Family Reunion 2010

Every two years we try and get my whole family together for a little trip.  This was round 3.  Unfortunately we didn’t totally succeed in getting everyone here, my oldest brother Braden and his family couldn’t swing it this time, and we really missed them.  The rest of us were there though and it was good times.   For starters we went to one of my all time very favorite places in the world.  It’s beautiful, it’s cool, there’s water and sand and a huge lawn.  I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I promise it’s everything. 

enjoying the lawn

These two are never seen apart.  They are the cutest busiest little pair.

We left Saturday morning and arrived early that afternoon.  We went straight to the beach.  Joshy was loving the sand - both playing in it as well as shoving chubby little fistfuls of it into his mouth. 

It was wonderful.  After getting our fill of the beach (literally for some) we headed back to our condos where Josh and Liza served up a delicious dinner.   After dinner we drove to a nearby town for a rodeo.  This was a major highlight for us.  Brennan and I just love these random, small town affairs.  They even let all the kids try their hand at getting a ribbon off a calf’s tail, along with about 100 other kids.  Things like that just don’t happen in bigger cities.  It was fabulous!  Another highlight of the rodeo was the Mutton Bustin’ event, which consisted of watching 5 through I think 10 year olds come out of the gate riding a big old lamb and holding on for dear life.  Amazing.

This is the calf chasing event which our kids are in.  They let a calf out with a ribbon tied to his tail and these kids all go for it.  That calf was amazingly agile and fast, kids were diving all over the place, but one finally prevailed.

Some of our group caught a ride back to our cars.  It wasn’t raining, my camera got a little dusty.

Once we got the kids to sleep the adults gathered for some chatting and laughing.  Good times.

Sunday morning we got up and off to church.   After that we changed, ate lunch and loaded up for a drive up to another lake we could walk around.  It was a long and bumpy ride but totally worth it, it was stunningly beautiful.

and before long, this started happening:

The water was freezing, but oh so inviting.  So clear you could see everything.

Joshy getting a taste of the local flavor :)

It was a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon.  We came home to a yummy dinner by Ryan and Macy followed by our traditional talent show.   We had everything from a Neil Diamond impersonation (guess who) to some impressive grape catching in the mouth.  Great stuff.

Monday morning Rebecca whipped up a major breakfast and we headed out to the beach.  We rented some jet skis and had a blast.  Davis and Melissa fed us a great lunch and then had to leave to get back to New York.  The wind kicked up and a storm rolled in and forced us out a little early.  We scrambled back to our condos with all our stuff and the storm rolled right over and we had a beautiful evening.  Mom and Dad served dinner and we played some “Minute to Win It” games.  Brennan and my parents stayed behind with sleeping kids while the rest of us went for shakes. 

Tuesday we packed up and drove to the city my parents’ were married in on our way home.  They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary the weekend before so we decided we’d stop at the Temple they were married and surprise them with a photo book.  We compiled some highlight pictures throughout the last 40 years along with a letter from each of us.  They were completely surprised.

We parted from there and went our separate ways very tired and very happy.  The kids could not be cuter little cousin buddies who are fortunate to have some of the worlds’ greatest uncles, aunts and grandparents.  We feel extremely blessed to so thoroughly enjoy our family.

Happy Birthday, Anna June

In what seems like about 3 minutes ago, this little doll was born. Now she’s 12. I can’t quite wrap my head around that, but ready or not – it happened.

On August 6, 1998 a teeny tiny bundle of crazy blond hair was put in my arms. Up to that moment we hadn’t known if she would be a boy or a girl. I felt confident she’d be a boy, and the one thing I knew for sure was that this baby would be bald. Neither Brennan or I had any hair until we were 2. I held my furry little girl completely awed, surprised and totally overcome with love. That is how I’ve felt about Anna ever since.

Victoria, Spencer, Abigail, David and Anna, the first grandkids.

She’s always had a little gleam in her eye. Ever since she was born she loved mischief and that combined with lightning speed, a bright mind and an angelic little face made/makes for a very lively time. For 12 years she’s been outsmarting, outrunning, and surprising us.

Fortunately for us, her sweetness and compassion keep her mischievous side to innocent fun. Anna is the most affectionate girl. When she was very young before she went to bed she started saying, “Love you, you’re the best.” She still says that, and so do each of her siblings and both her parents. I smile every single time one of us says that.

Today I registered her for junior high and took her to get her ears pierced. Next week she’s going boating with all the 12-18 year old girls and boys in our ward. Ready or not, she’s 12.

