Our Wiley Ways

Z Sisters - my turn again

2012-01-09T22:51:00.018-07:00

We took a couple weeks off during the holidays, so this is a major catchup for most of us.

Christine

Last Few Weeks:

Had a great time in Utah for Christmas. Got to enjoy some delicious food, get a haircut with Christie, see my second showing of A Christmas Carol for the holiday season, see family at the Zackrison Family Christmas party and cousin Max's wedding reception, and spend lots of fun time with family. Christmas Eve was complete with our traditional In-N-Out dinner (it was so fun to see how everyone was carrying on the tradition in their own ways!) and Christmas was long for everyone but always so great. I really do love Christmas, but mostly because of all the time spent with family.
A week after I got there Jon joined me in Utah. His first night in town we ate at Hire's with mom and dad, Rachel and Ken, and Grandma Z, then went and walked around the lights at Temple Square. One night we got to meet up with Hillary and Scott for dinner at Red Iguana and a trip to the zoo for the Zoo Lights. In any free time we had we tried to spend time with the Wiley's which included a lot of potato chip making, trampoline jumping, and a quick trip to see Brenden on his bike jumps. The time went so quickly but overall it was a great trip.
On Saturday we packed up the car with mom and dad and drove down to San Diego to meet William and see Zack, Ana, and Jack. The drive was painless for me, I just slept the whole time, I've trained my body well. Our time in California was even quicker. We ventured up to Irvine for New Years Eve at Dave & Busters which was kind of a let down, but I've kind of decided NYE is always a let down. Sunday was a great day spent with family after Will's baby blessing. On the 2nd we headed up to LA for the Rose Bowl game which was apparently a super good game, I wasn't paying too much attention to it. Sadly we missed the parade which I had been really looking forward to because I had been strangely sick and I didn't think I could handle the early morning and crowds. I think the game made up for missing that, though. That night we spent some time in La Canada with some of my friends and then headed back down to San Diego pretty late.
Tuesday afternoon Jon and I flew to Florida for the Orange Bowl which was on Wednesday night (yep, I went to two BCS bowl games in one week, who knew I was so into football). That game I got into and it was super exciting, WVU scored 10 touchdowns! I'm really not that into football but even I know that's a pretty big deal. The whole day was pretty fun with a lot of activities going on around the stadium before the game, I was even able to win us 4th quarter field access by spinning a wheel at the Discovery tailgate party. In the end being on the field was not as awesome as we thought it would be since we were really only allowed in one corner and were behind the opposing team, so we couldn't really see much. By the time the game was over at midnight I was pretty exhausted. We had a flight at 6am the next morning back to DC and unfortunately weren't able to sleep any before that. Thursday it was so nice to finally get back home and I basically slept through all of Thursday.
The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking, doing laundry, and putting my room back together in preparation for actually going back to work again on Monday. After such a long break I almost forgot I actually had a real job to go back to. Not really. I've also returned from all this traveling a little sick, so I'm trying to sleep as much as possible to get over this pesky cold/sore throat combo.
Sunday night I was invited to dinner and games at Ben, Josh, and Ryan's house for Josh's birthday. It was a great time and always nice to see those friends, it had been awhile.

This week:

Return to work. I need to figure out which clients I'll be on these next few weeks and where I need to be.
Figure out when I'm going to take my next test. I was supposed to take one on the 6th after all my traveling, but yeah, I decided to just enjoy my holiday break instead of stressing about studying.
Read with Flor Monday at lunch.
Drop off dry cleaning. This has actually been on my to-do list for a few months now. That's sad.
Get back to the gym consistently.
Eat better. I just took some health risk assessment. My highest risk to my health comes from my horrible eating habits. That's not so good.
Finish cleaning my room. It's always a process.
Study.
I know there's more I need to be doing, almost too much to list, it's a little overwhelming.

Rachel

Last few weeks: (oops, just realized this is so long... I can edit it down in the morning, I'll send as-is for now)

It's been a whirlwind of travel, family, holidays, and of course a bit of stress mixed in there! We enjoyed our time in Utah and wish it hadn't been so jam packed. It didn't feel like there was a single free second to just enjoy. I guess that's just how life is now. Once we made it to the hotel in Los Angeles and I started working each day routine returned and we had a nice little re-charge.
Managed to miss our flight out from BWI to SLC. I don't think we'll ever be flying out of BWI again. I think I have a 25% make-the-flight rate from that airport.
Stayed with Ken's family in Alpine Wednesday thru Sunday. They had a great setup for us, it was very nice.
Saw Christmas Carol at Hale Center. Got my haircut.
Prepared for the Z Christmas party. I think it went very well. It could work nicely at mom and dad's for many years.
Final Christmas shopping on xmas eve. Met up for In n Out.
Santa came! Sunday was a very disjointed day with transitioning between 2 houses, having a missionary call in the middle of present opening, facing just how much stuff we brought and would have to bring back, church schedules all over the place, and having 2 family dinners to attend. I can't say it was my favorite Christmas day ever. But being altogether is always enjoyable.
Monday we met with friends for lunch and I finally found a new band at a jewelry store in SLC. They were nice enough to mail an empty box with our sales receipt to Virginia so we could avoid sales tax. Tricky.
Took June to build a bear which was as much fun for me as for her. Played ticket to ride with the older kids. Saw Sherlock Holmes with mom and dad.
Watched the setup of the Wiley's trampoline. Made cookies. Dinner with Ken's family at Cucina Toscana where his dad ordered 15 appetizers for the table. Wow.
Jon arrived, dinner with Grandma Z, dessert at the Wiley's including Webb & Laurel.
Stressed over our plans for CA and how we should get there, where we should stay when, if we should catch the parade, etc. That part of the (lack of solid) planning/stressing/evaluating trade-offs was not fun and is to be avoided in future years.
Rented a car, packed up, embarked for CA. Got pulled over, obviously. But didn't get a ticket, phew. Arrived at Zack's at 230am.
Played Beatles Rockband, went to the beach!!, went out to dinner with friends at a restaurant with comically large food.
William's baby blessing. Ken commented that our family has a really remarkable ability to gather. I agree, and I love it. Glad to see everyone. Wish we could have stuck around longer chatting at Z&A's.
Up to La Canada. Visited with the Frames and the Jacksons. Chatted with Haley late into the night.
Skipped the parade (so so so tragically sad to me). Made it to Disneyland's Club 33! Quite the experience. Rode all the rides which were "Christmas-tized" like It's a Small World. Disneyland is quite remarkably decorated for the holidays. I think I understand why people go this time of year.
Left Dland around 8pm, drove up to LA. Checked into our reserved hotel only to realize it was really not what I expected. Old, dirty, and not very close to the office. Called around and switch to the Omni Hotel so all I had to do was walk across the courtyard to work. MUCH BETTER.
Spent 3 days on a more relaxed schedule where I went to work during the day, Ken worked out and golfed and explored, we met up for lunch, and rested in the evenings. It was a great re-charge after our crazy couple weeks.
Flew back to SLC. Picked up our suitcases mom had left at a nearby hotel. Dropped off Ken's golf clubs with a friend. (Because we just can't ever make any traveling experience easy can we??)
Arrived at BWI at 1130pm where Ken's friend graciously picked us up. So nice of him.
Home finally at 130am. Wow.

