The Good Life

OUR Little Liberty

2010-08-22T11:02:00.006-06:00

Disclaimer: I haven't updated in a while, but I thought I would start now and try to work my way back before I have to print a blog book for our family Christmas present. But, what post to welcome us back to the blog world.
Introducing...drum roll please...Liberty Pack. Born on August 18, 2010 at 7:55am weighing 8 pounds flat and coming in at 20 1/2 inches long. The labor went as well as could be expected (apparently my doc didn't want to break my water for three HOURS because he hadn't had any sleep all week). New developments with this labor: mom's low blood pressure, having to be on oxygen most of the labor, puking up my guts the whole labor in front of everyone (very embarrassing), and having a 7 hour labor instead of a 4 hour labor because of the above mentioned information. Of course after my water broke she came out a mere 40 minutes later. Other than that it was pleasant having my mom and Nate as company. I didn't suffer any pain and Liberty came out in one big push (she has a tiny head!) The verdict is in and we all think that she looks the most like Miles, but we'll have to see how things develop. Could I finally have a brown-haired child? I have waited for like 5 kids now!

This is a rare cry from Liberty. She didn't even cry when she was born. The nurse took forever trying to get some squeal out of her so we all new she was alive. She has been a huge blessing to our family. I need to knock on some wood and hold my breath as I say this, but if she continues to be so peaceful and happy I think I might be able to raise six kids! I have to wake her up to eat. When she does wakes up on her own, she just opens her eyes and stares at all of us. I wonder if she is so overwhelmed by our crazy hectic family that she has decided to just come and enjoy the ride. By the way, don't you just love the scrunchy nose! I keep thinking that she looks like one of those wrinkly faced dogs.

I have to share this little tid bit because I am scared for Liberty's life. The minute that Nate handed Liberty to Ella for the first time these are the words that came out of Ella's mouth: "Dad, don't touch the baby. She is MY baby." Yep, we are all in trouble!

January -- New Announcements

2010-01-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

A new year is bringing new announcements from the Pack family. First of all, we have been prompted to home school our kids. We have been exploring and praying about the idea for the last several months and about the beginning of November we decided that it was what the Lord wanted us to do. I'm still freaking out about the idea, but trying to have faith.

The other announcement is that we are expecting a new baby to be due in August (right when school starts)! So, January wasn't so fun at our house. I was pregnancy sick 24-7 the whole month. I've never had it this bad. Also, poor Ella did catch the chicken pox from the Whitmore home. At first it didn't look so bad, and then after a few days the pox quadrupled. Literally only these 3 pictures were taken in the whole month.
Here is poor Ella with her chicken pox in full force. She got them the worst on her face and in her hairline. She was a trooper throughout the whole thing.
Here is Grace organizing those drawers that become a catch-all for everything! Look at all of that garbage on the floor. It all collects in those drawers!
Moses' new fascination is Indiana Jones. He has come up with his very own costume out of his own closet. Not a bad job! Everything is Indiana around here right now.

St. Thomas, Nevada

2009-12-29T10:57:00.001-07:00

Another historical site close to Overton that we visited was the flooded city of St. Thomas. Nate's brother-in-law, Dennis, had an ancestor who was the postmaster of St. Thomas back in the day. He was one of the last ones out of the city before it flooded, apparently trying to get all of the mail posted. The city was flooded with the building of the Boulder Dam in the mid 1930's. Most of the people settled in nearby Overton after their city was covered in water. That is how Dennis' family ended up residing there.
This is the sign that tells you something is out there. You would never know there was ruins of a city down in the valley below. I guess the area is only dry during drought seasons, which apparently is now. It has only been dry, not covered with the waters of Lake Mead, since 2002.
Here is what it looks like from the parking lot. Not much down there, I was thinking.
Here our some of the ruins. We had a map of St. Thomas and were trying to guess what the ruins were. I think we thought this was the hotel, or the school house.
We believed this to be a well, which was behind someone's house.
We were searching for the post office the whole time. I can't remember what we presumed this to be, but I think it was a residence with a soda shop in the front. Our kids were trying to look for lost "treasure" the whole time we were there. That's what kept them going on this long adventure. The only thing the kids found that they thought was of value was some glass.
The hike got a little long for Ella, so she hopped on her dad's back. Actually mid way through the hike Nate took her back to the car because she still wasn't feeling so great.

Hiking in Overton

2009-12-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

This was our second annual trip to Logandale, Nevada to visit Nate's sister, Erika and her family. We have made quite a few after Christmas trips down to see her, and we decided this year to make it an annual thing. The kids have so much fun together and look forward to spending a whole week together with sleepovers and everything! Logandale is about 45 minutes away from Las Vegas. Typically we go to Las Vegas to entertain ourselves throughout the week, but this year we just hung around the Logandale/Overton area. There's not much to do, but there is a lot of hiking in the Valley of Fire State Park.
If you know my kids you know they love to climb. They climb wherever we go, even if they are not supposed to (like on the temple grounds!) We've had so broken limbs from climbing at our house, but rock formations like these are the perfect place to get the climb out of them!
Here is Grace and her sweet cousin Eden. The are inseparable the whole time they are together, and they email regularly to stay in touch.
Here is Miles climbing up high. He looks kind of scared way up there!
Here is Nate with all of the kids. We make quite a scene wherever we go because between the two of us we have 11 kids. Not a good adult to kid ratio when you're out on the town!
The kids spent the majority of the time at this park trying to catch chipmunks that were running around. They found these holes, which they thought the chipmunks lived in. Nate told them if they caught a chipmunk they could keep it for a pet! This is what drove their obsession to catch the darn things. They did get pretty creative in their contraptions to catch the creatures. They also used left over lunch scraps to lure the chipmunk into a chip bag, which they got pretty close to catching!
Here is Ella with her cousin, Brigham. They had a fun time together this week too. Ella actually wasn't feeling good this day. She ended up throwing up that evening. Poor thing. Also, Erika's 3 kids had the chicken pox this week. Ella was exposed, so we'll see if anything happens. The rest of us should be safe.
After lunch we headed over to another hike through Petroglyph Canyon. It lead us to a famous site called Mouse's Tank. It was really cool to look inside. First, we past all of these petrogyphs on our way up to the site. When we got there the rock formation was such that it looked like a "tank." The rock was surrounding a huge hole that went pretty deep. We explored inside too and had a hard time getting back out. I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of the actual tank. Our batteries ran out of our camera.
The legend has it that a Paiute Indian named Mouse hid out in this area from the "white man." He was apparently very upset the the white people were taking over all of his people's land. I guess he stole a knife from one of the whites in the area and became a huge target of whites in Southern Nevada. It is fun to learn a little history on our trips!

Christmas Day!

2009-12-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Christmas day at the Pack's. We don't take many pictures because the video camera usually gets all of the footage, but I happen to take a few pictures of the kids with some of their presents!
Here is Isaiah with his new skateboard. One of Santa's "elves" painted the bottom to suit Isaiah's interests. He loves it!
Here is Grace in her Hannah Montana getup. She also got 2 web-kins and gave one away to Miles who decided on Christmas morning that he really wanted one too. She is such a sweetie!
Miles really wanted a lot of Lego's for his birthday and Christmas and Santa didn't disappoint. He also got a camera and some books.
Moses was a hard one to buy for this year because all he asked for for Christmas was a black bow tie. He got that plus a camera and a "light-up" light saber.
Little Ella was surprised with Wonder Pets stuffed animals. She played with them all morning and was so giddy and excited. Tuck immediately went for a swim in the toilet. I had to wash him right away. She was very creative and found a little shoe box that became the Fly Boat. Such a big girl with a BIG imagination!

Traditional Christmas Eve Pictures

2009-12-25T15:32:00.002-07:00

One of the traditions that we have is to get pajamas for our Christmas Eve present! We have our little Christmas Eve program and then open up a gift from mom and dad. Surprisingly it is always PJ's.
It has become increasingly difficult to get a good picture with 5 children in it. Here was our best one. Moses and Ella are just constant little movers, especially with all the excitement of Santa and presents.
Just wanted to show that events in our house are always filled with drama...
and someone always gets hurt!

Miles' Birthday Party

2009-12-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Miles' birthday is always a hard one for me. It is 5 days before Christmas and it is very easy to forget it is coming with all of the other festivities going on. This year Miles wanted to invite his friends from school and have an all out boy party. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to invite 12 little 7-year-old boys over for a 4-hour late night! Things got very crazy. Did you know that when the birthday boy gets like 5 Nerf guns for his birthday, no boys are going to sit down and watch a movie? I know now, and I'll plan accordingly next time!
Here are most of the boys eating dinner. Miles' dinner of choice? Mac and Cheese and hot dogs, much to his mother's dismay! It was an easy dinner though.
Apparently, the kids were singing "Happy Birthday" very loud!
Miles blew out his 7 candles all in one breath. Isn't that good luck?
Isaiah and Grace made this birthday sign for Miles. I love seeing the kids do things for each other. I spend most of my time breaking up silly little fights all of the time, so to see them serve and love each other is a mother's greatest joy! Now, if I could only get them to do that when it wasn't some one's birthday!?

Family Christmas Party

2009-12-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at our Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house for our annual Christmas party. It is fun to get together with family that you don't see very often. Kids love to reunite with their cousins, and I love to spend time with my cousins, aunts, and uncles that I only see every few months it seems. We had delicious food (too much of it!), great conversation, a nativity reenactment, white elephant gifts, and formal gift exchanges. I loved the white elephant gift exchange because it helped me get rid of a bunch of toys and stuff that was headed to the DI!
OK. So, my children wanted to come up with their nativity costumes all on their own. I was grateful for this because I had a lot to get prepared with the presents and food I was bringing to the party. This is Grace as Mary, her cousin Jonah as Joseph, and Isaiah as the donkey. I thought Isaiah was pretty creative with his donkey face.
Here is our shepherd boy who looks more like his name sake then a shepherd. I think it is the HUGE staff that he was carrying around.
Here is our little happy wise man. He was very excited to find that gold box to hand over his present to little baby Jesus!

We sang lots of Christmas carols, and the kids got games for their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Clawson. My favorite was the precious handmade gifts that Grandma Anderson made for all of the girls. Beautifully, creative homemade purses. The kind you see at boutiques. I don't know why I didn't inherit those crafty genes. Maybe because my husband might have divorced me if I brought home crafts to have around our house!

Sweet Ella

2009-12-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

We just can't get enough of this sweet little girl. I just had to post this happy picture of Ella. We love you little sister!

Our Annual Christmas Card

2009-12-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!

Slippery Ice

2009-12-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

We went to see the lights at temple square, and wouldn't you know it I didn't get any pictures! We got back pretty late and all of the kids had fallen asleep in the car. I pulled Ella out of her car seat in a peaceful sleep and started to walk into the house to put her to bed. All of the sudden I slipped on a big sheet of ice in front of the stairs to our house. We both went tumbling down, and although I tried to land so that I could bear the brunt of the fall, Ella was a little topsy-turvy and went head first for the cement. Poor little girl. This is a picture of the damage. Just so everyone knows, I didn't make it out very well myself. It looks like I'm abusive, but my injuries are hidden by clothes. I have huge bruises on my leg and on my behind and a scrape on my arm.

December Performances

2009-12-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

One of many fun things about December, aside from Christmas of course, is that we get to go to all types of music performances for the kids. Isaiah, Miles, and Grace are all involved in choirs at their school and they absolutely enjoy it. Isaiah made the audition choir this year and they get to do movement to their songs and the songs are really fun. One of the songs for their performance was done in the dark and the kids wore a bunch of glow necklaces and bracelets. It was a psychedelic Christmas tune and they had a great time. Grace was in the mixed choir and Miles was in the beginning choir. I took a bunch of pictures, but they turned out really dark in the auditorium at school.
Isaiah also had a piano recital. This year he played a song from Handel's Messiah. He did such a great job and I LOVE the song that he played. It is always great when you like the songs that they play because they practice them so much before hand.

Season's First Snow

2009-12-15T09:40:00.001-07:00

I am a really boring winter mom. I do not look forward to the snow season. I think it is because it lasts so long and it makes me cold. I just want to curl up in a blanket and have chicken noodle soup everyday. I remember the days of Seattle when you were lucky to have it snow once in four years and the whole town shut down to have a great time! Not so much here in Utah. Life just goes on as normal and it's not as fun.
I'm glad that the kids are old enough to go outside and just enjoy the snow all on their own. We've been collecting "snow clothes" for the last few years and it's nice to have good clothing for the kids to go outside for hours. Here are Isaiah and Miles with their friends Xane and Tyler. They had a great time!

Here is Ella all decked out for the first time in her snow clothes. She loves being outside, but hates being cold. She lasted a few minutes out there!

Grace Performing

2009-12-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Grace has been in a performance group this year. It's kind of a long drive, but luckily we found someone to carpool with. She enjoys learning new songs and dance moves. This really is the perfect activity for her!
Here's Grace singing with the WHOLE group. To her right is her friend McKenna that she met when we set up our carpool. They have really hit-it-off and have become really good friends.
It's really hard to get a good picture of people in the motion of singing. I know because when I was practicing for the Relief Society General Meeting Choir, the chorister wanted us to all smile while we sang. I practiced in front of the mirror once and was embarrassed by what I saw. I can't smile and sing and look normal. I know that some women can do it, but it's not in my genetic make up. I thought this one was pretty good of Grace, but you should have seen some of the funny ones.
Grace had a chance to sing a solo at the Festival of the Trees celebration. I was really sick this weekend and couldn't go. I am so disappointed that I missed it. Nate said that she did a perfect job. There were about 450 people in the audience. She is getting lots of practice singing in front of big groups of people. Watch out American Idol, here she is in another 8 or 9 years!