Happy, happy birthday my beautiful sweet girl. We love Anna.

Update

Don’t you just love summer? It’s going way too quickly though, that’s my only complaint with summer. We just had a great visit from Jamie and Brett (Brennan’s mom and brother) a few weeks ago. We loved having them and are so grateful they were able to come stay with us.

Brennan is busy with work and golf, but still manages to help me out so much. He’s been working with Anna on tennis. He frequently takes one or two of them to hit golf balls. He loves those times he gets with them one on one or in small groups like that. He loves his kids. Last weekend he played in a Stake Tennis Tournament. He is so much fun to watch and even though he hasn’t played forever (he’s afraid it will mess up his golf swing) he took second place in the advanced division. We love Brennan.

I am really enjoying my flowers. I, like always, planted them really late, but got great discounts. Anyway, some haven’t done so well, but most of them are looking great and I just love driving up to our house when there’s a cheerful, colorful host of flowers to greet me. A few weeks ago I ran a 5K and it was a lot of fun. I am such a slow, slow runner which I didn’t worry about at all for the Wasatch Back, my goal was to pretty much not collapse and die. So for the 5k I didn’t really know what to shoot for. My friend, Alesa, did it with me and she is a lot faster than me so I was on my own and decided I was going to try and beat 45 minutes. That’s really not fast, I know, but I told you I run like 15 minute miles so it was a good goal. Well, I did ran it in 39:41. Woo hoo. Good times.

Anna hosted a little tea party this week. She’s working really hard to finish up her “Faith In God” which is like the Gospel in Action we did when we were in primary. It’s basically a little booklet of goals/activities they work on when they turn 8 until they turn 12. Anyway, she invited her little girl cousins and some neighbor girls over to entertain them and also taught them about the Word of Wisdom. It was darling, she did such a great job and loves attending to these little ones. They all dressed up and can you believe we didn’t take one picture? Grrrr. Anyway, she’s been such a great helper to all summer and has really grown up in so many ways. She’s been reading her scriptures everyday and Brennan and I have both noticed such a difference. She’s a great example for all of us. We love Anna.

Abby really floored me while driving home from one of her play rehearsals she said, “Mom, I know you don’t like it when we say this, but the guy who plays Luntha (sp?) is HOT.” “Whoa, Abby!” “Well, he is, he’s the one who picks me up in Uncle Tom’s Cabin scene and he’s just such… such a MA-AN.” This child has some serious potential to be a major boy crazed teenager. She and her best friend, Paige, celebrated their 3rd anniversary the other night. Somehow they remembered that the first time they played together was the day after Paige’s brother was born. They decided to celebrate with a late night and spent days planning and preparing for their special evening. They made a scrapbook, carefully selected a movie (they wanted one with a friendship theme), selected and made a treat, and made many lists. Happy Anniversary Abby and Paige! We love Abigail.

Nate has basically moved in with our neighbors. They recently got an air hockey table and he LOVES it. He will also play catch with anyone he can talk into playing with him. He’s kind of obsessed with sports, he’s always recording random sporting events and “Sports Center” on our dvr. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this given who his father is, but still I guess I just thought I’d have a few more years before total and complete obsession set in. Every morning he tries to get Joshy to cuddle with him on the couch and is really sad that Joshy has lost interest in cuddling. He’s not going to give up on it though. We love Nathan.

Ben is the busiest little 4 year old I’ve ever known. He’s constantly on the move, he goes back and forth between our house and the neighbors all day long. If they’re gone he wants to know which of his other friends he can call. He’s a funny contradiction because as social as he is at times and as much as he loves to be on the go, when he’s done he’s done. He’ll have a friend over and after about 45 minutes he asks me when his friend is leaving. Or when we’re out somewhere really fun like a park or a party he’ll ask when we’re going home. He’s such a funny, unpredictable boy. You should have seen his smile last night when for Family Home Evening we took turns telling what we love about each family member. When we were talking about him I thought his face might explode with pure joy. We love Benjamin.

Squashy stays busy doing things like getting into the fireplace or lapping up water on the ground. Yes, I stopped to take a picture before grabbing him. I promise he’d had plenty of water, evidently it’s just more fun this way.

So you can see he’s got a lot to do. He keeps all of us smiling. He has this deep laugh that just kills me. He loves showing off by standing up and letting go of whatever he used to pull himself up with. He is very, very loved and is very patient about being mauled with love all day long. We love Joshua.

Happy, happy summer!

The King and I – Starring Abigail!

