Day at the Museum

We have had so much fun with my sister and her family this week.  They drove up from AZ to hang out during the holidays.  Yesterday we took the kiddos to BYU's Earth Science Museum and Life Science Museum.  Here are a few pics.  This is a Blue-tongued skink from Australia.  My niece Lauren is pointing to where it licked her hand.

Rebecca and the giant alligator skull.
My nephew Bradley and the dinosaur head.
David shaking hands with the giant Sloth.
Rebecca by the big T-Rex.

St. Nicholas Day

Saturday morning was BYU's Family Christmas Party. They had games and activities as well as a visit from Santa. We had a fun time just being together. Later we hung lights outside and decorated our tree. It was a good day.  Sarah even let Gram hold her without crying.  I'm glad we got it on camera. (For those of you who don't know--Sarah almost always cries when anyone except her parents are holding her.)
David got a "Ho-Ho Yo-Yo" to decorate.  He put his name on it.  He loved it so much he even slept with it that night.

Rebecca and Aunty Becca both picked out the purse to decorate.  Neither of them would let go of it all day.  


We waited in line for over an hour to see Santa. This is the best picture we got (Sarah isn't crying though--one small bright spot). David hid behind me and Rebecca cried.  Once we were out of line David started crying because he didn't tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.  Luckily, one of the activities was writing letters to Santa.  They even had a mailbox.  Once we wrote a letter David was happy again.  Maybe next year we will go straight to the letters and skip the personal visit with Santa.  

My latest creation: For Moms Only!

So, I know what most of you are asking: "It looks cute, but what exactly is it?"  All of the new moms are talking about their wonderful nursing covers (officially named "Hooter Hiders").  I thought they looked nice so I decided to make one.  (As if I would pay $35 for a square of material-- yes that is how much they cost at a real store.)  About an hour and a half later I was done.  Anyhow, I think I've stumbled on an inexpensive and useful baby gift.  If you are expecting and want to request a pattern just let me know and we'll work something out.  :o)

P.S. It rolls up and conveniently fits into most diaper bags.  Bonus!

David's Success

On Sunday we had our ward's Primary Program.  This was David's first experience with it.  He was very excited.  They have been practicing for the past few weeks up on the stand.  Once I convinced David that the seats were "magic seats" and he realized that he didn't have to go to his regular class "forever and ever" (all that day), he was sold on the plan.  It was all good until the time actually came to leave us and sit up on the stand.  I decided to join him and sit on the floor next to his seat until he felt more comfortable.  We were impressed that he let me leave after a few minutes and then stayed up there all by himself.  Each child had a "talk" or sentence that they said.  David practiced hard and spoke very clearly.  He shared a quote from "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."    He said, "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."  

What a wonderful reminder to all of us.  We have all had plenty of opportunities during the past weeks to reflect upon marriage and families.  I'm grateful for this inspired document to the world that clearly states how I feel about the importance of marriage and families.  I know that my family is happiest when we follow the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What are some things you do to feel happy?

(click ">here to read the entire Proclamation).

Fun Fall Photos

So, I had decided that we were not going to do family photos this fall. It was too stressful. Then I heard that our favorite photographers were going to be in town at the end of October. They had an opening in their busy schedule and squeezed us in. We found a few spots with some leaves still on the trees. It was fun to spend time together with Gram, Papa, and Aunty Becca before winter sets in. We'll get more pictures from them soon from their camera.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch

Our ward's mother's group all met at a local pumpkin patch/ vineyard this week. The kids had so much fun running around. There was a corn maze, a farm animal area, and a playground. It was a fun little outing for not too much money. My only real issue was the field full of vegetables still on the vine that is not being used except for decoration. Anyhow, here are a few pics of the kids.

