worked long hours during May to get his dissertation proposal ready before we left while I cared for the kids and tried to get as much ready as possible. Once again, Baba Juje swept in at the last minute and helped get the place ready to be sublet and get us out of town. Here are some pictures of one of our last walks to the pool at Autumn Woods, one taken Easter Morning and finally, one of Delia at her dance recital the day before we left for Utah (via New York).

Zonked

By the end of the day we all felt like this. We probably didn't look as cute though. After a delicious supper of sweet potato soup and spinach salad we rest our weary heads and await the Easter Bunny. Happy Easter. We love you all. PS. Don't be jealous that we had such a great day. Your day will come. I promise.

Let's go fly a kite.

We rounded out our day today at nearby Mcdougal Middle School's field. As I prepared the Easter goodies Steve took the children for a walk and noticed that the wind had changed. You all know that this means Mary Poppins had to leave but it also meant that we all went and flew a kite. The kids had a terrific time feeling the force of the wind through the string and trying to keep the kite in the air. Delia was especially invigorated by the whole experience. The only reason we retreated to our digs was that her epidermis was quickly roasting. She's a fair child...and I don't mean Morgan. Behold the many moments at Mcdougal.

Where's Elo? Is she sleeping outside? Where's Elo? Has she gone for a ride?

I hope you all sang that to the extremely persistent melody of "Where's Jeff?" by the Wiggles. Eloise is the baby in tow. She actually does sleep outside and she actually has gone for many rides. So while we are doing most of our activities you can see her in the background chillin'. Here she is watching me make dinner in her little bumbo seat.