An Inquiry

Dear Mr. Phelps,

I know you have been quite busy this last little while. But, I was wondering if you might be able to spare a moment to look at my son. He has a mild interest in swimming.

I have sent these pictures for your review. Could you please comment on his form and physique and any other pertinent skills, perhaps the rings, his ability to pull faces under water, or anything else you see that might contribute to him being a swimming champion? I am just wondering if we should shoot for the Olympics in 2012? Let me know your thoughts.

Yours, very truly, forever and ever.

Erin M.

P.S. You had me jumping on the couch at midnight giving high-fives. A little too Tom Cuise-ish for my liking, but so fun to watch!

Misunderstood

Just the other morning, Brooks and I were trying to get out the door. We had quite a few errands to run and then swimming lessons. I had wrapped a gift for my niece to drop off at Bryan's office. I set it on the counter and ran downstairs to check something. I told Brooks that I would be right back.

Just a few minutes later, I heard Brooks saying, "oh, mommy, oh,mommy." He soon ran downstairs holding the shirt that was once wrapped and shouted, "oh mommy, I wuv it, I wuv it, I wuv it!"










Unfortunately, this shirt was for McCall. . . Maybe next time, Brooks.

Where Has the Time Gone?

I can't believe we are already into the month of August. So strange how time flies. July was a blur and so now that August is a little more clear, I can try my best to get us up to date.

We had such a wonderful month full of travel plans, fireworks, family and friends. I think it could go down as one of my favorite July's on record. So here are a few of the details I have yet to post about July.

Starting with...


The beautiful Sun Valley. We had such a great time: great hikes, great bike rides, great swimming, great weather, great food and great company. I hated to leave really. Here are some of the highlights.

High on a mountain top. Took a ski lift to get there, a little unnerving with a two-year-old.


Paddle boats.

Fun friends, Rex and Lucy.


One of the sure tops of the trip, ice skating on the fun outdoor rink. Thank goodness we had a professional on hand. Brooks got a mini lesson from sweet Macy.

Who's that handsome guy?



Ending with JULY 24TH!

This was such a fun holiday and I am pretty sure I thought of my pioneer ancestors at some point. I think they would be happy to know of all the fun we had in honor of them.

First off, the kids parade and neighborhood party.
Brooks rode with a sweet pioneer neighbor named Xandy. He had the parade thing down, waves and all. The festivities included face painting, watermelon eating contests, snow cones and an awesome D.J. We all picked up some new moves.





Then the firemen came and it was time to get wet. They turned on the hoses and Brooks was in heaven! Brooks got to hang out in the drivers seat and even spray the fire hose. Such a great morning. I loved it!



I really felt so lucky to live here so that we were able to join in the celebration. Such a fun time for all.

The Misadventures of Me!

Saturday I was so excited to take a ride with my fam on my shiny new bike.




Departure time was early, but we were rearin' and ready to go. All aboard Amma and Pappa's car, bikes in tow, and off we go...errr, I accidentally just locked our keys in the house.

Quick change of plans. Hurry, and remove every screen on the windows, break and bend a few, whatever it takes to get in the house. Finally made it in, with a promise to hide a key for next time.





Pappa and I stop off for a quick donut my mom and I love. Ooops, they don't have them. Just buy the others. Just kidding, have the donuts, buy them both. Pappa thinks I am a royal dork!

Down to Provo we go. Up the trail for only minutes. My gears aren't shifting like they should. Finally find a few gears that work and we are OK. Bryan's brakes are struggling. Stop, fix, we are OK. Brooks having multiple meltdowns, already. The grapes are stuck in the pocket on the side of the trailer. Stop to help rescue the grapes.

Finally, we are really moving. Now more than halfway up the trail. Happy Brooks. . . Heavy Brooks. . . "Erin, you have a flat tire." Can I crawl in a cave, please?



Poor Pappa. Rides down the trail to find a patch and his pump. Poor Pappa. Rides back up the trail, fixes the flat, sweating like crazy. Oh, the forecast shows 101.

We continue on our ride up the trail, as far as we can go until we are stopped by the rangers. Fire. Back down the trail. The best part. Downhill the entire way, not a single stop.

Ends up being a great day. There is little more I could do to ruin it at this point. Finished the day at Red Robin, yum.

Independence Day, Revisited.

I know it's a little past due, but we had such a wonderful time over the 4th of July, I had to get it in writing. This year we went with my family up to the condo at Wolf Creek. We stayed up there for the weekend and escaped some of the heat. We had such a great time with Amma and Papa, Paige and Mike. I will always remember this year.

