Idaho Celebrations

You know there are just some things that are better country and I am glad that we still celebrate some of these traditions with my children.  We went to Idaho for Memorial Day weekend.  My family has 5 generations that lived in that area so it has always been a tradition for us to clean the headstones and visit the cemetery on Memorial Day weekend.  It was very poignant this year with the recent passing of my grandmother, Fern Rytting Olenslager.

We visited with Grandpa Olenslager at his living facility and Ellie played them some of her piano songs.  Everyone there loves to see the children.  Grandpa leaned over to Ellie & Lila and said, "Have you ever seen so many old people in one place." Difficult adjustment, but I think he appreciates the company after the passing of his wife.

Ellie also enjoyed fishing with Aunt Nessa and Grandpa.  She is quite the good little fisherman and enjoy casting.  She even told Jakey this past weekend that she thought she could catch a fish faster than him.  Those two can always be found out walking up and down the river bank casting.

Then we finally made it up to Horseshoe Bend, ID to visit Steve's sister Melanie Flake and her family this past week.  We were planning to do it last year, but had to cancel when my morning sickness took over.  They were patient with us as we rescheduled.  It was a wonderful visit.  They have a lovely home there where the girls swam, played, swam, rode horses, swam, watched fireworks, swam and just had a good time.  We enjoyed visiting with them and getting to know them better-we got to enjoy a little adult time on a run and out to lunch.  The older boys would stay up and play Bohnanza (the bean game) with us.  It was so funny--they trade so fast.  Steve and I called it Speed Bean.

Andrew's first time swimming. So cute!

Above: I got on for a bit.  Then Steve and Melanie went out--Lila got a good picture of brother and sister riding.  We put some chairs up in the shade as all of the kids took turns.  Their Savannah is 6 months older than Lila and all the kids saw the horse poop and laughed then Savannah not talking to anyone in particular just starts saying, "I wish I was a horse. You don't have to take baths. You play outside all the time. You can poop whenever and wherever you want."  Steve and I just giggled. :) Uncle Joel was a rockstar because he bought our girls toy horses that looked just like their horses, Rain and Ellen.  The girls carry the horses with them everywhere.

Joel let Ellie ride that horse by herself. Well that horse was more interested in eating than moving--I had a hard time getting her to go. So Ellie didn't really go anywhere. :)

Ammon took the girls on a ride to get the mail before we left.  Lila was too scared to go out, but then after they left she started crying because she wanted to go so Ammon was nice to take them out again.  They thought it was a great way to dry their hair.

Then we headed to Rupert for the 4th of July festivities.  (It was nice to stop in Rupert both directions to break-up the drive.)  We had a very festive breakfast.

The girls love the parade and always come out with loads of candy.  Venessa's little girl Siena will turn 2 next week and she thought it was great.  The first piece of candy she picked-up and realized what it was she screamed hysterically with excitement and then would scream and jump up and down at all the fire truck sirens--it was a hoot.

We went out in the boat, enjoyed the hot tub, Steve and I went rowing and enjoyed a 10 mile bike ride where I almost got sprayed by a baby skunk--crazy!

On Saturday, we threw Jake and Marcee a baby shower brunch.  It was fun to have family out and to share our excitement for them and their little baby boy!  Ellie spent close to an hour in Mimi's room crafting a special card for them.

We packed quickly after the shower and hit the road so Andrew could nap on the way home.  It was kind of crazy to leave so hurriedly, but it was nice to get home and be able to spend Saturday evening leisurely unpacking, doing laundry, and prepping for the week.  I even got to vacuum so I can do a few different activities this week like back to school shopping for my girls instead of vacumming.  It was a lovely week!  I sure am glad we have family in Idaho where we can go and enjoy the real country life.  It is also nice to be in our own beds and for Andrew to have his own room again. :)

Bobbing for Strawberries

June has been a lovely month.  The weather has been lovely and we have been enjoying it.  Ellie and Lila are doing Recreate in the Park through the city of Clearfield (I was looking for an art class that they were both old enough to do--crazy but most of them want the child to have completed kindergarten). The program is M-TH 9-1 and they feed them lunch.  On Thursdays they get to go to the Splash Pad at the Acquatic Center and this last Thursday they had a bike parade after lunch.  It was so cute when I pulled up to get them they each rode by on their bikes just having a great time.  To be completely honest it isn't as artsy as we had hoped, but it has been nice for the girls to have something to do while I've been recovering from my surgery that happened at the beginning of the month.  I also feel it is a good practice for Lila, who will be going to kindergarten in a few weeks from 8:45-1:30.  It helps me feel more comfortable letting her go for that long and eat lunch there.