This Week:

Dentist appointments Monday
Buy groceries. Still haven't bought milk since returning.
Cook dinner at home on Monday with the fresh ravioli's I bought from Eastern Market on Saturday. I hope they're still good.
Play volleyball on Wednesday night. We've started up with the same old group which is so fun.
Skip out on the Relief Society speed-dating-type get to know you activity on Thursday?
Friday one of Ken's good friends is getting married in SLC. As terrible as the timing is for us, we may have to make a 24 hour trip out for it.
Missionaries over for dinner on Sunday. Must plan and shop for meal before Thursday.
Return to normal eating!! I don't even want to count the number of meals, restaurants, treats, etc that we've over-consumed in the last 3 weeks. It's shockingly disappointing, and just not a lifestyle we can maintain EVERY holiday trip.
Work as though it's busy season. I have 3 months to really prove myself. It's time to get really focused. Must push through.
Hopefully this will be a pretty low-key week! (Except for the whole travel on Friday part...)

Ie Li

Last Week:

Got back from California. It was a very dreamy 10 days there. The weather was perfection. The cousins played all day everyday. The wedding and reception went off without a hitch. Ie Ling was a beautiful bride. William's baby blessing was lovely. He is so adorable. I love his baby smell.
Unpacked, packed up Christmas, and cleaned our house.
Met with a seventh furnace salesman and will likely commit to buying a furnace tomorrow.
Enjoyed some really warm days here in DC. The kids have been out riding their new two-wheelers almost everyday.
Went thrift shopping with my co-librarian Lyndsee. I found several great skirts.
Picked up Ie Ling and Blake from the airport, took them to Shake Shack for dinner, and dropped them off at their new place in DC.
Took Mei Li to a roller-skating birthday party. Talk about a blast from the past! Limbo? Macarena? Mei Li had a rough time learning to skate, but I admired her bravery and persistence. Many times she told me to let go of her and she could shuffle along for quite a while without any help from me.
Started watching Sherlock with Steve. Watch it. It's wonderful.
Took Mi Na to nursery for the first time today, and she did great. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue to go well.

Next Week:

Steve goes back to work. Tax season begins.
Start running again.
Finish A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I love this book so. much.
Blog, blog, blog.
I would love to have Sunday dinner with Rachel and Christine. We'll talk.
Thank you, Z sisters, for being such good, kind, generous, and loving women. I am learning so much from your examples. I love you all.

Annee

This Past Week:

Two days after Christmas, after I got fully sick from all the stress, prep, and lack of sleep that goes into any successful Christmas extravaganza, I got in the car and drove to Atlanta, all by myself, to go visit Liz! It was the best after-Christmas present ever. We didn't do much at all. We mostly sat around, played with her baby, ate some great meals, and just laughed and talked. I guess we did run together every morning. That was fun! Anyway, hadn't seen Liz for over a year. It was the best to get to spend so much time together again. Her baby is super cute too!
After my trip, I came home just in time to celebrate New Years Eve. Got together with a few families and rang in the new year with fondue and games. This was the first time that all FOUR of our kids rang in the new year with us. It was fun, but was it worth it? There were so many tears during the day on Sunday. Turns out going to bed at nearly 1am is super rough when you are 6.
Finished "Little Women" and started and almost finished "The Wednesday Wars". I need to go sew something so that I can get through the final hour. I think next up will be "On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet". I'm excited!
Changed to the 11am church schedule! Hallelujah. Even better, I delayed the big Primary class switch over for one-more-week. I knew we didn't have all of our teachers back in town, and it just felt like we needed one more week! Best decision ever!!
In the spirit of closing out 2011 and welcoming 2012, a look back to appreciate the highlights?! A full year living and being settled in North Carolina. Our week in the Outer Banks makes me think that NC is one fabulous place to live! This was the year of substitute teaching. It's become more of the norm than the exception. It's kind of fun to have a little job. It might possibly be the best job to have when you still have a house full of kids in school. I ran a marathon! At long last, after four years in retirement and suffering through injuries, my stars aligned and I was able to complete another marathon. I'm so glad I got that done in 2011. Finally, as I was making my calendar for 2012 and looking back through my pictures from '11, I see that we went to DC lots, and had almost monthly visits with all or parts of the VA crew. I love that. I'm so glad we are close enough to make that a regular part of our year. And of course, a mention to our Summer Road Trip 2011: Gettysburg, Hershey, Cooperstown, Niagara Falls, Palmyra, D.C., Atlanta. It was epically awesome, as my kids would say.

This Week:

Just trying to recover from it all. The kids went back to school yesterday. They'll have piano this afternoon. Since Sunday, I feel like I've been running piano practicing boot camp. Trying to make up for the the weeks of Christmas when we didn't practice! Why does it have to be so much work to have your kids learn an instrument? I somehow thought it was going to be easier. I've turned down subbing jobs everyday so far. I just don't feel like things are under control yet. Bathrooms need cleaning, piles of laundry need to get folded and put away. The dining room table is still piled high with Christmas gifts that haven't been put away yet. I just need to focus on the domestic side of my duties right now.
Back to running. With Liz's help, I was able to run those three days in Atlanta, and I've run twice since being home. It's finally starting to feel easy again. It's so hard when running falls off the list of priorities to climb your way back to the "easy" point. I hate it when running is hard!
I really have lots of cleaning to do. I feel like the whole house needs an overhaul. Too bad just thinking about it makes me feel tired!
Looking ahead to 2012, my big goal (after I buy an iPad), is to start saving up for a month long trip "Out West". I need to start getting serious about setting aside hundreds of dollars with great regularity so that we can get the tickets soon. We're going to try to do it all. Spend a whole month, including Utah, Oregon and Colorado at the very least. The kids are super excited!
It might also be in 2012 that we start to learn a little bit more about the Air Force's future plans for Major Earnest. Will it be right back to Colorado, or will there be another detour in our future? We try not to think about it too much, but we might hear something from them by the end of the summer?!

Sarah

Here is a real-life display of what happens when I systematically ask every person in my family to please take my picture. Everyone but Huck groaned and complained and shot without even looking - no focusing, no 1,2,3, no check to make sure it's good before handing the camera back. Huck was excited but I'm not sure he's quite got the hang of it yet. Oliver thought it was super funny to turn the camera around and snap himself instead. Even Scott was unable to deliver a decent photo. So back the mirror in the basement I go. Pitiful.

