Slick Stuff

The Eat-Too-Much-and-Stay-up-Too-Late party

2012-02-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

New Year's Eve was filled with games and food, food and games.

Some of us celebrated with New York.

Some of us didn't celebrate at all.

But, some of us were big party animals!

At midnight we went outside to bang our pots and pans.

We saw this.

We couldn't believe it. We love the movie, Tangled and couldn't believe that someone could actually pull off the real floating lanterns like in the movie.

They were so impressive looking as they glided up into the dark sky.

Maryn had gone to a tri-stake dance that night. We started telling her about the awesome floating lanterns we had seen at the same time she was starting to tell us about the awesome floating lanterns they had released at the dance.

I was so glad that we had seen those and I was so glad that I had taken pictures to show her what she had done.

Marty and I were cheering as the new year rang in.

Cambri would not stop celebrating. She was the party girl that night.

Happy NEW YEAR 2012!!!

I am bound and determined to have this year be my best year so far!

Much to fill you in on with goals and desires

stayed tuned.

Get rid of the Old and Bring in the crappy

2012-02-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

We have loved our Red Honda Odyssey.

It's been a good, reliable, family member.

We love Hondas (does that plug get us a free car maybe?)

But, our van had a trillion miles on it and was starting to get elderly.

Hence, it was time to say bah-bye.

Jeff got the lookin' bug and came home one day with a new (not brand new) Odyssey.

Our first time buying a used car.

We were so excited to have the 2008 updates and gadgets...

side windows going up and down

sun roof

bigger DVD screen

and so on.

However, as of this posting, 1 month later, that darn car has been in the shop twice...

once to get something replaced that was still covered under warranty. (2 days)

And, once to replace the engine.

Yep

You heard that right.

a new engine.

It's been in the shop for over a week now

needing a new engine.

A new engine!

I won't get into the story of it all but now we have mixed feelings about used cars

and about Hondas.

That bleepity bleepity blasted car.

Don we now our gay aparrel and more Christmas cheer

2012-02-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

How did you feel about having Christmas on Sunday this year?

Our church was at 9:00 which made us wonder if we should quickly open presents before church, go to another church time or just take it easy and have Christmas last all day after going to church, of course.

I was in favor of the latter.

I was grateful that the kids were understanding in waiting to open their presents.

I was grateful that we could start out our day going to church

to worship

and sing

and hear nice talks

about Jesus.

Isn't that what Christmas is about?

So, isn't that a wonderful way to start off our Christmas day?

By remembering Him and celebrating Him, before we gush each other with gifts and things?

I enjoyed that.

And our Christmas celebrating did last ALL day long.

That's normal for us anyway, which I love.

The kids woke up around 7:30 and checked out their stocking stuff and got ready for church. We were over to my parents home for a Christmas breakfast before 8:00.

Impressive I think.

Here are some after church photos in our Christmas apparel.

The Shumans.

Dad got some special recognition at church for that bow tie. He's worn it as long as we all can remember and it's just not Christmas without it.

The handsome, eligible brothers.

Santa thought appropriate to help the Slichta family become true Blue BYU fans, especially now that we live in Utah.

After church we went back to "our" house and opened our presents.

(just as a side note to that I am a bit embarrassed by the overkill that the kids had this Christmas. We've never done this much for Christmas before and I'll admit it was way too much. But, this year was weird. We haven't had our "stuff" since August and we still don't have it. On a moving truck somewhere. So, the kids really do need things. Plus, with the school so far away and me hanging out in Salt Lake so much I found plenty of extra time to do shopping and catch all the great sales. Before I knew what had happened we had that Christmas tree filled to over capacity.
Next year I want to go to Mexico and serve the orphans.)

We went back to Mom and Dad's for a fabulous Christmas dinner with everyone and then Santa somehow found us over there to do our scavenger hunt.

Always the highlight.

The night ended with games around the table.

Another glorious Christmas.

We miss you SO much!

2012-02-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

Our special friends from Washington came to Utah for Christmas. We were lucky enough to squeeze in a visit with them.

We made donuts.

and went to a movie... 3 movies actually.

The little kids and the mom's went to one.

The older kids went to one.

And the dad's went to one.

They are such great friends.

We were so happy to get to see them.

Christmas Eve

2012-02-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

The new ward that my parents got switched to

(and us too since we have been going to church with them for the last 4 months)

has a tradition of having a special and short musical program on Christmas Eve.

This year Marianne was asked to sing a little ditty.

I accompanied her.

(while we're on the topic, people at church get Marianne and I mixed up a lot. Marianne spoke a few weeks ago and told a crazy story. Now I get people coming up to me telling ME that I gave a really great talk and they can't believe the guy in her story was such a dork. I don't have the heart to say, "Oh, that was my sister." I just say thank you.

Jeff sang in church and I accompanied. Now Marianne gets folks coming up to her saying that her husband sang most lovely. A lady at a restaurant thought we were twins. Either Marianne must have crows feet around her eyes like me or I have a lovely, squared off jaw bone like Marianne.

Ha!

Neither,

or I'm just the fat twin and she's the one with the long luscious eye lashes.

Oh, but I digress....

We did a wee bit of singing around the piano and Maryn belted out her best opera.

I think that's what she's doing here.

Our Nativity reenactment...

Ady chose to be the narrator this year;

the modern, techie narrator on an IPad and everything.

Enough said.

Enough said again.

I'm pretty sure those are the best gifts Baby Jesus has ever received.

Our angel was very much in character.

When all the children were nestled in their beds and visions of sugar plums were dancing in their heads and tummies...

I had to take a picture after Santa came

because

I love the magic feeling of Christmas after Santa comes

AND

who would have ever imagined that we'd be living at Marty's house having Christmas?

Nightie-Night!

How old is Grandpa?

2012-02-06T21:47:00.001-07:00

My dad's birthday.

The kids wrote him cute notes.

This is trick photography sort of because it makes you think he is a pretty sharp 89 year old.

Don't you want to look that good when you are 89?

Sheeze!

What moisturizer does he use I wonder?

Not really.

68, but still pretty sharp looking and very clear skin for a man of that age.

What more can I say about Dad that I haven't already said on this blog?

I love living close to him.

Even though he never got his Eagle Scout he needs an honorary one because he IS one.

He can do everything.

Besides,

he is honest, clean, brave, nice, special, helpful, true, benevolent and all the other qualities good scouters have.

He loves his family SO much and he never lets a day go by without us knowing it.

Someday I think he might be the prophet.

I would vote for him.

Happy birthday Dad!

Love ya!

Holiday Gayeties

2012-02-06T10:59:00.001-07:00

As Christmas was approaching Kaden had a mishap on the family treadmill. The details are sketchy but here's what we know...

He fell flat on his face as the belt was going faster and faster.

He got belt burns on various spots on his face and on his hands.

Ouchie!

What a way to have all of your Christmas pictures taken. He was self-conscious about how he looked and was glad that school was out for 2 weeks so he didn't have to see his friends in this condition. It was nasty looking... worse than what this picture even shows.

We decorated cookies with our cousins, the Brinkerhoffs and Erickson cute girls.

Don'tcha want to take a big bite into that pile of sugary color?

We spent a day making our fabulous gingerbread houses.

We had many projects going on every day.

Emmy's project.

Waffle pretzels, warm a Christmas chocolate kiss on it and press a Christmas M & M in it.

Ady's project. Painting a secret surprise.

Marianne made these super cute Santa's hats. A keeper idea for sure.

Bugles, dipped in red chocolate with a marshmallow on top and powdered sugar on the bottom.

