life is good

stuff. just some stuff.

2012-03-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

1. Since we were out of town (for a funeral) on Valentine's Day, Austin missed his class party at school.

At first he was very, VERY concerned because he had been excited about his lego box for weeks. For several days he had waited patiently for dad to come home from work and then immediately he was asking to go out and put another coat of red paint on that box. He was so relieved when his teacher told him she would hand out his valentines for him and that his box would be waiting for him when he returned.

2. Carlie was hobbling around on crutches for a little while after she had a minor skiing accident. She caught just a bit too much air on a little jump and didn't quite land right. She pulled her MCL and it took her a few weeks before she wasn't limping around anymore. We were SO thankful that it wasn't worse. Here she is trying to ice it while doing her homework after school one day. It wasn't too easy getting around school for a few days.

3. Carson had his first band concert last month. It was so fun to hear them perform! They did a great job. And I could tell that he really enjoyed it. Carson's hates to practice every day. So I just kinda figured that he didn't enjoy band as a whole. But he shocked me by choosing to sign up for it again next year...even though that means he can't have any other electives in 7th grade. Go figure.

4. That boy is definitely growing up. Some days he is starting to feel like a teenager. He really is such a good kid, though. Since he turned 12 in January, he got the Priesthood. It has been great to see how much it has meant to him.

5. Actually, since Carson and Carlie turned twelve, it seems like time has gone so fast. Suddenly they grew up so much. A few weeks after their birthday, they were able to go on their first temple trip. They were very excited. Since our local temple is closed for construction, they got to go to the Twin Falls temple. So we drove from Boise to Twin Falls. We talked about how for my first temple trip at twelve years old, I drove from Twin Falls to Boise. I never would have thought there would ever be a way it would possibly work out the other way around. Seems funny.

6. By the way! Speaking of temples...we are getting a new temple just up the road from us!!!!! We were shocked when it was first announced to get one in our city. But we know it is a blessing to have it so close. We are so excited for it to begin.

7. We have got to plan a family night to the roller rink!! Did you know they still existed? I was surprised. That is what this cutie chose to do for that big b-day we were talking about.

8. And not to be left out...Carson had fun, too. Boys are so easy -it took them about 22 seconds after arriving at our house before they were doing this...

9. And then some glow-in-the-dark mini golf, arcade games, and ice cream sundaes.

10. The kids have been trying really hard to enjoy the weather. The schizophrenic weather. They have managed to get in quite a few skiing trips (mostly thanks to the Zweifels). Carson went on a wintertime camping trip (Klondike) in the snow. Most of his friends froze and had a miserable time. Pretty much what I would expect of a winter campout in the snow. I freeze on our summer camping trips. But Carson loved it and somehow managed to stay warm and toasty. And, when we have had some spring-like days thrown in the mix lately, the kids have enjoyed every second of it.

11. The above picture is Carson playing outside with his cousin, Fiona. We got to have her stay for a few days last week while my sister, Kari, and her hubby,Chris, were busy with something kinda sweet...

12. Sweet, right? He is so, so, so cute. His name is Adam. Lucky little family. We loved having Fiona hang with us. Austin was very upset when I told him we had to take her back home..."But MOM, we only got her for TWO DAYS!!!!"

what color is the tooth fairy?

2012-03-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

More crazy pictures of this dude.

This one was taken while goofing off a few weeks ago when he still had a couple more teeth.

He lost some more in the past few days.

And he got the idea somewhere that you should leave your tooth in water next to your bed.

If you do this instead of leaving it under your pillow, then you can figure out what color the tooth fairy is...because the water will turn that color when the fairy reaches in to get the tooth.

Who knew????

So he tried it a few nights ago.

Turns out his fairy is very blue.

100th day

2012-02-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Oh my.

For the 100th day of school, Austin got to do all kinds of fun activities involving the number 100.

Including dressing up.

They were instructed to dress up like they were 100 years old.

I thought it was kinda strange, to be honest.

But he was super excited.

You can't tell, but he even had flour caked into his comb-over so his hair was even whiter.

He loved being in character.

He had some pretty funny lines.

I tried to tell him that lots of old people are very kind and don't just say crotchety things all the time.

But it secretly cracked me up.

He had a super fun day as an old geezer.

a goodbye

2012-02-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

This year we spent our Valentine's Day thinking a lot about what it means to love and show love.

Sometimes it is so hard.

Sometimes life hurts us and love requires so much sacrifice.

But love, in the end, is what really gets us through.

Our Valentine's Day was spent traveling to the funeral of Grandma Andrew.

She was Chris's grandma.

And she passed away a few weeks ago.

All four of our great grandmas have been having their struggles lately.

We hate to see such amazing women who have lived such wonderful, faithful lives have to come to such trials.

I know they are coming to know the Lord and will be so happy when they meet Him again.

I've never heard much about grandma's early life before she met her husband.

But I really loved the letters that were shared that he had written to her when they were a young, feisty couple in love.

And then what seems so hard to comprehend - that her husband died so young and she was left alone with twelve children!

Children going off to college, teenagers, adolescents, toddlers.

I can't imagine how she ever got through each day.

The loneliness and enormity would overwhelm any person.

And now- everyone is buoyed up by thoughts of one unbelievable reunion in heaven.

(As long as she's not still angry with him, as Chris said...haha!)

It was fun to hear people's stories and descriptions of her.

We cherish each short visit with her over the years.

Chris always made it a point to go out of the way to stop in anytime we went that direction.

And now we are so glad.

Our kids always call her house, "The one with the chickens" ...since two times while we were visiting they were able to chase chickens around the yard with sticks.

She had SO MANY grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

What a huge legacy.

But she still loved visiting with them and hearing about their lives.

My favorite memory is the weekend in college that Chris and I spent there watching general conference with grandma.

I have never slept so well.

I don't know why, I just remember that.

And we got grandma to open up with so, so many stories.

We loved it.

We wish now that we had recorded them all.

But then maybe she wouldn't have shared so freely.

I also remember that she was really bothered that I should have been pregnant (since we had been married a few years by then) and she said I was looking pregnant (ouch!), but was NOT. Ha! She was skeptical as we tried explaining that it doesn't come as easily for everyone and that it was becoming very clear that 12 children would not be in our future.

From the words of others, I can tell that she always told it how it was.

And gave everything she had.

I loved discussing with my children that they have a piece of that legacy of endurance, faith, and strength inside of them.

It was really wonderful to see the 12 children together at the funeral.

(one daughter is not pictured here)

The eldest son from each of the children was a pallbearer.

You can't see him very well, but this is Chris carrying the casket after a beautiful service.

And when they asked the pallbearers to place their boutonnieres on the casket, Chris let Austin put his there.

It was very sweet.

Austin had a very emotional time that day.

He cried throughout the entire service.

He was touched by everything that was said.

And he prayed that grandma would be happy and that all our family could be together forever for several days afterward.

Cousins at the graveside.

Austin didn't want to be in the picture.

But then a little later he asked me to please take a picture by himself with grandma's grave.

He wanted to remember.

His face says it all.

A copy of her obituary...

Helena (Cottle) Andrew

Our loving mother, Helena Cottle Andrew passed through the veil Feb. 9, 2012, to be greeted by her loving husband, parents, brothers and sisters. Helena was born Jan. 31, 1924, in Trenton, Utah, to Walter D. Cottle and Leah Bunderson Cottle, the ninth of 14 children. She attended and graduated North Cache High School. She married Marion Andrew March 18, 1943 in Logan. Marion passed away Oct. 20, 1964.
Helena loved the gospel and was active in all of the organization throughout her life; she especially loved serving in the temple. She served an LDS mission in Sacramento, Calif.
Helena is survived by her 12 children, Eva Rae Keiser (Richard, deceased), Patricia and Lynn Johnson, Johnny and Lillian, Ruth and Ramon Stoker, Stuart and Evelyn, Steve and Kathy, Marion and Dennis Layne, Michael, Betty Andrew, David and Darlene, Julie and Tony Rosales, Robert and Dixie and Bruce and Lynette. She is also survived by her sisters and brother, Vellis Salaway, Mary Spackman, Walt and Diann Cottle and Leah and Doyle Keiser.
Her posterity includes 63 grandchildren, 85 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. We are grateful for those who have cared in any way for mother over the past years, especially Catie Ransom, Hospice Care of Northern Utah and Eileen Wood.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, at the Trenton Ward chapel with Bishop Rob Smith conducting. A viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the same location. An evening viewing will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Nelson Funeral Home of Smithfield, 80 S. Main St. Interment will take place at the Trenton City Cemetery.
Condolences may be sent to the family online atwww.nelsonfuneralhome.com.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the Cache County Community Food Pantry, 359 S. Main St., Logan, UT 84321.

Published in Logan Herald Journal from February 11 to February 25, 2012

birthday boy

2012-02-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Chris!

i love, love the little 7 year old yoda boy. it's for sure one of my favorites.

I haven't had a lot to say lately, so my blog has been neglected.

I hope to record a few of the happenings around here soon.

But I couldn't let this important day pass by without a quick shout out to my favorite person.

During a chat with a friend, she reminded me of an old memory I had forgotten about.

It was your birthday...the first one since I had known you.

We were all friends living in the dorms together.

And we broke into your dorm room while you were at class to leave you some (probably nasty) brownies that we had made in a teeny microwave in one of our rooms.

Your family called with birthday wishes.

I answered the phone and someone said, "There's a girl in his room!"

Two and 1/2 years later, we went on our first date.

It doesn't matter that we disagree on when the first date actually occurred.

Only that it did.

And that we both already knew in our hearts what it was bringing...

forever.

I'm so thankful for you.

your path is lovely

2012-01-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Blogs can be dangerous places.

Same with all social media.

The glimpses we get of other's lives can overwhelm us.

It appears that others are doing so much.

Baking amazing things, sewing amazing things, decorating amazing things, crafting amazing things with their children, giving amazing things charitably, wearing amazing things, saying amazing things, visiting amazing things, being amazing things, and on and on (amazingly).

I get so much inspiration.

But...

It is easy to get caught feeling very un-amazing in your own life.

Can I get an amen?

I in NO WAY am under the mistaken impression that my blog is going to do this to the three people who read it. :)

But, I have been told that it just seems like my life is all so great after reading my blog.

And it makes me wonder if I am misleading.

Of course I haven't recorded the desperate way I called a family council last week (ASAP!) because we needed to figure out how to better work together as a family.

Or how Chris and I have had some issues creep into our marriage over the past month that have been very hurtful and hard to work through.

I could go on for a loooong time.

But here's the thing.

I love life.

Especially the small, but important moments.

I might forget if I don't take the time to slow down.

And remember.

The worries are definitely still there for all of us.

Several good conversations at church and with friends and family over the past few days have helped me feel very grateful that we are all so different.

We each have our own unique path to travel.

Hopefully we are all traveling to one true end destination, but we will take such different ways to get there.

And that makes me happy.

How boring if we all chose to do things exactly the same.

I want to be a cheerleader to my other travelers and surround myself with people who will cheer me on.

And eventually I hope I can find the strength to ignore those who may not like the look of my path.

And, because this has become too wordy and that makes me uncomfortable...

Some pictures.

Keeping in lines with choosing our own path...

One day last week, our family decided to do that.

Everyone stayed home from school and we had a ski day.

It was So. Great.

Wow...started out with less than favorable visibility.

But that did not lessen the excitement for this dude.
It was his first time skiing!!!!
He couldn't wait.

The older "pros" gave Austin lots of pointers.

Grab a pole, and we're off!

Yeah!

Oh, hey guys.

Carson LOVES it.
I just wish he didn't love the tree areas so much.

Enjoying some lunch in the lodge.

Man, I should have brought more food...they worked up an appetite.

He mastered the magic carpet and he's ready for a little more excitement.

You can't tell, but we were so happy to have the sun popping out.

Letting me catch a quick shot as she went by.

I've mentioned how we just started getting snow here recently.

Because of that, the local ski resort just opened.

The latest opening in recorded history.

I am here to openly admit the real reason.

It's because of us.

For the first time ever, I bought season passes for my kids.

And the universe hates me. :)

We looked ahead for a time to go as a family and it was going to be awhile.

That's why we went on a school day.

Chris and I loved how the kids were so unsure about missing school to do this.

They are very conscientious.

I guess they are getting grown up enough to realize that it is really more trouble to make up everything you missed than to just be there and do it.

The older two start earlier, so they wanted to go to their first few classes and have us pick them up on our way out of town...rather than sleep in and go.

Can you believe it? haha

So that's what we did.

We had such a great day hanging out together.

2012

2012-01-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

We rang in 2012 at my brother Dan and his family's home.

It was a fun goodbye to a year full of ups and downs and lots of memories.

And a wonderful celebration ringing in a new year and hope for what it holds.

We loved being with loving family and sharing in their joy.

Our new nephew/ cousin, Seth, was blessed the next day on New Year's Day, so it was a great start to the year.

Our New Year's Eve was full of laughter, games, glow in the dark dancing, root beer floats, celebrating birthdays, and lots of hugs and kisses at midnight.

Since their home overlooks the whole valley, we were treated to a gorgeous fireworks show when the new year rolled around.

The kids were loving it.

We couldn't believe they were all still going strong.

Who brought those annoying noisemakers????
What a good sport :)

Sometimes I love to think about all that the past year has brought.

Sometimes, though, I feel depressed thinking that I'm still in the same place in so many areas of my life that I was a year ago.

