School Pics 2010

I have a Junior, a Freshman, and a First-Grader. Three different schools this year!

Halloween 2010

This was a great holiday. Everyone got into the spirit of it, and I even threw the party I've been promising to have for years. A lot of trick-or-treaters came, as well as the Furner and Warren families.

Raspberry butter & honey butter

There's my old cheesecloth ghost

Family Game Night with Ana

Ana loves when we all get together for game night. She's getting better all the time with the card games. Steve, remind which one this is exactly.

Meili's Jr Year Homecoming

Here's Meili with her good friend Creedence. They are both originals. She designed a Venus Fly-Trap corsage for him. Turned out great!

Adorable Ana

Ana got to hold this little bunny during our church Harvest Fair. Such a cute picture had to be blogged.

A Ghost for Steve

 
 

I made a ghost much like the one pictured above years ago in my Laurel class, when I was about 16 years old. Mom put it out every Halloween and filled it with roasted pumpkin seeds. So yummy! Anyway, after a few years, I left home and went to college and subsequently missed a few Halloweens. After I married, mom made sure I had it for my home.

I didn't realize 'til both Katie and Stephen moved out here how much a part of their childhood holiday memories my little ghost had become. Both expressed a real sense of nostalgia when they saw me bring it out in October. Last year I figured out how to make them again and made one for Katie. This year I improved upon the design a little bit and made another for Stephen. (Katie, I promise some day I'll make you the improved version!) So cute, if I do say so myself.

Ana Scores a Soccer Goal!

We promised Ana a treat when she scored her first soccer goal this season. Tonight was the night! What a thrill!

Queen for a Day

Every child in Ana's first-grade class got a chance to be King or Queen for a Day. Ana's turn came early in the year. She got to decorate her crown, choosing from all the materials in the box. After school, as you can see, she stayed in character. Fun!

Sack Race

The cousins all ready to go. What a great night of old-fashioned fun!

In Her Element

Ana in a watermelon-eating contest! She was extremely competitive and loved every second of it. This was our end-of-summer church activity.

Lion King in SLC

To celebrate the first day of school, we shrugged off homework and left for the evening. Back in 2004, Meili, Eliah, and I saw The Lion King with my family in Sacramento (thanks again, dad!), and we've been wanting to share it with Daryl ever since. This summer the production finally came to Salt Lake and didn't disappoint. (It's my favorite.) An especially wonderful night with my great kids and husband. Ana was enchanted with the spectacle of this musical. (Actually, we all were!)

1st Grader

Ana started attending school all day this year. What an exciting time! Her teacher is Mrs. Abbott and, already, Ana adores her. Here's Ana (and Lincoln) on Meet-Your-Teacher Day.

Summer Winds Down

These pictures represent the random nature of the last few lazy days of a very busy summer.

Meili withdraws from society as she begins her summer reading requirements for AP English.

Eliah bonds with Lincoln over video games in the basement and Ana begins to complain that whenever Lincoln comes over, "all he wants to do is play with Ya."

In an effort to save money, Daryl buys this hilarious "brand." The cats flat-out refuse to eat it.

Ana loses a top tooth and gets the nickname "Snaggletooth." Nothing can take away from that grin, though.

Visiting Beautiful Nauvoo – Part 4 of 4

As we finished our week in Nauvoo, I had another opportunity to see "Sunset on the Mississippi," this time with Daryl, Eliah, and Natalie (dad and Bonnie too, of course). It was even more fun seeing it a second time, with a different cast of site missionaries and with all the enthusiastic EFY kids in attendance. The BYU International Folk Dancers also performed this same night. What a treat! Such great entertainment.

In the audience at the Outdoor Stage.

One thing I have to mention is the nightly chorus of cicadas that accompanies every outdoor activity during the summer. The sound is a little unsettling at first (think "Psycho" shower scene), but after a few nights you start to look forward to this insect symphony that begins around dusk.

Right down the highway from Nauvoo is a family fun center called Adventure Zone. We passed it every day as we went to and from our hotel. I was determined to get Eliah on their Go-Karts. One evening we grabbed Natalie and took off. We had fun in the arcade, where I creamed them both in air hockey, and on the Go-Kart track, where I left them in the dust. (Hey, that's how I choose to remember it.)

One thing dad and Bonnie do for visitors is to take them to the nicest place in town for dinner--The Hotel Nauvoo. They have a delicious buffet with short ribs (Daryl's favorite), wild rice stuffing, and butterscotch bread pudding (my favorite). We loved it so much we went back a couple nights later and paid for ourselves to experience it again.

Yummy buffet here, compliments of Paul & Bonnie (hee hee).

Dad introduced us early on to Annie's Frozen Custard, the best spot for a late-night treat. Pretty much we hit this place on a daily basis. My favorite flavor was definitely the salted caramel. Delish!

Dad's got the owner there wrapped around his finger. She started special-ordering marshmallow topping for him after he threatened to take his business to the Dairy Queen in the next town. She literally jumps up to check on her marshmallow when she sees him walk in the door. It's proven to be a popular topping for her. She was running low the last night we went in but had set some aside for him. He gets the royal treatment there, I assure you.

Dad must be inside already. This is the night we saw Abbie and Meili walking back to their hotel with their groups.

Well, we thoroughly enjoyed our Nauvoo trip and are so grateful we accepted dad's invitation to go out. What a spiritual and literal trek for us. The Church has beautifully restored all the sites, so you truly immerse yourself in the historical period of the early Latter-day Saints. President Hinckley encouraged every Church member to visit Nauvoo some time in their lifetime. I'm so grateful we took advantage of the wonderful opportunity to go while my dad was there, and I thank dad and Bonnie sincerely again for all they did to make our visit truly memorable, meaningful, relaxing, and enjoyable. I know we each brought home a bit of Nauvoo that will never leave us.

Visiting Beautiful Nauvoo – Part 3 of 4

Monday morning we checked the girls in to EFY, and dad and Bonnie led my family and Natalie on a tour to Carthage Jail. This was, of course, another highlight of the trip. I found again and again that it was quite surreal being at these actual sites that had become almost legend in my mind, having heard about them all my life. I'm grateful my family could experience Carthage and that my teens now personally know the place where the Prophet Joseph Smith spent his final days.

Bonnie, Dad, Natalie, Eliah, and Daryl at Carthage Jail Visitor's Center Theater.

The second-story window from which Joseph Smith fell to his death after being ambushed and shot by an angry mob.

Throughout the rest of the week, dad and Bonnie worked their temple shifts and met up with us when they could for more shows and tours. It was fun to run into Meili and Abbie's EFY groups almost on a daily basis. The general size of historic Nauvoo is small, so this was inevitable. A really special day was the one we spent in the Nauvoo Temple. Dad arranged for us to be there while he and Bonnie worked in the baptistry. Daryl was able to really help out, performing confirmations and baptisms, and Eliah and I both were able to be baptized for family members on my mom's side. Natalie had done an earlier endowment session but was there also to watch and support us. Afterward dad and Bonnie showed us some unique and beautiful features of this temple.

Another noteworthy excursion was on the afternoon we four (Nat, Daryl, Eliah, and I) decided to drive the surrounding areas outside historic Nauvoo. Without even a site map, we kind of stumbled upon the Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds. After a short hike up a wooded hill and through a cobweb-filled wooden pavilion, we found the most enchanted, sacred spot. All of Nauvoo feels apart from the world, but this peaceful sanctuary felt completely isolated and protected. We walked quietly among the weather-worn tombstones and statues. This was, without a doubt, my favorite site. I must have been so caught up that I forgot to take a single picture. Here's one I found online:

Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds