The Eastons

Best Books of 2011

2012-01-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

I have finally done it - In 2011 I read more non-fiction than fiction. I have been on the verge for a long time. The more kids I have the less fiction I read. Otherwise, I ignore my kids and my home for three days to finish it and when it's all over I wonder if it was worth it. Non-fiction on the other hand, I can pick up and put down a little easier. I can use more self-control and still feel like I am broadening my mind (which is sadly quite unused). So here are my top five, in no particular order.

The Great Bridge by David McCullough: The fascinating story about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. I love how McCullough intertwines the lives of the different historical figures in such a way that gives the story a personal human feel while you are still blown away by the technical side of how it was all accomplished.

Tiger: A Story of Vengeance and Survival: This is a story about a man-eating tiger in Russia. Yea, that intro didn't interest me much either, but I watched Greg get sucked into this book and had to find out why. It is such an eye opening look at the animal world, the effects of the Communism and its collapse on rural Russia, and the fear of being hunted.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: I remember reading this in High School and being so struck buy the impact books had on the main character. I loved the new insights I gained this time as an adult. I understood a lot more about her mother and their relationship. A classic worth rereading.

The Help: This one has been given enough airtime - I'm sure you have all read it and/or seen the movie. I loved the rich characters, the humor, and the details that made it such an easy book to fall into.

Infidel: The autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali was amazing. I am having a hard time putting into words what I enjoyed about this book. I learned so much about parts of the world I have never been, about Islam, about how much have to be grateful for, about the many injustices in the world, and how you can overcome anything.

Annual Christmas Letter

2011-12-19T20:40:00.001-08:00

Most of you have already read this - but someday my kids will read this and laugh at their father who enjoys his yearly letter maybe a bit too much.

Family and Friends,

If the letter is dramatically different next year, it is because Lisa and I are arguing over the contents as I seek her feedback the night before sending this out. She claims I don’t want her feedback, but why else would I have asked for it? She keeps getting caught up on the difference between facts, memories, and the artistic license required to make this mildly entertaining. And then she wants me to say positive things about our kids. It’s not my style, and for at least this year, this remains MY letter. Challenging Lisa on such important matters after 11 years of marriage is how a father of 5 lives on the edge. Actually a father of five always lives on the edge. (Editor’s note: there were some actual improvements made to the letter after Lisa’s review.) On to the year…

I crossed one cat species off my list and two countries. While in Chile for work I took a few days to visit Patagonia at the southern tip of the continent in hopes of seeing a puma. It was an adventure worthy of more than paragraph a in the Christmas letter, so if you ever head that way I have a few pointers on how to avoid $35/gallon gasoline, where to spotlight for pumas in Torres del Paine N.P., what guanacos and rheas are, and a highly recommended Spanish only speaking guide. (No, I don’t speak Spanish) While I was gone Andrew prayed, "Help dad see pumas on his drive home so he can take pictures of it, or in the morning when there is enough light, or when it is dark but with lots of flashlights." That’s how we spell love at the Easton home.

In between tours of ancient ruins in Mexico and Guatemala with Lisa’s family we watched BYU in the NCAA basketball tournament over the internet or with the Spanish speaking commentators on TV. Jimmer proved to be an international phenomenon. Mack and Andrew made homemade Jimmer BYU jerseys out of white t-shirts.

I spent 4 months successfully on the “get in and out of shape plan” and completed my second ½ marathon in the middle of the plan.

We took a late summer trip to Washington State to look for whales and to visit the mountains, rain forests, and beaches of Olympic National Park. After 3 hours on the boat straining to see through the pea soup like conditions we had seen nary a whale, but the boat captain and many of the passengers knew Andrew and Natali by name as they roamed the decks looking for signs of wildlife and striking up conversations with strangers. Suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a pod of killer whales that frolicked around and beneath our boat for nearly an hour—what a memory!

In an effort to avoid the effects of global warming I scheduled two trips to Yellowstone National Park this year and managed to catch the last snow of spring season and the first snow of autumn. Our stalwart kids didn’t let the weather slow them down as our family of 7 completed a 3 mile hike in 39 degree weather. We proved that kids are scarier than cars by not seeing a single mammal during our hike but we did see grizzlies, wolves, coyotes, and about everything else from the road.

Natali (9)—received a perfect attendance award at school—I feel like a failure as a parent. She may have gone to school sick a few times to make sure she received the free bike prize for not missing a day. The kids must have too many days off of school if she can win the award and we still put so many miles on the car. She narrowly missed the perfect daughter award.
Mack (8)—was baptized in October and spent the remaining 364 days playing football, basketball, or soccer. He stopped playing long enough to attend a BYU football game and read the collected works of Roald Dahl. I think his life is good and so does he.

Andrew (6)—driving home one night with just Andrew in the car we had a deep conversation about the foreign species in his 1st grade class. Andrew confessed that at recess they always play “Girls chase the Boys”, and though one of his friends likes to get caught Andrew vehemently declared, “But none of them ever touched me!” Andrew conceded to attend school this year, but only until he learns how to read his animal books. He sleeps on the floor in his room nearly every night—except for the night he and I slept at the zoo next to the Lion enclosure.

Kate (4)—has found her 2nd home at dance class and is ready to perform at the mere suggestion. She still likes to snuggle and find an open lap for story time. She is not quite as into hiking (let’s be honest, walking on uneven surfaces can be difficult) and the outdoors as the boys are, but somehow I still love her just as much.

Emily (1)—has been taught by her siblings the appropriate sound for all 4 primary animals. (Editor’s note: there is no such thing as 4 primary animals, but she can growl, meow, moo, and woof woof). Her official vocabulary consists of 53% “no”, 45% “nuh-uh” and an assortment of other words that occasionally imply approval or acceptance. Look for her in the 2012 Toddler Olympics as a food thrower. Other than that she’s absolutely adorable and hasn’t lost her red hair yet.

Editor’s note on obligatory praise of children: our kids really are wonderful, talented, well-behaved, good-looking, and even love each other and their parents, but you probably could have guessed that.

Book of the year—The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. Even Lisa enjoyed reading about a man-eating Siberian Tiger.

Author’s note: my apologies to the readers and editor for going beyond 1 page for the first time in Easton Christmas Letter history. The truth is I look forward to the chance to write fiction once a year way more than I should. I find myself reflective at this year end. What have I done with my time and talents? It is easy to be busy, but it is much harder to be good. To paraphrase Thomas Monson, may we all keep Christmas this year rather than just spending it.

Merry Christmas, Love the Easton Family (Greg, Lisa, Natali, Mack, Andrew, Kate, and Emily)

Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

Our good friend took our pictures again this year. The kids had fun eating apples and exploring the swamp. The boys were knee deep in water before we even got started. Emily ate a bunch of skittles and Kate did her best "smiles" far too often. But all things considered it turned out pretty well.

Another one bites the dust...

2011-12-18T19:58:00.000-08:00

I took Mack in for his annual eye exam. He has a amblyopia, fancy talk for a lazy eye, so we check on it now and then. When they put up the first row of letters for him to read I knew we were in trouble. He could only read the very largest letters accurately (the ones right under the huge E). My quiet little guy sits in the back row at school and of course never mentioned that he can't read anything his teacher puts on the board.

That officially puts us at 2 for 2 - kids getting glasses in the second grade. This is not a stat I am trilled about. I didn't get glasses till 4th grade and Greg only got glasses after Andrew was born. Technically, Greg doesn't even have to wear glasses. Mack's eyes are already twice as bad as Greg's. However, both of us carry the genes for bad eye sight. I was hoping some of our kids would get the good half of Greg's genes but alas...I guess I should just be grateful we live in a world where glasses are readily available so my little guy can see.

Halloween

2011-11-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to try out a Halloween Dinner. We started by played a few Halloween games intended for the kids to earn candy corns that would be traded later to pay for dinner. The games were silly and meant to be fun - but the night almost ended there because of all the complaining, whining, and full out Frisbee kicking fits - however, everyone finally pulled it together and we got to our dinner.

With the help of the Internet we came up with a menu full creepy Halloween items. At first the kids were hesitant to order anything because they didn't know what it was (and they only had so many candy corns to spend). But eventually, they got into it and by the end they were begging to do it again next year. It was a lot of fun and semi-easy because Greg took the day off to spend time with his Mom and Randy. So I had a lot of help; I guess we'll see about next year. Here are just a few of the menu items.Bat Wings (Chicken wings)Deathly Dip (Hummus with veggies and tortillas cut out in Halloween shapes)Witches Brew (the apples are supposed to look like teeth and the grapes like eye balls)And for dessert - Edible Eyeballs these frozen pudding balls were quite a hit.
Then it was on to the Trick or Treating. This year Natali convinced all the kids to be characters from Peter Pan. So I made a bunch of simple costumes to accommodate them. I spend $10 or less on each costume so I was quite pleased with my self. Yet, as usual, I forgot about pictures. In fact, we only have pictures of the dinner because Greg was thinking. Thankfully, he did take costume pictures, but the kids were supper bundled and none of the pictures capture the costumes very well, but here they are.

Peter Pan - Only Andrew can get away with wearing 5T girls leggings and never think twice about it. He cut up the bottom of his shirt himself, which he thought was pretty cool.Tinker Bell - Well I had been planning for Emily to be Michael wearing pink PJs and carrying a teddy bear, but three days before Halloween a friend brought me this costume she had made years before. Emily loved it. She actually wanted it on, wings and all. It really surprised me. She made it around to 6 houses then filled her diaper and went home. She couldn't have been happier with her six pieces of candy and the dum dums she keep sneaking out of other treat buckets.Wendy - I kept expecting Kate to back out of this costume because it wasn't pick, frilly, fancy...you get the idea. Yet, she bought into Natali's enthusiasm and only slightly wavered when she found some pink butterfly wings I made years ago. Princess Tiger Lily - Natali had fun picking out the fabric and planing this costume. She decided to paint the top part and it turned out so great. She really did a good job. As we were chasing the boys around the neighborhood, Greg and I decided that Natali and Mack could double as Sacajawea and Lewis (or Clark). Whatever works. Lost Boy - Mack originally wanted to be Captain Hook , but I just wasn't up to that much of a commitment. So he came up with this lost boy costume. He almost decided to be John last minute, which would have been a fun costume, but luckily for my sake, he lost interest and stayed a lost boy. He did pick out all his fabric and cut up his pants and shirt - so he was happy. You can't see it in this picture, but he is wearing a hat with a tail on it (one he borrowed from Grandma so it may seam familiar to some of you) which definitely added to the possible frontiersman look.Now we have way more candy that anyone needs and my laundry/sewing room has counter space again. I wonder what Natali will cook up for everyone next year...

Baptism

2011-11-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

The last Saturday in October, Mack was baptised. We were so blessed to have so many family members there for the special occasion. He was baptised in the morning but this time I managed to get there early enough to take some pictures before the baptism.

Andrew wanted to get in a picture - he is excited for his turn.Mack with his Grandma and Grandpa Dame and Grandma Lula. We were to thrilled to have my Grandma there and to get to spend time with her afterwards at our house. She is such a wonderful woman and a great example of someone who loves the Lord. I was touched that she came because I know it was hard on her and she has been in such pain lately. It was a treat for us. Mack with his Grandma Nani and Papa Randy. They drove in Saturday morning with a few hours to spare before the baptism. It wouldn't have been the same without them.Me and my Macky! I have such a special place in my heart for my Mack. He can always brighten my day and rarely makes me want to pull my hair out. I love his diligence and quiet confidence. A mother of one of his friends told me that of all the kids her son plays with, Mack is the only one that hasn't ever gotten mad at him. When Mack went to school I was so worried that he would be quiet and never make friends. But I was so wrong - everyone likes Mack. I am so proud of him for choosing to follow the path of his Savior by being baptised and by being a friend to everyone.

Yellowstone - Always a favorite

2011-10-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

The kids had a few days off from school and we hadn't been to Yellowstone yet this year so we had to squeeze it in before the season ended. I did manage to convince Greg not to camp. Twenty degree nights with a baby in a tent never sounds very fun.

We had a great time in our small little room with two beds, a sink, and the shared bathroom down the hall (at least they provided robes). Our kids are getting good at sleeping three kids the short way on the bed, and thankfully, Andrew always volunteers to sleep on the floor. But Natali is getting too tall and one of these days someone is going to call us out for having 7 people in one room. Actually, the room was a lot of fun and we weren't there much because we spent most of our time in the van looking for animals.

Our goal this time was to see wolfs. We did see wolfs through the scopes of kind "wolf watchers" but that just isn't the same for me. Someday we'll really see some. We did see several bears though. I loved watching this mother and cubs swim across the river.
This golden eagle was beautiful. We were even close enough that Emily was reacting to the animal. I loved her excitement. One of her favorite books right now is about a snow leopard (thanks Laura). She gets so animated when she sees pictures of animals - A little Andrew in the making. Speaking of Andrew, this little man hiked nearly 9 miles in one day! He is determined to enjoy every minute in Yellowstone. He and Greg did 5 miles together in on and off snow/rain showers. Meanwhile Natali and Mack earned their Jr. Ranger badges, we toured the visitor center, and hung out in the hotel room.We also took lots of little hikes together and one BIG one. It didn't start out big but I think Greg was secretly hoping it would end big. There was a 4 mile loop. The intention was to just start up the path and then turn around when they were tired. Amazingly, in spite of the 35-40 degree weather, they did really good. By the time they were asking to turn around we figured we were half way so we should just keep going. Kate got a few piggie backs and Natali needed a few pep talks, but they all made it.It was a beautiful hike right along a canyon. Emily didn't complain about her free ride and slept a fair portion of the hike. The last few of the river was so beautiful with the contrasting colors of blue, green, brown, and white. This picture doesn't really capture it. Here are the amazing hikers waiting for Greg to bring the car around. The last 1/2 mile of the loop was down the main road so Greg ran on ahead of us and we only had to wait about 5 minutes before he arrived with the warm van.
Per Natali's request, we did stop to see Old Faithful. However, near the time it was going to erupt it started to snow. Not just a little snow but so much snow that when it did erupt we couldn't even tell it had started. So glad we weren't camping.
On the way home we stopped at Wendy's. Greg bought one frosty to share. The kids were all holding their mouths open and squawking for their turn, especially Emily. It was so funny. I tried to capture it but failed to catch the moment.
Year after year I wait for one of the girls to complain about going to Yellowstone. They spend hours and hours in the car, freeze when they get out, whine about hiking...and yet they still seem to love it. They all seem to recognize the beauty and wonder of the animals, landscape, and geothermal oddities. The hours in the car helps create lasting memories. Like the word of the day. Each day we took turns picking a word, like bear. Each time bear was said we had to roar, but the best was Mack's pick of Elk. Instead of screaming or roaring each time it was said we had to say "stop the car". We saw a ton of elk and it was hilarious to hear the kids chanting "Elk! Stop the car." I want my kids to remember those silly times and the beauties of God's creations. I hope they never grow tired of Yellowstone.

