The Happenings Part 1

Conference weekend came and went again.  Six month seems to go fast.  We made forts, we made cinnamon rolls, went to Banna's for Sunday and played Conference Bingo.

For one of her Faith in God goals Addison made Sunday dinner for the entire family (us, Banna, Branda, Jeff, Lisa and Matt).  She made a pasta bar, homemade bread sticks, salad and apple cake.

She learned:

1.  That you try to clean up as you go.

2.  Put salt in the water to make it boil faster (I'm not sure if that's true, but that's what I told her)

3.  And making dinner is a lot of work.

It was delicious and she was proud. 

We finished the Fall soccer season.  

 And we were plenty ready for the break.  It freed up 5 different commitments during the week and we were barely hanging on there at the end.

And just in time  . . .

Addison's last game was freezing and we had to hurry home for our first hot chocolate of the season.

Olivia went to her first late night, pajama birthday party.  I thought they were cute all ready and excited. 

The sent lanterns into the sky to end the party . . . every little girl's fantasy right now.

And apparently some grown men's fantasy . . . later that night Ansen was all jazzed on cheap they were and how fun it would be for Christmas or New Year's Eve.

Addison is reading all the Judy Blume books right now.  Surprisingly I remember a lot of the stories from when I read them and we get to chat about the funny parts. 

Drew always assumes Addison is his captive play toy while she's reading, but she's a good sport. 

We made a quick trip to Logan and stayed with the Robbins.  We still miss the Robbins terribly, but we're glad for the excuse to go to Logan (and a place to stay).  Logan will always have a soft spot in our hearts and feel like home to Ansen and I.

We went to the tiniest Rodeo I've ever been too, but paid the same price as a "real" one.  Still something to do, right?  And anything is fun when it's with the Robbins'.  All 6 members of the Robbins family were able to pull out cowboy boots for the occassion so clearly they belong up there in Wellsville.



And unfotunately, this sight is nothing new to the neighbors - Drew out running around in his favorite skirt.

Look how gingerly he holds it up with both hands as he runs.  He's very practiced.

When he's not running, he holds it like that and swooshes it back and forth.

He's still 1/2 boy.  At least here, he's running back and forth picking up bugs and rocks to throw in the field.

There's just nothing like the breeze of a skirt when you're swinging.

And really I do prefer the skirt over the "Nakie."

Friday Night Fun

Banna and Branda took the kids to the Children's Discovery Museum the Friday Night of Fall Break.  And from the looks of it everyone had a blast.

I knew the ball area would be a hit . . .

and I knew the water would be fun and it was, but not for the reasons I was thinking . . .

Apparently Drew LOVED these gross, old fish.

I hate the time is just flying by.  It was seriously just a couple of months ago we were there . . .

I love/hate when I have pictures of them in the same spot doing the same things, just years older.  It almost makes my heart hurt that it's passing so fast. 

And since I wasn't there to get a decent picture with Banna and Branda, these will do . . .

And while these three crazies were gone, what did Ansen and I do?  To make it sound really good and impressive, I would probably say something like . . . "My dear husband came home early from work, whisked me away shopping all night, treated me to a steak dinner and then onto more shopping.  We laughed the night away and enjoyed out time together."

In reality, Ansen came home at 5:30, which is really early for him, we ran almost a million errands . . . Hobby Lobby, Roberts, Gap, Children's Place, and Crazy 8 . . . not a girl's fantasy shopping trip.  We went to Outback, where we sat by a table of college kids who were first time parents and realized we were old.  And then hit Costco for a major stock up.  But we did laugh the night away, got errands done in 1/2 the time it would have taken with kids, and we really did enjoy our time together.  Oh and we were driving a van the whole time . . .

Thanks for spending time with the kiddos Mom and Dad! 

And thanks for the evening out with Ansen.

Busy . . . . Clearly . .

Summer Bucket List 2011 - Wrap Up

Okay, so in retrospect, the bucket list for this year may have been a little ambitious for us.   We still have plans for a few of them.  Either way it was a good summer, a fun summer and we took advantage of a non-baby, more flexible, single napping baby! 

