Memorial Day

Memorial Day was such a great day for our family!  

In the morning, we drove to Ogden, to the foothills I grew up near.  We hiked to "Castle Rock," a little rock formation not far from the road that I spent many hours climbing around throughout my life.  It was fun for me to share some of my past with my family and to watch my kids get excited about the same things that I got excited about when I was a kid.  They found little caves and high ridges and lots of fun places to explore.  They all thought it was amazing.  We spent about an hour there, then we drove to Kneaders restaurant, where we all had all-you-can-eat cinnamon swirl French toast with caramel syrup, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream.  Whoa!  Talk about delicious and totally rich! 

We went to the Ogden cemetery to visit Nanny and Grandpa Smith's graves.  While we were there, we saw a sweet old man sitting in a lawn chair by his wife's grave, playing the harmonica.  It took me a while, but I finally recognized him as Wayne Wahlquist.  The Wahlquists were practically the first neighbors and friends our family had when we moved to Utah from California.  Wayne's wife, Elsie was my mom's best friend.  Their daughter was our special favorite babysitter/second mother.  They attended my marriage.  They really are a special family to us!  I was so pleased to be able to introduce Wayne to my two daughters and to visit with him for a while.  He sure seemed old, tired, and lonely compared to how I remember him.  That's because he is old tired and lonely compared to how he was when I was a kid.  He told me that he wanted to play some music for Elsie because she always loved it so much.  Very touching.  He left a few minutes later, but I thought about him all day. 

I can't really remember much about the afternoon.  That probably means David and I were painting while the kids took naps and/or played in the neighborhood.  That's usually what happens around here.

That evening, David made the best hamburgers I think he's EVER made!  And he's made some pretty darned good ones in the past too!  I'm telling you, they were off the charts!  The meat alone was tasty and juicy, but with the fancy buns, the cheddar cheese and thick sliced bacon, the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and other fixin's you could NOT beat it!  We ate in the back yard and spent some time after dinner just playing and enjoying the warm evening together as a family.  It was great!  School only had a few days left and we were feeling ready for summer!

May's Happenings

In a frantic effort to catch up my family history, I am going to quickly mention a few things that happened in May.  I don't want to minimize the importance or fun of these events, but as time passes, I'm forgetting the details.  Hence the push to get this blog caught up.

• On May 13th, the girls and I attended a play that Megan was in.  It was "Macbeth."  I tell you, that's not an easy play for 6th graders to do!  I was quite impressed with how well they did, though. Megan was great!  She looked truly witchy and she delivered her lines very clearly.  The girls had a blast watching it, but I don't think Nicole understood a single thing.  Alison and I kind of re-told the whole story to her on the way home.  Nicky was like, "WHAT?!??!  That was a HEAD in the bag at the end?!?!?"  It was funny.

• My sister, Kristin turned 40 on the 23rd.  That afternoon, the three older kids and I met her family at the movie theater and saw "The Croods."  It was really fun!  Meanwhile, Bronson stayed with Grandma Smith and "helped" her get ready for a little birthday party for Aunt Krissy that evening.  I didn't take any pictures, but we sure had a great time!  Kristin's family left the next morning for a family vacation to Chicago.  They were gone for about a week.  We sure missed them, but are glad they had a blast with my brother, Dave and his family.

Birthday Girl

• May was a blur of fun school activities.  Each girl went on at least one field trip.  Alison's grade put on a performance of all the stuff they'd been learning about Utah this year.  The school held a late night movie fundraiser on the 17th.  We had a fun time there, and each girl "won" something at the silent auction (I say "won" because Dave says it's not winning if you have to pay money).  They used their own money and felt like superstars, so I thought it was great!  There was also a field trip to a local movie theater for all students who made their reading goals (both girls were able to attend).  And of course, field day - complete with a visit from a fire truck that hosed them all down for half an hour.  Alison won an award for having the most AR points (an indication of how many books she'd read and comprehended throughout the year) for the entire fourth grade.  She also beat out all the fifth graders, so she was one of the top readers of her school. 

• Megan turned 12 on the 31st.  We had a birthday party in her back yard that night.  It was so fun!  We ate cookies and home made ice cream (Bronson ate more cookies than anyone else - by far!)  We played some silly minute-to-win-it type games.  I discovered that I have no skill at all when it comes to moving an Oreo from my forehead to my mouth without hands, but I can remove coins from the feet of a pair of pantyhose with mind-boggling speed!  How can I capitalize on my new-found talent?