And of course watching lots of movies together.
What is more magic at Christmas time than doing all of these fun things?

Christmas Entertainment

2012-02-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Being residents of Utah for Christmas was a treat this year because we got to join in all the gobs of concerts, plays, shows and great things going on that are right here in our backyard.

I just couldn't say no to anything.

*It started out with some of us going to our favorite Hale Center Theater for

A Christmas Carol.

*Then the BYU Folk Dancers Christmas Around the World which was nostalgic for those who were in it long ago and those who were forced to go see those who were in it long ago.

*Michael McLean's, Forgotten Carols

*Festival of Trees

*Miracle of Jonathan Tomey play at the Scera with the Johnson family.

*The Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with Nathan Gunn, the handsome singer

and

Jane Seymour.

There in the middle, with the roses.

She was glamorous, elegant and queenly.

It was a fabulous event.

*On the verge of being self-indulgent I bought birthday tickets for Merrill to see Kurt Bestor Christmas concert.

I invited Marianne to come with us.

All I have to say about that event is WOW! I hope to make that one a tradition.

*On the verge of being self-indulgent again, I bought birthday tickets for my mom, dad and me to have a date to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Concert.

All I have to say about that event is WOW!!!!! I hope to make that one a tradition too.

(it was so scrumptious to have my parents all to myself for an evening. They are pretty fun people.)

*There was no question about going to see the Farley Family Reunion Christmas. The whole family went. (it's a one man show who portrays different people at a family reunion program.)

We laughed.

Some laughed more than others.

But some laughed pretty darn hard.

I tell you what, by the time Christmas rolled around we were all so much in the Christmas spirit that we could hardly stand to be with ourselves.

We had been filled with culture

and the meaning of Christmas and

the joy that music can bring into your life

especially at Christmas time.

Great and Funny

2012-01-31T09:34:00.002-07:00

GREAT:

At the beginning of last year Adyson was into drawing portraits of people.

While watching General Conference she whipped out a portrait of President Monson, our prophet.

It was so good, we all suggested she send it into The Friend

which we did.

Then

nothing.

Each month Ady would race to the mailbox to check out The Friend and look for her drawing in it.

nothing. We actually sorta forgot about it.

Until

Maryn retrieved The Friend from our mailbox one day and saw on the cover,

front and center,

Ady's drawing.

We were SO excited we could hardly stand it.

We were even more proud when her drawing looked the most like President Monson.

Can you tell which one looks like Barack Obama?

George Washington?

So funny.

So, if you have your August issue of The Friend look at it again. Unlike the drawings that the kids do on the inside of the magazine, this cover doesn't have any of the kids names to recognize them.

This particular one is a signed copy that Ady did for us. Who knows...

maybe it's the beginning of her fame in artistry.

Wouldn't surprise me.

For $19.99 send us your copy and Ady will send you back a full fledged signed copy.

FUNNY:

Emmy is dramatic.

Emmy is smart.

Put the 2 together and you have one crazy girl.

She is good at math but it she doesn't enjoy it as much as reading.

She has to work at it and she isn't used to having to work hard at something.

She gets 100% s on her math tests if she puts her desk by the teacher's desk and if she stays in from recess to finish it up. Emmy likes to act like she needs extra help, but her teacher promises that she does nothing to give extra help,

only giving her a physical proximity to her.

The teacher handed me a note last week that Emmy wrote to her and left on her desk.

I had to have a copy.

If you can't read it:

Dear Mrs. Woolston,

I need more help on division. When I go to sleep at night it's math here, math there. I can't go to sleep because numbers are attacking me. I don't eat and I don't sleep. I don't want another math class I want you need you but it's hard. I try. I really try! But, my brain is leaking! I wish math was never invented! I don't want another math class! I feel so frustrated and feel like I want to kick and scream! And now I feel like I need glasses! In a number problem like this: 125+267= The 5 is on the top of the paper and the 7 is to the left and the 2'sw are on the right! I don't want another math class. I want you! I need you!!!

Love, Emmy.

Just cracks me up!

I do think her strengths are in her writing though,

wouldn't you agree?

1st class Soccer game

2012-01-30T08:43:00.001-07:00

I am a big believer that having a connection is the only way to get privileges or special treatment or even a job in life.

It's all about who you know.

However, when my dad invited me to go to a Real Soccer game I didn't think much of having anything besides the experience of watching some long haired soccer guys run around the field and then getting a hamburger afterwards.

Little did we know what we were in for and we might have dressed up too had we known.

Have you ever heard of Mr. Dave Checketts?...the owner of sports teams and lots of big things on the planet?

Well, Dad had a connection of knowing him who gave us tickets to the game.

We had no idea that we were going to be sitting

in HIS box seats,

on the 50 yard line

eating lots of yummy food.

lots

with soda pop

and with his children and their friends

all popular and stuff.

When you are a lower class citizen it feels pretty snazzy to be sitting with the big wigs and

having awesome seats

and having people stare at you wondering who you are to be so popular to be sitting in the owner of the team's box seats.

Dad and 5 of us kids had fun to say the least.

We tried to act like it was no big deal eating the fancy food but really we were super excited.

We tried to act nonchalant going back for 2nds and 3rds when some of the regulars of that box seat didn't even eat anything.

Can you imagine something like that just getting to be regular and ordinary?!

Then the other team let off a bunch of flares in the stadium and got kicked out.

And there were drummers who didn't stop beating their drum the whole game.

(normal I guess.)

But it just added to the drama of us being there and the excitement of the game.

I don't care to be popular and rich because I don't want fun experiences like that to become ordinary.

We were all like giggly little kids.

Families are FOREVER

2012-01-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky in December to go to the Salt Lake Temple and be apart of the sealing of my cousin's family with their daughter they adopted from the Ukraine. She is Maryn's age and a very special girl.

It has been so nice to be close to this family to get to know them better and the great, happy people they are despite struggles they have had in their life. Their trials definitely have made them better people.

Going to the Sealing of this family helped, once again to put into perspective the

Plan of Salvation

1) Why we are here on Earth?

2) Where are we going after we die?

3) Where did we come from before we were born?

I know that:

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER

if we live worthy of the blessings promised us.

We can have

HEAVEN ON EARTH

if we live like the Savior as we place the needs of our family above our own.

Our greatest JOY should come from our family if we can

forget ourselves

and

serve them,

love them.

Love = T-I-M-E

Here are some great family quotes that I love:

Just as Jesus used a child in His mortal ministry as an example for the people of the pure love they must and could have to be like Him, He has offered us the family as an example of an ideal setting in which we can learn how to love as He loves.

That is because the greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. (Elder Bednar)

Our family is the focus of our greatest work and joy in this life. (Elder Nelson)

“Do we exemplify [a] legacy of love? Do our homes? Bernadine Healy, in a commencement address, gave this counsel: ‘As a physician, who has been deeply privileged to share the most profound moments of people’s lives including their final moments, let me tell you a secret. People facing death don’t think about what degrees they have earned, what positions they have held, or how much wealth they have accumulated. At the end, what really matters is who you loved and who loved you. That circle of love is everything, and is a great measure of a past life. It is the gift of greatest worth" (Elder Nelson).

“May we . . . demonstrate kindness and love within our own families. Our homes are to be more than sanctuaries; they should also be places where God’s Spirit can dwell, where the storm stops at the door, where love reigns and peace dwells.” (President Monson)

Merry preps

2012-01-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Life is sort'a different for us around these parts right now.

Not too much going on for us that pulls us in a million directions.