1. Go to an Owls game
2. Make homemade ice-cream
3. Read all the BOB books/15 new books
4. Go see Rio again (with Dad)
5. Fly kites
6. Go to Lagoon
7. Go 4 -wheeling
8. Organize CD collection
9. Walk to get snow cones
10. Go to Thanksgiving Point
11. Picnic at the park
12. Go to 7-Peaks
13. Go fishing
14. Go to a Bees game
15. Hike to Timpanogos Cave
16. Go to Logan to see our friends
17. Re-do back deck
18. Go see the last Harry Potter movie
19. Have a water party
20. Make our own Popsicles
21. Go to the Zoo
22. Go to an outdoor movie
23. Have a backyard camp out
24. Make a craft
25. Go to Oregon
26. Take swimming lessons
27. Play night games
28. Finish Roman shades in basement
29. Go get good ice-cream
30. Vacuum edges of carpet
31. Read Fablehaven 1
32. Play soccer with Drew
33. Run a 5k
34. Boating with Banna & Branda
35. Go to Bear Lake
36. Catch up on photo albums
37. Have a water balloon fight
38. Have smores in the canyon
39. Sew Christmas quilt
40. Finish the Book of Mormon

RKH x 5 in 2011

Incredibly, Ryan, Kendall and Halle have made it out here 4 times this year so far and will be back for Christmas.  I'm so glad this year was the year of the visits since now they have Halle and we really can't get enough of her.

I keep worrying that the next time they come she won't let us hold her (or man handle her depending of your age) but so far she'll go to any of us.

I'm also worried she'll loose all of her chubbiness one of these times . . . cute little mig.

I should have blogged this earlier since I forget, but last time I know we did lunch one day (I only got a pic of the girls).  

I love these lunches now that we all show up for converging from all over, all in our owns cars and then leave at various times (except for the recent one I was not invited to but stumbled upon since they were over in my turf :)).

And though Ansen and I have resisted a gaming system for 12 years now, when we were offered a free Wii, we couldn't resist (who could, right?) and now we are hooked on Just Dance (the only game we own).

Matt claims to not be into it, but the pictures prove otherwise.  Kendall, Matt and Jeff ROCK at it.  I've been practicing at home and you guys better be prepared to bring it at Christmas.

Ummm . . . notice who does not like Just Dance? 

 He's sitting in the back ground, at the computer by himself.   I did talk him into a few rounds one night after the kids were in bed and though he proved to me you could still get a high score using just your arm with the controller (which totally negates the cardio aspect), he admitted it was fun.



And I had to amend my post to include this memory . . .

Matt snuggled right in with Kendall so they could share a bowl of her specially made for her Cold Stone ice cream from Jeff.  There are almost no boundries with Matt, but Kendall didn't seem to mind either.

The day came

My youngest brother, Jeffrey, grew up and left on his mission this week to Barcelona, Spain.  We've all been anticipating this day for a long time and it was incredible it see it finally come.  I admire my little brother, I'm grateful for his example, I'm so excited to hear about all the experiences he gets to have over the next 2 years and I'm excited to see what more he becomes. 

It has made me reflect this week about my relationship with him and how grateful I am for it.  Which then got me thinking about the relationships I have with Ryan and Lisa and how though each relationship is unique I value each one of them more than words are able to describe.  Our Father in Heaven really knew what he was doing when he put us together and for that I am also grateful. 

The goodbyes are never easy, but there is definitely NO WHERE we'd rather he be right now.

Drew was devastated.
(Or rather, he was over tired, grumpy and a little turd that would not say goodbye)

Then he came around and waved goodbye with Kendall and Halle as the rest of us headed to the MTC.

My parents are officially empty nesters now . . . 31 years and now it's just them.

 Luckily Halle and Kendall were there for day 1 and day 2 to soften the blow.

The MTC is so efficient and we were in and out in 4 minutes. 

And then he was gone . . .

And then we had to face the long drive home where we all kept convincing each other how great this is, how excited we were for him, etc. while poor little Olivia sobbed in the backseat.

Banna gave Olivia her own card with his address and so the girls came home and promptly wrote their first "letters"  . . . Olivia just copied the address card and signed her name.