Another Birthday Girl

Showing off my skills on the nylon game

• I know this isn't about May, its about June, but I'll just mention it too.  On June 1st, we participated in our first Rosewood Ward Fun Run.  It's a ward activity, held for three or four years now early in the morning on a Saturday.  It's roughly, (but not exactly) a 5k.  The girls and I all entered.  I tried to get them to stick with me, but Nicki took off like a shot.  Alison and I were jogging at a comfortable pace and I was just starting to tell her a story when we found Nicki sitting on the side of the road.  Sure enough, less than a quarter mile into the race, she'd run out of steam.  She cried and pouted and shouted at me for making her run the stupid race and carried on for quite a while.  I smiled and dragged her along, but inside I was pretty frustrated.  We were going painfully slowly! In fact, I was going to have to exercise again later because this was barely more effort than sleeping!  After a while, I settled my mind on the fact that we were going to come in dead last and decided to just enjoy the morning with my girls.  I told them the story of a book I had just finished reading while we walked and we ended up having a good time.  David and the boys were at the finish line (Dave had to help cook the breakfast) and he was starting to wonder if we'd gone home or something because we took SO LONG!  Yep.  It was pretty embarrassing, but we had a fun time and we ate a great breakfast, so who cares!  There were bouncy houses and lots of prizes, so it was worth it anyway.  Maybe next year, Dave can walk with the kiddos and I'll get to run.   Or maybe not.

Can you see Nicki?

Looking good!  Of course, we're about 100 yards into it...

The boys met us at the finish line.

We're going to make it!

Wow!  I'm amazing!

Bronny being his usual charming self.

The girls each won $25 gift cards to a local salon for their crazy hair.  Ali has plastic utensils in her up-do.

I have no reason to post this one, except that I love that face.

Mother's Day 2013

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year.  I know many women in this world don't care for the holiday for various reasons.  I understand that and can see why it can be hard, but in my little family, I love to watch my husband and kids get so excited to show their love in a special way.  It does my heart good.

We started celebrating Mother's Day the Friday before.  First of all, let me preface this story by saying that I may be one of the only women in the world who gets a Mother's Day gift FROM her mother!  Ever since Alison was born, my mom has given me a Mother's Day gift.  Nicole thinks she's crazy - I'm not Grandma's mom!  But she just feels like moms with little children deserve all the recognition and support they can get, so she gives gifts to all of her daughters.  Sweet huh?

So this year, we decided that instead of buying each other little gifts (which is just really exchanging little do-dads that we don't need and we stress out over, and that really just add to the stress of the holiday) we'd have a Mother's Day night out.  Hurrah!  THAT'S what I'm talking about!!!  Mom and her four local daughters all went out.  We sure missed Jenny!  I think she should fly out next year - or better yet, we should fly to her - Chicago Mother's Day night out!!!  Anyway...We met at Katie's new house.  (by the way, Katie and Scot bought a wonderful new home in South Ogden.  It's perfect for their family and has tons of space and a great fenced yard for Adam to play in. I LOVE IT!)  They had barely closed on the loan, so it was the first time most of us were able to see it.  So fun!

From Katie's house, we drove to Farmington Crossings, a fun outdoor shopping mall/theater/restaurant place.  We ate dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Parkstone.  It's a beautiful, classy joint that features wood fire grilled food.  In fact, there are huge stacks of wood in the kitchen where you can watch the chefs stoking the fire and grilling the food.  It was delicious!  And of course, it was a blast!  We had so much fun talking and laughing together.  There was at least one time when we were laughing so hard we were crying. 

Katie S, Katie W, and Kristin

Mom and me.

After dinner, we walked over to an Italian restaurant and ordered gelatos.  Then we found a table next to the water fountains and just sat and chatted for an hour or more.  We watched the fountain shows and enjoyed the warm temperatures and had a wonderful time.  We came home late (for me). Mother's Day night out was a great idea!  I hope we do it every year!

The day before Mother's Day, Grandpa and Grandma Gee came over to visit.  They were in Utah for a little over a week at the MTC.  They were starting their 18 month mission as guides in the Idaho Falls Temple Visitor's Center.  It's a wonderful opportunity for them to be serving while also staying close to home, family and doctors.  We're so happy for and proud of them!  Anyway, we were planning on meeting them at the Salt Lake City temple, but at the last minute, we decided not to leave the kids with a babysitter for so long.  I'm glad we changed our plans, because right about the time we would have left, Josh came down with a fever and started throwing up.  I wanted to be home holding my miserable little boy.  So Grandma and Grandpa came and visited with us, but we weren't able to take them anywhere fun or anything.  Still, we loved hearing all about their lives and their mission training.  Plus it was nice to be able to wish Grandma a Happy Mother's Day in person. 

On Mother's Day morning, I received  very wonderful gifts.  I got a pair of weighted gloves for my kickboxing (look out - I'm tough!) and each child gave me a bottle of Perrier!  YUM!  Not only do I love Perrier, but I love the fact that no one else does, so I can have it all to myself!  Nicki and Alison both gave me hand made gifts from school and Nicki gave me coupons for free foot massages (she's REALLY good!)  We had a CRAZY delicious breakfast:  tons of pastries and tarts from Kneader's, cut into small pieces so we could have a taste of every kind, fruit juice, strawberries, and Greek yogurt parfaits.  Oh my!   I taught Gospel Doctrine that day, so Dave was the one who stayed home with Joshy.  I brought the other three kids with me.  They did a great job at being reverent.  As Relief Society was about to start, someone from nursery came in and asked for a volunteer to help out.  I said I'd be happy to.  So I got to spend an hour with Bronson in nursery.  It was so fun to watch him interact with the teachers and other kids.  I loved it!

