Thanksgiving Play, Trev the cranberry

The night before the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, Trev said he needed to wear a red shirt and black pants for the 4th grade play. About that time I also got an email from his teacher. This was the first I was hearing about a play. Trevor also said, “oh yeah and I have a kind of big part.”

I was so happy to just happen to be off work that day so I could go. 

Trev represented the under appreciated cranberries and the Thanksgiving table and served as their leader to rise up and gave a bigger part in Thanksgiving. 

“And now for a moment of cranberry solidarity. Cranberries, cranberries we throw off our chains and we reach for the skies. This is a moment to celebrate.

Yes, we are ready to take our rightful place as the main course.

No form of zucchini is going to shove us off The table as the main meal.”

11/20/18

Trevor and trunk or treat

Trevor (41) and Hyrum (46) said they were planning to go to a trunk or treat at Mountain View high school put on by the Orem PD. They decided they would be football players and went to Hyrum's to find some props. Trev had on some joggers and a football t-shirt. I put the home flip phone in his pocket and away they went. I thought they were going with Hyrum’s family. 

At 8:30 I did not hear back from a text I sent and there was no answer when I called Trevor. I text Hyrum’s family only to find out they didn’t know where he was and didn’t know he was planning to go to Trunk or Treat. By now it’s 8:50pm and dark out. Steve and I headed to MV. We passed a line of several people, looking for Trevor and Hyrum in the dark. When we got to the stadium, we went in and looked around and there they were...Playing on the football field in Hyrum’s big brothers’ varsity football uniforms! 

Well, they were just wearing the pants..., the jerseys and pads were on the sidelines with the helmets. The anger and nervousness about where they were softened. I was glad to see them playing football and safe...and where they said they’d be.  We had Trevor check the phone and he saw all the missed calls. 

It’s a tough balance... I want him to be with friends and doing stuff more than I want him playing video games or watching you-tube for hours. But... I’d like to know where he is! I wonder if this will be my frustration for the next 10 years!!! 

"That's not my cat!" by Eric Carle

A few weeks ago Trevor became somewhat obsessed over this book. He just loves it. .

 Trev is 2 years and 6 months old.

Wrapping up Summer 2011

It was a good summer.

We went to different parks to climb and swing through the summer. Jenna did an art class on Thursdays in Lindon at a great place. We would play to kill time while Jenna was in class on this grassy knoll. Here is Trevor cheesing it. I love this picture!

Our babysitter, Kristi, has been with us since February. She is very creative and the kids love her. Truly! This is a pic of the treasure map she created for the kids to find treasure by following riddle-type clues. They did lots of these creative type adventures this summer including hunting in the rainforest to rain and thunder music with bamboo spears!

 This picture is just a day at lunch this summer. Disheveled and enjoying no "have-to's".

The big kids did swim lessons. We went to the Lindon pool this year for lessons. I thought that last year's lessons in PG were better, but the kids had fun and did well. Zac is not quite deep-end bound, but they are very comfortable in the water!

 We like Geocaching, but this day was a busted trip. We were in Blanding in the mountains, and I entered the coordinates in wrong on the GPS and well, it was a wild chase. We ended up finding jumping cactus and no treasure. We thought we would bomb the GPS unit in the Reservoir, but come to find out it was operator error, that and a jiggly battery.

Jenna and Thomas feeding the ducks

TR and the Goose

Zac, the Farmer

Jenna, forever the animal lover

Nathan, Tommy and Zac- fun boys

Zac feeding the pygmy goats

My good friend from NV came up to visit family (and for Jenna's baptism), and we were able to hang out for an afternoon at Wheeler Farm. I had never been there. It was a good trip. Of course, it was good to see my friend and her kids! It was a great place for the kids to see animals and enjoy the outdoors and enjoy their fast friends. They had fun.
A couple of weekends ago we went up to Strawberry Reservoir to play in the rocks and water on a Saturday afternoon. The kids threw rocks and the dog swam.  Zac swam too because he couldn't resist despite the freezing water. Trev stripped down and lost his balance and went under, so I went in too. Later he said, "Mommy you rescue me? Thanks!" It was a wet ride home.

Crawdad- dead on the bank, still cool to see up close.

Nearly Naked

 

 

"It's freezing!"

It was a good summer. I think we sprinkled in a lot of fun in with work. There is so much to do!
Now on to Fall. I love fall. Farmers Markets, Pumpkin Patches, jeans and T shirts, changing leaves, carving pumpkins and more birthdays!

Ma Time in Utah

Mom flew out Aug 3-9. She was supposed to get here the night of the 2nd and ran into trouble with her flight and had to spend the night in Chicago. I am glad that she came anyway, it would have been easier to shrug and say, "I tried". She starts her school year pretty soon with the biggest enrollment in the preschool ever,  and she has a new boss, so I appreciate that she came despite the responsibility that she left back there.  I was very happy that she came for a visit and to be here for Jenna's baptism. Like she said just tonight, "A baptism isn't something that comes every year like a birthday..."
It was a big deal and very nice to have her here too.
 Of course she is gone back home now, but the first day that she was gone, I looked over at the passenger seat and missed her in the van. She is my friend. I missed her there with me, running around with the kids.
 My friend asked if we did anything fun. I replied, "we tried!"  Between the need for errands and meetings (the baptisms and Roman's blessing), tired kids, need for naps, a little work, and how times flies, we didn't do all that I had hoped.I wanted to go swimming and go to the Farmer's Market and spend an hour at the Quilted Bear, but hey, you can't have it all. We did shop a little, albeit with 4 kids. We did eat well, as always when we get together. We did have sunshine and the highlight of the entertainment was the Dinosaur museum...and watching Twilight with mom after the kids were in bed.