Macks 8th Birthday

2011-10-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

Mack turned 8! Yet again, Mack designed and decorated his own cake. My dad was there when I handed Mack the tube of frosting and his eyes said, "Are you really going to let him do that?". Without any hesitation on his part, Mack squeezed and did his thing. His total confidence in himself and his final product are typical Mack and make me smile. Wither decorating a cake or dressing himself, Mack doesn't worry about if it will look "right", if everyone else will like it, or if he did it the "right" way. He is just confident and pleased with doing it himself. I love that about him.Presents: remote control cars, scriptures, a Lego boat and game, a stack of $2 bills, hand held battleship, a pack of gum, and a Bey Blade. A happy boy!

Ready to blow...

A weekend before his birthday I told Mack he could pick one friend and we'd go do something fun. He picked Chuck E Cheese, so of course the Wilford's came along. I was having issues with the camera focusing - so you get what you get.

Blue rice crispy treats shaped like footballs, helmets, and the Y! Can you tell Mack likes football?

Fun times watching Emily and Rachel loving the little games, and the big kids trying to see who could get the most tickets. After Chuck's place we used some coupons and went to the Discover Center. The kids had a great time. Happy Birthday Mack!

Creative Play

2011-10-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

When the big kids went back to school I had a rough time adjusting to just having the little girls home. The house was much quieter, which was nice, but suddenly the girls needed a lot more attention. Reading a friends blog reminded me that I used to actually play more with the kids; the kids used to get messy with projects. Poor Kate and Emily have missed out on a lot. We do a ton of reading but we don't have much messy time - even though Kate could sure use it. I've been trying to do better and here is one adventure. Painting with food colored cornstarch and water. Emily really loved dripping it all over her legs. Kate on the other hand preferred to keep it on the fingertips of one hand.

This picture makes me sad because I cut Kate's hair the other day and it is so much shorter. I miss her long locks (but not the crying that went with every combing). Can you see where she spelt her name on the cement, with a little help. Sorry the K is cut off. I just love these next two pictures of my baby. They are probably not great photography - but I just love that little face.

Clean up may have been the best part. Who can resist a hose?

Go Cougars

2011-10-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

In September we all drove down to Utah to see cousins and for the boys to go to a BYU game. We spent some time on campus and had to buy a few BYU shirts. The boys loved the game and had fabulous weather. Before the game we even ran into the quarterback, Jake Heaps; The boys shook his hand. I guess they weren't good luck because he still had a pretty bad game, but at least the Cougars won.

They spotted Jimmer walking the sidelines.

Greg and his college buddy, Tom, enjoyed the game together while the kids played. Well, Andrew and Tom's girls played. Mack watched every minute of the game. We may not be a great team this year - but we are not fair weather fans. Go Cougars!

Painting

2011-10-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Emily's first time painting. She didn't eat any - that I know of.

We got real serious about covering the whole table.

Fun times with my girls.

Whales and Rainforests

2011-10-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well it has been far too long. I won't attempt to catch up - at least not today. Here are some pictures from our last big trip of the summer. We drove up to the Seattle area to go to the temple, see killer whales, and check out a rainforest.

Here we are on our seven hour boat ride. Miraculously, all of our kids loved it. By the end of the trip everyone on the boat knew Natali by name and had discussed animals with Andrew. That boy loved the boat and wandered around looking at everything. After the first three hours has passed Greg and I started getting worried because we hadn't seen any whales and we knew we would have to turn around soon. The kids would be so devastated if this attempt to find whales failed. So Andrew and I went up on the top of the boat so we could have a better view. Suddenly, we spotted our first of dozens of whales.

It was amazing. Picture and video can't capture it because they were coming up on all sides of the boat. Large males, small groups, babies, it was awe inspiring. I could have watched all day.

My favorite was when you could see them under the water and slowly follow them as they came up for a breath. The whale trip was a big hit. We didn't loose anyone overboard, the kids made friends, and we all had an amazing experience.

Next we were off to Olympic National Park! We took a little hike to see snow and look for mountain goats (no luck). But we did see a bunch of deer and some beautiful scenery.

Then we went to Hoh Rainforest. Wow! It was like a different world with huge trees, strange plants and weird animals.

The kids did pretty well as we hiked around for two plus hours. There were so many interesting things to look at.

This was the biggest slug I have ever seen.

Roosevelt Elk - different from the kind you see in Yellowstone- they seamed out of place in the jungle.

Then we visited the beach. The kids loved it. Andrew and Mack were in up to the waist and happy as could be.

We found this starfish stuck to a dead crab. I was the only one brave enough to hold it.

It had been a long time since the kids had played on a beach. I always love visiting the ocean. There is something so magical about the power of the water. I love the sound of the waves and the feel of the sand. It made me happy to watch my kids explore and enjoy that magic as well.

It took us a while to get everyone sand free before getting back in the van.

On the way home we got a great view of Mount Raineer.

All good things have to come to an end. We had a wonderful summer and this trip was a great way to end it.

School Days - School Days

2011-10-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

School has started again! Natali was so excited to get going again. She was ready to move to the other side of the school where the 4th and 5th graders have their classes. 4th grade has been great so far. She loves learning about our state's history, singing in the school choir, and her new teacher Mrs. Morris.

Mack was a little less excited to say good bye to summer, but he was excited to start 2nd grade with Mrs. Kinney. She was his kindergarten teacher and we were so excited that he could have her for second grade as well. He enjoys school but his favorite part is playing football at recess.

Andrew, as usual, was the most reluctant to start school. He originally told he he would not be going at all. I commented about how sad it would be that he would never learn to read all those animal books he pours over. Upon further consideration, he decided he would go to school till he can read, but then he won't ever go again. Luckily, he has loved his 1st grade teacher and goes to school without a fight everyday - a big thank you to Mrs. Parsons.

The big kids started school a week before Kate did and it was so hard for her to wait for her turn to come. She put on new clothes and fixed her hair before I went to help out in Andrew's class. When I came back she had changed her clothes (maybe more than once), taken out her hair, and was sprinkled all over with water, but she was raring to go. Her preschool is literally across the street. It is so convenient and she loves it.

The Animal Lover is 6

2011-05-22T20:04:00.001-07:00

Our skinny little animal lover turned six and after waiting all day for his dad to get home from a business trip (flight was late) finally got to open his presents. He said he wanted animals for his birthday and he got his wish. Other than some much needed church clothes, everything was animals. An animal book, an animal puzzle, animal stickers, and animal figurines - so many animals.Here he is with all his animals. I was amazed as he opened presents and got more and more. Before his birthday he had a bucket half full of animals; it's full now.We didn't have time that night but we built a killer zoo the next day after school. Since then he has turned the front yard into the world and put each animal on their correct continent.

After a solid month of birthday cake in April, Andrew wisely chose cinnamon rolls rather than cake. Yum! The sour skittles on top were a little questionable.

Can you see the hole from his first lost tooth? It happened a few weeks ago and I just realized that I forgot to take any pictures. He realized it was barley loose in the morning and diligently wiggled and pulled all day insisting that it be pulled out that night. I figured it wouldn't be ready but he had worked hard and it popped right out.

Kate and I are going to miss Andrew next year when he goes to first grade. He is such a good little guy. Just today the mother of a classmate of his commented that Andrew is always willing to play with her daughter who is a little picked on sometimes.

He loves to learn. Whether it's about animals, the world, the states, or prophets, when he is interested in something he can be so focused and intense. His reading is coming along well and soon he'll be reading those animal books - not just pouring over the pictures.

When Andrew smiles at me I can't help but smile back - Happy Birthday Andrew!

Sleeping with the Lions

2011-05-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

For Christmas Greg and I tried to think of things we could give the kids other than toys they didn't need. So we came up with an activity that each child could go and do with Greg. Andrew's big activity was "Sleeping With the Lions". This Zoo event seamed made just for Andrew - the hard part was waiting until April to do it.

On a Friday night Greg and Andrew loaded up all their sleeping gear and headed to the zoo. They got to watch some of the animals be fed, and they walked around at night with flash lights to see some of the nocturnal, animals like the binturong. They did a bunch of other things as well but since I wasn't there I will let Andrew narrate the pictures from their sleepover.
There was a baby wallaby. We got to see 'em hop and hop and hop.

We saw the binturong in the night and we got to see it for a long time. And we got to see it climb up a tree.

We made a box that had scents on it and it was butter and vanilla. And the lions smashed mine and it broke in half. The lady told us that the one female lion liked butter and so she smashed ours because it had butter on it.

I was at the lions cage and I got to sleep there. Daddy said they would make a lot of noise but they didn't.

I liked sleeping there because we got Gatorade and in the morning we got yummy breakfast.

We got to see a lion's skull and after that we got to go see stuff in the dark.

I loved it!

Happy Birthday Girls

2011-04-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

April is birthday month at our house. Kate comes first on the 9th. Here is our big four year old with her stash.

She wanted a cake with a crown and a wand. Pretty easy - ignore the strange things that look like bugs - I was trying to be decorative.

Andrew was so excited to buy her a Tangled doll with his own money. What a sweet brother.

She is so excited to be four and is looking forward to Preschool in the fall. I love my little snuggle bug. She is all girl all the time and she makes me laugh with all her sass and drama.

On to birthday number two...

Natali shares her birthday with my Dad - so we had a party over in Ontario with all the local Dames.

Natali wanted to decorate her own cake using new skills learned at Activity Days. She did such a great job. I was seriously impressed; she'll pass me up in no time.

Here she is in her new outfit and accessories showing off her new American Girl outfit.

It is amazing to me that my little girl is nine. She is so helpful and conciencious; I don't know what I would do without her. The other morning Mack had a soccer game at 8:30am and Greg was gone. Natali did not want to go freeze at the game and the baby was still asleep so I let Natali stay home with the little girls. (I was only gone an hour, 3 miles away, with my cell phone). A mom at the game asked where my girls were; I'm sure when I told her she thought I was totally irresponsible. We talked a little and I realized that I really trust Natali's ability to handle responsibility and make good choices. When I came home Emily was dressed with her hair fixed. That was way beyond my expectations. Natali is amazing.

Birthday number three...

Emily is one! It has gone so fast. Here she is opening a hand me down toy from Andrew. That sweet boy again.

We were tired of cake so she got strawberry shortcake. I think all she ate was the whipped cream!

Our sweet red head has so much hair, we have to pull it back everyday or she can't see. She doesn't crawl - typical Easton girl - in fact she doesn't really move much at all. I am starting to see some small scooting action - but she still has some fine tuning to do before she'll be able to get around. She only weights 17 lbs. but we all love our little cutie.

Happy Birthday Girls!

Centennial Elementary Talent Show

2011-04-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Natali, Mack, and Andrew in their school talent show singing the ever popular song 50 Nifty United States.

Watch for the interaction between Natali and Andrew that justifies the camera shake from Greg laughing so hard.

Top five from 2010

2011-02-02T20:08:00.001-08:00

Well my total books read took a drastic dive this year. I guess a newborn cut back on my reading time (basically I exercise way less and take quicker baths, my two primary methods to sneak in reading - call me crazy). My list was pretty slim, but there were still some great reads. So without further ado, here are my 5 favorite books from 2010 - in no particular order.

1. What the Dog Saw: If you haven't tried non-fiction this is a great starter. Malcolm Gladwell writes for 'The New Yorker' and this book is a compilation of some of his best articles. He is one of my favorite authors. I love the questions he asks and how he can turn everyday things like ketchup and birth control into fascinating stories. This book is great because you can read one chapter then not touch it again for months and jump right into the next chapter. Give it a try.

2. 1421; The Year China Discovered America: Fascinating, although not going to win any literary awards. This book is worth reading on the merit of the information alone. The evidence in support of China discovering America well before Columbus is overwhelming. It also made me wonder about other groups of people that may have made it to America that history in general doesn't acknowledge. A thought provoking read.

3. Undaunted Courage: An account of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Sounds droll, I know, but I loved it. Maybe it helped that I read it while we did so much driving this summer and I saw a lot of the territory they explored. Or maybe it has to do with all the animals in it...but I thoroughly enjoyed it and think about it often. I have even found it slipping into conversations with people. For example, when the food was plentiful the men ate 9 lbs. of meat each day, per person. Can you imagine. I want to throw up just thinking about it. And they were the first white men to see a coyote. Before they killed all the wolves coyotes didn't live in the east at all - fascinating.

4. The Lost City Z: This reads more like fiction as it weaves the story of Percy Fawcett, a legendary British explorer, with the the life of the author. Fawcett spent most of his life exploring the Amazon but became fixated with searching for a lost treasure city and eventually disappeared in the jungle. The author retraces Fawcett's path and carries the reader along with him.

5. Pride and Prejudice and Anne of the Island: Okay did I mention my numbers were down...I have read both of these books too many times. Every now and again I just need a little thrill that only fiction can give - but if I jump into a new book I neglect my family - so instead I pick up an old favorite and just reread it. There is no pressure to find out what happens, because lets be honest, I could tell the story of Elisabeth and Darcy backward...I digress. The reason these two make my list is because reading them makes me happy. I can't help but smile when I'm done - so there it is. Non fiction makes me think, helps me feel more educated, and doesn't carry me away to neglect my duties - but fiction makes me smile and there is real value in that.

There are my top 5 - give one a try.

It started with Tic Tacs

2011-01-30T22:16:00.001-08:00

I have memories of eating orange Tic Tacs at church. Candy given to me by some couple sitting behind our family. I don't know who they were but I find it ironic that now my children will have their own memories about Tic Tacs at church. But I don't want them to forget who was passing out the candy...

A couple years ago I was the choir director and we practiced in the chapel before church began. While we practiced I expected the kids to sit quietly till we were done; not a very realistic expectation. The kids were pretty good, but Brother Stickle saw my need and started luring the kids to sit with him. He feed them Tic Tacs and entertained them till choir was over. Then one Sunday he handed me a whole container of Tic Tacs. He wasn't going to be at church for a while because he was undergoing chemo treatments and he wanted the kids to still get their candy.

