Impromptu Photo Shoot

This summer there was a family reunion in Island Park Idaho.  We got to the cabin before most of the other families and we were just hanging out. Sally is an amazing photographer and I have been wanting to have her take our family photos for a long time. We never have time though because when they visit for Easter there is never time to do it.  So I randomly got the idea and asked her to do it at the cabin.  We didn't plan for it and had to kind of throw some matching-ish outfits together. The kids were grumpy and only semi-cooperative. And the wind was blowing. But we managed to get a few nice pix. So now I don't have to do it again for a long time.

And then there is this photo. Seriously hilarious!  Kent looks ready!

Happy Valentine's Day

Usually I like to have a candlelight dinner or something sort of fancy for V-day.  This year the kids wanted fried chicken.  What says I love you more than fried chicken?  So we went to KFC.  Super non-traditional.  But- Super- because I didn't have to cook.  The posterity wasn't super cooperative for the picture.  Just keeping it real.  This is real.

Picking Apples with Grandma

We drove up to Idaho to visit Grandma and Grandpa A, and to go on a trip to Yellowstone with them. They have an apple tree that is a nice tree but doesn't grow good apples.  Grandma was outside picking up apples from the ground and we decided to help her by picking the apples when they were still little instead of waiting until fall when they would all be big and drop to the ground.  The kids (and I) had a lot of fun shaking and climbing the tree and picking apples.  I hope the kids have good memories of spending time with Gma and Gpa and doing fun things like this.  We filled several garbage cans and buckets with apples.

Visiting Drew

Well, actually Drew kind of visited us.  He came to Provo for a job interview and we met up at Mom and Dad's house in Payson.  We spent the night and then went to the aquarium in Sandy.  We had been wanting to take our kids there for a long time. It was really crowded (think Saturday in January when it is freezing outside).  The aquarium was really cool despite the crowds.  I guess I get so used to being in my small community and I can't stand crowds!  We were so hopeful that Drew would get the job and be able to move to Utah, but unfortunately, after a pretty rigorous interview process he found out that he did not get the job.  Maybe next time!

Raquetball

I took the kids to play racquetball for the first time during Christmas break.  We had a lot of fun, and just a few injuries.  I probably got the worst injury:  Ian slammed the ball into my leg and I had a great big bruise for about a week.

Bryce Canyon

While we were on our camping trip we decided to go check out Bryce Canyon since we had never been there and we were thinking of taking the family there for the big family reunion in a couple of weeks.  It was seriously the coolest place ever!  Sam stayed behind to hike and do his own thing and Kathy came with us.  It was spectacular and so fun!

Taking a snack break

Spring Creek

A couple of weeks ago we had the missionaries over for dinner. We were talking about all the cool stuff do do in Southern Utah and we asked them if they ever get a chance to see any of the sights in the area while they are here. They told us that the only time they can go anywhere is when they go with members.  Well, me being the eager-to-spontaneously-invite-people-to-do-stuff person that I am, mentioned that we were thinking about going hiking on  President's Day, and would they like to join us?  They said they'd like to so we made it happen.  We were a tiny bit worried about the weather since the wind was supposed to pick up by the afternoon and it was supposed to be in the 40s.  We ended up going anyway and it wasn't too bad.  And considering it was a day in the middle of February we really have nothing to complain about.

Sittin with Elder Gordy and Elder Miller

Elise was a climbing rockstar.  She is usually slower and not as adventurous but today she was unstoppable!

This was amazing.

We all had a really great time and we were glad that we had been able to share some of the awesome Southern Utah scenery with the Elders.  One is from Montana and the other, Missouri.  I think it will be something that they will write home about and always remember as a fun thing they were able to do on their mission.

Alicia

I babysat Alicia for a few hours this week while Kathy did some substitute teaching.  Usually Alicia is pretty cooperative but this time she was so agitated and had a hard time settling down.  She gets really fixated sometimes and can be really hard to redirect.  I was finally able to get her focused on something.  But of course, she doesn't do anything halfway.  She got every last book from Adele's bookshelf and piled them on the couch. It did keep her occupied for several hours though so it was worth it.  It has been good for my kids to have the opportunity to interact with Alicia and learn some compassion and acceptance for people with special needs.  And it's pretty funny when Adele is fighting with her adult cousin who is stealing all her stuffed animals and blankets.  It's good for her.  Because she doesn't have any younger siblings who take her stuff.

Pumpkin Patch

I was reading through a community calendar and saw some info about a pumpkin patch in town. The kids have been but I haven't. I thought it would be fun to go for FHE and get some pumpkins to carve.

Gotta find the right one

Funny selfie (I had to be in at least 1 pic even if it was dorky)

What We Did this Summer!

We did actually do a few things this summer besides living in a rental house and building a house.  Life goes on right!?  Here is some of the other stuff we did this summer.  

While at a 7th grade physical we did a quick eye screening and found out that we needed to get Elise's eyes checked.  Turned out that she really needed glasses.  So we went and got her these. I think they look so cute on her!

And, to go with the glasses,  Elise got braces.  This was a very busy summer for Elise.

We went to Tuachan and saw The Wizard of Oz.  It was SO cool!  We all loved it.  Too bad Elise didn't have her glasses yet!

We went to the Happy Factory a couple of times and helped stain the cars that they donate to children all over the world.

Adele got a new bike and learned to ride it in just a couple of hours. 

And I worked and posed for pictures with dorky glasses.

A couple of other things:

• Ian had a Mohawk (I will have to go look for pictures. You can kind of see it in the Tuachan picture).
• Elise and Emilia went to girls camp twice.
• Emilia got into Success Academy, decided to do it and had to drop her band class.

Family Reunion 2014 Heber City

The huge and awesome Timber Moose Lodge where we stayed

We all rode the Heber Creeper

These girls decided to pour water on each other.

Look at all these cute girls! I wish they didn't live so far away from each other.

Waiting for a turn on the jet-ski

Beatin the Heat (and taking selfies)

We love the splash pad in St. George.  We went down for the afternoon one day when Kent had to work.  We spent some time doing the usual things, shopping, going to Target, eating at 5 Guys and cooling down at the splash pad.  We had planned to go to the children's museum which is right by the splash pad but it was a  Monday and only special people (museum members) can go on Mondays.

selfies

Divide and Conquer!

On May 10 we had 2 big activities.  The scout expo and the annual bird festival.  Well, of course Emilia couldn't miss the bird fest and Ian had to go to the scout expo (and we wanted to go, of course since it is so fun!).  Kent took Elise and Em to do the bird action.

Emilia got to band a bird.  Super exciting!

And I took Adele and Ian to the scout expo.  They got to ride the zip line,  climb a wall, do archery, see a life flight helicopter up close, have their faces painted, brand wood, roast hot dogs and marshmallows, and do a bunch of other fun stuff.