marching along

We babysat Zoe for a week while the Tyler's went to Disneyland.  It was fun to have a dog for a short time.  It was spring break and so we were forced to go to the park every morning and night, which meant we were out of the house!  Also it was fun to have someone always happy to see you, even if you just left the room for 5 minutes.

 Mindy was visiting one day and Lily had her friend Megan over.  With no help from me except for turning on the oven, they made the signs, lemonade, cookies, and set up  this stand, then proceeded to bring in about $20.  Pretty awesome.  We immediately started in on the business lessons and took Lily to Walmart to use her earnings to buy more lemonade for future stands.

 I had to hide inside to get these shots.  Lily and friend Emma were pretending to be sassy girls flipping their hair all over the place.  It was so hilarious.  At one point Lily got so dizzy that she had to lay down.

 After using some money to but a lemonade from Lily, Jack excitedly did his own, and he and Isaac did the majority of the cookies and lemonade but had a bit of help from me.  They got Jackson over and made quite a bit of money as well.  We'll see how often this happens in the summer.  It will be so deathly hot who knows when they will want to set it up.

 Isaac started soccer!  He is such a cutie.  He didn't like sitting out he was so excited.  If he ever kicked the ball he would yell out in excitement, and if the opposing team ran away and scored he yelled out "NO!!"  It was awesome.  He has the best personality.  Yesterday Adam and I were in the kitchen, both within a few feet of him eating some watermelon.  He was totally absorbed in this quiet little battle between him and the white seeds, him attacking and them protesting until he took a bite.  So hilarious.  This kid has no issues with low self esteem, he is awesome and knows it and will let you know if you will listen.  Whenever he eats a full meal he will ask if I want to see his muscles, whereupon he will flex with all of his might (the veins on his neck get pretty big), scrunching up his face and making a super big sound of effort.  He is pretty big for his little body.

Happy Easter!  It was a crazy but good weekend.  Britt was here for the week previous so we got some time with her, girls lunch with Vickie and viewing of her pottery exhibit, funeral for Adam's grandpa so lots of family all day Friday, ending with a date to see Batman vs. Superman with Britt and Kurt, I was really tired by this point, baptism Saturday morning (did program and was pianist), dyed Easter eggs with cousins (Adam's project, he did most of it), cleaned and went to the store (three of them) to prepare for Easter dinner the next day, went to the General Women's broadcast with Lily and Liz, found out about Easter breakfast and egg hunt with Mom and Dad the next morning, went back to the store, prepared for Easter, baked two cakes and started two loaves of bread, next day celebrated Easter morning (thanks to Liz and Jared for providing all eggs for the hunt - even though I was using words Adam still put all of the eggs in the kids baskets; also thanks to Mom and Dad for making a super delicious breakfast!  I didn't do anything...), prepared Sharing Time, prepared all we could for Easter dinner afterwards, went to church, came home and had ~25 people here for Easter dinner.  It was wonderful! I was very grateful that Adam allowed me to slowly accumulate party items throughout the years so that events like this are not a big deal.  I look forward to many more family and friend get togethers in the future!  Which will hopefully give me more expertise in estimating how much food is necessary.
I was able to share my testimony of Easter in Sharing Time to the Primary kids, and was very grateful that the Spirit was present as I told of how Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection made possible the gift to right all wrongs and restore all that is lost, especially our loved ones.  It was a happy day.

the happiest place on earth

...was not the happiest place on earth for the first little bit.  After pulling our kids out of bed at 5 am to surprise them and avoid morning traffic in Vegas, we pulled over with a flat tire just outside of the big city, causing us to lose two hours in the wait for the tow truck.  Lily talked about how it was the worst possible thing that could have happened, which I told her she shouldn't say because there were a lot worse things that could happen.  By the time Adam and all four kids squished in the back cab due to the nice allowance of the driver to take our apparently oversized family, Lily was in tears and carsick.  We got to 24 hour tire where we didn't need to get out of the car for them to jack it up and change the tire lickety split, for $40 cash only, leading us to speculate how this place *really* operates (we regretted not getting another tire for the other side since we ended up at Costco in CA and spending $160 for a new one).

Lily threw up within the hour and three or so more times before we ended up at the beach (I couldn't help but point out how I was right that a flat tire wasn't the worst thing - she thought it was a good joke too).  I was contemplating if it was really possible for us to have had *that* bad of luck for it to be the flu and to travel through the family throughout our 4 night stay, but by the time Britt showed up with her kids Lily was good to go and as energetic as ever.

