Christmas 2008

The whole Williams side of our family came to Walla Walla to spend Christmas with us this year! In so doing, they win awards for bravery on many levels.

1) The weather all across Washington State the week of Christmas was absolutely crazy. We had more snow than we've seen in our 9 years here and even the Western side of the state (where my brothers and parents live) got dumped on with snow. Conditions were treacherous and it took everybody at least twice as long to get to our house...but we were SO glad they did!

2) Anybody who knows us knows that our house can be a crazy and chaotic place...usually exacerbated by Christmas (gifts, sugar, etc.) My siblings don't have kids yet so imagine the culture shock involved with Christmas at the Nielsons! They did so well, though, and were very good sports.

We loved having them all here, played and visited and caught up - lots of truly quality family time. Here are a few pictures of our time together:

The traditional Christmas Eve picture with stockings
(notice the already apparent effects of sugar consumption)


Everybody in the matching PJs we gave them and forced them to wear
(see "good sports" above)


Twas the Night Before Christmas reading
(minus the boys who are listening on the other couch with Nana and Papa)


Aunt Erica playing games with the boys
(and their totally made-up rules!)


Games 'n' puzzles
(Lee, Lisa, Nana, Alyssa, Diane, BJ)


Gotta love Guitar Hero! Scott and Brad ruled!


Such a special Christmas for us. Danny was particularly cuddly the other night and I asked him what his favorite thing about Christmas this year was. Without hesitating at all he said, "Having the Aunts and Uncles here" Many thanks to Nana, Papa, Scott, Erica, BJ, Diane, Lisa and Lee for making memories our kids will hold dear for years and years to come.

Here you go, Rita!

Our friend, Rita, specifically requested a family picture from the office party we went to the other night...

Kristen, notice the great photoshopping job I did on my outfit ;)

And THIS picture...I just had to post it because those who know Jacob's shy personality will find it hilarious and adorable. He LOVED Santa...almost more than he was made nervous by him!

Birthday, Gingerbread & SNOW

Yesterday was Brad's 38th birthday! He had a great one - got spoiled rotten at work and at home. He is such a great Dad and husband. We love him a lot.

Another fun event from yesterday was our annual gingerbread house making class! This is a fun tradition the kids and I take part in every year. It's actually a graham cracker ginger bread house (graham crackers instead of ginger bread) that is put on by our local YWCA. Lots of fun! The kids had a great time, as usual.


Then this morning the snow started up again BIG TIME. It has not let up once all day long. We've been holed up, doing laundry, watching movies, enjoying the fire and occasionally braving the outdoors to shovel the drive way so Brad can get the car in when he gets home tonight. The kids haven't had school since Tuesday because of all the snow and my sister-in-law just called to let me know that tomorrow is yet another no school/snow day!
That's A LOT of quality family time, people - wish us luck!

Holiday Fun

We had a Saturday jam-packed with seasonal fun this weekend!

The day began with our first serious snow fall! The flakes started coming down while I was walking the dog at about 8AM and continued all day and all night! Everything looks so pretty and the snow coming down in flurries was the perfect backdrop to our Christmas-y day.

First, Alyssa and Danny had their last basketball games of the season. That probably doesn't sound very festive, but since poor Brad got conned into coaching both teams this year the end of the season felt like a reason to party! He actually had a lot of fun coaching their teams, but his schedule the past few months has been crazy because of it.

After the big games, the girls had their Christmas piano recital - that is always a fun and festive event. Each one of them continues to do well with piano and it is really fun to hear them play. Alyssa mastered 'Jingle Bells' and 'Jolly Old St. Nicholas', Haley played 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree', and Amber learned 'Oh, Holy Night'.

The grand finale of our day of Christmas fun was attending Brad's new office's Christmas party. This is a party held annually and it is quite the event - a catered dinner party held at the country club in town. The dress is semi-formal and, needless to say, it's a little bit fancier party than the Nielson clan is accustomed to attending! It was so much fun, though (not stuffy at all.) The food was wonderful, the people were friendly and at the end of the evening Santa made a special guest appearance! He brought with him a gift for each child in attendance (somebody went to a lot of trouble to plan this party!) and called them up one by one from his "nice list". I was impressed with how family friendly the evening was and Brad and I were very proud of how well behaved our kids were (a testament to the power of parental threats!) It was a great evening.