This was the beginning of a special friendship. They kids wrote him thank you notes and get well cards. He and his wife sent the kids thank you notes for the thank you notes and included a dollar for each kid. Well at my house that gave this couple movie star status.

Since then we have visited him in the hospital and in his home. I sang at a surprise party he threw for his wife. They brought little Emily a baby gift and the kids a huge tub of Red Vines. They have told us about their mission to Turkey, and coaching High School sports in McCall and Fruitland years before my Grandpa came to the area. The last year has been full of little ways we have made each others life's richer.

Before Christmas came we went to visit one evening and learned that he was done fighting cancer -he was stopping the chemo. We decided that night to do the 12 days of Christmas for them. The kids and I made crafts- poinsettias made from their hands, Santa suckers, tree ornaments, snowflakes, chocolate dipped pretzels, luminaries, all sorts of stuff. Then Greg used his underutilized writing skills to make little notes about the significance of each gift. The kids had such fun being sneaky and dropping off all the gifts. Then on our last night before we left for Mesquite we went caroling and dropped of the remaining gifts. He was so weak. They were so touched by the gifts and I was so struck by how much I love this man who I really don't know that well. By the end, all the adults were in tears. The kids remained remarkable oblivious.

I think about he and his wife often. We have visited numerous times so the kids sing songs and talk a lot of nonsense. I am so grateful for each visit we get to spend with him. I'm so glad that we were able to get to know he and his wife and to make them a part of our lives. I don't often reach out to others; I feel too absorbed in my own family. This experience has reminded me that my life is made fuller and happier when I let others be a part of it.

Emmy Girl

2011-01-29T20:18:00.001-08:00

I realized the other day that we hadn't taken pictures of Emily for a long time- so I tried a few. She would smile great till I put my face behind the camera. Next time I need an assistant.

It's hard to believe but our little babe is 9 months old. She brings all of us so much joy. Nobody can get enough of her and, our little red-head defiantly doesn't lack attention. In fact she can hardly handle being alone.

When we go out she steels the show. People stop to talk with her, ask about her, or just tell me she is beautiful. I can't disagree. I forget how much attention babies can draw.

Greg thinks she is perfect and tells everyone she is the best baby ever. I tell him he only thinks she is so great because he never has to put her down to deal with everyone else. She likes to know someone is always close by - and Greg doesn't mind being that person.

She has 4 teeth, sits like a pro, and shows no interest in crawling - nothing new for an Easton girl. We love our little Emmy.

Christmas in Nevada

2011-01-01T20:53:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas break in Mesquite with Greg's family. The kids were great on the drive and it was so nice to spend the time with Greg's Mom and Randy. Of course I hardly took any pictures but here are a few of the highlights.

Christmas Eve we drove to Valley of Fire and spent the day with Greg's brother and his family. Kate and Ari hadn't see each other in over a year, but they hit it off instantly.

The kids climbed and climbed all over. In fact Christmas day after opening all the presents Andrew asked where he could go to climb. They loved it. We had to drag them off the cliffs to do the Nativity.

Pretty cute wisemen.

Angels (closest thing to princesses)

Joseph, Mary and a very fidgety Jesus.

The whole cast.

The best part about this whole day was no one counted presents or begged to open one early. They never even talked about presents - they were having so much fun. I wish we could do this every year. To bad it is too cold to do an outdoor nativity in Idaho.

We also got lucky enough to see two Dessert Sheep.

Here are the only pictures taken Christmas day - thanks Greg for trying to record some picture memories.

Andrew's cougar (not a great pic-I know)

Natali's one request on the trip was to ride a horse. Papa took care of that.

Thanks again Papa.

We had such a great trip - wish we were going back soon.

Christmas Letter 2010

2010-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

One tradition we have at our house is that Greg writes the Christmas letter. He enjoys writing it and I love reading it (and not having to do it myself). Most of you already received it but for posterity's sake here is the annual letter.

Family and Friends,

Budgeting season has sapped all of my brain power, which doesn't bode well for the quality of this year’s Christmas letter. Numbers, black and red, are definitely dancing through my head:

3,300—the number of miles for our round trip drive from Idaho to Iowa (to see Lisa’s sister). We took the scenic route which included a stop at Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, UT and then the lonely state highways through northern Colorado to look for moose (we saw two), a stop for dinner with some old friends in Ft. Collins and then a late night stop in Nebraska. It took some effort but we entirely avoided I-80 across southern Wyoming. By the time we got there Natali and Mack knew all 50 states in alphabetical order and I was ready to get out of the car and leave the kids behind for a work trip. I came back in time for the drive home past Chimney Rock, Nebraska. At that point I couldn't really skip a chance to drive through Yellowstone so we took the northern detour.

2,100—the number of miles on our road trip Glacier National Park (to meet several of my siblings and parents) and then on to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada. It was definitely worth the drive as we saw spectacular wildlife and lots of bears. 5—the number of kids in our house after the birth of Emily Jane in April (named after two of our favorite authors Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen). Her red hair inherited from Lisa’s two grandmothers looks out of place with our blondes, but her easy going demeanor is welcome. She already has me wrapped around her finger and all she can do is look at me and giggle or smile. 6—the number of kids we’ll have next year. 100%--the likelihood that you believed that last false statement.

1—the number of cats in our household after Gimli’s disappearance and Perdita’s adoption. She joined the family three weeks ago and is making herself comfortable already. I’m struggling to type with her sitting on my lap. An hour ago there was a commotion by the Christmas tree and the next thing I knew Perdita was looking out at me from the branch beneath the star at the top of the tree. 55—the number of points BYU scored in the football game Mack, Andrew, and I attended. 16—the number of books read this year the best of which included The Path Between the Seas, Undaunted Courage and The Book Thief.

2—the number of hands Natali (now 8) uses when practicing the piano (that’s one more than I use). 3—the number of years Natali has participated in a Children’s Choir. 0—the chance for silence when Natali is around.

10—the number of goals Mack (now 7) scored in one soccer game this spring. 6—the number of times Mack used his season pass at the ski hill last winter. 4—the number of dollars Mack earned from the tooth fairy in one productive month this summer.

1.5—the number of hours it took for Andrew (now 5) to decide that it was better to go to kindergarten then to stay home as a child laborer. 167—the approximate # of animals that Andrew can identify. 33—the times he has asked this year to go to Alaska, Africa, or somewhere in between to look for animals.

It’s getting late and I should have sent this letter last week so I’m giving up on the numbers. Kate (now 3) still expects her blond curls to get her out of trouble. One night while trying to float on her back in the bathtub she said, “I need a kickstand for my bottom.” And I need one for my brain. As I reflect on another year gone by I stand in awe at the blessings we enjoy, the grace and mercy of our Savior that give us hope, and the peace to be found in an increasingly tumultuous world.

Merry Christmas, Love the Easton Family (Greg, Lisa, Natali, Mack, Andrew, Kate, and Emily)

Photo Shoot 2010

2010-12-08T19:33:00.001-08:00

Random Happenings

2010-12-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

This is my pile of pictures from the last few months.

Greg's best friend, Tom, lives in Utah so he and Greg went to the BYU vs. UNLV game in Provo. Our boys got new BYU gear and loved the game. Mack watched the whole game; Andrew played with Tom's girls.The Monday after the game was wear your favorite team jersey day at school. The Easton's represented for BYU. We may not have had a great season - but you can't call us fair-weather fans.
We love rollers!

This is Mack's last basketball game. He loved it - he loves any activity with a ball.

He was definitely one of the shorter 1st graders - but luckily some of the teams had some kindergartners and he was taller than most of them. He still managed to score about 2 baskets a game.

Don't be mistaken - Gimili has not returned! We got a new cat who looks eerily similar to Gimili. She is a female, a little smaller than Gimili, 8 years younger, and has a full face. She doesn't drool or barf - but she can climb to the top the of Christmas tree and loves to sneak attack you from under the bed. She came home from the shelter with the name Perdita and we just haven't come up with anything better - so I guess she is Perdita. Andrew carries her around like a baby (Gimili never would have put up with that) and he calls her his best friend. Snow, Snow, Snow! We have snow. It is actually sticking around and the kids enjoyed a legitimate snow day. They had snow cream for breakfast and played in the snow on and off all day long.

I lost the lens cap to the camera somewhere in the snow. I put it in my snow pants pocket and proceeded to pull the kids around the neighborhood in a sled - it could be anywhere - but we had a blast in the snow. Winter is here.

Candy Candy Candy

2010-10-31T17:14:00.000-07:00

Based on the hour, Halloween has just begun, but with school parties, church parties, neighborhood booing, and trick-or-treating Saturday night - we are done. We only have half a bowl of candy left and when it's gone - it's gone. Our neighborhood is prime trick-or-treating territory so it will be gone in no time even though the sun hasn't set yet. I can hardly believe how many sweets my kids have already consumed.

Thanks to costume swapping with my sister, the kids had great costumes without any work. All except Mack who wanted to be a soccer player - really imaginative huh? At least it was easy.

Natali the Egyptian. The blue eyeshadow was a necessary part of the costume. But personally I think the wig is the best part.

For the actual trick or treating Mack decided to put on the old standby pirate costume.
It took a little convincing to get Andrew to be a spider because he wanted to be a cougar, wolverine, bald eagle... at least spiders eat other creatures.He still managed to get into character very easily.Kate waffled between Little Miss Muffet, Princess (again) and a Ballerina. Miss Muffet was my favorite. She love loved wearing make-up like Natali.Andrew loved being 'the spider who sat down beside her'. Kate, always ready with an ear piercing scream, played the part well.For the church party she was a princess (terrible picture- I know).Emily left the hat on just long enough for pictures.Halloween is gone with the rush of Thanksgiving and Christmas on its heels. It's always fun but I'm not sorry it's over. Now if I could only get them to eat veggies to offset all the sugar...

Emily at 4 Months

2010-10-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken two months ago when my baby was 4 months old. So yes they are late but at least there is some documentation of her life. We did get family pictures a week ago - so hopefully we'll have some 6 month shots soon.

She definitely has red hair. I get comments all the time about her hair. It is fun to have this little red head mixed in with my blondies.

It's Rough Being #5

2010-10-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today at church someone I don't know very well asked how things were going with the new baby. "That's number 3 for you. Right?" I always love to watch peoples faces when I say I have 5 kids. I could see him trying to calculate how close together all my kids are. Anyway, this made me think about how I'm doing with 5 kids. I'm a little crazy but that is nothing new, as for everyone else, well after an incident that occurred tonight I just had to document how hard it is to be child #5.

I am a fifth child. So I can relate to poor little Emmy. My dad tells about how he would come home from work and I would be wailing and he just loved to pick me up and love on me. His comment, "You just wanted to be held." This always seemed kind of sad to me, but don't worry mom, because I totally understand now! You can only put off dinner, dishes, phone calls, and other kids for so long - then the baby just has to cry.

Today Emily was all out of whack from short naps at church. She wanted attention but I had promised the big kids I would help them make snicker doodles. In fact, I had promised to make them two weeks ago and the kids were calling me on it so it was time for snicker doodles. I put Emily in one baby distraction device after another, shoving the pacifier in her mouth whenever it fell out, trying to hold her off. After the kids all ate their fill we started into bedtime routine when I looked over at sweet baby #5. The precious thing was fast asleep, standing up. It's a rough life.

Crazy Kate

2010-10-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Kate's jammies the other night win the award for best ever - what do you think?

Birthday Boy

2010-10-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Mack is 7! He had his first friend party where I learned that boys are so much easier than girls at a party. Mack just wanted to play soccer, followed by football. Basically, it was a play date with four friends and presents- what could be easier? Other than multiple trips to the neighbors back yard to retrieve balls, it went great. We even found a praying mantis for the boys to torment - that's almost as good as a clown- right? Mack was so excited to give silly bands as party gifts so hopefully no moms have issues with boys wearing bracelets.

His birthday cookie - a jersey with his number 10 on it. The boys checking out the bug.

All my kids loved the party. Hopefully the other kids didn't care that there were no organized activities - that is just a little over my head right now.

For dinner he picked little smokies in BBQ sauce, tater tots, and broccoli. However, he was so anxious to open presents that he really didn't care what we ate. While I was getting dinner ready he got to see his first present. It had been hiding in the back yard all weekend and somehow he hadn't noticed. I don't have a picture, but Greg got a soccer goal free from a friend at work. Mack loves it and has already spent a lot of time out there practicing.

Then he dug into the other presents. After seeing these pictures I realize he had remnants of cake batter on his nose - so cute.

You might have noticed that despite their loosing season we are still loving the cougars. This book was from his Grandma Nani. He sits up in his bed at night looking through it - so he'll be a BYU Football history buff in no time.

He wanted a football field cake again. I was thrilled with his choice (so simple).

Macky is such an easy kid to love. He is observant, easily taught, and focused. He can do anything he puts his mind to. I love to watch him tackle something new. He doesn't cause me much grief and entertains himself. Sometimes he spends so much time doing his own thing that I wish it would rain so he would be forced to stay inside and play Yahtzee with me. In general he just makes me happy. Happy Birthday cutie boy!

Gimli is Gone

2010-10-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, September 23rd our cat Gimli got out and never returned. After 8 days I have very little hope that we will find him. It is hard to imagine that he is really gone. The kids miss sleeping with him. Poor Greg is sleeping horribly, imagining he hears Gimli all night long or dreaming that he let him inside.

We've had Gimli since February 2003. Greg managed to convince me to get Gimli just weeks before I found out I was pregnant with Mack. If I had know I was pregnant I would have been too worried to get a cat. He has been a great pet and although I always make it clear that he is Greg's, I really am fond of him. He has moved from Oklahoma to New Hampshire to Chicago back to New Hampshire then to Idaho. During one stop on our move to Chicago he got off of his leash (yes we tried a cat leash) at the Hill Cumorah in New York and Greg barely managed to pull him out of the bushes and get him back in the car. He put up with 5 crazy kids, not to mention terrifying cousins and neighbors, and was such a good sport about it.

The kids are already asking for another cat but I groan at the thought. Gimli got lost once before, for a month, and we got a replacement. It was then that I realized I don't love cats - I love my cat. Gimli had his issues (drooling and barfing) but I was used to those issues. I worry about getting another cat and not liking it because it meows too much or too loud, has litter box issues, has issues with the kids.... The kids haven't stopped praying that he will come home safely so maybe I need more faith. We did manage to find him last time but it is hard to imagine that miracle repeated. Then again cats do have nine lives...