When they come home from the park, we have rest and reading time.  Once again because the weather is so lovely, we usually go out on the patio and read and relax out there.  Then we do our chores and if they get them done quickly enough I read to them.  We've read The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen and we're working on our second American Girl story.  We also have been doing a puzzle together as a family on the weekends.  We usually start the puzzle Friday and the girls separate the edges and get that put together before Steve gets home from work.  Then we work on it as time allows over the weekend.  On Saturdays we've been taking a picnic breakfast to the park and letting the girls ride their bikes around while we jog.  It's been fun to do that as a family. :)

Andrew is still quite the screamer.  He was getting pretty upset right after dinner.  He didn't want to be in his high chair once he was finished eating, but the rest of us were still eating.  So we started putting him in the sink to play and bathe while we finish eating.  He thinks that is great!  Last night I made crepes with a mushroom, bacon, spinach, cheese filling and then I told the girls they could have a dessert crepe with strawberries from the garden.  So Steve decided to wash the strawberries in the other side of the sink and well before we knew it Andrew had a whole strawberry in his mouth--stem and all.  He is pretty good about chewing chunky things and loved the strawberry so the bobbing for strawberry fun ensued.

Ellie's Baptism

It has been a wonderful day! I'm so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel, our Heavenly Father's plan and to watch my children learn and progress is such a blessing. We've been preparing for this day for months with special family home evening lessons about baptism. Ellie did a special one at Mimi & Grandpa's house in Mt Green where she pretended to be a news reporter and ask questions about baptism. I helped her prepare the lesson and we discussed things and then she gave the lesson all on her own and bore her testimony at the end. We made special note of the talks during General Conference that referred to baptism. As we read the scriptures in the morning we talk about how it relates to baptism. She's been reading the Book of Mormon on her own at night. Ellie had a wonderful visit with our Bishop Scott Blamires on Tuesday evening and they talked about the importance of baptism and how it is a key to returning to Heavenly Father to live with him as an eternal family. She was able to explain what covenants she would be making and said that it was her choice to be baptized because she prayed about it and felt good. 

We've had her pretty white dress for a while and so Saturday morning we finished preparing for our family and her guests to come. Then 1:30 came and we headed to the church. She said she was nervous, but excited and then as family gathered she said she wasn't as nervous any more. 

 

 
She wanted to participate in a musical number for her baptism so her and I sang a medley together. I know singing is not my strong suit, but I think it went well. Steve said it was very touching and several people commented on the spirit they felt during the song. Here are the words:

Mom & Ellie:
Jesus came to John the Baptist, In Judea long ago,
And was baptised by immersion In the River Jodan's flow.
I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain
And ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again
I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain
I want to be the best I can and live with God again

Ellie solo:
I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away
And I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.

Mom & Ellie:
Be baptised to show obedience as was Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Then the ordinance of baptism was performed by Stephen. She had to do it twice because the first time her hand was too far up on Steve's arm and it may not have gone all the way under. It was so special for me to be in the dressing room with her right after her baptism. I will never forget those feelings and her smile and enthusiasm. She was then confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost to be her constant companion. It was a wonderful meeting and we were so grateful for the love and support we received from family and friends. 

Several family members brought gifts to the house afterwards where we served a light lunch with sandwiches, pasta salad, green salad, celery, & cupcakes. She could hardly wait to open the presents which were all so thoughtful. Highlights include new scriptures, owl scripture case, sweet presents from cousins and cash from Great Grandpa Bob & Grandma Dorothy Merrell. Once again we are so grateful for everyone's support and the opportunity that we can be together forever with them!