Christmas Celebrations

2009-12-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

December is a month of excitement and dread. I love the feel of the holidays. Everyone is on the move trying to get all of their shopping done, decorations are up and enjoyed, and all of the children have 50 programs to go to. I love the programs, and despise the programs. With so many kids it really busies up your month and it is hard to enjoy the real spirit of Christmas. I do LOVE watching my kids perform though.
The kids come home with lots of Christmas costumes to share. Here is Moses with his reindeer antlers. I'm not sure why he has a blue sticker on his nose. Shouldn't it be blue?
Here's Ella enjoying the fought over Santa hat. I need to get one per child so our problems will be solved.
Here is Moses with Santa. Do you know what he asked for? A black bow tie. Yes, that's right. Even Santa looked at me and said, "Did he just say he wanted a bow tie?" Crazy kid.
Here is Moses' preschool class with Santa. He has really enjoyed preschool and making new friends. He comes home with stories everyday about them all. If their parents only knew... I wish I knew the stories that come home about Moses too! I'm sure they're great!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving with Nate's family this year. It started off with a turkey bowl football game with the Pack's vs. the Clawson's. I was recruited for the Clawson team because they are my genes you know. We had a great time. I haven't played football in a very long time and didn't realize how many muscles you use when you play. I was sore for DAYS after. Really sore. The Clawson's ended up pulling out the win. I'm glad that I got to play with both of my families on this day. I'm very blessed!
Grandma let the kids make their own personal pudding pies. They had such a great time making the pudding and pressing out the crust. These were their prized possessions all day and for days afterward. It was a great idea to get the kids involved.
I always like to have the kids dress up for Thanksgiving. We have been reading a book about the Pilgrims this month as a family. The book had lots of pictures and it was fun "reenacting" the first Thanksgiving with them. I don't think anyone else was really all that excited about making the costumes. I put Nate in charge of making them while I was helping prepare food and he delegated it to his brothers. They were complaining the whole time. That's Nate for you -- the master delegator. Ella didn't keep her hat on for long, but she looked so sweet with it on.
Here is our little Pilgrim boy. He was enjoying his candy/nut cup before the feast began.
Here is our Indian and our little Pilgrim girl. We had the best food at Thanksgiving this year. Everyone brought such creative things to share and it was all so delicious. We ended the night going up to Grandma and Grandpa Clawson's for pie. It is so fun having both of our families live 10 minutes away from each other because it allows us to spend time with both of them more often. We have so many blessings to be thankful for this year and it was a great day to ponder all of them.

Preschool Thanksgiving Party

2009-11-24T10:04:00.001-07:00

It is always fun to have preschoolers who have fabulous school celebrations. Here is Moses with all of his "prizes" from his Thanksgiving party at school!
He made a turkey out of a Styrofoam cup and painted feathers on a paper plate turkey. Can't ever have too many turkeys! I happened to love his Indian headdress the best! He had a great time and LOVES to go to school!
Ella wanted me to take a picture of her too! I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Isaiah's Bedroom

2009-11-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

As you all know by now, Isaiah is quite the history and geography buff. His own space by his bunk bed (which is his only "me" space) has transformed into a crazy collage.
He has put up multiple maps. One of the world, North America, Utah, and Davis County. He now wants a Clinton map to put up. He also has little photos of all of the Presidents and some larger pictures of his favorite presidents. Those include George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. At least he has a couple of temples thrown in there.

Here I Go! by Isaiah

2009-11-03T20:13:00.001-07:00

Here is a story that Isaiah wrote based on a leaf falling off of a tree:

When I fell off, the positive things I felt were: courageous, being a leader, and growing up. I felt very courageous when I left the tree and started falling. I felt like I've escaped from prison or something like that. But I also felt scared, or frightened. I felt like I wasn't wanted in the group.

When the wind first turned me loose, I thought I would be killed. You see, this is what happened. First, I was sound asleep. Then, I woke up when I heard a crackle of thunder. I was about to go back to sleep, when a giant gust of wind hurled me off the tree. I plunged towards the grass below.

I was plunging towards the ground. Suddenly, another gust of air took me into a cave. It was so dark, I couldn't see anything. I felt like somebody was playing catch with me. Suddenly, another gush of air pushed me through more darkness.

Air was whooshing past me on every side. I kept on smashing into walls. It hurt really bad since it was solid rock. I kept spinning in circles and bringing down fragile stalactites. Suddenly, everything stopped and gravity sucked me down to the surface.

I landed on something very soft. I landed very lightly, and felt very weird. I felt I used to be strong and powerful. Then I was tiny and fragile. So, I just laid down and took a rest.

I had no more friends. I would never see my family again. Suddenly, I heard a soft sound beside me. It was my best friend! Oh, what a joy this was! This was the time of my life.

HALLOWEEN!

2009-10-31T21:02:00.002-06:00

We had an eventful Halloween this year. Nate's mom always throws a Halloween party right before Halloween, but with it being on a Saturday this year we had it on the actual day! She always goes all out! We had stories, games, songs, a pinata, and of course, lots of treats. I was a little disappointed in the photos because my camera started dying this day. Luckily you can actually see what the picture is of. You can tell that some of them are starting to go a little psychedelic. The next week I tried to take pictures and you couldn't see anything. After the party we went up to my parents' in Draper and went trick-or-treating. This was a posh place to get the goods. My kids EACH came back with, not exaggerating, 10 regular size candy bars, 2 cans of soda, and 4 huge pixie sticks. And of course lots of fun size stuff!
Here is our track star. Isaiah always has these amazing, original ideas for costumes. He always wants to make them. This year his dream was to be a centaur. For those of you who don't know that is a half-horse, half-man. He was planning on having Nate help him make the costume. It just became too complicated and he decided he would "just be a track star." His primary reason for this, he said, was so that he could run faster than everyone and get the most candy.
Grace was going to be Hermione from Harry Potter this year, but she ended up finding this hand-me-down Little Bo Peep costume instead. She looked really cute in it. The only thing I had to buy were the tights!
Here is Miles in his pirate costume. Don't you just love the beard? He had a great time being able to go trick-or-treating with just him and Isaiah. They ran from house to house and came back with a lot of loot!
Here's our Moses. I tried and tried to get him to be some cute little hand-me-down costume this year. I knew this was the last year that he would fit into any of them! I had a dog, a lion, a horse, and a really cool Power Ranger costume, but Qui-Gon-Jin from Star Wars won out. He calls him "the mustache guy." I think that is why he wouldn't relent because he wanted a beard and a mustache on his costume!
Here is our sweet little Monkey. If you only knew Ella's obsession with animals, monkeys being one of her favs. She played the perfect part with sound effects and everything. I loved the costume because it kept her so warm.

Moses' Halloween Program

2009-10-29T20:51:00.001-06:00

Moses had a short Halloween program at preschool this year. I had a great time going to watch all of these sweet children get so excited to perform.
Here's Moses waving enthusiastically during the costume parade. I LOVE this picture because he has a genuinely excited smile.
The kids stood against this wall and sang a variety of Halloween songs. It was so fun watching Moses because he gets distracted so easily by the simplest things. His light saber was a little distracting at first. He finally put it down, only to see that his shoe covers weren't on his shoes all of the way. He spent the next song bent over trying to fix that. He did a great job of learning and performing all of the songs.
Here he is singing a song about a fat pumpkin. Notice how dramatic he is compared to the rest!

Ward Fall Carnival

2009-10-26T14:23:00.001-06:00

For the last few years our ward has had a fall carnival instead of a trunk-or-treat. The youth run all of these fabulous games for the kids and we have a chili and pie cook off for dinner. This year they had ward members show off their homemade goods as well. It was a really fun and successful night!
One of the stations was a picture taking station. We couldn't find Isaiah for this one, but thought the other kids looked pretty good. I think that Ella was trying to escape. She ended up being in the picture with the bishopric as well because she wouldn't get off of the oxen!
A ward member gave me this picture that she took of Grace at the doughnut eating contest. Look at that tongue!
I got the award for the "Beaniest Chili" at the ward fall carnival this year. I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. At least I got a Halloween towel and a box of candy out of it. I did like that I had snuck in several veggie purees and nobody knew about that. It had sweet potatoes and cauliflower in it. I love being sneaky with my vegetables!

Black Island Farms

2009-10-09T14:06:00.001-06:00

Moses' preschool had a field trip to Black Island farms lined up for the end of September. It got rescheduled to another date in October because of snow! Haven't had much since, but snow the last week of September depressed me. Anyway, the field trip got rescheduled to a day that my other kids didn't have school. They were so excited to be able to go because we never do anything like this because it costs so much. I was practically free on this day.
Here is the gang with their pumpkins straight out of the patch. Isaiah had to search and search for an original. He finally found one!
"Mom, why are you taking a picture of me holding an onion? I hate onions! When I see one tiny onion in my dinner I won't eat any of it!"
"I love carrots, can we take these home?"
I love when Moses winks. Here is a good one on the ride back from the pumpkin patch.
Here's a photo op at the entrance to the play area. My kids were really sick of taking pictures at this point.
Kids on the teeter totters. Ella tried a few times, but kept slipping off.
They have this barrel ride with a tractor pulling the train. Just a casual ride!
Here are the girls attempting the big slide together. Thanks to Grace, Miles, and Isaiah for helping Ella with all of the slides.
Do we dare go down? They boys could have gone down these slides for hours. I was really nervous to go somewhere with all of the kids by myself. I don't really attempt that much anymore because of how difficult it can get. The three older kids were really big helpers this time making it much easier. We also endured the huge corn mazes that they had. They were Edward and Jacob mazes. Isaiah and Miles went off on their own through the big maze and I took the other kids on the little one. I started having visions of losing my boys in the corn maze when it took Isaiah and Miles so long to get back, but it all worked out. We actually had a great time.

Fall Family Pictures

2009-10-03T13:52:00.001-06:00

It has been a long time since I took individual pictures of the kids. It has been well over a year! With little Ella that seems to change over night, I was feeling really guilty that I hadn't taken pictures of her in a while. Since we were at my parents and they had this fantastic brick wall in their backyard, we opted for a more "urban" look.
Here is the family picture of choice. I thought that everyone looked pretty good in it! I was wishing Grace was more down on Nate's level and Miles down a little too, but you can't be took picky when taking your own pictures. We probably needed the height anyway to make the picture the right size. Thanks to Kelli for taking our family picture. She did a great job!
Isaiah claims now-a-days that he doesn't know how to smile. We had to say a few of our choicest potty jokes to get this laugh/smile out of him. I think he looks great!
Grace is anxious for her new picture because she didn't like last years. It is amazing how things change after over a year. She had all baby teeth in her last picture, now she looks so grown up with her big ones.
Miles is our photogenic one. He is really easy to get to smile and just enjoys getting pictures taken.This is such an awesome picture. I love the little mischievous glint in his eyes. He's a funny kid.
And last but not least... Ella. She did pretty good for a 20-month-old. We had to snap fast and had to keep distracting her so that she wouldn't pull out the flower in her hair.

UEA Break

2009-10-02T13:28:00.000-06:00

For the UEA break, Nate took a few days off of work and we just played as a family. One of the places that we have frequented a lot this year is the This is the Place State Park. We have gone there a lot recently because Nate's parents have a grandparents pass and we can all get in for free. We brought a picnic lunch and ate right when we got there. I almost gave up on the day because I was FREEZING. I really don't have any love for the cold weather and this was one of the first of the LONG cold season. Nate's dad gave me his jacket and I survived!
Here is Moses on a pony ride. All of the kids went on one. I think Isaiah needs to graduate to a horse ride. He is getting really big! Actually I don't think he went on a horse this year, but everyone else did.
One of our favorite parts of the park is a little area where they have all of these baby animals roaming around freely. Ella especially loves this part because the animals are not so scary since they are more her size. She loves to chase around the goats and the lambs. I think they get quite annoyed by her after a while.
The ponies were a little on the big side for Ella. Actually she was excited to get onto a pony at first. While she was waiting first in line a horse started heading her direction and "neighed" at her really loud. The horse was probably only inches from her. That set her off and she didn't want to have anything to do with the horses after that.
Grace had the special touch. All of the animals would eat out of her hand. All of the other kids kept trying without any luck.
I kept thinking "some one's going down." But somehow they managed to play on and around this stream without getting wet.
My happy kids on the handcart. I'm sure under real circumstances they wouldn't look like this. They kept singing, "Pioneer, children sang as they walked and walked and walked and...." well, you get the idea. Nate taught them how to sing it like the people in England. Now they sing it with a little English accent.
This was at the end of the day, but I thought it was a cute one of all of them. Ella was definitely ready for her nap. We had a great time and are so grateful for grandparent passes that allows us to go to fun places together for free!

School Pictures

2009-10-01T21:35:00.000-06:00

Here are the kids school pictures for his year. When I got them back the first thing that I noticed was how big they are getting. I really notice this in picture form for some reason. Maybe it's because I am remembering what their last year pictures looked like. I can't believe my oldest in in 5th grade! That is so crazy!
Here is Isaiah! He is in Mrs. Carlson's class this year. He is making a lot of friends and is loving Social Studies, which is his favorite subject. They have to memorize all of the states and capitals, the presidents in order, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. He is right on this because he LOVES this stuff!
Here is our sweet Gracious! She is the one that has changed the very most since last year. Look at her! She's huge! Grace is in Mrs. Reidford's class and enjoys many friends in her class. She always makes friends so easily. Mrs. Reidford has mentioned to me how she constantly has to think of things to challenge Grace. One of her comments about Grace was that she can read absolutely everything!
Here is our Miles! He is enjoying life in Mrs. Velez's class. He was disappointed when none of his friends were in his class this year, but of course he has made new friends almost instantly. The 2nd week of school his teacher sent this email to me: "I can't wait to get to know Miles more. He had a great week. He's very confident, friendly and eager to make great choices. I see him as a quiet leader of out class! Thank you for sharing him with me." I think that says it all!