Our Christmas Mystery

Christmas traditions are such fun and we have a lot of great ones that we enjoy each year. One of our fairly unique Christmas traditions is the annual receiving of the Christmas card from the family we swear we don't know! For the last SIX years we have gotten a Christmas card from a family in Tumwater, Washington who we don't know. We are both positive we don't know them.

The first two years their Christmas picture was just of their kids. So, though the parents' names didn't ring a bell for us, we figured that either Brad or Amy must know the wife and didn't recognize her new last name. Year 3 changed everything. That year they sent out a family picture with their cards (Misty - another reason family pictures might be an improvement over child-only Christmas pictures.) The family picture confirmed for us that WE DO NOT KNOW THESE PEOPLE. AT ALL. So of course the only logical thing to do at that point was to...send them a Christmas card back! For the last 3 years this family has received a Christmas card from the Nielsons and Brad and I have chuckled wondering if they look at it and wonder who the heck we are! Now they have their own Christmas mystery and their kids, like ours, can squeal with delight on the exciting day in December when the card from the people they don't know arrives! Oh, the magic of Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday up in Canada! Yes, Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, but Nana Barb cooked us up a fantastic turkey dinner for American Thanksgiving (thank you, Nana!) Here are a few of the week's highlights:

1. First off HAS to be that Brad's alumni basketball team won the entire tournament this year AND Brad, himself, came away unscathed! His only injury this year (aside from total-body-soreness) was a bloody nose!
Yay Brad!

2. We had a great time with family. We loved spending time with Nana Barb, Papa Brent, Auntie Carolyn, Uncle Tylor, Halle, Maddie and Alaina! The kids played so well together and were all very well behaved. The house was decorated up for Christmas, which was so fun and festive.



3. Canadian junk food rules. Seriously. It's the best. We had many Slurpees (they're WAY better up there), bought our year supply of Canadian candy and had our fair share of oddly-flavored Canadian potato chips (Szechwan flavored was a new one...then the usual Dill Pickle, Ketchup, etc.)



4. We had a fun afternoon at Waterton National Park and learned that it's gorgeous in the winter, too! We especially enjoyed playing on the new playground!


5. The travel to and fro was relatively easy this year - the roads were great up and back. Our only snag was that Danny decided to break the Nielson family record for 'Number Of Times Vomited In The Car On A Single Road Trip' (6 times on the way home!) Kudos to Amber who sat next to him 1/2 the way (I finally traded places with her after vomit #3) and helped him very lovingly - what a nice sister!

All in all, a GREAT week and a very fun time! So much to be thankful for this, and every, Thanksgiving. We feel very blessed as a family.

Happy Birthday, BJ!

Today is my little brother BJ's birthday. BJ holds the distinction of being the nicest* of the Williams siblings. In fact, he's so nice that it doesn't even threaten/offend us that he's nicer than we are! He's also smart, thrifty, funny, sensitive, fit, and can quote the Williams family's favorite movies better than anyone I've met (Caddyshack, Vacation, Fletch...)

We love BJ for his kind nature, his curiosity (he's truly a student of life) and his devotion to friends and family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BADGER!

*per sibling vote years ago

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Today is my favorite sister's birthday! True, she's my only sister...but I have a feeling that it's just because no other girls in Heaven felt they could compete for the 'favorite sister' title with her. Lisa is gorgeous, compassionate, feisty, hilarious, loving and laughs at just about all of my jokes. She is a fabulous aunt to my kids and the best sister a girl could ask for.

HAPPY B-DAY - WE LOVE YOU, LIS!

Haley "Job" Nielson

Thought we should let everyone know that we've given Haley a new nick name! She had what was supposed to be her final appointment with her knee surgeon up in Seattle today. Her x-ray shows that her right knee still isn't 100% healed up from her surgery last May. She's been on 'knee rest' for 6 months and now has to continue with her restricted activity lifestyle for 4 more months! She is pretty upset about this, poor thing. Her Uncle Jerry has been saving a place for her on the YMCA girls basketball team he's coaching (basketball is her passion) so she could play when she got the green light from her doctor this week. She's been so religious about her knee rest that it never occurred to us she might not get the green light. So, feel free to email her with pep talks, as I think she's heard ours so many times the past 6 months that they have become stale!