The kids camera has been on the fritz and since I got a new camera I gave them the old camera which has a few quirks of it's own. Lila has loved taking pictures on it so I put her in charge of taking pictures while we were at the house and she did a pretty darn good job.

Ellie Bellie's Eighth Birthday

She started the morning out with a scavenger hunt that led her through her morning activities of getting dressed, putting on shoes--where she found a present of new shoes, eating breakfast, brushing her teeth, practicing the piano and then outside to find something she rides--a new bike. :)  It has front and rear handle breaks, shocks, gear shifter, and a kick stand.  She was so excited and took it for a spin before school.  

The carpool Mom that morning was cute and texted me to let me know that Ellie told them all about the scavenger hunt, but she also talked a lot about only having to practice her song once on the piano. :)

We checked her out for lunch and went to Wendy's.  Then we went back to school at 3 for a little celebration at school.  Ellie talked about all the pictures on her poster and read them one of her favorite stories, Alice the Fairy.

We came home and Steve had 26 tons of pea gravel delivered and a guy over with a loader to haul it into the back.  I really do want to get it done, but seriously the timing was crazy.  We had a quick dinner of requested Alfredo noodles and Miami Beach birthday cake.  

Mimi gave her a swimsuit for her American Girl doll and a renewed her subscription to the American Girl Magazine which she loves.  Nessa and family gave her Candy Land which she said was one of her favorite things.  Mimi also found really cool sweat pants for the girls--Ellie's say Soccer and Lila's say Dance.

Then we ran off to Lila's dance recital.  

We gave her a flower after her performance.  She also got a trophy that she was so excited about. :)

After which we went to my volleyball game then home with tired girls who went to bed way too late. :)

Animals

I wanted to take the girls to the zoo last Friday (May 9) because I had a coupon and Ellie didn't have piano lessons on that Friday, but the weather was really rainy and I woke-up with a migraine so we canceled our plans to the zoo, but by late afternoon the rain had cleared up and my sister called and invited us to baby animal days in Kaysville so we thought we'd give it a try.  The girls had a ball riding horses, looking at animals, face painting, holding snakes, petting bunnies, and holding chicks.  Ellie was petting a pretty docile bunny that just chilled right by her the whole time--she asked me if we could buy it I said no she asked again I said no.  Then we had to go back to hold the snakes a second time--really not might thing, seriously I get the ebe-gee-bees but the girls love it.

We then went to the zoo on Wednesday.  Originally I thought Carole & Russ would be in Salt Lake that day and we could spend the afternoon at the zoo with them and our Gibbons cousins, but their plans changed a bit so we kept our plans to go to the zoo.  I checked Ellie out early and we enjoyed our afternoon together.  We saw the new lion exhibit with the female lions since the males cannot be out at the same time yet.

Ellie knew that the owl was a barn owl way before the volunteer started talking about it.

The girls insisted on taking photos by every statue they could find. Andrew had fallen asleep at this point as we were trying to make our way out.

Carole & Russ did come for the weekend and we mainly hung out around the house.  Steve helped Carole with her computer since it crashed on her and we went to Ellie's soccer game, did a little shopping, finished planting our garden and let the girls play in the sprinklers.  Grandpa managed to pop Ellie's loose tooth right out. One push and she closed her mouth and said no more. Grandpa said it's out open up and sure enough her tooth was out.  

Ellie & Lila loved played with Lexie and having Grandpa & Grandma here.  Ellie kept saying, "If you stay for two more days you could be here for my birthday.  And 10 more days after that and you could be here for my baptism." :)  There were tears shed when they left this morning. 

