4th of July - 2014

Tradition carried on this year - we made it up to Bloomington again to celebrate my grandma's birthday with her. 97 years old this year (if you're keeping track). We did break tradition and only she rode in the parade. All the rest of us got to enjoy it from the sidelines. We also got some cousins to join us, which made it more exciting.

After the parade we went on a hike to Bloomington Lake. I haven't been there in ages. The drive was a little slow going, but the hike was really nice. Hanging out at the lake was fun, until I realized that we were not going to make it back in time for dinner that had been planned at 5:00. My greatest petpeeve (maybe fear??) is being late (probably a little beyond reasonable), but the fact that someone actually went to the effort to organize the dinner and pick a time really made me want to support them. We were late, I apologized, and everything worked out alright.

I took advantage of everyone sitting down to eat to get some good shots. Uncle Bill was awesome and went to the extra effort of getting us veggie burgers. I really try hard not to be a pain with our eating habits, but it's always appreciated when people want to help us out.

And look at this -- I got everyone together for a group picture (well, our side of the family). I have decided it's going to be easier to just disown my eldest brother than to get him into a family shot. We'll just pretend he's not in the family anymore, does that work?

Then to top off the holiday, Sophie won an essay contest she entered. We have a bunch of the Professor Noggin's trivia card games. The girls really enjoy them. Sophie loves to enter contests (she could make it a full-time hobby), but I've tried to reign her in a bit and find more worthwhile things to do with her time. I told her she could enter this one because it required work (writing the essay), and the winner wasn't chosen at random, so she really had to try hard. The hardest part was that it had to be less than 100 words. When she first sat down and wrote it, it was very lengthy. She spent some time choosing what to cut out. The topic was "What does the 4th of July mean to me?" This is what she wrote:

Every year my family goes up to my great grandma’s. Her birthday is on the fourth of July. We hang out with family members until it is time for the parade. For many years we watched the parade until one year it was decided that we would be in the parade. The first time we rode in the parade my grandpa hooked his trailer to his truck and we decorated the trailer. Last year my grandpa was able to fix up his dad’s wagon that we get to ride in. It’s smaller and bumpy. And later we enjoy fireworks.

June

I forgot to blog lately. I have to back way up now --

We went to Elsie's dance recital. She was an awesome flower thing and pink dragon.

Brandon hired Chloe to paint the fence. She's always complaining that she doesn't have any money. She did two sections and then quit. Sophie got the job, but I never took a picture of her painting. Our fence now looks beautiful.

Chloe went to a YW camp clinic to do all her certification. After telling me that Sophie was going to girls camp, the camp director came and told me she can't go because she won't be 12 by the first day of camp. Oh well -- Sophie doesn't really care. She's not real excited to be graduating from Primary.

We crashed South Jordan's community days, and went and played BINGO at the senior citizens center. That was fun. Chloe won a $10 gift card to Chik-Fil-A. She wasn't too thrilled about that. She's hoping she can find someone to sell it to, but I told her she's not going to get full face value for it. She doesn't think that's fair.

I took the girls to a little "concert in the park." It was folk comedy. They didn't appreciate it.

I found several people in my ward trying to learn to eat a plant-based, whole foods diet. Our Stake YW President teaches classes and stuff, so we all went to one at her house. It was definitely a class for beginners (which is where they are all at), so hopefully I can be a good resource for them.

We got our friends to join us at This is the Place Heritage Park for the annual free day. This was the nicest one I've been to yet. The weather has been just lovely lately (if not a little too cold!) The girls have outgrown pony rides, so we didn't do that, but we still got ice cream and went to all the houses and such. They had a bird show that was educational, and we got chewed out by the mean school teacher. We stayed way longer than I had planned, but that tends to happen when the girls get together with their friends. They even talked us into going to Whole Foods together afterwards.

The Stephens weren't gone even 5 minutes when Sophie got a phone call from Makenly (her friend in Lehi) inviting them over that night. They like to set up their projector outside and watch movies on the fence. Both girls went. It was good for them to have a day of socializing. Yesterday we were able to have Makenly come over to our house. Her mother has been begging us to do this, so they may get to play some more this summer. I just need to convince her to homeschool so that they can play during the rest of the year too.

I haven't got any pictures to show, but Brandon has been working super hard in our yard. He got all the sprinklers dug out from where the new addition is going to be. We had someone from the gas company come out to let me know there are no gas lines in the way, so he cleared us for take off, and then yesterday the contractor showed up and said he just got the permit that morning! He's planning to start on Monday morning -- super exciting!! Brandon's other big project to prepare for this has been to kill off all the goatheads in our "rock patch." He went and bought a flame thrower to try to burn them out. He's been having a little too much fun with that thing. Back up for a sec -- he was going to take the girls camping on Tuesday night, but that's the night it snowed in the mountains. It was so cold the whole day, so they cancelled it. They decided to do a backyard campout last night to make up for it. Brandon tried a new fire method called "Dakota fire" to produce less smoke. It's kind of cool, but he did have some trouble getting it started (and then keeping it going). So... he went and got his flame thrower. I'm standing there remembering how much I wanted to have little girls, and how thankful I am for the girls I got, when Sophie walked over to me and whispered, "Mom, can you ask him to stop being so manly?" We're not really sure what to do with men around here.

Since Brandon had already taken work off on Tuesday and now had nowhere to go Chloe talked him into going to the aquarium. This was our second time at the new one -- the animals are filling in. Now would be a much better time to go (for those who had heard there wasn't much to see). I was planning to go to a presentation on Utah ghost towns and abandoned mines that night. I thought with everyone home someone would like to go with me, but nope, I still had to go alone. Now I have some field trip ideas to take the girls on.

I got a ton of weeding done this morning, so I can call it a good day. I now have unlimited access to Ancestry, so I've spent too much time on my family history this week. I found out Brandon's great-aunt lived in the same house that I did when I lived in Laramie -- pretty cool, huh? We have a stake social this evening, and then Chloe wants to go watch fireworks at Fort Herriman days tonight.

Family Time

We have been spending a lot of time with family lately, and doing some fun stuff. We got to watch ALL of Jason's kids last week while he and Shalee went to a wedding. We had them for the whole day, and it was a lot of fun. The day flew by, there was so much going on. Of course, the girls are a huge help, so they just play with the kids while I take care of feeding the baby and such.

I finally got the girls their trampoline. We had promised them when we finally settled down and had our own house again that would be part of the deal, but we were so busy with other things when we first moved in and then the weather turned cold. I was not going to make the mistake of getting them a trampoline for Christmas again, so I told them in the spring -- when it warmed up. It finally got nice enough so I went to order it... but, in looking around I found the cutest backyard, natural toys/exploring things for kids. I really wanted to do something like that, but when I showed it to the girls I could tell they weren't quite as thrilled as I was -- mostly scared that just meant they wouldn't get their trampoline, so I just hurried and ordered the tramp before I could talk myself out of it. I think I'll work on the other things as time permits, and maybe my grandkids or someone else will enjoy them.

I've really wanted to attend a color festival since I first learned of them about 5 years ago, but I always find out about them too late or something has come up. This year it ended up falling on the same day as a big training I needed to go to. I kept trying to talk myself out of the training, but I knew I needed to go. Chloe was pretty sad about my choice, especially when she found out her best friend was going to it. Then Brandon was doing some research and saw that the Salt Lake chapter was also holding one in May. We already knew it was the same day as Ross' graduation, so we dismissed it as another lost opportunity, but when we got Ross' announcement and saw the party didn't start until 5:00 we decided we could try to squeeze it in. So we did. We drove to Salt Lake, hung out for a little over an hour, got colored all over, and then ran home to clean up. That is messy stuff! Sophie got pegged in the mouth with a handful. She was not real happy about that, and now has a dislike for corn starch.

Then it was off to Logan to celebrate Ross' graduation from USU. I think it's pretty cool that I have a brother who's a pilot. We ate some food, everyone played some baseball (while I took pictures of Emerson -- lucky me!) -- oh yes, there was a pinata, then he opened some gifts. That is one spoiled kid. I guess that's what he gets for being the baby. I'm posting a few pictures here, but the rest of the pictures can be found by clicking this link, for those who don't get enough of my photos.

I actually have some news on our house. It looks like my kitchen is really going to happen! I have been working since February to get some bids. Wow, that was so much harder than I ever thought it should be! Contractors are not the most reliable people. I only got one person to follow through and give me a bid (it was too high, and their methods didn't feel right). Then one day a realtor showed up at my door. I didn't need his services, but I told him if he knew any good contractors I was hiring. We got a bit side tracked when he found out that I eat a plant-based, whole foods diet. I ended up inviting him in and we visited for over an hour! Then one day, out of the blue, he calls me and has a guy who's interested in our project. We had him come over and check things out. He came back -- that same night! Needed to get a few more measurements. 9 days go by (now we're worried at this point because he said it wouldn't be more than a week), but he had a plan for us. I took one look at it, and my heart sank. I am the absolute worst person at being able to visualize things before they are created, but when I looked at that floor plan I knew I didn't like it. While Brandon was off visiting with this guy I shared my concerns with Chloe. She told me I had to tell him I hated it, so we discussed how to do that politely. He was a good sport about it and went back to the drawing board. He came back a few days later with another plan. I still wasn't excited. We told him to give us a few days to think about it. Those few days were rough. We didn't know if we should just give up on the whole idea or what. Brandon was not about to spend this kind of money on something that he couldn't be guaranteed I would love, and I have no idea how to find something I love without it already existing. And then it magically (by the grace of God) fell into place. I found a picture that looked an awful lot like that second plan he had drawn up. I made the necessary changes, and told him what I needed. I'm pretty sure he thinks I am crazy, but I don't care. I am going to get a kitchen I am happy with! He redid the plans (and while we were waiting on them our realtor friend just decided to stop by and check on us again -- weird, but I thanked him for the referral), and when he brought them back, with a bid, I was excited!! He's now taking them to the city. I'm sure they'll take their dear little time, but we've actually got the ball rolling.

Sophie and I had a spontaneous field trip today. I had tried to sign up for it when it was first announced, but I didn't do it fast enough. They closed the registration period way quicker than normal (even though it hadn't filled up). Soph was bummed when I told her we missed out, but this morning someone who had registered posted that they couldn't use their tickets. I was able to grab them before someone else did, but that didn't give us much time to eat, get dressed, get Brandon to work and get to Provo. We barely made it, but they didn't start on time (go figure). It was a creative dance (ballet) of music around the world. Some of them were really cool. I was happy we made it -- and we didn't even have to pay (I am so cheap).

Birthdays & Bluff

Here are a few of the major things we've been up to:

Nigel and Lark share a birthday, so we got to go celebrate with them. We all went to a late lunch at Noodles, and then we went shopping with Grandma, Grandpa and Melanie for awhile. After that we went and hung out at Ross and Melanie's for a bit (and played with Nigel), until they had to leave for work and stuff. Then I took Chloe shopping, she and Sophie both got some shoes. Then we met the gang back at Lark's for just a bit until it was time to go to Melanie's color guard show. She put together an event to show off what the USU color guard is doing. After that we watched Lark chase Nigel all over the gym floor, and then we joined Melanie's family back at their place for cake and ice cream. It made for a late night, but that's OK -- we don't have too many of those.

On the 15th Brandon, Sophie and I went to Salt Lake to meet "The Minimalists." They were on tour so we went to listen to them. Chloe didn't want to join us, but she's already caught the bug so I was fine with that. I was hoping something would spark an interest in Sophie. She's actually been making progress. She came to me one day and said if she could take a picture of some things I could get rid of them, and then once she brought me a pile of stuff and told me that if I got rid of it when she wasn't looking she'd be OK. The next day Ross & Melanie came to visit us, so she cleaned her room for them. It was good for her to see how many things she has that she doesn't need.

This past weekend we went to Bluff. This was NOT Chloe's birthday trip, it just happened to coincide with her birthday. We wanted to go to Bluff to see the movie we were in, and it was National Park Week so we wanted to take advantage of free entrance over the weekend. We left Friday afternoon and went to Green River (Chloe found a hotel there she wanted to stay in -- she's a hotel snob), and then Saturday we went to Arches. We spent a couple hours there before driving to Bluff. When we got there we told them we wanted to see the film we were in (hoping our part didn't get cut). They scared me when they said it wasn't showing yet, but I was sure it was because I just spoke to my friend, whose husband directed it, a few weeks ago to make sure. It was fun to watch the finished product; although, we were so busy picking out all the people we know and scenes we were involved in that we might have missed watching the movie! Chloe had told me that if we did get cut she was going to demand that they show us the deleted scenes. Luckily, that didn't happen. There's a lot to walk around and see there, so we did that while I talked to Jason on the phone (who called to wish Chloe a happy birthday).

After Bluff we drove to Kanab for our second night, and then hit Bryce Canyon National Park the next day. We have now done all the national parks in Utah! There's still a lot left to see, though :)

For Chloe's birthday she wanted a new bike. She got it early so she could use it once the weather warmed up. Since we were gone on her birthday, we are going to go out to dinner tonight to celebrate. I haven't had a chance to do her annual photo shoot, but we got enough photos of her over the weekend. I came up with a new idea to interview her on video. I think that would be awesome to watch over the years. We are hoping to get that done today, but she is nervous about it and asked me not to share it publicly.