Question Of The Day

HALLOWEEN CANDY: FREE-FOR-ALL OR REGULATED?

At the Williams house growing up our Halloween candy was ours - we could eat it all in two hours if we wanted or we could save it and just eat a little each day. I loved that approach and always thought I'd do the same with my kids. Turns out, I just can't 'let go' to that degree! The repercussions of letting our kids eat candy hand over fist for a few days are my major deterrent (Danny alone would be unbearable!) But I have to say that it would be nice to just get it over and done with rather than have plastic buckets of candy hanging around the house for weeks. So, tell us how you handle Halloween candy at your house...I think I may be ready to revisit our current policies.

HALLOWEEN 2008

A fun and successful Halloween! Fun because the kids loved their costumes, enjoyed their school Halloween parties and trick-or-treated 'til they dropped. Successful because they are all sound asleep now so Brad and I are free to "check" their candy. You know...to make sure it's safe and all. We've noticed that a lot of times there are safety issues with the Reece's and Butterfingers ;)

Jacob's New Friend

Jacob found a praying mantis in his sandbox the other day. Lucky for him Brad happened to be home for lunch at the time so he had a parent who was willing to introduce him to it.

A bit reluctant at first, Jacob soon had provided the little guy with a resting place on the hem of his sweatshirt and walked around with him for a good 1/2 hour like that. I'm not sure if Jacob's hands are like that to keep them away from the praying mantis or in an attempt to BE a praying mantis himself...but it's a nice effect either way :)

Harvest Celebration

Danny's kindergarten class had a their Harvest Celebration this week. Fun activities were everywhere - games, obstacle courses, pumpkin carving and even tortilla making! Danny had a blast (and Jacob thought it was pretty cool, too)

Proud Mama

Alyssa with her "litter" of pumpkins.

HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!

One of the perks of having married a Canadian is that we get to celebrate two Thanksgivings - a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings in October AND a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings in November! YUM!

Cute Kid Comment

Today Brad had to scold Alyssa for using 'potty talk'
(those who know Brad well are already laughing at the irony.)

Brad: "Alyssa, I'm getting a little tired of all the potty talk coming out of your mouth!"

Jacob: "EWW, GROSS! How did potty talk get inside Lyssie's mouth?!"

Last Day of Soccer!

Alyssa and Daniel had their last soccer games this weekend. A sad day for each of them, but a happy day for the family schedule!
Here they are in all their soccer glory...

What We're Up To

A brief (kind of) update on our comings and goings...

JACOB...
...is Mommy's little helper! He helps by being so easy to keep happy that I'm able to get everything done that I want to in a day! We are enjoying our one-on-one time together - we read lots of stories, bake cookies and run errands. Jacob loves his weekly playgroup with 4 other little boys in our ward and he always looks forward to going to the Childrens' Museum with mom once a week. Despite all that fun he is anxiously waiting by the window for the school bus to drop Danny and Lyssie off each afternoon.

DANIEL...
...is totally loving the all-day kindergarten thing (as am I!) Because he's a late August birthday and could technically have gone to kindergarten last year, he is very ready for this schedule. When we ask him what his favorite thing about kindergarten is he always says, "ALL OF IT!" He comes home filthy every day. It cracks me up. This kid gets grass stains on his back, even. Thank goodness for Spray 'n' Wash - we would be tempted to buy stock in it if the market weren't so bad! Danny's also playing soccer and loving it. His energy amazes us - he is all over that field and is usually able to stay very focused on the ball. He's the first child we've had who doesn't need encouragement to be more aggressive when he plays. In fact, it makes sense that he is enjoying organized sports because for once his activity level does not have to be tempered. His parents are on the side of the field yelling, "Yes, Danny! Go, Danny! More, Danny!" instead of, "No, Danny! Calm down, Danny!"

