Christmas Cheer

I had such high hopes.

Every year I like to include a picture with our Christmas card. Sometimes we do something fun & informal, but this year I wanted a professionally-done picture, possibly having the photo studio print out photo Christmas cards for us. We could include a note, put it in an envelope, and we'd be finished for this year.

I had bought a photo package over a year ago with a professional studio, and hadn't ever used any of our sittings. Three weeks ago I called them to set it up. The date had to be Saturday, December 1. Sean had been on call the entire month of November, so December 1 would be a welcome respite when we would have no fear of the pager going off and him having to dash away to save someone's life.

I was slightly disappointed when the woman on the line said that December 1 was all booked, except for their outdoor sittings. She explained that they had a lovely outdoor area in back of the studio. As the idea grew on me, I envisioned all six of us posing around a gate surrounded by trees. I told myself that it didn't make any difference whether those trees were bare and brown, or covered with beautiful white snow. Either way it would be a perfect scene, because we'd all be there with our photogenic smiles. I made the appointment for noon, her only available time.

Then I told Sean. Everything was fine...until the following Sunday. He is the 11-year-old scout leader, and his fellow leader-partner informed Sean that he'd booked the boys into an orienteering class at 10 am on Saturday, December 1. The other leader wouldn't be able to make it, so it was up to Sean to be there.

The stress levels started to rise. Sean is my biggest dig-in-his-heels and throw-a-tantrum about family pictures, worse than any of my children. He told me that no matter what, he needed to be at every minute of that orienteering class, even if it took 3 hours. Knowing that he was this close to telling me he wouldn't be at the picture at all, I graciously offered that I'd take the kids over at noon and take some pictures of just them, stalling until he'd fulfilled all of his scout duties and could come join us. Plans were still on.

Then I went shopping. I couldn't decide what colors we should wear, and finally decided on blue & green. After multiple days and hours of buying, then thinking about it, then returning stuff, only to buy something different, I finally had it sorted out. A week and a half to go, and I had the matching turtlenecks and shirt combinations, with colors figured out for all six of us. I laid the clothes out on my bed and decided it was a hit. This would work.

My parents were going to be moving on Saturday, December 1, which raised the stress levels even more. Sean would much rather be helping them than sitting in an outdoor photo studio. I assured everyone that we'd work around the photo shoot and would be there to help them as much as possible.

The last week of November arrived. A huge cold sore popped out on Jamison's top lip. Then, two days later, a cold sore appeared on Raleigh's lower lip. I was determined, nothing was going to get in the way of our one shot at a family picture.

No snow so far this season, but I told myself it was OK to have bare branches in our lovely picture. Then, the forecast: snow Friday night. Wow! Is there anything more beautiful than a fresh snow in an outdoor setting? If I could get Sean there, it would be perfect.

Saturday morning we woke up to two inches on the ground and snowing hard. I started worrying, but told myself it would have stopped by noon. Sean went to his scout class, and I started the process of getting everyone to shower and fix the girls' hair. Things were on track...until the call. It was the photo studio saying that if the snow didn't stop, the picture would be canceled. I continued to get everyone ready.

11:00 - I called the studio back. It was clearing up, looking out my window. She informed me that the photographer lives an hour away, and they'd told him not to come in until it cleared up. I tried stressing to her the importance of this picture. Call me anytime today, I urged; this is our open day. She hung up, saying pleasantly that she'd let me know if they decided to have him come in.

11:45 - Sean pulled up in the driveway. We were all ready for the picture-that-had-been-canceled-so-far. He wasn't happy to have to put on the color-coordinated shirt, just in case they called back.

12:00 - Since we'd unexpectedly had to help Mom & Dad move out of their house the previous day and evening, we found ourselves all dressed up with nowhere to go. We decided to take the kids to a movie; we had a free coupon from a local business. Knowing that the photographer would take at least an hour to arrive from whenever they notified me, I hoped we'd be safe to get to the movie and then the rescheduled family picture.

2:00 - The movie started at 2:45, so we were looking at all the stores in the mall, still looking spiffy with our hair done, in our matching outfits.

4:45 - The movie ended, without any call from the studio. I gave it up for over, and we did the next best thing: took the kids to a photo booth on our way out of the mall. We got a few snapshots to preserve the moment, and headed home.

