Where Did Spring Go?

Seriously...where did the Spring go?  The last 2 months have flown by.  In May, we went to my youngest Bro.'s graduations & final concerts.  It was a nostalgic moment knowing that they would be the last high school events I will ever attend for a sibling. 

 After the seminary graduation, we ran outside to catch the eclipse.  Bryce poked a hole in a Styrofoam cup and held it up to the van.  I was pretty impressed with how much we could see! 

As a child, we would push a handcart from Paragonah to Parowan to remember our pioneer heritage.  Our trek always included stopping at a large lone tree for lunch and pioneer stories.  While we didn't do the walk this year, we still took a minute to visit the headstone of my Great-Great Grandmother and tell her story.  I guess the kids were pretty impressed because then they wanted to know every headstone's story.  Elina was so sweet to gather flowers that had blown away and place them on "forgotten" stones.  Granted, they were the flowers she didn't want anymore, but a sweet gesture none-the-less. 

Aaron LOVED the father's & Son's camp out this year.  There's nothing better then a bunch of sticks, dirt and fire!!

Elina felt a little left out that there aren't Mother & Daughter camp outs, so Bryce took her along to the Bishopric night at girls camp.  

Since our anniversary fell on Father's Day this year, we had double the celebration.  With a Saturday night date, Breakfast in bed & a yummy pot pie dinner I didn't want to go all out with dessert, so we just made a fun candy bar poster!  Happy 7th Annivers-Father's Day!!  

I love throwing our half-birthdays each Summer.  I hope the neighbors don't mind.  It's just so fun to play in the water and get fun outside toys.  This year, the kids wanted cupcakes & watermelon.  With 19 kids in all, we had a "splashing" time.  It's just too bad that darn wind almost blew us all away!

Oh, Fun Days!

The past couple of months in photos:

Elina is getting really good at flying kites.  Too bad she can't fly on one (like in Wild Kratts :)

Here's Emmett pointing to the bowl of spaghetti sauce he just dumped on the floor.  It totally reminded me of the Mormon message when the Dad walks in just in time to see the bowl go flying :)

I don't know if it's legal to play in the sprinklers on the Temple grounds, but the kids were roasting, so I let them get a "little" wet!! Emmett especially LOVED it!

Our field trip to the pet store turned out to be a huge hit!!  Aaron talked about the dog with the smooshed nose and Elina adored the corn snake! These kids really need a pet :)

We said good-bye to our milk jug igloo.  We had fun putting it together, playing in it, and ripping it apart! 

Emmett especially loved throwing the jugs down the stairs!  He laughed and laughed!

My very talented brother, Darren, stole the show in the last high school concert any Robinson sibling will ever be in again!  I can't believe he's graduating.  I'm so glad we live in Cedar and can support my siblings.  I've loved watching them grow up!

Here's my handsome Emmett in his Sunday best.  Even though he wouldn't put the tortilla down for a picture he's still a cutie pa-tootie!

The other day, we heard some clanks against the wall and looked outside to see "Monster Hail".  Literally the biggest hail stones I have ever seen.  Elina tried to catch them in her cup, but ended up scooping them up once the storm passed!

A Celebration of a Great Life!

There are times in life when you think it will always be the same, then something happens to remind you that the only thing truly constant... is change.  I never imagined life without my Grandma Robinson but was filled with graditude as we celebrated her life a few of weeks ago.
In planning her own funeral, due to terminal melanoma, it was as if she was with us one last time.  She instructed every detail down to making sure the closing song "Go Ye Now In Peace" ended on a major chord instead of a minor.  She requested the grandchildren to let balloons go at the conclusion of the graveside service.  It was such a beautiful scene to watch them float peacefully up to the sky...a reminder that death is not the end and peaceful, colorful things are still to come.

My cousin, Devin, wrote these thoughts about the service:

What was Grandma Robinson trying to teach me during her last sermon (the funeral program)?