CRAZY Soccer Season

2009-09-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

Well, the dreaded soccer season starts again. Not that I don't LOVE soccer, especially watching my own kids play, but it completely wipes out eight Saturdays in the fall and eight in the spring. This year Nate's Saturday schedule changed at work so that he worked mornings instead of afternoons. This put added pressure on me. Most Saturdays we have a game that starts at 9:00am and our last game ends at 1:30pm. I usually would just pack up lunches and we would have a day of it. I had a big talk with my kids about how if they want me to watch their games that they would have to help watch Moses and Ella on the playground so that I could watch every one's games. They did a pretty good job of keeping an eye on them so that I could enjoy all of the games.
Watch out for this one! He is fierce. This picture cracks me up! What a tough guy! Isaiah had a pretty good season. It started off a little rocky because he claimed that he was tired all of the time because he had a 9:00 game every Saturday. I though this was pretty interesting considering that he wakes up on his own every day at 6:00am. I finally bribed him with an almanac and he did fabulous the rest of the season! (By the way, I don't usually bribe my kids with things like this, but I had ordered this almanac on a book order and was frustrated with him and it just sort-of happened. Oh well, it worked!)

Here's the whole team. He had quite a few friends from previous seasons on his team.
This one looks sweeter in the picture than she is on the field. She is a little firecracker out there. We love how aggressive she is. She never stops moving while she's out there. She improved so much this year and we are very proud of her!
Grace also had several friends on her team from previous years. It's fun to see them all grown up together.
Our Miles! He always tries his best at everything he does, and soccer is no exception. He is a very aggressive player as well and loves to get after the ball. He always runs around with a smile on his face too. One game he just started crying for no reason and my friend Gina went over to him and he said that his eye hurt. (This is one of the weeks that Moses and Miles had games at the same time and I wasn't there for him. I felt so bad!) Anyway, apparently he got a bee sting right under his left eye. It was pretty swollen for a couple of days, but he was so tough!
Here's the whole gang. Nate had an opportunity to help out at the practices and really enjoyed spending that time with Miles!
OK, I had my ups and downs watching Moses play soccer. At first it was just plain painful to watch him play, and then, after I got used to it, the games became quite entertaining. I have discovered through this experience that maybe football should be his sport of choice. Maybe a football player away from the ball, like on the line or something. He has no clue where the ball is the entire game. If he happens to come in incidental contact with the ball, he starts walking, tip-toeing really, with is arms up in the air as his little baby steps nudge the ball very slowly in the direction that he happens to be walking. Most of the time he focuses on all of the other kids. A tackle here, a shove there. A hug here, a poke there. He can't keep his hands off people! I was seriously frustrated throughout the beginning of the season, and then it just became humorous by the end. We'll have to see how the spring goes. He loves to go play soccer every week, but I think it's just for the treat at the end!
Here is his little team. The funniest moment of the season in my opinion was a moment in between quarters. His coach was talking with all of the boys and Moses was staring intently at his coaches face. Normally this would not look abnormal to some one else because when someone is talking to you, you look at them. Not Moses. I knew something was up. I watched him lift up his hand and point his finger and slowly bring it up to his coaches face to rub is mustache. It was hilarious. His coach was so annoyed, and he just pushed his hand away. He must have not known that Moses has a fascination with mustaches. I had to laugh at this one!

Another Missoula Children's Theater

2009-09-28T21:48:00.000-06:00

This year all three of our kids tried out for the Missoula Children's Theater production again. This time only Grace made the musical. Our boys were sad, but enjoyed cheering their sister on in the play. The Missoula Children's Theater is a traveling company that comes to the school every year. They have tryouts on Monday and then performances on Friday and Saturday of the same week. It is amazing what they can accomplish in a short amount of time. The kids do such a great job of memorizing all of their lines and all of the songs too!
Grace was a Pea Shoot Grower (I think. I had a hard time memorizing her part for some reason.) She had four lines all to herself and she did a fabulous job. I think she is a performing natural. It's actually kind of scary how comfortable she looks up there.
Here is the whole cast. They did such a great job. We really enjoyed watching Grace at her finest and give her a great big kudos!

Some Favorite Ella Moments

2009-09-15T21:25:00.000-06:00

There is so much going on with the older kids and all of their activities that Ella tends to be forgotten. We enjoy having her in our family so much. She brings a lot of laughs and fun. She makes the funniest faces and definitely has her favorite things that she loves. Some of them include all animals, especially her "Oo-oo-aa-aa" and "Roar" (her stuffed tiger and monkey), Wonder Pets (which she calls "Yay"), Candy (which she asks for at every meal), and to listen to her Kindermusik CD.
Here is what Ella looks like during prayer time. I know I shouldn't be taking pictures during prayers, but this is my FAVORITE thing that Ella does. Everytime we say that it is time to say a prayer she automatically looks like this. She actually stays like this for a while too! What a sweetie. I really want Nate to paint a picture of her like this!
Here is a classic Ella after eating her sweets! Notice how every last bit of her ice cream cake has been consumed and she has some extra hanging out on her hands and face. She loves the stuff!

The Blessed Day Finally Arrived!

2009-09-08T21:11:00.000-06:00

From previous posts you might remember that Moses was REALLY looking forward to going to preschool. Well, the day finally came. He was SOOOO excited to get to school on his very first day. His teacher is Mrs. Pett who runs preschool out of her home. He has seven other kids in his class and is excited to get to play with all of them.
Here is Moses on his very first day. He was such a big boy. He had no problems with me leaving or anything. He has grown up so much in the last little bit!
Here is a picture taken by Mrs. Pett on his 2nd day of school. He has such a great time and is really thriving. Mrs. Pett came up to me soon after school started and said, "Can Moses read?" I said that he couldn't and she told me how impressed she was that he thought that "May" said "Mac." She was excited that he knew the first sounds of the word. I told her that he does know his sounds, but he must have recognized that May is closely related to his cousin's name which is Mac. But she is very impressed with his knowledge! Way to go buddy!

We'll Miss Lucas

2009-09-07T00:13:00.002-06:00

This weekend we attended the funeral of my cousin's little baby Lucas. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in June. It was a very aggressive cancer that attacked his little body. Three months were spent trying to save his sweet life, but it wasn't to be. I had an opportunity to spend a little bit of time with my cousin Shannon and Lucas while he was in a coma a few days before he passed. I felt the spirit so strong in their town home the minute I walked in the door. I could hardly hold back the tears as I waited while Shannon and Aaron talked with the hospice people. It is so hard to think of someone losing their little baby. I wanted to go visit so that I could be a support to them, I didn't want them to have to comfort me! I did lose it when I first went up the stairs, but as soon as we started talking I pulled myself together for the rest of the visit. Lucas looked so peaceful and it is wonderful that he doesn't have to be in pain anymore. I cried for the rest of the day the minute I walked out of the door. I'm sure that my tears weren't nearly as much as they have shed, but I had a good headache afterward. Shannon and Aaron are so amazing. They have the best outlook and the strongest faith. I know that they thought they would never be able to handle something like this, but the Lord has given them strength and it is evident in their stature as they are going through all of this. It is so wonderful that they have the gospel and know that they can be with Lucas again in the next life. That gives so much comfort to them at this time, although I know they'll miss him until then. They both spoke at the funeral and did such a good job. I kept thinking to myself that there is no way I could ever do that! There is a link to their blog under friends and family to the right. You should check out their whole story. Get some kleenex and be prepare to check some crocodiles. Our thoughts and prayers are still with them as they now try to get their lives back to normal. We love you Shannon, Aaron, Kaden, Jonas, and sweet Lucas!

"School" Field Trip

2009-08-21T00:02:00.000-06:00

As a consolation for Moses not being able to go to school with the other kids, we told him that we would take him to the Dinosaur Museum. This distracted him a little bit so he could actually ENJOY himself for a little while. When the kids first went back to school he spent the entire day naming every child he could think of in the neighborhood and they were all either in school or not home during the day. There is one little boy that he wants to play with frequently, but I'm afraid he might get a little sick of Moses wanting to play with him everyday.Nate was off work this day and we had such a great time with just the two kids. We brought lunch and had a picnic. It was kind of weird only having the two kids there with us. It reminded me of when we had just the two kids. How easy that was! I didn't think so at the time, but I didn't have to go around counting 5 heads all the time. There were two of us adults and two kids. Moses had a really good time and he has been playing really good with Ella recently which has made life even better for me!

I loved this picture of Ella. I remembered thinking how great it would be if something so simple such as swinging could provide me with such happiness and fun for a long time. Ella probably could have done this for hours and she was enjoying every minute of it!

The park had a new area that was partially shaded where you could uncover the dinosaur bones. Ella was having a hard time having fun because she stomped in a water puddle on the way over to the sand and so when she got in the sand it stuck to her feet. After I wiped off as much as I could she just followed Moses and Dad around and did whatever they did. She is learning so much each day and she is getting so grown up!

First Day of School

2009-08-20T22:36:00.000-06:00

Wow! A whole year has gone by since I started this blog. Time has just flown by. I think that my very first post was the first day of school last year. Here we are again! The kids are always very excited for school to start. This year Miles has Mrs. Velez. He doesn't have any of his friends in his class, but he is really good at making new friends. Grace has Mrs. Reidford. This was the teacher that she wanted really bad. She is fortunate to have a few friends in her class. Isaiah is a big boy now. The fifth grade moved over to the Junior High building to expand the Elementary school. He has his very own locker already. He is growing up too fast! He has Mrs. Carlson and has a good friend in his class too. It should be a great year! Here they are all ready to go. I am lucky to have Nate taking them to school in our carpool everyday. The other family picks up from school and so I never have to leave the house! Except to volunteer in the classroom once a week.

Poor Moses REALLY wanted to go to school with the kids. No matter how many times we explained to him that he started school 2-1/2 weeks later he thought he was going with the other kids that day. He even set out clothes the night before. He tried to pick out clothes that looked like uniform clothes. He also wore a belt and tucked in his shirt like everyone else. It was so sad when the kids left and he couldn't go. He even attempted to make his own lunch to take with him. He cried every morning for the first week when the kids left for school.

LAKE POWELL

2009-08-16T22:04:00.001-06:00

We are blessed to have our Grandma and Grandpa Anderson who have a timeshare on a houseboat on Lake Powell for 2 weeks every summer. We would love to go and hang out with family for the both of the weeks, but in order to spread ourselves around to both of our families and friends we only get to make it for one of the weeks. Not to mention that Nate does have to work during the summer, he can't just take the whole summer off for fun! Here is our home for the week we are at the Lake. We enjoy the time we get to spend on the houseboat. Nate gets to sleep up on top with the older kids every night and I slept with mostly just Ella inside. We have a blast just hanging out with family that we don't get to see very often. We had Spencer, Kelli, and their kids, Darren, Teresa, and their kids, Grandma Clawson, Sean, Scott, Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, and Uncle Gordon. Lots of fun, with lots of family!

I always have too many pictures to share on a vacay like this! Here is a little collage of the fun we had around the boat. Moses LOVED going on the speed boat. He loves feeling the wind on his face. You'll also notice that his body was blue most of the week from the die in his life jacket rubbing off on him. Ella loved everything too. I was paranoid that she would just jump in the water. She loved being in the water and the boat. Isaiah spent the week hanging out with his cousin Colby. One of their favorite things was to play king-of-the-mountain on the tubes. Miles is our thoughtful swimmer. He decided that he would like to jump into the water someday, so to start he would climb in, then slip in, and then jump in. I think he got to jump in off of the back of the boat that was level with the water. He thinks that in a couple of years he'll gradually be able to jump off of cliffs like his sister. Miles also took "swimming lessons" from several uncles. He likes to know all of the technicals. Grace just loved spending time with her girl cousins. She is "boy trapped" a lot in our home and having girls around was paradise. There was never a moment when she wasn't in the water. She loved it all. Grace and her cousins were making future city plans for Lake Powell. They want to live there when they are older on a houseboat, but they want all of our modern conveniences close by. Good Luck with that one!

We had a lot of success in the water this year. Nate actually did stuff besides tubing. He got up on the knee board, and the surf board. After much trial he also got up on the wake board. I'm so proud of him. I was way excited and he could really care less. Isaiah got crazy on the inter tube, going for speed and bumps. Grace inter tubed and knee boarded. Miles tubed and knee boarded too, with much reservation! Moses went inter tubing and loved it. Ella enjoyed being in the boat too. She loved the speed and the music! I took it easy because I had sprained my ankle last summer wake boarding and I also jammed my finger the night before we left for Lake Powell. Thanks to Uncle Darren for taking us out so much. He must have made 3-4 runs a day! All of this action was very exciting to me because I usually can't get anyone in my family to do anything behind a boat. Before this summer all of the kids and Nate would only go on the tube. Yeah for progress!

This was the cliff that we all jumped by our houseboat. Poor Isaiah really didn't want to jump, but everyone was constantly encouraging him. Since Grace jumped many times off of this cliff, it made his attempts even harder for him. He never did actually jump, but he spent many hours in this position trying to get the courage to. I don't blame him. I am usually all over cliff jumping and when I went up to jump I couldn't get my footing and it freaked me out. I don't usually get uncomfortable jumping off cliffs even higher than this, but when you can't stand on your two feet to jump, it makes it pretty scary. Nate, Grace, and I all jumped this one though.

Here are the girls on our way from the houseboat to our car at Bullfrog Marina. They didn't want to part. I think they would all live together if they could. We had such a great time and look forward to going again next year!

THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD

2009-08-07T15:45:00.001-06:00

I thought that this was such a cute moment between father and daughter. Nate asked Grace if she wanted her fingernails painted and of course she wouldn't say no to that! Some of you may think that Nate does this frequently because he is a painter and artist, but he's never really done this before. I think that he did paint my toenails for me once when I was pregnant and couldn't reach my toes! I have to say he did a fabulous job!

My Little Baby is Growing Up!

2009-08-07T12:03:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm kind of sad that Ella is getting so big. Usually I look forward to the time that my kids can do more for themselves and rely less on me. Just today Ella has started talking to me for minutes at a time. I can't understand a word, but she'll just babble at me like she is having a conversation. She'll come tell me things and she'll just babble and babble. So sweet. Then, the past couple of days, whenever she has messed in her pants she'll bring me the baby wipes. None of my other kids ever did that! Is this a sign that she is going to be a potty training genius? I could use one of those about now! On a side note, Grace said something really funny yesterday. Moses was spinning around and around in a circle and started to fall over and his foot hit Grace right in the crotch area. Grace immediately fell to the ground and exclaimed, "Moses kicked me in my stuff!" She isn't raised with all boys or anything! I tried to explain to her that she doesn't really have "stuff," but she didn't really get it. Do I sense a talk in the near future?

My No Good Terrible Day

2009-08-03T20:44:00.005-06:00

So, do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you're the worst mother ever! Today is that day for me. My children have decided that they rule the world! It all started last night which was Sunday night. We decided to make treats and take them to some people in our neighborhood. So, we ventured out and handed out treats and talked to some neighbors. Throughout the 15 minute conversation I am interrupted multiple times by multiple children that say that they are bored, and that they are thirsty, and that they want to go home. They kept saying really loud that we were taking way too long visiting. HOW RUDE! I am mortified by their behavior. Here we are, trying to do some service and they are just thinking about the fact that they haven't had a drink in 15 minutes!

It just continued on today. We had some friends over for most of the day. I'm visiting with the mom, while our children are playing. One of my children had a total dramatic breakdown and started yelling at the top of their lungs at their sibling. I was horrified. This poor mother probably thinks we all have anger issues in our family or something. After calming down this same child kept telling me "NO" when I asked them repeatedly to do things and they made very rude disrespectful comments to me all day in front of this sweet mother and her kids. I think she might think twice before she lets her sweet children come to my house again.

Then a little later after our friends left, Nate comes home from work to see Moses running around naked in our backyard. Moses thought this was really funny and was cracking up about it. Once again, we were mortified. I guess it was good that he wasn't in the front yard.

Then it was time to make dinner. I started getting things ready and Nate said he was taking Miles to pick some apricots at a neighbor's house. He walked out the front door and Moses and Ella acted like they wanted to go with him, so I told him to leave the door open and I would go out and keep and eye on the kids. It wasn't one minute later that I went outside to see Ella riding her bike. I figured that Moses had decided to go with Nate since I didn't see him around. Nate comes home about 15-20 minutes later with just Miles and we start searching the house for Moses. I went in the garage and noticed that his bike was gone, so Nate told us to start eating and he would drive around and look for him. Just as I sat down in my chair the phone rings. It is an old neighbor that moved a while ago and she told me that Moses was at the Maverik convenience store down the road with a policeman. Oh great! So, I left the other kids eating and hopped in the other car to drive down to the store. Once I got there I noticed that nobody was there anymore so I headed back home to find Nate. When I pulled in the driveway a police car was sitting there. "Oh no!" I thought, "I'm now going to get into trouble for leaving the rest of my kids home alone!" I get to the door and the policeman is standing at my door and the door is open, but nobody is there talking to him. He immediately asks if I'm Moses' mom and I told him yes and he leads me to his car. He lets me open the door to get Moses out of the back seat of his vehicle. Moses is holding a Milky Way candy bar. I asked the policeman where he got the candy bar and he said that someone bought it for him at the store. We are still unsure if he stole the candy bar, or if someone did really buy it for him. What parent would buy a kid a candy bar when he is trying to steal it? Anyway, the policeman opened the trunk to pull out Moses' bike and just then Nate pulls up. We get a mini lecture on how Moses is a little young to be riding his bike in his bare feet, without a helmet, down a busy street, crossing a busy street to go into a convenience store to get a candy bar that he doesn't have any money to buy. He takes down our names, phone numbers, and birth dates. I feel like I'm going to go on the record as a negligent parent.

Finally we sit down to eat dinner and I ask the kids who answered the door for the policeman. Come to find out, Miles answered the door and got scared about seeing a policeman there so he just leaves the door open and runs back to sit at the table. The poor policeman must think that we don't teach our children manners either. He is just standing at the door with nobody to talk to. Later on, I find out from the neighbor that called me to tell me that Moses was at the store that Moses wouldn't even talk to anyone or answer any one's questions. It was a good thing she was there, or we would have never found him!

I failed to mention that this morning Nate asks me if I am feeling like we should start trying to have another baby soon. I told him I wasn't having any feelings about that, but I would let him know when I did. As we were settling down for the night we were wondering if we should have had the five children that we do have, not to mention anymore. Nate said he wouldn't ask me that question again for at least a year, and I just replied, "Thank you very much!" Nate and I split the Milky Way hoping that it would make us feel better. It didn't! I haven't had chocolate in a long while and it gave me a stomach ache!

Temple Openhouse

2009-07-24T00:32:00.000-06:00

We decided to venture out to the temple open house on this day. I specifically got tickets for later in the month, on a weekday night, thinking that it wouldn't be so crowded. When we went to the Draper temple open house we went on a Saturday afternoon and it was packed. We arrived at the church to start at 3:30 and didn't get back to our car until 7:30. Imagine how fun that was with 5 kids and no food! So, it wasn't AS crowded this night, but still pretty crowded. We had a much more pleasant experience here because it didn't take as long and I fed the kids right before we went in. There were a couple of really cute comments that Moses made that night. When we were going up the grand staircase he said that we were walking up to Heaven. Then, when we walked into the Celestial room he said, "This is where we come back to life." So sweet. He spent the rest of the time counting all of the Jesus paintings. I think we got up to 19, but missed a few. All in all it was a great night and a great opportunity for the kids to see the inside of the temple. I know that they can feel the spirit there and know of it's great importance!

Fun with Cousins

2009-07-22T13:23:00.000-06:00

We met up with Kelli and her kids, and my cousin Kellianne and her kids. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of all of the cousins. But we had a good time hanging out at the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point and a brand new splash pad in Highland. I wish they had those around here, it was really fun and a great way to cool off for free! Here is the kids' 2-headed dinosaur creation. They spent a long time getting all of the pieces just right.

Here are the kids at the splash pad. It was really fun. They had a fountain area similar to the Gateway and this little stream with rocks around to climb on. The kids had a really fun time!

Annual Neighborhood Camping Trip

2009-07-15T12:20:00.002-06:00

We had an amazing time at our annual camping trip with a few friends from our neighborhood. We try to choose a different place every year. There are a few stipulations in the process. It has to be fairly close and has to have water. In years previous we've had a lot of fun at various places. We went to Trial Lake, but it got down to freezing at night, and we've been to Bear Lake, but the mosquitoes were out of control. This year we went to Hyrum Reservoir and had a blast. There was a beach not to far from the camp grounds. The only thing missing, we all decided, was a boat! Here are Grace and Miles on the beach. I'm so proud of my kids this year because they're actually enjoying the water more. It has taken many years and many water trips for them to become comfortable. I have had a hard time with this because I'm such a fish!

Nate packed Moses up pretty well. At least he had a pillow!

The kids had fun with this tube for hours. Ella especially liked it. She loved to push people around in it.

Here is Ella wanting to get in the tent. She had to come a get a closer look to see who was inside.

This tent story is pretty funny. I asked Nate to go through all of our tent stuff on our garage shelf. For a family who hardly goes camping, we have inherited a lot. Nate thought that he grabbed our two man tent for the boys, and our mid-size tent for the rest of us, along with a tarp. When we started unpacking the tarp we found this amazing huge tent (shown above). We were thrilled that we had such a big tent, but have no idea where it came from. So, we showed up to the camp ground with 3 tents! We set up this big one for all of the big kids, and then Nate and I slept in the mid-sizer with Ella.

Whoops! It got pretty windy up at the lake. That would be my only complaint about the place. The first night I couldn't sleep because I was afraid our tent would collapse. Well the big huge tent made it through the first night, but during the next day while we were at the beach the wind finally toppled the tent. Shown here is the broken rod. So, the second and third nights Isaiah and Miles slept in the two-man tent and the rest of us were in the mid-size tent. We'll have to get the rod replaced for next year because we LOVE this big tent!

Let's just say that this didn't end well.

Here are the men being ultra-competitive, as usual. Here they were playing a "friendly" game of 500 with a football.

YUMMO (as Rachel Ray would say)! We love our s'mores. One bummer was the individual campsites didn't have camp fire pits. The campground had 2 community ones and we snagged one up on our last night for some marshmallow roasting.Every year we get a photo of all of the kids and one of all of the adults. It is kind of fun to see how they have grown up year after year. I think this was the fourth year in a row that we all went. Well, we actually missed last year because Nate's brother decided to get married on the same weekend. But here is the kids with their strong pose. I love Ella's the best! Grace's is pretty sassy too!

This was my favorite of the adults! It was our funny faces. There are some pretty good ones here! Thanks to the Baileys, the Phillips, the Steadmans, and the Trommlitzs for a great time. Thanks to the Phillips for being our professional photographers too!

The Concert

2009-07-05T11:23:00.002-06:00

The parade that we were in was at the very beginning of the show. We were able to change our clothes pretty quickly and then went to our great seats for the fireworks show and the concert. We sat on the field and had a pretty good view of everything. I think all of our kids were so tired. I was looking around at all the families around us and they were all happy and dancing around and enjoying themselves. I looked around at my family and practically every child had a crying breakdown at some point. Maybe we just outdid ourselves that day! Here are the Jonas Brothers! They gave a great show!

Here is our sweet Miles. He really did enjoy himself that night. He must have gotten his sleep. He looks so happy here.

Here is Nate with a very tired little girl. She did end up falling asleep at some point during the night. The fireworks woke her up later though.

This was how Isaiah looked all night. I can't remember why he was in such a bad mood. I was hoping he would have enjoyed himself more! Maybe he was thinking that the Jonas Brothers was for girls!

Here is how I was all night. All of the kids took turns laying on me. No wonder I have to go the chiropractor weekly for the rest of my life! Notice that Ella is knocked out.

Here is Grace trying to stay warm under the American flags. It got kind of cool later on in the evening.

Moses fell asleep during the concert. He stayed asleep during the fireworks and all the way being carried to the car. He must have been really tired. It is really uncomfortable to lay on that scratchy AstroTurf!

Stadium of Fire

2009-07-05T10:44:00.002-06:00

We had the opportunity to be involved in the Stadium of Fire 4th of July celebration this year. We were all really excited to see Glenn Beck and of course The Jonas Brothers! Nate's brother's girlfriend's sister-in-law was in charge of a little parade of families representing different era's during the July 4th holiday. We were chosen to represent the WWII era. We were fortunate to have the Hale Center Theater outfit us with costumes and that was a real treat. If I'm being honest, we didn't really have the best time. Moses and Ella were extremely cranky and I thought the whole time that we should have just stayed home! Looking back I think that it was a good experience for the kiddos. Hopefully they'll remember something positive from it!Here are the kids all ready to go. There was a lot of waiting around and they were getting pretty impatient. Moses was upset because he couldn't have a gun to mess around with.

Here is Isaiah as a WWII cowboy! They loved playing with those wooden guns!

Grace was enamoured by this whole event. You know my kids goal in life is to someday "be famous!" They thought that since a whole stadium of people were watching us, we had become just that!

Here is sweet Ella holding a flag. She really wasn't being sweet this night, but in her defense she was cutting all of the 6 teeth that she has at that time. I just didn't know that yet so I wasn't very patient.

Here is our tough little sailor! Moses was really upset the entire night because he got a silly little toy that he didn't like to play with. He wanted the big boy props that his brothers got. Little things like that can really set him off for hours!

Here is our scout! Miles really enjoyed his costume because he is so excited to start up Cub Scouts when he turns 8. I think he felt like a really big boy that night. He was actually the only child that loved every minute of the night. He just took everything in and really enjoyed himself!

Here is our policeman taking care of business. There was a little sailor who went around trying to steal other kids guns!

Here is Grandma Pack with the kids!

Here is the whole family. Don't we look so happy? We have learned to fake it really good for pictures! No, we had a great experience that night and thanks to Diana for making it all possible!

Miles' Baseball Team

2009-06-30T18:04:00.000-06:00

Miles was the only one who wanted to play baseball this year. He really enjoys all sports and is going to have a hard time narrowing it down when the time comes. When you have 5 kids in a family everyone can't do everything!He was on the Cub team. My favorite thing about this picture are his ears! He has total Clawson ears. I have this same problem when I wear hats!

Here is the whole team. His friends Jackson and Tyler were on his team this year. He had a blast!

The Last Day in Midway

2009-06-26T17:00:00.001-06:00

The last day of our trip we went and toured the natural crater swimming areas. We didn't end up swimming in them, but we'll have to get up there in the future and check it out. We also rented bikes and rode around all over Midway. I'm just glad we made it back safely! The kids always fought the whole trip about who got to ride in Uncle Abe's Jeep. When we were in the parking lot of the crater he took the whole gang for a ride around the lot. They LOVED it!

Here is a not so happy Moses in the bike trailer on our bike ride. He wanted to ride the bike attached to his Uncle's bike. He was able to trade his cousin Joe about half way into the ride and was happy about that. Both Ella and Moses fell asleep during the first half of the ride. I need to get myself one of these to go jogging with!