Harvest Season

I think I understand more now why families all worked together during the Harvest Season.  I have felt overwhelmed with the amount of work that goes into preserving food for the coming winter.  We have fruit that I can't can quick enough.  It is also difficult when we can't seem to get over being sick.  After ten days of vomiting, we have now made it 48 hours without anyone getting sick.  Horray!!!  So these two reasons are why I haven't been blogging lately.  We're sorry that we have shared our sickness with others, but we're glad that we were able to share some of our fruit.  We hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful Autumn Season.  

Happy 5 Month Birthday!

Today Sarah is 5 months old.  In celebration, she rolled over all by herself (from her front to her back).  She wins for earliest roller out of our three children.  We'll see if she masters rolling from her back to her front.  The other two never did this.  She is quite pleased with this new skill as long as you don't make her do it too many times in a row.  Here's a video of her new accomplishment.

  

By the way, sorry that we haven't had very many pictures of Sarah-- she spends a lot of her day on my back so it's hard to take pictures of her.

BYU Botany Pond

Every week our ward mother's group gathers together and hangs out for an hour or two.  This week we went to the BYU Botany Pond.  It's a little pond with lots of ducks (like 50 or 60 Hungry Ducks).  It is nice to know that there are still ducks here at BYU even though they filled in the stream that used to go through the housing area where Ganon and I met/ fell in love/ got engaged, etc.  Anyhow, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the kiddos.  

(This little family of ducks had ten babies.  They crossed the street back and forth three or four times while we were there.  It was interesting to watch the cars stop and wait and then the ducks stopped too.  Apparently the drivers aren't used to driving on roads with ducks.)

I'm not sleepy, Mama

     Rebecca has been refusing to take naps lately.  Usually she ends up falling asleep on the way to pick up Ganon from work at 4:45 pm.  Today she woke up early so I tried to put her down for a nap.  She refused, so I gave up.  She ended up curling up under the chair I was sitting on.  

     Then I moved to the kitchen to work on dinner and David followed me.  He fell asleep a few minutes later at my feet in the middle of the kitchen.  It was pretty cute.  Unfortunately, Sarah woke up as Rebecca fell asleep.  Luckily, she likes the back-carrier so I can carry her on my back while I make dinner.  It's amazing how peaceful it can be with happy children.

Happy Birthday Ganon!

     Today we celebrated Ganon's birthday.  (I found the candles and lighter last night as I was unpacking yet another misc. box-- perfect timing)  Kelly and her kids made the trip down to help us celebrate.  It was fun getting to hang out and spend time together.  

     I would like to mention how grateful I am for such a wonderful husband.  I have been incredibly blessed to be married to a man that is so hard-working, talented, self-less, patient, and unconditionally loving.  He has always taken such good care of me and our little family.  I can't say enough how wonderful he is.  Thank you, Ganon, for everything.  I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

Another Dress

Here's my newest dress creation.  I made something like unto sleeves.  We found the material in the basement.  It used to be a table cloth, but it was a little bit too bright.  

Fun in the Sun

We Finally have internet in our new place. I am so excited to be able to post pictures again. Here are a few from the past few weeks. We still have boxes and a little bit of chaos, so I'm not ready to put up more pictures of the house. My goal is to be all unpacked and semi-clean before Ganon's Birthday. We'll see.

My sister-in-law Valerie and her four children came and stayed with us right after we moved in.  It was so fun to have them visit.

This is Sarah in her exersaucer.  She is already a big fan. just like her big brother.

We hung David and Rebecca's swings in the front tree.  I have to watch Rebecca because she likes to go out in the backyard to play and almost always ends up in the front sitting in her swing.

David and Rebecca decided to help us water the lawn while Ganon and I unpacked the garage.  They enjoy making sure that the sprinkler is really spraying water.  

Semi-Accurate House Pics

By Popular Demand, I am adding a few pics of the house. These are ones that were taken before we moved in, so not all of the furniture is the same. We'll give more accurate ones soon.

This is our front porch before we repainted it. We're in our most lovely painting clothes.