And the year before that.

If a year is going to pass anyway, I would like it to find me a little bit better.

Guess that's some motivation for this year.

snow

2012-01-18T17:45:00.001-07:00

Snow!

We got snow today.

It has been such a strange winter with no snow AT ALL.

As I drove children back and forth to piano lessons this morning, we watched it start to pile up.

I wanted so badly to just keep them home for a snow day and play in it together. (Snow never lasts long around here.)

Unfortunately, the older two had finals since it's the end of their semester.

So I had to be responsible and send them.

But speaking of snow...

While we were still visiting at my in-laws after Christmas, they did get a small bit of snow.

Chris and his dad went in search of enough to play in.

They found a good spot for some sledding.

The kids had a blast with their cousins again.

The little ones showed no fear.

It has been the only snow they have seen this winter.

Until today, of course!

ice skating

2012-01-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

When we drove into Chris' hometown on Christmas day, it felt very strange because there was not a flake of snow to be seen.

He could only remember one time in his life when they did not have a white Christmas.

Well this year was definitely the second.

This meant that the pond was available for skating...frozen over and all clear.

We had just been talking recently about ice skating as a family.

It's surprising that none of our kids have ever tried it out.

Grandpa collected the ice skates for us.

And the next day it was off to the pond.

Carlie ended up being the only child big enough to fit into the skates who wanted to give it a go that day.

Everyone was a little tentative at first while Chris checked the ice.

But it took no time before they were all "skating" around all over the place.

Sliding, diving and rolling, too.

Grandpa helped Carlie get the feel for it.

While Chris tried to channel his inner Evan Lysacek.

Pretty impressive.

I'll just take a second here to say that, for a moment when we were getting ready to go, I had the thought that I should find some skates to fit me.

That I should join in.

You know, you do miss 100% of the shots you don't take. (you know? it's the old life is too short thing.)

But then the better judgement part of my brain kicked in and reminded the cliche part of my brain that you also suffer from 100% of the knee injuries you ask for.

You see, the one and only time in my life that I ever went ice skating was in college.

I went to Sun Valley with some friends and I did ok.

But before we took off our skates, we wandered outside in the deep snow.

A snowball fight started somewhere.

I really don't remember now if I was trying to throw a snowball, dodge a snowball, dance a jig, or just walk through the snow.

But somehow I dislocated my kneecap and injured the ligaments in my knee.

The end.

Of my ice skating.

Good bye forever.

Maybe that has something to do with why my kids haven't been before.

I guess it's not such a big surprise after all.

Neither is my klutziness.

For the record...this was during my freshman year of college.

Long before Chris and I were together, but we did live in the same dorms and were good friends.

He still remembers me climbing hills in the snow in that wretched leg brace.

Wow!

I know how to digress.

(Someone likes to talk about herself...)

Carlie started to get the hang of it.

And the little kids loved pulling Chris around.

The kids found this abandoned little boat next to the pond.

It had thick pieces of ice in the bottom.

They were yelling for me to come and take a picture of them inside.

What a fun day!

christmas

2012-01-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

We were sad to see the Christmas season leave us.

It was such a great time around here.

We finished our shopping early (mostly), so that we could focus on all the other amazing STUFF that goes into the season.

There was definitely lots of fun stuff.

I think Christmas Eve has become my favorite - even more than the actual day.

I love the tradition, anticipation, fun, and love.

We started ours with a delicious brunch with neighbors.

The girls danced for us.

And Austin, of course, is never too shy to shake it.

So he followed with his own performance.

And then they goofed around...

In the early evening, we started our festivities.

It was wonderful.

With our children getting so grown up, it is becoming so much easier to focus on what Christmas is really about.

Chris said it was his favorite Christmas Eve ever.

Love it.

When the kids were finally decked out in some new pjs, it was time for bed.

It was definitely a record for shortest sleep on Christmas Eve this year.

It began with a bloody nose at 3 something in the morning.

They actually stayed in bed for a pretty long time after that, but not with any sleeping going on.

Then, after a few hours, they were all in the bathroom.

(not sure why?)

And all three heard a distinct "ho, ho, ho!" from the other side of the door.

They said it was loud and clear and was just next to the door.

They dashed straight into our room, where they woke up dad, accusing him of saying it.

I told them that dad had not moved a muscle.

Or a vocal cord.

They made me promise in a million ways before they would believe me.

They all had the "heebie jeebies", as Austin said.

That was it.

Christmas morning had begun.

Santa doesn't wrap any of the gifts he leaves at our house...I guess since he never did that when Chris and I were little, either.

But that means that we are always so excited trying to watch everyone at once as they look at their things for the first time.

How fun.

Luckily, they take a while to take it all in.

Like Austin, for instance.

He was so excited about the little Lego sets he got!

He looked them over and over and over.

They he emptied out his stocking, exclaiming excitedly about each thing.

Then he went around the room looking through each person's gifts with them.

He was so happy.

And saying it was the best Christmas.

Then, after quite a while longer still, he suddenly realized that there was a cool new scooter sitting on the floor right in front of his stocking.

He had been walking around it the whole time.

It was his main gift and he hadn't even realized.

We got a good laugh when he suddenly said, "Hey, COOOOOOOL!!!!"

We had a nice relaxing morning and yummy breakfast.

Then it was off to church.

It made me wish Christmas was always on Sunday.

What better way to spend part of our day.

Even my kids (who were very skeptical of having Christmas on Sunday) loved it, too.

The rest of our day was spent driving to Council and visiting all the Stoker family.

We had a delicious Christmas dinner and opened presents with them.

Christmas is such a blessing to our family.

It is definitely a hustle and bustle time, but it always fills us with more joy ,gratitude and giving.

Good stuff.

hip, hip, hooray...it's a birthday!

2012-01-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Lots going on around here lately.

One momentous thing, in particular...

Two cuckoos turned twelve.

They started back to school after Christmas break on their birthday.

And that did not make them happy.

But their birthday festivities always seem to extend for several days, anyway, so I wasn't feeling too bad for them.

They are happy to be another year older.

They both seem so content right now.

Chris and I are so incredibly heart-swelling proud of them.

I handled the day just fine.

Hardly even got emotional.

My trick was to not think about it.

At all.

Except - until a few days later.

That's when I realized my kids have actually turned twelve years old.

Sneaky little buggers.

I was always a bit scared of this age.

I am very comfortable around little kids.

I like them and they like me.

But I have always been nervous to reach this point in time.

Middle school.

Young Men, Young Women.

Attitude.

But, as it turns out, I love this time.

I love having good conversations together, playing games together, learning new things together, exploring the world together, laughing together and seeing them start to really learn what makes them successful and happy.

How lucky I am.

And all this prompted me to pull out something I haven't seen for a long time.

An old video from the hospital when our twins were born.

It's special to me.

Chris made it for me when these sneaky kids were just five.

For mother's day.

If you want to watch it, I'm sharing it here.

(I can't believe I am, but I am.)

And, now to address a few things.

1. I know it's alarming and frightening, but before you comment that I looked like complete hell, just realize that after a day of labor, hours of pushing, and an emergency c-section...my body thought that hell was exactly where it had been.

2. Luckily, my heart and soul were in Heaven.

3. And, also to address the big concern.

No, the twins did not have a different father.

You just didn't recognize Chris with his darker locks. ;)

4. The bizarre contraptions we were feeding our little preemies with are called haberman feeders. They are used for babies with impaired sucking ability. We used them in the beginning as they tried to get used to eating. Carson, especially, got so tiny by the time we left the hospital. But these helped them adjust to breastfeeding and normal bottles.

5. I actually cried when they kicked us out of the hospital.

I didn't want to leave and be the one in charge and responsible for these two little things.

And I still kinda feel that way most of the time.

But I love them so much.

And am so glad I get the chance to mess them up a little.

time for some christmas music

2011-12-20T11:32:00.002-07:00

The season wouldn't be complete without attending a few concerts and recitals.

Our elementary school doesn't usually have any kind of holiday concert.

I wonder if that's unusual or a sign of the times.

I remember that as a staple of Christmas from my growing up.

Snapping my fingers as hard as I could when it was time for "Up on the housetop, click, click, click

Down through the chimney with old Saint Nick.

Anyway, we had a good time listening to the fun songs that Carlie's middle school choir performed.

It was perfect...short and sweet. And really fun songs.

It has been fun having them play some Christmas music during their piano practices.

This week they played them at their Christmas recital.

Good job, you two.

Fa, la, la, la, la....

sometimes life gets messy

2011-12-19T10:09:00.002-07:00

Forget all that sugar, I'll take more of those smiles.

Love those two.

They were having so much fun together...love, love, love it.

Someone was very pleased with her work.

And they did have their work cut out for them since the frosting packets we had were almost as hard as a rock.

And definitely tasted like glue.

Maybe it was??

We had to be a bit creative.

One for my mouth, one for the house.

Two for my mouth, one for the house.

Three for my mouth, one for...

Someone was feeling very sassy.

And doing lots and lots of trash talking.

And someone's big sister finally decided she'd had enough.

Bring it.

That is awesome.

Looking pretty sweet.

heehee.

the hawks

2011-12-16T09:27:00.003-07:00

Austin was so excited to play on a basketball team.
I thought he was especially excited because he was the only one playing a winter sport, so the whole family would be coming just to cheer him on each Saturday.
Austin loves the social aspect of being on a team and having such great teammates.
And this little team had some serious athletes.
There was no keeping score at this level, but these kids definitely won every game.
Austin, though, was just happy to learn the game and have fun.
We loved watching him because he really does have a good time.
And he's positive that he wants to play basketball again.

I only brought my camera once and, of course, it was the game where they only had five of the ten boys that day.
And the head coach was also gone, so Chris was helping out.

the lights all aglow

2011-12-14T11:25:00.002-07:00

For years I have wanted to visit the Botanical Gardens all lit up for the holidays.
So this year I included it in our advent activities and we finally made it happen.
I thought we were going to be freezing, but it turned out to be tolerable that evening.
We still loved warming up next to the warm fires burning all around.
And with yummy hot cocoa and cider.
As we cuddled together next to the fire, listening to the carolers sing about the Christ child against the backdrop of the twinkling lights, we were definitely feeling the spirit of Christmas.
Love it.
And love this crazy bunch.
♡

He was kind of a scrawny little reindeer.
We decided he must be Blitzen.

Too much broccoli for dinner tonight. :)

The lighting is impossible to figure out!
I'm sure someone could take some really amazing pictures here.
Just not me.

Austin was adorable talking with Santa.
(That's just between you and me...because adorable is not a word he would be ok with.)

grandma's quilt

2011-12-13T10:23:00.004-07:00

I have had a hard time blogging because I can't add any pictures at the moment.
I've filled my hard drive right up.
I don't how...I mean, I hardly ever take any pictures.
(That was sarcasm.)

But here is a picture from the beginning of the month as my kids were snuggled up watching some great messages about Christmas.

Not a fantastic picture, but I love it because it shows the quilt we were all four keeping cozy with.
This quilt has recently become a treasured thing in our home.
I love it.
We brought it home from our Thanksgiving travels and it hasn't really been put away since, because someone always wants to use it.

It is amazingly warm and cozy in all it's polyester wonder.

In my last post I mentioned a visit we made to my grandma's house.
While we were there, she asked me to pick out which furniture or other things around her house that I would want after she died.
She wanted us to take little pieces of scotch tape, write our names on them, and attach them to the back or bottom of things we wanted to lay claim to.
I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
I know she is getting old.
It happens.
And I know she loves me.
But, of course, I don't care about getting anything.

I'm sure most people would feel the same way.
So I kept changing the subject, and she kept persisting to ask me if I decided what I wanted.

The only thing that would matter to me would be something that would remind me of her.
But I didn't know what that would be.
Except the bust of the fine lady with the huge head covered with fake fruit.
She has always had that in her entryway since before I was born.
But what could I do with a head of fruit?

Later, as we were leaving to take grandma out to lunch, Chris went to lock up the garage and put away the tools he had been using.
As I went in the garage I spotted a glimpse of color in a pile of junk.

I didn't even hesitate as I told grandma that I knew exactly what I would want someday...her polyester quilt!
She was dumbfounded.
She couldn't imagine why I wanted that and told me I better just take it now because it was out there with all the junk.

So I did.

Chris put it in the car for me and I didn't say much about it.
I came home and washed it and have watched as each member of my family has decided that it is their favorite blanket on earth.

I'm not sure what it is about this quilt.

Definitely the warmth.

And, for me, the memories.

When I was growing up, we rarely traveled.
But when we went to grandma's house a few hours away, it was very, very exciting.
And it seems like in my mind, that we always got there at bedtime.
And I was always anticipating my favorite place to sleep.
Often, I got the bed in the den.
I loved it.
Hard to believe now...since it was a hide-a-bed.
Wow.
But the hard couch cushions always fit just perfectly into the right spots and I would feel cradled against the armrest of the couch as I slept so peacefully.
Always under that colorful quilt.
Grandma always kept it in the exact same spot on the top shelf of her linen closet at the end of the hall.
And I'm not sure why, but sometimes I just liked to peek in there at it.
When we arrived I would wait to make sure I saw her get it down and I would be so content once I was snuggled under it.

Even that one night in 2nd or 3rd (?) grade when we rushed to grandma's house in the middle of the night.
We were so confused why we were being carried to the car in the middle of the night.
Mom and dad told us to go back to sleep.
I had never seen grandma look like that before.
She was distraught.
But she still got the blanket out of the closet for me.
That was the night my grandpa died.

Why is the blanket the thing I remember?

what?

2011-11-30T20:11:00.010-07:00

It's the last day of November?
HOW??
Seriously.

I'm not sure I can account for the eleventh month of this year.

But I do know we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving with my parents.

I can't say I got my camera out for any food pictures, but I still got shots of several turkeys.

And there was food.
Very good food.

The day started off with the three men in the house slaving away in the kitchen.
That's right...we know how to pick 'em.
They chopped so many onions, no one could see straight the rest of the day.

But did I mention it tasted delicious?

And there was lots of time for snuggling.

As soon as they realized how nice the weather was, the boys were ready for some football.

Chris G and Carson discuss the next play...

Fiona wanted to hang out on the field, so they made her a referee.

But she played favorites.

Oh boy, I'd stay out of the way of this business.
It's the Christopher John vs. Christopher John match-up on the line.
Can't be pretty.

Love the father/son huddle.

We got to see all of my siblings sometime during the visit.
Except for one.
My brother Dan and his family were a bit busy this Thanksgiving.

This is the picture of their new little Seth that he sent us.
We are so excited for them and, of course, I can't wait to munch on him.

We had a great time at my parents home.
The kids were not happy when it was time to come home.
As always, we feel so grateful for such terrific family.
And for parents that hosted all the lovely chaos...thank you!

We also took advantage of the long break from school to visit some other loved ones.
So, to update my "journal," here's some more of what went on during the break...

Visiting Great-Grandma Jones.
Carlie has won an extra, extra special place in her heart ever since she told her she would be her bodyguard during the white elephant game at the family Christmas party a few years ago.
(Now there's something to picture.)
We took her to lunch and the kids serenaded her on not one, but two organs in her front room.
Austin read her a story about a lonely puppy and Chris cleaned out her flower beds.
I just let her enjoy my company :)
And enjoyed her's right back.

We also had a really sweet visit with Great Grandma Stoker.
We loved being with her and miss being able to drive across town and have family nights with her like we used to.
She was teasing Austin, so he's trying to cover his ears...

Our first night away was spent with Chris's brother Josh and his family.
I don't have any pictures, but we had a great time with them.
Thanks for putting us up!

We also got to hang with these crazies.

Oh, aren't they cute?
We love our Rhineharts.
And man do they feed us.
And when it comes to games...let's just say Heather and I never learn.
After all these years, I think it's time we find a new game.
One we can at least cheat easier on.

Thanks so, so much for the fun time!

During the break, Carson took advantage of no school and organized a little turkey bowl with his friends.

They had to play pretty small teams since they only ended up with about 6 boys.
I'm sure the fact that it was SNOWING when it was time to start probably scared most of them away.

But they still had a lot of fun.

And krispy kreme donuts.

Carlie wanted to hang out with her friends, too, during the break.

So she started the season off nicely with a movie party watching Elf.

And being girls.

Carlie has been really excited about making these paracord bracelets (or survival bracelets) lately.

She saved up her babysitting money to buy the supplies.
And she was really sweet to want to share and teach people to make them wherever we went.

And speaking of Carlie being a good sport...
She and I had gone to the mall one day to shop with my mom and sister.
We were trying to help my mom get as much of her Christmas shopping done as we could.
Carlie was fun to have along.
And when we went by the center of the mall, we saw Santa.
There was NO LINE at all.
But we had no little kids with us.
So we tried to convince her to go sit on his lap.
I got my camera out and she went up there.
I'm not sure she was very thrilled about it.
Ok she wasn't.
But I was just getting ready to take a picture of her when I got in trouble by Santa's picture elf.
Really?

So this shot I took as I was being scolded.
Lucky thing my camera wasn't confiscated, honestly.

The bad part was, I realized that my daughter was sitting uncomfortably on Mall Santa's lap saying, "Ok mom..."
She was waiting for me to hurry and take the picture.
I said, "Never mind."
She stomped back over to us and, not knowing what happened, was not too pleased with me for not bothering to even take the shot after all.

And so, I am posting the picture.
Take that, mean mall elf.

When we got back to town, we had some fun and relaxing family time.

We saw a 3D movie.
Dolphin Tale.
We loved it.

And we put up the Christmas tree.
I'm sorry to say that I was almost feeling unhappy when I got out the Christmas stuff.
That's not normal.
But I was thinking of all the lovely ways I wish I could decorate, but I knew I didn't have the money to buy new decor.
So I was less excited about putting out the same old stuff.

But I got thinking about all the things that make Christmas special.
Even though I admire the gorgeous decorations I see, I know that what my family will love and remember will be the things that have been around forever.
It was that way for me.
The same stockings that my aunt had sewed for me, the one particular vanilla candle whose smell meant Christmas, the little elves my parents had since their wedding, etc.

So we decorated our tree and hung the stockings from the chimney with care.
And my kids have honestly never been more excited for Christmas.

And it's still November.

Every year my parents give us a new ornament for our tree.
Check out this new cutie...

Santa on a float plane.
They bought it in Alaska to remind us of the float plane trip we took.

It's right at home on our tree.

And now let the countdown begin!!!

costume parade

2011-11-01T10:00:00.006-06:00

Another Halloween is over and done.
All I can say is...I'm so glad I'm not a teacher today.

I was bound and determined to take all kinds of wonderful pictures before it got dark.
Unfortunately, by the time I uncovered myself from a sea of green paint, the friends had descended and everyone was anxious to get going at the candy gathering.
Oh well.

Here's a few quick shots.

Carlie was so excited to be Elphaba, the not-so-wicked witch.
She listens to the music from Wicked quite often and has loved her since we saw the show in May.
She seemed to like that no one could recognize her.

I won mother of the year award by yelling at her to "just keep your eyes open!" every time she blinked while I was trying to put her makeup on.
And then, "stop crying! dang it now your face is getting wet!! stop it!!!"
It was not pretty.
Apparently I can't handle the Halloween pressure.

This makes me think of a quote attributed to Maya Angelou that I have seen floating around lately.
(I'm glad she doesn't mention dressing-up.)

Yep, I'm bad with tangled Christmas tree lights, too.
Real bad.

(Although I am starting to get excited for the upcoming holidays already, I may have gotten a tad off subject there...)

Here's another green-ish character.

Austin finally decided to be a skeleton.
He had such a hard time making up his mind.
I don't know what the problem was...I mean I gave him FIVE choices.
Each one was a hand-me-down from Carson.
He wasn't thrilled with the options.
Guess he wanted to be an original.
In my defense...one of them, the one I was rooting for, had never even been worn.

He definitely knew he wanted to be scary this year.
Where did this come from???
He is the one that never wanted anything do with the scary stuff and always hid his face in my leg.

Once he figured out this skeleton had such a mean expression, we were in business.

And Carson called himself the dungeon master.

Here they are before we headed out with friends to collect the goods.

Chris stayed behind and handed out tons of candy at our house.

At one point, a fire truck pulled up.
At first we were worried, but then the firefighters got out and started handing out candy.
We thought that was pretty cool.

It was a fun and chilly evening.

And here's a few more costume pictures from this year...

Chris and I dressed up as Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf for a party.

And we had fun at our church trunk or treat.
We were joined by the cutest little ducky ever.
Although, she was very frightened by the green scary girl.

just witching you a happy halloween!

2011-10-31T10:09:00.012-06:00

Our awesome street party! I didn't get many pictures. It was too dark and I was too busy stringing donuts. Every other year, I get the game all ready and let Chris run it while I socialize :) But this year, we were so busy all day that I wasn't ready ahead of time. It was great hanging out with our cool neighbors. The kids had fun playing games and singing karaoke. Then they invited friends to the backyard to play ghosts in the graveyard, whatever that is.

Love the fall treats! We made a sticky mess, as always, making caramel apples. But they turned out so delicious! The sprinkles and mini chocolate chips were just right. And the yummy apples were from mom and dad's tree. The truffles we took to a party. And the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and hot cider were perfect for our pumpkin carving night.

Fun times carving pumpkins this year! We have never been cool enough to use a kit, just our kitchen knives. This year we got a kit from whatever cool people "booed" us and we spent the whole time fighting over the rad saw. Who knew? We are officially converted. AND...we roasted our pumpkin seeds for the first time ever. I remember my dad doing this. But we have never tried it. They turned out yummy. The best part of the evening was the 80's pop station I had blasting on pandora. The kids asked if I would play something they knew. No way. "Get to know this," I said. "Embrace it." And there was definitely dancing. Once when Carson and I were shaking it, Carlie looked at us and said, "REALLY?" So I turned to her, and in my best 80's pop star voice, I said, "We are all going to be fools in life, we might as well be dancing fools." Right?! (She used my awesome cliche phrase against me later when she saw me giving her a funny look as she slaughtered one of the songs. In her very best mocking voice she said, "MOM, we are all going to be fools, we might as well be singing fools." I'll tell you what, I don't deserve the treatment I get around here.)

They hate the gooey guts. But they managed to finish them up. Looks pretty good. Have a spooky fun day!

birthday wishes

2011-10-28T10:50:00.003-06:00

My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
She came to town a few weeks ago to have her thyroid and some lymph nodes removed.
Thankfully, all has gone well and she is healing.

During her recovery, she had a birthday.
Our family was thinking of what to give her for a birthday gift.
We thought of a book and dvd that she could use while she was taking it easy.
But someone thought that it would be nice to add something more meaningful as a pick-me-up.
We thought of doing the "Riesens we love you" idea...with chocolate candies.
So we started thinking of 63 reasons we love her (no particular reason for that number...just a random number :)
At first, the kids thought it would be hard to think of so many.
Until you start thinking about someone you love.
And then it seems you could go on and on.

I thought I would list the reasons here on my blog.
But others in my family thought it would embarrass her too much.
Chris said she probably won't even see it.
So I decided to just mention a few.

1. for all the sacrifices you've made in raising a great family

9. for good late-night talks (from Carlie)

17. for being a rockin' phase 10 player (from Carson)

26. for loving breakfast and always making a yummy one...delicious homemade syrup (from Austin)

29. for being so easy-going (all the kids)

32. for still cutting the corners off

36. for still teaching young children (kindergarten and preschool) and putting in SOOO much extra

44. for showing a positive outlook...she's not a complainer!

52. for believing in her children

57. for loving the Gospel

60. for teaching us that people matter more than things

It's nice to focus on all the great things you love about someone so special.
And afterward, more and more kept coming to mind.
We are glad that you are doing well. And happy belated birthday, Ruth.

end of a season

2011-10-26T10:38:00.000-06:00

Saturday was the end of fall soccer for the three punks.
It's cool to see how much their love of sports continues to grow.

It was a good season.

Carson's team was undefeated.
To be honest, they would have much preferred more competition.
It's not to sound puffed up, it's just that those boys really wanted to...but didn't get a chance to...play their hardest.
Carson is able to play the whole field really well.
He can always score and loves to doing it, but he is a rock on defense.

Carlie's team did so well playing in the upper division.
They had some great games.
She was always pretty out-sized, but she learned to fight back a bit.
Her coach does not even have a child playing soccer, but he continues to help these girls learn soccer season after season.
Pretty great.

Austin's team was so, so fun to watch.
It's funny to say, but I think his games were the biggest nail-biters.
Those little six year olds learned so much this season.
It helped that their coach used to be a serious player.
Too bad he's going to be too busy to stay with them.
But Austin loved playing and having some of his good friends from school on his team.
And, when I was working during one of his last games, I got a text saying that he had scored SEVEN goals.
He was pretty proud.

family time

2011-10-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

*image from etsy.com

A few weeks ago, we went to Twin Falls for a weekend visit.

Chris and I went to the temple while the kids played with their cousins.
Everyone was there, so that's a lot of cousins now!
We all went out to dinner, so we had to find a place where we could reserve a room all to ourselves.
It's crazy.
But super great, too.
Mom and dad brought home some pies and they sang happy birthday to Mike and I.
Absolutely adore chatting with and just being around all the awesome people we call family.
We all got to celebrate with Mike and Jen as Max was blessed.
Then we went to mom and dads and helped relieve them of some of their lovely fruit.
Thank you!!
Carson loved grandpa's new pool table.
They played a game right before we left and I tried to take a picture. I thought it was hilarious! I caught them right when Carson sunk grandpa's ball. So Carson is celebrating and grandpa is a blur behind him as he pretends to come after him.

*image borrowed from Jen

And, lastly, a funny little video Jen shared on youtube...

being their entertainment

2011-10-24T10:38:00.004-06:00

Chris was teaching our kids a lesson during family night last week about keeping a history.
He gave them many good suggestions for ways to record their lives and reasons why it might matter to them (and others) someday.
He told a story.
And then he pulled out something special.

Oh boy.
I wrote about our discovery of these books a few years ago here.

But this was the first time we had really shared them with the kids.
We each read a few excerpts out loud.

I'm not gonna lie, it's good for some laughs.

And then it was time for bed.
We tried to herd the kids off to get pajamas on, etc.

But they had picked up our books and we just couldn't tear them away.

This is what I heard, "Just 5 more minutes?"

"At least TWO??? PLEASE????"

I guess reading about mom and dad at your exact age is riveting.

And then this is what I saw...

