Family Fun

We wanted to do something special with the kids the day before Andrew & I went out of town.
We had a yummy breakfast (whole wheat pancakes with maple syrup) and then went miniature golfing, which everyone enjoyed. Andrew enjoyed beating everyone, Tyler enjoyed keeping score, I enjoyed being outside all together on a lovely day, Robby enjoyed taking everyone's balls at the end for multiple attempts to get a hole in one and win a free game ("Umm, Mom? Can I just see your ball for a minute?" he asks with a sly grin.), and Annie enjoyed picking out her pink club and pink ball, as well as taking a little swim when the golfing got boring.

The BYU game interfered a bit with our plans to all be together as a family the whole day, but Andrew & Tyler had a great time together at the game, while Annie & Robby & I had fun looking around Borders and then picking out a few movies at Hollywood video for a fun movie night. It was a great day.







Don't you love Annie's little 'bend one knee' pose?
Such handsome guys! My two ATPs at the game.
Robby's latest hobby: sneaking Andrew's Ipod to listen to around the house. His request: "If I can have just one thing in the whole entire universe for Christmas, can I have an Ipod? Please?!"

OUR WEEKEND

This weekend we spent our time (in no particular order)...

#1 Reconnecting with old friends. It was so much fun to see Karin & Katherine (I can't believe I didn't take any pictures!) at Borders storytime, which, by the way, I highly recommend. There are TREATS!!!!! Oops...maybe I shouldn't have said anything. There weren't too many people there when we went, so all the moms got to share. I wouldn't want to have to give up my strawberry smoothie...but I would love to see you all, so maybe we can take turns? :)
I was also thrilled to discover one of my best friends from back in the day (through the wonderful world of blogging). Erin, SO happy to be in touch with you again!!!

#2 Falling in love with Nie Nie (that was just me, I guess). I spent almost every free second I had this weekend reading her blog. That weren't too many free seconds, but it was enough for me to totally fall in love with her and her family. Why didn't all you smart ladies who've been reading her for ages tell me about this darling woman sooner? It makes me even more heartbroken than I already was for what she and family, all of her family, are going through right now. And her recipe blog, it's sooo yummy! Christina, is that how you found her?

#3 Contemplating life, death, love, and other heavy stuff (again, just me--see #2). I don't know why certain events just hit you to the core. I mean, I am not unaware that there is tragedy occurring every day for SO MANY people. I realize that. There have even been several other plane crashes in the last week. I guess it is just that I have created a bit of a wall to protect my tender heart from all the hurt in the world, and when something catches me by surprise and breaks through, it overcomes me with grief. We don't have a tv, and so I stopped watching the news long ago. I know there are plenty of ways I could read about things online...but usually I don't. Sometimes Andrew mentions a MAJOR world event to me, and when I look at him in confusion, he sighs and says, "Becca, you really should at least glance at Drudge report or SOMETHING, you don't know anything that's going on!" Okay, so I didn't really realize the Olympics were coming up, I mean I found out soon enough to catch a few gymnastics & swimming events at Rob & Esther's. So I had no idea that there was a severe hurricane in Florida. I'm sorry. Andrew did send me a link to the news report on that one, which I did read. So I figure if it's important enough, I'll hear about it. (That's why I have you babe! To keep me mostly current!)

Well, I did hear about the plane crash, and ever since then I have been in tears an awful lot of the time (my poor kids keep looking up at me in confusion), and thinking over the blessings in my life, the heartbreak that so many people face in so many different ways, our Savior's love, fears about the future, and a lot of other things. I don't really think I can handle reading the news everyday. (Do you honey?)

#4 Having a sleepover with cousins, with not a lot of sleep (for me anyway...the kids took turns waking up and crying, so they all got plenty of sleep in order to be ready to go early Saturday morning).

#5 Attending a ward breakfast, which turned out to be a stake breakfast (so THAT'S why there are SO many people here, and we don't recognize ANYONE! I mean, I know we are new in the ward, but really...) It was quite the affair, with a moonbounce for the kids, volleyball nets set up, all kinds of food-we're not just talking pancakes and eggs here, there were breakfast burritos, bagels, every fruit imaginable (including pineapple, watermelon, kiwi, berries...), cold cereal, sausage, ham...okay, I'm getting sick now thinking about it all! Saved me making another meal for 5 kids though, so that was nice!

Tyler, Anna, Gwen, Robby

#6 Having interesting lunchtime conversations (well, the kids mostly conversed and I just listened in)

Tyler: If I had a goldfish, I'd name it Goldilocks

cousin Gwen: Oh, that's a beautiful name!

Robby: Why wouldn't you name it Gold or Goldie?

Tyler: That's too plain. I don't like names that just describe something.

this conversation quickly morphed into a discussion about meat...don't ask me how.