The beach was magical and the kids were so happy in the water, especially Jackson who got to try out boogie boarding for the first time and absolutely loved it.  Lily might need a few more times to get the hang of it.  I love that Lily and Eleanor and Jack and Gregory start up as friends even with months and months in between seeing each other.

Ada is obsessed with sand and loved building with her Dad.  I was enjoying catching up with Britt.

The next day it was off to Disneyland.  We got there early and stood in 4 lines before they let us in, requesting that 'for your safety, please walk to your destination'.  For the next probably two hours these were the most oft repeated phrases going through my head:  "What the heck were people talking about, this is the worst place ever."  "This is a nightmare."  "Why did I get a three day pass, there is no way we are going to last that long."  Three hours and three rides later we were eating our super overpriced lunch and Jackson needed to go to the bathroom, which I couldn't find and almost started to cry.

But we finally got into the swing of things and although we did spend basically every single line-wait discussing the logistics of how Disneyland could make more money and let in less people, or why are there so many adults without kids, or newborns or pregnant women, or why would anyone go back more than once, people are crazy, etc etc, we did start to enjoy it.

The kids did awesome, Isaac was such a little trooper even though he couldn't go on some of the bigger rides because he was two inches too short....such a bummer.  Adam tried to make it up with churros.  We thought Jack and Lily were handling it well until Jack said he wanted to go to the beach and we answered that we weren't going to the beach, we were at Disneyland.  Cue major breakdown (first out of three - the second one occurred ten minutes into the second day as he fought for a ride in the stroller, the little stinker).  I've realized that I have to talk and talk and talk to him to remind him that he does have fun if he gets out of his bad moods.

On Splash Mountain we realized that Jackson likes a thrill but oh boy Lily doesn't.  We kind of forced her to go two times after this and she has the same look of terror every time.

Adam was a trooper and took the kids on the obligatory spinning rides, saving me from probably a full day of nausea.  I seem to have become even more sensitive with age.  :P

Ada LOVES Minnie and Mickey Mouse.  She always points them out on her diaper and asks me to sing the song.  So we did wait in line to meet her, although Ada of course wouldn't go by herself.  She loves to point out "Minnie Mouse!" when she sees this picture though.  So cute.

By the third day we had found a good rhythm and would only go on rides with short lines to get more in.  I felt by the end we knew what we were doing.  But I am going to research a lot better when I plan our next trip.

My parents say when I was little I just wanted to go on It's A Small World repeatedly.  It still amazed me, I love the colors and cultures and the culmination of peace at the end.

Buzz Lightyear was a favorite for all.  Ada would point her laser at Adam and gleefully say "Shoot Daddy!"  It was really cute.  I love this picture.  These two can get along so well sometimes.

Also by the end I had recognized why it is such a wonderful place, at least for our family.  It was really neat to be able to focus 100% on the kids having a good time and as parents keeping them safe (Ada dodged under more ropes and around more corners than I would have thought possible).  It was definitely a happy place and I think even Adam would be willing to go again in a few years, even though on the first day he said he was going home and making reservations for an isolated cabin on a lake in Montana.  Our introvert selves really came out that first day.
The last day we were there Adam determined that our other front tire would probably blow out on the way home so we went to Costco, where they gave us a 2.5 hour wait but luckily Britt was willing to drop everything to come pick me and the kids up, then take her kids out of school so we could go play at the beach again.  It was so fun; I'm really hoping Adam will be up for at least another beach trip soon...

birthday girls and Christmas 2015

 Lily is 9 years old!  Wow.  A little too fast.  I feel like she just got baptized.  She requested no friend party this year, so we had lots of family!  She requested presto grilled chicken, pasta with homemade alfredo sauce, and I made homemade french bread and broccoli to go along with it.  I did a December-only Peppermint ice cream pie with oreo crust and lots of whipped cream, hot fudge and caramel toppings.  And then she was sick and didn't get to enjoy things too much, but luckily we had lots of leftovers.  She loves to be involved in the kitchen, and whatever she can help with she does.

 Ada turning 2 followed right after.  We had invited the Bird's over and had quite a big group of adults and cousins.  It wasn't until after everyone left that we got a little oreo and sang to Ada.  What a little firecracker, she is taking her job to be a 2 year old very seriously!

