"grandma's kind of fun"

(Warning:  this is a really long post, but it had to be done)

i really enjoyed the general relief society conference on saturday.  first, i recognized a few people at the stake center, and after nine months of living here that felt good. second, i just LOVED Elder Uchtdorf's talk. it was amazing to me. i appreciated the parts he said about being creative, and how we can all create something good.  it reminded me of my mother.  she is extraordinary at creating memories for my children. family traditions are her forte. my mom is a WORKER and the most unselfish person i know. all of her efforts are to bring her family together and to help them love the Lord... therefore, she has parties and all of them have a purpose.  in my family this has been coined as "grandmas' kind of fun".  

each summer she holds a "kids' conference," three straight days of family festivities.  each day has a purpose and, of course, an itinerary.  The theme this year was, "What's Forever For?"  the third day was unique this year because we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  so here is taste of my mom's efforts, and her kind of fun.

DAY 1:  BIRTHDAY BASH

this always begins with matching shirts.  this year my bro. designed the shirts for the 50th anniversary.  kai loved them. any shirt with a number on it is a big hit with kai.

breakfast is served in the garage (this is kind of ghetto, but they did put up a wallpaper border...and we did grow up in midvale).  next my mom always gets to explain the theme.  this is usually more like a devotional and it just wouldn't be my mom's party without some teaching involved.  

pre-breakfast game: i was actually in charge of this, so i put together a love song mix. i gathered each persons' favorite love song and we had to guess who each song belonged to.  it was entertaining and a little cheesy for the big 50th celebration.

after my mom gave her intro of the theme, she talked about families and family history.  then some of the kids gave presentations.  sadie read a personal history she wrote.  it was  filled with personality.  

each grandchild had their own folder. this is very much my mom's kind of fun. she had a huge picture collage of grand kids and ancestors hanging on the wall. in the folders she had pedigree charts and some "i spy" games she made so the kids could find different things in the collage.  they loved looking at all the different pictures and finding the different people and things.

we ate...and then headed to the pool. 

lunch was in the park.  then it was present time.  every cousin gets a birthday gift from each family.  we make a cd each year.  "bashin' tunes" has a favorite song from each cousin on it.  my kids love this mix and listen to it all the time.

sadie and hannah opening presents.

max loved this b-day bash gift.

the birthday bash ended with a pinata shaped like a 50. 

next:  grandpa's power tie tying lesson (or competition)

he gave a priesthood lesson on the symbol of a white shirt then he let each boy pick out a new tie.  my dad is known for his POWER TIES.   

then it's time for b-ball camp...  or i should say, my brothers trying to show they've still got it.  the big cousins win in basketball while my brothers win in smack talk.  the little cousins love climbing trees, riding bikes (through the court, which is dangerous) and just hanging out with cousins.  

my parents did put up a tether ball because my dad kept bugging sadie to be a basketball star and finally she told him, "tether ball is my sport of choice."  this was not highly acceptable, but the next thing we knew, they had a tether ball set up next to the court.  so...there was some tether ball action as well.

(kai and annie)

(sadie and gabi in the girls' matching shirt)

day 2:  patriotic party

started at the park, bright and early, for our first family 5k.  it was a lot of fun.

 

jake brought his dog, navy.  sadie was in heaven.--abe and kai ready to run.

  

check out kai's (and my) starting position--so serious! 

i ran with kai.  notice there are no more cousins around us.  he did awesome and ran about a mile.  i finished after dropping kai off with dave.  even though the first half was holding kai's hand, i ran the whole way and consider this my first 5k.

the rest of the day was spent at my two brothers' houses (they live right next door).  we had a bbq competition, our version of the the iron chef. one child from each family was picked to be a judge and they sat at a table. everyone would make their food and present it to the judges. there was some pretty amazing food. my samoan brother-in-law made to die for ribs, pat made some pretty great bbq pizza, my mom spent a week preparing dutch oven upside down cake...but dave and i took into consideration the judges. we won first place with our bbq apples with ice cream and caramel. dave thinks all the competition in my family is ridiculous but he plays along. it's all in good fun anyway. we spent the afternoon doing slip-n-slide, a patriotic program that consists of useless talents and people reciting the gettysburg address for cash, slurpees and more slurpees (pat rented a slurpee machine), and the "culdesac of FIRE!"  my dad is like a little kid picking out just the right fireworks. each year is a little different but we always gain more appreciation for this country and for those that made it possible for us to be here and for the freedoms we enjoy.

