Vacation, Family Pictures

I mentioned this is the first time ALL of us had been together in about 3 years (even though we had visited individually).  What better time to take some new family pictures.  We asked the great Lara from Lara Jean Photography to take some pictures for us.  It also helps if she happens to be related to my sister :)  She took about a million great ones, but I am just going to share my favorites.  

Kari, Kaitlyn, and McKenna.  Girl cousins for life :)

All the grandbabies.  Mostly smiling, even if they aren't all looking in the same direction.

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandbabies.

Original Nuclear Family.  PS- Our coordinating colors were yellow, navy blue, and grey :)

Sisters.

Thompson (ish) ladies.

Thompson (ish) men.

The whole fam-damily!  Love that Anna is looking at McKenna :)

Grandma and Grandpa.

Oldest Sister, Piko.

Middle sister (me, duh) with my family: Hubby, Me, Kari, Kaitlyn, Dylan and Kelsey.

Middle sister, La, with hubby Danny Boy, and kids McKenna, Ben, and Anna.

Baby Bro, Jonoman.  Funny story: He took a semi serious one before this, and Lara (who is somewhat familiar with him) said something like "You gotta smile!".  Jonoman, being the comedian that he is said "Sorry.  This face is all I have to work with."  Then, she got this great shot, because we were all still laughing :)

Sweet, smiley baby Anna.

Webby kiddos.

My kiddos...  Poor Dyl man...  Off in his own world.  At least he is smiling!

Many much gracias to Lara, and her skillz.  Loved the pictures!  Now I just need to get some printed and hung somewhere!

Vacation, Mantua (Pt. 2)

Because we wouldn't all fit in my sister's house, we spent as long as we could up at the Mantua house, where we could all be together, and wake up to each other's morning hair and morning breath.  Tuesday was spent playing outside in the left over snow (which my children were unfortunately ill prepared for) and on various games/activities in the house.  Like paper airplane competitions from the second floor balcony.

And movie watching on the projector screen.

And fingernail painting.  We're so glad Aunt Piko can be counted on to make things super fun!

And baby holding.  Are you sensing a pattern here? :)

And dress up!  Two peas in a pod!

We had to leave on Wednesday afternoon to head back down to Bountiful, so Wednesday morning was spend laundering, repacking, and cleaning.  Before we left, however, we stopped at Maddox for some lunch.  Their rolls are, like, to die for!  And the food is great.  I have only been there a handful of times, but am always pleased.  This time I ordered the chopped lamb, which was not as super great as I wanted it to be.  Not that the lamb wasn't up to snuff, it was just not what I was looking for that day.  I wish I had just gone for my "usual" bison burger...  Oh well.  Next time I am out in Utah, I will try to remember :)

That night we were able to visit with some friends of ours who had moved out to Utah about 18 months previously.  It was great to see them, meet their son, and create mess and mayhem.  We had been hanging out with them monthly when they lived down south with us, so it was nice to see each other again.  The sarcasm flowed, and the kids played well together.  We got so busy visiting we even forgot to play our standard, competitive, half German game of Settlers of Catan.  We have rarely found such good playing partners, and they are missed.

That night we went back to my sisters house in Bountiful and to get ready for the following morning: Family Pictures!

Vacation, Mantua (Pt 1)

Monday morning we woke up, spent a leisurely time getting assorted children assorted breakfasts and just enjoying being in the same room with one another.  Eventually, I left to go to a nearby hair studio to get my hair straightened.  When in Rome, ya know?  I guess I didn't pick the best place, or maybe Utah was more humid than normal (which is actually true because it was kinda rainy/snowy), or maybe I didn't explain myself well enough.  Anywho, my hair was straight.  It just wasn't particularly flat.  It was kinda big and poofy...  Just wait.  You'll see.  It took almost 2 hours, which was a bit more than I bargained for.  So I told the others to go ahead of me, and I would meet them at our next vacation spot.  Since we were closer than usual, we loaded up all the children (unfortunately G & G couldn't make it, they had an appt elsewhere) and headed out to Promontory Point.  This is where the Union and Central Pacific Railroads met up, and a big celebration was had by all :)

There is a small ranger station/museum in the middle of no where (it seems).  They also led us out where we were able to take a tour around two steam engines.  Which, I must say, were much bigger than I was expecting.  Just look at how nervous McKenna was :)

At this point, the ranger was using McKenna for scale.  We compared her to the wheel of the other engine as well.  And for your scale, the rest of the engine was on top of the wheel.  Told ya they were big!

This is all of us out by the "Golden Spike" location.  Actually, the railings (and the Golden Spike) were taken up some time in the 40's to provide scrap metal for WWII.  These railings were installed much later, and basically for showing the two steam engines.  They don't really go anywhere, except the storage buildings for the engines.  The original golden spike is now housed in Stanford, but there is a commemorative rail and plaque where the original might have been.

Also featured in this photo is my poofy straight hair.  It's a shame really.  The other thing I figured out about myself, is that even if my hair was straight, I would still pull it back.  I can't stand it in or around my face, it seems.

Later that night we were able to congregate in the large dining room, around the table large enough to fit all of us (yay!) for some dinner. Kelsey is already strapped into the corner booster seat.  My lovely, big headed ;) brother is blocking her.  And my sister is taking the picture.

The other fun thing the kids really enjoyed early in the vacation was Uncle Jonoman's xBox and Kinect.  While their hand eye coordination may not be great, they could flail and swipe with the best of 'em :)

There was always an avid audience to watch!

Cousin Benny even tried it.  Though he needed a little bit of moral support from Aunt Piko.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the house, there was baby holding to be done.

There is always something to do when family is around!

Something New

We interrupt this travelogue to bring you a small update.

Over the weekend, I was released from my calling of Primary President.  When my bishop pulled me aside, he told me that I had been the counselor to a previous president for 18 months, and the president for 3 years 3 months (he is the kinda guys who likes numbers).  So, I had been doing much of the same thing for almost 5 years.  5 years is a long time.  In my case that is 2 pregnancies and 2 babies and 2 nursery introductions.  It is 4 secretaries (I think).  It is 2 presidents (the previous one, and me).  It is 4 first counselors (my poor second counselor was in with the previous presidency with me, and I never let her go).  I don't think I could count the primary teachers, cub scout leaders, nursery workers, and musical callings, because we live in a military ward, with constant comings and goings.

I have been feeling a bit "tired" for a few months.  A bit of "just going through the motions".  Don't get me wrong, we still had fabulous activities, great food, and things were well organized and taken care of.  But it wasn't quite the same.  I began "hinting" and joking to the bishopric that it was about time to release me.  I began to jokingly suggest names for my replacement.  I told my counselors that they would be next.  I never stopped being faithful, but I kinda felt like I had, if not stopped, at least slowed significantly in my spiritual growth in that calling.  I was in the burn out stage.

Saturday night we had our Ward Christmas Party, and the Primary (that's me) had volunteered to be in charge of it.  There were hams and potatoes and desserts galore.  There was a talent show populated by ward members (who did an excellent job), and a special visit from someone we imported all the way from the North Pole.  As we chased people out and began to put tables and chairs away, I felt a huge let down.  The party was over.  The program was over.  I was on cruise for the rest of the year.  At one point, the counselor in the bishopric was chatting with me as we were putting things away and said "Well, at least you went out with a bang!"  I must have looked perplexed, because he said "You don't know you are getting released?"  I had thought that I hoped it was coming, but I hadn't known.  When I spoke with him, I was happy.  Relieved.  Done.

A little while later, as we were mostly done cleaning, the bishop asked me to speak with him.  We went into his office where he said, "Sister, I appreciate all you have done over the last few years.  But it is time for you to be released."  Oddly enough, when it was official and real, I did not have the same reaction at all.  My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes welled up, and it was all I could do not to sob right there in front of him.  Which is kind of a big deal for me.  I am not a crier.  While I did feel a profound relief to no longer have such a huge burden of responsibility, what I mostly felt was sadness.  I am sure some of it is hormonally related.  I am sure some of it is fear of change.  But, mostly I think it was sadness of missing the same responsibility I no longer thought I wanted, as well as missing the lovely ladies I worked with, and the children whose spirits I had the opportunity of learning and growing from.