I guess reading about mom and dad at your exact age is ~~riveting.~~ incredibly entertaining.

pumpkin patch

2011-10-19T10:31:00.011-06:00

Going to the pumpkin patch.
It's tradition this time of year.
It was a gorgeous day.
And we got lucky...school was out for my kids due to parent teacher conference, so the pumpkin patch opened early. But no one really knew.
We practically had the place to ourselves.

We went through the corn maze.
And, as usual, I was just along for the ride.
I would honestly never make it out if it weren't for my children.
After we turn one time, I have no idea which direction I'm headed.

They had a hard time coming to an agreement a few times.
And, no offense to the other two, but learned to always believe Carson.
He would say something like, "Ok, we are in the S now."
And I would think, "Yeah right."
But then we would come to a check point and he would be exactly right.
Go figure.

Guess he gets that from a different gene pool.

The adorable scarecrow on the left is my niece Fiona.
We met up with her and her parents at the patch.
She was loving it all.
Well, except for the big poky pumpkins.

And lucky thing...she also brought her grandpa, Bobby G., with her.
It was good to see him.
And when Carson found a lost wallet out in the patch, it meant that we had a real-life retired policeman with us to launch a full-blown investigation.

Warm enough for snow cones!
Austin seems to be showing off his new toothless smile.

Carlie rode the little barrel train with Fiona.
Cute girls!

I think this is the first time any of my kids have been buried in the corn pit.
He said it might be the last.
Actually he said it was too corny.
Get it?
Ha ha.

This was the pumpkin Austin picked and held on to the whole time.
He spotted it on our hay ride.
It was half-buried in the mud tracks from the tractor.
He wanted to rescue it so badly.
As soon as the ride stopped, he took off back down the road to find it.

Lots of pictures, I know.
But I like to remember fun days like these.

just like daddy

2011-10-17T23:41:00.005-06:00

I was at the school helping out in Austin's class last week and I had no choice but to sneak a quick picture of this beautiful artwork in the hallway.

If you can't tell, they are lovely self portraits and underneath is the student's name.
Followed by..."When I grow up I want to be a..."

In between all the astronauts and veterinarians, is Austin.

He chose Scientist at Mountain View.

Not a teacher.
A scientist.
I know for a fact that it has everything to do with blowing things up.

But it was the "at Mountain View" that got me.

Dude wants to be just like his daddy.

What can I say?
He's a pretty smart kid.

this boy's smile

2011-10-10T21:43:00.003-06:00

And laugh.
And (I'm sorry to have to use this word buddy, but it is what it is)...
His giggle.

It is one of the bright spots in my life.

even if it does make it pretty much impossible to get a picture of you with your eyes open...it's the real you and i adore you.

sunrise

2011-10-04T10:21:00.006-06:00

This past weekend was so great.
It put a big, content smile on my face.

We had a lot of good sports competition with soccer and football.
Some shopping.
Pictures.
Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins.
A Halloween movie to get October started off right.
By the way - didn't think it would be scary at all, but my little boy takes after his mommy with movies.
I tried to tell him over and over again, "it's just a movie."
But who am I kidding?
I know of a certain college roomie who reads this blog who right now is remembering me struggling through many movies at the student union.
P.S. Can't believe you still sat with me, even when I was freaking out (loudly).

At least with Austin, he snuggles very, very close for the whole movie- (not that my roommates wanted me in their laps)...
So it's worth freaking him out and giving him nightmares.

Anyway...where was I?

Oh, our weekend.

The best part was having my family around me and listening to some of the most uplifting messages ever.
We all felt love and peace and happiness.
There are some perks to having your kids all a bit more grown up...Conference time is definitely more meaningful these days.
I love sharing it with my family.

And Sunday morning, we started our day with something brilliant.
I say that because it was Chris's idea and it really was perfect.

We woke everyone up very early and drove somewhere where we could have peace and quiet and watch the sunrise.
And we talked about our Savior.

And ate donuts and drank hot cocoa.

We were excited that Carlie's best friend and her family were interested in joining us at the last minute.
It was a special morning.

Because we had company, the kiddos were more reluctant to share their feelings.
So we continued our testimony sharing for family night last night.
I treasure the great feeling that has been in our home.

Austin found a massive amount of ants and so he proceeded to do the ants-in-the-pants dance & song (to the tune of "pants on the ground").
It was very catchy and we were singing it all day.

And next you will see what happens the moment you turn your head.
Carson will be off exploring somewhere.

I am eternally grateful to be blessed with a sweet family that is learning and growing together.
And for the perfect teacher, example, and friend, Jesus Christ.

october has arrived.

2011-10-03T14:44:00.006-06:00

It has been so hot here!
But I finally decided to put out some fall stuff.

Which mostly just means asking Chris to cut the pumpkins from the garden (he had shoes on, I didn't) and carry them (with his big strong muscles) to the front porch.

But I did make a little something new for my front door.

It made me think about how much time I used to spend doing crafty things.
Much time.

My decline in crafty projects is kind of a bummer.

Although, not as big of a bummer as my major social awkwardness.
Or my constant self-doubt.
Or...

...I better quit.

Well, I guess we know what project could really use some work.

Back to the weather, here is one awesome little Austin running in his school's smoldering jogathon.

And, why the heck not?...Here's a few more fun pictures of the dude.

He loves his soccer peeps.

Here he is working on his All About Austin poster for school.

And I had to try to sneak this picture of him as I prepared lunches and gave him his spelling words.

Really, who doesn't think more clearly with their feet hanging in the sink?

some journaling

2011-09-20T12:04:00.006-06:00

I love this little face.

Isn't it too cute?

Little Max and his loving family are finally home.
It has been two whole days since they left here and, as dang much as we love them, we are hoping they stay there for a long time.

However, we might have to work out a split-custody type of situation with Kathryn.

She sorta became part of the family.

With things a bit quieter around here, I had my first day since school started where I didn't have much going on. So yesterday I decided I would spend a few hours just reading and enjoying the peace and quiet.
I was excited.
But I couldn't enjoy it.
I made myself do it, but then I felt agitated and guilty.

What a nerd.

So for family night last night, I knew I wanted to get out with my family and enjoy the outdoors.

The weather is amazing, but I'm sure it will have to end soon.
Fall is creeping up on us.
So I wanted to take advantage of it with a picnic and good discussion.

I realized something when I took this picture off of my camera just now.
I remember I got kinda annoyed when the boys unknowingly stepped into the background as I was trying to snap a quick picture of Carlie while we walked down to the river.
But now when I look at it, I'm so glad they are there.

And...speaking of fall being around the corner...
Of course that means the fall season of soccer is already in full swing around here.

Chris is helping to coach Carson's team.
Austin's team was all switched up, but he always seems to have friends around.

Our little Carlie is a definitely out-sized this year.
Her coach wanted to move her team up to a different league.
She decided to try out and stay with her team.
But when they got in the new league, there were not enough teams their age.
So they had to move up to a higher bracket - U15.
She is still only 11 and so she is playing with girls much bigger and stronger.
Hopefully she still loves it as much at the end of the season as she does now.

As life has gotten busier, our garden has kind of grown into a jungle.
But it has been fun to experiment with some new things this year.
Sunday dinner was great...when we wished we had some potatoes to mash to go with our ribs, Chris just went out to the jungle garden and dug some up. Perfect.
And our nectarine tree produced so well that it actually broke again this year from all the weight.
Sometimes I'm obviously not the best at using up all the produce, but it is pretty cool growing this stuff ourselves.
And the kids love it.
Especially since the weeding has come to a screeching halt!

Our church ward split about 1&1/2 months ago.
Again.
It is still very large, though.
We are in a brand new ward and Chris has spent lots of time helping get the new ward established and extending tons of callings.

He and the kids are settling into the school routine.

Austin seemed to have a hard time for the first few days.
He came home very agitated and seemed upset.
I think he just had to adjust to the long days.
I told Chris that I think it is just too long for him to have to be good. :)
He can hardly hold it in that long and it is just exploding out of him when he walks in the door.
But he seems to have gotten the hang of it now and is doing well.
His new teacher told Chris at back to school night that he is very bright and she is excited to have him in her class.

The older kids are doing great in their new school.
And seem to really be adjusting to the changes of middle school life.

Carlie is enjoying taking choir this year.

And Carson is now doing this:

Yep.
And practicing every afternoon.
Don't think I didn't try to dissuade him from that choice.

labor day

2011-09-09T08:45:00.001-06:00

It seemed that this summer had slipped by without a backpacking trip for the littlest one in our family.
Chris was feeling bad that all the trips had been too difficult for Austin and he hadn't had a chance to go this year.
So he took advantage of the day off and took his little buddy on a quick overnight backpacking adventure.
Just the two of them.
Austin was thrilled.

They got there a bit late in the evening and I think Austin got kinda spooked hiking to the lake in the dark.
So they camped in a nice meadow along the way.
It got very cold and they woke up with frost covering everything.
Brrr.
But Austin said he was toasty warm.
He caught lots of frogs and loved his time with dad.
Chris has been super crazy busy the past few weeks, so I don't think this was easy to do.
But probably just what he needed, too.
What a great dad.

I spent a fun day with my older kids, their friends, Kathryn, and my sister's family.
We played, picnicked, and hiked at Camel's Back Park.
And ate delicious ice cream afterward.
Then we came home and I watched Apollo 13 with Carson and Carlie.
I thought Carson was missing everything because he spent for-EVER trying to get it straight which guy was the one who had to stay home because of the measles. (They all looked the same to him. He only recognized Tom Hanks. Not because he has been in tons of movies, but because his voice is Woody in Toy Story and also the conductor in Polar Express.)
Anyway, I guess I was wrong because the movie ended and the credits started to roll -
And Carson firmly stated, "That was incredible."

I just love my family.

and they're off...

2011-09-08T08:00:00.002-06:00

wow.
ready or not.
despite the warmth outside, i feel that summer has definitely left us.
and we are reeling a bit.
it gets harder each year to let go of the lovely lazy summer days.
and having my children closer.

as school approached, the clothes and shoes and hair and backpacks and supplies were all ready.
and we were each getting kinda jittery.

things were extra tense around here (see previous post), but daddy's blessings helped calmed everyone.
and i had kathryn to hang out with, so she helped me survive the post drop-off loneliness i've grown accustomed to.

i'm actually a little surprised that i followed through with it all and allowed these two to enter the halls of middle school.

aren't they fantastic?
i love them.
each individually.
and their collective little twin selves.
they are such fun.
and brighten my every day.

and i breathed a literal sigh of relief when they came home the first day full of stories, but nothing too eventful.
phew.

after we kicked them out of the house, we came home and austin put his backpack on and declared that he was ready to go.

he was not happy when i informed him that he still had one and one-half hours until first grade would begin.
but we walked down to the school pretty early and he was so happy to see many familiar faces in his class.

once we got to the school, he wouldn't let me take any pictures.
but he didn't even think twice about giving me a giant goodbye hug.

i miss him.

i'm sure it will be a great year.

and i'm confident that we are going to settle into our routines, eventually.
and grow accustomed to the decrease in sleep, eventually.
and learn how to keep this place peaceful and calm in the after school hours,
eventually.

i call her kitter katter

2011-09-07T10:42:00.009-06:00

My children are going through withdrawals.
They are missing their "little sis."

Chris and I miss her, too.

My niece, Kathryn, has been staying with us for the past few weeks.
But she left to stay with grandma for awhile.

She is one of a kind.
So smart and full of life.
And hilarious comments.

We loved having her here to boss us all around.
And love on.

Kat has been staying here because her parents have been at the hospital caring for her new baby brother, Max. He was born less than 2 months ago with a little cleft lip. He went in a few weeks ago to get it repaired. But things didn't go too well afterwards. He has had complications and we are all rooting for the little guy to turn a corner and start getting better so he can get out of that place! Poor Mike and Jen have had a rough time trying to watch out for him, but they have been so strong.

Kathryn was dragged all over the place with us as we wrapped up summer and started school. She was Carson's constant shadow and had to know where he was at all times. Austin was her daily backyard playmate. They spent so much time building forts and jumping on the trampoline. I loved how her hair went CRAZY every time she jumped. Carlie was her little mother and loved reading her stories, giving her baths, feeding her, and putting her to bed. Kathryn wouldn't let me call her Carlie, though...she is her CJ. The first Sunday she was here, we didn't have a dress for her to wear to church. I was just planning to put her in some of her shorts (didn't think it mattered.) But Carlie found one of her shirts with ruffles at the bottom that fit Kat just like a dress. Too cute. She had fun playing with other cousins, going to a birthday party, enjoying Wahooz for a last day before school celebration, playing at the park, hiking, eating ice cream, visiting mommy and max at the hospital, swimming, eating the first nectarines off our tree with uncle Chris, going to the movies, and lots more.

The other evening, after Carson, Carlie, Kathryn and I returned from a visit to the hospital, Carson found a funny stuffed monkey which he gave to Kat. And at bedtime I overheard him telling her a very sweet bedtime story about the monkey. He told her she had a mommy monkey, a daddy monkey, and little brother baby monkey. But the little brother monkey got really sick and had to go to the hospital. He told her a whole nice story about the monkeys. I can't recall all the details.

But in the end, the baby brother monkey got all better and the whole monkey family got to go home together and were happy.

I'll take easy

2011-08-28T18:11:00.003-06:00

Not too long ago I was pondering on the time of life I find myself in and where my family is headed at the moment.
Kids moving up to middle school and many other areas of life.
I thought I felt a bit inspired to print out a saying to put up in our entryway that says, "I can do hard things."
I thought I would help inspire my troops when the way seems difficult.