Fall Is Here Again

2010-09-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well I know fall is here because school and football are ruling our lives again. My kids are trying to wear BYU colors to school everyday and they are careful not to wear orange on BSU game days. Natali and Mack are so excited to be back in school. Natali is thrilled to be in the special third grade 'loft' classroom that has two classes together with two teachers. She is reading like crazy and has started piano lessons. Each day, as soon as she gets home from school, she runs in and practises piano. I hope her enthusiasm sticks. Mack is enjoying his first grade teacher, Mrs. Renfrow. He has already read 5 Magic Tree House books and is proving to me that he didn't forget how to read over summer break. His two best friends are in his class again this year and he is loving all the basketball they play at recess. Last week soccer started with Greg as his coach - he is very excited.

Andrew is in Kindergarten this year and they are trying out a new schedule. He goes all day Tuesday, Thursday and every other Friday. Well, I think the all day thing is a bit of an adjustment. His first day of hot lunch he took some plums. He sat down to eat and realized his plums were hard as rocks so he didn't want to eat them. The teacher on duty told him he had to eat them. I don't know what all happened, but he has no interest in eating hot lunch ever again. He thinks it is brutal that they can only go to the drinking fountain at certain times of the day and tells me that his class only has one good animal book - poor kid. After his first day he asked if he had to go back. Most days he has done fine, but Tuesday he refused to get out of the car. I took him home and put him to work. After a lot of moaning he decided it would be better at school than working at home. So back to school he went (with his blanket this time - I did compromise a little). Since then he has seamed fine - we hope it lasts.

Kate and I are enjoying our days together. We do a little bit of school every day where I have learned that my poor little girl's basic knowledge has been sadly neglected. But don't worry - she can count to twelve now without skipping three - most of the time. I have discovered that I am way less productive now because I am Kate's sole form of entertainment. I pretend to be a princess or a mean witch most of the day, but I think it is good for both of us, just not so good for my messy house.

However, our days with Andrew home are a bit of a challenge. He follows me around saying, "What can I do? What can I do?". If he isn't driving me crazy then it is too quite and I have to assume that something like this is going on.

Yes, Andrew painted poor Kate's face. She thought it was funny at the time, but once she was trying to wash it off she had a different sentiment.

Emily just watches all the craziness and keeps us all entertained with her smiles and giggles.

On To Canada

2010-08-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to all the family and added a few more miles onto our journey to drive up to Banff National Park in Canada. My one request was no more camping; our three nights in Glacier were alright but I was ready for a shower and bed. So we got a deal on a little condo. We were twenty minuets out of the park but had plenty of space. The kids loved the hot tub although Natali kept calling it a hot spa- yea no clue where that came from.

Canadian National Parks are way more commercialized that American ones, for example- in the town of Banff, right in the middle of the National Park, there is a Louis Vuitton store - can't get that in Glacier! There is a major Highway right through the park as well. All that aside, I can' t even express how beautiful it was. The glaciers- well lets just say when we left Glacier Natali still had no clue what a glacier looked like, but in Banff she had no problem recognizing glaciers. I loved it.

This is Crow Foot Glacier. The bottom toe has melted away but it still wasn't too hard to explain to the kids how this glacier got it's name.

Our first night we put the kids in PJ's and went for a drive. Here they are in front of Lake Louise with the amazing Victoria Glacier behind them. The lake was such a cool milky color from the glacial flour. The next day we rode a gondola up the ski hill and looked down on Lake Louis again. It was so incredible but also kind of rainy so the pictures from the top weren't great but the view was unbelievable. There were also some trails closed because of bears in the area - so Greg really wanted to go exploring (he bought bear spray before the trip just in case - I'm not kidding), but the kids weren't in the mood to hike. They loved the ride up and just wanted to go back down - I think they would have joyfully gone up and down multiple times but I was only paying for once. Natali even picked out which gondola she wanted ride and patiently waited till it was avalable. On our ride down she asked Greg, in the chair in front of us, to take our picture. He took the picture, but while taking care of the kids riding with him he forgot to zip the camera back in it's case. So when he got off the chair the camera crashed into the pavement. He picked it up to take another picture of Natali and I getting off and that's when Natali said, "Hey Dad your camera is all broken." So this picture is a little weird because it was taken through the broken glass. The filter was shattered but miraculously the lens only has a little chip. It still seams to work alright but it's hard to tell if the image is as good as before - all things considered we were very lucky.

Of course we spent a lot of time looking for animals and were rewarded with 5 more bears, elk, deer, big horn sheep, and a porcupine.We think this one might have been our only grizzly.My favorite part of the trip was our hike to Moraine Lake. It was a simple little hike from the shore of a seaming uninteresting lake up a terminal moraine. Yet, when you look down on the lake from up high you suddenly see the spectacular color of the water. I have never seen anything so beautiful. I love this picture of the kayak down below because the color contrast is so stark. The next day we drove up into Jasper National Park in order to see the Columbia Ice Field. Waters from this ice field drain to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean. The drive up there was spectacular- right up next to the Rockies. Once we got there we rode on what they call an Ice Explorer.This machine drove right onto the Athabasca Glacier. It was markedly cooler up there but the kids loved having their coats on and throwing ice at each other. They climbed all over the designated area and loved the ice explorer. It was amazing to see how thick the ice was and to learn more about glaciers. However, one of my favorite parts had nothing to do with glaciers. We were the only Americans in our group and at least half of our group were Asian. Well a family with 5 kids draws attention almost anywhere you go - but throw in the fact that most of the kids are blondies, and one less than 4 months old, and you are a magnet for Asian tourists. Every time I got on and off everyone pointed, smiled, touched, gawked at my baby and while on the glacier some people were taking pictures of our kids rather than the glacier. We even had one man ask to pose with our kids. It made me laugh. Natali thought it was so weird.

Everyone loved the ice explorer ride, and more than one kid came back with cold, wet feet from jumping in cold pools of melting glacier.

Well that day got a little crazy when Greg decided that since we'd already gone that far we might as well check out a little more of what Jasper National Park has to offer. Let's just say we put a lot of extra miles on the trip that day and didn't get to our condo till 12:30am.

The next morning the kids took one last dip in the "hot spa" while we loaded up our stuff. We headed home by way of Kootenai National Park where we stopped to see the paint pots. We were expecting bubbling pools of odd colored water like in Yellowstone - not quite. This area is covered in streams that leave behind minerals that make the soil a deep orange color. Apparently, the Native Americans used to come here and use the soil to make paint. Early English settlers also used this soil to produce paint. The bottom of our shoes were totally orange along with any pants, hands or knees that touched the ground.

It took us two days to get home but the kids were great in the car. I have to thank Barbie's Princess and the Pauper movie and the singalong extras on the Anastasia DVD - the trip wouldn't have been as smooth without these tools.

At summers end we have seen 48 of the 50 licence plates plus 9 Canadian Provinces, been through 7 states and 2 provinces, seen 14 bears, and spent too many hours in the car to count and we'd all do it again, but maybe not for a few years.

Another 2300 Miles - Part One

2010-08-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

That's right, we love the van. This time we were headed to Glacier National Park in Montana. We started out the trip with a beautiful drive right down the winding Clearwater River. Sadly, I didn't see most of it because I was curled up in a ball with my jacket over my head trying to sleep off the car sickness. I was very grateful when we reached Missoula for the night.

While we were eating that night Mack was acting kind of odd. After a while he looked at me and said, "Can you just pull these teeth out." That night in the hotel room Greg plucked out both of Mack's extremely loose front teeth. We are still getting used to his new look.

The next afternoon we met up with Grandma Nani, Papa, and a bunch of Easton cousins. Kate, Marley, Mack, Andrew on a hike through a cedar forest.Most of the kids stayed and enjoyed swimming in Lake McDonald. Kate also enjoyed a nice nap on Papa's lap. Meanwhile, Greg, Mack, Beth, babies Emily and Piper and I went for a drive and hike. Greg offered Mack a dollar if he could sing the whole state song without help. Well much to Greg and my surprise Mack sung it all without a hitch and was thrilled to get another dollar to add the two the tooth fairy brought.

Glacier was gorgeous. We didn't see much wildlife but the scenery was incredible. The Going-to-the-Sun Road lived up to it's name. You drive right along the edge of the mountain up and up. I was glad I wasn't driving. At the top there is a place called Logan Pass. It is the starting point for a number of great hikes - but I have never seen a less effective parking lot. Basically, the lot was full so you have dozens of cars driving, fighting, glaring, honking, trying to get the next available spot. We drove around for about 25 minutes (Greg's sister was waiting even longer). We eventually got a spot because Greg got out of the van and walked around talking to people who were leaving - then using our walkie talkies he directed me to spot. It was exasperating.

Eventually, we got on our hike and it was so worth it. The three mile round trip hike went through a lot of snow, which thrilled the kids. Andrew discovered that there were ground squirrels running around everywhere. Every time he saw one he would yell, "Ground Squirrel!", like it was the most exciting thing he had seen all day. It reminded me of the dogs in the movie Up. It was pretty funny and it lasted our whole week long trip. The hike felt longer than it was and the kids started getting worn out but we were so near the top so we convinced them to press on - it was so amazing. There was this pristine lake in a gorgeous valley. In addition, there was a group of mountain goats right at the top. We got pretty close up. I could have just stayed there all day - but the baby was ready to keep moving so we headed back.
After a restful night refilling our air mattress only two times :) Greg woke up early and went on a long hike with Beth, Derrick, and Piper. I let the kids sleep in and play with cousins till it started pouring rain. So we loaded up and drove over to Many Glacier where Greg was hiking now in the pouring rain. The kids and I went into the beautiful lodge there and ate our lunch out on the balcony over looking the lake. This was the view.
It was so peaceful and beautiful. I loved the Many Glacier area and wished we would have camped over here -next time! Everyone eventually met up at the lodge and rented row boats. The kids loved the boat ride but I think Greg's arms got a little tired.
Kate refused to go one the boat -she is not a lover of boats - so she, Emily, and I sat at the lodge. There was a man playing a violin inside and Kate was mesmerised. She just danced, watched, jumped, and enjoyed the music. She and Emily received a lot of attention and comment. I loved just sitting in this beautiful place, with beautiful music, enjoying my little girls.

We managed to see 2 bears, went on some nice hikes, played with cousins, swam, row boated, and had snowball fights. We loved glacier.

3300 Miles Later

2010-06-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

3276 miles to be exact - That's right I am slightly crazy. Since last summer my kids have been begging to go to Iowa to visit their cousins. They had never been to their house and wanted to see where they "really live". So I started planning. As the plans progressed Greg told me I couldn't go that far alone with 5 kids (probably wise council) so he agreed to go with us. I gave him control of which route to take and we were off.

7 States - Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Montana

29 Different mammals (4 only as roadkill)

41 of the 50 state licence plates

11 days - 6 driving

I thought about typing up my entire list of animal sightings, dead and alive, but figured not even my own kids would care about that in 10 years - although, honestly, Greg still would.

Warning - this is a very long blog post. I know it is long, but I want my kids to remember this trip.

Our first major stop was Dinosaur National Monument. They are redoing the visitors center there so there is not much to see. In fact they don't even charge you to get in, but we did get to see some dinosaur bones and go for a little hike. Then we were back on the road.

Natali and Andrew next to Sauropod leg bone.

Mack by another bone - see the white arrow pointing at the bone?

We went to a State Park in Colorado famous for it's moose concentration. Greg took the boys for a walk while I nursed the baby and while we were in the park we saw three moose - not bad. We have no pictures of the moose which I see as a huge accomplishment. Why you ask? All of the kids saw the Moose! Greg dragged them each out into the rain and patiently pointed and directed until each of them saw the moose. By the time he was done the moose had moved without the camera even coming out of its case. Greg put the kids first. I loved it.

Then after a beautiful drive down the Poudre River we stopped in Fort Collins to visit some old friends from our Oklahoma days. Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures. When we first met The Delormes Natali was only a month old and they were newlyweds. Now 8 years later we both have 5 kids. It was so fun to visit with them. We had to drag the kids back in the car to drive until 1:00 in the morning to get into Nebraska.

The next morning we caught an hour of church and then got back on the road. We finally arrived at my sister's house that evening. The kids really did so well in the car. Emily slept most of the way. While the rest of the kids played games, learned the State Song, watched movies, and played with leapsters. They were always looking for licence plates and we did homework sheets, bingo and scavenger hunts. They loved staying in a different hotel every night but were always disappointed to leave the next morning before exploring the whole place.

Well my sister's house was so fun. For five days the kids just played. We only left the house with all of them once. They didn't need us to provide entertainment - they just loved being together.

Each day the three oldest girls went to a 2 hour session of arts in the parks. They loved it. One of the days they were going to have a talent show. Natali taught Myra the State Song. They sang it together and won the talent show. (For those who don't know the State Song sings all 50 states in alphabetical order - a handy song to know.) Natali and Myra had such fun together singing, painting, wearing matching clothes, and knitting. Myra was thrilled that I taught her how to knit - I never would have guessed that my knitting skills would make me a cool Aunt...

James and Mack were also inseparable. I wondered how long it would last that 9 year old James would want to hang out with 6 year old Mack. But they had a great time all week. Mack even went to a friends house with James. They mostly played Bakugan, but they also played in the forest, on the tramp, in the water, and kicked the ball around. Mack even picked up some vocab words; 'seriously' is now a common word used to show frustration or excitement.

Andrew loved looking for hawks, eagles, deer, snakes or anything else considered as wildlife. He played with anyone who was willing and loved it.

The boys had seen a snake and were showing me where he disappeared (no clue what Andrew is doing with his belly button)

Kate's favorite toy was Jonas's red car. Somehow the fights over this were kept to a minimum. Amazingly, the kids hardly fought at all.

And Emily - well she liked the swing.

I loved watching the kids play together and seeing the home, forest, and town I had heard so much about. But the best part was the late night talks with Laura and Aaron. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful sister. I have always been able to look up to her and learn from her example. I love her so much.

The Bernard's tree house was finished while we were there. I wish I had this tree house!

Kate loved opening and shutting the door. This picture was taken our last morning there and her obsessive control of the door had caused more than one breakdown. We were sad to go but everyone was running on very little sleep. We left before any major drama broke out, thus no bad memories. I think we'd all sign up to come back next summer.

Did I mention Greg flew off for a business trip soon after we arrived at the Bernards. We picked him up in Omaha on the way home then drove right along the Mormon trail all the way to Scotts Bluff. We got to see Chimney Rock and an amazing lightning storm.