Sledding

We got the van running, so now we're back to running all over the place again. Brandon took the girls to a production of "The Cat in the Hat" (which I'm thankful for, because although I love the books, that play is super annoying!) They also went to the zoo -- Brandon's first time there. I signed up the girls up to go to the Discovery Space Center (Chloe has informed me she is no longer interested in space stuff), and we also went to "The Big River" down at Hale Center Theatre in Orem. That was our first time at that theater. It sure is different from their WVC location, but they did just as good a job.

Chloe has been called to be the Beehive class secretary. She was the 2nd counselor when we lived in Lehi, so it's not her first calling, but I hope she'll have a little more responsibility this time around.

We just returned from a mini-vacation to my parents. Back when Chloe was upset that we don't live in Alaska (which means we didn't get 8 feet of snow), I think she said some stuff to my parents about wishing she could live with them. They like to rub in how much snow they have (I'm not jealous), but it gets Chloe excited. So, then she got the idea in her head that we could only go sledding in Afton. I told her we could try to go in March (my dad assured me they would still have plenty of snow), but as it got closer Chloe started panicking. She has 4 different weather apps on her Nexus, and she monitors them often. She was sure the warmer temps were melting all their snow. A few days before we were scheduled to go my dad emailed me a picture of their sled hill. Chloe was not impressed. We still went. I think as we drove into the valley she was humbled a bit (but not enough to admit it out loud). There was PLENTY of good snow.

We got up early on Monday morning so we could get there while there was still a crust. Brandon tried out a little snowboarding.

Some spots were so slick you didn't even need a sled. You should have seen her slide all the way down on her butt.

I just wanted a picture -- she wanted to pose.

Group Shot

Trading places -- I love how we produced a rainbow.

We had planned to go to another spot later that afternoon (after a break), but we were worn out! Chloe had the choice to go sledding again or go close up the shop with grandma -- she chose grandma. I think Grandpa wishes we had done more, but we got what we needed. That night they took us out to dinner (the girls said they always get to go to Subway when they go to Afton), and then they did a puzzle while G&G watched TV. I was proud that every time my mom asked if they knew a song or musician they said "no."

Tonight we are off to see "Fiddler on the Roof" put on by the Bluffdale City Arts Council. Should be a good time. Brandon just received tracking info on his fruit trees -- they are on their way! He has the holes all dug, ready for them. Tomorrow I have a fun date planned with Chloe. We've got a busy month ahead of us, but I'll be back to report on that later.

February

Time for a report on February. We started off with a great FHE lesson from Chloe. She planned an egg drop, and then likened it to how we need to spiritually protect ourselves. She did a great job. She and Brandon worked as a team, and Sophie and I were a team. We were given the same materials to work with. I didn't catch the first drop on video (didn't have my camera ready), but you can see Brandon cleaning it up at the beginning :) And you'll hear Sophie very concerned that we are about out of eggs. She did not like wasting them. Luckily the second one didn't go to waste.

After FHE, my parents showed up. They needed a bed for the night. They were able to take Chloe with them on a quick trip to St. George and back. Sophie wasn't able to go because of an orthodontist appointment :( so she and I took our own holiday. After her appointment we went out to lunch and then went bowling. Just as we were leaving the bowling alley I got a phone call from my mom. She had texted me this picture (see below) to let me know that they stopped off in Fillmore to tour the territorial statehouse. They wanted to make sure I knew that Chloe was learning some stuff, so to be fair Chloe wanted to make sure Sophie didn't get an entire day off. Their original plan was to only go to Cedar City, but my grandma who was meeting them there wasn't able to make it in time, so they went on to St. George. That set them back a couple hours, so they weren't able to take us out to dinner that night as planned -- so Brandon and I took Sophie to The Olive Garden. She got completely spoiled that day -- and so did Chloe.

Chloe accompanied me to RootsTech (a huge genealogy conference). They had a special youth track, but those tickets were all gone by the time we signed up. The only advantage to it (from Chloe's perspective) was that they got into a special session with the cast of Studio C. We were still able to stop by the Studio C booth and get this photo. I felt so bad for the Granite Flats guy who was right next door, and basically ignored. Plus, Granite Flats is a much better show! Anyway, we learned some family history stuff, but mostly just had a good time hanging out together. We were getting ready to leave near the end of the Studio C session, so we stopped by the room and peeked in. We just stood in the back for a while, so she still got to watch them a little.