Here is Nate pulling Ella and Moses, and Miles behind. I think that Grandpa Pack is to the side. We drove up this huge mountain on a spiral trail. It was pretty challenging, but we all made it. The fun part was riding down the hill afterward.

After riding bikes Miles and Isaiah played a game of chess on this huge chess board. They love playing chess. I don't even know how to play!

Moses' Birthday Party

2009-06-25T17:15:00.000-06:00

After coming back from Pioneer Park, we had Moses' birthday party in the condos. We were sad that the Clawson side of the fam weren't able to attend, but we wanted to celebrate on the actual day and there wasn't really another time to do it with everything going on. Here is Moses showing up his muscles. Up to this point he had been telling people that he was 9-years-old. He now would actually say that he was turning 4. This is how big he has gotten!

Here he is about ready to blow out the candles! I LOVE Moses' smile. It melts my heart. I think it is because he shows his cranky side a little too much. When he is happy and smiling and his little dimples show, there is nothing better!

He got a Star Wars "light-up" lightsaber from mom and dad. He has been asking for this since Miles' friend got one for his birthday in April. Needless to say he was very patient waiting for his birthday to come around.

Grandma Pack gave him a Lego's Star Wars ship. It is a little difficult for a 4-year-old to put together, but Miles and Isaiah enjoy helping him put it together. This is what he wanted and he enjoys taking it apart and making other "cool" ships!

Moses has been talking a lot about baseball lately because he has been watching Miles play. So, mom and dad got him a glove, bat, ball, and a tee to practice on. Hopefully these will get a lot of use!

Aunt Erika gave him a water bottle and M&M's. He always loves candy and was very generous to share them with his cousins. We LOVE you Moses and are so excited to see you learning and growing up so big. Next stop...preschool!

Pioneer Park

2009-06-25T16:31:00.001-06:00

On Thursday we decided to take a trip down from Midway to Salt Lake to check out some places that we rarely go. We first went to the LDS Conference Center to check out an art exhibit going on there. We then headed out to lunch at Noodles and Co. We were enjoying our meal until Ella threw up everywhere! I guess there was a bug going around because Eli and Erika couldn't join us on this day because they were throwing up all night. Luckily Ella just through up once! We then headed over to "This is the Place" park and had a blast. I like the look of this! Just put Grace to work on our laundry. If she doesn't start picking up her clothes I've threatened to have her start folding all the laundry. That would be a big help!

Here is Isaiah trying out the stilts. He couldn't quite get going.

Here is Nate unsuccessfully trying to show Isaiah how to use the stilts. In his defense they were kind of small for him.

Here is one of the homes that Ella and Moses had had enough. They just laid on the floor! I think that Ella still didn't feel very good and Moses was very tired!

Here is Moses learning how to brush out wool to get it ready to make into yarn.

I had to post this because it was so sad, and so funny! Miles got a little sliver and you would have thought he broke a bone or something. He was freaking out, making a scene all for a little sliver. He wouldn't let us look at it for the longest and freaked out when we tried to touch it. Finally with a little prodding we used a needle from the yarn house to try to get it out. He seriously was freaking out. I have never seen so much drama over a sliver in my life. I think he might have been a little tired staying up late with his cousins...

Grace had to be the dunce at the Pioneer school because she forgot to turn in her homework. The kids got a kick out of this! The funny thing is that Grace really does forget to turn in her homework frequently!

Here is everyone on a train ride around the park. It was on this train that we learned that Michael Jackson had died. I'll never forget that!

Here are the kids in front of their ancestor's home. John Pack was Nate's great-great-great-great grandfather who was one of the first to come to the valley. His home was the first university and the first dance parlor. We learned a line dance while we were there.

We were too late to ride the ponies, but they let Ella at least pet them. She loves animals! Everyone was so sad, we didn't realize that the park closed at 5:00 and missed the pony rides. All in all it was a very fun day!

Midway Vacation

2009-06-24T17:56:00.001-06:00

After the Ragnar we met Nate's family up in Midway, UT to hang out and vacation for the week. Erika and her 6 kids were there along with Jake, Abe, Ben, Kellie, and Ezra. We had a great time just hanging out and doing a few activities. On this particular day we attempted to drive up to Timp caves to hike, but our car started overheating just as we arrived at Sundance. We decided to hang out there for a while and then we just went back to Midway to get the car looked at. Here are the kids by the river eating some suckers. They enjoyed finding hiking sticks and playing by the water.

Isaiah skillfully was able to climb over to this island. He had to walk through a shallow section of the river to get there.

The girls joined him later!

The Jungle Book Musical

2009-06-24T16:46:00.003-06:00

This musical actually occurred at the end of April, but it has taken me a while to get some pictures of the event. I saw the play at the assembly the day before the actual performances because I was going to be out of town at BYU Women's Conference. Nate had planned on taking pictures, but I guess taking 4 kids with you to a musical performance wiped out those plans. I was finally able to order these pictures from a professional photographer who sold them for a pretty penny. But, I had to get some for memories sake!One of Isaiah's parts was being part of Kaa's coil. He did have one solo line where he said, "We are so hungry for visitors." He was able to sing in all of the chorus parts and he had a great time!

Here he is in action trying to gobble up Mowgli. I believe this was where he actually spoke his solo part.

When Isaiah wasn't performing as Kaa's coil, he was a tree in the jungle. Here he is messing around at a dress performance. He was very dramatic in his tree duties!

Here is the whole cast. They all did so great! I appreciate all of the work that the parents put in to making this musical happen. It is all done through volunteer work and it is amazing. I love the kids' school!

RAGNAR RELAY

2009-06-21T16:26:00.002-06:00

Nate and I had the opportunity to participate in the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back edition. When Nate first came home last summer and told me that he wanted to run in a relay race from Logan to Park City I instantly said that I would like to do it too. I think that Nate thought I was crazy! First of all, I don't think that Nate has ever seen me run and secondly, I have always told him that I hated running. Well, that part is true. I really do hate to run, but I really felt like doing something challenging and out of the norm. In all actuality I have never run for "fun"; only when I am forced to do it like at volleyball practice. So, our team consisted of 2 vans of 6 people each most of whom Nate works with. Island View let us use their vans and we had some very dedicated members of our team. Mickey donated a bunch of Rossignol gear. We each got 3 shirts and 1 jacket. They were so nice to have. He also has a sister who did all of this vinyl for our vans. Didn't they turn out awesome?! Our team name as you can see was Team ShamWow! I'm not sure who came up with that name but I loved it! I think that we became infamous throughout the run. Everyone loved our decorated vans. We also "tagged" other vans with little Team ShamWow vinyl logos. There were some very interesting team names and weird decorated vans. Some that I can remember off the top of my head were: The Polig Rig, Team Swingers, The Stripping Warriors, and 4-letter word Cancer. There were many others that were strange, but I can't seem to remember them now.

Our names were on the side of the van too. I loved everyone in our van. Besides Nate and I we had Jake (Nate's brother), Mike P., Angie, and Judy. Our driver was a co-worker of Nate's named Jon. He was amazing. I don't know how he stayed awake driving us around for 24 hours. I really enjoyed getting to know Mike, Angie, and Judy more. They were all very supportive the whole time we were running!

Here are a bunch of the guys on our team. The 2 Mikes are in the foreground and then we have Adam, Jason, Laura, Jen, Judy, and Angie in the background. Everyone was so positive and having such a great time. I need to have more fun next time around. I was really nervous and I get really mad while I'm running. Two things that will hopefully be improved for the next time around!

Nate made a ShamWow head band to fashionably sport for the race. After his second leg, which was 9.6 miles, he wrung out his head band and seriously got ounces of sweat out of it. I was pretty gross, but impressive as well.

Here is Nate after that long run. He was amazing. I think he had the hardest leg of the whole race. His first leg was pretty flat and 3.5 miles. His second leg went gradually uphill and was 9.6 miles. Although 9.6 miles was very impressive, his last leg was the killer. It was straight up Guardsmans pass between Midway and Park City and was 3.6 miles long. The van was even having a hard time getting up the muddy hill.

Here is me right before my last leg. I was pretty excited that I was almost done. I was really tired, only having slept a total of maybe an hour since the race started. I couldn't really sleep that well laying on the van bench. It was probably a lot nerves and a bit of anxiousness. Anyway, I started with my first leg that was flat and 4 miles long. It was pretty hot during that leg though. My second leg was a moderate climb for 3.8 miles, and my last leg was a flat 4.6 miles through Heber residential neighborhoods in the cloud cover! I had the easiest leg of the race, but it was really challenging for me!

Here is a view from the top of Guardsmans Pass. We had a lot of beautiful views throughout the run. My favorite leg, although it was probably my most challenging, was my 2nd leg in the middle of the night. There were crazy stars out and the air was nice and cool. One thing we discovered through this experience is that we need to utilize the nature that we have close to us more often.

Here we are at the finish line. It rained crazy for the last 2 legs of the race. Poor Angie and Judy had it bad. It was pouring with thunder and lightning. They were troopers, always having a smile on their faces! Overall we had a great experience. We signed up to do it again next year, and are thinking about doing the one in Vegas in October. I really want to get up to Washington and do the Whidbey Island run up there! I am excited that learned how to run 5 miles without stopping through this experience. I have learned how to keep going even when I am really tired. I have learned that after a few minutes you get through the pain. I run terribly slow, but stay consistent at least!

Here are some of Nate's highlights:

I had such a great time (mostly the times that I wasn't running) during the Ragnar event. It was all so memorable. That's why I got to get in next year. Here are some highlights:

* Tagging others' rides with the stickers (vinyl graffiti)

* Tiny shorts guy, old guy, no-shirt guy, lots of struggling guys...

* Green team, Pinky and the Stripping Warriors who were the enemy until, Where did they go?

* The Salt and Vinegar Almond scandal

* Wringing out the sweat from the ShamWow headband after the 9 mile leg. I didn't know it held liquid like that.

* Sara seeming so bothered that we were cheering her on. She says running makes her angry.

* A surreal experience = bumping to Chariot's of Fire after Sara's second leg in the middle of, where were we?

* Jake complaining of fatigue while passing about 20 dudes on his last leg. (He couldn't walk the next day.)

* Mike P. "mountain-goating" it up the pass with a smile.

* Angie cruising down the steep backside as the rain gushed -- I was a little worried about safety.

* Judi had way to much excitement and energy after all of her legs.

* Drafting off of old-guy on leg #2

* Angie missing the hand-off (twice) while Judi was freaking out.

* That Honey Bucket hand sanitizer smelled nice, huh?

* I'm glad we finished the thing.

* We need to invest in a new cowbell next year. We need more cowbell!

* We decided that our van drew the short straw.

Some of my highlights:

* Getting really angry while I was running. I can accomplish anything angry. Need to work on accomplishing things while I'm happy!

* Worrying that I was being passed by everyone while everyone in my van was focusing on how many people they were passing.

* Having to go to the bathroom every time I stopped running, even though nothing came out. Is that a consequence of having so many kids? At least I made it to the Honeybuckets!

* Having our IPOD stop working the night before the race so I had to go to Wally's and get a new one the day of. I can't run without that music!

* The almonds disappearing during one of my legs and reappearing during my last leg. I don't normally like almonds, but the salt and vinegar ones are amazing.

* Always being amazed at how fast everyone in my van was running. They were awesome.

* The nice man that sprayed everyone as they were running by during my scorching first leg.

* Being a part of the conversation about what a brief minute is. It is interesting how people had very different ideas on this. We were all exhausted and giddy by that point though.

* On the first leg being really mad when I saw the blue "one-mile to go" sign because I thought I was closer than that! Being really happy to see the sign on my last two legs.

* The cowbell breaking while Nate was ringing it out the window. The ringer fell off on top of the van and we recovered it. I thought that I fixed it and gave it back to Nate only to have the ringer fall off again out the window in the dirt as we were driving.

* Loving the cowbell so much that I found a pencil to hit on it after it was broken, only it didn't have the same effect.

* Running to the finish line with the whole team swinging our ShamWows over our heads.

Thanks to Jen for putting the whole thing together. You see while your involved in the race how much organization and work goes into putting the whole thing together. Thanks to mine and Nate's parents for watching the kids during our adventure and showing them a good time. Thanks to my vanmates who kept me running and being such a fun and inspiring group!

Kindergarten Graduation

2009-06-02T15:25:00.001-06:00

Miles has officially grown-up. It is really so sad that he will be away for a full school day next year. I don't know what I am going to do without him around. Much to Nate's dismay, SAA holds a kindergarten graduation. Nate believes that moving from kindergarten to first grade isn't much of a celebration and so he was rolling his eyes the whole program. I just love watching Miles with his classmates, joyfully taking it all in! Here is Miles waving at us when the Kinders entered the gym. Doesn't he look so proud and excited?

Here he is sitting beside his classmates. The kids sang a couple of songs and had a grand-finale of doing a chorus line to the song, "Here we come, First Grade." It was hilarious watching especially the boys kick their legs in the air. Miles kept kicking the same foot, instead of alternating. It was so cute.

Here is Miles with his teacher, Ms. Lambson. He thinks she is the best teacher ever!

Here is Miles with his buddies. Bryson, Tyler, and Jackson. They are known as "The Gang." They are all very competitive and love playing sports at recess. One cute thing at the graduation is that 3 different mothers came up to me and told me how much their daughters LOVE Miles. One mom even told me that her daughter calls Miles "Her Troy" when she plays High School Musical. So funny. I guess he really is a charmer!

Moses' Pretend Birthday

2009-06-01T15:12:00.000-06:00

Moses has been in a playgroup during this school year with some neighborhood friends. When it's the child's birthday we have a party for them to celebrate. Moses' birthday is at the end of June, but our last playgroup day was June 1st, so we had an early birthday celebration for him.The kids did a lot of little activities together including play-doh, bubbles, decorating with stickers, and coloring. Here is Moses blowing his bubbles outside.