So,

The day after Thanksgiving we were ready to

decorate for Christmas!

Since we didn't have any of our own Christmas decorations we got to help Marty pull out all of his decor and spiff up his place.

The kids had tons of fun because it was all new and different for them.

After we finished at Martys we went to Mom and Dad's and carried up, unpacked, unwrapped, and set up most all of the nativities that they had. (LOTS!)

It was a lot of work but super fun to handle those nativities from literally all over the world.

We had pretty much decorated out little hearts out that entire day.

We were exhausted.

Earliest ever decorating for the fam around here

and first time we got to help them all decorate!

We were ready for Christmas!

Emmy and the Bee

2012-01-17T22:31:00.001-07:00

Emmy won her 3rd grade spelling bee

and went to compete in grades 1-3 spelling bee.

It was a nail biter for her parents.

So official.

And so stressful as we are spelling each word with her,

our hardest

in our brains.
WATCH HERE:

http://youtu.be/1s5oKo8JTaM

Emmy was mad that she won her class Bee because it meant that she had to study so she could do a good job in the school Bee. She was also mad because she had to go against her best friend, Salma and which Emmy ended up beating her. She wanted Salma to win. But, fortunately the 1st and 2nd place kids from each class got to perform in this Spelling Bee and they got to sit next to each other..

The final 2 faceing off.

After Emmy had spelled a word correctly she had this look on her face trying to hide her smile. Karter looked over at her and said "good job" and they both shook hands. It was cute. After each other did a good word they would shake hands.

Emmy and Salma.

Emmy came home this afternoon and wrote an e-mail to a few people about the Spelling Bee. I thought it was a perfectly written Emmy e-mail.... had to share it.

I WON SECOND PLACE OUT OF 102 PEOPLE IN A SPELLING BEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SECOND PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend Karter won first place me and him shook hands and it was off before we knew it, it was only me and him I felt like i was about to pee my pant and I started sweating. And my last word was confection who can spell that without a paper??????? But SECOND PLACE??????????????????????? WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Happy.!!!!!!!
I LOVE MY MOMMY AND DADDY

memory lane

2012-01-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the kid's school is that when it got built this year they went to schools in the state that were closing and cleaned about supplies that they needed... desks, lockers, white boards, pretty much anything that a school would have or need that was still in good shape.

That way they could use their money on teaching or learning tools... things that really mattered instead of a brand new desk or table.

We were at the kid's school one day helping to clean up after a concert and Marty and I found some special memorabilia on the chairs that we had sat on.

Chairs from our Alma mater

William Penn Elementary in Salt Lake City.

I went there for Kindergarten and First Grade.

Apparently the school was so old that it closed down last year.

Now my children are sitting their behinds on chairs from my old school.

How special is that?

On Thanksgiving Eve I got together with one of my most special friends from our California days long ago, Christy Smith. We had it all planned to grow up to the be the most well-rounded, domestic diva's that ever walked the planet. We had sleep overs all the time planning our life. A good time to us was copying down our favorite recipes and organizing them in our recipe box. We made surprise meals for our families to try our recipes out on. We did gymnastics and softball and sewing lessons together. We learned about combing our hair 100 times for healthy locks and we wore our first pair of panty hose together. We were also known for giggling a lot and for being a bit clumsy cause we giggled so much. Our families have kept in touch over the years but Christy and I haven't done such a good job...

we just KNOW that we're special friends even though we don't talk.

So, it was great to see her and her 4 cute kids and husband.

We haven't changed a bit.

Check us out on our awesome softball team, the Stingers.

I believe we got 2nd place in the city league.

We are 2nd and 3rd from the right... the cute ones.

(our first team we played on, the Munchkins, didn't do so well.

I don't think they could name a team that these days.)

When we were 14 or 15 our families took a week long trip to Fish Lake. We had some good laughs looking at these pictures together because we remembered how cute we thought we were. As campers we fixed our hair every day. We had awesome braces. And we listed to Duran Duran. What is cooler than that?

Forget about the scenery in the background. Just look at those two cute girls. They spent a lot of time getting ready for the day.

Good times Christy!

See you in another 15 years.

THANKS giving

2012-01-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

I don't know when the last time was that I spent Thanksgiving with my family, in Utah.

It was SO nice to be with them.

It was nice to feel the love of my mom and dad and the comfort food that they make.

This was a nice Thanksgiving for me just for that reason alone.

I felt much gratitude for them and all they do for me.

I mean ALL they do for me.

The play of the day was when someone (no one really fessed up to it)

put the pans of rolls on top of each other while they were trying to raise.

They rose so good that they stuck to the pan that was on top of them.

It was funny

except that it was a mess to clean up.

Melanie, Richard and Taylor came to join us for the day.

pig out

and play Fat Dog.

This year we forgot to go around the table to say what we were thankful for.

So, I will do my part now:

I am thankful now, more than anything for family.

That always seems such a trite thing to say, but shouldn't that be truly and always what is at the top of our list on thanksgiving?

It's been so long since I have lived by my family that I appreciate them more, cause I know what it's like to not have them around.

Also, I am experiencing some things in life where I need them more than ever...

and they aren't disappointing.

Some examples:

Dad drives Maryn to Seminary at 6 am and gives much emotional support.

Mom makes dinner frequently for us, mends pants and assists in a trillion things.

Marty is letting us take over his whole entire house for way longer than expected.

Marc is giving extra hugs and laughs to the kids. He came over one day just to help me unload the back of the van after a Costco shopping trip.

Merrill gives the kids support at school and helps drive them to and from many days. He also set up the printer and likes to play Wii with the kids.

McKay and Danielle have been so darn nice to us and lets us watch Cambri whenever we want.

Marianne and James have made dinners for us too and given the kids extra attention and silliness that they need.

Happy Thanksgiving everbiddy!

family photos...again

2012-01-08T08:35:00.001-07:00

Because our last family pictures were ruined 2 days after we took them we felt a need to get new family pictures this summer when we were all together.

(Someone who shall not be named, up and left my brother without notice or warning. It was tramatic for the whole family. But even as she stood in our family pictures smiling, she new she would be leaving. Rude.)

We don't take family for grantid at all.

We like these pictures

and who is in them,

just the way they are.

Emmy's Luau

2012-01-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

Emmy's birthday this year was quite a production that lasted a whole week.

She turned 9.

She wanted omelets for breakfast

which we ate at 6:30 in the morning in order for us to leave for school on time.

She opened 1 present before school.

I picked all the kids up from school and took them to the Festival of the Trees for our Family Birthday Together Time.

The kids could not believe the gazillion variety of decorated trees.

To top it off we got to see Santa...

THE REAL ONE.

Gingerbread houses.

A birthday tree decorated for Emmy.

Then we went to Temple Square and saw the Christmas Lights.

We had dinner in The Garden and instead of giving you a dish of ice cream or a slice of cake with a candle in it or sing a goofy version of the Happy Birthday song...

They have you write a wish on a piece of paper

attach it to a balloon

open up the roof and announce to the whole restaurant that it's Emmy's birthday. They all sing

then she lets go of her wish and balloon and watch it fly out the roof into the dark, night sky.

It was super fun and different.

Then on the way home, in the car, Emmy got to open the rest of her birthday presents.

She got books, and more books and some clothes and some craft projects.

But wait!!

That's not all!

On Saturday we got together with the family and at Emmy's request we had a

Hawaiian Luau.

Instead of games she asked that we repeated one of her favorites...

creative dancing where teams of 3 were assigned a song and given 10 minutes to come up with choreography. Then we performed our dance in front of everyone.