Past few weeks:

Christmas is over. Got all the decorations packed up on Monday 1/2 in time for cleaners to come on Tuesday. It felt so good to have everything clean and organized and starting to get back into a normal routine
So sad to say goodbye to Rachel & Ken and Christine & Jon - Huck still asks every day where you all are. Please come back.
Spent New Years with the Kendricks - low key dinner & a movie. It was great. Left the kids home alone - with a friend for each of the boys, plenty of snacks, and silly string. We sort of regretted that decision when we walked in the door to the mess, but I guess that's what New Years is for.
Got a good start on a big looming work project last week. Starting is often the hardest part for me.
Caught up on Groundloop and household finances - I managed to get a bit behind so the red power bills were threatening me. Time to set up auto-pay I guess.
Did all my Christmas returns errands. Found out Jack never got our gift - guess I missed the backordered email. Sad.
Made OB appointment for me (I'm 19 weeks and haven't been checked at all yet - oops) and dentist orthodontist appointments for the kids.
Bought new garments that actually fit over my belly. Much more comfortable.
Sorted through the huge stash of maternity clothes from Ana. There is tons of great stuff here, but we have got to make some serious cuts ladies. Not sure I can do it alone - might require some photo/email system or a skype call or something?
Did a pretty good job getting the kids to bed at reasonable times all week. We had gotten way off schedule during the holidays and that was taking it's toll on all of us.
Lots of facetiming with the Earnest kids on the new ipad. So fun to see a glimpse into their daily lives.
Used our xmas money from Mom & Dad to get a new painting from a local artist Frederick Stephens - found at a gallery in Park City. I'm excited to be working on our living room art gallery. We'll see how well I can execute my vision.

This week:

Move Huck out of the crib into a regular bed in June's room in preparation for baby's arrival. Focus on getting both he and June to stay in their beds all night. That means I'm committing to take them back to bed every time they try to crawl in with us - which is the much harder option than just scooting over. But I definitely need to get it solved before the baby comes. I cannot even imagine anything worse than getting up in the middle of the night to take care of a baby and having a toddler to care for too. I know it will happen still, but I must take some measures now to decrease the problem.
Laundry. No way around this one. Maybe it's time to hire a laundry helper? Does that exist?
Meet with the new head of Downtown Provo Inc to see if they can help us raise funds for next year's Rooftop Concert Series.
Brenden Orthodontist appointment. Uh oh.
Work deadline is looming. Must focus. As soon as I'm done blogging.
Cook a few decent meals. Figure out some good snacks that I can eat. I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY.
Get the boys outfitted for their first day of snowboarding lessons on Friday. We got a tiny bit of snow this weekend - hope the snow quality's not too pitiful
Keep working on potty training Huck. He spends pretty much all his time at home naked, and is fully trained that way, but hasn't made the transition to pants just yet. I am encouraging and helpful but am really leaving it mostly up to him at this point.

Highlights from 2011: I feel pretty blah about everything these days so it's hard to think of highlights. I guess I'd say for me it was the Rooftop Concert Series, our east-coast trip, and my solo get-away to be with family in Richmond.

On the horizon for 2012:
Biggest thing will be a new baby in June, or as Scott & June are convinced - 2 new babies. Also looking forward to another east-coast trip to hit DC. Will this be pre- or post- baby? That is the question. Looking forward to getting my hormones back in check and feeling less blah all the time.

Z Sisters update - and still that's all the blogging I've done

2011-11-07T23:05:00.012-07:00

SARAH

Last (2) week(s):

I feel like this pregnancy is affecting me hormonally more than my others have and I've found myself feeling more down and unmotivated and generally unenergetic than I'd like. So there was far too much moping around and taking mid-day naps, not working and not doing anything fun with the kids. Gotta get a handle on all that.
Executed Halloween - June wore her BYU cheerleader costume for the "real" Halloween on Monday night, but refused to before that to her school party or the elementary school parade. Huck made a very cute BYU football player and Oliver was a total nerd. In true 12-year-old form, Brenden wore the tshirt that says "this is my costume." The boys went off with neighborhood friends, and Huck and I answered the door for a while before joining Scott and June for a short walk around the cul de sac. We made way too much chili for the ward party but it was the cheap canned kind so I didn't feel too bad when I poured two huge pots worth down the drain.
I did make it to yoga once and ran on the treadmill twice. How much is 8K anyway? I've done 5 miles - does that mean I can do 8K? Will they shut down the finish line if I take more than an hour? I'm not very fast
Took Brenden to an indoor skatepark in Midvale, and took advantage of being north to bring home Pei Wei for dinner. I sure love that place.
Caught 4 mice. Well actually I had nothing to do with the actual catching except maybe I was the one who saw one first (I was just sitting minding my own business in the living room when a tiny mouse popped out from behind the couch) so I made Scott set the traps and clean them up. The kids think dead mice are NBD and that it's so funny mom won't even look at them.
Man I really haven't done much the past couple weeks. See point #1 above, I guess.

This week:

Get my hair cut! This is long overdue and I'm hoping will help lift me out of the doldrums a bit. Maybe time for something more dramatic.
Get the Lower Lights Christmas CD off to duplication and set it up for pre-orders on the website. I'm really excited about this album - it turned out great!
Get our cub scouts pack re-chartered with the BSA. Not sure why this arduous process must be repeated every year. I guess it's an excuse for them to collect fees more frequently.
I need to take June shopping for some new clothes. She has gotten so picky about what she'll wear. I'm totally dreading this, but seems the only hope to getting her some seasonal clothes that fit her if she's the one who can pick them out. I have to be very careful about where we go, though. She needs new long pants, jeans, long sleeve shirts, dresses, a sweatshirt, and shoes.
Grocery shopping - it has been far too long. Dreading this too.
More yard work - I'm making slow but sure progress to prep the yard for winter. Need to pull out the vegetable garden next.
Run a couple more times?
GO TO RICHMOND!!! I'm so excited to see everyone this weekend. It will be a whirlwind I'm sure, but super fun and just what I need to look forward to.

ANNEE
(you all remember what she looks like, right?)

Last Week

Halloween! The kids didn't have school on Monday. But I was so happy they didn't. We needed a morning to sleep in and do nothing. I rolled out of bed around 9:30, and got them to agree that I should go for a long run. Got home around 11:30, made pancakes and eggs, which qualified as breakfast and lunch! Spent the afternoon running errands with four kids, which included getting some Papa Murphy pizza's for Halloween dinner night. Did you know they make a jack-o-lantern pizza on Halloween every year? And it's only $6. We've been buying them every year since moving to Colorado.
Subbed twice. Got called in at the last minute for a job on Tuesday. I had a long ago agree to a job on Thursday, subbing for Ruby's teacher. At one point in the day Jane come into Ruby's class too. I have to give my kids tons of credit for being super mature about handling it when their mom is their sub. It makes me proud that we can all act appropriately in those types of situations.
Spent all day Friday shopping with Darin. I think what prompted the trip was new church clothes for Henry. He's been wearing the same navy blue khakis since last November. With his new ordination as a Deacon, it seemed a good excuse to spiff up his church wardrobe a bit.
Piano started again! Our teacher has been out on maternity leave. We love that she's back, but MAN it's a lot of work to have four kids taking piano lessons. It's my greatest challenge of persevering! I hope I triumph in the end.
Spent a whole lot of time wearing my running shoes with jeans. I got new shoes just over a week ago. I know they are going to be great shoes. I know they are! But they are making my toes numb for any run longer than three miles. I'm kind of nervous about the situation.
Darin and Henry went on an 11 year-old scout camp out. They thought they were freezing. I tried reminding them how much more freezing they would have been if we still lived in Colorado!
Busy Sunday as per usual. Totally awesome to have Henry passing the Sacrament for the first time, with his dad. That was a great Sunday. He looked super handsome too. I had early morning meetings, followed by sharing time. Came home, to start getting ready to host the missionaries for dinner. This included taking down our Halloween decorations. They were good while they lasted. Lucky for me, Darin let me sneak off for a long nap while my rolls were rising. I don't think I would have made it through the day without that nap!!!