Well last week was Abby’s big week.  It was so much fun to see her shine on stage and she loved every minute.  I love that she did it and think it’s so good for kids to develop confidence, the only problem is that you can’t just dabble in it, it’s kind of one of those things you sell your soul to.  So I can’t say that I’m sorry it’s over.  It was great, but having my 9 year old out til 11 pm each night  for 2 weeks (1 week of final rehearsals and 1 week of performances) was a little much for me.

Overall it was a great experience though and we’re so proud of Abby for all her hard work and her willingness to put all that time into it without complaining. 

here’s a shot of the stage, Abby’s in the front far left.

 

Each summer our little town puts on a musical at an outdoor stage in a beautiful woodsy park.  It’s an amazing setting and even in the heat of the summer once it got dark it was deliciously cool surrounded by trees and our evening breeze.   For the cast, their dressing rooms are tents and the backstage is some grass and then a forest.  Pretty cool.

Abby played the part of Princess Ying Yaowlak (sp?), she’s the king’s favorite little daughter.  She actually had several lines and did such a great job.   Each night we had to pull all her hair up (now that the play’s over she can get a haircut – yay!!!) and spray it black.  Then put on a lot of makeup to transform her into a little Siamese princess.

One of my favorite things in the world is watching my kids do something they love and do well.  This was no exception, it was thrilling.  She was darling and has great stage presence.  Thank you so much to all those who came and supported her, she is so blessed with great family and friends!

3rd, 4th and 5th of July – Woo Hoo!

Because the 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year most places around here celebrated on the 3rd and the 5th.  Love it when we can stretch celebrating out like that.  To make things extra special Braden’s three oldest kids were in town.  We rarely see Braden and his family so we really appreciate every minute we get with them.  David, Spencer and Victoria are such good, sweet teenagers who are so good to all of their much younger cousins.  My kids adore them. 

Anyway, on the Sat. the 3rd we went to our neighboring town’s parade.  It’s always a fun one with giant water fight at the end.  Poor Brennan saw the water coming and stood up to take cover but instead got his feet tangled in his chair’s footrest and faceplanted on the ground.  He did manage to stay dry though.   He was dying laughing at himself.  One of my very favorite things about him, I love that he can laugh at himself.  He’s the best.

 

Cutest little Amelia

Jan, Emily, Daren, Leila, Corey

Mike, Ally, Liza

 

Some eager candy catchers

Awww

 

Victoria, David and Spencer

 

After the parade we went to Macy’s parents’ house to swim.  Not only did they open their pool to us, they treated us to a fabulous lunch. Grilled some hotdogs, chips and salsa, darling flag sugar cookies etc.  They such generous and talented hosts.  It was amazing and so much fun.

Next stop was my parents’ for another delicious meal.  We roasted s’mores in my parents’ fire pit in their beautiful yard.  The weather was just perfect all day.  When it started to get dark we headed out front for our own firework show put on by Brennan and his many eager assistants.  Brennan tends to be a worrier, some might even say paranoid, especially about the kids, but when it comes to fireworks and kids he has not a care in the world.  We moms were a little nervous, but the kids had a blast assisting him.  Victoria stepped in for her Mom who wasn’t there and worried for her brothers. 

My favorite moment was when Chris and Rebecca handed almost 4 yr. old Oliver a sparkler.  He held it bravely but was very serious.  Rebecca told him to dance with it, so while still cautiously holding his sparkler he started shaking his hips.  She tried again and demonstrated waving his hand around, so he obeyed again and waved around his sparklerless hand.  It was so cute and so funny.

Cutest little Molly June

 

 

 

Such a fun, family-filled 3rd of July :)  I love all those people so very much.

The 4th of July was pretty  low-key.  We had kind of a normal Sunday with church and maybe slightly more ornery kids due to a far exceeded fun limit the day before. 

Monday, the 5th, we finished cleaning and got ready to welcome the Beecher family.  We met Cole and Kelly when we lived in Arizona.  Kelly and I worked in young women’s together.  They’re one of those couples that both Brennan and I totally enjoy.  A couple of years ago they moved here and they were our go to double date couple.  Then, they moved back to AZ and we’re working on forgiving them.   The bonus about them is that our kids match up very well.  They have two girls close to our girls’ ages and two boys a little older than ours, but they all get along wonderfully.  They just had a darling baby girl.