I guess all's well that ends well. And after all, I suppose everyone got what they wanted: I did get pictures taken (and I'm not sad to not be in any of them), and Sean didn't have to have his taken, and the kids got to be as goofy as they wanted in their pictures, PLUS see a movie! Merry Christmas!

Reminiscing

For homework, Jamison had to write a personal narrative last night. The assignment was to write about an event in his life that was the most memorable or exciting. His choice, which is obvious if you know him very well, was to write about deep-sea fishing in Oregon with Grandpa Bryan. One of the pages had to be a picture page, so I pulled out the CD and found those great pictures. That was in July '04, so my kids were 8 (Jamison), 7 (Raleigh), 5 (Tristan), & 2 (Sabra). Here are some pictures from that Portland trip.

I've been tagged!

Michelle, my sister, tagged me awhile ago, and I'm just now getting around to being tagged. The rules are:
Here are the rules:
A. Each person list 6 facts/habits about themselves.
B. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, and then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for the rules.

So, here goes.

1. I locked my keys in my Suburban at Sam's Club. I walked out and couldn't find them anywhere in my purse, and then checked inside the locked car--sure enough, there they were, dangling from the ignition. I considered all of my options, including calling AAA, and then decided to take action rather than sit & wait. I returned my items I'd bought, then started walking home. It took 35 minutes. Once I found the spare key, I called my visiting teacher to give me a lift back to Sam's. Thank goodness for a spare key, which, by the way, is on a floating key chain, thanks to losing an earlier set of keys in Lake Powell this summer.

2. I love chocolate. I need Halloween to go away; I think I've singlehandedly eaten all of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from my kids' leftover candy. (Not to mention Twixes & Snickers.)

3. I sleep with one foot outside the covers 95% of my life. The exception would be when my feet are freezing when I get in bed; in that case, I'm happy to share my icy toes with Sean.

4. I love the look of a vacuumed floor. Too bad it never lasts!

5. I love shopping the early morning sales the day after Thanksgiving. It's such an adrenaline rush getting all of those great things for such incredible prices. I wish my siblings lived closer so we could go together!

6. I love to bake. It's so fun making goodies and then sharing or enjoying what I created. Trying new recipes is great too.

I'm tagging Bethany, Lynette, Sara Anne, Mom & Dad, & Rachel.

Happy Halloween!!

We had a fun Halloween!

Every couple of years or so I idiotically decide that I can make my girls' costumes. This happened to be an "on" year for sewing, so I spent the entire month of October making two costumes. The downside is all the stress, plus it ISN'T less expensive to make a costume than buy one! (Memo to me: fabric is expensive!) The upside is two very happy children, AKA a vampire girl and Belle.

Fabulous Fall!

I love fall! It's my absolute favorite season. Here are some of my top 10 reasons why fall is so fabulous:

1. Weather. I love the cooler temps, and I love the surprising weather varieties. One day it's raining and/or snowing, and the next it can be a beautiful sunny 75 degrees. It's great!

2. Color. I love looking at the mountains and seeing the trees turn, and then where we live in the valley the colors change a few weeks later. There's only one word for all of those reds, yellows, oranges, & browns: beautiful!

3. Crunch. You can't beat the sound your feet make in those brittle brown leaves. Awesome!

4. Football. OK, those who know me know there's a qualifier here. My football fan-dom includes watching my son play, or BYU. I don't really care about any other college (sorry, Ute fans!) or pro teams. However, I get enough enjoyment from watching Jamison & his team, that I don't feel the need to follow others.

5. Soccer. Another qualifier: if any of my kids are playing, this is a fun pasttime. This year it's been Tristan. He has great hustle, lots of energy, & is fun to watch.

6. School. Ahhhhhhh. This year I had to wait so long for kids to go back, that it's an extra-nice treat. Don't get me wrong; I love my kids as much as the next mom. I just also happen to love the structure of school, and I love having a few hours to myself on a daily basis.

7. My anniversary. I couldn't have planned it better.

8. Sweaters & jackets. Hot weather is not really my thing; I love layering.

9. Dark mornings & evenings. This is actually a very mixed "like." I like dark mornings & evenings because my kids go to bed better at night, and they sleep a little longer. However, I don't like them for me. I love to walk/run first thing in the morning, and it bugs me when it's dark.

