Christmas 2013 and Being in the Moment

Stuart and I love Christmas! In fact we love most any chance to party. But I really do care about the scents, the sights, the feel of Christmas. I work really hard to enjoy it, to find that magic dust, to remember and feel the joy that a child feels. It's hard work I admit, but its worth it. Sometimes, that leads me to taking less pictures. I stop getting behind the camera and I observe and absorb.

So these are my only two pictures from the season. I also forget many of the details of the day as will you, but I have this memory in my heart. This memory of being with you and loving you. And I think that is what's important. Merry Christmas my family!

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Bill's Christmas Gift

We love our new beautiful clothes. Thank you!

Happy 7th Birthday Josiah!

Josiah just turned 7. We had a ton of fun with his cake. He decided on a sword. While Bridger took a nap and we went on a hike to Pipestem, Mike stayed home and iced his cake with icing that was way to stiff. Opps! on my part.

We wanted to make it gold and silver, but had none, so Mike and I had a date to Wal-Mart, thanks to Amber, and discovered spray on food color. It was marvelous and we will definitely be using it again. Josiah even had fun painting.

These are all of the people who came to his party, minus me.

And of course he liked his presents. Who wouldn't when Lego men and Batman are involved?
Josiah we love your fun adventurous spirit, your happy go lucky attitude, and your awesome ability to bring smiles to all of us. You are a great guy. We love you.

Doing it All!

Sandwiched in between my birthday part on the evening of the 11th and Josiah's birthday party on the evening of the 12th, was a day on the mountain with Amber. We were so glad for her visiting us and partying with us. She is the best!

After reaching the top we slid down icy hills, found turkey tracks and enjoyed the icy weather.

Visiting a frosty lake brought back memories of Ammon's birth.

And sunlight makes Goldie even more beautiful. I love being outside with my family. Thanks Amber!

Rishi's turning the big 40

...and that's what birthday's are all about. Frozen Lemon Pie, fuzzy pictures and my family surrounding me. Happy Birthday to me!

Listening, Seeing, and just Being Together.

One of my favorite sights and sounds in this world is this:

I love sharing it with those I love.

And then there are those rare and few moments that we get to BE together and when you combine the two that is THE BEST.

Josiah's Crab Orchard Field Trip

I got to go with Josiah to the Crab Orchard Museum. It was so fun! I'd been with Goldie and knew I wanted to dance again. So I put on a skirt and wore my dancin' shoes.

First he had to do a craft, listen to a story, eat a cookie, and then we got to dance. I sure did have a good time dancing with my boy.

Afterwards we sang some Christmas songs and Josiah would have liked to take this Explorer's gun, but instead we got to eat lunch and play outside. Thanks for the memories Josiah.

Goldie's 3rd Grade Ecosystem

Goldie got an assignment at school. She had to make an ecosystem in a shoebox using things you already have at home.

She chose the Yellowstone ecosystem. You can see Old Faithful showcased right in the center as well as many of the animals, types of land, water, plants, etc that are in that Ecosystem. We looked up old pictures of our family reunion there and printed some out for her to take. She had to give a speech about her project.

The school allowed the teacher to choose two students who would display their ecosystems in the city library. Goldie was one of the two chosen from her class. Way to go Goldie! A+

Stuart is Five!

Our rambunctious, loving, strong, handsome Stuart just turned five.

Since his birthday was the day after Bridger's we let him get a Dairy Queen cake. We took a brown one with white icing and then added a yellow chocolate Superman symbol. Mike piped on the red S. Then the kids and I made gingerbread men and girls and Stitches and Supermen to surround the cake.

Right before cake and presents we had his favorite food: Stir Fry. Then he had a fun evening of cake and presents. The Lego Men were the biggest hit!

Happy Birthday Stuart! We love ya guy.

Bridger's First Birthday

Bridger just turned one! Our baby is growing up.

He has a favorite blanket that he's borrowed from Josiah. It's full of yellow ducks on blue background. So we chose a duck cake for his first birthday.

I know he loved looking at his birthday presents.

And that duck sure did taste good too!

You are spunky fun little boy. We love you Bridger. Happy Birthday.

Halloween 2013

Details....

Bridger's first Halloween. So like all the boy's we dressed him as a pumpkin. This is one of the few shots of him at one of our Halloween Celebrations this year.

While he may be mad once in awhile,

there are moments when he has a phone in hand

that he is perfectly happy.
Here is Ammon sporting his awesome Captain America Costume. This guy is his hero.

We picked up his shield and mask for about 75 cents and we re-purposed Stuart's Superman costume. It was perfect.

Stuart once told me he wanted to Superman for every Halloween for the rest of his life. Well, this year it changed...

You can tell he's got a thing or two up his sleeve.

Josiah's costume is so creative.

"Jungle Josiah" to the rescue!

This masked crusader will save you every time!

And of course we musn't forget Dorothy.

Red Shoes

What is that you ask?

Why its a Panda. This Dorothy has ditched Toto for a Panda. Or at least on half the days. Notice she's got the apron designed by Goldie and made out of a pair of pants, but oh so pretty. She's lovely, my Dorothy.

