Anniversaries

Dave and I will be celebrating our 9th anniversary next week. No, we didn't decide to go have a couple photo session, this picture was taken when we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago, celebrating another special anniversary.



Fifty years ago, two marvelous people wed in the lovely Pensacola, Florida area. There they raised 8 fabulous children (my charming husband, included). FIFTY YEARS! Seriously, how momentous is that?! Dave's parents spent their actual anniversary date on the beaches of Hawaii. Little did they know that a family extravaganza was planned to share in the happiness! All 8 kids gathered (which in and of itself is a big deal-8 kids spread across 7 different states) and some of their spouses, a few of the grandkids joined in the fun. All the prep work and arrival of each family member was done without my in-laws ever suspecting. We mostly all stayed in hotels on the beach -no complaints here :)! They went out to dinner to celebrate another anniversary-that of their lovely daughter Anna, and her husband Curt. (This really was just a cover story, but Anna and Curt's anniversary was close enough to the date, they fell for it!) They arrived at the restaurant, were brought into a room filled with those they loved the most and it was a touching moment none of us will ever forget. The shock was apparent, the emotions were high, the smiles and laughs were plentiful and it was a marvelous time. Every detail was attended to-flowers, party favors, champagne (non-alcoholic, of course!), gifts, presentations, a toast, a professional wedding cake. It went off without a flaw. The next day we held a luau in their house, in honor of their romantic getaway. Because the events where all 8 siblings and parents get together have been at funerals or never, the kids took the opportunity to fulfill their mother's dream and get professional photos done. Here is everyone: Carl and Catherine, Anna, Serena, Amy, Brent, David, Brian, Dean and Russell. I can only hope that in 41 years, when Dave and I hit our 50th, we will have evolved into a couple like his parents: committed, completely in love, graceful, respectful, happy and shining beacons to all who they come into contact.





Meanwhile, back at the farm, my mom tried to keep the kids out of trouble. Kind of hard with this one:


She even filled in for me as Grant had his kindergarten Nursery Rhyme Festival. He debuted as 'The Muffin Man,' and she and my sister supported him in his singing/reciting endeavors. We are so grateful for our families!

Paying Attention

This weekend we watched the general conference of our church-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As always, it was just what we all needed to feel that our Heavenly Father knows us and is aware of our circumstances. Our testimonies of Jesus Christ were strengthened and our resolve to be better was renewed. Loved it. My kids also "watched" it. That's a lot of sitting and coloring and listening (8 hours over 2 days). This morning while I was getting breakfast ready, Grant was playing with his conference packet we made, with a paper pulpit, paper prophet cut out, as well as the counselors in the First Presidency. He placed the cut out of Thomas S Monson up to the play pulpit and enthusiastically shouted, "Are you ready? Ready for CONFERENCE? Let me hear you yell 'Conference.' " (This is all said as if pumping up a sports team for the big game.) There was a dramatic pause as he echoed the word softly. Then, Grant repeated, "Come on,louder, say CONFERENCE. I can't hear you!" This time, the imaginary crowd reached the desired decibel of saying the word and Grant then did the sound of a distant crowd going wild "AHHHHH." So, while I am not sure he got a message over the weekend, he was paying attention. I must have missed the part of general conf where President Monson asked everyone to yell out conference and have those in attendance shout yeah! But, at least Grant is interepreting it as being exciting!!

Brenna, of course wasn't paying attention. And if I am not paying attention to her, she is walking across our island, scaling the oven door to get to the stove, climbing up the bunk beds (yes, we did take down the ladder, she scales it at the back). She's crazy. I told her I wasn't going to take any more pics of her until she grew some hair, but I caved.

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One other thing Grant has being paying attention to: the ladies. Last night, he was writing notes to some classmates. One said, "Here is my number." Another, "You are funny." All of them ended with 'Love, Grant.' Until I got to one addressed to "Betty." (Name has been changed to protect those involved ;)!) It said, "Dear Betty, You Are Preti (pretty). From, Grant." I asked Grant if he thought "Betty" was pretty and he said, "Oh yes, and I love her voice. I want to kiss her on the lips." Oh dear. I told him not to...you never know, he probably would be hit with a harrassment suit of some sort. I will try to keep him in check, but girls-you better run!