10. Harvest. How great it is to eat all of the fresh veggies & fruits, not to mention the satisfaction of having a few bottles of salsa or peaches in my storage room for the winter.

Add a comment if you can think of other things to love about fall!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 14th anniversary! I am so happy to have been married this long, and to this man! I love being married; it's the best. Fourteen years ago Sean was my best friend, and he still is today. Life is good.

Happy Birthday, Jamison!

Sunday Oct. 7 was Jamison's 12th Birthday! It's hard to believe I have a son that old! It doesn't seem that long ago that I had 3 preschoolers, with every day being almost identical, and thinking "This stage will never end!" And it didn't end all at once; it was so gradual I hardly noticed. The first one finally went to kindergarten, and then the next year the second one went...until now I have all four in elementary school, with my oldest starting jr. high next year! And suddenly those preschool days are over.

Jamie's birthday was on the Sunday of General Conference. In between sessions we went to my parents' house and ate dinner with them and the available aunts, uncles & cousins. After the second session we had cake & ice cream. Jamie got a new bike from Sean & I, and a new sleeping bag from Grandpa Bryan & Grandma Joanne. He's in 7th heaven!

Ten things about Jamison:
1. He is a very intense child. Anything he likes, he LOVES.
2. He likes to be noticed and watched, and to feel important. We were driving to yesterday's football game (yes, they're still in the playoffs!) out in West Point, and he said, "We forgot to call Uncle Clive and tell him about my game." This is Sean's uncle, who Jamison hasn't seen for over a year. But Jamie knows that he lives in Hooper, not far from West Point, and he wants to give everyone a chance to watch him play.
3. He loves fishing, and has since he was born! There must be some connection to the fact that Sean & I were fishing with Mom & Dad at Farmington Pond as I was in labor with him! (I did catch the first fish that evening.)
4. He loves helping his dad. Right now the big project at our house is putting in the sprinkling system. Jamie will go out and dig out the trenches while waiting for Sean to get home.
5. He's a very loyal friend.
6. He's a very good football & baseball player.
7. He loves starting fires. At least now he (mostly) keeps his fire-starting to lighting the candles on his cake. When he was 3 he lit a haystack on fire. The haystack was by a barn just a few feet away from the rental house we were in. I hosed it down and put the soggy stack in the garbage can. Luckily the landlord didn't happen by before the garbage was taken away. (You could smell that acrid burned hay anytime you went outside.)
8. He loves shooting stuff. He got a BB gun for his 11th birthday, and had a wonderful time shooting targets in the back yard for several months. One day a police man drove by and ended that happiness by telling him that there was no shooting allowed inside the city limits. Jamison loves archery also.
9. He's working hard on merit badges. He has two goals: to earn every merit badge, and to become an Eagle Scout at 13 years old. I think he'd rather be an Eagle at 13 than get every merit badge, and he's on his way.
10. He's a huge tease to his sisters & brother. I can only hope it's just the age, but I have a feeling it's personality!

(It won't let me add pictures, so I'll post without & put pictures in later.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMISON!

Snowy Football

Saturday was Jamison's final football game of the season. He's had a great time playing football this year, and his team has been awesome! (In contrast to last year's team, which only won 1 game, this year's team has only lost 1.)

I think this is the only football game in my whole life which will be snowing...BEFORE the first day of school!

Jamison has the white long sleeves.
The boys did great, although they were wet & freezing. They won 35-0. Now the playoff games start, and as long as they keep winning, they keep playing. The "mini-bowl" is their final goal, Oct. 27. Hopefully they keep up the winning streak!!

FIRST DAY...FINALLY!!!

Monday was the first day of school!!



Jamison started 6th grade, Raleigh 5th, and Tristan 3rd. The boys have women teachers, and Raleigh has a man. Everyone seems happy with their class situation, and they all recognized more friends from last year than they'd anticipated. Sabra and I had a "meet-the-teacher" experience with kindergarten teacher Mrs. Graham, from which she didn't want to leave. However, she told one of our neighbor friends, "When we really come it won't be that fun. It will be more boring." (Sabra's real first day is next Monday, Oct. 8.)


This is the one and only year that all four of my children will be at the same school!