It must have deeply affected me since I am still thinking about it, and wanting to share my feelings.  And not even in a sarcastic way!  I don't know what the future will bring.  I know what the past held, and I know how much it has helped me grow in so many ways.  I guess Heavenly Fathers really does know what we need, if we can be patient, we can maybe understand some of his motivations as well.

So, I will miss the kids.  I will miss the teachers.  I will miss enlightening and enjoying and sharing.  I don't think I will miss all the meetings, or the behind the scenes sets up or the always feeling the need to be the responsible and accountable one.  It is such a bittersweet looking forward to the future.  Who knows what it will bring?

Wish me luck!

Vacation, The Beginning

What sparked a trip out to Utah?  Multiple things really. 

1: I had a new niece that I had never met.  

2: It had been about 3 years since we had been out to Utah, which also means 3 years since we had seen my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc...  

3: If I waited for too much longer, I would have to buy 6 tickets instead of 5.

4: All of my family had made individual pilgrimages out to my house in the last few years, so I kinda figured it was our turn to go out to Utah.  

We started planning back at the end of the summer, watching for deals, and trying to find the best time for everyone.  We were also trying to time the visit with my parents, who would be flying in from Chile.  Finally, we had a date, and some cheap tickets.  I got approval from all parties involved, and clicked "purchase" only to find that there was a problem.  I couldn't seem to get the tickets.  So I called Southwest, and the nice girl on the phone could see where I had tried to purchase the tickets several times, couldn't tell what was wrong, and overrode the more expensive price.  She ended up saving me about $1000 for 5 tickets!  Awesome!

Fast forward a few months and I am getting excited, making lists, and starting piles.  I packed up 6 bags (for free mind you, THANKYOU Southwest!) and we loaded into the van.  The flight didn't leave too early in the afternoon, so we had a leisurely time of the morning, and the drive to the airport worked out well.  I found a hotel I could park at and take their airport shuttle (we made sure to budget time for that) and save about $100. Score!  We parked, loaded bags and car seats into the shuttle and headed off towards the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We bought a $5 luggage cart (those things are so expensive!) and headed inside the airport.  As we tagged all the luggage and car seats, we noticed we seamed to be missing one bag.  While hubby had gotten the big, heavy bags of clothes, and the children got their entertainment backpacks and car seats, I was busy with Kelsey.  So hubby's bag, with two computers (his work and our personal) was left on the hotel shuttle.  Freak out!  Ok.  He called the hotel, who was able to call the shuttle driver, who confirmed the bag was in the back.  Turns out, she had just gone to the other side of the airport for pick up, and was kind enough to wait as hubby high tailed it through the airport (thankfully not through security) to pick up his bag.  Phew!  Crisis averted!

We all headed to security, where we took off assorted shoes, emptied assorted backpacks, and then got back dressed.  We headed to our gate with plenty of time to spare, where we picked up lunch to eat at the gate.  The first flight was a little rough.  I had a sippy cup for Kelsey, but she wasn't really interested in it, so she screamed for the first 30 minutes of the flight (I assume due to her ears).  Boo.  Sorry fellow passengers.  She eventually settled down, and the rest of the flight went pretty well.  The 3.5 hour flight was during nap time, so I had hoped she would sleep most of the time.  Ha!  What was I thinking?!?!  She DID fall asleep.  With about 45 minutes left.  Oh well.  The other 3 children did very well!  They played, the girls did homework (I thoughtfully abstracted from their teachers before we left) and all was well.  We got off the plane, picked up the stroller we gate checked, and headed to our next gate.  We picked up a snack/dinner and waited for our layover to be done.  As the kids played I reached for my fancy schmancy camera (my personal carry on item) so that I could take a picture, only to find out it wasn't hung on the stroller like it should be.  I had left it on the plane!!!!!