 Not quite sure why her shirt came off but she is such a cutie.

 Gymnastics performance!  It was really fun to watch Isaac.  He is looking good and hopefully a bunch of this stuff sticks.

 So much muscle!

 Lily and Jackson finished their semester as well, with Jackson absolutely refusing to go back to the basement.  Apparently gymnastics is NOT OKAY without access to a foam pit to jump in.

 Star Wars!!!!!  This was so exciting.  Adam got free tickets and we surprised the kids.  Isaac fell asleep which was expected, and Lily and Jack loved it so much.  It's neat being able to have discussions about right vs. wrong after watching those movies.  :)

This was a day.  I had answered the door and talked with someone about 2 minutes.  When I came back saw that Ada had found a bowl of grated cheese that she sprinkled around the house.  Six cracked eggs near and in the fridge/freezer that had broken when she tried to pull the carton out.  And this - she got her own knife to cut open a new block of cheese.  Good thing we don't have super sharp knives (otherwise this picture wouldn't exist).

 Adam's dad rented some rooms in Eagle Point for people to go stay in.  We were the only takers (besides Ben and Peggy who had to turn around).  It was a scary drive.  That picture down there was on the way, and it still gives me the chills.  I think I didn't breathe much for the 3 hour drive and then had a headache for most of the night which wasn't helped by both Lily and Jackson coming in our room to say they had thrown up (nope), they needed a drink, they needed to go to the bathroom, they wanted to sleep on our bed (a small queen), they felt sick, etc etc.  I can't express the relief I felt from the fact that Ada and Isaac didn't wake up.

 The picture above is quite a treasure.  When I showed it to Mom and Liz they both said "She never smiles like that!"  And then I show them the next picture and they say "Yes that is more familiar".  Ha!  She is quite wary, but really she is so much fun.

 All of our snow kids.  I was surprised how much snow gear we had amassed through our years in Ogden, although we luckily could go across the street to Liz's to grab a few boots and miscellaneous things to fill the gaps.  Adam had a pretty crappy night too and so after playing in the snow for about 30 minutes the next morning, it started to snow and I said "We are leaving!  I am not staying another night up here!" So we packed up to go down the steep mountain through a storm.  Oh how fun it is with all wheel drive.  I love our van, and what a great snow driver Adam is.  I forced myself to breathe a lot more on the way home.

 Christmas Breakfast!  I have a hard time understanding my kids following Adam's example of wanting to eat breakfast first before opening presents.  BUT as a Mom I do appreciate them getting something in their bellies before the chocolate and candy, which is what I normally had for breakfast when I was a kid.  Adam and I once fought about it, I was incensed and thought it was crazy that people just didn't even care that the next room was filled with presents waiting to be opened!  Because I sure did!

 Adult get togethers!  Here is one with spouses (without Mom, but Britt joined us too), at a little French restaurant in Santa Clara.  Be prepared for long conversations, there is one cook that starts from scratch; also a bit chilly as it is a brick room with a little space heater to heat it.  But still fun.  Dad had just finished his second hip surgery so we are all happy he survived!

Our annual get together with friends, always so fun to see everyone, and Maria was in town for this one.  I think it has been about 10 years!  Also Amanda was here to help out with Dad's recovery so that was fun too!  Always good to catch up and laugh together.

I had some stuff to drop off for Primary and took the kids for a little ride.  Adam had Isaac's coat so he wanted this as a replacement.  Along with his ninja headband I thought he looked pretty awesome.  He is quite the speedy biker and love to go super fast.
And that is the end.

lime green

 I've been waiting for that couch for a long time.  Dave, Lynnette and Mike are going on missions and so it was finally passed on!  The kids were happy for the additional furniture, as this is where they were hanging out one morning when I walked by.  Notice Isaac's Spiderman shirt and ninja face mask.  Not sure what is so wonderful about the shirt, but I have to point out the dirtiness or the fact that he has worn it for 5 straight days and "I am starting a load right now and will give it back to you in two hours" before he may (or actually may not), take it off for me to clean it.

 I told Adam Thanksgiving morning that I wanted to take a family picture to send out with Christmas cards.  Lily was at Nate and Audrey's so we went there and went out to pose, and while getting the kids set up Adam said "Why are we doing this, why don't you get a photographer to do it?"  Good question, and thanks for letting me know how you felt at the right time!  Anyways this was my favorite of the kids, all of their faces are awesome.