Mom in Action

This year I want to remember a few stories that happened this week that are truly a testimony of motherhood. Thursday night Steve went to the church to help clean and setup for a funeral the next day. I was nursing a fussy Andrew when Ellie came out of her room and with tears in her eyes said, "My snake's eye fell off." (the one Lila made her for Christmas). I told her she could come set on the counter and I would fix it and she could get it tomorrow. She then insisted that she snuggle with it so I told her to just put the eye on her dresser and snuggle with her snake and I would fix it in the morning. She went back to her bedroom I continued nursing. A few minutes later I heard uncontrollable crying and thought Lila had an accident or something. So I set Andrew down, he is upset about that and starts screaming. I run upstairs to find Ellie is the one sobbing and when I ask her why she says, "the snake doesn't snuggle the same without his eye." In my mind, with the background noise of screaming baby, I thought, are you kidding me. Then I said, "Ellie even if I glued his eye on right now you could not snuggle with him because the eye needs time to dry. So you can snuggle with a one eye snake right now or I can take him downstairs fix his eye and you can get him tomorrow. These are the same two options I gave you earlier." In between sobs Ellie replied, "Fine take him and fix him." At that moment I realized that I need to be better about explaining the why of things sometimes. Sure I gave her the same two options, but I told her why--the glue needs time to dry and although there were still tears shed I think it made it easier for her.

Friday Andrew had his 6 month check-up. He is growing and being as cute as ever, but for some reason adding solid foods to his diet has made night time sleeping horrible--got to get that figured out soon. Anyway, all morning Lila is saying I don't want to go, I don't want to hear Andrew cry. I said neither do I, but the shots keep you from getting really bad sicknesses so we do them. Andrew of course screamed and got all red in the face when he got the shots, but as I picked him up, gave him his binkie and comforted him, he calmed right down and I thought, wow is this a difference between boys and girls--immediate pain gone, I'm fine vs. if I even think about the painful event I shed buckets of tears. I want to teach my girls some resilience and how to let the little stuff go because there is a lot of little stuff in life that can way us down that isn't worth our tears and efforts. I pray that I may find a way to help them understand not to sweat the small stuff.

Saturday Lila got herself dressed and did her own hair. I noticed she got it wet, but as the day continued I noticed the wet look was not going away so when I asked what she put in her hair she said water. I said and something else right? She said yes, but I don't want to tell you because you'll get mad. I try to explain to her that what really makes me upset is when they don't tell me what is happening. She finally said in the faintest whisper that I practically had to read her lips, "lipstick". I laughed and I think that made her feel good that I didn't get mad. Lesson--be more patient in waiting the child's reply and laughter is good medicine unless of course they think you're laughing at them which then leads to buckets of tears like above. Anyway, I told her that I like she did her own hair and if she ever wants to put something in it again to ask me and I will give her mousse or hairspray things that are made for hair so that it will wash out and lipstick is well, for our lips.

That night we gave Andrew some puff crackers and he loved them and would get all excited when he saw the container. He would grab one in his hand and try to get it in his mouth using his whole fist. The whole family sat around watching and would laugh and laugh and he thought it was great to be the center of attention and get crackers. It is so fun to have him around and kind of slow life down for us. We watch him eat crackers, roll over, and laugh uncontrollably like it is the most important thing in the world and at that moment it is.

Lila had a Mother's Day program. It was sweet and she filled out a little card that was fun to read. The information is below with my commentary. :)
1. My Mom's favorite thing to do is work outside. 
Right now it is and it does seem like I'm out there a lot trying to finish up our projects.

2. She is really good at everything.
Hmmm. . .I'll just say thank you and know in my heart it isn't true, but her little mind can believe it for as long as she would like.

3. The best thing she cooks is potato chips.
This is hilarious because I don't even buy potato chips because I would eat the whole bag--maybe she feels deprived.

4. She is as pretty as a flower.
Sweet.

5. My Mom likes it when I clean up.
True! Our new chore chart is working miracles in our household.

6. She's so smart she even knows everything.
Now I'm beginning to wonder if her default answer is everything?.?

7. I love her because she puts Band-Aids on my owies.
During the program she actually said, "owies on my band-aids."

8. She's really good at running.
Well I'm not really that good at it, but I do try to get on the treadmill 3-4 times a week.

Ellie also brought home a special note for me with beautiful pictures she had drawn.  It says, "My mom is special to me because she loves and cares for me. My mom is special to me because she is the best mom in the world! My mom is special because she is my mom." The final page had the following with rainbows and flowers, "Your the light of my life! For my love. Just for you. Love you!"