But then we really got an awesome opportunity. They have been filming season 4 over the last several weeks. You have to enter a lottery to get tickets to their tapings, but with 19,000 entries each time we haven't had any luck. They did invite us to come to a technical rehearsal, though. So, I hauled the girls to Provo, we had to stand in line for an hour before they came and distributed wristbands to those in line, and then after another hour they let us in to take our seats. I think this was way better than going to a taping. Sophie was able to come (you have to be 12 to go to a taping), it was very relaxed, the cast members would come into the audience, they'd take questions whenever they weren't needed on stage, and we got to see like 14 skits! If you go to a taping they break it up into 2 sessions, and you can only get into one of them. I know they girls had a great time, and hopefully they learned something as well so we can call it an educational day. We had to make a stop at the creamery before heading home. I just grabbed a carton so we could bring it home and share with Brandon, who had been so patient waiting for us to come get him.

For Valentine's Day I took Sophie to a little party. They had a poetry recital, so I thought it would be a fun reward if she would work on a poem. She did great, and she and I had a good time working on our valentines for several days in advance. Our kitchen table was overrun with them, so we were grateful when we got it back, but we survived.

Saturday Brandon went out to work on the car again. He's tried a few times with no success, but it decided to be kind to him. It just started on the first try. We think it just finally warmed up enough. My car hates the cold as much as I do. We'll see how long this lasts. I don't think my dream of being a one-car family is going to happen, because Brandon needs a large vehicle for hauling things and camping trips when we take so much gear. Oh well, it's been fun while it lasted. But on a positive note, Brandon went and looked at bikes on Saturday. It's getting to a point where he can start riding his bike to work! Today he is off helping a neighbor with some programming, but when he gets home maybe we can enjoy our holiday.

Slow Start

Something about this time of year makes me rethink the purpose of this blog. I had decided I was going to try to do something different this year, but I haven't made that happen so I'm headed down the same road as usual -- one really, super long post to sum up the month. At least I have lots of pictures to go along with it.

I decided I need an assistant on my photo shoots. Chloe has always loved taking pictures, so I made her my apprentice. After this shoot I took her out and shot a couple pictures of her. This is Chloe after her first job.



I love that she loves to shovel my driveway. I had to get a picture of her doing it in her Sunday best.



The girls in their Christmas dresses. We celebrated a quiet Christmas in our new home this year. Lots of neighbors brought us gifts. I need to get back into that habit.



And since I was taking a picture in the living room I thought I should turn around and shoot the other angle. I've never taken the photos of my house I promised. Lark already came to visit, and got the grand tour, so I feel off the hook. At least you can see what we did to the living room.



Brandon helped the girls build a snow tree. They had a lot of fun. They added a little snowman on the top. We were surprised how long it lasted. It must be cold out there! But Chloe doesn't need a coat.



One-on-one dates: Chloe wanted a turn to go to Color Me Mine. Sophie's been there twice, and Lark has also told her how fun it is, so she needed to go. I don't think she thought it was as great as they did, but she was happy in the end. We get to go pick up her plate later this week.




For our MLK holiday we went to the ice castles in Midway. Their website said Saturday evenings are the busiest time, with a wait time of 20-30 minutes. We didn't know what to expect going on a holiday, but it wasn't good. We were in line for about an hour! When we were on the east side, it wasn't so bad in the sun, but then the line turned and it got cold fast. Sophie put Brandon's hat on to stay warm, but I'm the one who ended up with it for the majority of the time.



While standing in the massive line, I told Chloe I bet that we would see someone we know. She took the bet, and told me she would clean all my baseboards if we did. Lucky me! We ran into our next door neighbors. Chloe is already an awesome cleaner, so I'm not sure I won that much. In the evening when she doesn't want to go to sleep she'll come and ask for jobs to do. Here we are inside the castle.




Olaf was a big hit. It was hard to get a picture of him because he was so popular.






I'm including this picture to show what it was really like. The ice was pretty to look at, if you could get past all the people. Sophie was so cold by the time we got in that we didn't stay all that long. We haven't had a fun family outing for quite a while, though, so I'm still really glad we went. Grandma, thanks for the blankets they were able to wrap up in as soon as we got back to the car.



One more for the road: this is just a picture I snapped of Chloe tonight. She was just hanging out, waiting to go to Young Women's.



Brandon and the girls have been busy picking out seeds. Our garden is on its way! They ordered a whole bunch of stuff last night, and tonight they are getting some trees. I love how excited they are to grow their own food.