ALYSSA...
...loves 2nd grade so far. She was fortunate enough to get the same teacher as her BFF (who happens to be the daughter of a good friend of mine from high school!) Her teacher makes learning lots of fun and Lyssie refers to her as "The Nicest Teacher Ever". Like Danny, Alyssa is also busy with soccer. She has really turned a corner this year - she's scored several goals and she's saved many a goal while playing goalie. She is still a fairly 'polite' soccer player (if someone else is going for the ball she'll often hold back in an 'After you' sort of fashion) but she is having a really good season and loves it. She also started piano lessons this year and is doing very well with them!

HALEY...
...is feeling pretty much back to normal after her pneumonia. She still can't play sports because of her knee surgery (the year this kid has had!) but after Nov. 11th she is supposed to be able to return to full activity. This means she'll likely get to play basketball this year and she's thrilled about that. Haley is also busy with piano lessons (she's getting quite good!) and has taken up the Alto Sax in the school band. She had her first babysitting job last weekend the the report back was that she did a very good job and may give Amber competition where babysitting is concerned.

AMBER...
...is still babysitting lots and enjoys it greatly. She loves playing with kids (except the other day she babysat for someone while she was in the middle of a 2-week grounding from the TV and evidently was a little more interested in the kids' television set than she was in the kids themselves!) She is still playing the clarinet in the school band and really enjoys that. She's also getting great at the piano. She has been working on two songs from Phantom of the Opera the last few weeks and I love to hear her practice them!

AMY...
...has had a great month! I can't believe how much 'down time' I have with the 4 older kids in school all day. I have been on a cleaning/organizing rampage, tackling closets and drawers and cupboards. I also decided that I could groom the dog better and cheaper than a professional (I can't) and gave her quite the hair cut - that was a 2-day ordeal. Once a week I get to help in the kids' classrooms at school, which is a fun opportunity to be a fly on the wall. I only help in Alyssa's and Danny's classrooms because helping in Amber's and Haley's would be "so embarassing" for them. In fact, the other day Amber forgot something important at home and I had to drop it by the school for her. They called her down to the office to get it from me and throughout our entire conversation she was looking at me with fear in her eyes! Relax, Amber...I'm not going to break into song and dance in your middle school lobby! I just wanted to give you your picture money! I'm still teaching the Gospel Doctrine sunday school class at church and I really enjoy it because it's only every other week and it forces me to study where I am prone to procrastinate normally :) I'm also looking for a good book to read (but not too good or I won't keep cleaning my closets!) Any suggestions??

BRAD...
...is busy with work. He is still loving his new job and we are loving his more regular hours (home by 5:30 like clockwork and no more Saturdays or holidays!) He is on a health kick trying to prepare for his upcoming high school alumni basketball tournament. This is a tourney held annually at his high school up in Canada. He loves it so much. Seems like every year he says it's his last and I smile knowing it's not. It's not uncommon for him to leave the tournament on crutches (I'm not joking - that has happened twice!) and he even cracked a rib one year, but for some reason he keeps going back. And don't tell Brad, because I like to pretend the whole tourney is a hardship, but it's pretty fun to watch him play :)

The Little Seed That Could

At the end of last school year Alyssa came home with a Dixie Cup full of dirt. Her first grade class had planted pumpkin seeds. So, as I have done through the years with all our kids' Dixie Cups of dirt, I put it in the kitchen window sill. Normally these poor seeds are fairly neglected, never sprout or sprout and quickly die. But Lyssie was pretty religious about watering and caring for her little seed. It sprouted and was green and everything. By the end of July the plant itself was getting too big for the Dixie Cup. It was up to Brad and/or I to plant it. Again, normally this would be the end of the plant's life :) But Lyssie pestered us and pestered us until finally one night after work Brad planted it in the back yard garden. By now the plant was quite yellow and looking near death. We apologized profusely to her and crossed our fingers. Well, we came home from our 2-1/2 week Canada/Utah/Seattle trip to find THIS:

Alyssa's plant turned into a monster! It swallowed the barbecue and is threatening to overtake the entire back yard. We have had to keep re-routing it's chutes back into the garden area. So far there are 8 mature pumpkins, which means Alyssa has supplied this year's Halloween pumpkins for her whole family! Thanks, Lyssie!

Are you trying to tell us something, Jacob?