After dropping the kids off, Sabra & I joined some other moms from our ward who were going out to breakfast to celebrate. We're all so relieved to have kids back in school! The boredom was becoming palpable around our house.


Ellison Park Elementary is still in the final weeks of completion. At present, the office, the library, gym, and lunch room have yet to be finished. However, the classrooms and hallways are all intact, desks are in, and teachers are there. No matter that the bells aren't in yet, the light switches aren't completely installed, fences and bike racks are nonexistent. The kindergarten playground was completed yesterday and is ready for those little ones to officially start playing on Monday.

This week mainly consists of "early-out" days, ending at 1:15 pm. No one seems to have any explanation for this phenomenon, other than guessing that it gives the workers more freedom to complete their jobs. (Although I have no idea what I'm talking about, my opinion is that they should have been paying the workers overtime to work 24/7 the last 4 months of summer so that the school would be completed. Overall, it seems like a fairly nonchalant attitude has been taken by the construction workers, in working 9-5 Monday through Friday....)

But we're thrilled to have structure and direction back at home! Now maybe I'll have time to keep the dishes, dusting, vacuuming, and other things around the house done. Or maybe it'll just be nice to have a little down time to read a book.

Zoo Trip

Thursday we wanted one last "hurrah" before school started, so I took the kids to the Hogle Zoo. I haven't been for a few years, although the kids always go with their first grade classes on a field trip. The kids have all been more recently than I have. I don't think Sabra remembered much about it, so it was like a first trip for her. That's the fun part about having young children--it takes awhile for those long-term memories to develop!

Callings

You know you're officially part of the new ward once you get callings. After 4 months here, we've got 'em. Mine is the 2nd counselor in Young Women's (as my neighbor said, "They were saving a BIG one for you!"), and Sean's is assistant scoutmaster over the 11-year old scouts. Jamie happens to be an 11-yr. old scout for one more month, so they'll have some quick father/son bonding time before his b-day.

Broken Arm!

Monday evening a family in our ward invited us over for dinner. They have a fun rope swing in their front yard, which you hang onto with both hands and swing out over a sloping hill. The kids all gravitated to the swing right off. We hadn't been there 10 minutes when Raleigh landed at the bottom of the hill after slipping off. She was crying, saying how much her arm hurt. Sean checked it out, and although there were no visible signs of breakage, he was pretty certain it was broken.

We put ice on it and gave her some Motrin & Tylenol, and stayed because we didn't want to spoil dinner for this nice family that had invited us over. A couple of hours later we drove home to put the kids in bed, and I was all ready to take her to the hospital then, but my non-alarmist medically trained husband knew that it wasn't an emergency. He suggested waiting till the next morning to take her in. The medication seemed to be working reasonably well, so we sent Raleigh to bed with her arm wrapped in an Ace bandage and iced.

I think we got off pretty easy that night--she woke up at 1:00 am and again at 5:00. After taking more medication, she went back to sleep both times.

I'd forgotten that my visiting teachers were supposed to come Tuesday morning between 9 and 9:30, so I decided not to cancel their visit, but take Raleigh in as soon as they'd left. They, of course, were late, so I think it was about 11:00 when I finally arrived with Raleigh at the hospital.

Sean had called our pediatrician and told her what was going on, so we didn't even have to go to the E.R. I had to check Raleigh in at outpatient surgery so that she could get the X-ray done that the pediatrician had ordered. We got the X-ray, and then headed over to Dr. G's office. They squeezed us in, even without an appointment, and, sure enough, her arm is broken! The break is about an inch up from her wrist on her left arm, and only affects one of the two bones in her arm. No surgery, no traction, only 5-6 weeks to heal. Dr. G. put a splint on right there in the doctor's office. We have to go back on Tuesday to get the permanent cast on.

Before the day was over, Raleigh had taken her splinted arm to some friends around the neighborhood so they could sign it. She's quite a celebrity, even at home, because she has the honor of having the first broken bone of our children.

Fair Fare

Every year possible since Jamie was 5, we've gone to the Davis County Fair. We missed last year, so this time it seemed like an especially good treat. There's something so fun about going to the petting zoo, seeing all of the blue-ribbon animals on exhibit, visiting the hen house and the bunny bin! Once you do all of that, you're ready to head across the grass and browse the tents for something fun. Horizon Credit Union has a fun exhibit, with mazes and games to try. This year someone had a science tent set up; the kids got to try a pulley, a water pump, making bubbles, and microscopes.



