May, Family Camp

Reunions in my mom's family have always been camping.  Therefore: Family Camp.  There were even some tents involved (the teenage boys slept in tents in the back yard).  Naturally I took a thousand... or so... pictures.  Here is a small sampling of the pictures featuring my little family as part of my big family!

We met at SUU (local college) where my brother in law teaches.  We had lunch and the kids went on a crazy campus-wide scavenger hunt.  The smallest kids even got a Dora themed (their favorite) smaller version of a scavenger hunt.

Then we played a series of "Minute to Win it" games.  The teams were planned ahead of time to make even groups with old, young, gimpy (that was me), and from each family. Everyone had a chance to play, right down to the youngest who wanted to play!

The church building where we played the games was just on the other side of my sister's family's yard.  They set up a ladder to make the trip shorter for those who were walking. :)  After dinner we drove up Kolob Canyon.  It was gorgeous!

I nabbed some pictures of the group up a small trail.  I was doing far more than I should have so my pain and stiffness was pretty intense.  That meant that I couldn't scout out any more ideal location for the shot.  It seemed to work okay, though.  I also caught each of the families on their own.  Unfortunately, the picture of our family didn't work out, so we had to catch ours at a different location when we discovered what had happened.

(This picture needs some editing, but that's just how it is today.)

Michael hung out with me while everyone else was on a short hike.  I wish I'd been able to go with them, though, since I saw some fantastic pictures from up there!  At least we had the tripod and a lovely backdrop from the parking lot too.

Sunday we all went to church together.  In the evening we had a nice meeting where the teens took turns talking to us about things they have learned and how they have handled challenges in their lives.  It was impressive.  They're great kids.  In the evening most everyone went up the canyon again to have a campfire.  Lizzie was very proud to have learned how to use small rocks to split a log.  Apparently she used the method to split an impressively sized log all on her own!

After tidying up on Monday morning, we all went to a fun park.  We played, ate lunch, flew kites, shot water bottle rockets, and generally had a really nice time.  Gradually we made our way back and headed home.

Chinese kites are the absolute best!!!  They work even in low wind conditions!

Our drive home: the girls watched a movie, curled up in blankets and pillows, and snacking.  It was a very proper road trip, even if it was only a few hours long.

Happy Vacation!

Easter, Part 1

These two pictures just had to fit in somewhere.  Some of the Easter related fun that happened around bigger events:

Pre-party visit with some long-time family friends Eric and Sheri.

I love the way the older kids did a good job helping the youngest ones.  The teenagers set up the candy search, then mostly just watched and helped a bit.

  
Sorting the candy out is busy work!  Not bad practice of division either.  The plastic eggs are filled with homemade marshmallow eggs dipped in chocolate, made by Grandma.  They were amazing!  Meanwhile some of the teenagers were sitting on the couch nearby.  The kids kept trying to share with the older ones.  They'd graciously accept the candy, then when backs were turned they tossed them secretly back in their baskets.

Yes, this is pretty much how we all feel after a good, thorough chocolate crash ;)

March -- Happy Birthday, Grandma

At the beginning of March we celebrated my mom's birthday.  We'd worked together secretly across the country to put together a quilt for her.  The quilt included blocks made of white fabric with iron-on transfers putting pictures on them.  It was a lot of fun and turned out pretty spectacular.  I made the birthday cake, with the owl motif from the starting square of fabric.

(Also, little James -- bottom left -- enjoyed doing his best to use my cane. He had the right idea, but it was still taller than him!)

There was also a book my sister put together of memories and stories of life so far.

The amount of food coloring required to make the cake frosting that shade of blue left everyone looking a bit cyanotic.  My mom also got some beautiful hand-knit mittens and a scarf and pin from Thailand!

All in all, a wonderful celebration of a wonderful mother / grandmother!  Love you, Mom!

November. You know, like 4 months ago.

 Here are some snippets from November.

Sabrina's "brown" hair from Halloween ended up leaving her with pink hair for about a month!  It's kind of hard to see in these pictures, but trust me -- cotton candy pink!

November snow.  Beautiful, true.  The precursor to a long, cold winter.

Wild family party at.... the grocery store.  Yup.  Face painting, balloon art, samples, and more!  At the grocery store.  :D

Clockwise, starting top left corner: 1: the end of the rainbow.  2: Sabrina wearing a hat made out of an old tee shirt by Kate, Daddy's sunglasses, and a sucker.  So very gangster. 3: One of several times this winter when we had to remove snow from some of the trees and bushes so they wouldn't be crushed by the snow.  4: I'm sure the winter of no Twinkies will go down in history books.  Sounds like they should be back this summer.  5: Smiley sticker on Kate's knee,  6:Michael with two girls (sisters) in nursery.  We have been released from Nursery now and miss it terribly.  7: One of our nursery boys got so sleepy he used a plate as a pillow to take a nap, right in the middle of the floor!

Sabrina, missing 3 teeth at once!  Sabrina's page about frogs: "A frog has smoth skin.  A frog is sgkney.  A frog can be poysinis.  by Sabrina Southern"  (A frog has smooth skin.  A frog is skinny.  A frog can be poisonous.  by Sabrina Southern)  Also, Sabrina intentionally drew the craziest looking girls she could.

The girls set up beds for a "sleepover" on night; books and all.  Since my hair has gotten so very long the girls have enjoyed playing with it.
Sammi (the tuxedo cat) lived with us as a foster cat for a few months.  Unfortunately Ginger would not leave the bigger, older cat alone.  After trying everything possible to ease the transition, we ended up sending Sammi to another foster home.
Bottom center: Thanksgiving break, watching movies in the break room at Daddy's work.

.Grandpa and Grandma Southern moved from Saratoga Springs to Provo.  Yay for having them so much closer!  About 5 tons of wheat (give or take several tons) was moved into our dungeon.  The girls did an awesome job helping to move things.  Stuff moved into the new basement was mostly passed down into a window well as a more direct route.  When we put the cover back on the window well the girls shut the window and made it a kid aquarium :P

On my birthday the sisters got together (sisters-in-law is the same, of course).  We did some curtain sewing (right?  I think that's what we were doing.  A good family sewing project is fantastic.).  Marisa made a beautiful lunch for us served on the best dishes.  Broccoli soup, bread, herbal tea, and a lovely apple-cinnamon cake!

For my birthday we took the girls to Tucanos.  A very fancy dinner, indeed!  I used my free birthday dinner there.  We topped the extravagance with a stop at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

...then we came home and had cake and ice cream!  Oh, on our way out we stopped by the school so I could run in and vote (2012 presidential elections).  The line was only 20 minutes long instead of 3 hours as it had been earlier in the day when I tried to stop by.  If only they'd had a shorter line for people who were celebrating their birthday ;)
Michael even wrapped my present with paper and tied on the ribbon.  The paper may have been closed with masking tape, but look at the cute "v" shapes he cut at the end of the ribbon!  I got a pair of sock monkey footie pajamas (editor's note: I now have 3 pairs.  I love them.  A lot.) and some fancy eye-things (sleep mask).  The girls made all sorts of beautiful cards for me and collected some of their favorite doo-dads for me.

Thanksgiving was lovely.  We had dinner at the new Southern Parents' home and stopped by the Jasplund home for pie later.  (I have to include those details so next year when I look back to see whose year it is for dinner I remember ;))

Sabrina's 7th Birthday

Sabrina drew a picture of what she wanted her cake to look like.  Right down to the pennant saying "Sabrina" on one side and "Wizard!" on the other.  I'm still not entirely sure why, but she was happy.  Kate made the banner for her.

Sabrina wanted loaded baked potatoes for dinner.  Unfortunately it was a rough day and I didnt' get it started on time, so we went for Irish Nachos instead.  Kate made "window stickers" out of contact paper.  Lizzie gathered up some pens and bubbles.  I love how excited she gets about every little thing.  It makes it so fun to give her things.

Sabrina's big present from Mom and Dad was this doll car.  She was SO excited!  She even got to decorate it with stickers.
And yes, we were apparently out of tissue paper, so her car was "wrapped" in a handy gift bag with a length of fabric covering the top.  Super classy. ;)

Sabrina also celebrated her birthday with Grandma Jensen who made her a scripture bag, and with the Southern family.

Then some cousins were in town from a few hours away so we had a cake decorating "tea party" to play with them.

(You can see J decorating cakes like a MAN)

Then we played a game where each player took turns rolling a pair of dice.  Each number meant one thing added to their paper so in the end every person had drawn a jack-o-lantern, complete with name.

 Finally, Sabrina got to invite two friends to come with us to the Nickelcade, followed by Krispy Kreme for donuts.  Doing the two friend outings is SO much simpler than parties at home!  Love it.

 Happy 7th Birthday to my dear, sweet Sabrina.  I love you!

Soccer, berry picking, soccer spaghetti, field trips, dentist visits, carnival, tooth fairy, and women's conference!

Okay, so we got Andrew home from his mission, all three girls back to school, and some of our fall soccer season.  Next up: 

Soccer Pictures (we skipped the packages and I took picture of the girls instead.  Way more fun!)

Raspberry picking (It's so much more exciting with a two year old and a baby!  Actually M. did an awesome picking berries and was absolutely delighted to discover real reindeer on the other side of this fence!)

More soccer.  Including eating spaghetti out of thermoses because that was the only way to avoid yet another night of Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready $5 pepperoni pizza.  Other parents were jealous of our real meal, naturally.

First grade field trip!  We went to the fire station, bank, library, and post office, followed by lunch at a park.  And then I slept for a week.  Phew!

Dental cleanings / check-ups for Lizzie and Sabrina.  Lizzie: 8 cavities, Sabrina: 7 cavities -- 6 of which require pulpotomies (root canal on a baby tooth).  (*breathing slowly into a paper bag*)

School Carnival!  The girls got their hair sprayed pink!!!  (I did it ahead of time at home.  Smart mama!).

I'm always impressed at the way these girls can scale a rock climbing wall.

 *side note -- while waiting in line an obnoxious older boy kept trying to sneak ahead in line.  Lizzie politely, but firmly, put him in his place.  Despite the fact that she didn't even come up to his shoulder!  It was excellently done on her part.

Lizzie lost a tooth and left this note to the tooth fairy:

 "Dear Tooth Fairy, Here is a tooth for you.  Please, before you leave, leave some evidence so I know you exist.  (P.S. Use pencil above).  Love, Elizabeth"
"This pencil is so very large for a little fairy like me!  Thank you for the tooth, Elizabeth.  Love, Your Tooth Fairy"
Apparently she believes again.

For the General Women's Conference, Mom and I went to watch with Michelle at her place.  It was very relaxing to sit together and listen to the words of such inspired leaders.  Little J was enthralled.  He sat for several minutes just staring at the speakers!

I believe this takes us through the end of September.  Life is good.