We hit the festivities in Huntsville, and it was a hit! A darling small town parade; kids bike parade, a lama pulling a wagon, an entire brigade of vintage tractors and "happy 50th anniversary, Rob and Janet!" Can't get more Americana than that. Brooks loved it, especially the tractors.









The other highlights were the bike rides, swimming, movies, relaxing, a rousing game of scewie louie (thanks mom,) and my dads famous chocolate ice cream which is always a favorite.

But for Brooks there was nothing better than throwing rocks in the river, taking walks to collect rocks to throw in the river and watching the rocks in the river. Catch my drift? Pure heaven.

A Day For the Birds

After running a couple of errands yesterday, Brooks and came home and took our lunch out on the patio. As soon as we walked outside, I noticed a not so little bird laying under the window, looking rather sad. He wasn't moving and I wasn't sure what to do. Now this isn't the first time we have had an incident like this. We have a large window that confuses the little birdies. I think they see their reflection and think it's another bird, so they just keep flying right into the window.

Anyway, we have had about four other birds make thier way into the glass with only one fatality until yesterday. I was with Brooks, who was fascinated by this sweet creature struggling on the ground. I ran in and got some bread and water. Why that didn't work, I have know idea. Then I went inside to get a shoe box for the bird. I gave Brooks specific instructions not to touch the poor bird in case he was diseased or something. Well when I came back the bird was now on it's back about two feet from where I had left him. Only now, he wasn't breathing. It was sad. I carefully nudged him into the shoe box with a piece of cardboard and discarded the box later. I tried to have a short conversation with Brooks about life and death, somehow, I don't think it sunk in. All for the better, I am sure. He is convinced the bird crashed and is just really, really sad in that box. But he did say he would be happy soon. I am sure he is.

So, later that evening I was trying to mend some of my hot and tired hanging planters. I grabbed my trowel and was ready to go to work, when to my utter surprise, there was a mass of fluffy substance in my planter, right where I was going to dig. I screamed and made Bryan invesigate.

Wouldn't you know it...five baby birds. I knew a certain bird, apparently a mother, loved to hang out around this planter. Little did I know she had moved in and brought her family too. These poor birds have been watered all summer and somehow managed to survive. So has the plant, sort of.

Other than a little frightened by the crazy lady with the shovel, the babies seem to be fine and are happy and with their mother once again insid my begonias. It was sort of a sweet end to a crazy day for the birds.

While the Cats Away.

The mice will play and play we did. While Bryan was running the grueling race in the scorching heat we had a pretty great weekend full of fun and adventure.

On Friday, I got to go to lunch with a bunch of ladies that I cheered with at UVSC. It has been 10 years since we have all been together. I can't believe how time flies. It was so fun to see everyone and reconnect. Hopefully it won't be another 10 years until we get to see each other again!


Niki, Tracy, Natalie (our fearless leader and incredible coach,) Heather, Jeannette, Kellie and myself. Sadly, we were missing a few, maybe next time. Thanks for a great lunch ladies.

Then I was off to pick up my baby boy Brooks. My wonderful mom was watching him and when I got to her house she was serving popsicles to the darling neighbor kids, Brooks' friends, Jack and Ella. They were running through the sprinklers having a great time. We were visiting with their parents, when I got a phone call that Bryan's team was running faster than expected. So we piled in the car and my mom and Brooks and I drove to Eden to see Bryan run part of his race. Unfortunately, this is how Brooks cheered on his daddy...


So, my mom and I shouted a couple of wahoos and took some photos and we were headed back to Kaysville to pay a visit to a special friend, aunt Debbie (pronounced Deebie according to Brooks.) Debbie was in a horrible accident a couple of months ago and she is recovering so well. She looks great and is getting around almost as if nothing has happened. I was amazed. We had a terrific visit. Debbie has the most incredible backyard. And after we left, Brooks said how much fun he had at the park. I think you can see why.










We are so happy that Debbie is doing well, we all love her dearly. She is proof that miracles do happen. What a wonderful eveining it was!

After all the fun on Friday, Brooks and I were pooped so we plopped in a couple of beds at my moms and had a sleepover with Amma and Papa. The next morning, we got up and drove to Park City where we hung out waiting for Bry's team to cross the finish line. They came across after a short time waiting and we drove home to let Bryan sleep. But the party wasn't over.

We then went to Thanksgiving Point. My moms friend is a sculptor and she was featured in an art exhibit in the gardens. It was beautiful. There was so much to look at and explore, Brooks had a splendid time.


Brooks and uncle Mike B.


Brooks and Papa


By the end of the night, we were all exhausted and ready for rest. Amma and Papa were such troopers and traveled all around the town with us all weekend. Luckily, at our house, we had a lazy Sunday full of recovery for all. We definitely needed it. But it was all so much fun!