Here is one of the whole group. Hayley, Nikia, and Carson. Moses has grown to love these kids!

Because it wasn't his real birthday, we celebrated with donuts and ice cream cones rather than cake. These are Moses' favorite treats right now. He always wants them for FHE treats.

One hilarious thing that happened at the party was that Moses took a huge bite of this candle. At every birthday party the kids always take out the candles and lick off the frosting. Moses has been watching all of his siblings do this all year, and he was so excited to pull out his candles and take a lick. Only there wasn't any frosting on the candles because they were in a donut, so I think he thought he was supposed to take a bite. It was so funny. He was saying, mmmmm, and then he got this funny look on his face and immediately stuck out his tongue. He was able to wash it down with his ice cream cone after!

More Track Meets

2009-05-30T15:05:00.001-06:00

We've had a busy sports season in our household. Here are a couple of pictures that I took at a recent track meet of Isaiah's. He really enjoys running and he is really self-motivated. One disappointing thing that we recently learned is that they don't let kids run the 1600m race until they are 13-years-old. That race is Isaiah's specialty. The longest race he can run is the 400M this year, and then it goes up to the 800M next year. Here he is at the starting line. The 400M race is one lap around the track.

Here he is at the last stretch of the race. He really does well. I think he got 2nd place in this particular race.

Photography Awards

2009-05-29T14:26:00.002-06:00

This kids recently had an art contest at their school. The contest this year was photography. The theme was "A Day in the Life..." My kids had a lot of fun with this one. They just took the camera and started taking a lot of pictures. We finally had to sit down and explain that their photo needed to fit in with the theme. They all ended up being finalists. Isaiah got 2nd place in the 4th grade. Grace got 1st place in the 2nd grade and 3rd place overall in the whole school. Miles got 1st place in Kindergarten and won 2nd place overall. They did such a fabulous job! Grace and Miles were excited to learn that they got prize money for being finishers in the whole school. Grace got $10 and Miles got $15. Miles, of course, felt like Isaiah should have won a prize too and so he gave him $5 of his winnings. Here are the kids with their ribbons, certificates, and photos. This is Isaiah's new camera face. I can't tell if he is upset (which he was), or if he is trying to look cool?

Here is Isaiah's winning photo. It was titled "I Drooled on my Homework." Grace enjoyed being the model for this photo.

Grace's photo was entitled "Wake Up Baby." Her idea was that she gets her sister out of her bed every morning when she wakes up.

Here is Miles' photo. He called it "Stuck Basketball." He was really excited to do so well in the contest. He is obsessed with basketball to Nate's pure joy!

Grace the Performer

2009-05-23T14:54:00.001-06:00

Grace has so much fun in her little performing group. She does such a great job. She shows no fear. I really like this particular group because they go to old folks homes and perform. The elderly just love to see the little girls and their cute little performances. This particular recital Grace had solos in "Yakety-Yak" and "Ole-King Cole." The other songs that the girls sang included nursery rhyme songs and Saturday Morning Cartoon songs. Grace's teacher came up to me afterwards and told me what a beautiful voice Grace has and we should definitely look for opportunities for her to share her talent. I'm not sure how I could exactly do that, but we are looking for voice lesson opportunities. If anyone knows of any, please pass along the info!

Ella's First Haircut

2009-05-18T14:46:00.001-06:00

Ella had her first official haircut. Although she really had a little "trim" in the back and sides to even out her hair. She looks so sweet in her little "bob." I don't know where a tan toe-head came from. Her hair and skin are very different from the family, but we'll keep her anyway. Here is a look at the hair from the back. It does the curl-under naturally. Lucky girl! or better yet, Lucky Mom!

Here is our sweet heart from a front view. Look at those cheeks. I could squeeze and kiss them all day!

Hurray for Moses!

2009-05-18T10:50:00.000-06:00

Moses has had a eventful month. As you all know Moses fractured his foot a few weeks ago. He has been so active on his cast that he had to go in a get it re casted because it started cracking on the bottom after just one week. I was able to attend BYU Women's Conference a week later and Nate stayed home with the kids! I am so grateful to him for that because I was very uplifted and rejuvenated at the conference. Anyways, while I was gone, Nate somehow enticed Moses to become interested in FINALLY going to the bathroom. When I got home I continued and after about two weeks he is accident free, even through the night!To celebrate we all went to Chuck E Cheese as a family. That is Moses' favorite place right now and we all had a good time. We are so proud of him! He has just matured so much the last few months, and he was finally ready for this big step!

Nate's Newest Painting

2009-05-15T11:02:00.000-06:00

Here is Nate's latest painting. It was inspired by Alicia Keys. Check out more of his new work at www.natepack.com!

Isaiah's Piano Recital

2009-05-11T10:36:00.000-06:00

This must be Isaiah's month. He has had a lot going on and May happens to be his grand finale! His night he had his end of the year piano recital. He played two numbers that he memorized and he did fantastic. The theme for the recital was Pianimals. Both of his numbers had titles that had to do with animals. He played both of his songs on an electric keyboard which allowed him to add sound effects to the songs. One of his songs was about an eagle soaring and he composed the sound effects all by himself.

Here he is playing in an ensemble. There were probably 8 different keyboards and all of the kids play one song together. They all have different parts that contribute to the finished product! They also did a Peter and the Wolf production to music. Isaiah played Peter. He has become quite the actor thanks to his experience in the school musical.

This is how we keep the children entertained during a 1-1/2 hour long piano recital. They all take turns taking pictures around the room. This is one that Grace took of the three of us. Nate was out in the hall with Ella a lot of the time because she is very loud and way to curious about everything around her.

Isaiah's First Track Meet

2009-05-09T10:25:00.002-06:00

Isaiah has discovered a recent love and talent in running. He is required to run the mile every Friday at school and he always comes home with an update of a record time. He seems to keep improving every week. Nate and I are training for a 12-man relay called the Wasatch Back. We have been running 2-4 miles several times a week and Isaiah has joined us a few times. When he runs with me I always feel like I'm holding him back. He beats me home every time. I happen to come across a track club one day while I was signing my kids up for summer arts. We decided to sign him up even though he was already doing soccer at the time. It's been pretty crazy trying to fit it all in, but he is loving track. Here is Isaiah after his first track meet. He took 1st in his age group in the 1500 Meters, first in the 400 M, and 2nd in the 800 M. We were so lucky to have grandma and grandpa Clawson around to take him to his meet in Salt Lake County. Nate had to work that day and I had to take Miles and Grace to their soccer games. We are both looking forward to seeing him run at his next meet!

PRESENTS!

2009-05-06T22:22:00.005-06:00

Everyone was very gracious to Isaiah for his birthday. Grace and Miles had the most fun. They spent all afternoon looking through their little treasure boxes to give Isaiah a present. They both ended up giving him $1 each along with several other little trinkets each. They also each made him a card. They were so generous and very thoughtful! No birthday of Isaiah's would be complete without a book. This years pick...Fablehaven 4. Grandma and Gramdpa Clawson know what makes Isaiah happy. Look at that smile!Grandma and Grandpa Pack gave Isaiah a watch. His old watch broke a few months ago and he has been begging for a new one. He especially likes that it is waterproof and it has a stopwatch on it. He has been excited to time himself running. He has become quite the little runner!

Because the kids were trying to find every last cent to give Isaiah for his birthday I ended up giving them $5 to buy Isaiah a present all together. The perfect gift: a blue light saber. Did I mention that my children have a slight obsession with Star Wars?

Isaiah has been asking for a camera for a while. He decided that he wanted to get a nice camera for his birthday. When I went to the store they were marking down all of the cameras as I was looking through them. This camera was heavily discounted and so I thought I would take a chance. I made a bad choice. This camera was the worst! I ended up taking it back the next day and buying the camera that I originally had budgeted for. It was a lot more money, but in this case it made a huge difference! Isaiah was very grateful for this gift. He has told me THANK-YOU a dozen times since!

Happy #10 Isaiah!

2009-05-06T22:14:00.005-06:00

Is my little baby already 10-years-old? Isaiah wanted a little family get-together this year so that he could get a digital camera. He wants to start his own blog, so stay tuned. We had a little backyard BBQ for FHE and had grandparents and a few uncles over. We had all of his favorites for dinner. This has become a tradition. Only now the kids have extended it into lunch and dinner as well. Here is Isaiah with his birthday cake: READY!

AIM!

FIRE!!!! Nate strategically placed candles all over the cake so it took a few blows to get them all blown out. I think he really enjoyed his party.

Moses Fractures His Foot

2009-04-25T21:50:00.002-06:00

OK, here's the situation...I am sitting at the computer reading some emails when Moses crawls in the back door kind of whimpering a bit. I have never heard Moses whimper and I thought that he was pretending to be a dog or something. He comes over and tells me that his foot hurts. I play along and give him a million kisses on his foot and ask if it is all better now. He says NO, it still hurts. I lay him on the couch and give him an ice pack just to comfort him a little. I get on with my afternoon making dinner and cleaning up the kitchen and such. A few HOURS later I notice that Moses is still crawling around. I put him on my lap and mess around with his foot for a little bit. I yank it back and forth from side to side and up and down. I turn it around and around. No complaints. I give it a little squeeze and I get a, "that hurts mom." I put him in bed and that's that. The next morning he is still crawling around and won't put any weight on his foot. I happen to be talking to a friend and mention that he won't walk and she suggested that his foot was broken. Broken? There is nothing visibly wrong with his foot: no swelling, no bruising, no pain when I push and pull on it. She said that her neighbor's kid broke her arm and the only way they knew was that she stopped using it. So, I took him the the Instacare and hung out for a while. We watched a movie, played games, and read some books in the waiting room. Then we finally got it examined and x-rayed. Sure enough, his metatarsal under his big toe is fractured at the top. He needs a cast. They let him choose the color and he is just as happy as can be. He gets a little sucker and a squishy ball from the vending machine and we are on our way. No crying, no complaining, just a happy little boy with a cast! Here is the final product. He crawled around for a couple hours and then realized that he could walk on it and just took off. Now the problem is keeping him from going outside when the grass is wet! Oh, by the way, apparently Moses decided to take a jump from the top of the plastic toddler slide that we have in the back yard. That is how he fractured his foot. This is the story via Miles, a spectator, and Moses.

Here is the happy boy with his loot from the doc. He was just as happy as can be. Totally opposite of the experience with Grace breaking her arm earlier this year. I'm very thankful for that!

First Pedi?

2009-04-14T16:47:00.003-06:00

Ella likes to hang out in my bathroom while I am getting ready for the day. She always opens all of the cabinets under the sink and empties them. I hate the mess, but usually just let her so that I can get ready. She recently found my stash of nail polish and carries it around. I decided to show her what it was the other day. She must of been really interested because she sat perfectly still while I painted her nails. For those of you who know Ella that is REALLY out of character. I don't think I'll have that much luck next time! Here is a picture of the final product.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T16:32:00.000-06:00

Every April we have Stake Conference at the Ogden Tabernacle. This year it happened to land on Easter. We always stay a while afterward and enjoy the grounds of the temple. It has become a tradition to take pictures afterward. I have to tell everyone that Isaiah was NOT happy with having to wear a pink tie. I usually buy the kids new Easter clothes, but this year we are trying to cut back on a few things and so I had the kids wear these ties that they wore last summer at their Uncle Ben's wedding. The girls have dresses on that they each got for their birthday. The combination worked out really well, I think. Here is one of just the kids. I love how Moses looks like he is having so much fun, when really he wasn't!

Here is the whole family pick. We all need to get a tan, especially me!

I have started to take more pictures of Nate and I together. When I got on Facebook I was trying to find a picture of us to upload and I couldn't find anything recent. Since one of us always takes the pictures, there usually isn't a picture of us together. We have started letting the kids take them. They do a pretty good job.

Here is a little collage of pictures of the kids. I usually like to take them by the flowers on the temple grounds, but there weren't any this year. Probably because we are still getting cold temps and even snow!

EASTER

2009-04-10T16:19:00.001-06:00

During the priesthood session at General Conference we hung out with Grandma Pack at the mall. It was really crowded there, but nobody was in line to see the Easter Bunny. Normally I wouldn't take pics with the Easter Bunny, but Grandma offered to get a picture because it turned out so cute!The older kids weren't so enthusiastic, and the younger kids were a little apprehensive, but the picture turned out really cute. One thing I learned the night that we were at the mall was that I'm not so sure if I can take all the kids around to different places this summer. The older 3 are pretty well behaved, but I need two adults per child for Moses and Ella. Moses tends to wander off and Ella doesn't want to be carried or put into a stroller. Since she learned how to walk she likes to practice a lot, I guess? She was walking haphazardly all throughout the mall wandering in and out of various stores. I couldn't get her to leave the Hello Kitty store. I might have a long summer in store for me. Yay!

All three of the kids had 9:00 soccer games Easter Saturday this year. That pretty much ruled out any city or event Easter egg hunts for us this year. We just decided to have one in our own backyard. I think that the kids had a lot of fun. Once Ella realized what was in the eggs, all she wanted to do was open them. She still has an eye out for Easter eggs wherever we go!

The Newest Member of the Church

2009-03-28T15:05:00.000-06:00

The long awaited day finally arrived. It was a perfect day weather wise and Grace had a ton of friends and family come support her. It was so cute to see her up in the front row listening to the talks with all of her friends surrounding her. She appreciated everyone coming. I wish I had taken a picture of all of them together, but I was worrying about other details...like giving talks and preparing luncheons and such. I wish the moms could just sit back and enjoy it too! Here is a picture with mom and dad before the meeting started. She picked out this dress to get baptised in at the church. It was shorter than the ones that I have seen before, but it fit Grace really well.