At the SF Splash Pad

Hi Ma

Trev, who was very possessive of Mom

A puppet Show

Even caught in a blink, this is happiness!

Sand table

"Oh Dear!"

 The kids had a great time with Ma and so did I. Thank you mom for coming and loving us so much. I enjoyed you and love you!

The Grotto

Last Saturday we went for a hike to this beautiful waterfall. The kids were kids and love to explore and disobey explore some more. I am glad that they love the outdoors and water and rocks and dirt. It was a great shaded hike with this beautiful waterfall at the end. (only 0.3 miles). This is truly a beautiful place to live.
 The water was snow melt and putting your feet in for too long would make your legs ache. It was cold! No wonder the kids wouldn't get under the falls.

 This was an ideal hike, and we are happy to have our second hand kid pack for Gage. It makes it so we can do this stuff.

Blanding for the Fourth

Blanding is THE place to be for the fourth. They have a great celebration there. It's small town America.
We left after I got off work on Friday the 1st at 7:45pm. We crossed our fingers and took the truck for  the 5-6 hour drive. We needed the bed of the truck for bikes, the dog and the cooler. No DVD player and traveling while it is getting dark is risky with little ones. Trev did well to look out the window for "an-muls", but proved to be himself as he fought sleep after 8:30. Even Jenna broke down in tears because she was so tired but couldn't sleep. We stopped off the road and fed Gage that was fussy, and the kids practiced peeing in the bushes. We arrived at 12:45am.Gage and I went to the All-night softball games at 2:45am. The games were entertaining, and apparently the tourney filled up with teams quickly. Gage fell asleep, and then we went back to Steve's parents' house. That was the point of the wee-hour excursion- Get him to sleep.

 Saturday we went to Cottonwood Wash, hoping that there would be some mountain run off, but it was bone dry. It was a nice and short adventure made worthwhile by the nice scenery and the finding of a toad. I was as excited as the kids to find the toad and was too chicken to catch him. Steve caught him for Zac. Zac squeezed the pee out of him several times. No warts noted.
 After lunch, we went to Blanding's new pool The slides are awesome. They have life jackets available, so the big kids explored and had a great time.
That afternoon, Steve's extended family started to trickle in from the Lake Powel trip. That means more good food, games and visiting.
Sunday we did not prepare well for church, and so while others went top church, we went to the 4th reservoir to throw rocks. It's so very pretty out there. The weather was perfect. The dog swam and the kids got their feet wet.
 For lunch, Julene's Navajo friend, Gloria came over and made at least 50 fry-bread. I think that Julene makes great fry bread, but having them authentic was a treat. I thought the bread had a funnel-cake quality, and I loved it. Lunch was great- Navajo tacos.

That afternoon, Julene planned a version of the amazing race. We broke into groups and raced all over town, counting things at different places like, "how many picnic tables are under the pavilion at the North Chapel?". It was fun. Steve  has the advantage of growing up there, and our map of attack worked well. Steve and I won. At least in our minds.  :) That evening we went to the 3rd Reservoir to let the dog swim and we brought the camera this time. After dinner we went on a mountain ride- One if my favorite things to do in Blanding.

Monday was the fourth, and Blanding celebrates the 4th on the fourth. The day started for us with a 5K. Steve has been training/running at the gym for months now. I signed us both up in a moment of delusional thinking. So, yes, I "ran" too. Even though, I am pretty sure I did no exercising in the entire month of June aside from mowing the grass. Steve nearly met his goal for his first 5k, just shy by 42 seconds- if he had a watch on, he would have made it. I finished in 37 minutes and 25 seconds. I was pleased that I finished and wasn't last. It was a good motivator. Steve and I plan on doing another one in October. There were 12 or 14 of Steve's family that ran, some of which did really great.
 After that, we got ready for the parade. Because Liss was home with a new baby, we didn't get the traditional picture with all the grand kids on the couch with their matching shirts... Next year. The parade was fun, but seemed exceptionally hot, maybe because I was more aware with a baby this time.

 We skipped the booths this year, but still had some chicken-on-a-stick that Kevin grabbed for us. Instead, we ate lunch, played corn-hole and listened to Ryan on his banjo, which sparked my desire again to play the guitar. I took the big kids to the pool for an hour or so to let them enjoy free swim, that was shortened by a little guy that caused a pool-evacuation because he vomited. The cousins noted that of all the kids at the busy pool, Zac was the last to get out. I mean that, the very last.

Before dinner, Zac and I ran out to watch the barrel racing. I like that it feels nostalgic, and I think of home. The suppressed country-girl inside of me loves it. Lots of kids raced, and while it is cute, it is not as exciting as the adults racing. We stayed about an hour and went home.

 That night was the fireworks on  the hillside. We go just a bit early, play with glow bracelets, and listen to the band play. The fireworks are always impressive, and just when you think it's the grand finale, there are more! Our kids enjoy the other cousins (they are all actually Steve's cousins). They are so good with the kids!

 Tuesday, Steve was able to go fish with his dad and Kevin. They didn't catch much, but half the fun for Steve is just going. We didn't do much the rest of the day aside from visiting as things settled down. We stopped at Grannie's and she was sweet to give us the blanket that is on her lap that she made years ago. I love afghans. We headed out by about 4pm. On the way home, we stopped at Wingers and ate with Kevin, Anna and Hyke.
 We were again happy to be home that night.