Raspickin'

If you remember this post, you'll understand why we took Grayson picking again. This time it was for raspberries & blackberries. Grayson wasn't so sure about the raspberries, but was feeling better about picking once he had some blackberries!We went to Butler's Orchard in Germantown the weekend we got back.
Me & Tolman

GraysonStrider made some delicious freezer jam again! This time we mixed it up. We made raspberry, blackberry, black/raspberry & raspeach!

Me & GraysonGrayson & Dad. They did the most of the picking while I entertained Tolman.Poor guy spent most of his time like this and didn't get any berries. We had a blast and invited others to join though. It was fun and we have some great jam for the school year.

Oh Yeah!

Look who learned to army crawl over the summer.

Top Knife... End of Summer!

While in Arizona, Strider had a 2 week operational clerkship at Luke AFB called Top Knife. This was essentially a paid vacation in his opinion. He spent time shadowing various line officers to get a better understanding of the non-medical military.

He also got to fly in simulators & puke his guts out in the back of an F-16!It really was an experience of a lifetime for him and he even got to fly twice.Parachute Simulator"Bail Out" Egress Training. The ejection handle is right in front.Suited up! His first flight was an air combat mission.The second was a bomb run.He reached speeds up to 750 knots (over 850 mph) and pulled 8 G's. Stride said it was incredible, comparable to the coolest roller coaster he's been on times 50. It was fun to see how excited he was about it all. I enjoyed hearing about it and especially the time we got to spend as a family after!! What a fun, but busy summer.

Summer Fun: Part 2 Kids

The remainder of our summer was spent in our good ol' Gilbert, AZ! Of course it's not the best time of year to visit, but that's why you go swimming lots!!

Grayson jumping off my parents waterfall!Tolman, Mom & GraysonGrandpa & Grandma Hinton took the grandkids to see the play Pinocchio. Cousins: Nathan, Grayson, Jared, Rebecca & Ben. Grayson was apparently too mesmerized by the dog to look.

Strider was in and out to visit me & the boys. He had another military committment (more on that later). We got one family picture at least! My parents hosted a fun extended get-together while we were there.While visiting Grandpa Farnsworth we went to the nearby gym.Uncle Landon & GraysonTolman & Grandpa HaroldYeah this kid has no fear!Believe me when I say Grayson told us he wanted to do this... not saying it was a good idea. He loved it though.Stride digging him out of the foam pit.

More cousin fun. Reading scriptures with Aunt Meili, Hunter & Kenli.Somehow he & Hunter ended up sleeping like this! Originally they started with their heads on the pillow.The Pittam Crew: Strider, Jana, Mom & Dad Pittam, Meili, Fred, Cherish & Nate. Blasting our ears out at the Little Big Town concert.

Playing Monopoly. Strider won with his darn cheap properties!The plane ride home to Maryland was almost effortless with Stride there to help me. Tolman slept the first 2 hours and Grayson told us he had to lay like this the last 2 hours!Dad & Tolman chillingAs we got of the plane in Baltimore the pilot asked Grayson to come check out the cockpit. He was thrilled! The pilot even let him sit near all the buttons to get a picture!

Summer Fun: Part 1 Stride

While the kids & I were in Utah, Strider was having all kinds of adventures at his training in Pennsylvania called Camp Kerkeshner.

Strider & his platoon leader MitchThe barracks- where he stayed for the first week without any AC!!!

Here he & his classmates acted as patients with various injuries for the 4th year medical students. They painted them up to make it as realistic as possible.The next week Strider started an army field training exercise run by a couple of Marines.They slept in tents and did a lot of marching, laying on the ground providing security, and, did I mention marching?The best part for Stride was probably getting to run up a mile long hill with a 45 pound radio on his back. It was a real blast. :)They also did some combatives training...

Lets not forget that he got stung in the eye by a wasp & a nice gash under his chin too! Other than that he came home alright!

Summer Fun: Part 1 Kids

After almost 6 weeks of vacation... it's time to catch up! Strider spent the majority of the time in military trainings, while the boys & I hung out with family. After the 4th of July in DC, which was spent like this...

Boys & the Fire truck

Eating popsicles

Obviously Grayson enjoyed his!

We watched fireworks down our street. It was a great holiday together before we would split up... First, the boys & I flew to Utah while Strider went to a 2 week training in Pennsylvania (more to come on that). And yes I survived the 4.5 hr flight alone!!! The boys were great and napped and thankfully there were other noisy kids on the plane. :)

We had a welcoming party pick us up and help us to the car. A big poster and Buzz balloon awaited us too. Thanks Stevenson's! Emily & Grayson were buddies instantly.

We stayed at my brother Bryan's house. Grayson spent the next 2 weeks in outdoor freedom! He loved their wooden playset.

We enjoyed some good ice cream there!

Played with TONS of cousins. These are my sister Stacey's kids with Grayson (Emily & Devin).

We went swimming and enjoyed the beautiful Utah weather!

Stace & the kids

We even met up with some of our Med School family across the country. Grayson & Tolman with Max!

Visited the Bingham Copper Mine.

(Me, Grayson, Eliza, Brooklyn, Rachelle, Addy, Claire & Noel)

Taking turns looking at the mine with its big trucks.

The crew. Bryan's wife Noel & their girls Eliza & Claire were so fun to play with! Notice the pink cast on little Claire (in Noel's arms)- she's an adventuresome one! Rachelle & her girls came down from Washington for the party too.

Visited downtown Salt Lake!

Grayson loves temples and enjoyed seeing the angel Moroni of course.

Concert in the park. We got rained on just a little. We fit 8 of us under that too!!

We made awesome salt water taffy!!

Went swimming some more! Grayson & Claire.

Tolman decided to have a rough time teething while we were there too. Good thing he's cute! Between that and the time change we had some late nights together.

Grayson said during this picture, "Mom, these are my friends!"

Then the cousins enjoyed some sprinkler time.

Tolman enjoyed the sprinklers while sitting in the Bumbo.

Being silly

Got us some BYU gear of course. :)

This was taken at Heritage Park which is by the This is the Place Monument. My parents & brother Brett & his family joined us for the Pioneer Day weekend. Grayson is riding on a pony in this picture.Grayson's cousins Nathan & Jared joined him in the Pioneer Day parade where they marched as soldiers with play guns. Grayson had to carry it on his shoulder. Brett tried to restrain him from play shooting it.

We had a firework show that night back at Bryan & Noel's house.

Grayson caught one of the parachutes. He was thrilled with that and holding tons of sparklers all night.

I saved Grayson's first performance for last. He & Emily put on a dance for us. Gotta love their bowing at the end.