Grace was very blessed to have her daddy baptise her. I don't realize how blessed we are with the priesthood in our home. It is something that I sometimes take for granted. Grace wasn't nervous at all! She was only worried a little about logistics like if she should wear her socks into the font and if someone would open the door when she was getting out of her wet clothes!

I really enjoy seeing my children make good decisions in their lives. I am so proud of Gracie for making this decision and really knowing what it means to keep promises to our Heavenly Father. I was privileged to give the talk on the Holy Ghost at the baptism. I enjoyed researching it out. I think that I've been pegged as the talk giver at all of my children's baptisms. It's become a tradition now, whether I like it or not!

Messy Ella!

2009-03-23T15:00:00.000-06:00

Moses picked out some ice cream cones at the store today. I never buy them and thought it would be a quick and easy FHE treat. Ella was so excited. I wish that I had video of how she was watching Nate put the ice cream on the cone and actually handing the whole thing to her. So sweet! This is one of Ella's excited faces. She tries to get a serious look on her face with her eyes as big as can be and her lips puckered a bit.

Grace is Getting Baptized!

2009-03-19T17:55:00.002-06:00

Here is my attempt at making a cute announcement for Gracie's baptism. It never turns out how I plan it in my head, but here it is! Anyone who wants to can join us on March 28th for the special day! By the way, I don't have these in the mail yet. It should be coming soon to all of the family!

Airforce Museum

2009-03-16T17:50:00.001-06:00

We live just down the road from Hill Airforce Base. They have a snazzy airplane museum that we drive by frequently. Moses always points to it and wants to go. Nate took a day off on a Monday. He was going to surprise me, but couldn't keep it in. We decided to take Ella and Moses to the museum together. I think that it would be very nice if he retired soon! They have these huge airplanes outside, and then a bunch more inside. The bummer is that you can't climb on them. When Moses learned that he couldn't be so hands on he lost interest. But we had a nice stroll anyways!

The Dinosaur Park

2009-03-15T17:36:00.000-06:00

I came across this website that was selling $50 gift certificates for the Dinosaur Park for $15. I snatched it up and we were able to buy a whole year family membership with it. We went this weekend for the first time. The kids really enjoyed it. There were a lot of little interactive exhibits inside and a ton of playtime outside! I LOVE pictures of the kids helping each other out. Isaiah took Ella up the middle of this tree and took her down the slide inside of it. She enjoys time with her siblings.

Here is Ella inside a dinosaur play structure with her dad. She just loves to be outside!

Grace posed for tons of different dino pictures. She wanted a picture with her sassy hat. I love her in this hat.

And here is our Miles!

Can you say, "OUCH!"

Here is the whole gang. Triniti was with us for the weekend and was able to come with us to the park. After the park we went to Cafe Rio and got many weird looks. I am amazed at how people react to a big family, even here in the children rich state of Utah. People think that we're crazy. I was so proud of all of the kids at the restaurant. They had amazing manners! They were quiet and polite. There were many families with two children there who were loud and running around with very bad restaurant manners. I hope all who thought that we were crazy took note!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACIE!

2009-03-14T17:20:00.002-06:00

I can't believe how old all of the kids are getting. Grace just turned the coveted "8!" She has been looking forward to this birthday for a long time and it finally arrived. She debated back and forth whether to have a friend birthday party or to get a big birthday gift from mom and dad. She really wanted an American Girl doll (those are expensive!) and so she finally opted for a family gathering with a gift from mom and dad. She is already planning her friend party for next year. I've heard about 5 different ideas that she has come up with over the last week or so. She does LOVE her friends! I can't resist getting pics of the kids in the blowing mode. Their little cheeks look so cute!

Grace did get to have one of her favorite cousins at her party. Trin and Grace had a fun weekend together here at the house. They played with their dolls and loved dressing up every chance they got.

OK, so after giving Grace all of her birthday present options, she opted to get a much more affordable knock off of the American Girl doll. I was really proud of her for being so frugal. She decided that these Our Generation dolls from Target were just as cute and much cheaper. She wanted to get a few accessories for the doll and that pretty much sealed the deal. Here is her new doll, Robyn!

Another great gift was from Grandma and Grandpa Pack. She was able to get a dress from her upcoming baptism. She is really looking forward to this day and is excited to get to wear her new white dress. I'm sure she'll enjoy adding colorful accessories to the dress for future wearing after the baptism too!

Temple Square

2009-03-08T17:08:00.001-06:00

This day was a surprise day off. We woke up on Saturday and did some jobs around the house and realized that we had no plans for the rest of the day. I don't remember this happening in the past 6 months at least. We called up Mom and Dad Clawson and Spencer and Kelli and we all met down at temple square. It was really fun to just relax and enjoy the day. Here are the kids posing in front of the Christus Statue. It always humbles me to see this. The kids are always in awe of this statue and it reminds me of the innate knowledge that all of us has of Christ's amazing countenance. I'm not sure what Ella was looking at! Notice Moses' coat. He has decided that he likes to wear it backwards so that he can look down and see Lightning McQueen. I think he is brilliant. What kid wants to wear a piece of clothing with a picture on the back where they can't see the picture of the things that they are obsessed with at the moment. I get all kinds of comments around town. People must really think I'm stupid because they'll come up and tell me that his coat is on backwards. I've also had people laugh and tell me that he looks like he has a straight-jacket on!

My favorite thing is to see the kids looking up to the statue. They were so reverent and alert to what the voice was saying. There is such a spirit there...

Here is Ella all amazed.

And can we say, Future Ballerina! Well, maybe not right now with her body type, but she is very flexible. She spent a while trying to climb onto this bar. We thought she looked like a beautiful princess ballerina!

Ella's Hair Attempts

2009-03-05T13:47:00.005-07:00

For a mama that loves to do hair, Ella has not been giving me much to work with and Grace no longer wants me to do her hair. Here are my meager attempts at pulling little bunches into ponytails. You might want to know how I get Ella to sit so still for her hair. The two most successful places are in the bathroom sink and in her high chair while she is eating. By the way, we took Ella in for her 12 month check up and she was a whopping 26 lbs. She is also in the 95 percentile for her height. We have a big, healthy girl on our hands! This is my favorite. The first time I attempted it they looked like little twigs sticking out of the back of her head. She has since grown in a little more hair.

This is a top of the head pony. Never did this with Grace when she was a baby. She didn't have any hair on the top of her head. It works pretty well. Love Ella's little personality in this picture. This hair description thing is kind of getting boring...Sorry!

Alisha's Wedding

2009-03-02T13:32:00.001-07:00

On February 28th, Nate's sister Alisha got married. We had a great time at her reception. It was at a garden center, so all of the decor made me very excited for spring to start. The kids had an amazing time running around with their cousins. Here a few pics: Here is a rare kiss from Moses. Actually, it looks kind of forced, but it started out as genuine one. He recently has stated that he does not like kisses. He gets really mad at me when I try to kiss him good night. He tells me that he only wants hugs, but not big ones. Lately he has been puckering up a little bit more.

Here is Ella dancing with Nate. It was a rare smile for her this night. She was a real crabby pants. But ya still gotta love her. She had a really good time dancing!

Here is a rare picture of us. We never get pictures together because one of us is usually the photographer. This one was taken by Isaiah. He did a pretty good job. Maybe you'll see more pictures of us in the future.

Here is a picture of all of the Pack brothers. Yes, there are seven of them. They all look so good dressed to the 9s. I hope my boys look this good when they're older. I really hope that I don't have seven of them though!

Here is the only picture that I have of all of us. It isn't the best picture, but at least we are all in the picture. We were about ready to lose Moses and have Ella scream. That's just how it goes sometimes. I still think we're a pretty cute little family. OK, I guess I can't really say little...

Pinewood Derby

2009-02-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

This year was Isaiah's first pinewood derby. He made his car with the assistance of his den leaders, but he really did most of the work by himself. I can't believe how into these things dads can get. There were some really tripped-out cars at the event. Isaiah came in 2nd in his den out of 3 boys. His car placed 2nd to last in the whole cub scouts. It sounds like the den leaders may need to get some manuals or something on how to make cars that go fast! Just kidding. They did a way better job than Nate or I could do. This is our second picture attempt of the night. Isaiah swears that he doesn't know how to smile. He hates getting his picture taken these days. I think he smiled pretty good here! By the way, I told him that I would not be taking any pictures of him unless he smiles.

Here is the creation. He described it to me as being a triangle-shaped car that was colored in many colors. His favorite number is 52, hence the number of the car.

TOAST TO MILES!

2009-02-18T16:35:00.003-07:00

This is our sweet boy Miles. We are reminded quite frequently just how amazingly nice he innately is. One such story occurred the other night. The kids wanted to take their report cards to Krispy Kreme to get 6 free donuts each. We all got complimentary donuts because the HOT sign was on and then Isaiah, Grace, and Miles each got six free donuts. Miles went around and shared a donut with everyone. He gave one to mom, dad, and Moses. Then he asked Isaiah and Grace if they wanted one. Isaiah said "sure," and Grace said that she didn't need one because she had her own. When we left Krispy Kreme Miles had no donuts left. Grace left with 4 and Isaiah came home with is full half dozen. We are amazed by his generosity every day. Another one of my favorite stories about Miles happened one day on the way to church. He had collected his tithing, filled out his tithing slip, and put it into an envelope. When we got to church I looked down and noticed that he had drawn a heart on the back of his envelope. I asked him why he did that. He said that he drew the heart so that when the Bishop gave his tithing to Heavenly Father that He would know that he loved him. That was the sweetest thing ever!

Classic Isaiah

2009-02-16T16:52:00.002-07:00

I had to take a picture of this today because it cracks me up. Isaiah has been asked to shovel off the trampoline before he can play with his friends. I look outside and this is what I see: He has the canny ability to have people do his work for him. I called him into the house and told him to stop making his friends do his job. He said that they wanted to shovel the trampoline while he played. I told him that he is a great delegator. He wanted to know what that meant. I told him it was a nice way of say that he is a dictator!

Ella at Her Best

2009-02-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

I had to post this picture of Ella. This is her first thing in the morning while eating her breakfast. Notice her hair! She looks like a mad scientist. It gets all frizzy while she sleeps. But the twinkle in her eye and the sweet smile make up for her spazzy hair!

Little Angels

2009-02-12T16:43:00.001-07:00

Moses, Ella, and mommy met grandma Pack at the Church History Museum for a little outing. They have a little play area for the kids that they enjoyed. Moses loves seeing pictures of the prophet Baby Moses. He thinks that the picture is of himself. That was his favorite part of the museum. He also liked jumping from letter to letter on the rug that has the alphabet on it. Ella must crawled around and charmed everyone with her smile! Here they are dressed up as angels by the nativity scene they have there. Don't let them deceive you!

Ella-Bella's First Birthday!

2009-02-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

Has it been one whole year already? It seriously just flew by. The first year of Ella's life is a bit hazy. We just live our crazy lives and sometimes big things happen as we go through the motions. So sad! Ella is such a joy. She has the best cheesy, fake smiles that make everyone laugh. I have to sit in front of the Relief Society for opening exercises every week. Ella keeps the sisters smiling and laughing as she smiles at them while she is sitting on my lap. Her happiness is contagious. She is very mischievous and loves to get into anything that she is NOT supposed to. The best thing about this is she will look at you with this sly smile as she pulls books off of the shelf or has figured out how to get through any obstacle that we try to put in front of the TV so she won't push the buttons. She is quite the problem solver! Her favorite thing at her birthday party were her balloons. She enjoyed pinching them and making a horrible noise!

Ella had no interest in the candle (like her brother Moses did!). She went straight for the good stuff. I think she ate all of the frosting off of her birthday cake, but not the cake!

Here is Ella's face after her attack on her birthday cake. Not too bad! Actually half of the mess ended up on her daddy's lap!

Yep. Here is the cake minus the frosting. She has an attraction to the sugar like all the rest of my children. Here is the pony that mom and dad got for her. It makes horse noises and sings a song. She was scared of it at first because the mouth moves when it talks. It also made a neighing sound that scared her. But she loves this pony now. She rocks on it all by herself and has figured out how to pinch the ears to make her talk.

Ella got 3 push toys for her birthday. Apparently everyone wants her to learn how to walk. She is so close. She is still a little scared. We had a great day at Grandma & Grandpa Clawson's house celebrating her birthday!

Ananzi Cliff Dwelling....by Isaiah

2009-01-26T16:15:00.001-07:00

Another one of Isaiah's art projects. This one was an actual assignment from school. I've decided to take pictures of these kind of projects so that I don't have a whole room dedicated to various school projects of the kids. I usually put Nate in charge of helping the kids with their school art projects. I help them learn math facts and read books, plus I help them with their daily homework! I think it is a great trade off, don't you?Also, congratulations to Isaiah who made the school musical this year at school. They work every Friday after school from January to April. This years is "The Jungle Book." Look for pics in early May!

Copperview Rec Center

2009-01-24T15:59:00.003-07:00

January has been pretty uneventful. We have had sick kids and a sick mom for 3 weeks. Our computer also was out of commission for a couple of weeks. However, Nate was able to finish up a public art project that he is doing for the Copperview Rec Center in Midvale, UT. He is scheduled to install them in March. He has been working hard on them all summer and fall. We have also been working on his new website that is pretty close to being finished. Check it out: www.natepack.com!

Ballers.

Soccer players.
Playground.
Wheelchair basketball.

Youth theater.

Gymnast.

Karate.

Weightlifter.

Yoga.

Valley of Fire State Park

2008-12-30T10:56:00.002-07:00

Our last day we spent at a Nevada State Park in Overton. We enjoyed the 1.5 mile hike with the younger kids. As you can see from the pictures, Ella had to be carried the whole time and Moses had to have help for part of the time too! The older kids stayed for an even longer time and hiked up and saw some prehistoric Indian petroglyphs and learned about the legend of Mouse's tank. They had a very fun day and the weather was perfect for hiking. Here is a collage of photos from our hike at Elephant Rock. You can click on the photo to see an enlarged version!