Since the moment I put that sign out there, I feel like everything I have encountered has been harder than usual.
This afternoon a water pipe broke under our house.
Luckily Chris discovered the source and fixed us up in a jiffy, but as I walked by that sign...I had the thought that I'd better take it from it's frame and rip it into tiny pieces.

I mean, I'd rather have easy, thanks so much.
I wasn't trying to ask for it.

Still, I recognize that I can't complain.
I have more blessings in my life than I could have ever imagined.
And I have loved ones facing much greater difficulties.

And wonderful family.

Speaking of wonderful family...

Some pictures from a recent family reunion.
We got together at a park for one quick day with Chris's side of the family.
We were driving longer than we were actually there.

But totally worth it.
We were so glad to be there with some of our favorite people.

We had a yummy lunch and a fun tour of the zoo.

Great grandma was so sweet to give each of the kids a crisp new $5 bill to ride some rides with.

And, the always competitive candy bar games.

Since it has been 20 years since grandpa passed away, some time was set aside to share memories of him.

Having never had the chance to know him, it was great to hear the fun glimpses into his life as recalled by his children and grandchildren.
It was funny how he sounded like a different person in the stories told by his children of how he was strict and always looking after them - versus his grandchildren who described him as just a big softy.

But everyone definitely had a tender place in their heart for him.

And that's what family is all about.

photographic proof

2011-08-22T10:32:00.000-06:00

Had to include a few pictures that I 'borrowed' from my brother.

Blood and guts.
And good fishing memories from Sitka, Alaska.

Looks like you're going to have to find something new for your bucket list, dad.

Or have you booked a return trip yet?
xo

slipping thru my fingers

2011-08-21T16:05:00.004-06:00

After Chris and I got back from Alaska and before he tore my kids away from me again to go backpacking, we really only had about a day together.
So Chris had the idea to take out the canoe and have a picnic and some family time.
I found some pictures from that fun evening.
It was so beautiful watching the sun start to set over the water.

I love spending time with these people.

I can't even pretend that I'm excited for school to start.
I'm so sad to see summertime coming to an end.

We got two children all registered for middle school this week.
They are ok with it.
In fact, they are pretty excited now.

I am not completely ok with it.

And Austin thinks he gets to go to first grade.
And leave me ALL DAY.

I took him school shopping while the others were out of town.
And it just hit me like a ton of bricks.
Homeboy needs a lunch box!
What??
(all day)

It's crazy talk I tell you.
Crazy.

But we have one more week to enjoy the summer and we plan to make the most of it.

I love them and would do anything for this sweet family of mine.

postscript: I was remembering the school shopping I mentioned with Austin. In the past I have always just bought clothes in his size and he wore them. This was probably the first time he really tried on the clothes. And he was having fun. Each time he would put on a new pair of jeans, I would ask, "Do you like them?" So he informed me that the way I would know whether he liked something is if he was dancing. He would be dancing if he liked it. Oh my goodness. I had to keep asking him to hold still so I could have a glance to see if they actually fit or not. Kid was shaking it all over that fitting room.

somewhere north of stanley...

2011-08-16T10:51:00.007-06:00

It's that time of year. The time Chris waits for all year long.

No...it's NOT back to school.

It's backpacking time.

Last week was his annual trip with his dad and siblings.
This year it was Chris, his dad, his brother Josh, his brother Jeremy, and brother-in-law Tim.
And for the first time ever, Carson and Carlie were included on this big boy trip.

It took some convincing for me to give my blessing to the idea of them going.
After all, they were returning to the same place as last year.

Of course, I was told that this time they actually knew the way in. So it would be much better (safer?).

I'll admit I was nervous about it. But we all know I'm a pushover.
Besides, who am I to stand in the way of this...

When they returned, I said, "So...how was it????"
Carlie looked straight into my eyes and in complete seriousness said, "Only insane people do this."

I would have to agree.

Especially since there was no trail on this trip. That's hard work, man!

But speaking of insanity...check this out!!

Insanely beautiful.
That's what it is.

Besides commenting on their mental status, Carlie also said her favorite part was the beauty.

Probably due to the whole no trail thing, they didn't see anyone else the week they were in there.
Carlie told me how someone had made the comment as they were hiking that it was pretty awesome to be stepping where perhaps no one had stepped before.

And, of course my precious boy piped up with, "and peeing where no one has peed before."

Speaking of Carson, he hiked so hard, his shoes literally fell apart on the way in.
They had to be taped together with athletic tape for the rest of the trip.
I'm sure it had nothing to do with me buying him the very cheapest pair of shoes that target had to offer.
I just wanted something to get him through the summer so I could buy him better shoes when school started.
I guess the shoes were so cheap they didn't come with actual glue to hold the soles on. Maybe I was supposed to buy that separately?

I love the next picture.
Carlie cracks me up with her mosquito net.
She is known around our house as a bit of a mosquito repellent nazi.
She does not want a mosquito bite at any cost.
So the fact that there were a lot of mosquitoes, very large ones I'm told, did not make her a happy camper.
So here she is fishing in her net.

They loved the fishing.
The lake they camped next to didn't have fish, but they day-hiked to two other lakes where they fished.
And Carson was very happy to report that during those two days, they caught over 100 fish.

They loved their campsite because the ground was so soft.

Carson loved this trip.
He told us the next day how it's funny how much you forget all the hard work and just remember how great it was.
I told him it's like childbirth.
He said, "huh?"

He told me more than once that his favorite part was spending time with the family.

And please allow just a moment for me to mention that I am very proud of my little girl.
She kept up just fine with all those men.
She's a tough little thing.
And rarely complains.
Here she is showing pride at climbing to the highest point that the kids have ever climbed before. This spot is at 9,400 feet.

Of course, they always find snow drifts.

The water feels good on dirty, tired feet!

It's kinda hard to write about someone else's trip.
But I know that everyone had a great time.
And felt a sense of accomplishment.
I'm grateful for the memories that were made (and that everyone took such good care of my kids).

I liked this picture of Chris and the kids, but I had to give him a hard time for sticking the stupid "flat maverik" in the middle of the picture and ruining it.
(The Maverik is his school mascot. All of the teachers got a flat maverik for the summer to take pictures with it and bring back at the beginning of the year. Just for fun...you know, the whole flat stanley idea...anyone? anyway...)

So I added my own message to it...

Much better, don't you think?

P.S. I was so glad to have my Austinator to hang with. He was a blast. And always good for a big bear hug when I needed it. Thanks, buddy!

warning : travel log ahead

2011-08-12T10:50:00.013-06:00

our alaskan cruise

{day 1-2 at sea}
flew to seattle. boarded ship. they started feeding us first thing - lunch in lido. off to explore ship. watched a cooking show. found out how to cook hal-ee-boot. was amazed by kind service. after we checked out all decks, it was time to sail away from seattle. fun to see we could open our verandahs and have them adjoining with the family. loved having this perfect spot to relax and see everything together. time to unpack and get comfortable. watched shows and played. woke up early first morning to gorgeous sunshine. knew this was going to be an amazing trip. saw many whales and then the dolphins came to play. shelley almost goes overboard in excitement. seriously. completely giddy. spent day on ship relaxing, exploring and ship activities. formal dinner night. many good laughs at Chris's mixed up orders. only chris, heehee. they go way out of their way to please you even if they don't quite understand what you want. two orders of watermelon soup anyone? chris and i are loving the live music at night. even dancing (gulp.)

{day 3 glacier bay}
spent pretty much whole day on deck watching most beautiful sights. claimed a deck chair and read in between. dan was attacked by seagulls on balcony. so he fed them sweet treats from room service. and my banana. and then my banana peel. they didn't like the peel. imagine that. so in love with the gorgeous color of the water near glaciers. tried to get picture to show it (bottom right). saw several beautiful glaciers and then stopped for an hour at the big daddy, marjorie glacier. heard and saw pieces breaking off (makes very loud noise). so much beauty. yummy food and laughed so hard at comedian tonight. incredible day.

{day 4 juneau}
hooray. get our feet on alaskan soil. took tram up mt roberts. beautiful views. went hiking. saw mountain goats. everything so green and lush in rainforest. dan fed more wildlife. gave chocolate from his pillow last night to squirrel. squirrel tries to claw his hand for more. lady walks up and says, oh look how cute the little squirrel is eating his nut. back down mountain. called to check on kids. tell us they've been out shooting guns. tell them i'm glad they told me after the fact. they sound good. lunch at tracy's crab shack. actually is a shack. but amazing crab. check out a bit of juneau. catch bus to mendenhall glacier. our native bus driver proudly points out all the sights...including home depot, lowes, walmart, AND kmart. and the hospital "where your bus driver was born". see cool salmon spawning in stream. see sign that says 17 bears are living there fighting over salmon. wish so badly to see just one come and grab one. watching, watching, watching. nothing. go see glacier. wow! notice there is waterfall next to it. nice hike to waterfall. take wrong trail and walk thru stream the whole way. take zillions of pictures. feel the cold water. don't want to go. but, back to docks. meet back up with parents who took tour. shop a bit. nice long port day.

{day 5 sitka}
first sight of sitka is gorgeous. tiny islands everywhere covered with trees. rainy morning. boys left as soon as docked for all day deep sea salmon and halibut fishing trip. just three of them and 20-ish year old boat captain. can't believe my dad is actually fishing in alaska! all had fantastic time. caught coho salmon, king salmon, halibut (hal-ee-boot, if you prefer), and some other stuff i can't remember the names of. was grand fishing adventure. meanwhile girls went on wildlife exploration tour. rode big comfy vessel out to sitka sound. saw lots of fun stuff. loved watching whale close up. think we all loved sea otters. so cute and playful and some mommas were riding waves with babies curled up on tummies. huge group of sea lions warming on rocks. gorgeous bald eagles. and surprising to me- one of my favorite parts of all- the puffins. also saw the most gigantic jellyfish i've ever seen. scenery was beautiful. afterward, girls explored town of sitka. nice and seems small and not too touristy. looked thru old cathedral and totem park. hurry back "home". have to take tenders because ship can't get all the way to dock. today is also mom and dad's anniversary!! mom receives lovely flowers from her hubby. and they get a cake and a special song sung in (i think) indonesian at dinner. this is another formal night. and late night dessert extravaganza by the pool.

{day 6 ketchikan}
only in port for morning so get up early to explore ketchikan. millions of jewelry stores. crazy. past jewelry stores is cute town. and old history. dry creek buildings all built on stilts over the river so they could sneak booze in during prohibition. almost all of the buildings were brothels. enjoy exploring town. buy souvenirs for kiddos. sit on park bench and call to check on them again. stranger asks why we are calling kids while on vacation. makes me miss them. they are having fun. tell us of riding horses and four wheelers. drop off souvenirs and hop on bus to next destination. have amazing floatplane ride to misty fjords national monument. at first i'm tiny bit nervous. get more nervous when woman on our plane has panic attack right after take off and starts screaming to take her back. better after we get rid of her and get going again. wear headset and too loud to say anything to chris during ride. it's ok because all i would probably be saying is 'wow.' over and over and over again. such a great experience. favorite was the sheer granite cliffs rising thousands of feet out of the glacier formed pools. stop plane on lake and get to step out onto the side of plane. so great. dan and maren also went in different plane. mom and dad went to cute lumberjack show and took a tour of area. everyone naps in afternoon. dining stewards put on cute show at farewell dinner. loved everyone that worked on the ship. except that one guy taking pictures on the stairs but that's another story. most amazing service.

{day 7-8 victoria and seattle}
port was only for the evening so day was spent doing all the things we hadn't done yet. like shuffleboard. and also begging them not to send us home tomorrow. not really. but feeling sad for it to end. and packing. and eating room service on the balcony. another beautiful day. was told it was only the third week this year when it was sunny every day. love it!! then it was evening. my first time in canada! as soon as we got off ship, were told orcas were playing in harbor. victoria was lovely city. much bigger than i expected. we all went to butchart gardens. it was so gorgeous there. only wish we had more time. was dark shortly after arrival. had to hurry, hurry through gardens to catch amazing fireworks. gardens looked beautiful all lit up, too, though. sunken garden takes your breath away. the lady that first started it, did so to cover up a hole left from mining. that's visionary. came back to ship and put our bags out. next morning we stuffed ourselves with last 'free' meal, sang happy birthday to dad, and then disembarked. caught taxi to pike's place. enjoyed sights and smells. flew home to three little cuties and their grandpa waiting at the airport.

of course i can't record everything. i literally have hundreds and hundreds more pictures. but i wanted to remember some details of our trip. it was definitely a great one!

alaska!!!!

2011-08-10T14:00:00.006-06:00

Chris and I had our first real getaway without our children.
We may have been overdue at 15 years, but it was still very hard to leave our munchkins for a whole week.
Plus, it's a bit dangerous to find out what you're missing...we want more :)

We went on a cruise to Alaska.
It was unbelievable.

There is so much to say, but it's really too much and I don't know where to start.
I want to journal about it somewhere else, but I know that I won't.
So I'm not sure what all to write about.

First of all, Chris and I never saw ourselves as the "cruising sort."
But it was so much fun.
We had a blast on the ship being taken care of so, so well and having continual date night.

It seems like since we decided to go, I started hearing about Alaska from everyone.
So many people have been there and they were all so excited for us.

And so many others would tell us that Alaska had always been on their "bucket list."
I was somewhat surprised.
Alaska was never on my bucket list.