It was a great afternoon celebrating Emmy.

Emmy is such an enthusiastic energy source to have around. Lately she has been enjoying reading the book, What Every Third Grader Should Know. She is like a little encyclopedia with all the information that she absorbs. She'll come up to me and say, "Mom, did you know that..." and share something about sharks or the solar system or metamorphosis with me. She's amazing. She says the funniest things that just crack us up... today even she said, "My body is really changing and it feels pretty weird." She was exercising yesterday with a program from t.v. After 2 minutes of doing the exercises she said, "I can't believe that this is really making my insides feel great."

Emmy's New Year's Resolutions this year were to exercise 2 times a week, to be the first kid in the family to finish the Book of Mormon by reading 5 minutes every day and to go off sugar for the month of January. (She lasted 2 days then cheated for the next 5 days when she declared she was done with that Resolution.)

She is the Drama Queen world champion. She talks with her whole face and big eyes and can follow me around the house talking and talking and talking, until she finally says, "Mom are you listening?"

She has a happy, kind heart and can make friends with anyone.

I am so happy that Emmy came to our home.

She adds the carbonation.

Love you Em!

My birfdee

2012-01-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

Look what the weather in Utah did on my birthday!

But it was still a great day.

My family got together and made a yummy brunch.

I got to wear the Miss America banner the whole day declaring it was my birthday...

even to the store

where everyone noticed me wearing my bright green banner and wished me a happy birthday too.

Later on my good friend Koni Smith took me out to lunch.

(she just moved here from VA and is living with her in-laws. We have a lot in common right now.)

Marty's house

2012-01-07T22:23:00.003-07:00

Since August 26th we have been living with my brother, Marty.

He recently got divorced but felt strongly for some reason that in the division of things he needed to keep his house...

He didn't know then, but maybe we were the reason he needed to keep his house.

The house that he designed and had built less than 3 years ago.

It's a house that has been given lots of TLC for that time.

It is beautifully designed and immaculately decorated with all the top-of-the-line doo-dads and nick-nack-patty-wacks.

The basement, however is unfinished and that is where the children have been banished,

not before
Danielle and Marianne came to decorate cute little rooms for the kids.

Rooms, that would make it fun to live in a basement.

They decorated with fabric acting as wall-paper or doorway swags, with huge tissue flowers, pink polka dotted paper plates or cut out stars hanging from the ceiling.

It's a tad chilly sleeping down there now being Winter and all, but we just pile on the blankets and cover them in flannel jammies.

They are just dandy.

We have only ruined a few things in Marty's house so far

But we are trying

and the kids do their jobs good.

Marty is patient with us as we have taken over his whole, entire house but we are ever so grateful for his generosity.

Halloweeeen

2012-01-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Halloween.

Trunk or Treatin' at the church.

Party with the Johnsons.

We had the table covered in fun and festive foods.

I'll let you figure out what everything is.

cutest kitty every.

Deer Hunt Vacation

2012-01-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid going to school in Utah there was a Fall break from school called

Deer Hunt.

Later that got changed to

UEA

(Utah Educators Association)

Now they just call it Fall Break.

We took advantage of that as a family and got a hotel in Salt Lake.

The kids swam

We went to the zoo.

Like always when we go to the zoo we do a little

Family History.

And we saw East High School where High School Musical was filmed.

We looked in all the windows and saw where our favorite songs were performed.

We did some reenactments and were super silly.

Garner Village Witch Fest

2012-01-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

There were tons of witches on display here. The kids had to do a scavenger hunt to make sure we found all of the witches.

This one was my favorite one.

Since Halloween is Silmara's favorite holiday, I had to take her to see the witches too.

Punkin' Farm

2012-01-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

Fun with the Shumans at the Punkin' Farm.

As grown up as Maryn likes to act

I love it when she is her normal, regular, silly self.

She did not want to get off these bikes.

Glorious Fall with Friends

2012-01-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

One lovely Fall Saturday we took a drive with our friends,

The Smiths

Maryn did some nature photography that turned out lovely.

We ended up at Cascade Springs

having a tail gate party with pizza and yummies.

Then walked the trails.

We were lucky babysitters of our favorite cousin, Cambri.

Jeff's Birfdee

2012-01-02T13:06:00.004-07:00

We picked up the kids from school

went to a movie

and had dinner at

The Mayan.

Yummy mexican food and 1/2 naked people doing dives and jumps from the indoor cliffs.

Our family party to celebrate Danielle's birfdee too on the same day.

awesomeness

2012-01-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Kaden was Squanto in his Kindergarten play.

He had a speaking part and an awesome costume.

And sang the cutest songs.

And then we had a delicious feast in his classroom afterwards.

For the month of September Ady was picked from her class to recieve the award for being a hard worker.

WOW!

We were so proud of her.

Her teacher pinned on the pin that is on her collar. She wears it every day to show that she got that award and to remember that she is a hard worker.

Here's what her teacher Mr. Christiansen said about Ady:

"Adyson is a joy to have in class. She comes to school every day with a smile on her face and a positive attitude. Adyson definitely enjoys work. She has completed every assignment on time, and gives her best effort in everything she does. Adyson, thank you for the great example you set for your classmates and for making teaching so much fun. You're incredible!"

Spiritual stuff

2012-01-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

In one month of living in Utah it felt like we had done so much already to take in our new home.

Maryn had been invited by our cousins, the Findlays, to do a Temple Walk from the Draper Temple to the Salt Lake Temple... about 26 miles. She said it was so exhausting! But so worthwhile. The big surprise for everyone was being greeted by Sister Elaine Dalton, the General Young Women's President. Maryn got a hug from her to top off the greatness of that walk teaching her that she can do Hard Things.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to go to General Conference.

Merrill came with us.

The choir and everyone gathering for the meeting to start.

(Sunday afternoon session.)

And then the Prophet, President Monson and his counselors came in. It gave us all the shivers of excitement to see him in person.

I said a big prayer in my heart that my girls would feel of his spirit and know that he was a prophet.

It was amazing to be in that great big, Conference Center

with all the gazillion people

listening to the amazing Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing

sitting in the same room as the Prophet and Apostles

listening and learning together.

Love the Spirit

Love the Church

FALL

2012-01-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

It is so scrumptious to see the glorious mountains turning their Fall colors. I couldn't get enough of it.

With Fall came BYU Football and it was the funnest time to take all the kids to their first game.

It brought back so many fun memories.

Kaden's main objective was to dance so crazy that his picture would get up on the big screen. Never happened but he never gave up either.

Then we had Family Home Evening up at Squaw Peak.

(the popular make-out point)

We took dinner up to the top and ate while oohing and awing at the colors.

A peak of the Provo Temple.

Labor Day

2012-01-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about being back in Utah is being close to some special friends.

(although there are several friends who I haven't seen yet and some don't even know we are here. Sorry.)

Marie is one of those great friends.

She was my best girlfriend in high school

group dates

crazy times

BYU Women's Chorus

Hill Cumorah Pageant

Summer jobs

Israel Study Abroad

and many many more things.

It was awesome to see her at a big Stake party and then have her call the next day inviting my family to go boating with her family for Labor Day.

Yep, we went and had a ton of fun on the Stone Family boat.

It actually was a dreary looking day. A bit cold on the water.

And then the sun peaked out enough and we found some smooth water for the brave ones.

Maryn made herself proud being a wake-boarder on her first try.

and second try...

and third try...

And all of her tries she did awesome!