day 3:  50th wedding anniversary!!

we had dinner at the joseph smith memorial building.  it was delicious.  we had tributes to my parents and my brother rob talked about marriage.  it was beautiful!  my favorite part was the wedding cake that was identical to my parents real wedding cake.  it was a great day.  i am so grateful for my parents effort to make our family eternal and also to see their efforts in their marriage.  my mom sacrificed so much to stay home and raise seven kids and my dad sacrificed so much to work hard to provide for us.  they have worked hard for 50 years! it is neat to look back and see all the greatness they have created.

we took family pictures outside the temple but we don't have them back yet.

max had so much fun being chased.

well that is a taste of "grandma's kind of fun".  we have had a conference for kids in boston where we learned about early american history.  also, a conference back east where we visited church history sites, washington d.c. and new york (statue of liberty).  my mom works to build testimonies, a love of america, and a family bond.  i appreciate all her work.   this is her biggest to-do every year, but she is also constantly doing cooking classes, book fairs, conference breakfasts; packages for halloween, or the first day of school, or just because the kids wrote a book report.  it reminds me of the scripture in Moses 1:39.  "for behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

I LOVE YOU MOM!  THANKS!!!

parent teacher conference

i asked abe what his teacher would tell me at parent teacher conference and he said, "he is a smart kid and he is getting kissed TOO much!"

i was late picking abe up from school the other day and his teacher was waiting to talk to me. this usually sends a flash of thoughts through a parent's head as to what could have happened. she took me aside and by this time i'm thinking this is strange, and anxious to hear what she has to say. then she proceeds to tell me that abe got kissed on his head today at school. she explained that she was expecting that this might happen and that she is taking care of it. she just wanted to let me know. i was relieved, yet at the same time, not. i needed more info. so as we headed for the car, i began with my post-school pry-ing. this usually starts with me saying, "best and the worst," and the kids tell me the high and low point of their day. abe said the best was his friend sharing his pringles with him at lunch and the worst was, "you know." he explained how the teacher only thought that the girl kissed him once, but really she kept kissing his back, his shoulder...actually he just moved his finger really fast across his whole front to show me where she got him. he also confessed that a few girls have been giving him love notes. he said he just ignores it all and when they say, "i like you the whole world," he just says, "uh-oh". i'm sure between the kissing, the notes, and the girls saying, "see you at the wedding," it is pretty annoying for a cute second grade boy who just wants to play soccer, lives for recess, and gives me play by play of their game (with slow motion re-enactments included).

i just love abe. he is taking it all in stride. we have had lots of talks about what is appropriate and it looks like his teacher did put an end to the kissing. now if he just didn't hear things about him being some girl's husband during his soccer game at recess. actually, at his parent teacher conference his teacher said what a good student he is. i hope when he is seventeen he is still a great student, and still thinks the worst part of the day is the girl that wants to kiss him and the best is pringles for lunch.

thoughts

interesting thing happened to sadie and abe.  i have been sending them on the school bus in the morning for the last week.  kind of a trial run to see how they like it.  their school is twenty minutes away and i have been taking them but since there are only four other kids that ride the bus in the morning and they added a stop for us right outside our door, we thought we would give it a try.  abe had a not so great experience when he rode the bus in ogden (a kid would crawl under the seat and steal his shoes so he had to ride with his feet up) and was a little hesitant.  so anyway, they were on the corner across the street on friday waiting for the bus, and a car with no driver came speeding down the hill. sadie said she heard a noise and turned around just in time to see the speeding car go up the opposite curb and plow over a tree and crash into a sign.  i went and looked at the poor tree and broken sign and I am so grateful the car happened to crash into that side of the street instead of the other side where sadie and abe were standing.  i don't think they would have had time to see the car, register what what was happening, and move.   i feel like they were watched over and protected and consider this our own little miracle for the week.  

phoenix zoo

here are a few pics from our day at the zoo.  we decided to make a trip out of it and stay in a hotel and swim.  the hotel must have had an amazing marketing department, because online it looked like a sweet hotel, but when we arrived it was actually a bit out there.  it was a "botique hotel," which should have tipped us off.  luckily it had a great pool.