1. Make room for music in your lives. Wendy and Shelly both talked about Grandma’slove for music. They mentioned the groups she was involved in, the family musical programs, singing while washing the dishes, etc. I think she set up her funeral service to be a program of sorts because there were no congregational numbers. She wanted the grandkids to sing, her daughters, and a few families. I think in this she wanted to help us understand that the generations to come should not be afraid of performing because music can bless lives.

2. “We should be more gentle with ourselves.” When I heard this song it was like I was sitting in the kitchen visiting with Grandma. With a smile she’d say something like, “Now Devin, there are a lot of things that can get you down in this life but most of them are of no importance. You really should be more gentle with yourself.”

3. Be sure that everyone feels like they are part of the family. I had never heard Dianna’s account of her experience as a foster child. This may have been difficult for her to do but as she shared the experience of her sitting alone crying in bed in new surroundings and Grandma coming upstairs to listen and express love, I’m sure that Grandma wanted Dianna’s family and everyone else to know that they are loved and part of the family. I love how she even listed all 124 family members on the back of the program. In addition, I’m amazed at the opportunities Grandma provided for everyone to have a part in the program. Iwas touched to see the balloons as part of the burial service because I know Grandma was thinking, “Now, how do I involve all the kids?” What a great principle to teach her family through colorful balloons, “Don’t look down in the grave…. look up.”

4. Do it with a smile. Grandma could make everyone laugh and understood the power of humor. When I walked in to see her body and saw that picture of her waving by the guest book I thought, “Now this is what Grandma would have wanted.” The Scrabble and Rook games on display were also part of Grandma’s life. Balloons would surely bring smiles to the faces of little ones. When I watched her video I saw so much that made me smile and this is how I’ll always remember her… 

Easter Memories

When Cindy's family drove in from North Dakota for General Conference, we decided to celebrate Easter as well. With 15 kids, 3 dozen eggs, and candy galore we had a great hunt (especially when the Easter Bunny (teens) got creative in hiding the goods)!  We were also really excited to find out that Cindy is expecting!  Hooray for Babies...and what a great symbol of new life.

This was for our potluck lunch at Aunt Joys.  I think every person brought a dessert!  Elina was one happy girl :)  (We did enjoy a nice meal beforehand :)

Oliver Twist!

Elina worked hard to earn a date to go see her good friends in the Parowan production of Oliver.  We laughed, we cried, but most of the time just sat and soaked it in.  Watching as an adult gave me many new insights I had never noticed before. In fact, I kept forgetting to clap or laugh because I was so focused on the storyline.

It was soo fun to sit by Elina...although I did have to take her out a few times. When Bill slapped Nancy, she came unglued. As I talked with her in the foyer, she cried, "I know they are acting, but I just can't believe they would be so mean to her". She's such a sensitive little soul. The Larsen's did a great job though. Elina loved watching Olea and Zara act up on stage. I had to smile because Zara'd wave at us then lose her place in the dance or song. Good thing it's just Parowan :)

And no, Olea did not wear bright blue p.j.'s in the play, she had already changed before we could snap a photo!

 Elina was so excited to dance around on the stage afterword with the girls!

Fieldtrip Time!

For our "Imagination & Creativity" Month, we took Elina's "preschool" group to SUU.  Where else could you see so many different genres of art in one place.  From computer design, pottery and paintings, to murals, sculptures and theatre, they had it all! 

I hope the student we watched make a clay pot on the pottery wheel wasn't too self conscious to have an audience :)


Elina wanted to stand by the "girl" statue instead of with the group clustered around the "boy" statue :)

Here's a completely unedited collage of the photo's Elina took with my camera.  Not too bad for a 5 year old :)

We've really enjoyed our preschool group and will miss it when Elina starts Kindergarten next year. It'll be interesting to see how Aaron's all boy group will turn out :)

Birthday Boy!

I wasn't feeling very social on Bryce's birthday, so we celebrated at home with breakfast in bed, family racquetball (which turned into chase the ball) and a home made steak dinner. Thanks to my awesome Mother, I was also able to whip out the best apple pie I've ever made!  Scrumptious!