Jeff gave it a shot too.

I was proud of Emmy for jumping in and wanting a go at it.

As it was time to go the waves started picking up and made for a very long and wet and freezing ride back to dock. For some of the Slichtas who get motion sick or aren't used to riding on boats it was a scarey ride too.

(their not the ones in the picture)

Thanks for a great day Stone family!

Back to School... All of them!

2011-12-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

On August 25th me and the kids filled the mini van to near overflowing. We packed the essentials and said good-bye to our beautiful Sammamish and drove off to Utah to begin a new life. We couldn't enjoy this journey quite as much because we had a deadline...

Friday at 2:00 we had school meetings we had to be at in Salt Lake.

We didn't have a minute to spare as we arrived on the dot.

We spent the weekend getting moved it to Marty's house,

(bless his heart)

going to Seven-Peaks,

getting school clothes ready,

and enjoying our last days to sleep in.

Remember,

I am not a mom who is excited for school to start

It only means schedules

making lunches

waking up early

homework
paper cluttering the house

being stressed about bedtime

and besides that,

I like to relax and be spontaneous with my children.

But, none the less

the first day of school did come:

Here they are all dressed up.

Ady in 6th grade.

Emmy in 3rd grade

Kaden in Kindergarten

Maryn in 9th grade

I have some words to stay about the school uniform, especially since I am writing this after a few months of them wearing their uniforms.

I always looked at families who had children who wore school uniforms and thought they were snooty or prim and proper or rich.

They appeared as if they went to a Girl's Catholic Private Academy.

It just seemed so different and not fun to wear uniforms.

I was a very sceptical at first to become a uniform family and so were the kids,

But now that we are a uniform wearing family

WE ARE FANS!!!!!

Here are my reasons:

There is zero time spent in the morning wondering what to wear.

My laundry has gone down a million percent.

The kids at school all feel like equals. There are no popular kids because their clothes equalize them.

Maryn has a few variations of her uniform with 2 skirts or pants and on Friday they all get to wear khaki pants and a navy polo.

They have never, not once, complained about wearing their uniforms.

It has simplified life all over the place.

They don't need as many clothes as before.

Be judgemental if you may about them... I was
but

I will forever be an advocate of the school uniform.

A huge blessing about going to American Preparatory Academy is that my brother, Merrill works there. He is able to drive the kids the 38 minute drive (without traffic) to school most days. So far when 2 of the kids got sick at school

(Emmy barfing on her desk)

they were able to go lie down in Merrill's office until I could drive the 38 minutes (without traffic) to get them.

This picture is the first day of school.

Merrill's office was still being put together so they had to sit on the floor while they waited for me to pick them up at the end of the day. (38 minutes).

Just as an Afterward to this post:

the kids LOVE LOVE LOVE their school. They have the best teachers. They have the funnest ways of learning. Lots of repetition in many sing songy, rhymes and cheers.

Yea!

I am going through a bit of an adjustment too (although not too difficult) with having ALL the kids in school.

Remember homeschooling Maryn last year?

Glad that's done.

And Kaden's kindergarten is ALL day.

That is hard to have him be gone for the whole day.

But he is happy and loving it so I can't feel bad about that.

We have been blessed SO much with getting these kids in this school

It is a huge answer to prayers in so many ways.

BFF 2011 Reunion

2011-12-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

For 2 years we have looked forward to our next BFF Reunion.

After much anticipation and counting down it finally came.

It was hosted by the Stringhams and held at the Heber Valley Family Camp.

I took a gazillion pictures and am only sharing a 1/2 of a gazillion.

your welcome,

But just know that these were special times...

friends who build and lift.

friends who strengthen and exemplify.

friends who leave you a better person than they found you.

We started our first day off with some team building activities put on by the cute senior missionaries at the camp.

We were so amazed that our 22 children picked right up where they left off from 2 years ago.

There was no age gap between any of them.

It was like they knew there was something special about their friendships so there was much kindness, sharing and laughter between all of the kids.

Emmy getting hoisted way high to the top of the tree to be let go for a free fall swinging experience.

Ady going up for her turn.

More games.

Besides eating there were always games and chatting going on at our outdoor kitchen.

And games going on inside the cabins.

The lake was beautiful.

The middle girl's group.

Emmy always finding time to be a reader.

One entire day was spent at Jordanelle Reservoir.

Renting a ski boat and wave runners.

It was so relaxing and so much fun!!

The older girls club!

The boat going out again packed with kids and a couple responsible adults.

Ady with a Steadman.

No generation gaps.

Emmy with a Smith and Steadman friend.

My favorite picture of the whole week.

Bishop Smith and Robbie Wood letting air out of the tubes.

After so much sun and water we still weren't ready to be done with this day.

Can't you see all those smiles!

A trip to our new favorite place in Heber to eat...

Dairy Keen.

Check out baby RJ getting ready for bed in his baby burrito.

He cracked us up every night.

We decided we all want to be wrapped up in a Baby Burrito before bed.

Have you ever seen a baby with this much hair?!

The girls painting each others nails

the

whole

entire

week.

We had 3 of these awesome cabins which slept 19 people each.

More games.

We saw deer every day and a couple of fox too.

More team building games.

Maryn climbing up the ropes course.

Going down the zip line.

Ady going across the ropes course and down the zip line.

Emmy's turn on the ropes course.

I was so proud of her going because it wasn't easy.

Kaden at least climbed up the pole...

and got to dangle for a minute.

The whole group.

Smiths

Steadmans

Stringhams

Slichtas

Woods

(the Debenhams were very missed.)

The handsome husbands.

The awesome teenage group.

I love that Maryn has that great group of kids to be her good friends.

The women.

I love ALL of these women SO much!

I know if I ever needed any one of them,

they would hop on a plane and come to me.

This last day all the ladies went to a park in Heber to have some alone time with no kids to interrupt our conversation.

We all had read, "The Infinite Atonement" by Brad Wilcox and we decided to have a book club meeting to discuss it.

What an inspiration these ladies are!

Our discussion was so uplifting and spiritual.

I love these women!!

It was a fantastic week and now we're on the countdown for 2 more years until our next reunion.

Matheson Family Reunion 2011

2011-12-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Utah was so relaxing and fun this time.

No hurrying or stressful obligations calling us.

We really used this time to vacation.

My reading to my 2 beebees.

Lots of swimming.

Grandpa was an awesome slider with the kids at our new favorite Lindon pool.

A few trips down with Kaden.

Cambri... that girl is so yummy, especially in her swim suit.
Her mom is cute too.

A few doing some crazy moves off the diving board.

Emmy

Ady

Merrill.

He needed to hurry and jump in the water.

He was scaring everyone.

We did a week long,

spontaneous campout to Coalville.

Where?

Yep, Coalville.

1 hour from home.

It looks like the picnic canopy hasn't been camping in a while and the boys were stumped.

Dad is in his "office"

on the phone

doing business.

The relaxing time together was

SOOOO

worth it!

The nightly visits to the pond to feed the fish.

Coalville happened to have had the county fair the same time we were there.

So fun

and

So small town.

Have you ever heard of ATV Rodeo races?

Dragging people around the rodeo arena behind ATV's to see who could get the fastest time.

Now, that's a good time.
The animal tent.
We did a little Family History there.

A day in Park City.

We were also there on the exact weekend of the annual campground Flea Market.

Can you believe it?

We had to join in and participate.

So, we went to town and got a bunch of snack and water bottles to sell.

Danielle sold her hair bows.

I'm pretty sure we didn't make hardly anything but what we bought from ourselves

but we had fun.