I ran back to our previous gate, but the plane had taken off.  The nice lady at the gate called ahead and left a message for the crew where they were landing, and gave me the phone number so I could call in a few hours once they (and I) had landed again.  Feeling guilty and heartbroken (that was an expensive camera man, not to mention the pictures I lost!) we loaded onto our next plane.  This time I was better prepared, and plied the little one with snacks and cookies.  We landed without a hitch, where I quickly called the other atrport to find that they had my camera!!!!!!  Huzzah!!!  I set up a FedEx account, gave her the address to send it to, and proceeded with the rest of the night.  The unfortunate thing is that it was late Saturday night at this point.  I knew they wouldn't be able to pick up the camera until Monday, and then it would take a day or two to get to me, so almost half of our trip would be over, and I would be without my camera.  Sad day....

Saturday night was a joyous reunion!  The cousins had lots of fun playing with each other, and staying up 4 hours later than their bed time.  The following morning we went to my sisters ward, where we were able to watch my niece do her Sacrament Presentation with the rest of the Primary.  It was nice for my kids to watch one, instead of always participate :)  That afternoon, after a nice nap, we headed to my mom's parents house and visited for a while.  Of course there was lots of new baby holding.  

And my old baby got very jealous, so sometimes I had to hold them both.  (Pictures courtesy of my sister's cell phone)

That Sunday also happened to be my baby brother's 27th birthday.  We sang.  There was cake.  It was magical :)

That night, after we left my grandparents, we headed up to Mantua (pronounced Man-two-way if you are a local).  The house belonged to my sister's husband's parents.  Who I guess are no relation to me, but were nice enough to let everyone stay there.  It was huge, which was nice since we are a big group.  It was big ehough that we could all stay in one place.  My family was staying with my sister and her family.  But there wasn't enough room for my other brother and sister and parents to stay there too...  So, it was nice to all be at the same place for a few days.  Monday was full of fun and hanging out.  One of the important things the kids got to do was go on a Rhino ride.  They made sure to bundle up.  It was pretty cold outside.

Girl cousins all ready to go!

Check out that view!  My poor Alabamian children have never seen real snow before (the pitiful 2 inches we get here doesn't count).

Boy cousins.  So sweet!

Phew!  What a post!  Of course there is more to come!  Stay tuned.  And maybe, the next one won't be so long and full of stress, woe, and turmoil!

PS - Shout out to my good friend Bucket, whose birthday is today!  Happy Birthday BUCKET!

Bathroom Progress

I spent some time this morning going back and looking to see where we left you in the master bathroom.  Which led to spending more time (think an hour or so) reading old blog posts.  Which was kinda fun :)  So thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Before we went out to UT we got just a little teeny tiny bit more done on the bathroom.  Hubby had been able to make the drawers finally, and I sanded them down a bit.  Finally, I was able to do a bit of the staining.  If you look at the post linked above, you'll see that it took 5 coats of stain/poly to get the look on the face frame that we wanted.  Since the drawers are inside the cabinet, and therefore rarely seen, I got hubby's permission to cut a few corners, and only do one coat of each color.  For the record, while I suppose the "all in one stain and poly" is convenient, I don't think we will be using it again.  You don't wipe it off like you would with a regular stain (because it is polyurethane) and so it tends to puddle (just a tiny bit) in places.  And because the pigment is in the poly (say that 5 times fast!), where it puddles, it is a bit darker.  I actually kinda prefer it for this application (for that not 100% even look), but I can see where it would mess something up.  Plus, I don't think it would save THAT much time.  

The picture below shows the difference between once coat of the brown, and one coat of the brown plus one coat of the black.

 That weekend, hubby was able to install the drawers into the cabinet.  (Don't mind the borax...  home remedy for the mange my dog seemed to have picked up at the time.  And yes, it worked.)  The fronts are not stained because the decorative front still has to go on them, and it allowed me to stain the entire drawer at once, instead of having to come back multiple times.