 

Cooper, Nate, Ben and Jackson

 

Anyway, they stayed with us Monday and Tuesday and left Wednesday.  The kids had such a great time and entertained themselves amazingly well.  Monday night we went up to Cole’s hometown for fireworks.  His brother-in-law is the fire chief and the fire dept. puts on the show so we got to watch from VIP seats right in front of where they launched them.  It was amazing.  Honestly, we laid down on the ground and it was a little unnerving because you felt like they were going to fall on you. 

The Abbys

 

Poor little Ben was lying on the blanket waiting for them to start.  I kind of forgot to prep him.  I was sitting in a chair behind the blanket and when the first firework went off I watched him fly up like he’d been shot from a cannon and start running as fast as his little legs would go.  I somehow managed to grab him as he shot by me.  He was screaming, “Mom, look out!!!!”  It was the saddest funniest thing.  There was pure terror in his face and I appreciated that he was trying to save me too.  We put him in the car where he could watch from a safer distance, but eventually he joined us outside.  It was such a fun night, one of those that make you tear up a little that you get to do something so fun with such great kids and friends.

Anna and Emily

 

Tuesday we took the kids swimming and celebrated Squashy’s birthday and then left Emily and Anna in charge while we went on a double date for old times’ sake.  Then we stayed up way too late laughing all night long.  The older we get the more we appreciate good friends.  We’re getting old and we love the Beechers.  Hope you’ll come again!

Sweet baby Khloe

Girls Camp

I have fallen woefully behind in blogging.  That is really sad, because it’s usually the one thing I’m pretty on top of.   Anyway, let’s take a trip down memory lane shall we? Clear back to the end of June.

Anna had a blast at girls camp.   Normally you don’t go until your 12 which Anna won’t be for another month, but they wanted to keep everyone in the same grade together so she got to go a little early.  She was in a potentially intimidating position going to camp without yet even being in young women’s and not really knowing the older girls.  I’ve gotten many reports that it didn’t seem to hold her back at all.  She was totally herself and loved the whole experience. 

Anna with her tent mates

Brennan got to go up for a night and that is probably the only way I got through the week, knowing she was safe and happy.  We missed her sooooooo much but are so happy she had such a great time.  My favorite story from her camp experience was when they went canoeing.  Evidently before the leaders really knew what happened their three littlest campers jumped in a canoe and took off.  The leaders watched nervously as these three little girls got further and further out.  The two priesthood leaders there at the time (who happen to be two of the most competent men in the world – one’s  an pilot and one grew up on a farm and is as hardy and solid as they come) decided they’d better grab a canoe and go rescue Anna, Chloe and Sadie.  Off they went and then over they went.  Yep, our gallant heroes capsized.  In the meantime our three little damsels who never knew they were in distress made it back safe and sound and happy. 

Happy Birthday to Squash! – July 6th.

Our baby turned 1!  (I’m trying to be excited about this, really I am.)  I took him to his well check a few days ago and the doctor confirmed something we’ve suspected for some time now – he’s short and fat.  He’s in the 76th percentile for weight and 25th for height (85th in head circumference – we attribute his large headedness to brilliance).  My sister mentioned it’s too bad they don’t measure width, because he’d win that contest for sure.  

This last year has been quite a year.  This little bubby came into our lives in a flurry of craziness.    The day he was born Ben broke his leg, two days later Brennan played in the State Golf Amatuer.  He had jaundice and had to be in his Superman pod constantly for like 3 days plus I had to take him in every day for a bilirubin count (which involved pricking his heel).   Then for the next few months he didn’t grow fast enough so I had to supplement his feedings and take him in every few days to be weighed.  Brennan and I felt kind of  emotionally ransacked. 

Thinking back to all of that the thing that anchored me in spite of all of those things that had me really stressed out, was him.  I’d hold him and although he was even kind of a fussy babe, he was also magically both energizing and calming for me.  There was something about his big baby soul that transcended all of the baby craziness.    I feel like there’s something wise in those dark blue eyes.  He’s always so quick to smile and he’s always had the good sense to adore his mama, which I don’t hate.   I think I’ve said it before, but there’s something really amazing about someone squealing with excitement when you walk into the room that makes you feel reeeeeeeally good.  I’ll be honest, it doesn’t happen to me as much as you’d think ;).

 

For Joshy’s birthday we had our wonderful friends, the Beechers, staying with us.  So our family and their family had cake and ice cream and he opened a few little presents. 

He kind of wasn’t sure about the whole cake thing, but something tells me he’ll come around.  We cannot imagine life without our Squash.  We feel extremely blessed to be able to call him ours and have vowed to make this next year slow down a bit.  We love Joshua!