And finally. I made myself a costume. It's a pirate thingamajig. I'm still working on making stuff for me. So it's a work in progress. We had a fun Halloween. How about you?

Halloween Hooligans

Two years ago we went to this spot and took pictures on October 18th. We wanted to do the same thing this year. When we looked up the fact that we were heading out to do it on the 18th we thought it was eerie as it was the same day of the month as before. We had fun even if you cannot tell that by the way they are all over the place. They are simply awesome!











Happy Halloween!

On the Exercise Route

Whenever Grandma and Grandpa come to visit they go on long walks. This last visit was no exception. As Grandma was walking she found this really cool place that does a Fall Celebration. She invited us to go to it with her.

First we found the "perfect" pumpkin.

Then we took a hayride around their property.

But our favorite part walking in their woods. Despite the mosquitoes it was a fun little forest we delighted in. What a great discovery Grandma!

Visiting Raleigh

Since Grandma was in town, we took advantage of the babysitting and went to the temple. Afterwards, Stuart complained that he didn't get to go, so we took them.


We walked around the outside

Everyone wanted Bridger to touch the temple.

We made a quick trip to the Lego store. The boys loved that...not so sure about Grandma. Thanks for putting up with us grandma.

Shopping in Jonesborough

Grandma Allen came to visit us and we went shopping in Jonesborough. It was lots of fun to be in that spot. Especially on the storytelling weekend.

Bridger and I had fun even if we didn't shop as much as Grandma.

Exploring the decor always brings a smile to our faces.

Let's do it again sometime Mom!

Pictures at School

I really liked comparing the pictures from Goldie's first day at Princeton Primary and her last day. So we decided to take pictures at their school this year. It just didn't happen on the first day. We took some at both Josiah and Goldie's school.











Goldie wanted to include the date of her school on a picture. It is 101 years old and has ghosts...or so the stories go. I gotta write some of them down!

Thinking...

Thinking about Halloween...what to do, what to be... gotta figure it out!

My Apple Tree

Three years ago I blogged about the apples I canned. They were some of Ammon's first foods. When I did the job the apples were so small and wormy. I wondered if it was even worth it. But Ammon loved every bite.

Two years ago David Boone came and trimmed up our tree. It has been so beautiful and this is the first year it has produced since then...Big Beautiful Red Apples with much less bugs.

One evening recently we spent in harvesting our fruit. Mike picked the apples off the tree and my job was to gather apples from the grass.

Bridger had fun exploring this new world and tasting it.

A few days later my face began to change.

And then it got worse. I didn't know there had been poison ivy under the tree. But I survived. Mike says we will kill it in the spring. In the meantime we are staying far away from that corner.

Despite my gruesome face, I still love the apples.

Keep an eye on this boy.

This boy is simply amazing.

No matter what he is doing!

Or what body parts he is missing.

Those top two baby teeth have left his little mouth.

He is growing up.

At the Miller Land and Auction

Isn't Ammon so totally awesome on his Captain America bike! So cool, gotta love that face.

Dear Mike,

Dear Mike,
We miss you. Look at these lovely faces.

They wish you were here with them today. Hiking.

From the littlest to the biggest among us. How we love you for working when we are not. How we miss you.

We think you could tell us what this is, can you?

We think you would enjoy watching the boys be boys.

And w also think you would enjoy the sunlight coming through the shadows. Mostly, we just want you with us. Next time you have a few extra moments, please come hiking with us.
We love you, your family.

Coming out of the ice...

The experiments my boys try.

What will they freeze next?

Weekending August 16-18

I've got up my gusto and have been trying to make dinners to find something new that our family can enjoy together. This soup was enjoyed by Stuart and I and vetoed by everyone else. The salad was so-so. The fruit is always welcome and the homemade crazy bread was a success.

Then it was off to Mom-maw's for her 83rd birthday. What a woman!

While we were there, Mike poofed up my crinoline so I could put on my wedding dress and take some pictures. It fit-pretty much!

I curled my hair and Goldie's hair and we went up the holler and Jen took family pictures.

First Day of School

August 15th was the first day of school around here. Feels like summer shouldn't be over yet.

My 3rd grader is loving the pink panda attire. It fits so well in her wardrobe. Thanks Nella!

My first grader is about to loose that tooth he's got stuck out. In fact sometime in the 48 hours after this picture was taken I pulled it out. (Never thought I'd be able to do that!)

My preschooler is dressed in the perfect school day attire-for him-pajamas! Since he's started school I've been teaching him The Modern Major General song.

Here is the three of them together. Good Luck in school this year my little ones.

Bike Riding

At the beginning of summer Stuart couldn't ride this bike.

Recently, he got enough strength and know how to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

At the family reunion Josiah was playing with cousins and wanted to race bikes. He couldn't see one that had training wheels so he grabbed the nearest bike and started going. And low and behold...

He can ride!

Before the reunion I tried to threaten Goldie into taking off the training wheels. She'd have none of it. Afterwards....

Well, Josiah was a great motivator.

Catch all the action here:

Way to go my little bike riders!