This is now David's room, so the table is in the living room.

This is the living room.

This is the little room downstairs that is very girly.  We keep finding Rebecca in it 

just looking around.  

This is the Master Bedroom.  The bed didn't come with the house.

This is our really long driveway.

This is the back yard with our great fruit trees.  The apricots were ripe right as we moved in.  Perfect timing.

We're Movin' On

After several months of looking, multiple unsuccessful attempts, waiting for the right place with the right price, performing extensive repairs, and negotiating through five addendums, we are finally officially homeowners.   So we have begun the crazy process of moving... again.  

This whole crazy home-buying process has been an education, to say the least.  I feel like we have learned a lot about priorities, preferences, ideals, and reality.  Most importantly, we have learned to trust the Lord.  The house we just purchased is just around the corner from our current apartment.  We were told that it was for sale the day after we moved in.  Neither Ganon or I felt very strongly about it so we kept looking elsewhere.  Over a month later we felt like we should take a closer look at the place.  Amazingly, the price had dropped $15,000.  What a wonderful blessing.  While this house is not exactly our ideal, and it doesn't meet all of our preferences, we know it is the place for us to be right now in our lives.  We are excited about having our own place and all of the craziness that comes with it.  Thanks to all of you who have helped us (and will help us) get here.  We couldn't have done it without you.

Sorry no pics yet... we're too busy moving...  ;o)

Sewing Adventures

This is my latest creation.  My friend told me how to make pillowcase dresses, so I thought I'd try it.  This wasn't made from a pillowcase, though, but it's about the same size.  I thought it was pretty cute since it was a work in progress and had no pattern.  Cheap is good too.

Happy Anniversary

So, today is our Fifth Anniversary.  I put a few pictures together as a brief highlight.  Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

By the way, Ganon is the best husband and father Ever!  I am very blessed to have him in my life.  Here's to Eternity Together.

Provo Parade

This 4th of July we decided to have a small family celebration.  After the Balloon Festival, Ganon rode his bike (with his trumpet strapped to the baby-bike-seat) downtown.  The Utah Freedom Band was going to perform on the parade route, but not in the parade.  The kids and I joined him with the jogging stroller shortly before the parade.  David and Rebecca had lots of fun listening to the band play some upbeat tunes while the nearly-100 parade entries mosied by.  The kids liked the fire engines, the horses, and the big balloon animals.  I think David's favorite was Curious George.  There was a banner across the road near us so it was exciting watching the animals duck underneath.  I caught one of these times on camera. 

We were too far from the road to get any candy (the kids were shy and couldn't eat most of it anyway).  David took good care of Rebecca by pointing out the up-coming attractions.  It was a fun morning for all of us.

  

Balloon Festival

What is this supposed to be?


One of Provo's well-known traditions is its annual Balloon Festival. It begins at 6:30 am on July 3,4 & 5. Hundreds of people gather at the break of dawn in the large field across the street from our house. Yesterday we heard the music, but we didn't look out the window until after the balloons were mostly gone. This morning I woke up and went to the field to take a few pictures. Ganon woke the kids as the balloons lifted off. They were able to see everything from their bedroom window. It was pretty fun to hear them chat about all of the different balloons and which ones were "about to land on our house." The kids enjoyed it, but I'm glad that they were able to watch from the comfort of their pj's since the excitement only lasted a few minutes.
David Loves Smokey the Bear!

New Quiz

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

So, I don't know if I believe this one, but I thought it was fun. Try it, and then send the results to my comments section.

Stake Picnic

Our Stake had a Picnic at Lions Park.  The kids had lots of fun eating hot dogs, snow cones, and cotton candy.  Rebecca let me paint her face and Ganon helped David build a Rocket.  They had some PVC pipes hooked up to an air compressor that would shoot the paper "rockets" about 100 feet into the air.  It was lots of fun.  Unfortunately, paper rockets, like balloons and stickers, don't last forever.