A few hours after we got home from camping,

before we even could shower,

we got a surprise visit from Steve and Sara Madsen.

Oh, we love them!!!

You don't even have to DO anything with them to have a good time.

We went out on the town and got a yogurt and took them grocery shopping.

We had a blast!

Stop and Smell the Roses

2011-11-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

It feels like we could drive that road from Washington to Utah with our eyes closed.

14 hours

long.

Each time we drive it we just want to GET there

even though I always see interesting signs or attractions that I want to stop at.

In August I drove the 3 younger kids to Utah by myself.

Maryn was already in Utah at EFY.

We didn't have any time commitment and Jeff wasn't with us who doesn't get excited with "points of interest" signs like I do.

So, I took this time to stop whenever I wanted to.

If we saw a historical marker

we stopped.

If we saw a sign that got our curiosity

we stopped.

Our first stop was a couple of hours into the trip...

a teapot

built by someone who thought it would make a cute gas station and coffee stop. It's nothing now but has it's own sign on the freeway to tell drivers to stop and see.

We did and it was cute.

Another stop we made was in Echo, Oregon on the Oregon Trail.
This was called a Hobo camp.

This was the first jail in the pioneer camp.

Emmy wanted to journal her experience here.

So, while we were all checking everything out and getting excited about history Emmy just sat under the tree pondering.

We also stopped Bruneau Dunes.

The Twin Falls Temple was so pretty.

Shoshone Falls was super neat too.

It was such a hot day that we were glad the sprinklers were on.

We were well-rested in arriving to Utah and we had tons of fun enjoying our journey!

Ady's summer party

2011-11-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Ady.
I had bad luck in the summer with ever getting together with my friends to play. When they could get together I had gymnastics (4 days a week for 4 hours at a time), and when I could play they had tennis, gymnastics or volleyball. So, we planned a party for me and my friends.
4 of the specialist friends came over.

Anna, Maddie, Maya and Celeste (who isn't in the picture).

We made pillow cases, painted finger nails and toes, watched

Napoleon Dynamite, and had lots of FUN!!!

Spontaneous swimmin'

2011-11-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

I love the Summer!

No School!

No Homework!

Play!

Field Trips!

Sleep in!

Swim!

We loved to Drop Everything And Play.

We usually went to Pine Lake Park to relax.

This day we brought some friends, Zoe'...

Anna

The one day Kaden was without J.P.

One day while we were there we called our friends and invited them to come have a spontaneous picnic with us. In order to protect the fanny of this little girl, they will remain nameless... but, she was my best buddy in the Nursery. (She always said, I want to go to Marcia's house to play. And sometimes we let her.) Here at the lake she liked to pull up her dress and say with her lispy, high-pitched words, "I like to get my bum wet."

Did we mention yet that we live in a beautiful place?

Outing to the City

2011-11-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

One of the things we love about living in Seattle is all the fun and beauteous lakes and rivers and parks that are just a few minutes away from our house. One Saturday in June we headed out to explore and found a great lake and park. As things happen in the Northeast the clouds rolled in a it got too chilly to swim, so we played, read and people-watched. Here's a strange people that we saw there...

Instead of the beach umbrella protecting us from the sun we used it protect us from the sprinkles. Seattleites are always prepared.

Oprah's best friend, Gayle King traveled the country in search of the best hamburger. She added this place to her her list of hamburgers to eat if you're in Seattle before you die. It definitely was delicious... but we aren't the burger specialists...we were just starving.

It's About Time Ads!

2011-10-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

My Adsie is so creative and artsy and craftsy.

She is usually very focused too.

However,

with this one particular project it took 1 whole year to finish.

But, finally she finished her own, for realsies rag quilt.

She had a teensie bit of help from Grandma and myself but not enough to call it OUR quilt.

It turned out pretty darn cute.

I think she better hurry and start the next one while she's still got the momentum.

The Move... our story

2011-10-30T11:31:00.000-06:00

So
once upon a time, not very long ago great amounts of stress existed in the Slichta household. Jeff, the father was gone more than he was home which added obese amounts of burdens upon me. Each of the 4 children had their own package of irritations and vexations to carry which began a spiral of thoughts in the head of the mother. The thought of moving was nauseating to all of us, however the thoughts of moving to Utah began to "press upon my mind" without ceasing.  I really couldn't help it.

When I wrote out my list of pros vs. cons of why we should move to Utah, the pros side won. However, when I shared this list with Jeff his only answer was, "there is NO way we are moving to Utah!!!!!!" (with many exclamation points following.) It pretty much was not up for discussion, but what was I to do when I couldn't stop thinking about the good things that could come from moving to Utah. After all, if Jeff was going to be a traveling hard worker, couldn't I be a single parent in any state?   (but let me remind you that it didn't mean that I really was liking the idea of moving... anywhere.)
Here are some of my Pros and Cons list:

Cons about why NOT to move
we already were living in the Garden of Eden state of beauty.
so many fun things to do in WA
Great ward
Great friends
Maryn awesome dance team
Ady amazing gymnastic opportunities
Fantastic piano teacher
Emmy superb harp teacher
Kaden best ever friend, JP
Hate starting over

Pros on why we SHOULD move
Live by family!... finally
Could have more time and money to vacation to the NY family
possible school opportunities
the kids will have dance, gymnastics, sports and music opportunities in UT... maybe more
cheaper cost of living
finally get out of the financial burden of our house
Jeff could travel for work and I could have support of family
Great influence of church in UT
Lots of opportunities in UT
Beautiful there too.

It was the emotional things that kept us in WA but it was the tangible reasons that kept me thinking about the blessings of UT. I was literally at the point where I said, "I can not keep going on living this way." The kids needs at school were so demanding that I was the tutor for ALL of them every night. I was the car pool queen for everyone... driving 40 minutes to dancing and 20 minutes to gymnastics 3 times a week each. I was hanging on my last nerve every second of the day.
A turning point came when we went and registered Maryn for high school at Skyline. Walking in the doors I had this yucky impression that said Maryn should not be there.  The expectations are humongous at that school, the school is ginormous and it has a reputation of having entitled kids who get involved in naughty things. However, I didn't know what else to do with her and I knew I wasn't going to home school her again, so we continued through the registration process.

Another turning point came when my brother, Merrill, got a job at an awesome charter school in West Valley City, Utah... American Preparatory Academy. The more I learned about it and the more he shared with me the more I felt that this was exactly what MARYN needed for her school experience.   But, I also knew that it was a looooooong shot because there are literally thousands on a waiting list to get into the school. We weren't going to move just with the hope of getting in.

The last turning point came (lots of turns) when we were in Utah visiting for our summer trip in August. We were camping with my family in Coalville. Merrill told me that the school needed more 9th graders. What are the chances of that??... Maryn was going into the 9th grade! Merrill's school, APA was doing some placement testing for kids while we were camping and so we scheduled a time for her to get tested... since we were in town, what would it hurt to get tested? Someone suggested that we might as well get all the kids tested while we were around. Why not? It seemed crazy but we did it anyway.

All the kids were tested. I literally was feeling like things with this school were being propelled forward without any conscious effort on my part. Two days later Merrill texted me while we were camping and said, "the 4 Slichta children have been accepted into the school."
"WHAT?!"
What did that mean?
We didn't even officially apply.
I was so confused.
I knew what I wanted but wasn't sure if that's what was really best for everyone.
This school seemed too good to be true.
How could we make this happen?