For dinner, we had a fabulous turkey meal.  Yes, I cooked my own Mother' Day meal, but that's just fine by me - especially when the result is turkey!  I love cooking anyway!  In fact, I love EVERY aspect of food (shopping, planning, growing, canning, cooking, etc) except doing dishes.  For my special Mother's Day treat, David and the kids did the dishes while I soaked in a huge bubble bath with a Perrier!  Talk about pampering!!!

As evening approached, we sat on the back porch and watched our four children play in the back yard.  It was a perfectly happy and contented moment.  I am so glad for the opportunity to be a mother. I have learned and grown so much through this journey and I have a feeling I've got a lot more learning to do over the years, but I am grateful that I get to do it with these particular people.  I am grateful to be on this journey next to David, whom I love, trust, and admire more than anyone I've ever met and to be raising these particular four little spirits.  They amaze me.  I even like our cat.  Sometimes.

Cookie supervised from afar.

After the back yard adventure, we came in and ate Chocolate mouse cake from Costco.  It was outrageously good, but disgustingly rich!  I thought I was going to burst!  I threatened to throw the left overs away, but I just didn't have the heart.  I tried to give it away to a couple of families, but no one would take it, so I put it in our freezer.  Maybe I'll want it again someday. 

A Few Funnies

I have to write a couple of funny things our kids have said before I forget them:  They may not seem funny to you, but they've had me giggling all week.

• Our family is very much into super heroes.  Josh (and honestly, all of us) love the Justice League cartoons, as well as just about any super hero movie.  We often have lengthy discussions about which super powers we'd like to have and which super hero would beat another super hero in battle. Anyway, David and the girls were watching "The Avengers." They were about half way through the final battle scene when Nicki, very thoughtfully said, "You know, if Superman was in this movie, they'd be done already."  Ha ha!  Very astute observation!   ANY fight with Superman in it is over before it begins.

• Our girls were half way through breakfast this morning before we reminded them that it was fast Sunday.  We were discussing what to do about our little mix up.  Alison is pretty sick with a head cold and Nicole is still pretty new to the whole fasting thing, so I was saying, "Maybe you could just eat breakfast, then skip lunch, snacks, and any treats at church. You could still eat dinner today.  It won't be perfect, but it will be okay for today."  Josh, who has a little social anxiety and hates going to church, piped up with, "I know, Mom!  I'm going to eat breakfast, then skip church!"  Not quite the fast I was thinking of...nice try, though.

• Speaking of Josh, he is completely potty trained during daylight hours, but he wets his bed almost every night.  We put him in pull up diapers, but they can't hold it all in and they leak.  I have to strip his bed every single morning!  It's getting pretty old.  I'm happy that he's such a deep sleeper, especially since he shares a room with Bronson the crib shaker, but the down side is that he doesn't feel the urge to use the potty.  Anyway, he came into my room this morning to say hello.  We talked for a minute, then I asked, "Josh, is your bed wet?"  He grinned and said, "I don't want to talk about it yet," and walked away.  I guess that answered that. 

• Bronson still doesn't use many words.  He acts out lots of things and/or uses the sound they make to describe them to us.  For instance, his workd for "cow" is "moo" and his word for "car" is "vroom." His word for "trampoline" is jumping up and down on the ground.  So the other day, we were reading the scriptures as a family.  Bronson takes his turn by repeating a few words at a time while one of us parents reads a verse with him.  We'll say, "And it came to pas..." and Bronny will repeat, "Paa..."  We were reading about the Nephite soldiers tricking the Laminite guards to get drunk so they could slip past them in the night.  Dave said something like, "And they took..." Bronny: "too..."  Dave:  "and drank..."  Bronny, "Shclllllllp" he made a slupring sound.  We all laughed and laughed! 

• Bronson has a hard time saying his own name. When you ask him what his name is, he says, "two!"  Then you'll say, "Yes! You're two.  But what's your name?"  He'll usually say "Me" or "Mine."  When you say, "Your name is Bronson.  Can you say Bronson?"  He'll say "No."  "How about Bron?  Can you say Bron?"  Then, he'll say, "Bum!" and point to his bum.  Great.  My son thinks I named him Bum.  The older kids think it's hillarious, but I'm trying to get him to learn his real name.

• Alison just walked into the room putting on an impressive display of sickness.   I wondered how much of the drama was real and how much would magically dissappear if it were tomorrow and she was going on a field trip... She had her eyes half shut, her shoulders were stooped, her nose pink and stuffy.  She was moving very slowly, holding a dirty tissue.  In a low, groggy, stuffed up voice, she said, "Mom?"  I braced myself for whatever was coming next and said, "Yes, Al."  She said, "Will you remind me to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 tomorrow?"   What?!?!?  Not what I was expecting.  I said, "Okay...why?"  "Because I want to watch it tomorrow and I don't want to forget." and she slumped away.  Oh.  Of course.