Greg planed our route home so we could spend out last day of driving in Yellowstone. We were in Yellowstone for less than 24 hours but we managed to see 7 bears and tried to save the life of a baby river otter. He was stuck on the opposite side of the road from the river and the bloodstain in the middle of the road-- well lets just say we didn't think his mother would be back for him. We flagged down a ranger and let him use our peed on blanket (we love our deep sleeping Andrew) to pick up the snarling baby and take him to the river. We got back in the car and the kids said, "We were animal rescuers, like Diego." But sadly, we probably just saved him from getting hit by a car, to die of starvation or predation. It was sad but cool to see a river otter so close up. We all loved Yellowstone; no one even asked to watch a movie the whole time we were there. After we left the park Andrew engaged Greg and I in thirty minutes of 20 questions where every time he picked an animal, and 90% of the time that animal lived in Yellowstone. Sometimes it wouldn't live in North America, just "Lellowstone". It was so funny, for the first 20 minutes...

Now that I am home I wish I would have taken pictures of the BBQ sauce spilled in the back seat without getting any on the floor because the floor was so covered with garbage, Emily sleeping in hotel closets and bathrooms, all the kids playing together, The Delormes, or 7 people in one hotel room with only a small bed and a pull out couch. But lets be honest - it never even crossed my mind at the time. I just enjoyed the madness. We are already planning our route for next time - if Laura will take us.

Baptism and Blessing

2010-06-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well the first weekend of June was a big one for the Easton's. On Saturday, the 5th, Natali was baptized into of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is hard for me to believe that my Natali is already 8. We are so proud of her for making this choice to follow the example of her Savior.

Then on Sunday she was confirmed and Emily was blessed. That morning I went to put on Emily's blessing dress - I was expecting it to be a little small but was shocked to find that I couldn't do up any of the buttons. My mom bought the dress when Natali was born and it fit my tiny Natali perfectly. When Kate was blessed in it I could only do one of the buttons. But Emily wasn't that lucky, so I got some ribbon and kind of laced the back of the dress together. Only the mother of 5 kids would forget to make sure the dress fit - right?

Grandma Nani and Papa Randy visiting made the weekend extra special. The kids loved the one on one time. They hadn't seen them for quite a while so it was wonderful. We also had my sister Sharee and her three youngest kids, the Wilfords, Grandma and Grandpa Dame, and the Mark Dame family. We loved being surrounded by family as we witnessed these special moments for our family.

Andrew's Birthday

2010-06-01T18:06:00.001-07:00

Andrew turned 5! He could hardly wait to open his presents. All day long he kept asking if he could just open one. So he was ecstatic when he finally got to open his gifts. Here is the book about sports written by Natali and illustrated by Mack.
And of course the much awaited dollar.

Andrew loved his PJ's from Grandma Dame. He even wore the shark top as a shirt the next day.

He wanted a tiger cake again this year, but he wanted a full body one. After looking online I finally convinced him I couldn't make anything near that cool and he settled for this face. He helped put on the stripes.This is my favorite picture. I love my crazy boy. He keeps me on my toes but I can't help but laugh and smile at all of his adventures. And how else would I get to read all those fabulous non-fiction animal books from the 70's that our library is so full of - I love you Andrew.

More Emily Pictures

2010-05-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

For a baby gift my friend took newborn pictures of Emily. It was so fun and I love the pictures. Thanks Jessica! So here is our sweet little girl at two weeks old. She didn't like having her hands messed with for the pictures but they turned out great anyway.

Spring Activities

2010-05-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

Spring has been busy with Emily coming, Mack and Andrew in soccer, and Natali doing gymnastics and choir. Luckily, choir and gymnastics are over and we only have two weekends of soccer left. Then we welcome summer with its own kind of busy.

Natali loves gymnastics. This is her first year and she has made a lot of progress. She loves being with the other girls and watching herself improve.

Mack will be sad when soccer is over and honestly I will miss watching him play. Last week he scored 11 of his teams 13 points. You have to take into account that there is no goalie - but he really is pretty good and he LOVES it. Most nights he prays that he will have a fun game on Saturday. He counts down the days of the week based on soccer practice and the weekly game. Did I mention he is the only boy on his team - even his coach is a girl - he still loves it (even though I don't think he talks to anyone).

Andrew on the other hand has scored 2 goals total. But he wins the award for most enthusiastic teammate. He cheers almost continually both on and off the field. If you listen carefully you can hear Andrew cheering "Go Scorpions!" (that is their team name) as he runs up and down the field. In addition to cheering he is getting pretty good at defence because he is a quick little guy and books it down the field to get in front of the other team.

I will be glad to be done with all the weekly practices but I will miss watching the boys play!

Harry Potter Party

2010-05-12T08:29:00.001-07:00

Natali's birthday was 10 days before Emily's due date (ironically the same due date as Natali's) Natali wanted to have a friend birthday party but I was hesitant to commit knowing that the baby could come at any time. In the end I gave in as long as she and her friends knew the whole thing could be canceled if the baby came - she didn't come for another week. I told Natali the party would be pretty simple...but I guess I had a little pent up pregnancy energy or something because in the end it was quite a party.

She wanted to have a Harry Potter Party and after searching online we had a lot of fun ideas. The girls put on their wizarding robes (my moms bathrobes) and started the party with witch hats (brownies and ice cream). They also had their fortunes told in divination class when their drinks changed color (We put food coloring in the bottom of the cups and let it dry over night. Then I covered it with ice so they couldn't see it. When I poured their Sprite it magically changed color. Each color represented a different fortune. They thought it was pretty cool and loved the silly fortunes like 'you made a mistake in Transfiguration and are stuck as a pumpkin for the rest of the day')
Before we could move on to Potions they had to decorate their magic wands. Then they mixed things like Hypogriff Tears and Dream Fluid to make Slime. (You can't see it well in this picture but I made up names for all the ingredients and labeled and pre-measured everything into cute little containers which is way over the top for me- I needed something to do apparently)
Here are the girls with their slime showing off their food colored tongues.

Each girl also took home their own broomstick bag of Honeydukes Treat Mix complete with Gryffindor colored m&ms, gummy brains and sharks, and sweet chex mix. Natali and I had a great time planning and carrying out all the different ideas we found.

Natali's actual birthday was Sunday so here she is with her birthday cake. Greg and I are thrilled because Natali loves Almond Poppy Seed Cake and wants it for her birthday every year - so much better than princess cake (no offence Kate). Well Greg didn't want any wax dripping on the cake so she had a hard time blowing the candles out but we all had a good laugh.

She was worried the baby would be born on her birthday so she was happy that all the walking we did that night didn't bring any contractions. We love our happy, friendly, busy, observant, smart, helpful, 8 year old!

Introducing Baby Emily

2010-05-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

She is finally here. Emily Jane arrived at 9:45pm Friday, April 23rd. That puts all three of our girls birthdays in April! She weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. making her my second largest baby. But she has the most hair of all my babies and in the right light that hair is very red. I realized that all my kids have been born with different hair colors - so we'll see what this shade of red turns into. The kids all dote on her. She is swarmed with kisses all day long - especially from Andrew. They are fascinated by her cord and her tiny diapers. When we first got home from the hospital Mack asked me how long it would be till she opened her eyes. He was surprised to find that, unlike many mammals, human babies open their eyes right away.

She is proving to be a poor sleeper, but other than that she is wonderful! I am optimistic that the sleeping will get better soon. We are still adjusting to the reality of 5 kids, but we love having this little baby in our home.

She's Three!

2010-04-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe my little girl is three. Here are the highlights from the big day.

My Grandma sends all the grandkids and great grandkids a dollar on their birthday. My kids get so excited when the envelope from Grandma Lula comes in the mail - A dollar is a very big deal at my house.

Grandma Nani sent a Baby Ballet DVD and this cute tutu. I started the ballet class for Kate and soon all the kids had joined in - it was pretty funny.

The Princess Cake.This is the dress I made her. It has the same fabric as the ones I made for two of my nieces - so someday (when baby Rachel fits hers) we can have matchy pictures.
Okay this picture has nothing to do with her Birthday and is just repeating an old theme - but she came down the stairs like this the other morning. She has the swimsuit strap stuck around her neck and she actually slept in that tutu - so strange. I love this silly girl - Happy Birthday Kate.

Morgan Horses

2010-04-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Natali wrote this story at school and wanted to put it on the blog. So Natali is going to make her first blog post...

One day a horse was walking around in the pasture then suddenly lightning struck . The gate fell down and the horse ran out. On the horse's run away trip the horse met a cat. She asked the cat if she knew there might be shelter. the cat said yes she new where there might be shelter.the cat took her to a old farm.she went inside and saw a foal .the foal was hungry so the mama horse fed the foal .in the morning the foal decided to go with the mama horse to go to the mama horse's house when they got to the mama horse's house the owner of the mama horse said I think I will keep the foal. The end.

Easter

2010-04-06T10:33:00.001-07:00

Easter weekend was pretty mellow this year. We stayed home and enjoyed watching conference. The kids loved dyeing eggs and we even experimented with brown eggs that came from Grandpa's chickens.I put candy in plastic eggs then the kids hid them from each other. It took about 10 minutes but the candy kept them occupied for the next hour.
I have always done the egg stuff on Saturday and focused Sunday on Christ. Saturday we have a few small traditions we carry out but I have always struggled to find something fun to do with the kids on Sunday that carries the Easter message and that I would want to repeat year after year. This Sunday morning I got out of bed before anyone else (this baby was keeping me up anyway) and made donuts for breakfast. While getting them together I had an idea. We have a big picture of Christ hanging in our home. I took it off the wall and hid it in the van. I then put a note on the wall with the scripture reference Matt. 28:6 "He is not here: for he is risen" we talked about how scared and sad the disciples must have been to find Jesus missing. Then I kind of made a scripture scavenger hunt. The kids loved the challenge of finding the scriptures, reading them, and figuring out where the next clue was hidden. It also gave me their undivided attention to bare my testimony of our Savior. Maybe I have found my Sunday tradition.

Kate Moments

2010-04-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am suddenly a little curious about what goes on after we turn out the lights at night because Kate has started comming down each morning in different jammies than the ones I put her to bed in. A few nights we even had midnight crying because she had taken off her diaper and then wet the bed. She has stopped taking off the diaper, thankfully, but she has started coming down the stairs each morning in her swimsuit. Why you would want to sleep in a swimsuit is beyond me.

She is turning 3 tomorrow, but for the past 3 weeks she has been telling people "I not 2 any more". We hadn't even talked much about birthdays- she just decided she was moving on.

Here is a video of her singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" the back ground noises are cute baby "Rangel" as Kate has renamed her cousin Rachel. Kate's voice is barely audible but I'll take what I can get. Her outfit is her typical attire when at Grandma's house.

This second video is even less audible. There are no baby "Rangel" noises but Kate is singing even quieter. I have posted it mostly because I have so few videos of my kids and because of the song she is singing. This is her favorite primary song. She sings it all the time and I just love it. I was trying to help her along but I think that just made her sing quieter. I love the facial expressions though. So here is Kate's silent version of "I'll Walk with You".

Rabbit - by Mack Easton

2010-04-06T10:17:00.001-07:00

Mack brought this home from school and I was so impressed. I would have scanned it but since our scanner doesn't work you will have to see it this way.

Rabbit

Onec A rabbit wint for A
Wack And he soo A Wlfe
So he ran A Wae from the
Wlfe then the Wlfe Wint
too Ceach the rabbit
the rabbit Cepe runing And
runing And then a Cogre Came
the rabbit ran A Way from
the Coger And the Wlfe. The End

Interpretation for those out of the habit of reading Kindergarten spelling

Once a rabbit went for a walk and he saw a wolf. So he ran a way from the wolf. Then the wolf went to catch the rabbit. The rabbit kept running and running. And then a cougar came. The rabbit ran a way from the cougar and the wolf. The end.

Spring Break

2010-04-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break this year I let the kids make a list of all the things they wanted to do...go to Grandma's house and sleepover, go to McCall, and visit the zoo. We managed to do it all.

Grandma's house was a blast playing with cousins and collecting eggs.

McCall was beautiful but rather slushy. Mack and Natali enjoyed their last day of skiing with Grandpa and Aunt Val while I stayed home with the smaller kids. We didn't get a ton of sleep but we had a lot of fun.

All we had left was the zoo and Andrew's special request to go see hawks and eagles. So Greg took Friday off and we all went to the zoo and the World Center for Birds of Prey.

It was more like winter than spring break. By the end of the day we were soaked and covered in snow but my kids always love the zoo. Here they are in front of the penguins.

The best moment at the zoo was with the Amur Leopard. He was pacing on the ground and started chasing the kids back and forth so we stopped to pose in front of him - then he rose up against the glass. I love Andrew's face in this picture as he realizes what the leopard is doing.
The other kids figured it out one by one.Here the leopard is staring Andrew down. Looks like a pretty tasty snack -huh.

The leopard jumped up on the glass over and over. The kids loved it. It was intimidating though to see how much bigger the cat was than my kids. Good thing the glass was thick.

The birds of prey place was very interesting. Less kid friendly but we managed. We got to see a Red Tailed Hawk and a Peregrine Falcon. Natali tried to ask the man as many questions as she could and soaked up lots of new info. Andrew was trilled to see meat eaters and everyone had a great time.

The Belly

2010-04-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day that I really have no pictures of me pregnant. Not just this time, but every time. I guess there are some, but I am usually sitting down holding a child on my lap so you can't see much of the belly. I figure my posterity needs one picture of me really pregnant so here it is. (As you can see Andrew has none of my camera avoidance).
I am due the 28th but my babies have been between 10 and 4 days early so I am hoping this one breaks the record and comes a full 2 weeks early. Hey I would even be okay with 3 weeks early-but I try not to get too optimistic.

Why you shouldn't let a cat sleep on your head

2010-04-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

Last night, amid the noise of the basketball game on TV, Greg and I heard the sound of someone crying. Usually if our kids are crying at night they are already on their way down the stairs to tell their dramatic tale; so we waited. Nothing for a while - then more moaning. Greg went up to check it out and found Andrew in bed covered in blood. His ear was bleeding and while we cleaned him up we asked him what happened. No response. The kid kept falling back to sleep only waking up when I touched the gash in his ear. He had two little cuts and one big one - and we had no clue what could have happened. I taped a cotton ball in his ear and let the poor kid go back to sleep.