Jeff was NOT on board. He was uptight and not agreeing with any of this. We talked back and forth and prayed and talked more and more. Finally Jeff said, "What do you want me to do? What should we do?" I said, "Jeff, let's just do it!!!" As soon as I said that I a rush of peace cover me from head to toe.   I knew that it was right.

And that's exactly what we did.
Amen.

crossing off our list

2011-10-16T11:22:00.000-06:00

One day in the summer we gathered our beach stuff and headed off to the beach...

it started to rain.

so weird in Washington, I know.

We decided to do the 2nd best thing which has been on my "to do" list since we first came to Seattle.

We drove to Mercer Island and walked across the I90 floating bridge.

Now I can finally cross that one off my list.

We love Seattle!

In a Nut Shell...

2011-09-26T11:54:00.000-06:00

As of August 25, 2011 WE HAVE MOVED to Utah.

the TREK

2011-07-31T18:06:00.000-06:00

Maryn went on her first Stake Youth Conference.

It was a pioneer Trek.

I think I was more excited it about than she was because although I have always wanted to do one I never have.

I drove a car load of kids the 90 minutes to the site.

Felt the excitement in the air,

asked Maryn to put on her bonnet so I could take a picture of her,

and left the kids to their Ma, Pa, family and handcart.

(I believe this is the one and only time that Maryn wore her bonnet.

Keep reading and you'll understand that she had very poor judgement in not putting on her bonnet again for the next 3 days.)

Doesn't she look like good Laura Ingalls or something?

At the end of the 3 days the parents were asked to come to watch the kids return to the "Salt Lake Valley" or the starting point of their TREK.

We did and ended up waiting for 2 hours because the handcarts had a hard time coming down the mountain.

It was worth it though because the sight of them all coming 'round the bend,

pulling their loaded carts

looking like real pioneers,

knowing their last 3 days had been

tough,

spiritual

and fun

brought tears to all the mom's eyes.

Maryn was in a daze.

Dirty

Stinky

and sunburned

BAD.

Once they arrived they had to disassemble their own family's handcart.

There were SO many people who were involved in putting on this TREK.

It was overwhelming and made us parents so grateful to them.

With the TREK people and the parents who came to watch there was a multitude of people.

They fed the multitude a super lunch.

Maryn, on the ground on the left.

They were having a hard time wanting to break up their little family who had bonded so much during this time.

The clean Slichtas on their lawn chairs eating their corn on the cob

while the dirty Ma and Pa Debenham sat right on the dirt to eat their corn on the cob.

Writing notes to her "family."

With Rebecca.

Maryn didn't believe me when I told her I wasn't aware of women pioneers who wore pink bandannas.

Maryn was caught wiping off her pink Nike logo with a rag once when they sat down to rest.

Brother Hamilton in our ward called her the pioneer Princess.

Although no one was allowed to bring make-up on the TREK

Maryn wore enough the first day to have it last all 3 days.

Who does this girl belong to?

Nonetheless we were so happy to see her and have her home.

We could tell that she had some special times living like a pioneer woman.

Maryn's face, neck, head and ears were so sunburned.

She never answered me when I asked if she wished she would have worn her bonnet.

Pioneers weren't so dumb ya know.

Everything they wore had a purpose.

Even their aprons weren't for decorations or for cooking. They had many uses.

Bonnets weren't for being cute...

duh!

I am happy to say that Maryn didn't suffer any scaring from her sunburns. She looked terrible and couldn't stand the dry, blistering skin.

It was torture to not want to peel the skin off prematurely...

but, she did.

Maybe next time she'll want to take 2 bonnets.

Happy 4th

2011-07-31T17:13:00.000-06:00

We had the Gehretts over for a BBQ on the 4th.

It always cracks me up how these 2 friends, Ady and Anna, who are less than a year apart are so different in size. They almost look like they could be a 3 Stooges act.

Sometimes they act like them too...

I am usually on the ball with our 4th of July outfits...

but this year the day arrived and we realized no one had anything to wear...

except for Kaden.

So, we pulled out what we did have and started a painting project that ended up taking the whole afternoon but

it actually turned out funner, and cheaper had we bought the shirts.

The girls were quite pleased with their creations.

We went to the fire works in Carnation.

a small town

so we didn't have to beat the crowds.

No crowds and pretty decent fireworks...

for a small town.

The dad's kept themselves busy being nerdy and talking I-Phones the whole time.

It started getting cool... no cold

as we sat and waited.

We had to snuggle and even bring out towels from the car to get warm with.

Pete and Kristen Gehrett and their 5 kids are super fun people

so we certainly weren't bored waiting for 2 hours.

And if that wasn't enough we had to come home and do fireworks with our neighbors until midnight.

The ladies, Kristen, Laurie Runyan and I had more fun watching the men do the fireworks.

They got more into it than even the kids did.

God Bless America!

HIKE

2011-07-31T16:56:00.000-06:00

The Debenhams and us went on a super hike Saturday, July 2nd.

It was beautiful.

It was hot.

It was FUN!

It was called Wallace Falls about 1 hour from our home.

As we drove to it we were reminded what a beautiful place we live in. We also forget how we live on the edge of the city and the super rural part of Washington.

Farms, fruit stands, rivers, forests, fields, open land , green and rolly hills.

We brought a picnic and made a day of it.

Kaden wanted to make sure he looked GOOD for the hike.

The group

we were dog sitting a white lab, Ginger and brought her along.

(just in case you were wondering why Jeff is holding the leash of a dog.)

There were 2 different Falls as part of this hike.

We took a bunch of shots along the way up.

Belated Father's Day

2011-07-31T16:41:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to put down in record that although 2 weeks late we did indeed celebrate Father's Day with the father of my children.

In adition to the special gifts they made from school they also gave coupons for a special date with their dad.

Maryn and Jeff will go see Le Mis together.

Ady gave massages to him, snuggles and a movie.

Emmy gave a coupon for ice cream and a bike ride.

Kaden gave a coupon to attend the Home Depot workshop on a Saturday alone with his dad.

Jeff has been doing a great job spending extra time with his kids when he is in town. Their favorite thing lately has been going on long bike rides and visiting all the parks in the neighborhood.

He is a super de duper dad!

These kiddos love HIM!!!

A spontaneous Trip

2011-07-24T15:33:00.000-06:00

Because the Seattle weather hadn't turned to Summer yet and because Jeff was going to be out of town, and mostly because of a family baby blessing we decided one day to go to Utah. We caravaned with our friends the Debenhams. And the best part was that it was a total surprise that we were coming. Even when we got calls from Utah family asking what we were doing we couldn't tell them we were 1/2 way to their house. We had to make up a bunch of lies all along the way. But when we got their the surprise was well worth it.

Mom was shopping at the mall. We staked out at Tai Pan Trading and shocked the socks off of her there.

The main reason we wanted to visit was to see Mckay and Danielle's new baby...

this little yummy girl... Cambri.

She is so darn cute.

We could not get enough of her.

Danielle went back to work while we were there. We got chosen to be the babysitters for 3 days. This was my favorite thing to do while I babysat.

Spencer and Kaden played non stop.

Kenley loved playing with the cousins.

Grandma and Grandpa with all their cutest ever grandchildren.

Slowly but surely the numbers are growing.

The kids talking to their dad on Father's Day. We hated not being with him.

But it was fun to be with MY dad on Father's Day.

We went swimming several times.

The gentlemen with the babies and large umbrellas.

Kaden loved to do whatever Marc was doing.

Grandma working in the yard every morning.

Maryn and Ady thought they were pretty tough tetherball players until they played against Marc.