But, lucky for us, it has been on my dad's since I can remember.
In fact, I think it was his bucket list.
It might have been something like this:
1. Go to Alaska
2. Fish in Alaska
3. See my family be happy...or something...yada, yada ;)

Anyway, Chris and I made the decision to go this summer -
along with my fun parents, my awesome brother, Dan and his gorgeous wife, Maren -
to take part in fulfilling that lifetime wish.

And we were so grateful we did.

It was truly amazing.

We were blessed with sunshine every day, which is almost unheard of.

Everywhere we looked we were surrounded by the most amazing, completely untouched beauty.
At each port, we made sure we stepped away from the zillions of jewelry stores (what is with Alaskan tourists and their jewelry???) and got our feet on beautiful land.

We got to see whales, dolphins, orcas, eagles, seals, sea otters, puffins, sea lions, and more.

But above all, we were so lucky to spend the week with amazing family.

I was reminded time and time again just how much I love hanging out with the guy I married.
I'm pretty much addicted.
What a lucky girl I am to have him for a best friend.
We shared so many laughs and such great memories.

And we are so grateful that our children had such a great week playing with their grandpa and grandma Stoker. They loved the time they spent there and are still telling us all about it. And I don't think they missed us too much.

Juu-ly

2011-07-27T10:48:00.007-06:00

Summer is rolling along so quickly!
Practically yesterday I told my kids, "I can't believe it's July!"
And in a few days it will be August.

Now that we are in the deep depths of dark and dank depression,
here are some pictures of what my kiddos have been up to the past few weeks.

The older kids had fun with tennis lessons.

Carson is giving a little shout out after winning his "match."

And then here his coach comes along and asks him when he's going to turn pro.
He left with a big head that day.

Carlie enjoyed tennis, too.
Here she is with some "doubles" action.

Unfortunately, that's all the pictures of her.
Before she was "sidelined" anyway.
She had a bike accident and was on crutches for the second half of the lessons.

I have to include this picture because it makes my little grinch heart grow three sizes every time I see it.
This was the morning after her foot injury.
We were still waiting for a phone call to see if the foot was broken.
And her brothers were so concerned for their sister.
They got up and made her breakfast in bed all on their own.
Totally their idea.
Lots of scrambled eggs (her favorite), toast, and yummy smoothie.
It really surprised Carlie that her brothers did that for her.
And meant a lot to her.

We were ecstatic to find out that her foot wasn't broken.

But she did miss out on half of her swimming lessons, too.
She and Carson really didn't want to take swimming lessons this year anyway.
But I talked them into doing one more summer.
They were in a lifeguard prep class.
And they had to swim hard.

Austin loved his class.
He loves being in the water.
And doesn't fear doing much of anything anymore.
He was the only one in his class that wanted to go off the high dive.

Fridays were Fun Day.

If you look closely in the next picture you can see poor Carlie in the green shirt hobbling around the pool to talk to Carson and her teacher.
And try to figure out why her teacher is wearing a goofy viking hat in the water.

The next picture shows my boys side by side.
Austin going for it and Carson contemplating whether to flip, jump, or belly-flop.

And, as for the next picture,

I simply have no explanation.

hiking

2011-07-25T12:27:00.004-06:00

Whether it's exploring far from home
or just down the road,
it's one of our family's favorite things to do together.

What's your guess...
Is her dad saving the day
or trying to throw her in?

The photo above was taken a few seconds
after Carson declared this the perfect spot for a fort
and a few seconds
before he slipped and one leg & foot ended up in the river.

Some things are just simply irresistible.

I notice that two of the kids are still wearing their science camp shirts.
The kids had already participated in a session of science camp (Chris runs a science camp for kids in the summer at his school), but we had spent some time that afternoon helping with the next session.

I didn't really get any pictures from science camp this year.
Probably because I wasn't really around much.

But one day when I went to pick the kids up, the boys wanted me to take a picture of them with some motors they had built.

It was another successful summer of science camp.
And, once again, I was happy to have it over with.

a great night's sleep

2011-07-19T09:59:00.004-06:00

The kids have been dying to sleep out on the trampoline.
They keep asking, "Can we sleep on the tramp?"
And I giggle each time to myself.
The phrase sounds a bit strange.

Does it not?

It seems like it was always threatening to rain every time they asked for the first half of the summer.

But they finally got their chance last week.

After they hauled out 67 pillows, they killed time until it cooled down and got dark by watching a movie.
And eating popcorn, of course.

They all thought it was pretty great trying to find constellations once the sun finally went down.

But the sleeping wasn't so great.

Carlie said they were all sleeping in one big ball and that everyone rolled onto her all night.

And then everyone woke up bright and early at 5:30.

And crashed in their own beds for a bit longer.

It brought back so, so many memories of sleeping in the backyard "under the stars" all summer as a child.
Playing cards or baseball until it got dark.
Stories (some scary, some not) told by dad as soon as the sun went down.
My brothers plotting to sneak out of the yard.
Staring for hours at the stars until my eyelids were just.too.heavy.
Waking up wet with dew.

Guess it's not really about the sleep.
Or lack of it.

the devils

2011-07-18T00:51:00.005-06:00

It would seem that a group of youth from church are going on an adventure (conveniently called the High Adventure) to a place near and dear to Chris's heart.

The Seven Devils.

Because the leader of this group of boys was unfamiliar with the area, he wanted to go there ahead of time and check it out.
Chris ever-so-kindly agreed to show him around this past weekend.

And they each decided to bring along a few kiddos to add some excitement.

The kids were pumped up and ready for the first backpack trip of the summer!

Unfortunately, Chris thought the hike would be too difficult (long) for Austin.
But I had to work.
Luckily, the mom of the other family they went with (they are also our friends and they have a boy Austin's age) offered to keep him until I got home.
She told me, "Of course it is no problem, I mean Chris is doing us such a HUGE favor, after all, to go on this trip!"
I just started laughing.
If that's how she thinks it is...

Anyway, from all accounts...it was a great time.

Despite my worry about all the lightening we were getting at home, they had beautiful weather and gorgeous scenery.

Their plans were changed up a bit when they were informed that there were still huge drifts of snow along the way.
They didn't want to get into trouble since they were getting a late start hiking in, so they decided to just camp for the night at the bottom of the trail.
Then the next day, they hiked all the way to the lake and back out.
My kids were very tired from hiking 10 miles in such a short time, but they loved it.
Especially the conversations.
From what I hear, they discussed some pretty deep topics.
And seemed to laugh a lot!

The only downside was the fishing.
Carson was frustrated that no one even got a bite.

Maybe next time!

Celisa and Carlie.

Peter and Carson.

Can you spot the fisherman in the picture?

Now?

There he is...giving it all he's got, I'm sure.

And, to make it really fun...snakes.
Atta girl.

Oh, by the way...no snow, as it turns out.

This is the angry kind of wildlife we would much prefer them to observe from the confines of our vehicle.
And thankfully that's just what happened.

And least that's what they tell me.

summer fun part II

2011-07-12T10:23:00.011-06:00

After our Independence Day fun, we drove to Wallowa Lake in Oregon.
We have heard about this place for a long time and decided this would be our chance to explore it.
We drove from Council on the road that Chris used to ride as a child when he got to go to work with his dad who drove a big truck hauling ore. He shared lots of memories with the kids. And we got to see Hells Canyon and we had to stop and take pictures at the Seven Devils lookout, the beloved backpacking spot. The drive was very long and windy but gorgeous and absolutely filled with wildflowers.

It turned out to be a very fun place to camp.
(Especially since it had showers and hardly any mosquitoes!!)
We have never experienced anything like the deer at that campground.
They are so used to people that they just wander through the campsites and even eat out of your hand (not that we tried -we're rule followers).
We loved going on some nice hikes.
My sister told us about one that ended in a pretty waterfall.
We were glad that we found that one.
And loved the views of the lake along the way.

Austin wanted to spend his money on a new hat (visor, actually) that said Wallowa Lake on it. It had nothing to do with the hat itself...only the fact that he wanted so badly to be like his dad who often wears a visor. He was so excited and kept asking me to take a picture of the two of them in their visors.

There is nothing like spending time away from everything with the people I love the most.
This is where my man is in his element.
He is patient, calm and happy.
And it is so great to enjoy our children and just play together...
bocce ball, hiking, swimming, card games, smores, riddles, exploring, frisbee, rafting, football, stories around the campfire.
Speaking of stories around the campfire...one night we tucked our kids into bed around 10pm because they were exhausted from so many late nights. A few minutes later, Chris was over at the tents asking them if they wanted to get back up and sit with us at the fire for awhile longer. He missed having them with us and he said that's the best part of camping and we hadn't really done it yet. There is definitely something about just staring into a campfire. I thought that was very cute.

Next up on our agenda was a family reunion.
Chris's brother Josh was in charge and was hosting it at his house.
So we stopped back at home and I gave my washing machine a workout (can't stand smelly camping clothes sitting around!).
And then we were off to a quick reunion.

We had a great time hanging out with the family.
And the kids were sad to see it end.

We did get to make a detour on the way home to meet our newest nephew/cousin.
I'm sure that he decided to make his grand entrance three weeks early because he heard we were passing through.

Mike and Jen's baby boy, Max.
What a cutie.

summer fun part I

2011-07-11T21:13:00.016-06:00

Chris had a break between summer school sessions, so we spent the past week away from home...hanging out as a family.

We didn't go more than 5 hours from home, but we went back and forth so many directions visiting family that we racked up lots of mileage.

First we started out in Utah at my brother Dan's house.
His oldest child, Alaina got baptized on her 8th birthday.
It was a very special day for a sweet girl. And we were so lucky to spend it with her.

The next day we drove home and reloaded our car and immediately left for a visit to Chris's hometown for the fourth of July festivities.
Our kids were eagerly awaiting the "World Famous" Porcupine Races.

The day started with a parade.

I HAD to take a picture as this "float" went by.

Oh, man. Too funny.
Only in a small town, right?
But I'll tell ya what...my kids haven't gotten so much candy in a parade in their whole lives.

And, of course, the porcupines were paraded through town, also.
The stars of the show.

And we followed them to the field behind the school.
And waited, and waited and waited for the big races to begin.

There was some auctioning of porcupines that had to be done first.

And it took for-ever.
Mostly because we were cooking in the hot sun.
But they were basically betting on the winning porcupine.
And yours truly almost got stuck spending $150 on a stinking little porkie.
Yikes.
I was only trying to wave at my daughter who was sitting across the field in the bleachers.
Oops.
I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing.

But finally they got down to business.
Oh I feel like I could fill many blog posts about this.
But we'll just say...a new world champion was crowned.

After a stop at the senior citizen center for lunch, it was back home to grandpa and grandma's to cool off.
They have the perfect slip 'n slide hill.

I know I say this every single year, but I LOVE THIS HOLIDAY.
Sun, family, gratitude, food, and fun.

This post has gotten very long.
So I think I'll end it and make a part two of our week.

Next up...camping!

a circus around here

2011-06-30T21:46:00.013-06:00

Carson had scout camp last weekend.
Here they are after working so, so hard to get their tent up.
Needed a break, I guess.

Now just tell me one thing.

What business does a teeny, tiny mosquito-bitten little guy like this have going off to scout camp and causing all kinds of ruckus?

It's just wrong, I tell ya.

He said he loved it and can't wait until next summer when he gets to stay for a whole week.

According to him, the favorite parts were the nature walk, seeing a salamander and a fox, learning how to properly use (aka playing with) knives & axes & saws, going to the trading post, eating, and being there with dad.

Chris did accompany him.
So while they were gone, the rest of us went to the circus.

Austin was EXCITED for it to start!
It was his first time.
And Carlie's, too.
Actually, I don't think I've been to a circus in my life, either.

Is that possible?
I do have a horrible memory.

I'm not sure that going after reading Water for Elephants is the best timing.
I felt worried about the animals and whether anyone would get thrown off the train tonight.
What? They don't ride a train out of Boise?

But we had a super fun evening.

Yep, just a bear chillin in a chair back there.

a birthday girl.

2011-06-24T15:40:00.002-06:00

I know I've already mentioned that we are loving summertime.
Today, though, my kids are testing my patience a bit more.
At least the boys.
I think it's because Carson was getting too antsy to leave for his scout camp.

But I'm loving having people around to help with the chores.
They, of course, think I'm a slave driver.
So I guess I'm doing my job just fine.

And no one can feel sorry for them with all the fun we pack into our summertime days.
It's been jam-packed and so great.

But I'm so glad that I've got such voracious readers.
It brings at least a few moments of peace and downtime to our days.
We have already been to the library a few times and they have been through stacks of books.
I'm working on one that Carlie very, very strongly recommended.
But I've learned not to pick up any books for them where we don't know the author or have a recommendation for them.
Unfortunately, we chose one the other day that was part of the book club at the library for Carlie to read and it turned out to have subject matter WAY beyond her fragile years.
Yikes!

********
A few weeks ago, on the very first day of summer vacation, the kids and I left town for a few days to see my parents.
It was my mom's birthday.

My sister and her daughter went with us. (Sorry about the crazy driving, Kari ;)
My kids could not get enough of little Fiona.

I love this picture of Carlie watching her two little cousins.
It seems to be her favorite pastime lately.

We had fun taking mom shopping & out to lunch, seeing Mike and Jen's new house & eating dinner with them, seeing Joe and Em's family in the middle of moving to Washington, playing croquet, and visiting.