Danny and Jacob argue over who gets to say the prayer at meal times. It's to the point where the girls have probably forgotten how to pray over a meal because it's been so long since any of them have had the opportunity. Usually Jacob's prayers are kind of mumbly and hard to understand but today I could clearly make out what he was praying for. It didn't have much to do with the food in front of him and it made me wonder about the quality of life in our home! He specifically asked that nobody in our house would get owies, throw up, take medicine, cry, fight or scream. Doesn't that make you want to visit the Nielson family real soon?!

Middle School Drama

We are on the roller coaster ride that is middle school - Amber is in 8th grade and Haley is in 6th. I've had the opportunity to relive this stage of life vicariously a bit as they come home with their struggles and triumphs and I have decided that I could not be PAID to go back to my middle school years! Seriously. No amount whatsoever.

Amber's BFF moved away over the summer and she is really grieving that now that school has begun. I feel so bad for her.

Haley had been enjoying middle school...emphasis on 'had been'. Today they had their pictures taken for their student ID cards and - horror of horrors - her bra strap was showing in her picture. Oh, the mortification! She came home completely distraught at having been mocked all day long. And to add insult to injury, the first reaction of each of her parents upon hearing of her humiliation was to chuckle! Bad form, I know.

It's hard enough to have to go through the drastic ups and downs of these years personally...but I am finding that it's equally painful (if not moreso!) to have to watch your child go through them. One day they are on cloud nine and the next day they are miserable. If I'm ever in charge I'm going to have kids skip from age 10 to 16 and bypass it altogether! Although, I have to admit that some of my funniest memories as a child are from those awkward years...but they aren't funny until about 10 years have passed. And now that I think about it, they're all funny at MY expense!

Cute Kid Comment

This morning over breakfast Jacob told us, "I miss my Heavenly Jesus." After the older kids had finished "oohing" and "ahhing" over that cute statement, I reminded Jacob that he can talk to his Heavenly Father every time he prays and he said, "But doesn't He have a cell phone?"

I AM

My friend's little boy wrote a very sweet poem at school. I liked it so much that I used the format and had Danny and Alyssa write their own.

I AM, by Danny Nielson
I am a good boy,
I wonder about my dog, Mabel,
I want to be a wrestler,
I am a good boy.
I pretend to play soccer games at home,
I feel happy when mom and dad give me hugs,
I worry about Haley when she is sick,
I am a good boy.
I say "I love you",
I dream about Lyssie and I getting eaten by a big T-Rex,
I try to help with things,
I am a good boy.

I AM, by Alyssa Nielson
I am awesome,
I wonder about what's going to happen,
I want to be famous,
I am awesome.
I pretend to be a fairy,
I feel happy when I get cake,
I worry about monsters,
I am awesome.
I say, "Please" and "Thank You",
I dream about the Jonas Brothers,
I try to be good,
I am awesome.

Haley's First Day of School

Haley likes to be distinctive so it is only fitting that she be fashionably late to Middle School :)

So really she has had pneumonia and missed the first 2-1/2 weeks of 6th grade. She hasn't been happy about having to start school late because it's her first year at middle school and she doesn't really like to be that distinctive. Like most 11-year-olds, she'd have preferred to start this new venture the same day all of her friends did.

We tried to help her see the bright side of this whole experience...then we realized that there isn't much of a bright side so we had to get creative. We figured everybody at school would want to sit by the girl who flew on a special jet with a pediatric pulmonary team to Seattle. She'll probably have instant middle school popularity while everyone gets in line to hear her exciting story! So she's got that going for her.

I added "No PE" as a bright side, but Haley loves sports so that wasn't as much of a plus for her as it would have been for me. Would have been a big plus for me.

In the end, she went to school this morning feeling pretty nervous. Amber was in protective-big-sister mode, which was great. She gave Haley numerous middle school pep talks this morning. And when we pulled up to the school there was a big group of Haley's friends waiting for her on the curb. They all squealed when they saw our car and ran over to hug her and say hello. I don't think I even got a "Goodbye Mom" out of her she was so overwhelmed with her reception committee!

She's hoping to make it all day, but still gets fatigued pretty easily so she'll just play it by ear. And in the meantime, I am home alone all day long with just Jacob. I wanted very much to put an exclamation point or two after that sentence, but I feel too guilty about how excited I am to just have one child home all day long so I left it a simple period. Don't be fooled. This is awesome.

My Sister Is Engaged!

My sister, Lisa, called last night to let us know that she is engaged! She has been dating Lee for about a year and a half and he is totally perfect for her and for our family. We couldn't be happier!


Here's her gorgeous ring! Like the manicure? We all got our nails done for Scott and Erica's wedding and Lee had the foresight to propose while her nails still looked good. Okay, I doubt Lisa's manicure was a factor for him, but it definitely worked out well for the pictures!

Scott and Erica

My brother, Scott, got married this past weekend to his absolute perfect match - Erica. I just have to say that my brothers have done a phenomenal job of choosing their wives. They are both very happily matched and what's even better is that they have each chosen girls who I absolutely love and would want in my life anyway! Wasn't that considerate of them?! :)

It was such a beautiful wedding - a perfect day. The venue was gorgeous - right at the foot of Mt. Hood in Oregon. And Erica has such a talent for knowing what will look nice and making things pretty. Everything looked so great and she was a stunning bride. We feel so lucky to have Erica join our family. She is warm and kind and fun - we love her. Scott is happier than I've ever seen him - that brings us all a lot of joy.

Now the happy couple is honeymooning in Maui.
Congratulations, Scott and Erica!

Better Late Than Never

Amber and Alyssa had their first day of school a week ago Tuesday. We were slightly preoccupied (Haley had been transferred from our local hospital to Seattle Childrens' the night before) so hats off to Nana Jo who remembered to take the traditional 'first day of school' picture! Here they are on their way out the door. Amber is starting 8th grade and Alyssa is starting 2nd. They are both delighted with their teachers and their classes and excited to have the new school year under way.

Danny had his first day of kindergarten on Tuesday. Kindergarten in Walla Walla is full-day, but they start out with a couple of half-days to help ease the kids into it. Here he is outside his classroom. He had such a great time and is very ready for kindergarten. Hopefully kindergarten is ready for him, too :)

To Be Continued...as Haley's first day of school will probably be in another week or two.

Haley's Home!

Haley was discharged from the hospital yesterday and we got home last night. It is SO good to be back home and all together as a family under one roof! That said, she's still pretty miserable and her doctors say it'll be a while before she is 100% She not supposed to go to school this week (she's on bed rest) and next week is iffy. We'll have to see what her pediatrician says. She'll be seeing him weekly (with weekly x-rays) for a while.

In the meantime she is resting and watching DVDs (thanks, Susie!), working on regaining her appetite, and taking lots and lots of huge pills :) She is such a trooper and we are very proud of how strong she has been (emotionally and physically) throughout all of this.

Many thanks to all those who have been so very supportive. We are blessed with great family and friends.

No Fun

Just a quick update. We found out last Friday that Haley has pneumonia. It wasn't responding to antibiotics so they admitted her to the hospital. By Monday she was still not doing well so they flew her (along with Brad) to Seattle Childrens' Hospital. She had surgery last night to remove fluid from around her right lung. This morning she is doing pretty well. She's resting comfortably and the doctors say she is on the right track. Brad and I are both with her for now while wonderful grandparents take care of the other kids (who had the first day of school yesterday).

Keep Haley in your prayers :)

Birthday Boy!

The 23rd was Danny's 6th birthday! His birthday post is late...but better late than never!

The Big Day...
The two things I remember most about the day Danny was born are:

1)Asking the doctor if Danny was was a boy right after he was born. We'd been told after our ultrasound that he was a boy, but having had 3 girls in a row I was in 'I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it' mode!

2)Looking at his little baby boy hands and being amazed at how much different they looked than little baby girl hands.

Nickname...
"Danny Boy"

Danny's Song...
"Daniel", by Elton John...Duh!

Interesting Facts about Danny...
Daniel is our super active, super outgoing, super loving little guy. He is fun-loving and friendly and always on the go. Seriously. Always. Danny loves to play with his siblings and with his friends. He loves dinosaurs, cars, spiderman, Power Rangers and animals. He has a really positive, up-beat personality and he's just a ton of fun.

We love our Danny Boy!