 Bentley Talent Show!  Lily played 'Angels we Have Heard on High', with no hesitation, of course.  She also teamed up with Brooklyn to do cartwheels in the background of Brooklyn listing off all of the U.S. Presidents.  Pretty impressive of Brooke, and pretty hilarious of Lily who was getting pretty tired and dizzy and feel down a few times.  Jackson asked to get up and do something, which I tried to help him prepare but he disappeared, and then when Dave called his name he popped out from behind the stage curtains, it was so funny.  He kind of bore his testimony, not sure what else to call it, as he said he was thankful for the universe, because if we didn't have the universe we would already all be dead.  Isaac and Ada did some gymnastics moves, mostly Isaac because Ada was trying to get to the treat bowl.  It was a great show and so fun.

 Games at the Dabneys, the kids started watching Back to the Future but it was too late for the littles.

Liz and Mom arranged to go to Veyo for skating!  It was awesome since you could bring bikes and scooters as well, so there is everyone but me, Adam is riding on the scooter with Ada.  This week was pretty close to how it felt as a kid, it was a wonderful weekend.  And the food was incredible!  I had a lot of fun this year making pumpkin pie cupcakes and a oreo crusted white chocolate mousse torte.  Tried out fresh vanilla beans for the whipped cream which was a lot of fun as well.  I haven't been creative with cooking/baking for a really long time, it was fun to return to it for the holidays.

trauma

Sunday October 25th at 3:45 p.m., I was in the kitchen about to start making home made macaroni and cheese, requested by Brooklyn for her family birthday dinner.  The doorbell rang, it was Chase telling me that Jack had crashed his bike.  I thought it was a routine fall, put my shoes on and walked out the door where Sam Reber was biking in circles saying "bee-do bee-do bee-do" like the minions.  He was smiling and wouldn't answer when I talked to him, so I continued to not worry about Jack.  I walked a bit faster to the corner in my high heels, then heard him yelling farther down the street so started running.  He was curled up in a ball, obviously in a lot of pain, with some blood on the street next to him.  I didn't want to look at him without Adam, I was pretty nervous by then.  I picked him up and ran up the street and into Liz, who was leaving with Jared.  She told me to go in her house and Jared would look at him.  

We laid him down and he started crying out "what happened??" in a really desperate way.  That's when I realized he had lost consciousness.  We tried to look in his mouth at the blood, I saw that his super loose tooth had fallen out, and sent Lily to go find it on the street (she did, which was very nice since Jack hadn't realized he lost his first one a few weeks ago and so I wanted to make sure he didn't lose track of this one too).  Adam came in and we took him back to our house and laid him on the couch, kind of trying to clean up the blood and get him to talk or respond to us at all.  We asked if he remembered biking to church that morning; no.  Did he remember stopping on the way to get me a flower; no.  Did he know his sister's name; Lil (small relief).  Did he remember going to a movie the day before; no.  He was starting to get upset so we let him rest.  I can't even remember when Adam and Jared gave him a blessing.  I couldn't even be in the room I was crying so steadily - I just stood in the doorway, wondering what was going to be.  When he woke up about 25 minutes later Adam put a show on for him - the Hulk cartoon - and within about 10 minutes he threw up a bunch of blood at the same time as Mom getting a hold of Uncle Kim who said to take him to the ER.  On the way there he threw up a bunch more (he later told the ER doctor "10 times"), was immediately admitted and taken to the Trauma area and got a CT scan and x-rays of his neck.  Up until the CT scan results came back clear, I was basically terrified and crying and feeling pretty hysterical.  Every time they asked him a question I was pleading inside that he would answer them correctly!  I remember some of the fear starting to lift when they asked who he was biking with and he answered "two cousins and two friends."  

We were able to take him right home to go to bed (threw up in the car, most likely from motion sickness).  I can't believe the relief of not having to worry about the other 3 kids and to be able to be with Adam in the ER.  Wouldn't have happened in Ogden; one of us would have had to stay home.  I don't think the kids even realized we had left (except of course Lily, who was super worried about her brother).  It is so different living by family.  The swelling took a while to go down, and in the meantime I can't believe how much it hurt my heart to see his face all banged up and his lips swollen so much he couldn't talk.  Chase came over to play once and after a few attempts at communicating, Jack finally just said "I can't talk." I sure missed that cute smile and deep dimples.