This Week:

Monday morning 6:15am call to be George's sub. I said "yes" only for the novelty. Otherwise I probably would have said no. Ruby was up in the night. Then Jane was up in the early morning. I was tired! Let's hope we have a good day here in the 4th grade.
MARATHON!!! I'm running a marathon on Saturday?!?!! Ready or not...
My upper hamstring is still bothering me. I'm wondering if I should buy the groupon for the massage and hope that I can cash it in sometime this week?
Subbing for Jane's class on Thursday.
Driving to Richmond on Friday. Can't wait to see everyone. The excitement over the reunion is helping me not worry so much about the race. It's going to be fine, right?
I'd love to start a quilt this week. I have this great idea. I really want to see it come to life. I doubt there is time. It's a dream, on the wish list for this week.

IE LI

Last Week:

Did my 9 mile and 5 mile runs. I will have to do my 10 miler on Monday.
Trick or treating.
Took Stephen and Mi Na to the farm while Mei Li was at school.
Didn't do any laundry. Our washing machine is still broken and we're waiting for the replacement part to arrive. I have never craved doing laundry as much as I do right now.
My visiting teacher took our family pictures on Saturday.
Helped with an Eagle Scout project.
Had our first parent teacher conference. Mei Li is doing great and we are so proud of her. We also saw the picture of Mei Li's admirer. For some reason, I was relieved to see that he was little and wore glasses.
Went to my optometry appointment. My prescription has improved since my last check-up.
Had my Chinese neighbors over for dinner on Saturday. They helped me translate the characters on the headstones of my ancestors. As soon as my neighbors left, I entered all of the information into Family Search.
Had Sunday dinner with Rachel, Ken, and Christine.

This Week:

10 mile run
Mi Na's doctor appointment
Mei Li and Stephen don't have school Monday or Tuesday so I'm thinking of taking the kids on another fall drive.
Start planning Stephen's birthday party.
Make some headway on Christmas presents and advent calendar.
Richmond half marathon! Can't wait!

RACHEL

Last Week:

Had training offsite all week. It was a nice change of pace. One of the instructors was a retired PwC partner who reminded me so much of dad. One day he asked how many of us change our voicemail message every single day. Everyone was SHOCKED that someone might actually do that. It reminded me so much of dad who might continue to change his voicemail recording every single day until his last.
Helped CZ rent a car on Tuesday night at the DCA airport.
Wednesday night I fell asleep for the night at 9pm before Ken even got home from work. Oops.
Thursday our friend came over who was in town for another accounting firm.
Friday I had to get to training super early to turn in our final paper. Ken went to court officially representing me as my lawyer and got a parking ticket dismissed. How exciting!
Bday dinner at J. Gilberts. It's a great local restaurant which is always PACKED.
Friday night we made the turkey brine. Saturday at 6am we put the turkey in the brine.
Saturday we went out to Lucketts to see their holiday display and browse for xmas decorations.
Attended a technique class at William Sonoma where they taught about turkey prep. Used the extra discount for attending the class to FINALLY pull the trigger on our knife set (Wusthoff Classic Ikon). It only took one full year!
Sunday dinner at Steve's house. The chili was delicious!

This Week:

Continue with the Thanksgiving practice and make an apple pie for Thursday's enrichment meeting.
Organize the guest room. It needs some serious attention. I'm tired of it being the catch-all.
Clean everything in preparation for visitors.
Buy the last pot I've been planning to buy for the last year. It's 25% off, so time to pull the trigger.
Work diligently each day. A full week out of the office has me feeling behind! Need to get everything from fall busy season wrapped up and filed away.
Mom comes to town!
Caravan down to Richmond with our friend Severin, in town for another interview.
Sarah comes to Richmond! And Dad comes to Richmond!
Run the Richmond Half Marathon!!! Cheer on Annee in the full marathon! I'm getting really excited about it all. I printed out the course today and planned everything out. It is going to be so great!
Celebrate ONE YEAR OF MARRIAGE. Wow. Think of a gift or something?
Say bye to Sarah and drive back up to DC.
I'm so excited for this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHRISTINE

Last Week:

Started work! I made it to my first day despite my car issues and made it through the whole week. It's definitely going to take some discipline getting on a good schedule so that I can get sleep while also having a life outside of work. Thinking back to last week I feel like I really didn't do a whole lot other than work as I was getting used to the new schedule. My first day of work seriously felt like my birthday with all of the messages and calls I was getting from people, it felt so nice to be remembered and to realize how many people are interested in and following my life. Ben and Ryan came and picked me up from work at the end of my first day since I was stranded with no car and took me out to dinner to celebrate the new job. It was all very nice and fun.
Spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do with the Jetta. Friday we successfully got it towed from Morgantown, WV to Vienna, VA by combining the resources of Geico and AAA. A Geico tow truck driver picked the car up in Morgantown and dropped it off at a McDonald's 56 miles away in Granstville, MD, leaving the key on the driver side wheel. The AAA driver then picked the car up from the McDonald's and towed it the rest of the way to a garage in Vienna. I was glad it all went smoothly and worked out despite the actual Geico and AAA people telling me that it couldn't be done and that the car couldn't be picked up or dropped off with no one with it. I knew that if I could just get to the actual tow truck drivers and explain the situation to them they'd be totally fine doing whatever. Luckily I was right. The car is now at the shop and luckily the issues don't seem to be as bad as I had originally thought them to be so it shouldn't be too bad to fix.
Friday after a full day at my real job I went and worked the closing shift at Anthropologie. Yes, I do still officially work there and haven't told them I'm planning on leaving anytime soon. Luckily for some reason they're willing to keep me on the schedule despite my requests to work no more than one night a week and to have at least a couple weekends off each month. I'm not really sure why they're ok with it, but as long as they are I guess I'll stick with it. It was actually kind of nice working there and being on my feet after having sat at a computer all day, but I was ready to go home by the time the store closed and ended up having to stay until midnight, so that was a little rough.
Saturday I took advantage of the weekend and had a fun day playing mini golf, going to Cafe Rio, and finishing out the day at the Sounds concert at the Black Cat in DC. It's funny how all the sudden now that I'm working full-time the weekends have taken on a whole new meaning. They're actually significant and much more appreciated now.
Had a delicious Sunday dinner at Steve and Ie Li's. It's always so great and fun to be with family and see all the kids.

This Week:

Continue to work on getting into a good schedule. I need to be sure to go to sleep at a decent hour because that really determines how the next day will go.
Figure out how to make time for exercising. Last week I just gave up on it while I was dealing with car issues, but this week I need to be much better about at least running or doing something.
Try to bring a lunch to work everyday. Getting lunch everyday is definitely expensive and not in the budget, so I need to plan ahead each night so I have something to take the next day.
Go to dinner with Melissa. It's crazy that even though we're in the same city now it's nearly impossible to have time to see each other.
Go to the DMV to renew my license. I actually made it to the DMV last Saturday morning but unfortunately the system was down so no DMV anywhere in the state of Virginia could help me get it done. Totally lame.
Drive to Richmond Friday after work for more family time! I'm totally excited and still committed to running the 8K, although I'm totally ok with walking part of it. I'm mainly just going for the family aspect and I'm so excited for that!