And we made a visit to the Shoshone Falls.
It was gorgeous with the water levels still so high.
Couldn't resist lots of photos.

dad's day

2011-06-22T10:23:00.000-06:00

Father's Day may be long over now.
But every day my children continue to be blessed by the gift of an amazing dad.
We are all so lucky to have him involved in every part of their lives.
He teaches them constantly and gives them so much to look up to.
And they, in turn, adore him and love spending time with him.

This cute picture of my crew was taken on Father's Day.
They showered their dad with cards, gifts, hugs, and a even an awesome book of poems about him.

We planned to have a picnic that evening, but since it was too windy, we moved it indoors.

And Father's Day can't be complete with a quick I LOVE YOU to my own dad.

As you can tell, I'm not the only one who thinks he's the greatest.

sweet summer

2011-06-20T17:35:00.007-06:00

Summer is pretty much one big party.

We are definitely loving it.

We recently discovered the gigantic marshmallows.
And decided to make some backyard smores.

As soon as dad started putting wood on for the fire, Austin hurriedly rescued a piece.
He couldn't fathom how we could dare to burn such a valuable thing.

Just look at it's potential.

Cooking up nicely.

Fires are for storytelling.

That is one big mallow.

There was noone going back for seconds with these mommas.

school's out, scream and shout!

2011-06-15T21:34:00.006-06:00

Absolutely adorable.

That's what this little group of graduates was.
Their program was too cute.
I loved their songs.

And guess which very enthusiastic male child could be heard loud and clear over everyone else belting out the songs?
He was really gettin' his groove on up there.

Chris came to watch, too, and Austin was so excited for us to see it.
And before we left for the graduation, he warned me that I might cry.

I did love watching him and his sweet classmates, but there were no tears.
Only smiles. {And chuckles.}

But I did almost want to cry while watching his sweet expression as he listened to his teacher read her goodbye letter to the class.

Austin had a great first year of school.
We are really happy that he did so well and made so many friends.

And we are all just so relieved that he graduated.
Phew...crossed that gigantic hurdle ;)

As hard as it is for me to believe that Austin will soon be going to school ALL day, it is way harder to believe that I now have two middle schoolers.

As the last day of school approached, I felt like I had so much to say to them.
I am so proud of these two.
I had to write it down, so I wrote them some letters for the last day of school.
I wanted them to know how much I admire their amazing qualities including persistence, hard work, fun sense of humor, respect, and responsibility.

Near the end of the year, I got to go with Carlie on her last field trip to the Birds of Prey center.
It was a rainy day, but it was great.

She adored her last year of elementary.

And here she is with her teacher who is a big part of the reason.

I was planning on attending the exact same field trip to the exact same place the following week with Carson's class.

And I was happy to do it.
It's part of having twins.
And it was the LAST field trip.

But then Austin got sick the night before, and I had to stay home with him.
Carson was so disappointed.
(Love his little cotton-pickin' soul.)
So I promised him a "date" that night with just the two of us.

I can't say enough about how great that night was.
We've got to make these one-on-one times more of a priority!
Carson and I both loved the chance we had to talk (and listen).

I love that boy.
He is deep and sensitive and fun.

And he might have even spilled the beans about who he's crushin' on.
Might not.

But he definitely has good taste.

He had such a great school year, also.
And here he is with his fifth grade teacher.

Changes are a bit crazy sometimes, but we are all looking forward with anticipation to what the next chapter brings.

But first...SUMMER!!!
We welcome you with open arms!

I have already said the phrase, "Don't you just love summer?" enough times to drive them all crazy.

But, hey-

Don't you just love summer?

another year in the books

2011-06-07T09:58:00.003-06:00

Happy Anniversary to my hubby!

My friend.

A few days ago, we were mentioning something about our anniversary coming up this week.
Austin said, "Again??? You just keeping having those."
We tried to explain how that is kinda the idea.

Later he told me that he already knew that this was our 27th anniversary.
I told him that would mean that we had wed in elementary school.
He thought that was disgusting.

But it did prompt a conversation with my children on their thoughts about our marriage.
I wrote down a couple of their comments.

Austin: "I just think about all the love and care."
And, "I think you are so happy...and it's probably because you've got us."

Carson: "Your marriage is an awesome thing."
And, "You guys are good at raising this family."

Carlie: "I think your marriage is silly, funny, happy, organized (?), and loving."
And, "P.S. Thanks for getting married."

It sounds more corny when I write it, but the conversations meant something to me and I wanted to remember.

We don't ever pretend to have a perfect marriage, and our kids know that as well as anyone.
But they see that we will always put in the work and love required to keep it strong.
And even though our marriage may not be perfect, I have found the perfect man for me.

Love to you, babe.

girl time

2011-06-06T10:50:00.002-06:00

Our boys were super happy to get their camping trip in this weekend.
We were even blessed with good weather...unheard of.

Of course my girlie and I had to make the most of our boy-less time together.

The sunshine demanded time at the pool with friends.
And a book.

We shopped (a lot).
Ate out.
Watched a movie at home in our pjs. (Ramona & Beezus...when that Ramona decides to run away and discovers the bowling ball in her suitcase...just about the best thing ever.)
Played Battleship and Rummikub.
And talked. (Definitely my favorite part.)

My daughter is growing up so fast!
Two more days left of elementary school.
She is finally getting excited.

She had such a great year at school.
Carlie is a girl that pushes herself always.
She always has perfect grades and yet she will still worry about assignments and projects.
It seems like strange parenting sometimes, but Chris and I find ourselves regularly downplaying the importance of these different assignments.
Always trying to encourage her to do her best and not worry about doing it perfectly.
At the school assembly last week, she earned the Presidential Academic Award and also the Presidential Fitness Award.
She always pushes herself to achieve.
Even if it doesn't come easy, (the Fitness Award...she is not the fastest OR the most flexible), she will try, try, try.

She is a super fun girl to have around.
And she has such a desire to do good.

And boss me around.

I'm grateful for my Carlie.

celebrating ausTin

2011-06-05T22:12:00.004-06:00

Austin had a great birthday.

The day before was field day at school.
But the weather forecast was claiming thunderstorms, so it became an inside fun day.
For the second year in a row.
My kids were not happy about that, but Austin seemed to have a great day.

He got his face painted.
BSU, of course.

We were going to celebrate his birthday the night before, so he raced home begging to open just one present early.
I caved.
He picked the present hiding on the shelf in the garage.
Of course he did.
It was even wrapped in the coolest Star Wars paper.

A new "big boy" fishing pole.
Good-bye to the batman pole.
It caught many, many fish in it's time.

Austin was so excited and he immediately started arranging all the gear that came with it into his little tackle box.

And then it was out to dinner.
He got to choose.
I couldn't talk him out of IHOP.
He loved his pancakes and huckleberry syrup.

Then it was home for a bath and some cake and ice cream.
I did not feel good that day and didn't manage to get the cake made that he requested.
But I got the lady to put some Star Wars decals on this cake and it worked just fine.
Although I'm not sure anyone can handle the frosting.

The next morning, on his official birthday, I took Austin and a cute friend to play at the park and have a picnic before school.

They didn't want to leave.
Neither did I...we were finally enjoying some sunshine!

As soon as school was out, he raced home to open his presents.

I love this little dude.
You know I didn't make it through the day without a few tears.

He was in lego heaven.

And now we've come full circle...back to that new fishing pole.

As soon as all the presents were opened, the boys loaded into the car and took of for the first camping trip of the summer.
It was their annual father and son campout.

That was one lucky little birthday boy to get to go camping on his big day.
He had a great time (as did the other two boys).
He got to play with lots of friends and couldn't believe it when he found out that his cousins were camping there at the same place...a crazy coincidence.

And he said his new fishing pole worked great!

Guess who's....

2011-06-03T13:48:00.008-06:00

Happy, happy birthday, to my baby.

Here's the moment I first laid eyes on Mr. Crazy.

He has definitely taught us a ton about parenthood over the past 6 years.

And I thank my Heavenly Father for bringing him into our lives every day.
This morning he crawled in bed with me and he was full of excitement!
I told him happy birthday.
And he went on to sing his favorite song (to You Are My Sunshine) over and over to me.
"I love my mommy,
Oh yes I do,
You make me happy when skies are gray,
Please don't take my mommy away."

[He sings this to me often. Yes, he always leaves out a line. And yes, I love it.]

It has been fun to see Austin grow up in so many good ways this past year.
We are so proud of our little bud.

Enjoy your day!

memorial day

2011-05-31T13:49:00.006-06:00

It was a busy Memorial Day weekend.
Chris had graduation and I had to work, so we knew we would be sticking close to home.

Lucky for us, we got to hang out with Chris's family.

We were so happy that great-grandma and aunt Carmen came by for a quick hello while they were in town decorating graves.

And there was a baby blessing.
This is Sharla and Tim's little dude, Ezra.
So cute!
Check out all that hair.

We went to see the field of flags.
It was chilly and threatening to rain, but it made us feel a bit warm inside.
And inspired our three kids to belt out "God Bless the USA" at the the top of their lungs.
Mom and dad had to join in.

I was glad we had a moment to talk about Memorial Day.
I always feel so grateful for the sacrifices that have been (and are being) made on my behalf.
For the sake of freedom.
And I believe very strongly that we should be grateful, but that these freedoms and blessings bring a responsibility.
We were lucky enough to be born into these privileges, but many are not.
I want my children to be aware of this.

We were so happy to have grandpa and grandma staying with us.
And while they were here, they wrapped a birthday present for Austin (his birthday is in 3 days) and left it high up on shelf in the garage.
It is making him crazy!!
He has been seen sitting on a chair in the garage, just staring at the packages.
He can't wait.

It is always so fun getting together and having cute little ones around.
Brooklyn is getting a special ride in the firetruck.
She was the birthday princess, after all.
We all went out to breakfast on her birthday.

And here is sweet Karissa.
She told me earlier in the day that it was her lucky day.
But, as luck would have it, she ended the day with a broken finger.
We took the kids to play at Bounce and they were all going down the slide in one big group.
Unfortunately, Carson landed just wrong on her poor little hand and her pinky finger was broken.
Dang!!
She seemed pretty proud of it when she returned from the ER and posed for my picture.
So maybe the lucky part is going to be showing it off at school :)

Engaging in a bit of healthy competition.

We spent many hours just hanging out, talking, catching up, and snuggling the new baby.

That's what makes family so great.

private performance

2011-05-26T10:50:00.005-06:00

The end of the school year is wrapping up quickly.
I am very excited.
I look forward to the fun pace of summer.

But the end of the school year seems to bring lots of extra activities.
It is a busy time of year, for sure.
Today is the older kids music performance at school.
Sadly, I'll be working and will have to miss this one.

Last night, I was checking with the kids before bed to make sure they knew what they were going to wear, (patriotic theme), and I explained that I wouldn't be there.
So Carlie yanked Carson to her side and they proceeded to perform ALL of the songs for me from start to finish. (As well as the speaking parts they could recall.)

As I listened, I wanted to grab them up and just hug them and hug them.

Those two know how much I love supporting them and they didn't want me to feel like I had missed out.

They did a great job remembering all those songs and they were pretty cute singing them.
But my favorite was when one of them would mess up and they would both just crack up.

They explained how they each tried out for a different one of the two solo parts in "God Bless the USA."
I was shocked that Carson did this. Not normally his thing. That's cool.
But the music teacher ended up giving each of the two "solo" parts to all 20 or 30 people that tried out.
So their "solo" parts, they explained, would really include an entire classroom of kids.

I hope they enjoy performing today for all the parents.

And I'm so grateful for my own private impromptu performance from two truly terrific children.
I love you!

wickedly fun weekend

2011-05-19T09:49:00.004-06:00

I saw wicked last weekend!
I knew I'd love it.
And I was not disappointed!!

It was so great getting to go with all of the women on my side of the family.
And, of course, Carlie - the oldest grandchild. (she still goes by "girl").
How fun that everyone could make it! That is a first for us.
And with two pregnant mommies and one that gave birth only two weeks ago!

Allison, Mom, Carlie, Shelley, Kari, Emily, Maren, Jen
｡｡｡｡｡

Everyone came to town the night before, so we got lots of pizza and played at our house.

I loved watching these girlies playing in this tiny pool.

The older kids had fun getting wet in the sprinklers.
And the much anticipated water-under-the-trampoline.

Aren't cousins the best?
I'm so glad my kids have so many and such great ones!

And then on Saturday, the girls all met for a yummy lunch at Cheesecake Factory.
We had so much fun that we were almost late for our show.
Stress.
But we made it and we loved it.
So clever and just such a FUN performance!

It was so fun to have some of the girls from Chris's side of the family sitting just a row in front of us.

I am completely happy that I decided to get a ticket for Carlie to join us older girls.
We gave it to her for her birthday in January, so she has been anticipating this for a long time.
I think she may have loved it more than anyone.
She has talked about it nonstop and knows all the songs.
During the show, she was so happy to be there that she could hardly contain it.
She would squeeze my hand, give me beaming grins, or lean her head on me and say thanks for bringing me here.
I'm so glad I did.
I loved seeing it with her.

But next time, I'm bringing Chris.

While the girls were playing, grandpa and the dads entertained the troops.
They ate fast food and played at po-jos.

And we met up with some of them at the park in the evening.

There was football.
And wrestling.