After the tent displays, a must is the fairway rides! And to top it all off, everyone got to pick one treat from the vast collection of vendors. It was a very satisfying evening!

Summer Pictures

24th of July Fireworks!
So far, we've only been able to come up with 2 advantages to not having a yard: no mowing, and being able to have your own very private fireworks show on the 24th of July!


Raleigh, Sara, Adri, & Carrie


Get ready for some fun in the boat!


Grandma Joanne's fashion statement: sunglasses & reading glasses together!


Bear Lake has something for everyone!


Jenni's enjoying the sun & sand!


Fashion conscious cousin Joey!


Hangin' out on the Bear Lake beach!


Waiting outside the temple for the Bills to be sealed to Silas (picture taken by Pat Hill)

Summertime, summertime!

Well, it's been about 6 weeks since I posted last, and I attribute my lack of postage to my kids. (I have no idea how people who home school their kids get ANYTHING done!) With kids home, my life becomes much more all about them, and much less about any free time I may have to update my blog. In fact, last Monday for a couple of hours was the FIRST TIME since May 31 that I've had the whole house all to myself.

This summer has been one of the most different ones we've had, because of our recent move. My kids have a few friends in the neighborhood, but not yet anyone who can be termed a "best" friend for anyone. In past summers, I haven't had all four kids home a whole lot during the day, because one or more have been at a friend's house at any given time. This summer, probably 90% of the time I have all four kids home. They've played very little with other friends. In some ways it's a blessing, because I think my kids are a little closer to each other than in the past, but they also tend to get on each other's nerves more. (And mine)

Another thing that makes this summer different is the LENGTH. Can you say LENGTH? May 31 was the last day of school, and the first day of school is October 1! They're building a new elementary school for us, and it won't be open till Oct. 1. We'll make up for it with 30-minute longer school days, plus we'll be in school till June 20 next summer. Right now that feels like a small consolation.

We've tried to do some fun things, though--we went to Lake Powell at the end of June and then to St.George for Megan's baptism, and the kids just finished swimming lessons. Raleigh & Tristan have taken a couple horseback riding lessons, and Sabra's been in gymnastics. Jamison had some merit badge classes at the beginning of the summer, and has been collecting bugs since then so he can earn his Insects merit badge.

And we're excited because Jamison will be starting football in August, with games beginning in September. Tristan wanted to sign up for soccer last spring, so he'll be trying outdoor soccer for the first time (he played indoor soccer the winter before last, and enjoyed it).

We're planning one more fun boating trip, to Bear Lake at the first weekend in August. Most of the Weston family will be there, which should be great! And maybe one more outing in September....

I think the moral of my summer is, if we're in the middle of the blahs right now, without much to do, at least there are good things to look forward to!
Jamison on the kneeboard--doing tricks!?

Raleigh's first try on the kneeboard!

Barbara, getting ready to unload the stuff onto the boat

Sabra loves riding in the boat!

Sean can still ski!


Tristan kneeboarded behind our friends' boat, & did great too!

Reunion Time

One thing our summers are usually full of are family reunions. Last weekend kicked off our first one, with Sean's mom's family, the Larsens. Actually, it was a first for us, because Sean was on staff at Wood Badge over the weekend, so the kids & I drove the 4 hours to the Panguitch KOA by ourselves. We stayed in a kabin, as opposed to our trailer. I'm OK with driving a few hours and kamping at a KOA by myself, but I'm not excited about pulling & setting up a trailer on my own!

For those of you unfamiliar with central/southern Utah, Panguitch is only a few miles from Bryce National Canyon.

Anyway, we had a great time. We got there Friday about noon and did some hiking by ourselves, waiting for the rest of the group to return from their hikes. The kids swam in the frigid pool (reports from the KOA staff were that the water was a balmy 52 degrees), and I was in charge of some crafts for the whole group while dinner was cooking. I brought the plaster-of-paris animals that we've painted in the past, and they were a huge hit with the 35 kids painting them. The kids also got to decorate some foam visors.