Here is the whole gang at the entrance to the park. At this point we thought we might be able to put Ella in a stroller. It is really hard to carry a 25 lb. baby for a while. But the trails were too bumpy so we took turns!

Las Vegas Baby!

2008-12-29T10:23:00.001-07:00

Well, we didn't do the typical Las Vegas things because we've seen most of it before and we have children with us. So on this day we ventured over to the Children's Museum. This museum was really fun and the kids enjoyed it a lot. One of the bizarre things about it was that there was some sort of homeless shelter connected to it. There was a room where a bunch of homeless people were watching a movie, and then right outside the entrance was a smoking area. I guess I'm used to living in my Utah bubble. Don't get me wrong, we've seen a lot of homeless people around here, but they just aren't hanging out by the Children's museum. After the museum we had to hit In and Out to each lunch. We are a SCENE every time we go eat somewhere with our big clan. Nate's sister is prego and has 5 kids and we have our 5 kids. That's not including the 4 uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. People look at us like we are crazy. We probably are! The next stop was at the FAO Schwartz in the MGM Casino. It is a huge toy and candy store that my kids love to play in. Here is Miles playing on the big huge floor piano at the toy store. Isn't he handsome? I'll tell ya, he is going to break a lot of hearts. Well, actually he probably won't, he's too nice!

Here are Grace and Moses at the Museum. They spent a good amount of time in the theater area. Grace was a princess and Moses was trying to stuff himself into this Mickey Mouse costume. They made up several plays and are VERY dramatic!

Isaiah and his cousin Dennis got to roll around in some wheel chairs at the museum.

Moses and his cousin Joseph got to play basketball!

Here's Ella with her signature tongue that happens to always come out for pictures. She was a trooper all day with no nap!

Trip to Nevada

2008-12-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

This year we went to visit with Nate's sister, Erika, and her family. We left the day after Christmas and were able to stay for about a week. We love spending time with the Whitmore family because they have children that match up with each of ours. They all seem to have the same personalities too! Our kids are always sad to leave because they love their cousins very much. On this particular day we went to a nearby park in Logandale. The kids played on the toys, had a fun time swinging, and ran around a skate park. The older boys played basketball and then later the whole clan played soccer. It was nice to be in sunny weather, although it wasn't THAT warm. I won't complain though because we left a blizzard in Utah! This is Grace and Eden. They both are "boy-trapped" as Grace would say. They both love spending time together singing, talking about High School Musical, and drawing. They always get along so well and appreciate the time they have playing with the girls.

Here is Grace and Moses playing on the ramp at the Skate park.

Here are Miles and Isaiah on the same ramp. They had such a fun time just running up and down the ramp. It is amazing how much time you can spend doing that!

Here is our sweet little Ella-Bella. She could have swung all day long. It was a little cold though.

Rockn' Christmas Day

2008-12-26T15:59:00.002-07:00

Well, we finally did it. I think we were the last people on the planet to buy a game system. I have issues with children becoming addicted to them. But since there are the new musical games, we bit the bullet and the kids were VERY happy. Our family is learning to be rock stars with our new Rock Band game and great singers with the American Idol game. We also got a few the kids would appreciate like Disney Cars for Moses, Disney Sing It for Grace, Legos Star Wars for Miles, and Spiderman for Isaiah.

This is our family Rockn' out. Our band name is Pack Attack. Our main drummer is Goodness Gracie, our lead guitarist is Ice-aiah, and our drumfoot petal operator is Miles "Jo Smiley." Our lead singers are Nate-Dogg and The Claw. Our aspiring singers, Moses and Ella don't have names yet. We better get working on it! By the way, please don't mind the mounds of laundry in the picture. I spent all of Christmas Eve doing laundry for our Nevada trip.

Annual Christmas Tree Photos

2008-12-26T00:50:00.001-07:00

I always take pictures in front of the Christmas tree each year. I guess it has become somewhat of a tradition. Here is a picture of the kids on Christmas Sunday. I love how the kids in the back row look like they love each other so much. Don't see that very often.

This is what our house is really like on Sundays, and usually how my kids are treating each other. Although they do look like they are having a good time here for the camera.

Every Christmas Eve the kids open up a gift from mom & dad. Usually the gift is a pair of PJ's, although some years we like to trick the kids and get them something else. Here are the kids on Christmas Eve all ready for bed!

A White Elephant Gift?

2008-12-20T00:06:00.001-07:00

Nate came up to me a couple weeks before Christmas and told me that he wanted to tell me what he got me for Christmas. I hate a spoiled surprise, and being a mom you don't really get to open that many presents on Christmas. He said that he HAD to tell me because he wanted to use part of the gift for a work party white elephant gift. First of all, he should not be giving away part of MY gift, and more importantly, any gift he buys me should not be appropriate for a white elephant gift! Well, he spoiled my surprise and told me that he got me a Snuggie! I am always cold while watching TV and reading and we have cracked up at the infomercial together. I told him that he needed a Snuggie too and then we could be on the couch together with our Snuggies!I have tried to convince Nate over the last month that we need to take a picture with us in our Snuggies on the couch together. It would be fun for the blog and for our memories. He refuses! The nerve! He buys me a present and then won't take a picture of it. I improvised and came up with this. I originally pictured Nate with a cheesy smile holding the TV remote.

This is actually exactly how I pictured myself in the picture. I just wanted to get Nate and I on the couch together, but I'm not that good at Photoshop. Our next experiment is to play Rock Band with them. I'll let you know how it goes!

Geography Bee

2008-12-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

We are the proud parents of the SAA 4th place Geo-Bee winner! The top 3 winners were all 6th graders. Not bad for a 4th grade aspiring historian. He has asked for material to study for next year's bee. He did win a world atlas along with a certificate. The question that got him in the running was about Hurricane Ike. Apparently you have to know current events for the Geo-Bee. Don't you love how we pretend we are experts on the subject. It cracks me up every time Nate says "Geo-Bee." It somehow sounds like we're in some club or something. Anyway, we sure do enjoy watching our smartie pants in action!

Happy Birthday Miles!

2008-12-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Miles' birthday always sneaks up on us. I tried really hard to plan a special day for him this year. I always give my kids a choice for their birthday's: they can either get a big present from mom and dad, or they can have a birthday party with friends. Our more social children always choose a birthday party. It makes sense: they get a lot of presents! Miles invited 12 kids to his party, 8 of which were girls. After making invitation phone calls to friends at school, I have learned that Miles has a girlfriend and that they hold hands at recess and on field trips. We now refer to Miles as "The Ladies Man." He gets really mad and embarrassed. He just "likes girls as friends," he says. Nate was in charge of the games. He is so good at keeping the kids attention. He came up with the idea of having the kids make their own BINGO cards, drawing characters from Shrek. I didn't think this was a good idea, but left the planning to Nate. It ended up being really fun. The kids' pictures were really creative and they ended up having a lot of fun. Nate is VERY talented with those kids, and Sara is very grateful for that!

We ate hot dogs, chips, carrots, and root beer floats. All of Miles' favorite things.

Here is Miles with his birthday cake. Can you believe that he is already 6 years old!

Some of Miles' favorite presents were these Lego sets. He loves to build things. He spent the evening after his party building this helicopter, truck, and trailer. Some other presents he received was a soccer ball, a over-the-door basketball hoop, a soccer sit-and-bounce ball, a dragon, a Nerf gun, a storm trooper costume, moon sand, and other candy and novelties. He had a great birthday and is enjoying getting BIGGER!

Here WE Come, Santa Claus!

2008-12-12T09:47:00.001-07:00

Moses has been telling me all season that he does NOT like Santa Claus. I think that this stems from his excessive fear of strangers. At the mall one day we saw Santa and I asked Moses if he would like to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He reluctantly got up on Santa's lap. Moses looks so uncomfortable. He told Santa that he wanted surprises. He wasn't very specific. Notice how comfortable Ella is with Santa while she is on my lap.

That didn't last long. She freaked out when Santa was actually holding here. Moses still looks very nervous.

Eventually, they began warming up to the jolly old man. Now Moses thinks that Christmas is Santa's birthday. We have been telling him about the nativity story daily, but he still, when asked, will tell you that Santa's birthday is what we celebrate this season. Maybe he thinks that when it is your own birthday, your supposed to give away lots of presents!

Children's Museum

2008-12-11T22:30:00.001-07:00

We have been trying to get together once a month with Grandma Pack and cousins Landon and Lucy. We are so blessed to have a grandma that has family passes to every children's destination in the state of Utah. It allows us to do many fun things for free, while getting to spend time with people we love! This month we met at the children's museum in Salt Lake. Moses and Landon's favorite spot is the construction site. Here they are loading their blocks down a slide.

Of course, Ella and Lucy love the pretend food. They actually think that it is real food, until they try to eat it. They love to crawl around and have fun together. They are trying to learn how to share. One of their favorite things to do is take turns taking things out of each other's hands.

Here's Ella and Moses taking a boat ride. I had to be quick taking this picture because this other child really wanted to be in it!

"MOISMS"

2008-12-04T17:28:00.006-07:00

Moses spent hours in this box today pretending it was a train. He even ate his lunch and a snack in it!Moses has a very fun and quirky personality. He often leaves me speechless or in stitches with comments that he makes. I like to call them "Mo-isms". I will probably be posting these quite frequently! Here are some from the recent past:

I bought him Lightning McQueen pull-ups when attempting to get him interested in going by himself. I told him that Lightning McQueen would be so sad if he peed or pooped on him. A while later when he did his business in his pull-up, I said, "Why did you poop on Lightning McQueen, and he responded, "Lightning McQueen pooped on me!"
I was trying to get Moses in his car seat in the car and he wouldn't go in. He looked at me and said, "Mom, you have 2 choices. I can sit in the front and help you drive, or sit in the back by myself. Which one?"
His latest quote is to mom or dad when they are telling him what to do. He says "Your not the boss of the house!"

GRACE SINGING

2008-12-02T17:20:00.001-07:00

Grace has been entertaining us this month with several Christmas performances with her singing group. They have performed at the Festival of the Trees in Ogden, at an old folks home, and at a friends and family night. She also was able to sing a solo in our Primary program in October. While she was singing during the Primary program one of my friend's 18-month-old looked at Grace and pointed and smiled, which set Grace off on a giggling spree through her song. We told her next time not to make any eye contact with babies!

STACHE FOR CASH

2008-12-02T16:46:00.004-07:00

I just had to include these sick photos in our post. Nate did a fundraiser with some co-workers where he grew a mustache all through the month of November. The pictures of the "staches" will be posted on a web site where people can vote on the sickest one. I believe the criteria were something like it had to look like a molester or a porn star. The winner gets all of the money to donate to their favorite charity. I better start doing research on charities! I think he has a great chance of winning!

OK, obviously the photographer (a co-worker) was going for a very sick shot! His eyes are closed in one and it looks like he has a lazy-eye in the other. They are having a poll at his work to see who won for the sickest stache, and can you guess who is in the lead by a large margin? You guessed it! By the way, on December 1st the first thing that Nate did when he got home from work was shave it off. Now we are back to kissing!

MOSES' PLAYGROUP

2008-11-24T16:39:00.001-07:00

Moses has a three-year-old playgroup that he is part of. His friends Hayley Ropelato, Carson Mills, and Nikia Koday are all in his playgroup. He rotates to different houses every week and learns about fun things. Here is Moses making a "Turkey" snack at our house for our Thanksgiving Theme.

Here are all of his friends around the table working on their snacks!

SERVICE PROJECT

2008-11-14T15:42:00.001-07:00

At this time of the year we like to promote service. Recently someone told me that the food banks were low on food and so, with the help of a couple of families in our neighborhood, we collected food and delivered it to the Family Connection Center food bank in Layton. This is the all of the food that we collected! It weighed 455 lbs.

Here we are loading it in the back of the Gardiner's truck.

A picture of the whole group at the food bank. Isaiah had a change of heart through the whole process. The first night we delivered fliers he complained the whole time and said that there aren't that many people that don't have food! Oh boy, we were hoping to have happy service workers. After he saw the fruits of his labors and actually saw people at the food bank that needed food, he understood better and felt good that he could help.

NATE'S BIRTHDAY

2008-11-03T15:29:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of Nate on his birthday. It's so great I how get to choose what pictures we post! Do you like his Krispy Kreme creation cake the kids and I made him?

HALLOWEEN

2008-11-01T15:16:00.001-06:00

We always plan on using our old costumes in the box, but the kids have such fun and creative ideas, it's hard to recycle our old costumes. Anyone up for an exchange? Isaiah wanted to be a moldy mummy (don't know where he gets his ideas?). We tore up sheets and dyed them ancient brown. Since he is color blind and can't tell the difference between green and brown, it worked for him.

Grace originally wanted to be an artist. It was just too tempting when we were at Wal Mart one day and she pulled out this costume and asked to buy it for $12.99. Hmmm. It didn't take long for me to decide to spend $13 rather than have to locate materials and make an artist costume.

Miles desperately wanted to wear the mask to his Power Ranger costume. He settled for dad painting his face just like the mask.

Moses' latest craze is Toy Story. Here he is as Buzz Lightyear.

Poor Ella was sick on Halloween. We tried to put on her butterfly costume, but she wouldn't have it.

GRANDPARENTS DAY

2008-10-22T20:21:00.001-06:00

Every year at school they have a Grandparents/Grandadult day. This year Grandma & Grandma Clawson came to the school to spend time with Grace & Isaiah. They ate lunch together, toured their classrooms, and went to the book fair. Thanks grandma and grandpa for all of the great books!