Z Sisters update - again

2011-10-03T22:58:00.008-06:00

I hate getting out of order here and so far hosting the sisters update once every 6 weeks has been an effective way to force me to catch up before each one. But alas not this time. I have to move on even though I still haven't written about the end of summer, or the first day of school, or Brenden's 12th birthday, or many other things. Some of that stuff is covered in my past entries to the sisters updates here (Annee's 8/21), here (Ana's 8/31), here (Ie Li's 9/6), here (Rachel's 9/12), or here (Christine's 9/26).

Maybe I'll get back to blogging one day. In the mean time, here is an update from several of the sisters...

Christine

Last week:

My pod arrived on Monday with all my stuff! I was so excited to finally get everything, especially my bed. Monday night Ben and Josh came and helped bring everything in from the pod. Then I spent a few days unpacking and deciding where I wanted everything to go, then Ryan and Ben came over Thursday night to put all the big things in place. It's slowly all coming together, definitely a process, but I'm happy to finally be feeling settled somewhere.
Worked Tuesday and Saturday. I thought I was scheduled to work Friday and went in ready to work, but apparently there had been a miscommunication and I wasn't working. Things have been kind of crazy and the store and I guess some girls have been quitting or just not showing up so the schedule is getting all messed up.
Went to Truckeroo Friday afternoon. This is an event that happens once a month through the summer where about 30 of DC's food trucks gather together in one place for the day so you can come in and try whichever ones you like. Thanks to the advice of Rachel I went and it was actually pretty cool and fun to try some of the different foods.
Went karaoking with a group of people from church. It was pretty fun and good to meet some people, but I have a hard time getting really into karaoke.
Enjoyed conference from home on Saturday and from the church on Sunday. I loved it all.

This week:

Work. A lot. Basically everyday. They keep calling and asking if I can come in for more shifts, I guess I'm reaping the benefits of some girls quitting or disappearing?
Continue to unpack and get everything in place. It's a process.
Study. Somehow October is turning into my busiest month, but I'm still determined to take at least a couple tests before I start, so I will study.
Run. These past couple weeks I have not been running nearly enough, time to get serious about the November race.
These are the only things I'm allowing myself to do this week, I have to stay focused.

Ie Li

Last Week:

Ran three times. My Saturday rainy, 4-mile run was my first run without any significant foot or hip pain. I am hoping and praying this continues as I have a lot of work ahead of me. My plan is to increase my long runs by two miles each week from here on out. I'm looking forward to it. I remembered that I actually like to run.
Mei Li's farm field trip on Thursday. Loved it.
Excused Mei Li from school on Friday so we could to go to Mount Vernon with Michiko and the boys. The weather was perfect, and of course, Mount Vernon was amazing.
Our whole family plus Michiko and boys, drove down to Charlottesville to tour Monticello on Saturday. Monticello is breathtakingly beautiful. I want to go back and spend more time there.
We had this great idea that we would listen to the first session of Conference on Steve's phone on the way to Monticello, and the second session on the drive back. It only kind of worked. The signal was only strong enough for us to listen to two talks. It was disappointing. And now we are catching up.
Went to a thrift store, and purchased two large beautiful mirrors for $30 total. Both need to be painted. I think they are going above our couch and above our mantle. Finally.
Made two batches of cinnamon rolls on Conference Sunday for the little army we have here. I've never made cinnamon rolls before, but they turned out great. They are definitely a once, maybe twice a year indulgence.

This Week:

Run.
Join Michiko on a couple of adventures. You can read about her adventures here.
Steve and I are going to LA for one day. I know it's crazy, but we're leaving the kids and we really wanted to be at Will K's wedding.
Sand mirror frames.
Choose a paint color for the living room mirror!
Get a new nephew? We love you, Ana!

Sarah

Last week:

Potty-trained Huck. You'll notice this wasn't one of my goals last week, and was quite a spontaneous decision on Monday morning to tackle this project. On Monday I took his pants off and didn't leave the house and I just watched him like a hawk all day. Everywhere he went I'd follow him. Everywhere I went I made him come with me. When I'd see it coming we'd run to the potty so by the end of the day he pretty much got the picture. He was not used to my undivided attention, though, and it was starting to bother him that he never had any alone time, so a couple of times he tried to tell me "Mommy stay here, I go downstairs". I don't know if that's a good or bad thing (for him to not be used to so much attention) but either way it worked. By Tuesday he was starting to tell me when he needed to go beforehand. We've had a couple little accidents but nothing too major. There is serioulsy nothing cuter than a new toddler in undies.
Brenden and Oliver babysat until midnight on Friday night - this is major and opens up all sorts of options for us. We had put Huck & June to bed first, although Brenden did have to read June one more story and sit with her until she fell asleep. Oliver fell asleep on the couch and Brenden stayed up watching TV later than he usually gets to. Wins all around.
Re-potted a bunch of plants - moved the lemon tree up a pot size and finally gave Rachel's orphaned plant a permanent home in one of my favorite pots.
Finally got back on the treadmill a couple of times.
Finished George's xmas stocking (take 2). Hope this one isn't too small now.
Started a knitting project to keep me awake through conference - made it halfway through (the project, not conference). Not sure if/when I'll ever finish it.
Took Oliver & June to their first day of gymnastics and they both loved it. Need to figure out a better way to entertain Huck for 2 hours while we sit and wait. It is very close to the Springville Antiques Mall - so that would entertain me but probably not do much good for Huck.
Got June's painted dresser back and it's super cute. Unfortuantely I didn't precisely measure the spot where I was going to put it - need to figure out a new arrangement now.
Watched General Conference - tried to find "quiet" activities (jigsaw puzzles, k'nex, legos, etc) to occupy the kids in the room so they could at least absorb some of the spirit of the messages. Unfortuantely they all needed so much hands on help I was pretty distracted much of the time so I guess it sort of backfired.

This Week:

Figure out a rain-out plan for the Rooftop Concert Series final show with The Lower Lights on Friday. The forecast is looking rather bleak which is very disappointing. I'm still hoping for a miracle too.
Otherwise get ready for the final Rooftop Concert Series show on Friday. I'm excited for the show, but ready to have a bit of a break for a few months.
Sew living room curtains. I got my fabric in the mail - the in-laws come on Thursday so unfortunately there's no longer time to have someone else sew them. That's ok - nothing fancy - pole pocket & a hem. I can do it. (psyching myself up)
Celebrate Mom's birthday - I really love living so close to them and getting to see them easily and often.
Work
Run
Sleep
Probably give up on the thought of getting out to delivery thank you notes to the businesses who donated to the silent auction. That's probably ok, right?

Rachel is excused due to BUSY SEASON (i.e. 90+ hour work weeks)

Annee is excused too (can't remember her reason right now)

Ana is excused due to HAVING A BABY
(hope it's ok to post this picture of beautiful William Todd Zackrison & mama)

Sisters update - welcome Mom!!