Another Birthday

Katelee turned 4 last week finishing up our busy birthday season. She is our little St. Patty's girl, which in itself is ironic because 2 of my 3 kids have reddish hair. Katelee is the one that doesn't, while she wanted to recognize her Irish roots by appearing on leprechaun's day, she has not the red hue or freckles or light coloring. We celebrated with a flip flop cake (gluten free, of course) presents and dinner of green food and good company with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Shannon. Katelee got a new bike and couldn't wait to try it out. She took off without a hitch. She chose to go to Kangaroo Zoo for a party with Brenna and Grant and they ran around like wild animals. Katelee is a pure girl. She cries daily, those tears can appear instantly and with drama like you have never before experienced. However, overall she is so fun and pleasant. We consider her to be like a little ray of sunshine, cheesy-yes, but true. She is so sunny and bubbly and skips, dances, sings her way through the day (with the previously mentioned dramatic outbursts sporadically placed). Even one of her friends asked her the other day as she was making up songs and bouncing around, "Why are you so happy?" Maybe she will be our optimist. She turned to me during church the other day and said, "Why do they always talk about Satan?!" She would rather we all burst out in happy songs like she does and peform some impromptu musical. I guess it could happen. Love our sunny lass!

Party til You Drop

Actually, Brenna's narcoleptic high chair episode was not due to excessive partying. She's been sick, all the kids have been. I was just saying how the illnesses haven't been too frequent around our house this winter, then we got hit. But, we are on the mend. Now back to normal activities which consist of all things "fun." Everyday, usually after Grant is off to school, a little whiny gal moans, "Mom, I want to do something fun." This phrase is repeated over and over again and does not stop until a fun activity is found. Somedays I am Mary Poppins and try to teach Katelee that "in every task that must be done, there is an element of fun." She isn't buying it. She insists that her choices of fun things include: Candyland (which is constantly rigged by putting Princess Frostine as her first card drawn), Ring Around the Rosie, London Bridge is falling down-a real challenge with just us two, Hide and Seek or Play on the Computer. Next year, when Grant is gone all day long, I am afraid I am in for it. Although maybe Grant will be home next year because he told me the other day that "school wastes his time." I am hoping Brenna will grow into an entertainer role a bit for Miss Katelee. She can't keep up with the kids in a lot of play, but she seriously knows how to light saber better than I do.

My list of fun rarely coincides with Katelee's, but she has been telling me how much she loves roller coasters. She prays over her food, each time it is her turn to pray that the food may " help her to ride the roller coasters, because we love roller coasters." She continues with "bless the food so we will grow and be big enough to ride all the roller coasters." It is a good motiviation for those vegetables that I believe really tip the charts on roller coaster height qualificiations.

Let Them Eat Cake

I think that frivolous French queen may have been on to something with that statement. We are partial to the deliciousness of cake, and look for every opportunity to consume it. The past few weeks gave us plenty of chances! We celebrated Grant's 6th birthday!!! And while I like to think of Dave and I as equal opportunity parental figures, we had a slip of the brain and failed to take many pictures. It really is a travesty because his celebration was such a success! Grant opted for a Star Wars birthday...shocker, I know. He invited some friends and had a jedi training experience with pizza, Yoda sodas and games. After their master/trainer (aka known as Master Kara the Wise, dressed in my father's ever so handy brown robe) had assessed they were prepared for full jedi status, we went to our garage. I had all the boys try to FORCE up the garage and somehow...they did!! No one was standing by the garage door button, but it surely did arise and there on our driveway was DARTH VADER! The entire pack of boys attacked as only jedi's can. It was fabulous. We love our little Star Warrior. Brenna, the wild child, the crazy climbing animal of the house, turned 1 last week!! She loved her toy and loved her cake, as displayed in the series of pictures to follow, tenderly entitled "Progression of Cake Consumption"

.Roll her out, she is done. Cake=yummy; result=sugar overload!