We all loved playing some new game where you throw ball ropey thingys on a bars and get points and stuff.

The snow sled got a lot of use as a shield from the water fights.

This was one of my most favorite events of the week...

Maryn was laying out in the sun. peaceful. relaxing. in a swimsuit.

Merrill snuck up behind her with the water gun shooter and not only scared the heck out of her but got her pretty wet too. All I know is that if anyone else had doen this Maryn would have been screaming mad. But, Merrill was brave enough and laughed hard enough about it that Maryn thought it was pretty fun too.

We got a surprise visit from my favoritest mission companion and friend, Lynette Smedley and her husband Mark. She makes me so happy.

I hadn't seen her in a couple of year...too bad I looked gross in my swimsuit cover-up.

We had a girls event of getting our toenails painted with glitter gel. We even invited the Haliday girls over to join in the fun too.

Our first time to stay at Marty's house. He was the best host ever. Maryn and I did puzzles while we were there and finished them just in the nick of time before it was time to go home.

We laughed hard when we found this outfit that Marianne used to wear. She and grandma made it. It was pretty big on Ady.

Our last night we played outside family games. Ooga Booga made us laugh really hard.

Marty, Mom and me went to a cooking class at Gygis. I felt so domestic and had a lot of fun learning how to make yummy dressings, sauces and vegetables. Loved our aprons.

Ooooooh! Yummy!

A fun highlight for us was the family dances that we had.

Merrill and Maryn would suddenly break out in ballroom no matter where we were.

Then Merrill would grab others and get them to join in.

And then there was Kaden who couldn't get enough of his Latin dancing.
He seriously was a natural.

One of the many videos we took of Kaden dancing.

Red and Yellow and Pink and Green, Purple and Orange and Blue...

2011-07-17T17:33:00.000-06:00

Jeff can sing a rainbow

sing a rainbow

sing a rainbow too.

This is the story of Jeff's hair.

Jeff was in a talent show at work and felt like he really wanted to play the part

so he colored his hair black thinking it would wash right out.

(Yeah after 6-10 weeks.)

This picture is of him admiring his dandy work...

not yet knowing that it wasn't going to wash out.

He came home to us with black hair.

His hair was so startling to look at that he felt like before he shaved his head he should try something.

After getting hair advice from my hair dresser Jeff went to a hair supply store looking for a hair color stripper. The girls working there talked back and forth and convinced Jeff that they could help his hair. Three hours and 100 dollars later Jeff walked out with hair

THIS COLOR.

At church Jeff got so many comments about him going through a midlife crisis.

Now his hair was really startling to look at.

But before Jeff shaved his head he felt like he should try something else.

At my hair appointment the next day my hair dresser and friend knew exactly why Jeff's hair turned a bright carrot-top auburn redish. She suggested Jeff come in and she would do just the right things to his hair to get it back to it's natural color.

One hour and 60 dollars later Jeff came home looking close to Marilyn Monroe.

(Because of the lighting and shadows of this picture you don't quite see that his hair was VERY blond. White'ish.)

Of course at church everyone was confused and now thought even more that Jeff was going through a midlife crisis.

I was beginning to wonder myself.

While we were in Utah we had family pictures done. My mom wanted to try some of her costume make-up to see if she could help Jeff's hair simmer down a bit.

It sort of worked.

But it also washed out after the pictures.

So this is the Jeff that we have now known for the last month.

The sun has made it even blonder.

He got it cut super short yesterday which made it look like his tips are frosted.

A type of surfer-dude look.. if you like that look.

We're so close to his original color...

which right now I can't remember what that is.

Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Puffs...

2011-07-12T16:10:00.000-06:00

Maryn had her end of the year ballroom dance recital they titled,

IGNITE.

She had lots of friends and family who came to enjoy her 3 performances.

Here are a few of the bazillion of pictures that were taken.

Hope you get a teeny tiny feel of how geat this show was and what an awesome job Maryn did.

Field Trip away from school

2011-07-10T16:45:00.000-06:00

Last year when we went to the San Juan Islands it screamed, "Marlene!" in my ears. So, when my parents came for a visit in June I knew we had to squeeze a visit. Just the ferry ride alone was something I knew my mom would love! So, on a rainy and dreary Monday we took the kids out of school and headed off for a day of togetherness.

As soon as we got on the ferry the sun came out and stayed out until we pulled into our driveway late that night.

It was a beautiful day.

Maryn and Emmy were too into their addictive activities to enjoy the ferry ride with the rest of us. (Grandma's IPad and Emmy's book.)

We disembarked at Friday Harbor grabbed us a map and headed off. Our first official stop was the lighthouse and the supposed best whale watching spot.
No whales.

Dad is a seaman at heart.

He grew up by the ocean and it fills him with nostalgia every time he's near one.

Fun trees everywhere. Nothing like having a fun picnic among nature.

Our next stop was the Alpaca farm. It was the big day they got sheered and they did not like it one bit.

was

pretty

there.

We stopped toward the north of the Island and discovered some pretty tide pools where the kids had a blast making discoveries.

It was a glorious day of touring!

The kids had fun being photographers.

Here's some of their shots.

What better way than to end the day with Olive Garden's all you can eat soup and salad.

It's Always Fun When Grandparents... Hooray!

2011-07-10T16:30:00.000-06:00

Having grandparents come for a visit is funner than all the holidays put together.

At least that's how it is in my book because the child/adult ratio is just what I like it.

I get so much more done.

We have so much fun.

Everyone is happier.

I wish it could happen every day.

Grandparents are easy too because you don't have to entertain them.

They make themselves useful.

Kaden had some "homework" times with Grandma.

My dad was bothered because there weren't more outlets in the garage so he could do his puttering around with, so what did he do...?

He added some more outlets to the garage. No problemo for him.

Not to mention fixing light bulbs, unplugging gross shower drains and rigging up special hair catchers for the shower, and fixing the air compressor.

Grandma helped me get my tomato plants going finally.

She also felt like I needed an herb garden which she hooked me up with.

No problemo for her.

She taught Ady how to be a Green Thumb expert.

We are trying out those Topsy Turvey tomato and strawberry plants too.

Grandma also wanted to teach us how to make mozzarella cheese. Yep, she did it too!

We had to make some of our homemade salsa for Grandpa! He's a big fan of it!

It even traveled home in his suitcase.

Thanks Mom and Dad for all you did! We had a super duper fun time while you were here. Hurry back. I've already started another list we've got to get working on.

Love ya!

Hey Batter Batter Batter

2011-07-10T16:12:00.000-06:00

What is the cutest thing in the whole wide world?

Watching a 5 year old play his first year of T-ball.

No rules.

Everybody hits the ball.

Nobody gets out.

Everyone is happy.

The parents scream and cheer and take a million pictures.

The first few games were F-U-N-N-Y! The boys weren't sure where to run, or even if it was time to run. Some would go to 3rd base first and then back to home plate. One boy was told to tag the runner "out" and he told his moms,' but that's cheating."

Once in out field they would pick grass or talk to each other.

It was great to see how much they learned by the end of the season from those first few games.

Kaden's favorite position to play was catcher.

He said he liked it because it gave him things to do like get the ball and put it on the T, throw the ball the the pitcher, catch the ball before it went back to the pitcher.

I took this picture not so you could see that Kaden was #10 and J.P. was #32.

I took this picture so you could see how darn cute their little bums were in their baseball pants. Sometimes you could even see their Spider man undies showing through their pants.

That was adorable!

Grandparents: stay tuned for some actual video taken of the athletes in action.