2011-08-10T02:22:00.010-06:00

MOM (woohoo!)

Last week:

We bought a new house! We're happy this will give us more room to have friends and family over. It's 521 W Riverwood Circle, Provo. That's just north of 3700 N (Will's Pit Stop St) and about as far west of University Ave as we are now. Closing is in a week, Monday Aug 15.
I signed up as a temp cashier at the BYU Bookstore. I'll be helping during the Book Rush at the start of the semesters only. I'm pretty excited about doing this. I think it will be fun and invigorating.
Climbed to the "Y" four times in the morning. The idea is to improve my health.

This week:

See if any of my tomatoes start to ripen.
Enjoy some days with the Wiley kids while Sarah and Scott get away. Win-win.
Climb to the "Y" a few more times.
Organize for a move. Thankfully we aren't giving up the townhouse immediately so we can take the time we need.
Get cash register training. I'm also excited about having a discount on books and things, including framing.
Continue my reading and studying of Mosiah. The timeline takes focus.

CHRISTINE

Last week:

- Spent a few relaxing days in Morgantown to start off the week.
- Ran twice. I'm becoming familiar with the nearby high school track. I really don't like running on tracks, it gets too boring pretty quickly, but I am liking the convenience of it and since I prefer running at night I think it's probably safer running there than on the streets.
- Worked at Anthropologie on Friday and Saturday. I was lucky enough to be visited by Rachel on both days, it's always fun to have family around. It's interesting getting to know this new store and noticing the differences between it and Salt Lake. I literally just showed up on Friday and without any introduction or tour around the store was just thrown in.
- Looked at a few apartments. I'm slowly narrowing down and hopefully will pick a place by the end of this week.
- Didn't study, not good.

This week:
- Jon's finally actually getting a small summer break before school starts back up so he's in town for a few days. We are exploring DC and finding some fun activities.
- Look at more apartments and hopefully pick a place!
- Work Wednesday and Saturday.
- Go to Uncle John's lake house? I'm still a little unsure if this is for sure, but we've all been talking about going for a few days to enjoy some lake time.

ANNEE
[insert imaginary picture of Annee]

Last Week:

We went to the beach for a day! It was so wonderful to see that it's an option. I want to go back once a week from here on out. But Darin says we can't go this week. In the end, it's still a lot of driving for one single day. But in my opinion it's totally worth it!! We found a public beach parking lot that had showers and bathrooms. We brought a cooler full of drinks so that we'd stay cool and hydrated. The kids swam in the water for nearly three hours straight. Bliss.
Poor week of running. I don't know what happened. Except to say, even getting up by 6:30 or 7 means it's still hot and muggy. This sucks the running life right out of me. I was confined to the treadmill for most of the week, and just generally uninspired to run.
Re-connected with the sewing machine, and it was totally worth it. The quilt is seriously within view of the finish line. I'm more excited than I can express.
Was in charge of primary sharing time on Sunday. Had to help George and Ruby write talks.

This Week:

Start thinking about what the kids actually need before they go back to school. I know the girls at least need shoes. It will still be unbearably hot when they start school, so new clothes seem superfluous. But maybe a single new outfit? We found red TOMS in Jane's size at Nordstrom yesterday. I couldn't resist. They will be her back to school shoes. She loves them as much as I do. I shouldn't be so excited about it, but I am! Discovered that Ruby's foot is a half-size smaller than Jane's. Jane said this is because she is eight minutes older!
Let the girls have their dance-show here at the house with the neighbor down the street. Invite their whole family to come and watch.
We're going to Atlanta! Leaving Thursday. Coming back Sunday. I'm excited about seeing a couple of different friends while we're out there. Darin's mostly excited about the Braves game. The kids think the Coke Museum will be amazing. The motivation to go was a wedding reception. We shouldn't forget about that!
It's looking like another poor week of running. I might be missing another long run this weekend! This is not turning out exactly how I had planned. Need to figure out how to get it done on Thursday morning before we leave?!
The usual pre-trip prep, laundry, cleaning, eating at home more than not, etc. etc.
Long live summer!!

RACHEL

Last Week

Met Ken for lunch at Maggiano's on Monday which was a special treat.
Visited CZ working at the Tyson's Anthro. It's really fun to see her there. Considered buying a cute skirt but it's just way too long. The search continues for a soft pleated skirt...
Saw Crazy Stupid Love on Saturday
Painted my nails with OPI's You Don't Know Jacques. Highly recommend.
Decided I still do want china and scoped out different patterns at the department stores. Haven't decided what yet but the current favorites are Lenox Iced Pirouette and Wedgwood Gold Vera Lace.
Successfully skipped treats every day. And movie popcorn. And all things delicious. The scale is responding thank heavens.
Bought a new external monitor so I can set up a complete work station at home. I'm going to try to come home earlier each night this busy season.
Played games with the fam + WV Jon at Steve & Ie Li's house.
Did everyone see the article about Sarah in City Weekly this week?

This Week:

So excited to see The Help!! Comes out Wednesday. I can't decide which day to go.
Costco run for water bottles. We're on our last flat.
Get my rings cleaned and inspected.
Schedule a haircut
More resume changing and help submitting job applications.
Our paychecks arrive Friday which means I get to update our budgets and envelopes! Have I expressed my deep and undying love for Mvelopes? I love that program!! Let me know if you're interested and I'll try to convince you fully.
I guess we're going to Uncle John's Lake House in PA this weekend?? Flex at work on Friday. Come back Saturday.
Try to find someone with Harry Potter 5 & 6 audiobooks to borrow/download.
PSA: The price of oil per barrel is dropping like a rock so avoid buying gas until the end of the week.

IE LI

Last week:

Swam
Took the kids to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum on Wednesday
Had a piano delivered to our house on Friday
Summer school
Played in puddles.
Played in the sprinklers.
Had dessert and played a game with Christine, John, Rachel, and Ken.
Mei Li had princess ballet camp, which afforded me a few hours in the week to take two children to stores instead of three. It makes a big difference. I think Stephen enjoyed being the big boy.
Got up at least a half hour before the kids woke up everyday. I am hoping to make this a permanent habit.
Made whole wheat bread with my new mixer. The results were less than stellar. I need to practice some more.
Made pretzels as a family on Saturday.
Attended the Redskins fan appreciation day on Saturday.

Next week:

Go to Cafe Rio. As much as I love Cafe Rio, I haven't been to either of the DC area ones that recently opened up. I think I'll do that tomorrow.
Search for a mirror and artwork.
Another trip to the Air and Space Museum?
Summer school
Swim
Get up early and go to bed early
Pack and go to the lake house in Pennsylvania with Rachel, Ken, and Christine (maybe John?)

SARAH

Last Week:

Updated my blog
Put on another great Rooftop Concert - 2000+ people attended, the weather was perfect, and music was great. So fun.
Let each kid choose a new toy to open when we left town, which ultimately made them so excited for us to leave they were literally pushing us out the door.
Drove to Capo Beach with 3 other couples. Spent the weekend doing NOTHING which was sublime. I really love my kids but man oh man is it ever nice to get away once in a while.