My day was filled with cute note after note. The girls even made me this diamond. :)

Andrew also gave me a special gift; he spit-up all over me and him during sacrament meeting. Lila always calls the spit-up, throw-up and this time I would agree with her--it had a little baby food in it and it was nasty. Good thing we had spare clothes for him in the diaper bag and a few wipes to get me clean.  Happy Mother's Day! :)

Andrew & His Binkie

We were brushing the girls teeth one evening when we looked down and found Andrew with the binkie in his mouth like this:

We thought it was hilarious.  The next day Steve said he shoved the whole binkie in his mouth, but it kind of freaked him out so his first thought was to get it out as quickly as possible.  The next time he did it we snapped a few pictures before removing it.

Crazy kid.  This is why I tell the girls to never give him anything that can fit in his mouth.  Who knew a whole binkie would fit in there. He is quite our court jester. :)

Yesterday he started babbling. It was so cute and sweet his soft noises that are starting to be more conversational than previously. We love him!

Chilaxing

My parents came into town on Friday so we invited them and my sister down for dinner. We let the kiddos play in the mud around the play structure which will soon be covered with pea gravel (sometimes Steve wonders if we just needed to make a mud field for the girls and not a big play structure--I keep assuring him they love the structure and will play on it). They had a ball. Siena eventually stripped naked which is why there isn't a picture of her posted here. They left these adorable mud hand prints all over the RV pad. Then they all got a quick shower before heading home.

Then we had Sunday dinner in Mountain Green and Ellie gave a fabulous Family Home Evening lesson about baptism. Grandpa even snapped a few pictures of her in her baptism dress. It was a nice relaxed weekend. We didn't get as much done in the yard as we would have liked, but we'll keep plugging away at it.

We Lived in the Van This Weekend

We got up early Saturday morning to drive to Idaho for my Grandma Fern Rytting Olenslager's service. The girls were troopers getting dressed and ready early on a Saturday and eating a packed breakfast in the car as we drove. Grandma didn't want a funeral, but was convinced that a viewing and graveside would be ok. Well the weather was super cold and windy that day so the graveside was done at the church before heading to the cemetery where the dedicatory prayer was given. Then we had a nice lunch at the church with all of the family. It was hard to see how sad my Grandpa Elwood Olenslager was, but so wonderful to see all of the love and support he received from all of his family. 

The girls of course wanted to go to Mimi and Grandpa's house for a bit so we went out there for a couple of hours to change clothes, relax, and eat more food. Then we had to leave to make it all the way to Taylorsville for Lila's dance competition. So we scrambled to make sandwiches for the road and gather our kiddos and belongings and hit the road again. I had to curl her hair in the car on our way there. Here is our dancing queen.

I walked the girls out onto the stage to get them in their places and they all got really nervous about being on stage, but afterwards Lila said it was great and she wanted to do it again. Hopefully the recital will go a little smoother since they couldn't really see their teacher directing them because it was so dark in the auditorium and one of the girls froze during a part making the rest of the dance off, but they still got 1st (ok they were the only dance group in their category). :)


Then Sunday morning we had Regional Stake Conference and our Stake was invited to the Conference Center. We thought it would be a nice experience to take all of the kids since they cannot attend General Conference until they are 8. I was grateful when Elder Anderson said, "You Moms may be a little nervous having young ones here since we typically don't allow children under the age of 8 in the Conference Center. If they want to shout for joy because of it. Let them it's okay with me." The kids did great. Andrew was a little fussy at one point, but finally settled into a nap and I really enjoyed all of the messages that were shared.

We decided to walk around Temple Square a bit afterwards and the girls loved it. We will have to go back and do the Visitor's Center and everything another time.

We ran into our Bishop who insisted on taking a family photo for us. :)

Lila saw someone take a picture by this tree when we walked in and insisted we go back to take her picture there. :)

Sweet-this photo brings tear to my eyes for I know that because of my Savior my family can be forever and they are the greatest treasure to me!

  
Andrew was a trooper and never fussed in the car-he slept most of the driving time and was awake at the events. I basically pumped every time we got in the car so we would have a bottle ready for him at whatever event we ended up at. It was a wonderful crazy weekend where it felt like we spent more time in the van than our home, but so worth it.