Throughout the week, I watched the mail and confiscated all packages before he saw them.  It was a big surprise to see the gifts each of his family members had sent!  I even found a great gift idea to frame some nice scrapbook paper that says "What I love about you" then write different notes each day with wet-erase markers on the glass. 

Despite a few mishaps, it turned out to be a great day!  Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

 
 

St. Paddy's Day!

What do you know...it's still March
and I'm posting about St. Patrick's Day!
While visiting my sister, Kristy, we decided to turn this somewhat unobserved holiday (at least by our family) into a grand day :)  Starting off the day before by visiting the bunnies and chicks at IFA.  Emmett was so excited and kept saying, "dah, dah" (dog...his name for all animals).
 

In the morning, the kids woke to
green french toast, milk and a side of green eggs.  

As you can see, Aaron was not pleased! 

Next, a little leprechaun hid green paper shamrock clues around the house to find his hidden pot of gold.  Armed with green folded paper baskets and colored rainbow handles, the hunt began.  We ran, hopped and even whipped out an Irish Jig to find the clues.  After sliding down the rainbow, there really was a pot of gold waiting! (black bowl with gold wrapped candy under the slide)

Our day of green ended with  broccoli, potato soup, zucchini fries & green "shamrock" rolls.  So fun!  I'm glad Kristy shared her home, food and creativity with us.  We had a great time! 

 

The World of Disney

After months of anticipation we were so excited to help Grandma Caine live her dream to take the whole family to Disney World!
The first two out of five hours on the plane looked like this:

Yep, that's right.  All three kids were out (I did get a little shut eye in as well) for a full two hours.  The rest of the time was spent opening fun gifts Grandma had sent for the ride.  Their favorite were these cool re-usable stickers.  They stick to the windows, seats, trays...pretty much anything!

We spent 7 beautifully sunny, 70 degree days of fun, craziness, tired, excitement, peace (at the temple) and only a little bit sick (Elina did wait until the 2nd to last day to come down with pneumonia :)  There couldn't have had better timing..no grand kids are in school yet, Jeremy's girlfriend was here from Korea and no one was pregnant :)  With plenty of time to "see everything", we spent a day at each park with a couple of extra days to re-visit our favorites. 

We had fun wearing these matching shirts Jeremy and Yun Joo designed for us.   

The Epcot Center has a building where 5 Disney Characters are in one place to meet.  Aaron was sooo excited, he'd hug one then run to the next...needless to say, every photo was blurry :)  Elina wouldn't hug Goofy or Mickey.  She said she only likes Donald, Pluto and Minnie Mouse.

Out of all the fun rides and things to see...by far, the kids favorites were playgrounds.  The dinosaur playground @ Animal Kingdom, the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground at Hollywood Studios and the generic hotel playground!  As I overheard one couple say, "We should have just come to the hotel instead of spending tons on Disney World...give the kids a pool and a playground and they're set!  I had to smile at that.  Elina did LOVE Splash Mountain though. 
They also loved the viking boat ride at the Epcot Center.  It was a little spooky in the darkness with deep voices, thunder & trolls so we tried to make it really funny for them.  It worked because they talked about that ride for days after coming home.  They'd pretend to be the "silly one-eyed troll coming out of the tree" as if it was the biggest joke around!

Elina: "Back Bird...this is mine!" (Elina protecting her burger from the bird)

Bryce came back from getting food and found Aaron like this....no idea how or what he was doing :)

I'm grateful to have attended church right across the street from the Orlando Temple.  Before coming on this trip, we had a family home evening on Temples and their importance.  We tried to make it a point to have the kids notice how they feel around the temple compared to Cinderella's Castle.  Although the castle is pretty and fun to be at, the Temple has such a peace and inner joy.

All in all, we had a wonderful time and are so glad everything worked out. 
We made good memories for years to come!