This Week:

Oliver goes to chinese camp - it's our first step back to the regular scheduled life of the school year.
I really need to clean and move the postal box cabinet into the house this week. It's really in the way in the garage. I think I've figured out where to put it, but it's going to require moving 2 other big pieces of furniture too.
Settle finances from last rooftop show - send out checks
Better get back to work this week - I've slacked quite a bit
Yardwork
Exercise

I took 4 kids by myself to California

2011-08-02T12:23:00.015-06:00

Scott had to work, and that's ok. Dads do that and I think it's a good example for the kids to see. We've gone on 2 fun vacations all together already this summer, in addition to endless fun times in between, so it's not like the kids were being deprived or anything. Of course it's always more fun when Dad's around, but I was unapologetic that it just wasn't an option this time. So our choices were either to stay home in the boring dead heat of the Utah desert, or go to the beach without him. Being that Zackrison women can do anything, it didn't really occur to me that I couldn't or shouldn't try to do that drive and trip on my own. Of course it would be hard, but I was being careful not to call it a "vacation" and rather think of it as a "change or scenery". Besides, there are almost no circumstances where the beach isn't better than the desert. So, that being said...

I spent Friday doing laundry, packing, and cleaning. We loaded the bikes on the back of the van and set off bright and early Saturday morning. The kids slept for a long time, and we didn't stop until St. George! We got breakfast at Jack in the Box and got back on the road and didn't stop again until Barstow. We had one other mini-bathroom-stop and made it to the beach while it was still light outside.

The kids immediately got to work playing together in the sand while Stephanie BBQ-ed hotdogs for us. It was so nice to be out of the car.

The next morning we woke up and Huck and June and I set off on our bikes to get donuts. Bike riding at the beach is pretty much heaven on earth to me, and it's fun to have June such a willing and able companion. Huck loves riding along too.

Huck was blown away by the train that goes by about every 20 minutes right in front of the house. He set up shop to watch it up close, and when not in his position here would run out as soon as he'd hear it to try to catch a glimpse.

The ocean was rough at that particular beach spot - rockier than I've ever seen it. Brenden and June had such fond memories of swimming in the waves at the beach in North Carolina, so they were anxious to try it out here. I went out with them the first day and they were both quite disappointed. So we did a lot of hole digging and playing around the house and bike riding instead.

Not having Scott there probably made it more boring for the kids and certainly more work for me. Huck and June were having trouble taking turns playing baseball, so came up with an obvious solution when they found 2 bats and 2 balls - I could just throw to them at the same time.

Riding to the end of the street is an easy excursion - we did that a couple times each day. We also rode to the harbor to get ice cream and around the parking lot to jump over the speed bumps.

One day I took the kids down to San Clemente beach to try to find some more swim-friendly spots. It was much less rocky, so the older boys spent a while out in the water, but the current was strong and waves were kind of scary, so pretty soon they were all on the shore riding in the white-water as the waves crashed.

We got fresh chips and salsa from Island Style Tacos every day. I did a little shopping and the kids played some video games. Laurel was there a few days, Brett was there a couple days, Webb and Truman came for one day and a night. We celebrated Laurel's birthday with an ice cream cake.

On Tuesday we went on an excursion to get out of the house and ended up at the petting zoo in downtown San Juan Capistrano - right by their cute old train station. We called it Huck's Birthday Party to justify going in and doing something he'd enjoy even if the rest of the kids weren't that excited. In the end I think everyone had a good time. This was a funny place with few regulations and lots of hands-on opportunities with the animals. They sold bowls of carrots and lettuce at the front gate and you could go in the bunny or goat pens and feed and pet them or feed the llamas and ostrich and horses and cows through the fence. They had a mineral mining activity the older kids enjoyed and a playground for the younger ones.

The kids took a train ride around the circle, and they even all went on pony rides too. We got frozen yogurt afterward - it ended up being a great outing and I'd say a great way to celebrate Huck's birthday.

We slept at the beach house 4 nights and then packed up and headed up to La Canada. I had to go on a one-day business trip to northern California, so Laurel graciously accepted the challenge of watching all the kids for the day. She was still smiling when I got back that night, and the kids were all still alive, so I think it all went ok.

Brett invited the boys to go to the X Games with him on Friday. They were so excited when he called, having just been watching it on tv and dreaming of going in person, running around the house singing "we're going to the xgames, we're going to the xgames". Sounds like they had a great time watching everything up close with the great all-access passes he had. Having such a cool Uncle Brett comes with a lot of perks for young boys who love extreme sports.

While the boys were gone, I took Huck & June to spend the day in South Pasadena (after the requisite stop at Green Street to restock our Dianne Salad Dressing supply). We went on a train ride, got cupcakes, went to garfield park, and did a little antiques shopping. We drove through our old neighborhood and past our old house 3 times, and went to Trader Joe's. I sure love that town. I had a great time hanging out there all day (plus came away with the cutest little side table and a stack of old books and hobnail pots - that's about all that would fit in my car).

Unfortunately I don't really have any more pictures. I was doing pretty well remembering to pull my phone out at first. But I'm sad to not have documented the next part of the trip.

Friday night we headed down to San Diego to visit Zack & Ana & Jack in their new home. I was excited to have family back out west with us so didn't want to miss the chance to get together with them. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of our day with them. We got there late Friday night and slept at their house, then woke up Saturday morning to cooking bacon & sausage, chocolate croissants and chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast we headed out to the beach. After seeing the cruel beach in Capistrano I told Zack we needed to get a taste of a nice gentle California Beach. They took us to La Jolla Shores and it was indeed the perfect swimming beach. Unfortunately the sun never decided to come out, so it was a little chilly, but the kids played out in the water for a long time, and when they got tired of that we went over to the beach playground and played there for a while.

While Zack & Ana had the boys at the beach, I took June & Huck to the nearby Aquarium. For some reason June had gotten it in her head that while we were in San Diego she really wanted to go to Sea World. I wasn't about to tackle that one on my own so we found a different aquarium to visit. It was fine and seemed to satisfy her need on a much more manageable scale for me.

After the beach and aquarium and playground, we headed back to Zack & Ana's for delicious take out chinese and the kids played outside in the cul de sac with some neighbor kids. June and Jack saw some wild bunnies hopping around and spent the next hour or so building bunny traps. Ana promised them that if they caught a bunny they could keep it as a pet, which really motivated them to work hard. They build 3 traps for their soon-to-be-pets Butterscotch,
Buster, and Love, they found some carrots to use as bait, and spent about 10 minutes out watching and waiting. They came in to report that catching bunnies is really hard and then we went to bed with the promise that Jack would send us a bunny if he was able to catch one after we left.

We packed up the car and headed home bright and early Sunday morning. The drive home was pretty much as uneventful as the drive there - we made one long stop in Vegas to find a roller coaster - ended up at Circus Circus at the world's only indoor double loop double corkscrew coaster, after having been turned away at New York New York's roller coaster since Oliver was 1/2 inch too short. Huck and June and I rode the merry go round while we waited. We got home while it was still light out and everyone was so excited to see Scott - and discovered that he'd installed a projector and screen in the basement while we were away.