i loved these turtles just relaxing and soaking up the sun.  every now and then one too many turtles would climb onto the log, and the entire log would begin to roll. "whoa...whoa...falling...just can't... quite... hold on" --at least i thought i heard them say that as their little claws where grasping for the log before sliding into the green abyss.

abe, kai, sadie--holding on as well.

max loved the animals!
this little guy was one of his favorites.
max always has a smile for us. it was a happy day cruisin' in his stroller.
the rest of us got to cruise through on this awesome bike! notice kai ringing the bell...people saw (and heard) us coming!

sadie in front of our luxury hotel.

who cares as long as there is a pool.

trying out the pool chair--and cute max trying to get everyone out of his space.

it was a fun, quick trip. the zoo was huge, the hotel was unique and we topped it off with cheesecake from the cheesecake factory in scottsdale...doesn't get much better.

quote for the day

i was upstairs changing max when i heard kai yell from downstairs,

"mom! don't you think i in my sketchers and sadie in her puma's should have a race? because i'm not sure what shoe is fastest."

if you know kai, this was a big concern to him. he loves his shoes. his nikes broke, i mean completely fell apart, and he told me (with the saddest face and beginning to cry) to only garage sale one and he could just keep the other to look at.

sadie ann

when sadie was a baby, dave said, "no barbies." i guess he once heard a barbie say, "math is hard" and from then on dave thought barbies were not for his little girl. granted, the no barbie thing only lasted until her second birthday when dave's sisters surprised sadie with a gift which she opened and yelled, "barbie!" dave and i didn't think she knew that word or would be so excited about getting one. Even though she has had a barbie or two or ten, sadie is still a little smarty, well big smarty and just plain big (fifth grade-crazy!) and getting all grown up.

sadie was talking about her primary class yesterday. her teacher was showing them a map and sadie asked her teacher why they never show the north pole on maps. her teacher's response was that the north pole isn't worth showing because nothing is there. this bothered sadie and she tolds us at dinner, "what about arctic foxes....and polar bears? " she went on to tell us about the forest in the arctic region and all the oxygen that it produces.

sadie has always been a thinker and i love this about her. she was about three and i pointed to the night sky and told her to make a wish on the first star. she said, "that's not a star mom, it's a planet."

sadie loves being by family and really liked ogden so moving here was rough for her. it was an eye opening experience for her to come to a school where she is the only lds kid in her class. i'm grateful for this challenge and to watch her grow and show tremendous courage. i'm also grateful to a loving heavenly father who has blessed her so much. she has had so many positive opportunities since we have lived here. recently she tested into tag, her teacher invited her to be on the odyssey of the mind team, she won her school science fair with her 'sledding into science' project. she went on to region and won the 'most creative' award. she sang in the school talent show and still teachers come up to her and tell her they cry when they think about it. she played her first season of soccer and received the most improved player award. she chose to talk to her friends about her values like not swearing and being modest. she invited some of her friends to activity days.

moving here has given her the chance to really think a lot about what she believes. she bore her testimony in church yesterday and it is neat to see that she knows who she is and that she knows why she is here. it is fun to see her shine. i continue to be amazed at what a capable, creative, lovely girl she is. i'm glad she is excited about learning and being involved. i really feel privileged to be her mom. plus, she is just so fun to be with.

fyi..the song 'this is me' on our songlist is sadie's favorite song and pretty much her theme song for this school year. i love to hear her sing it while she is showering.

JOSHUA KAI

yesterday was kai's first day of preschool. he was excited to start school but i think more excited for the candy poster he knew was coming (a candy poster is our tradition for the first day of school). he reminded me he was having a first day of school and, "i should get one of those."

kai likes learning and he LOVES "candy, candy, candy, candy". the other day in the car i was telling the kids the poem, 'girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice' and kai insisted that he was made of sugar, spice, and sprinkles and some peanut butter. I think he is probably right.

his first day was almost a breeze. with his favorite yellow and green adidas on and his red dragon in his backpack, he was ready. he had a great first day-- the only twist was he told his teacher to call him joshua.

(this is a picture of kai with his first electric guitar. one time i was telling him what a great missionary he would be and he told me, "i'm not going to be a missionary i'm going to be an electric guitar player.")

we are grateful for kai's personality and how much he adds to our family. whenever i tell kai he is cute he says, "i'm not cute! i'm coool." and so it is.