The highlight of the trip was the Saturday hike. Jess, Sean's younger brother, has a book with hikes, biking trails, etc. in that area, and he found a slot canyon that he was interested in hiking. So we all went--Marge & Duane, Melinda & family, Melissa & family, Jess & family (his 3 girls are all 4 & under), and Bethany, who was visiting from Branson with her 6-week old baby boy. Yes, the baby came too.

It was a great hike, down some narrow canyon walls to the space between the two high-sided rock faces on either side. We had to hand the kids down to each other several times. The weather was about 80 degrees, but hiking between those high canyon walls, we were in the shade probably more than half the time. That made it so the kids had no problem with the hike, and had plenty of energy.

Jamison wasn't with us on that hike, because he'd gone fishing to Panguitch Lake with some other cousins. We missed him! He & Sean would've loved it. The whole group decided we've definitely got to do that hike again next time we're down there!

We came home Sunday morning in time for most of church. We had a fun weekend, and Sean had a great experience at Wood Badge as well. It was nice to all be back together again, though. I definitely wouldn't want to be a single mom!

Tristan's Baptism

Tristan's baptism was last Wednesday, May 9. It was a very nice evening. It reminded me of 3 1/2 years ago when we traveled up to Portland to baptize Jamison. With both boys, we kind of had our own private family baptism. Tristan ended up sharing his with another girl from the ward, and that was good too.

I had told the primary president that we wouldn't need to have the baptism in the chapel, that the primary room would work great, because we wouldn't have very many family members there. And we didn't really--4 of my sisters were there, and 4 of Sean's siblings, with kids--and that took up all of the available chairs they'd set up. The poor other little girl's family probably thought they'd been invaded, although to me it still felt like a small gathering. Ah, perspective.

Tristan wanted Grandma Joanne to speak, so she gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. The other grandma gave a talk on baptism. And Raleigh & I sang, as per Tristan's request.

Afterwards everyone came over for a few minutes to have treats & talk.

Life lately...

I wasn't sure what to call this post, because there are so many events to update, that I wanted to do it all at once.

Raleigh's & Tristan's birthdays were both last week--on April 26, Tristan turned 8, and on the 27th, Raleigh turned 10! That just sounds so old; I guess that's the story of life as a parent, that you can't believe how old your kids are. They could have had "friend" parties, since we usually have had a friend party one year and a family party the next, but we're in kind of a hard spot right now, being brand new in a new town & school. They don't really have close friends here yet, and they've left their friends...so I convinced them to hold off on the friend parties till next year. They'll get a friend party 2 years in a row that way, so they felt OK about that.

Instead, we had hamburgers & hot dogs at the park, with as much family as was available. The family turned out to be: Grandpa & Grandma Weston, Diane, Louis & Carrie, and Joe, Maria, and their kids. I also let each of my kids have one friend come, so it felt even more like a party. Raleigh & Tristan shared a cake (I just wasn't up to making 2!)


In honor of their b-days, I thought I'd share some facts about each of them:

Tristan:
1.His favorite food is potato chips, or anything salty.
2. He's playing baseball this year and is a Pirate. He'd sleep in his Pirates uniform if we'd let him. No games yet; so far just practices.
3. He likes pretty much all foods.
4. He's going through a growth spurt lately; he has a constant boy-appetite, and is growing out of all of his clothes!
5. He loves to read, and will read anything & everything he gets his hands on.
6. He went to his first Wolf pack meeting this last week, came home, and read the first couple of chapters in his Wolf book and passed off a bunch of things. We hope that enthusiasm stays with him through his Eagle court of honor!
7. He currently LOVES Pokemon cards. He loves to tell his aunts Lynette & Sara about all of the Pokemon characters. I believe they're becoming quite knowledgeable!
8. He also loves playing video games. He & Raleigh have a good time together playing "Mario Baseball."
9. He doesn't like doing chores much, although his room is cleaner in the new house than it was in the old.
10. He's found that he's old enough to help his dad with projects, and feels very important helping with anything possible.