After some discussion we have determined that Gimli, our cat, must have been sleeping on Andrew's head. When he jumped off the bed his back claws must have ripped up poor Andrew's ear. Luckily, Andrew has no idea what happened because it would break his heart. He loves Gimli sleeping with him. At bedtime he calls to Gimli and waits for Gimli to lay down next to him. They really share the pillow every night. But maybe letting a cat sleep on your head isn't the best idea.
This is what it looks like this morning - poor cat lover.

My Light Weights

2010-03-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well most of you know my kids are small - like they don't register on growth charts because they are that far below average. In contrast my sister Val's kids have always been well above average. For sometime we have been wondering if her 2 year old outweighed my 6 year old. So The other day we were all at Val's house and finally satisfied out curiosity and weighed each of our kids. Here are the results in order heaviest to lightest.

Natali (8)-----------46 lbs.
Abby (4)------------38 lbs.
Mack (6 1/2)-------37 lbs.
Luke (2)------------34 lbs.
Andrew (5)---------32 lbs.
Kate (3)----------- -24 lbs.

We had a good laugh at the extremes of both of our kids and I decided to post it so that someday they too can look back and laugh.

The Adventures of a Girl Named Kate

2010-02-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

Kate has suddenly come into her own- personality that is. She has transformed from my easy going, quiet, joyful child, to the kid that makes me want to pull my hair out (or hers). The role of biggest boss has been transferred to Kate as each of the other kids give into her every whim rather that listen to the screaming. After a few talks with the other kids they are starting to defend themselves by actually telling her no. Which means she now spends a lot of time in her room screaming to herself, or on the porch screaming for the neighbors to hear (but at least I can't). With the baby coming soon I think she is just testing the boundaries and sadly I really don't want to rise to that occasion (because I don't like getting up at all) but I am trying to nip this in the bud before the baby comes. For the sake of all who plan to watch Kate when I have this baby I hope she gets over this adventure quickly.

The adventure of potty training has also begun. I read the Potty Training in a Day book that has been such a success with my sisters kids and was determined that I would do this by the letter and thus have overnight potty training success. I'd like to say I am joking, but I really thought that Kate would have this all figured out within three days. Well she did great the first day - only 2 accidents. Then we hit the bump- she stopped using the potty. The next three days were a discouraging blur of wet undies and wet eyes. I was ready to return to diapers, but then suddenly she started using the potty again and had 2 days with no accidents, followed by one a day for the last three days. Maybe it worked; I'm not holding my breath.

However, not all of her adventures have made me cry. We can't help but laugh at some of her latest interests. She learned about Harry Potter from Natali and has taken to calling herself 'Miney' like Hermine Granger. I probably call her Miney as much as Kate - she insists. She also refers to me as 'Lily', Andrew has become 'Potter', Mack is 'Ron', Greg is 'Potter's Dad', and Natali is either 'Buckbeak' or 'Miney's Cat'. It cracks me up that my 2 year old has embraced the Harry Potter world so entirely. She has even named the baby in her tummy Miney (you did remember she was pregnant, right?).

Kate has also taken it upon herself to name our baby. She has been sure the baby is a girl for the entire pregnancy but in the last month she has started to call the baby Pananunu. I have no idea where this name came from but she consistently refers to the baby as Pananunu. I hope she isn't too disappointed if this baby is a boy or if we don't choose Pananunu (Greg hasn't rejected it yet...trying to find a name for this baby is another story).

She is still my bouncy, fun, little blondy, but she's got a little more sass and we are all adjusting to the change. This post is an effort to convince myself that this is part of the adventure not just torture.

Pink Hair

2010-01-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

Kate is pretty good recognizing most of her colors and like most 2 year old girls, has a special affinity for pink. Recently, when she was asked, 'What color is your hair?' she answered pink. I thought this was pretty funny. However, over the last month I have realized that she will also consistently tell you that Mack, Andrew, and Cinderella have pink hair. She says that Natali and I have brown hair. So it appears that Kate thinks blonds have pink hair - lucky for them.

My Favorite Reads from 2009

2010-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

In the back of my journal I keep a log of all the books I read each year. This year I even rated each book to help me remember how much I liked them. I was killing time the other night and was going over my reading lists from the last few years. Each title reminded me of my circumstances while reading that book and the different things I learned. I love books. I love the way they look on bookshelves. I love the way it feels when you see how far you have progressed through a 600 page book. I love getting wrapped up in a good story or being amazed at the skill of writers who can make economics fascinating. I love watching my Natali stay up way too late reading Harry Potter because she just can't wait to find out what happens. I love learning about places and people far away. I can go on and on but instead I will just post my favorite reads of 2009.

The Book Thief - Juvenile Fiction about a girl living in Germany during WW2 and how books influenced her life. Captivating. Wonderful insight into the power of words.

Screwtape Letters- A fictional account of how devils tempt their assigned people. C. S. Lewis is amazing. This was a quick reread for me filled with reminders of how I can be more aware of Satan's attempts on me.

Long Walk to Freedom - The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Very long and slow at parts but considering 27 years of his life were spent in jail it was fascinating. His self mastery and commitment were inspiring.

Outliers - Non-Fiction. A statistical study showing patterns in the lives of people that succeed. Sounds boring, but if you haven't read anything by Gladwell give it a try. You'll be surprised at how interesting numbers can be.

Other good reads from the year: David Copperfield, The House At Sugar Beach, Hot, Flat and Crowded, A Room with A View, Confessions of an Economic Hitman

The Boy and His Hat

2010-01-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

If any of you have seen Mack lately you may have noticed the permanent new addition to his wardrobe. I knitted this hat in high school. It was an experiment that didn't turn out well because is was too big for mostly everybody. When we pulled out the winter clothes this year Mack's old hat had disappeared and he claimed this one as the replacement. I figured it wouldn't last long because it really is huge. Not only does he wear this hat whenever he goes outside but he wears it all the time - seriously - he even wears it to bed. I hope his teacher makes him take it off in the class room, but other than that possibility he only takes it off when he prays, bathes, and goes to church. Who would have guessed that he would love it so.

Adventures with the 'Family' Photo

2009-12-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

My kind cousin-in-law has taken our pictures every year since we moved to Idaho. She is wonderful with the kids and does a fabulous job. But this year I was a little slow to schedule so I agreed to one of the last warmish days left that she had available. When I finally let Greg know when we were doing the pictures he told me he would be out of town. So we decided to just do kid pictures - they're the ones everyone wants to see anyway - right? The plan and would have worked great but Kate got sick the week before the pictures and was still in that less-than-pleasant mood. I had to force her outfit on (a pink dress I assumed she would love, but she still refuses to wear it) and stand in every picture with her or she would just walk away screaming. Even the candy didn't really help (at least it stopped the screaming). But we have some fabulous pictures of the three oldest kids. So much for the 'family' photo this year.

This is the only picture we have of all four kids without me in it - and Kate was trying to exit as quickly as possible.This face is almost happy thanks to M & M's.

Some of you might not have seen Natali in her new specs. She got the glasses the day before the pictures. She was so excited to get glasses that for a while I was worried she would fake her test just to get them, but I sat in on her exam and I'm pretty sure she needs them. I let her pick out the frames - she did pretty good huh?

Now just to contrast Kate, all of Mack's pictures look like he is straight out of an Old Navy ad.
Andrew loves cheese and you can't help but smile back.

Cristi managed to steal this brief smile at the very end of our photo shoot. But don't be deceived into thinking Kate was actually smiling of her own accord - I was holding her while I hid behind a tree and tickled her.

I am so blessed to have these crazy kids.

Pirates have green teeth - when they have any teeth at all!

2009-11-02T19:05:00.001-08:00

Every year before Halloween the elementary school has their Halloween Parade. All the kids dress up and walk around the school showing each other their costumes. It is such a fun tradition and parents are invited to come watch. Well this year when Mack's teacher saw me she said, "Mack is really taking this pirate thing seriously." Then pirate Mack smiled to reveal a missing tooth. He was just beaming. Then when Natali walked by she freaked out telling me Mack lost his first tooth...I love that she was so excited for him.

Anyway, for the rest of the day he called anyone he could think of to tell them about his tooth. He felt like he had something stuck in his tooth and basically just pulled the tooth out thinking it was a popcorn kernel.
The best part about losing your tooth at school is the fancy necklace you get to put it in!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

Halloween night the Eastons and Wilfords joined the hoards of kids cruising around our neighborhood. It didn't take long to come to a few conclusions 1- next year we are dividing into groups according to age. Then the kids that want to run door to door can do so without the trail of kids and parents crying behind them to wait up. 2- Review etiquette beyond just saying 'trick or treat' and 'thank you'. Be more specific like telling Andrew it is rude to scream "GIMME SOME" and don't ever say things like "What? Only one?".

After a few streets Val and I started home with Kate and Luke. We were still knocking on doors then I asked Kate what she wanted to do. Her simple answer, "Go home and eat it!". Overwhelmed with her quantity of candy she was happy to sit at home and feast. And she did! I think she ate more than half her candy that night. Natali was so disappointed that Kate chose to be Cinderella again, rather than the pink fairy Natali was when she was two. But Kate was determined to wear her "blue rella" dress and she loved wearing real lipstick.

Natali thought it was great being a witch. I liked that she wore the same witch costume all my sisters and I used as kids. However, the orange wig is a new addition from Aunt Val. Natali got lots of comments about her cool hair, but she removed it by the end of the night because she was too hot (such and nice night). You can't tell from this picture but I really think her favorite part was wearing all the make up she could find.

Mack really loved his mustache - who wouldn't.

Somehow we have no individual photo of Andrew. He was a T-Rex, which he made clear to anyone who mistakenly called him a dragon. Since all the other kids had make-up on he couldn't be left out so he had a speckling of dots on his face and he was happy. He really got into character; at every door he screamed "TRICK OR TREAT". You could hear it from across the street. Gotta love Halloween.

Katers says...

2009-10-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

My favorite Kate quotes:

Whenever I give Kate a no answer her reply is "Later?". This cracks me up but got even funnier Tuesday when she handed me a DVD as I was picking her up for bed. I said no and was expecting to hear "Later?"but was surprised to hear "Friday?".

The other day Kate was frustrated with Andrew and suddenly yelled, "No, Anrew Reed!". She had never used his middle name before. Andrew and I looked at each other and just started laughing. He kept asking how she knew - she doesn't miss much.

We have been talking a lot about how mommy has a baby in her tummy but lately if you ask Kate, "Who has a baby in their tummy?" she will respond, "me".

Mack Is 6

2009-10-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

For Mack's Birthday we stayed home and watched conference, but I think he loved it because it was a birthday party all day long. He opened his first present before conference started and spent the whole session drawing on the marker board from Grandma Dame. (She also gave him a large pad of paper that he had filled up less than three weeks later- most pages front and back.) Then after the session was over he opened more presents. He loved his hammer and Bakugans - I can't really figure out what these are but he loves them.

When conference was over we had dinner of his choice - cheese rice - to Greg's horror. Then he decorated his cake. I'm sure his skills with a pencil are better than with a tube of runny frosting but you can still tell it is a football field. But sadly you can't really see the 'Y' or the symbol of the Mountain West Conference that he took great pains to include. He had a great day but it is still so hard to believe that my little Macky is really 6 years old. We love you Mack!

My Office

2009-10-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Before I got sick with this pregnancy we moved the boys room around to make room for their new dresser (with drawers that actually worked). Their room has a totally bizarre long narrow space it it and after moving the furniture we ended up with nothing in this space but an old night stand. Mack looked at it, pulled up a chair, and claimed it at his office. He moved all his prized possessions into the space and it has been his office ever since. He sits back there at night before lights out and draws and draws. In fact I don't think that he can actually get to the desk anymore because the floor space has been filled with drawings. I love how he immerses himself in his drawing. He will get an idea, go to his room, and come back an hour later with little 5 inch football players made with paper and tape dressed in the colors and helmets of different college teams. He is so amazing.Well it came as no surprise that Andrew needed an office of his own. So we brought in the folding table and another chair. He immediately piled his table with books. While Mack draws Andrew makes trip after trip to the bookshelf. (Too bad he hasn't learned how to put them back on the shelf.) Although, he has started to ask Mack to draw him pictures and then he will color them.

Their offices are usually in a state of disaster, but it sure is fun to watch them each at their own desk enjoying themselves so thoroughly and peacefully - it can't last long.

Fall In A Flash

2009-10-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well fall has almost come and gone and I have spent the best of it indoors. Baby number five has proved to be a little more difficult than the previous four and has sucked most of the energy out of me, along with the usual meals. But thanks to a wonderful mother, sister, and extremely patient husband we have all managed to get through the first trimester. The kids have been somewhat deprived of attention as evidenced from comments from Natali, "Mom, why don't you move anymore?" or from Andrew, "How does the baby tell you that it is going to be sick if you don't eat soon?" We are all grateful to put the last few months behind us.

In the meantime school is off and running. These pictures are a little late in coming but they were actually taken on the first day of school. Natali's 1st grade teacher moved up to 2nd grade with her and that has been good. She is doing great and loving school as usual. She even started reading Harry Potter tonight- I can hardly believe she is old enough. Mack is loving kindergarten. He goes in the afternoon but spends most of the morning asking if he can go to school yet. He doesn't say much in class because he saves it all for me; when he gets home I love to hear all about everything that happened. He is doing wonderful and soaks up anything his teacher offers. She even said that he has started raising his hand in class, a good sign that he is getting comfortable.

Andrew has started preschool and it has proven wonderful. Last year he had no interest in letters, numbers, or writing/drawing or any kind. Suddenly he recognizes letters other than A, tries to make rhymes, and asks what letter words start with--he also tries to count to 100 and can actually be found coloring and trying to write. I guess he just needed more time and I am so excited to see his new interest; but don't be too worried he still corrects everyone in class if they say anything about animals that isn't correct.

Kate in the meantime has learned that with everyone else gone she can usually do whatever she wants, which usually means watch a show. She misses the big kids and is often asking if she can "go too". Since I have been sick she really hasn't bee out much, and misses it-especially the bike rides. Toward the end of summer Mack surprised us all but learning to ride his bike with very little effort from the parents. So I got a bike and trailer for my birthday and we spent the early part of fall enjoying the nice weather and taking a lot of rides. Andrew and Kate loved it. Greg even bought a bike. Now five or so flat tires later we are still loving it. So with baby, school, bikes and football fall has flown by and we are all excited to try and figure out where we will put the baby when we ride next fall.

McCall - One Last Time

2009-08-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

Before school started we were able to go to McCall one last time. It was nice to be up there with just my kids. I find such peace up there and I just enjoy my kids. There are no calls to make, no errands to run, and no pressing vacation must-do's, it is just me and my kids doing whatever they want. It is good for all of us.

