Cannon and Henry. My Buddies.

I just finished a disappearing 9-patch quilt. My first one ever!  (Side note- I made a quilt for Lily when I was pregnant with her, but it was basic squares with appliqué and I didn't follow any rules. The binding was hilariously awful. 

This quilt is much the same- there are many, MANY mistakes in it and I machine bound it because I was afraid it would fall apart in the wash. BUT, I am SO proud of this darn thing. I'm even taking a quilting 101 class at our local quilt shop this month to improve. 

Anyway, it has been hanging over a chair in our living room lately and I just looked over to find Henry had pulled it off the chair and snuggled up with it. The corduroy backing is definitely snugglicious. So is Henry. 

And sweet Cannon, whom I will miss terribly when he goes to first grade next year, built this Lego set completely by himself! 

Things That Make Me Really Happy

Alice & Chloe at ward choir practice. 

(I was released on Sunday - replaced by Brother Alan Hastings, about whom I am SOOOO excited. He is going to be so incredible). 

These two helped sing the children's part in the last number I'll lead- "All Creatures of our God and King" for Thanksgiving.  Their voices, Lily's voice, the other children's voices. Gracious, it's beautiful. 

Lily had a tummy ache and when I went to tuck her in, I found her asleep with  Cannon's minion- he had lovingly given it to her for comfort when she wasn't feeling well. What a sugar boy. 

While I was at it, I took pictures of my other darlings asleep. What is it about sleeping children?  They are precious. I didn't dare sneak in on Henry to snap a picture of him. 

I did snap a picture of sleeping Charlie--- because I tripped over him in the hallway. 

Chloe and Alice again. Oh gosh, I love these two. Please be best friends forever. You'll be better young women for it. I love you!!

The finished product of that crafting session above.  Their turkey disguises for school. Chloe's words to Stanton when showing it to him, "I guess it's pretty obvious I would make mine a gymnast, huh?!"  Then that cute laugh face. 

For the record, I thought her disguise was very creative and well executed. 

Sweet Lily, who is LOVING tennis. LOVING. IT. 

Cannon was doing a page in his kindergarten summer bridge book. The instructions were to draw your favorite foods and drink. He drew a tomato, corn on the cob, red peppers, and orange juice. I mean, seriously. Is this kid for real???  He is and I'm so thankful he's mine. (Also, he has a hair trigger temper, lest I make him appear ready for translation). 

Turkey Tumble Meet, Nov 9, 2013

Chloe competed in the Academy West Turkey Tumble on Saturday. Her goal with this meet was to score a 31 All Around in order to advance to Level 5 without spending a season at Level 4. She rocked it!  She ended up with a 34.05 AA score. Her floor and vault were both in the low 9s and her beam was an 8.15. She has had MUCH better beam sets (ones that easily could have been low 9s) before, so that one was a disappointing score. Her bars were also a bummer. She only score a 7.8 on them. The judges were tough, but Chloe also knew every single mistake she made and where her deductions fell. She has done 8.7 bar routines in practice, so she knows she can improve there- especially as she adds the new skills for Level 5. 

She was very happy with the overall results of this meet, though, especially considering that she's only been working these routines for a little over a month. 

I didn't get the video of her bars, darn it. 

Erg. Can't post videos from my phone. 

On a side note, and the most important part of the whole experience, in my opinion, Chloe's teammates didn't have quite as successful a meet at she did. Beth, the darling brunette there, barely edged out a 31.957 to move up. Ellie, however, missed it by 4/10 of a point, getting a 30.575 AA. It was so heartbreaking for everyone. 

As we were leaving to say goodbye, Chloe took off all of her medals from the awards ceremony, put them in her gym bag, and only then went to give Ellie a hug. Her sensitivity to the situation and the struggle that Ellie was having was so meaningful to me. She is becoming a Christ-like young lady in so many ways. How we love her. 

Stanton Turns 30. Just kidding. 38.

Seriously- I remember that once upon a time, 40 seemed on the older end of middle age. Uh, what happened???!!!

Well, Stanton is officially staring down thebarrel  of 40 and we had a fun day to celebrate it. 

He worked. Haha!  That's real life for ya!

After work, I surprised him with a hike along Crimson Trail with Tyler and Jana. Conversation was great, the hike was beautiful (and HOT), and we went to sushi at Takara afterward. It was a birthday well spent. Oh, and he got some new hiking socks and a GPS watch. :)

The kids did a few little things for him and we had a quick breakfast before he left for work. 

We took German's chocolate cupcakes to work. The girls at the office had brought in tons of treats, too!

Ice cream to finish off a great evening!  Seriously- there is nothing more perfect than a summer night in Cache valley. Heaven. 

Family Trip to Lagoon

We hoped to go to Lagoon with the Farleys, but pregnancy sickness prevented that one from happening. Sad, but beyond thrilling that Angie is pregnant!!

So, we forged ahead and had a wonderful trip at Lagoon. Man, I had forgotten how fun that place is- I hadn't been there since my high school

Senior trip!

I spent the first part of the day on the smaller rides with Cannon. He was just a bit too short for the other ones. Stanton took the bigger kids on those. We met up later to eat lunch and do Rattlesnake Rapids, etc. the kids were SO good and so darn fun. We stayed clear until closing time. That was only possible because Jana watched Henry all day for us. 

More Summer Odds & Ends

I made these shorts for Cannon. They were too small. His stretchy pants. He still wore them a bunch and liked life even better when I made a new park in a bigger size. 

Charlie acting like a human. Again. 

Cannon loved the hot wings. Until his mouth set on fire. Then he appreciated the bread. 

Sometimes he's so cute I have to take a picture. 

Sushi dates are our favorite. 

We had our 11th anniversary on the 30th of August. 

Henry finally cut his first tooth about 2 weeks before his first birthday. 

The kids performed with Altius at the Logan city 24th of July parade. 

They were very dirty and sweaty by the time it was over. 

We sure like our gym. 

Jana with twinnies. 

Rediscovered this absolutely stunning picture of my grandparents and uncle mike. Grandpa had been away at war for the first 18 months of Mike's life and this was their first meeting. 

24th Celebration and Judy Reunion

We spend every 24th of July holiday (usually the Saturday before) with the Allens in Hyde Park. We decorate a float (we were at Music Camp all week, so we didn't helps with that this year), ride in the parade, have good food, and play on a big water slide all afternoon. We all love it. It was awesome to have the Webbs there. Man, we missed them while they were in Singapore. 

The middle age grand kids got to ride in grandpa's fun float while the youngest and oldest, along with the siblings, rode on the trailer, pulled by our Jeep. I love seeing all the Hyde Park families Stanton grew up with lining the street. It's also so fun to see all the kids my kids go to school with. We are lucky to live in such great communities. 

I got up really early in the morning to make these skirts for the girls. I couldn't resist. I love that pirate fabric so much- especially with the contrasting polka dots and stripes!

I love these family reunions so much. It's so fun to visit with Stanton's siblings. They are such awesome people and I'm so thankful to be part of this great family. 

Music Camp 2013

We had such a fun week at music camp in Rupert. Lori hosted Cindy's and my families and we were a FULL HOUSE. It was a lot of fun. The kids went to camp most of the day and swam all afternoon and evening. Henry was sick and not sleeping well, which meant that I was tired and emotional (oh, and I was assigned to speak in sacrament meeting the day after we returned home, so I was working on my talk the whole week, too) but man, oh man, the kids grew so much during this experience. They loved every second!!