Wow, I'm so happy for him and again, man I admire him.

ESPANA

We're trying to soak in the last minutes of Jeff . . . before he leaves to Spain.

Mom threw a Espana party . . . complete with authentic food, a pinata . . .

with money . . . .

or actually not. 

One Easter we all stayed at the Marriott in Park City for Easter, which was having an Easter Egg hunt.  We all wondered if the Marriott would do anything cool (like money) or just candy.  My mom, dad, Ansen and Addison went down the hunt, which only produced candy.  But they decided it would be funny to put money in the eggs. 

Well, it worked and it's a family memory.  Lisa, Jeff and I all went crazy (maybe me more so than anyone else . . . or at least I got all the "credit" in every one's memories) fighting for the money. 

And we fell for it again . . . maybe me more so than anyone again.  Actually Matt was into it too, yelling to Lisa to get enough for the mortgage. 

And then the "Creative 4" went to Color Me Mine . . . thanks to Matt who thought Lisa could use the gift certificate he bought her on 5 separate occasions, but it was actually up to 5 people on one occasion.

I didn't get a "finished product" picture of all of our projects,
but here's mine even though they were all equally impressive.
The cashier actually had the nerve to call it a "plain pencil holder" which I was quick to correct.

It's at home on my desk and I think I will think of Jeff for the next 2 years everytime I look at it.

And I'm sold.  I will be back.

The Scooter Club

Meet the scooter club . . .

My friend Melissa bought a Scooter and spent the entire Summer convincing me how fun it would be to be part of her club and going riding together.  I spent the entire Summer convincing Ansen and my Dad to let me borrow my Dad's scooter, promising to stay in the ward boundries and to drive slow knowing that I am always on the defense and assuming that no one sees me. 

I finially got them convinced, adding that (1) with my new church calling I would be saving so much money in gas with all the driving around the ward I do, (2) all the time I would save with seatbelts, parking, opening and shutting door and all.

And so here we are . . . the Scooter Club. 

We go riding when we can . . .

And yes I found a reason to be a few minutes late (and made Addison be late too) for Olivia's soccer game, so we could ride the scooter.

I've been leaving my helmet on all the time as I run around dropping things off and such, but until I saw Matt (my brother in law) in Cafe Rio still wearing his scooter helmet I didn't realize how stupid I looked.

Melissa even has night googles to go with her helmet.

I love that:
one friend told us that we made her laugh for 3 days everytime she thought of us pulling up on our scooters
one guy asked if he bought a motorcycle could he be in the club (yes but only if he rides behind the scooters)
another friend is seriously talking to husband about getting her own scooter
another guy yelled at me that he "loved my scooter" while I drove by and again in the halls at church

and mostly I love that my kids think I'm cool when I pick them up from school on the scooter.

Matty and Leesie (I just came up with that for the title . . . we should call them that.)

 And backing up to the wedding . . .

Matt & Lisa McClelland
June 25, 2011

There were a couple of days here where things were so hectic and my camera didn't make it to the wedding (or the family reunion).  But we still got some good pics, like this one of Livy Lou!
(We did hot curlers, then pinned it into curls on her head, took them out in the car after we arrived and I think curls lasted the first 30 minutes . . . if that)

Okay and I have to just say here that we love Matt! 

Not just because he let's us tease him (and he teases us back), not just because he loves to play games, not just because he makes the best cheesecake and Belgium waffles ever, not just because I've never received so many compliments on my cooking than when Matt eats at my house, and not just because he paints his fingernails with my girls, but because fits right in.  He's excitable, he's fun and we really just like him.

(And in retrospect . . . I wish we'd curled Ad's hair too, but she was still a cutie)

And I had to throw this in there.  This is us almost exactly 7 years ago at the same place celebrating my brother, Ryan's wedding dressed in black and pink with our one darling little girl.

And here is Ryan and Kendall, 7 years later, same place, almost same colors, with their one darling little girl. 

Time marches on so fast.

And another reason I think I love Matt in our family is that while Ansen refuses to go to Breaking Dawn with me . . . Matt went ahead and jumped right in there and wants to come with me and some couple friends from the ward.