Tyler: Have you ever heard of meat-flavored gum?

cousin Anna: Eww...gross!

cousin Gwen: Meat...you mean like beef? I love beef.

Tyler: Yeah, and especially Beef Jerky. Mmmm...juicy beef jerky.

Gwen (not really sure how this fit into the meat conversation): Baby James (her newborn brother) threw up all over Dad! All over his whole shirt! It was disgusting!

Tyler, Robby, cousin Anna: laughing hysterically

Meanwhile, Annie is singing a song to herself throughout the entire lunch. I guess she doesn't much care about goldfish named Goldilocks or meat flavored gum.

#7 Planning & pulling off a Yard Sale...a kids yard sale that is...selling a few books and toys and seashells that the boys & their cousins decided to get rid of (for big bucks that is! "Umm...guys, that book wasn't worth $10 new...I don't think you'll get that much for it!). Some things were a little more in the reasonable 25 cent - $1 range, and since this is about the 4th time the kids have done this, and our neighborhood is full of other kids who seem quite excited by the prospect of a new toy (even if the 'new' toy does have Robby's name scribbled out with a permanent marker), the kids have actually each made a chunk of change--a chunk of change which I hear & see daily, since Robby refuses to keep his quarters anywhere except clanging around in his pocket, scattering across the road every time he falls off his bike.

Tyler pricing items.

See all those treasures?!

Check out all that cash!!!

#8 Having a few fights...Andrew and I arguing over who gets the last of the tomato basil tortellini and the apple bread we both love (he sweetly gave most of it to me!), the kids fighting over who hit who first, what game they're going to play now, and who likes who more ( I think the winners of those fights pretty much averaged out).

#9 Painting again...thankfully this was not done by me; I guess Andrew just didn't get enough of helping me finish up all of our painting projects, because he spent most of the day Saturday helping our brother-in-law paint their new house which they'll be moving into next week (which is also part of the reason we were honored with the presence of my nieces this weekend...I remember a little too well what it's like to attempt to pack with kids running around you!).

#10 Cleaning the house...again...and again...and again. Don't worry, it's a disaster again right now. :)

#11 Swimming with Aunt Esther. How did we ever think we would survive living more than 10 minutes away from you guys? Thanks for letting us completely monopolize your pool this summer. Is it really almost time for it to close? :(

I love how they always hold hands. So sweet!

#12 With DRESS UPS...LOTS & LOTS OF DRESSUPS!

#13 Enjoying A New Dog in Town...cousin Gwen gladly took over Annie's role as the family dog. I actually had quite a hard time getting her to relinquish that role and get ready for bed. I mean, I guess I can kind of understand...who wouldn't love to eat their dinner off the floor?

#14 Being grateful to Esther for saving me multiple times with a listening ear and Jamba Juice and snacks and kids songs in the car over and over and over again ("I have a name, I have a name, I have a name and my name is QUATRO!!!")

#15 Attending Stephanie & Christians' Balloon Release and fundraiser in Provo (see #2 and C Jane). It was very touching, and I'm grateful we could be there. (even if we did have to turn into insane crazy women for a couple of hours in order to make it on time--thanks for your help Es & Linds!)

There were so many people there. It was really amazing!

Poor Annie was just exhausted! So was I!

Darling Esther & Robby

#16 Eating Dinner at Pei Wei. I'd like to share my newfound knowledge, courtesy of Esther, for all of you out there. If you like PF Chang's, and you like saving money, then GO TO PEI WEI! The same delicious food for much less dinero because you stand at the counter to order it and wait at a booth for it to be brought to you. Highly recommended!!!

#17 Visiting the Thanksgiving Point Children's Gardens for our slow return to normal life after moving which includes FIELD TRIP FRIDAYS!!! It was a beautiful day, a gorgeous place and we had a lot of fun. Although I forgot the tip I was given to bring the kids swim suits to play in the sprinkler area, and so they played in their clothes. Which ultimately led to a complete strip down for the drive home (their idea, not mine).

#18 Making a GREAT (because it was FREE and EXACTLY what I needed) yard sale find when I wasn't even going to a yard sale. I saw it on the side of the road while driving with all the kids, flipped a U-turn, pulled up to the house, realized that these were the leftovers from the yard sale that had already ended, and that everything was FREE, heaved and shoved the enormous handmade room divider into my car myself ("EVERYBODY DUCK YOUR HEADS!!!"), which filled up the entire car (lucky thing these 5 kids don't take up too much ceiling space!), turned around and raced back home, unloaded it, ("YOU GUYS STILL DUCKING IN THERE?!"), and went back on our merry way!

#19 Watching the beautiful Closing Ceremony of the Olympics with Rob & Es...still sad I missed the opening ceremony, the but the closing was amazing to see.

WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND???