Independence Day 2013

 What a weekend! We partied for four days until I, personally, had enough! I was an awesome celebration, though, and we had lots of fun and even learned a few things about our nation's roots.
We started with the Freedom Festival parade on July 4th. Brett went out the day before to set out a blanket just outside his work. It was a mad house! People are zealous about parade spots, and partying all night long! We just left a blanket and slept in our nice comfy beds and came back to see the parade in the morning. It was pretty funny that some of those people that partied all night while holding their parade spot--dozed through the parade and left early!!

 Rowdy parade go-ers!

 Also on July 4th, we all went to see the movie Epic. Just last week we saw Croods and Ellie did great. Apparently Epic isn't so captivating for a two-year-old. We hit 7 Peaks on Friday afternoon. We had time to play in the kiddie pool and go down the tube slides about 4 times before we fled before the coming storm. We got home and changed clothes just as an AWESOME storm broke open over Provo. I didn't take pictures, but we sat under our carport for an hour watching tons of lightening and down-pouring rain. The thunder and lightening was so great, but it unnerved the girls a bit. Ellie still reminded us days later how she heard the thunder and saw the lightening (and her eyes are the size of saucers as she's recounting the experience).  We drove downtown for dinner at Los Hermanos. Lots of other people were ducking into the restaurants from the rained out carnival downtown. It seemed to wreak havoc on the outdoor festival!

 We tried to time things so we didn't have early mornings following late nights. We went on Saturday morning to see the hot air balloon launch--but from continuing effects from last night's storm meant the launch was cancelled. Boohoo! I wish we'd known that before we woke our kids up for the sunrise launch! Smokey the Bear tried to salvage the event by giving out free Frisbee and there was tons of Frisbee play for about 30 minutes, and then the field cleared in an instant when it started to rain!  Ellie was terrified of Smokey. She clung to me and when Smokey put his arm around me, she about lept out of my arms to be sure he didn't touch her!

 We spent all day Saturday at the Walk of Freedom in Orem. We each got to choose a name of an immigrant (given to us or created by us if we were familiar with our ancestors) and we went through 10 educational stations to learn about experiences of early immigrants and core principles of our government, etc. It culminated with a mock oath of citizenship. We also watched a musical program that depicted some events surrounding the creation of the United States. I can't help but feel again how blessed we are to live in this nation, how grateful I am to so many who have sacrificed to preserve it, and how mighty the hand of the Lord is in guiding the events of our history. We have much to be grateful for and much to protect.

 It was pretty cool, but lasted longer than we anticipated so we were pretty tired and hot and ready for a break.

 We got lunch at Wendy's, then I took Ellie home for a nap while the other's continued on to the Colonial Festival at the other end of Scera park.

 This is the best time out ever! :)  I guess that depends on your perspective!

 Boston immigrants--they made rope, washed clothes on a board, hauled water in a wooden yoke, watched a candle making demonstration, and more. So much to do and so little time!

I don't have pictures, but we also watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks while eating sno-cones. This was my first time having a sno-cone with ice cream in it. Pretty good!

It's HOT! June Update

We had such a temperate and nice May and June. I missed most of May working too much and end of school activities. June was fun and went fast. Now we're melting and trying to stay cool. I miss being outside but how can you cope with temps over 100 degrees? My kids are hot and red faced after half an hour. We're now hibernating during those hot afternoons and just trying to play in the morning and evening.

 Duckling races at the Utah Lake Festival

 Fish wind socks and fishing for coupons.

 Hay ride

 Someone learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  Great Job Amanda!

 Visiting the Provo City Center Temple site.

 Slip N Slide! We haven't taken the camera to 7 Peaks yet. . .

Here's how we tried to stave off boredom in June. We've also been to ONE HOT Owlz game and the Dollar Movies to see Crood. It was FUNNY!  :)  

PS-In the time it took to write this post (minus the pics) my two-year-old snuck into the storage room and grabbed a handful of un-frozen otter pops. I'm sure she knew she was naughty because she hid under the table in the family room table to bite open the red one. . . you can imagine how it went from there.