Up until this point, our toiletries had been stored in the closet beside the bathroom.  When we moved downstairs, and before we demoed upstairs, we simply took the entire drawers out of the cabinet and stacked them on the shelves in our closet.  It is really nice to be able to just open a drawer and have everything I want within fingers reach.  The door and drawer fronts are next.  Hubby has a new router, a new router table, and a new bit.  Maybe, before we move out of this place, we will have it finished.  And no, that is not an announcement.  Just a sarcastic remark.

Have You Ever Wondered, Oatmeal Version

Have you ever wondered what happens when you give a less than 2 year old oatmeal, and expect her to feed it to herself? I have  an answer for you.  

 I am still not 100% sure what happened.  And actually, she has fed herself oatmeal before without incident.

This just goes to show that you can never trust an almost 2 year old :)

New Windows

We finally finished something else around the house.  Remember the hail storm of yore?  Besides getting a new roof, and the AC unit serviced, they also paid for some new windows.  These windows outside in hubby's mancave were single pane, wood frame windows.  A few of the panes were broken by the hail, and the insurance company paid to replace them.  Wouldn't you know it that wood frame windows are quite expensive to replace?  I had the good fortune of finding a company that would replace them with vinyl, double pane, energy efficient windows at a fraction of the cost.  So much so, that we replaced five windows instead of two.  Score!  I didn't get a before picture, but here is an after of the original two offenders.

All of the windows on the front of the house had been replaced before we moved in.  So we replaced the last 3 on the back of the house (that technically open into the workshop).  The one over the sink BEFORE.

 AFTER.  I know, I know, it looks completely different, amIright?  Especially after we put the blinds back up, because who doesn't want to look at that view all day?!?!

And the double window in the dining room.  The kids were enthralled at the process.  And thankfully, the old metal frame, single pane windows came out quite easily.

 Old window gone.  And yes, that is a windchime hanging from the workshop ceiling where there is no wind....  What of it?

 And of course I didn't get a good after.  This is the complete after.  Blinds, curtains and all.  You can't tell a difference, but I can.  When hubby turns on the table saw, the sound is much quieter.  And I hope the energy bills go down by a bit too.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Skyping with Grandpa

Before we get into our fabulous trip, I have a few more things to share.  As much as I occasionally hate technology, mostly when it doesn't work, I do love that it allows us to feel closer together.  This picture puts two of my loves together:  Kari's recently found interest in magic, and grandpa on Skype.

 It allows us to feel like we are in the same room, even though he is on a different continent.  I don't remember what part of the trick she was doing right now, but she had plenty of volunteers from the audience.

 Shortly thereafter, it turned back into "The Kelsey Show".  I love that she recognized Grandpa, even though she hadn't actually seen him for several months.

Actually, I often "bribe" Kelsey with Skype phone calls.  I figure it helps her be happy, and lets be honest, it helps the grandparents be happy too.  Win Win!

FHE Pumpkins

Before we get too far into Christmas, I still have a few pictures from Halloween.  Oops!  For one of our Family Home Evening activities, we made/colored some Jack o Lanterns.

Hubby takes his jack-o-lanterning pretty seriously :)

So does this girl.

And this girl just loves to color.  As my walls can attest.  Don't worry.  Thankfully, it was my hallway walls, which are pretty much the only walls in the house that haven't been painted yet.

Kaitlyn is all about being designer.

While Dylan goes for the minimalist look.  If you look really really closely, you can see his contribution to the pumpkin: the two tiny dots inside the pumpkin's eyes.  Nice photo bombing by hubby!

I tried to get them all to line up on the wall so I could take a picture or two. Loved Kaitlyn's pose, but I couldn't see Dylan's face.

Um, almost!  Lets try again!

And it rapidly went down hill from there.

Story of my life :)

Thanks for "letting" me take a week off for Thanksgiving.  I was actually physically home, but recovering from the week before.  The week BEFORE thanksgiving, we packed up our family of 6 and flew out to UT!  It was fun!  It was family centered!  It was occasionally cramped.  It was expensive (as 5 plane tickets tend to be)  But dang was it worth it!  We hadn't all been together in about 3 years, so it was super duper great!  I have all kinds of stories to share, and pictures to post.  So hold on to your horses!