Raleigh:
1. Her favorite colors are blue & purple.
2. Her favorite foods are popcorn & pizza, although not necessarily together.
3. Her least favorite foods are pickles and pepperoni.
4. She is not a huge chocolate fan, and doesn't particularly like chocolate chip cookies. She'd rather have something fruity (Starbursts, gummy worms) for a treat.
5. She's been in a creative dance class this last year and just had her recital. She did a great job!
6. She likes having her own room--it stays cleaner--but she misses Sabra, especially at night when she's going to sleep.
7. She just did a county report on Rich County, and learned all about where the Westons came from, and Bear Lake.
8.She's enjoying her new school class. They just went on a water field trip, and she saw her old teacher and class there--they were on the same field trip, the same day.
9. She is my best and quickest chores-doer after school.
10. She loves to get & give hugs! And her favorite thing to do is play with friends.

Other than birthdays, we've had baseball practices for both boys (Sean got roped into coaching Jamison's team in all his "free" time!), a dance recital for the girls, and it seems like, plenty of running back & forth between Bountiful & Layton. We're feeling more settled in our new house, and are just trying to figure out which of the many projects to start on first: yard? building shelves in the storage room? finishing the basement? just to name a few.

We're also trying to figure out a baptism date for Tristan, which is becoming a harder thing than you'd think! Sean either has training for his upcoming Wood Badge scout course, or he's on call, or he's actually at Wood Badge at the end of May/beginning of June. So there doesn't seem to be a good available weekend anytime soon. We'll keep you posted!

Sabra's Trauma

One week ago today, about 30 minutes after the other kids left for school, Sabra wanted to turn off the TV which was on top of a bookshelf-type piece of furniture. She went climbing up the shelf, which was empty except for the TV on top, and the whole thing came crashing down on her. I heard the crash and the screams and arrived seconds later. Sabra was lying on her back with the shelf on top of her. I pulled the book shelf off of her, and saw blood all over her face. I grabbed a towel to wipe it off, and saw a deep gash at about the bridge of her nose from which blood was spurting. There was also some bleeding above her right eye.

We jumped in the car, and I called Sean to tell him to meet us in the ER. Sabra had to hold the towel on her face during the 20-minute drive to the hospital, which she wasn't happy about, not to mention the fear and the pain--it wasn't a quiet drive.

The gash was so deep that as the plastic surgeon stitched it up, he could see her skull. He could also see a hairline fracture, which they can't do anything about but wait for it to heal. He not only stitched up that deep gash, but also the cut above her eye. We're so lucky that it didn't get her eye!

During the stitches, they gave her some great medication. It was a shot that put her out for about 30 minutes

We're In!

We're finally moved in! We started a week ago on Monday, April 16. That day we managed to move the big stuff: all the furniture, and the majority of the important boxes. It started raining that night, and it turned into a downpour! But family & ward members just kept plugging away, loading, transporting, & unloading into the new house!

It's amazing how long it really takes to get all of the garage/shed stuff out, not to mention the cleaning of the old place, etc. That has all taken over a week! We couldn't have done it without Mom & Dad's help! And a few of the sisters from the ward were invaluable also--Michele Hardman & another sister were great to help with packing, cleaning, etc. for several days in a row! I'm so incredibly grateful for people's willingness to serve!

The new house is good. We're still unpacking and figuring out where to put it exactly, but it's nice to feel like we'll be here awhile. The kids are enjoying the new school; they've made friends already and like their teachers. They're on year-round school now, but I managed to get them on "A" track, which ends the same time as traditional school, so being this late in the school year, they won't even get a chance to go off track. And next year they'll go to a brand new school, which isn't year-round.

Aerospace Museum

Jamison loves the bombs & missiles....

Tristan is helping Sabra's feet not be so tired.

It's spring break this week! We'd originally hoped that we might be moving this week, so we didn't make any big plans. Unfortunately, we're still in the "packing" stage, and kids-out-of-school + packing = no fun for anyone. So, we've done relatively little packing this week, and a lot more playing. Monday the kids & I went to Crystal Hot Springs, and this afternoon we went to the Aerospace museum. You know, that is a great museum for FREE! I'd never been there before. I had always assumed that the museum part was the outside jets & planes that you can see from the freeway. But I think those are just the "display window." Barely the tip of the iceberg! We saw planes, helicopters, atomic bombs, missiles, uniforms, logos, etc. And we even sampled the astronaut ice cream from the gift shop. Amazingly good stuff. Of course, having Grandpa & Grandma there made it even more fun! I'll save the packing for next week, when I can do it myself and everyone's happy.

Another note: We'll probably close next week!