Thursday, May 26, 2011

A Hike, A Game, Some Yogurt, & Goodbye

In April, Jeff & Emily decided they'd be moving to Virginia Beach for the summer so Jeff could do an internship with his dad. We had mixed emotions about it. I mean, what an awesome experience for their little family?!? But we knew we would miss them...like crazy! And we do. So before they left we had to cram a few fun things into their schedule.

First off, a Boy's Only Hike with Jeff. Jeff has taken the boys out on hikes from time to time and he always carried a walking stick, which the boys would want to take turns holding. So he made them each one, with their names engraved and specifically for their height. When the day of the hike finally arrived, we met at a trail behind the Draper temple and off they went. They were gone for a good 2 1/2 hours and came back exhausted. The boys got hot while hiking, so Jeff taught them to dip their hat in the stream. He told Em that after he taught them that, they would run and dip their hat into every stream they passed by. Cameron and Gavin decided to get their heads wet one time, so Jeff held Owen by his ankles so he could get his hair wet too, without falling in. Jeff said that they all did really good on the hike and didn't whine at all! That, in itself, is a miracle!














Next, a ReAL Salt Lake soccer game! Originally, we were just going to go with the Petersbergers. Then we invited Callie & Mike. Then Emily & Jeff. Then my parents decided to make a trip to Utah and brought Avery. Then Jeff's brother, James & his girlfriend Jillian...In all there were 22 of us that went! It started out as a cold-ish evening but by the second half it warmed up a little and was a very pleasant night. Granny bought a bag of cotton candy to share amongst the kids, Avery pretended to take a nap during the middle of the game, there were CHURRO's all around, and Gavin, Jaxon, and Madison P. got to go out on the field in their soccer jerseys. This was the first of many games for us this season and it was fun to share it with the fam.













When I figured out that my mom and sisters would be in our ward on Sunday, I arranged for us to do a musical number. We sang "Here Am I", the same song we sang at Ryan's missionary farewell, September 1996. We were a little nervous Sunday morning but it turned out okay. We are blessed to have a sister-in-law who sings with us on a regular basis, who can keep her composure regardless of the situation, who has the most beautiful voice, and never gets nervous. We missed No'el that morning. But I was grateful to have the chance to sing with my sisters, regardless of our emotions. After church, we had a lovely BBQ, cousin Jamison came for a quick visit, and then our parents headed back to Idaho.


For FHE Monday night, we went to the Cam/Gavin's school. They were displaying a lot of artwork that the students had done and calling it "A Night at the Louvre." Every month they teach about a well-known artist and then the kids draw their interpretation of a famous painting. They call it "Meet the Masters" and my kids both enjoy art so they like learning about the different artists. After we had walked through the exhibit and had our "passport" stamped, we met Jeff & Emily & Miley for frozen yogurt. There's this little place near our house that features 8 (or is it 10?) flavors of frozen yogurt...they change the flavors daily so it's always a surprise! Then you can add unlimited topics (we, however, limited each child to three toppings) and you pay by the ounce! The boys have wanted to go for a long time so it was fun for them. And so nice for us to just sit and visit with Jemily.



I took the Hardings to the airport Tuesday afternoon. It was kinda emotional for me. Em & I have become close and I was sad to be losing my friend for the summer. Em made me say "See ya soon" and pretend like we'd see them in the next couple of days. She tried to make me promise that I wouldn't post all the fun things we do this summer because it will make her homesick. (Sorry, in advance, Emily.) We really are excited for them to have this opportunity but anxiously await their return!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Grrrrr!

I truly dislike seeing my blog on other's blog lists with the date of my last update as "1 month ago." I really am trying to stay on top of this family blog but some days, weeks, etc it is nearly impossible. So here we are again with a massive update. Feel free to scroll down because I am posting 7 new posts today! Insane! In my defense, Harrison has had 2 ear infections in the past month, I hosted book club, Gavin's soccer season is in full-swing, and I'm preparing for my Spring Piano Recital with 15 students!

I wanted to share this website that I found when blog-hopping. It is a site where you can download printable quiet books. You simply print them out as pictures at Sam's, Costco, Wal-mart, etc and insert them in to photo books. I printed out 3 different books and spent less than $10. We took them to Stake Conference and the boys were entertained for the majority of the meeting. Enjoy!

Field Trip

Cam's grade got to go to the Hogle Zoo for their field trip. When Cam found out that's where they were going, he came home and asked his dad if he could go as a chaperone. Their class only got to have 4 chaperones and when 8 parents agreed to go, they had to draw to see which parents would be the lucky ones! Spencer was chosen and boy, oh boy, Cam was excited. The weather was just right...not too hot, not too cold. Spencer especially enjoyed the bus ride! (Not really, it was super loud and kids were very hyper.) I'm just grateful that Spence was able to go and that Cam wanted his parent there...I'm sure that won't always be the case.

Triplets...sort of!








As I have mentioned many times before, Emily had her first daughter 3 weeks before the twins were born. Because we live close to each other, we often run errands together. Many times we get asked if we have triplets! We recently discovered that our baby girls had the same dress...hello, photo op! We had to dress Harrison up in a coordinating tie/onesie combo so he could be in the pics too. We couldn't seem to get them all to smile at the same time but aren't they absolutely adorable?

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Easter Celebrations

Our first Easter Party was the Saturday before Easter, April 16th. Our neighborhood had an Easter Egg Hunt organized by the cub scouts and leaders. Each child brought 15 filled Easter Eggs, the dads hid them, the kids found any 15 eggs. It was a beautiful day and all the kids were very happy with their loot.





The following week was Spring Break so the kids didn't have school! We decided to head to Idaho...we hadn't been there since New Year's. It was such a nice trip, although the weather was a little iffy. We flew kites (brrrr), played games, had Granny's annual Easter Egg hunt and BBQ at Ryan's, dyed eggs, and had a special Easter mini-devotional where we talked about why we celebrate Easter.

Spencer's parents bought two huge kites from Costco or Sam's last year. We tried to fly them at their house last year but they thought the Idaho wind might be a little stronger to hold them up so they sent them with us. The wind was mighty and Abbie, Cameron, Spence, and Grandpa had a good time getting the kites up a few different times throughout the week. Gavin, Owen, and I were fair-weather flyers...we went outside until it was too cold. (Avery and Granny and the twins decided to stay inside where it was warm.)




We made homemade caramel apples:




Dyed Easter Eggs:




Mini Easter Devotional:


Easter Egg Hunt:




Granny & Grandpa gave each of the kids a new spring outfit (shorts and shirt). I guess we didn't take any pics of them though...but we did take a few of the twins in their cute yellow rompers!



Overall, it was a wonderful getaway from the normal hum-drum of life.