Home Sweet Home

We have been out of town (on the road with the kids) for 2-1/2 weeks! A few words of advice for any of you who may be toying with a similar idea:

1. Gallon-sized zip locks make excellent vomit bags.
2. BYOM (bring your own music...so you're not submitted to the horrors of listening to hours and hours of Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, etc.)
3. No matter what DO NOT FORGET TO BRING ALONG YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR!

We had a great trip, though we are all exhausted and Brad and I are fighting colds. That's not too bad considering all the things that could go wrong while traveling by car for 2+ weeks with five kids.

Here's a little update on our summer tour:

CANADA
We began by driving up to Canada to visit family, camp in Waterton National Park and attend Brad's 20-year high school reunion. There was lots of family in town so there was catching up to be done and plenty of cousins for the kids to play with 24/7. We camped with Carolyn and Tylor and their girls and with Brad's cousin, Dave (who was vacationing on his own and brave/crazy enough to set up his tent in between ours and Carolyn/Tylor's!) Brad fished morning and night, catching a couple of pretty big ones! The kids played hard in and around Waterton Lake, enjoyed their cousins thoroughly and even, by huge coincidence, met up with some of the kids they met last year while we camped in Waterton! I read through the 4th Twilight book (loved it!) and enjoyed visiting with family (loved that, too!)

We saw a TON of wildlife while in Waterton. Including, but not limited to: bears, deer, mountain goats, moose and buffalo.

Brad had a great time at his 20-year reunion! He loved catching up with old friends and reminiscing about their younger years. I had a good time too. A lot of Brad's graduating class went to college together, which is where I met them. It felt a bit like a BYU reunion for me! It was so great to see old friends we'd lost touch with! Brad and his graduating class got to ride on a float in the Cardston parade the weekend of their reunion. Here they are as they passed where we were staked out. The kids were thrilled to see their Dad in a parade and just when they thought it couldn't get any better, he threw them a bunch of Canadian candy (the BEST candy on the planet!)
UTAH
From Canada we drove down to Utah. Yes, most of us had already been to Utah once this summer. But our niece, Cori, got married August 14th and we just couldn't miss that! Cori and Tyler got married in the Salt Lake Temple and Grandpa Brent was their sealer. It was a really neat experience and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.

VANCOUVER
Our next stop was Vancouver, WA. where we spent the night at my parents' house and then left all the kids with them (and the 80-pound dog who they'd already had as a house guest for 2 weeks!) while Brad and I went to MY 20-year high school reunion. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

SEATTLE
Which brings us to Seattle. Let me just say to any of you who may attempt a trip of this nature with five kids, do plan on leaving them with grandma and grandpa for at least 24 hours while you visit another city ALONE! That was the perfect way to wrap up this vacation! We had a good time at my high school reunion (okay, AMY had a good time, BRAD was a good sport and faked it well). The best part, though, was having that time alone together after such a crazy, hectic two weeks.

Here I am with high school friends Marlo, Becky and Dave.

Now we are home and trying to catch up on our lives - it will take weeks, I'm sure! But we had so much fun - lots of quality time with friends and family, and many great memories for years to come!

Blog-Worthy

A few recent things that I think are blog-worthy:

-Jacob is out of diapers! Okay, this one could have had it's very own post, in my humble opinion, because it's BIG NEWS considering he is our caboose. Brad and Amy are officially done changing diapers after 13 years! Thank you, thank you.

-Lyssie and Danny passed yet another swim class! This is not something we've had happen before - kids passing their swimming classes with ease (sorry Amber and Haley).

-Haley and Alyssa took a super cool knitting class at a knitting shop in town and made cute little knitted/stuffed kittens! They both loved it. Alyssa pronounced, while knitting one night, "Knitting is such a nice, calm hobby"...as opposed to all her hyper hobbies, I'm guessing.

-Brad is about to begin his last week at ShopKo! That sentence makes it sound like we've dreaded working at ShopKo, when in reality this has been a great job for him and for our family and we have appreciated it very much. But it has been a bit tricky to jump back and forth between practices over the last several months so he is very much looking forward to being full time at Valley Vision Clinic.