Some of the memorable quotes were when I was threatening Lily and Isaac with a consequence from fighting ALL OF THE TIME in the car, Jackson said "I sure got a consequence, right Mom?"  Also at the hospital he told us "I have two fat lips."  Also when I was saying it was pretty crazy how he crashed - tried jumping on his bike off a flat bed trailer - I asked if he was going to try it again and he was like "NO WAY!  I'm NEVER going to try that again!" with really big eyes.  I'm sure he will, just hopefully it will be with a helmet next time.

oreos and gummy bears

Isaac turned 4!  I love birthdays of toddlers, they are a reminder for a few minutes that the little person that drives you crazy most of every day really isn't old enough to be doing it purposefully.  This boy has so many personality quirks I don't come close to understanding them, which is a shame because I love honoring quirks to a certain degree.  He requested cupcakes with oreos and gummy bears, so fun and easy to decorate and he loved them!  Haha!  I can't believe I spent $100 on Lily's 4 year old cake!

Because he has a big brother and sister, he of course is always talking about how big he is.  Thankfully this year he FINALLY started playing with kids his age instead of Jackson's friends.  Really nice, and soooooo cute to watch him get along with others!  He started out only wanting to play with Zach and Chase, but luckily we have been able to branch out and he had some cousins and other friends to invite to the party.  He wanted to swim and luckily it was scheduled after the downpour that day.  He also requested that his family party be at grandma's house.  He has been asking when we are going to sleep there again, I think he really misses living there (lots of things I miss too).

He requested a buzz cut and was so dead still with a dead serious look on his face during it.  No more candy distractions needed for him.  I was thinking the other day how little things start fading from their childhood, me barely noticing.  I thought he would be in his toddler bed for a few more months before moving downstairs to be with Jackson, but he up and went a few weeks after we moved.  He still comes to cuddle in the morning sometimes but that made him seem so much older to not be in the room next to us.

He is a good big brother!  Ada loves to play with him and they have less disagreements than most of the other kid combinations.  He loves to live next to Aunt Liz and goes over there numerous times a day for snacks and treats.

His preschool had a field trip to the fire station, and he got to turn the hose on and off.  Same thing as the haircut: dead serious face, no emotion, only afterwards he will talk about things as being exciting.

Last time we went to the Crack he wouldn't even consider it and this time he just walked right up with Pete and Henry.  He is such a little peanut.  I wish I could look past our daily struggles and remember more often how soon he will be grown.  We try to get out to go biking/walking to the splash pad, and he is such a wonder of a companion.  He just talks and talks while peddling next to me.  Those are some of my favorite moments with this boy of mine, one of my two babies that I still call babies even though those days are almost gone for this one.

Margaret

When I was Relief Society President, the woman serving as my Visiting Teaching Coordinator was Margaret Hanni.  Her husband of 60+ years had passed away a few weeks before I was called.  I visited her every month to get the VT report once she had it gathered.  In September I received a text saying that she had passed.  Adam was very accommodating to make a weekend family trip up north so we could attend the funeral.   It was so wonderful to be in that ward house again, hearing testimonies of a life so sweetly lived.  She was so kind, so soft spoken.  I was so grateful that we could be there - I was able to see so many of the people that I grew to love so much during our time on Raymond Ave.  I told Adam it was like feeling closure from leaving and getting released, because it was pretty hard to feel that during all of the emotions of moving.  As we drove by her home and I pointed it out to the kids, I remembered what a haven that was during those three years.  With all of the stress, all of the meetings, all of the people complaining about this or that, I knew that when I was in that home all I felt was love and acceptance, and above all happiness that I was there.  Definitely a blessing to have served with her.

We stayed at a hotel downtown (the kids, especially crying Isaac, insisted on getting on the money horse), and were able to drive up highway 89 to get some apples and peaches (huge boxes, but none were cooked and only one got kind of rotted, because my peach-eating buddy Isaac and I usually ate 2-3 a day.  So yummy!), and of course to Warren's for lunch that we ate at the purple park (40th Street Park).  It was a gorgeous day, and now that we are getting so settled in here I'm always surprised that little remembrances of that area make my heart hurt so much.  Just that few of 40th and the tennis parks brought back about 12 memories.  We met Matt and Jana and kids at Ikea for some shopping and a bit more food.  I really miss living closer to them, too.