We got there late Thursday night and the kids played while I chatted with my Aunt Kalleen and Uncle Jed. Most of my memories of McCall have them in it so it was wonderful to spend some time with them. They also took us on a boat ride to Ice Cream Alley, something I could not have accomplished on my own.

We took a walk with our berry picking buckets and in no time found huckleberries. The kids were busy filling up their buckets, all except Kate who ate every berry she found. We soon discovered that only Andrew and Kate even like the berries, so those two feasted (evidenced by Kate's purple tongue).

The kids built forts which became cages while we pretended Zoo. We swam in the pool, built sand castles and interesting water ways, and the kids all swam from the shore to the end of the dock over and over (with life jackets) but as usual I took no pictures.

Greg came up Friday night and enjoyed a day of vacation, played some tennis with the kids and took the boys hiking. It was such a nice way to end the summer. I love that place..

Basketball

2009-08-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Mack played on his first basketball team this summer. Watching a bunch of 5 year olds learn to dribble can be pretty amusing. Greg and I were out of town for his first game but my sister took him. After the game he told them exactly what the score had been (the coaches and ref don't keep track). Is he Greg's son or what? Then he said that he thought he was going to have fun playing basketball because the boys on his team had "nice faces". So cute.

Well he never touched the ball the first game and rarely did so in the games after that. I started getting ready to sign him up for fall soccer but he said he wanted to do B-ball again- I'm thinking why? He just didn't seam to be catching on - until the last game. I guess he had just been observing before to make sure he understood what to do. He stole the ball once and played good defence. Then he actually shot and made his first two baskets! Afterwards he was so excited and told me, "I made 2 baskets. That's why I want to do basketball again."

Lellowstone

2009-08-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

We wanted to go to Glacier National Park this year but as the summer came to a close 10 hours in the van didn't sound very exciting to anyone, so off to Yellowstone. We all love Yellowstone, though most of us call it Lellowstone.

On the drive there the tire pressure light kept coming on but we managed to make it to our campground where I ran the battery dry shinning lights so we could set up our tent in the dark. Luckily, after a few minutes, we got the van to start again. After a cold but decent nights sleep we woke to a flat tire. It didn't slow us down much though. It was patched and we were ready to see some carnivores.

The kids were so excited to see wolfs and bears. We saw tons of bison. So many that after the first day even Kate could spot them. I will spare you the pictures.

But, we did take an amazing hike. The kids managed to go for three hours all through bear territory. I'm not kidding the trail head said don't go with less than four people (I don't think they meant kids). No bears, but the sights were so beautiful and Natali did spot a weasel (the only carnivore they saw in Yellowstone).

The kids did great on the kike but their favorite was the geysers. So much so that in every picture we tried to take in front of one Andrew wouldn't look at the camera because, "I just want to see the geyser".

We tried to see Old Faithful, but happened to arrive at the same time as The President, so we found ourselves a nice little stream to explore. The grass was super long so the kids hid and I tried to find them before they jumped out and ate me (they were usually some kind of carnivore - big shock). We had such fun, even after Natali put both feet in a hidden fork of the stream.

Don't you love Kate's outfit. She insisted on wearing her favorite dress over her pants and turtleneck. And the red jacket was the perfect touch.

We all had such fun exploring Yellowstone, but the kids were disappointed not to see the big carnivores again (we didn't see any last year either). However, we drove through Grand Teton National Park on the way home and a grizzly bear ran across the road just a few cars in front of us. All the kids watched it run across the meadow. We couldn't have asked for a better end to the trip.

Another Summer Come and Gone

2009-08-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

It has been a while because I have been enjoying summer. I'm not even going to try to catch up but here is a list of some important firsts from the past three months. Sadly, most of them have no picture. I enjoy the moments and usually let someone else take the pictures. Which works great when there is someone else around...

Mack learned to ride a bike. One day he wasn't close--the next day he was riding. He taught himself how to get started and ride over the curb. Nothing stops that kid once he's decided to do something. He also learned to swim (cousin pressure)!

Kate learned to float on her back. A skill she rarely uses because she usually just walks around the pool looking cute. A baby sitter painted Kate's nails pink, and they have been pink ever since. She loves it and shows everyone her "pink".

After a summer playing Rock Band with Uncle Spencer and the cousins my kids can sing every word to "Eye of the Tiger" and "Livin' on a Prayer". Andrew does sing "we're naked I swear" instead of "we'll make it I swear", but close enough right?

Natali learned the breast stroke, loved the big rides at Roaring Springs, and misses all of the cousin sleepovers.

I loved spending time with our families. Watching the kids play with their cousins. Swimming everyday and playing hard. I'm sad it's over but it will probably be good for all of us to back on schedule. Good bye summer.

Turning 4 at the Zoo

2009-05-14T21:30:00.001-07:00

Andrew requested to go to the Zoo for his birthday. No big surprise since tigers, or animals in general, take leading roles in 90% of the library books, bed time stories, and games Andrew picks out. His favorite shirt (he is wearing it in the pictures) is an 18 month shirt (yes he is turning 4) but it has a tiger on it so he really won't let me take it away. We ended up spending about 6 hours at the zoo and he loved it.Some family joined us and I forgot my camera, but luckily Aunt Kerri acted as photographer. We played 'Candle, Candle, who's got the Candle' and 'Simon Says' . Aunt Val would do everything Simon said and the kids thought it was so funny. This picture is great because it catches Val pretending to be bugged that she messed up again, and shows Andrew cracking up. I brought candles but forgot fire, so he pretended to blow the candles out. I love Kate's cupcake face. All the kids needed a good wash down by the end.Well Andrew loved the zoo. Seeing real Tigers, Snow Leopards, Lions, and Bald Eagles is pretty cool for your birthday. His Grandma Dame even gave him a whole family of Tigers, which made it onto his birthday cake later that night, along with the snow leopard from his cousins.All but one of his gifts had tigers on it in some form. He can tell you which tigers are the biggest, what they eat, where they live, and that they have the biggest canines...he even corrected my brother when he tried to convince the boys that only dogs had canines, hence the name canines.

Andrew is such a fun, energetic kid, but he also loves to snuggle up on my lap and be read to, especially if the book as to do with tigers. He keeps me on my toes, and keeps us all laughing, we love this guy.

I'm Grateful

2009-05-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

Last night as I was saying prayers with Kate I realized that my prayer was laking in "We're thankful for...". As I said my own prayers that night I asked for nothing; I just expressed thanks. I felt such peace when I was done. All the things that weighed on my mind seamed lighter. So in an attempt to continue to show more gratitude here are a few things I have been grateful for this spring.

I am grateful that my kids have enjoyed soccer. Natali and Mack have improved a lot. Mack has lived for practice and games. He plays soccer in the backyard, at his practice, with Natali's team practice, and at his games. He really loves it and is getting pretty good. I will miss watching his passion for it. However, as much as I am grateful they loved it, I am more grateful it is over. We have our Saturday's back (not to mention Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights).

I am grateful for the celebration of Easter. I know that Christ truly lives, that it was He who created all the vibrant colors and new life of spring. I can't comprehend His love for us, but when I think of the love I have for my own children I am overwhelmed with how much greater His perfect love must be. I am so grateful for His sacrifice and His infinite love.
I am grateful that after writing this post I may have finally cemented in my brain the the correct spelling of grateful (that is the correct spelling right?)

I am grateful for Mother's Day and the chance to reflect on the powerful example of so many mothers in my life. My mother's patience and soft, gentle voice. My mother-in-law's passion for learning. My Grandma's faith and determination. My sisters teaching me through their experiences. Friends letting me know I'm not the only one who has rough days.

Thank you.

Boys Will Be Boys

2009-04-26T15:23:00.001-07:00

When I got in the shower last week the boys were playing happily in the sand box (clothed I might add). This is what greeted me when I got out. They filled each others underwear with sand and eventually took the undies off as well. Hilarious.

My Natali is 7!

2009-04-25T21:30:00.001-07:00

It is so hard to believe that my little girl is 7. So here are 7 random things about my wonderful 7 year old (accompanied by some random B-day photos).

Books: Natali reads every night in bed. She usually reads a book a night, meticulously keeping track of how long she read so she can report the time and the plot to me, her teacher, Greg, or anyone else who will listen. She loves to read, but I think her favorite part is having an excuse to stay up late.

Nat: When she was born I thought maybe we would call her "Nat" or "Natty", but we never did. She has always been Natali--till first grade. When I go to help out at school most of the kids and the teacher call her Nat. So suddenly she has a nickname. Kind of weird, but I don't mind.
Soccer: She is playing her second year of soccer. It is an all girls team with only 5 girls (most teams have 8) so it has really forced her to step up, and she has. Each game she looks better and better. However, I still think her favorite part is just being with the other girls on the team.

Singing: Natali continues to love to sing. She has joined the ward choir and she still enjoys Childrens Choir as well. She came home from choir the other night, put her face right in mine and said, "See!" I noticed her already big eyes were especially huge, but was missing the point until she explained that she had her eye brows up, "Like you should when you are singing".

Big Sister: Natali loves being the oldest. She runs and gets this and that, keeps her eyes on the little ones, and keeps everyone in line. They all can't wait till she gets home from school. She shares her treats from soccer or birthday parties, and goes out of her way to try and make everyone happy.

Social Butterfly: Natali continues to amaze us with her love to talk...to anyone...especially new people. She has no fear; she strikes up conversations with anyone, anywhere. For instance--on her birthday she was telling our neighbor all about the purple dress her grandma gave her and how she was going to be baby-sat that night. She told him Greg and I were going to a church thing and then asked him if he ever went to church. No fear!

Big Kid Talk: Suddenly, we have moments where we can talk to Natali about big kid stuff. Example--the other night she started asking me questions about the Great Depression (she had just finished a fictional story about a girl in the 30's). We talked about what it was like then and how some similar things are going on today, on a smaller scale. She talked about how lucky she was to have enough to eat, and how glad she was that her dad had a job. I loved it! It was so rewarding to see her connecting the dots and seeing the bigger picture, if only for a moment.

I am so excited to watch her continue to grow and learn. It is such fun. We love you Natali!

Happy Birthday Katers!

2009-04-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

Our little Kate had a fabulous birthday. She started the day by climbing on the table (she had never done that before) and dumping breakfast cereal all over the table till it cascaded onto the floor. It was a lovely mess by the time Andrew came to tattle.

After her bath she went looking around her room for something to wear. She just kept looking around and saying "rella" until she found the pink, way too big, Princess Barbie nightgown that she had slept in that night. I really dislike this nightgown. However, she happily wore it for 45 hours straight. She only changed when her new princess dress from Grandma Nani arrived in the mail the next day - Thank you Grandma.
For dinner Katers gorged herself on kidney beans and sour cream. Yea, you read that right. She loves sour cream. By its self. By the spoonful. Strange - especially when her father, because of his dislike for it, almost throws up while watching her eat it.

The kids had worked hard earning money to buy Kate gifts and they were so excited for her to see what they had picked out. The present idea was no mystery this year and she ripped through them in no time. Then she pranced around the house the rest of the night with her new baby doll in its new baby car seat, wearing her new diaper bag - complete with bottles. She wouldn't even let go of the car seat while she blew out the candles and ate cake. One hand was always on the baby stuff.

This is her "baby" cake. Greg said it was kind of frightening, and he is probably right, but considering I was still hacking up my lungs and blowing my nose all day long I think it did the job. She knew it was a baby!

Our little baby lover isn't a baby anymore. She is such a fun little girl; everyone's favorite. Today she had her well child check up and the doctor started asking the routine questions. "Does she string words together? Can she jump? Is she a good eater?" With each question she got 4 answers. The kids felt like they could report just as well as I. We all love her so much. Happy Birthday Kate!

I love her crazy curly blond hair- I hope it lasts! This was a very special bed head day- had to share it.

Oregon Coast

2009-04-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I have no pictures from our spring break trip to the Oregon coast. Greg headed out of town before us and left simple instructions not to forget the battery when I grabbed the camera. But I forgot. So instead of photos we had the kids draw pictures of the trip.

One of Mack's favorite parts was seeing Mount Hood when we drove into Portland. He is very into volcanoes right now.

Our first day we got to play on the beach a bit and feed some seals at an aquarium. Then we went on a hike, but the girls didn't last long in the wind and rain so I sat in the car with them. And we waited for the boys...for nearly 2 hours. I talked with Greg on the phone a few times the first hour, but started getting a little worried when he stopped answering. One of my favorite moments of the trip was when they finally got back. The boys were covered in mud and smiles. I was prepared for cold whinny boys, but they were so happy telling me all about how they slid down parts of the mountain on their bum. Its great to get nice and dirty sometimes.

Well Saturday morning was the day we had all been waiting for because we were going on a boat ride to look for whales. Well our 2 hour morning drive to get to the boat ended with no boat ride because the weather was so bad no boats were going out. So no whales for us- very disappointing. Instead, we drove down more of the coast in search of a famous sea lion cave. We got to ride on an elevator about 200 ft. down into the "largest sea cave on earth" where tons of sea lions hang out. It was fun to hear their calls echoing off the rocks, and watch them swim in and out of the cave. Here is Natali's rendering.

Well we did a lot of driving in the rain while the kids watched movies in the back. Greg and I were discouraged about how the trip went considering the money spent, the time taken off from work, and all the planning. However, I learned a good lesson - A trip is only as fun as you make it. No matter how much we spent or planned the kids were thrilled with whatever we did - hiking in the mud, seeing waterfalls, or exploring hotels. Greg and I were grumpy about the whales but the kids got over it pretty quick. So my lesson, enjoy the moments and make it memorable because you can't orchestrate life, no matter how much you try.