-Amber bought her Nintendo DS! This actually occurred a couple of weeks back, but she has been delighted with it and with herself for having saved up that much babysitting money. Now she has about that much saved up again, so I took her over to the bank last week to open up a savings account. She is pretty much feeling grown up.

-We are getting ready for a big trip - up to Canada, then down to Utah, then up to Seattle. Brad has his 20-year high school reunion (he's old, huh?), then our niece, Cori, is getting married in Utah, then I have my 20-year high school reunion (okay, I'm old too) Should be lots of fun!

Slip 'N' Slide/Kid Bowling

For our Family Home Evening activity last night we broke out the new Slip 'n' Slide! Freezing cold hose water and flinging oneself across a lumpy back lawn covered with a thin sheet of plastic was never so fun! Not that I tried it myself...but it sure looked like fun!

Amber opted to watch all the fun with Brad and I (smart girl!), but the other kids got totally into it. Even poor Haley, who really couldn't do much because of her knee, got into the spirit of things by posing for a fake sliding picture (looks pretty good, huh?!)
Lyssie and Danny liked it a lot and got pretty good at it, but Jacob had a hard time figuring it out at first. He ended up asking Brad for help in sliding, which basically involved Brad chucking Jacob down the Slip 'n' Slide...as if he were bowling and Jacob were his ball.

This made me cringe! But Jacob totally loved it. He kept having Brad do it again and again (lots of cringing on my part) and then Danny wanted in on the action. I'm sure all this was very good for Brad's bad back. And yes, we do realize that Danny needs a swim suit with a draw string.

A Utah-tastic Week!

I did it! I took all 5 kids to Utah all by myself...and we all survived! We had such a fun and busy week and problems were at a minimum. They included the usual sibling spats, a handful of emotional melt-downs (one was mine...so does that still count?), only minor injuries (the kinds solved with a band-aid), one child passing out and throwing up (Haley, of course) and the fact that I blinked in just about every picture I was in. Other than those few issues it was just about perfect!

The girls LOVED Stadium of Fire and Miley Cyrus. Even better than the program itself was the company we kept - we went with our old friends the Nields (actually it was about half of the Nield Family, I guess) Maren and Anika were best friends with Amber and Haley through optometry school. They lived right across the side walk from us when we lived in our super-scary government subsidized housing so we have that special "poverty bond" between us. Dayna and I used to wave at each other through our kitchen windows while hand-washing dishes for hours and hours...somehow it made it easier! Anyway, it was so fun to see them. It melted my heart to see those girls together again...and we moms had fun, too!

We saw so much family and so many old friends while we were in Utah - that was easily the best part for all of us! Got to see my sister, Lisa, and her boyfriend, Lee (a big thanks to both of them for babysitting the boys while we went to Stadium of Fire!) We also spent time with my Grandma Ruth, my Aunt Paula and Uncle Ted, my cousin Beka and her family, my cousin Brett and his family and my 2nd cousin, Sarah, who is a dear friend and kindred spirit. We even got to see Nana Jo and Papa Jim, who happened to be visiting Grandma Ruth!

On Brad's side we got to see Uncle Todd and Aunt Janice and their kids (the "Utah Cousins"), who were kind enough to let us stay with them. We got to meet their new daughter - our newest cousin, Maci! We also got to see Aunt Sandy and the "Kelowna Cousins", who are in Utah for a few weeks visiting Sandy's family.

Then there was the mini-BYU reunion I got to take part in! I went out to dinner with my old roommate Kimm (who was nice enough to drive all the way down to Provo from Ogden!) and later in the week the kids and I went up to Bountiful to have dinner with my friends Erin and Misty (also former BYU roommates of mine) and their families. Erin was my roommate my first two years at BYU and Misty (Erin's sister) was my roommate a year later. What a fun night that was! I even got to see their mom again, who was sort of my mom-away-from-home while I was in college and so far away from family. It was so good to reconnect with great friends! And my kids loved getting to know their kids (they're calling them the "BYU Cousins" since I met their parents at the Y)

My parents, my Grandma Ruth and I took the kids to tour BYU in what Brad and I like to call our 'Semi-Annual BYU Brainwashing Event'. As usual, it seemed to be very successful. The kids have been wearing their new BYU hats for days.

Here are a few pictures from our week...