And awesome family.
We were so glad to have Dan and Maren's family stay with us.
Austin and Brinley were inseparable.

Thanks for a crazy and fun weekend, family!

don't mention it.

2011-05-17T15:35:00.002-06:00

Last week I accompanied Austin and his kindergarten class on a field trip to the zoo.
We had gorgeous weather.
HOORAY!!!
I was assigned to be over a group of four boys.
And one of them had his parents there, too.
So three parents to four kids.
Pretty good ratio.

You would sure think so, anyway.

We had a good time checking out the animals (minus the cockroaches and bats...I can always do without those two) and eating lunch.
And basking in the sunshine.
My partner parent was the local weatherman. I felt compelled to keep thanking him.
As if he actually had a hand in it.

I loved hanging out with my little dude.
He would hold my hand every once in a while.
Sweet.
After a bit, I noticed that his buddies started holding my hands, too.
Funny.

When it was time to leave, I told Austin that I had fun at the zoo with him and thanks for letting me come along.
He said, "Hey mom..."

"What?"

"Don't mention it!"

I had a good chuckle.

See, that is our "code word," as he calls it.

It all started one day when he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
I said thanks and he ever-so-casually said, "Don't mention it."
I thought it was pretty funny and he liked getting the laugh.
So he kept using it in different situations with me.
And I would do it back.
Only I usually do it at annoying times.
Like when he asks me to help him get breakfast, "Don't mention it"...instead of helping him.
But we always laugh.
He doesn't want anyone else to ever hear it, so he only says it when noone can hear and calls it our code word.

He's a funny one.

He took lots of pictures of his favorite animals.

Aren't they cute?
One of them just about drove me nuts asking for EVERY SINGLE THING he saw.
Every thing.

I walked up with my camera to take a picture of the rock climbers and got THIS pose.
Wait....what?
I can see I'm going to have to keep my eye on this dude.
Truly, though, this guy has a talent for making friends wherever he goes.
And he has love, love, loved school.

A picture with their teacher, Mrs. Frazier, and her aide (who just happens to be her mother), Ms. Reddish.

And lastly, I included a picture of my favorite animal to check out.

You're welcome.

I mean - Hey...Don't mention it.

the family that works together...

2011-05-11T10:02:00.004-06:00

For family night this week, we cleared out our massive weed collection (it was very impressive).
And we started planting our garden.
Unfortunately for us, it was the middle of a windstorm.
In hindsight, I should have got out swim googles for me and my children to protect our eyes from all the flying debris.
But we survived.

Carson observed that it was no fun at all.
To which Chris responded, "That's why we told you we were going to go outside and WORK. It's called work for a reason."
Little does he know, that is a big part of why we keeping planting a garden -
to teach and torture him.

We tried to make it fun by throwing worms on each other and pretending to impale each other with the hoe.
But it only brought on discord.
Oh well...you win some, you lose some.

At least our garden is ready to rock and roll.

And finally,
An awesome, truly inspirational quote to sum it up:

"A vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables, nothing, nothing but vegetables."
Gertrude Stein

moms

2011-05-08T23:00:00.000-06:00

quote found here.

Happy Mother's Day to my mother!
And all the other women who have and do influence my life for the better!!
I hope you feel loved and cherished.
I hope you realize that your sacrifices and small everyday acts of love, work, and giving of yourself really do matter.
It matters and you are wonderful!!!

I'm so grateful for all the good things that mattered to my mother.
She did a great job raising 6 children.
How in the world, I'm really not sure sometimes.
I think of how crazy things got.
I really don't think I could have kept it together.

I barely manage with my three hooligans.

But man I love it.

I love being involved in their lives.
And when they tell me thanks for being their mom, I almost laugh.
Don't get me wrong, I want to hear it (they better say it, dang it!).
But the pleasure really is all mine.

I'm a lucky momma.
So imperfect, but very lucky.
And sometimes I think it's good that I'm imperfect, but lots of times I'm worrying over all the ways I'm going to screw them up by what I'm lacking.

But I plan to keep guarding that gate and praying that some way or other they turn out just fine.

{PS Thank you Chris and my hooligans for making me feel so loved today. xo}

hola!

2011-05-06T10:31:00.004-06:00

It is obvious, right?
C'mon mi amigo!
Sombreros, of course.
We had to honor our Mexican heritage.
Well, someone's Mexican heritage.
Hey, any excuse for a fiesta.

Carlie shows off the pinata she made at school.

And here's Austin with his sunflowers he planted.
Very proud.

Do other people struggle with all the mounds of stuff that comes home from school?
I have a hard time keeping a lot of stuff around.
And yet, I'm afraid someday I will regret throwing so much away.

So once in a while, I try to snap a quick picture of them with some of their projects.
Especially ones that look like they took some time like this book review project of Carson's that was done at school.
Then I don't feel so bad when it goes in the garbage.

Speaking of school, it is the end of Teacher Appreciation Week today.
My kids all wrote special notes to take to their teachers today.
They let me read them and they said some very thoughtful things.
Carlie has had an amazing year of growth this year at school.
And she recognizes that her teacher has really been amazing.
So she told her. But I liked how she told her that she also loves her jokes.
"Some I get and some I don't!"
Too funny.

There is one teacher that I just really think is amazing and I'm going to say it right here.
Loud and proud.
He's a teacher that has a big heart when it comes to teaching and his students.

Yep, my guy.

I'm proud of all he does.
Especially when he took a personal day this week and played hookie with me.
A whole day together.
What a treat!
(I'm not even going to bring up the fact that it was brought on by the guilt he felt over having scheduled a science show with his students on our first date night in FOREVER.)
We started our day here.
And while I was there, a women came up to me and asked if my husband was Mr. Stoker.
She had thought she recognized him.
She went on to tell me about her two sons who have had physics from him.
The most recent was a part of his club and knew him well.
And she told me that Chris inspired him and that he is now majoring in physics in college.
She had so many nice things to say.
And I hear similar stories so often.
Good job, babe.

Right now is a dismal time to be a teacher.
So don't forget to thank one.

our easter

2011-04-27T17:09:00.015-06:00

I loved our Easter weekend.
It was crammed full of life and fun times.
The kids had some fun Easter egg hunts...one was an after-dark egg hunt hosted by some friends. My kids all hunted with their headlamps. Such a great idea!
And then our great neighbors hosted their annual Easter festivities...so much fun and good food.
And on Sunday, after church, we enjoyed some dinner and more Easter eggs with my brother's and sister's family.

Carson is a great helper for those hard-to-reach ones.
(He probably felt he had to, since he was the one that hid them so high up.)

Cuties, cuties, everywhere more cuties.

Here's "Austin," a little Easter bunny, munching on a pretend carrot.

Whoa! Looks like it's about to take Austin's head off.
Don't worry, no kids were injured in the making of this photo.

Our kids all loved the clothes, candy, and
new wooden yo-yo's they got in their Easter baskets.
And it was a lot of fun getting to personalize them.

I realized a few days later, (about the time I discovered the "special prize egg", with the prize broccoli still inside...thanks, Goellner - it really was special), that we forgot to dye our eggs this year.
But I guess we survived a year without it.
Next year...

legacy.

2011-04-22T12:04:00.006-06:00

One of the kids asked a question about our family name.
In their mind, it had originated with great grandma Stoker.
Probably because that's all the people they know.
So my teaching husband got out a special book and took them through their family tree.
Complete with pictures and a few stories.
They look pretty intrigued to me.

I love thinking about and passing on where we've come from.

Last night I had a dream involving my mothers parents.
It made me miss them.
Since they always lived across the country, I have never spent enough time with them.
And now my grandpa is gone.

I woke up wanting to share stories about them with my family.

I'm grateful for my heritage.

This is a favorite wall in our home...pictures of our grandparents, young and old.

A few years ago, my grandma wrote her life story as a Christmas gift to all of her posterity.
Since she was on my mind, I took it out and read it this morning.
It's amazing some of the lessons that can be gleaned :).

For instance, she shared this story...
"My mother taught me how to cook and clean, she kept a very nice house. When I was in the 6th grade, I had a bedroom all to myself. It was upstairs with a window that faced the school. When I came home in the afternoons, I would change my clothes and pile them on the floor or throw them in the corner, or maybe under the bed as I hurriedly went to play with my friends. Mom encouraged me to take care of my things and keep things orderly in my room, but I didn't listen. {AHEM!!} As the pile of clothes became larger my mother began scolding me about putting things away in their rightful place, but again I did not listen. Finally, as she came into my room she said, "If you can't keep your clothes picked up and put away, then I will just have to throw them away." I just laughed at the thought of this, and again, I did not listen, as I should have. That very afternoon as I was walking home from school with my friends, there was some kids gathering and laughing going towards my house. As I got closer I could hardly believe my eyes, my clothes were outside! Everywhere! Dangling from the trees and hanging from the bushes and on the lawn! My mother had actually thrown my clothes out the window and onto the lawn! I quickly picked everything up and ran in the house embarrassed. That was my mother's way of teaching me to keep my room clean and neat, and the very last time I did not hang up my clothes."

See? Good ideas.
I've gotta get tougher.
For sure.

And a little blast from the past...back to the 70's...hanging out with grandpa and grandma.
That's me on grandma's lap.

inspired on a rainy monday morn

2011-04-18T10:11:00.008-06:00

1.
I'm listening, at this moment, to some of my favorite music of all time.

I remember so well the night in high school when I had a sleepover at my friend Amy's house and she introduced me to the entire story of Les Miserables, lying on her bedroom floor in the wee hours of the morning.
I was so moved by the characters in this story of humanity. And the songs.
I have since managed to make my way through the book a few times.
And back in the college days, my roomies were just as obsessed with Les Mis as I was.

The story has captured a bit of my soul.

But I haven't listened for too long, so when Chris put the music on for me last night, I was carried away by the power of love and the triumph of virtue.

2. Yesterday at church, the leaders of our stake suggested that we take time during this week leading up to Easter to really remind ourselves and our families of the profound things that we're celebrating.

It reminded me of this. I will use it with my children this week.

3. And when I went to find the previous link, I stumbled across this:

I love the simplicity of this message.
And it feels me with gratitude.
My family will also enjoy watching this.

4. I might just throw a little sugar their way, too.

S'meeps!

Is that wrong?

So wrong it just may be right???

Not being a peeps fan, I find myself on the fence at the moment. We'll see.

5. I'm also feeling very inspired today by purging. My kiddos closets, that is.

I hate to get rid of everything, but since the pants have all become capris and 50% of the shirts are never touched, I don't want it taking up any more space.
It needed to be done awhile ago, so it feels very good.

"Do you hear the people sing?"

6. Speaking of clothes and feeling inspired...please go out immediately and buy yourself lavender scented laundry detergent.
Your life will be happier.

Don't you wish that were true??

It did work for me :)

7.
Soccer season feels crazy around here sometimes.
With three kids playing, it can be hard to juggle.
And yet, I love it. I love cheering on my children.
And watching their struggles, friendships, and shine of competition on their faces.

8. Yes, it is rainy this morning, but I am inspired by every drop of sunshine as spring is trying desperately to show it's gorgeous face.
I adore the blossoms on our trees and the adorable daffodils everywhere.
Aaaah....it's almost here.

9. And perfect for this time of year...we met a brand-new nephew last night.
Chris's sister had a beautiful little boy, Ezra, on Friday.
And he is so sweet. With lots of gorgeous black hair. (so sad I forgot my camera.)

Nothing could be more inspiring then a new life.

10. "And remember the truth that once was spoken, to love another person is to see the face of God..."

we flip over it

2011-04-13T10:16:00.007-06:00

Chris was busy preparing dinner one night and Austin asked if he wanted to jump with him. Chris said he would as soon as he finished what he was doing. A few seconds later he asked again. Chris said sure, as soon as he was finished. You know exactly how this goes. Every few seconds.
Until Chris told Austin not to ask...he would tell him when he was ready.
But Austin just couldn't stand it, so instead of asking out loud, he wrote a note and left it next to Chris on the counter.
I saw the note shortly after, when I came in the kitchen to do my part of the meal (Chris usually prepares the meat when we have it...not my thing).

I happened to pick it up to read it and noticed Chris's message scrawled back to him on the other side.

And then I saw them outside having a flipping competition.
I think I'll dub it the "flip-off."
Heehee.

A few things:

1. Even though I don't think they even came close to making it ten minutes, they were the longest ten minutes for a boy that loves to jump and adores his dad.

2. Chris sure looks like he's gritting his teeth pretty good. But he had surprisingly good form for an old guy...but then I'm not surprised *wink*

3. I missed Carlie's action shot.

4. But I had to include her anyway since she is the source of feminine balance in my world. Plus we really like her.

5. Plus she loves the trampoline. And often is spied out there singing and talking to herself while jumping away.

6. I did get several action shots of Carson. And his eyes are going in weird directions in every one of them. Could it be his balancing trick?

7. I will have to study this one further.

8. One of Austin's kindergarten spelling words this week is 'are.' Thank goodness. That spelling was atrocious.

9. Another of the spelling words (there are only three) is 'I.' I told him he's in big trouble if he misses the word 'I.'

10. By the way, in case you were wondering...which I have no doubt you were most definitely NOT...We are asking ourselves "trampoline, oh trampoline, where have you been all our lives?" We love it!

11. It just took a while for me to come around. After all...It's all fun and games until someone shatters a leg. (Sorry that's the pediatrician in me coming out.)

12. No, I'm not a pediatrician. But I have one.