Dishes and more Dishes

2009-04-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

I asked my kids these questions while on our vacation during spring break. I assumed I would hear a lot about me reading and eating sweets – not a word. In fact, they all listed Greg’s favorite foods as mine—interesting. So here it is N – Natali (6) M – Mack (5) A – Andrew (3)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
N- Thank You
M- Yea
A- Clean the dishes

2. What makes mom happy?
N- When everything is cleaned up so we can play
M- Us
A- Clean up

3. What makes mom sad?
N- When we don’t do our chores and we don’t obey
M- When we don’t obey. I’m good at this. (I think this was a side note like- wow I know all the right answers to these questions)
A- When we don’t do our jobs

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
N- Tickles me
M- Sometimes tickling me
A- Whenever I see a TV somewhere I just fall down (Said while staring at the TV in the hotel)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
N- She owned a farm (What? – I think she has be confused with my mother)
M- Her mom? (He looked like he was looking for a hint or something)
A- A baby like when I was a baby

6. How old is your mom?
N- 28
M- 28
A- I don’t know. Give me a hint. ME - “I’m younger than your dad.” A- 85

7. How tall is your mom?
N- I don’t know
M- 10 feet
A- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, I don’t know. I can’t tell up.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
N- Play with us
M- Play
A- Clean the dishes

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
N- Take a Nap
M- Sleep
A- Sometimes I go outside (is this a confession?)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
N- Singing
M-Tackling
A- I don’t know

11. What is your mom really good at?
N- Sewing
M- Washing dishes
A- Doing the dishes

12. What is your mom not very good at?
N- Singing really high
M- At being fast because I am faster than you
A- Doing gymnastics

13. What does your mom do for her job?
N- Takes care of us
M- Do the dishes
A- Clean the dishes (There is a trend here)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
N- Rice
M- Sandwiches
A- Rice

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
N- When she does the laundry
M- Because she’s nice
A- When you help us do our dishes

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
N- Daisy Duck
M- Backyardigans
A- Uniqua

17. What do you and your mom do together?
N- Swimming and going to Roaring Springs
M- Play games
A- Play

18. How are you and your mom the same?
N- We both love to swim
M- Our noses
A- We have the same pants I know

19. How are you and your mom different?
N- She has brown eyes and I have bluish, grayish, brownish
M- You’re a girl and I’m a boy
A- Because we have some different pants

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
N- She makes dinner for us and does our laundry
M- Because I love her
A- Because I snuggle

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
N- India
M- Yellowstone
A- To the arctic with daddy

Forced Creativity

2009-03-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Winter weather, although not that cold in Idaho, does tend to keep us indoors. I don't think of myself creative but as I've looked through my pictures from this winter I realized that I have managed to keep my kids busy. So this post is in honor of the creativity forced from spending too many hours trapped indoors.

This was our pudding eating contest. We had a race to see who could eat their pudding fastest without using a spoon. Greg won for staying the cleanest. Natali won for getting the messiest. I won for having the cleanest bowl (I can't remember who was fastest). However, I actually can't take credit for the creativity here because this game was created and perfected by my sister, Val. She always won the award for the face with the best Lincoln beard (no kidding).

Welcome to make a face pancake night. Mack made his cute face then took almost everything off before he ate it. (He didn't even eat the bacon and eggs. I guess they were merely decorative). Natali, on the other hand, gleefully relished every drop of the whipped cream hair she piled on her pancake. The creativity on this next photo came entirely from Mack. He saw this idea in a reading book of Natali's and started saving milk cartons and cutting bags to make one for everyone. So after a few weeks he had made four space suits (Kate never really liked hers). Give that kid scissors, tape, glue, and paper and he will occupy himself for hours. He has already made Greg a birthday and fathers day present - including wrapping. Grandpa Dame's present is made and wrapped as well. He will come to me with sealed envelopes and say "That needs to be send to..." Some of you have received such treasures and I'm sure he has plans for more. I have no clue what he sends but he loves doing it.So on these cold winter mornings and nights the kids have started laying in front of the fireplace and requesting that I tell them stories. My creative story telling skills have surely improved. They love stories about when I was a little girl, Lobo stories, and Bunny Foo Foo stories. But my favorite part is when they tell stories. I love to hear their where their little imaginations go.This last picture is of Kate and my niece, Abby. They were fighting over who sat in which car seat until Natali distracted them by beautifying them. She gave them paintbrushes, her fake make-up, earrings, and necklaces. She eventually put them in princess dresses and even fixed Abby's hair. Check out Kate's earring and Abby putting on her own make-up. I love my Natali- she is such a great helper.I started this post talking about my creativity, but after writing all this I realize that most of the ideas really started with someone else...so I am not that creative after all (no shocker there) but I am happy to embrace the creativity of others - especially my own kids.

Dinos in Heaven

2009-03-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is a conversation between Mack and Andrew in the car on the way home from the library. They are both treasuring the educational dinosaur books they just checked out. And you should know that the cutest word Andrew says is "definaly". He says it all the time and I love it. Here is the conversation...

Mack: So dinosaurs lived and died. Then we lived and when we die dinosaurs will live again and then us again and then dinosaurs again and then us again.... (here I interrupt to explain that that is not exactly what will happen - the conversation continues)

Mack: So will there be dinosaurs in heaven? Because that might scare people and well that doesn't seam like heaven.

Andrew: There will "definaly" not be dinosaurs in heaven because they would fall out of the clouds and that would be a problem. (he repeated this point numerous times while I cracked up.)

Enjoying the Snow

2009-03-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went up to McCall with my parents and some of my siblings. We enjoyed playing in the snow together, but the highlight was going skiing. I got a full day of skiing with three of my siblings and my Dad. I have such great memories of skiing with my family and now I'm teaching my own kids. Natali and Mack both tried it out and loved it. The next day we were going to ice skate and feed some elk, but Mack and Natali both just wanted to ski. They keep asking when we can go again. It is so fun to watch them (check out Mack's arms - so cute)

Well while we skied the second day Greg took Andrew to see the elk. He loved it - as expected. This picture doesn't quite capture his love or all the elk surrounding the trailer, but we'll take what we can get.

While enjoying the time with my family, and reminiscing I had an epiphany. All of my winter McCall memories happened because my dad sacrificed his time and created those opportunities for us. As I skied with my kids I realized how much effort it will take to get my kids skiing. My dad taught all seven of us how to ski. He gave up his own skiing time and work time to play with us in McCall. I am so grateful that he taught me to ski, sled, snowmobile, and just love playing in snow. I'm excited to teach my own kids to take the time to enjoy the snow and make memories together. Thanks Dad!

Making Movies

2009-02-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

A while ago my nephew Sam drew some pictures and told his mom they needed to be made into a movie. Well his amazing mom put them into a slide show and posted it on their blog. Ever since then my kids have been begging to make their own movies. I told them I have no clue how to do this, but my wonderful sister Val volunteered to help them. The kids gathered their drawings, Val donated her time and patience and here is the result. They both mention outer space but I'm not sure why since most of the pictures drawn at our house are of animals. Sam's movie was about space - maybe it inspired them.

Sabosalactarus, Vocal Excersises, and Late Night Prayers

2009-02-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

Here are some silly moments from the last few weeks...

The other day Andrew climbed up on Greg's lap and said, "I'm a baby Sabosalactarus". I couldn't recall this dinosaur name. Andrew continued, "You're the Daddy Sabosalactarus, and you're the Mommy Sabosalactarus". He repeated this name over and over for the next hour and he said it the same every time. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but my dinosaur pronunciation skills are bad. We get dino books from the library and I make up half of the names, and I am sure I never make them up the same way twice. Hence my surprise that Andrew could repeat the name consistently. I have no clue how he came up with the name. It cracked me up.

My next story requires a little back ground. I lead our church choir so my kids hear us warm up every week. They also hear warm ups when they listen to Natali's choir practice. So the other day I was walking down the hall and heard Mack singing, "ah ah ah ah ah ah oh oh oh me ee me ee no no no". Oddly, it has happened more than once. No Hannah Montana for this kid, just give him some vocal exercises.

Thursday night, well after we put the kids down for bed, we heard little Andrew feet climbing down the stairs. I was already to tell him to disappear fast when he said, "You forgot to say prayers with me". It was so rewarding to think he actually remembered we needed to say prayers. Then last night at about 9:30 Mack came down and did the same thing, they had attempted a slumber party in Natali's room and so we had forgotten individual prayers - I say attempted because the party lasted all of 20 minutes before they were dancing and jumping off beds. Anyway we said prayers and sent him to bed, but now I'm starting to wonder if this is the newest excuse to get out of bed. I guess I better make sure we don't miss prayers.

Sleeping like a ...Tiger

2009-01-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

For the last few months Andrew has refused to sleep in his bed. Every night he lays blankets on the floor and makes himself a bed. I have been trying to think of someway to make him sleep in his bed (I was going to make him tiger striped sheets or something for Christmas but ran out of time). Then for Christmas his Grandma Nani gave him this tiger rug. You may have seen them at Costco, it is bigger than he is and has a stuffed tiger head on it. Well that next night he laid that on the floor, used the head like a pillow and snuggled in. I have managed to move the tiger onto his bed so he now sleeps in his bed- yea! Except his diaper leaked last night and the tiger has no washing instructions....

Christmas Break Playtime

2009-01-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

We got some good snow before Christmas and we enjoyed an afternoon building forts and making snow angels. Kate loved being pulled in the sled so we all had to take turns pulling her and she would laugh and scream with joy every minute. It was so cute.

Sadly, I slipped on the ice on our driveway right before Christmas and bruised my tailbone. So that was the end of my playing in the snow. The kids and I had so many plans that now I couldn't follow through on, but luckily Greg had a lot of time off so he and the kids had a lot of fun. I stayed home and iced my bum.

My brother, Spencer, had his wii at my mom's house so the kids had learned to "bowl". They were so excited when we suggested they try real bowling. Mack's wii skills seamed to help him to victory, but Natali was sadly disappointed that real bowling was harder than the wii.

We had a really hot day right before break ended and the snow started to melt. Up until then we hadn't been able to build a snowman because the snow wouldn't pack. After dinner Greg got everyone geared up and went to play in the snow. So we turned on the back porch lights and they played in the snow for over an hour building snowmen big and small. I was sad to miss most of the fun but it was fun to watch the kids enjoying time with each other and their dad.

Mary, Joseph, and Others

2009-01-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Eve we always act out the Nativity. Well this year in addition to the usual cast we had a tiger instead of livestock and a wise man who closely resembled Cinderella (and she wouldn't let Mary hold baby Jesus). Mary gave herself a very convincing tummy and Joseph was as hansom as ever, he even made the bed for the baby himself. I love this tradition.

Gingerbread Bomb Shelters

2009-01-10T10:35:00.001-08:00

One of our Christmas traditions is to make Gingerbread houses (or more appropriately graham cracker houses). Well it can get a little crazy trying to help everyone at the same time. So this year Greg, in an effort to simplify construction, suggested that Andrew make a bomb shelter rather than a house. Everyone else heard the idea and couldn't resist copying. So we had three bomb shelters. Comically, they all thought bomb shelters held bombs, so they put jelly bean bombs inside and hidden candy bombs all around the outside. Meanwhile, Kate devoured piles and piles of candy. We finally had to just put her to bed to make her stop eating. This picture doesn't quite capture how sticky her face was, but it does display her new picture pose when you " say cheese". Cute - huh?

Football In the Snow

2008-12-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

Well since Val was kind enough to lend us her camera we took the opportunity to capture a few other things. Here are the kids playing football while the snow is lightly coming down. Natali actually catches the ball here - no small miracle. It must have been the incentive of being on camera. The kids are so excited to see themselves on the computer after months of just viewing cousins and friends. So here you are guys.

She's Really Doing It

2008-12-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Here is actual footage of Kate walking. She is walking most of the time now. Yea!

Choir Nostalgia

2008-12-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

When I was eight years old I joined the Treasure Valley Childrens Choir. For the next 10 years I spent every Thursday night singing. The director, Linda Walker, became a mentor and friend. As a teen, choir was the thing that made me feel valued and gave me confidence. I loved choir!

Well when we moved to this area I was so excited to learn that Linda was still doing the Childrens Choir and had started one in Nampa as well as Ontario. So Natali started choir this fall. She had her first Young Artist (the name for Childrens Choir in Nampa) concert this weekend. It was so fun to watch her up there. She was one of the shortest kids, but she did great. I borrowed a digital video camera so I could post one of her songs. But posting a song turned out more difficult than I thought (too long or something). So here is a segment that Greg recorded. Linda was trying to show how far they had come so she had them sing bad, then good. I think this is the good one. I didn't record the finale which was Natali's favorite, and that means you also miss a little girl puking on the kids in front of her.

After the concert we went to Dairy Queen and there was an older choir girl there. We started chatting and I realized that she started choir the year after I left it. She talked about looking up to my younger sister and her friends. It made me feel old. But, all told, the night brought back old memories and was the beginning of new memories as Natali begins the second generation in choir. Who knows if she will love it as much as I did, but for now she thinks it is fun.

Family Pictures

2008-12-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

Our adventure of family pictures began with the difficult task of finding clothes that all coordinate (without buying new ones) and ended when everyone finally stopped crying about being cold. It was a little chilly but Cristi, my cousin-in-law, was great.

Natali tried to be super cute at all times. She loves the camera, and the attention of the person behind the camera. Mack was super photogenic (only one picture with his lazy eye). Andrew whined that he was cold, and Kate mostly refused to smile.

Here you can see the comedy of everyone trying to make Kate smile (except Andrew who seams to be picking his nose).

I like this picture because half of us look really great, but the other half well...with four kids I'm trilled. It is fun to have new pictures of my kids-it makes me smile (even if they are picking their nose). Thanks again Cristi!

"Come what may, and love it" - Elder Wirthlin

2008-12-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

Elder Wirthlin, one of the 12 Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away last Monday and I have been thinking a lot about his life. In October, at 91 years, he got up to speak. He was shaking, and his speech was less than perfect. I remember thinking of how old he was getting. But his words really struck me and when I reread his talk I was overwhelmed by the power of his words. His message was so clear and simply written, but powerful. The point of his talk was that you don't know what life is going to throw at you so just enjoy what comes. And so I used the quote for my blog to remind myself to laugh when my children prove that you can grow pinto beans in your bathroom sink. To remember the eternal perspective when my patience is gone and my kids want one more snuggle. And to remember God's law of compensation when I think "Why do I have to face this...." So come what may, and love it!

Surprise in the PJs

2008-11-15T19:39:00.000-08:00

So last night Greg took Andrew camping with the scouts. So the rest of us ate pop corn and watched Kung Fu Panda. Well this morning after I fed Kate breakfast I put her on the floor and saw a weird bulge in her footies. I unzipped her and found our TV remote. She slept all night with a remote, the size of her leg, in her PJs. Comfy!

The Scooter Walks

2008-11-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

Well the day has finally come - I'm going to start blogging. I told myself that I would start when there was something really big to share. Well today my 19 month old, Kate, finally took more that three steps at a time! So to celebrate and document the momentous occasion I am blogging. Now I've just got to take some pictures and figure out how to get them from my husband's computer to mine...we'll see about this.