Mother's Day 2013

Mother's Day this year came with a little road trip. We visited 2 great grandma's and 2 grandma's. Great Grandma Hadley had a newborn calf and we also got to feed her chickens. We hated being so brief, but it was fun to see everyone and tell them of our love!

 

 

  

 Love you Grandma Greer!

 

 

 

 Grandma Nichols had a fiesta for 5 de Mayo.

 We love Grandma Great!

Amanda practicing mothering.

9 Years!

What a great ride it's been! We've had some unexpected turns, but I'm so grateful to have Brett by my side for each and every adventure. I love you, dear! And here's to document the brief beard too. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Despite having a house full of sickies, we shared a lot of love and had a sweet day. Should we do the math? Strep x2, croup x1, bilateral ear infection x 1, colds x5, sinus infection x1. Can we move on to Easter now?  :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We are filled with gratitude as we recall the wonderful year we’ve had. Most especially, we are grateful for family, for peace, and for our Savior whose birth we celebrate at this glorious time of year.

Last fall, we found a rare discount on Disneyland annual passes, so we took advantage and made 2012 our Year of Disney! We went four times and have had so much fun watching our girls light up and play in such a magical place. It’s been a joy to see the little ones progress and graduate to bigger rides and braver experiences. Of course, visiting the princesses always ranks high on our favorites, but we also loved the new Cars Land. Amanda loved Splash Mountain, and Katie loved California Screamin’ (the big roller coaster). Ellie’s favorite was Dumbo. Brett and Wendy prefer Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Tours. We will look back fondly on these trips for many years to come.

Katie (6) entered first grade this fall and is participating in a Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion program. She spends half her school day with a teacher who only speaks Chinese to her.  Although it has been a challenge for her, we are so proud of Katie for her hard work and courage in learning to speak and write a difficult new language.  She has matured and grown much, truly becoming a joy to her parents! Katie still enjoys gymnastics, singing, riding her bike, playing games, creating new train track routes, writing stories, and, to her parents satisfaction, reading!

After years of feeling left behind, Amanda (4) has finally been able to go to school like her big sister—preschool, that is. She has made new friends, been on field-trips, and is preparing to learn to read. Amanda also enjoys gymnastics and, after hard work and practice, has perfected her cartwheel! She is a good friend to Ellie and loves to play pretend with her. Amanda loves to dress-up and play school, church, or “Mom.” Funny how when they play house, no one ever plays “clean the house!” J She’s a great singer and dancer.

Ellie (2) is leaving babyhood behind, much to mommy’s dismay! She has gained an independent streak of doing things herself. She runs, jumps, and climbs to keep up with her big sisters. She loves babies and dolls, doggies and animals, and is finally learning to play briefly with her sisters’ trains before destroying them. She loves to get on her shoes and jacket and GO (usually not caring where)! She has moved up from communicating with sign language and now speaks 4-5 word sentences and we’re amazed at her vocabulary explosion. Katie and Amanda think it’s funny to get Ellie to say big words.

Brett is still working locally with a small business law firm. He enjoys the people he works with and is gaining more experience, but often misses banking. He tries to keep up with all the projects that come with a 60 year old house, and our beautiful yard. He enjoyed taking his family to two BYU football games this season, the first with unseasonably warm temperatures and the second 12 hours after the biggest snow storm we’ve had in a year!

Wendy continues to work at community clinics in Salt Lake and Provo. She enjoys volunteering in Katie’s classroom a couple times a month and chaperoning as many field trips as possible for Katie and Amanda.  She loves the days when the laundry is done and we can all play together!

We pray that you and your family enjoy a wonderful holiday season, filled with the warmth and love that comes from our Savior and Lord. May you also know of our love and gratitude for you and the way you have touched our lives for good.  Merry Christmas!

Love,

Brett, Wendy, Katie, Amanda, and Ellie