3 more weeks until school starts.

Summer 2011 - is it really almost over?!

2011-08-01T15:08:00.020-06:00

[Insert lame excuses about not blogging forever being so far behind and how time flies and we're so busy blah blah blah]

Here are a few fun highlights from our summer so far (and by "highlight" I mostly just mean "something we have a picture of")

June

When we got back from our big East Coast trip, we got the kids signed up for swimming lessons at the country club - I was excited about this since this is where I'd like them to eventually do swim team, so it was a step in getting them acquainted and familiar there. After lessons they got to spend some time going off the diving boards, which was a highlight. All the kids have made great progress, and really it's just a matter of practicing the strokes more at this point. June needs to be willing to practice with no goggles in order to progress to the next level - her goggles have become a real security blanket for her so I'm not sure if/when/how that will happen.

On June 20 we sent Brenden off to Camp Big Springs - week-long sleep-away camp for all 5th graders in Provo. We missed him a lot and his absence left Oliver more freed up to pick on June, but are glad he had a good time. He came back very dirty but excited to have made some new friends and had some fun experiences.

Looking back at the calendar reminds me that Oliver had a day of cub scout day camp in June, we celebrated Father's day for both Scott and Grandpa Z and Grandpa Z's birthday, Brenden & Oliver both had some dental work done, and we listened to the Beatles Abbey Road album a lot.

July

by Justin Hackworth

July started off with a bang when on July 1st we had our next Rooftop Concert which featured The Abbey Road Show - a group of local allstar musicians who got together to play the Abbey Road album from start to finish. Scott played guitar with a group of about 15 other musicians and singers and the whole thing was truly magical. The music was great, the camaraderie visible on stage was fun to watch, and the fireworks during the encore were epic. The crowd was amazed and the whole evening went over very well. So fun.

by Justin Hackworth

We hired a security crew this time so I got to wear this nifty walkie-talkie headset which felt pretty silly but very official.

by Justin Hackworth

It's kind of crazy to see how big this whole concert series has become. But Provo is a gentle place so the crowds have been manageable and so far it's still been really fun to work on.

After the show on Friday, we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating the 4th of July. We watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks on Saturday night, did our own fireworks with friends on Monday night, watched the hot air balloons (not) launch on Monday (it was too windy but that was kind of dramatic too), and watched the parade. It was fun to have Brett in town for the festivities.

The boys have spent a lot of time this summer riding their bikes and looking for good spots to jump and do tricks. We discovered a bike park in Eagle Mountain, have gone to several different skate parks, and the boys go out "street riding" sometimes (i.e. riding around town looking for different curbs and cracks in the sidewalk to launch jumps over).

In fact, we took advantage of the fact that Brett was in town and put him to work operating heavy machinery.
We rented a mini-excavator and built a little bike jump park up in the vacant land above our house. The boys worked on that in the dead heat of summer every day coming back dirty and hot and sweaty, but the outcome has been great.

We've ended up with a ton of these types of movies from Brenden's Go Pro camera - this is him riding the jumps we built by our house. I think he was out there by himself this day.

IDAHO

On July 7 we packed up and headed to Lake Pond Oreille in Sandpoint, Idaho with the Wileys. We stayed at this amazing house right on the lake with it's own doc and rolling hills and glass doors and windows from floor to ceiling. It was breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful.

We watched bald eagles swoop for fish and played checkers and ping pong and went boating one day. We ate good food and everyone made a little progress in their respective books/work/knitting projects.

The kids spent PLENTY of time in the jacuzzi, and we took advantage of the grassy hill and built a super slip-n-slide.

We went exploring a few times into the cute town of Sandpoint wherein we discovered this beautiful bank of old postal boxes that I just couldn't live without.

Most importantly the kids got along well together and made memories together and we enjoyed each others company. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Wiley for making it all possible!

What else?
We've been to Seven Peaks a few times - a couple times with Scott

and once even with June's best friends who used to live next door (Raeanna is 2 years older than June - they get along very well in spite of their huge height difference).

The boys went to rock climbing camp again this year for a week. Their leader took me aside afterward to tell me he thinks they're great climbers and suggested they join their competition team. I'm of course proud of them and happy for them to find a physical activity they enjoy and are good at, but the idea of them getting really good at rock climbing frankly scares me a little too much. That might sound funny since I don't really ever worry about them bike riding or motorcycle riding or jumping off the high dive, but somehow rock climbing seems different. Maybe I've just seen too many movies. In any case I'm sure we'll continue with it a bit and see where it goes.

The Lower Lights had a show up in Logan - beautiful area, great show, funny crowd.

Huck had his 2-year well baby checkup and passed with flying colors (65% weight, 98% height, 94% head). His speech has really exploded the past couple of weeks which has been fun to watch. I think he is further along at this age than my others were, which makes me hopeful maybe he'll pass through the "terrible twos" a bit faster too. He still has a ton of energy and screams more than I'd like and can be rather intense, but he is very funny and cute. He has started to express interest in potty training, and even been successful a couple of times, so maybe I'll take a stab at it early with him.

In a desperate attempt to facilitate some at-home outdoor entertainment, I bought this "super fun" backyard slide/pool. It took a long time and a lot of pumping to get it all setup and the whole time I was sure the fun it would enable would last all of 5 minutes. But to my surprise it lasted for a couple hours that day and a couple hours the next. For the next 3 days it sat out there unused and killed the grass underneath it, and now it's all deflated and crumpled on the side of the house pretty much forgotten. So that's about $10/hour for fun, which I guess is about the same as any other activity we could have thought of, so I shouldn't feel bad about that.

So long for now, partner.

P.S. For anyone who's following our "weekly" sister updates, you can find them here:
June 28 at Annee's
July 7 at Ana's
July 14 at Ie Li's
July 24 at Rachel's
August 1 at Christine's

Sisters update

2011-06-21T15:46:00.009-06:00

Rachel posted last week's update, which was our first after returning from the beach together. I'm slow to get this one up because I had to catch up on my vacation wrap-up blogging first. But the good thing about that is it's one more of last week's goals I can check off my list.

Anyway, here goes. This week I'll go in the order that people sent me their updates. Props to CZ!

CHRISTINE

Last Week:

Spent Monday-Thursday in Jordan, exploring Amman, hiking all over Petra, and sleeping in the Wadi Rum desert
Safely crossed the Israeli border on Thursday, all with very little drama. It was very interesting to see the place and to see first hand some of the affects of the never-ending Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Basically the Israelis do everything they can to make it difficult and uncomfortable for the Palestinians to cross the border, even if they live in Israel and are trying to return to their homes. And we get caught in the middle of it all having to go through the long, painful process as well. Everything they do, such as questioning people and searching bags and making people sit around, they really just do because they can, they don't really have good reasons for stopping people the way they do.
Spent Friday-Monday in Jerusalem, visiting Hezekiah's tunnel, Jericho, Gethsemane, Bethlehem, the Old City and all the sites within it, etc, etc, etc....
Spent time getting to know all the really great people that I'm travelling with, hopefully there will be some great, lasting friendships coming from all this time together.

Next Week:

Float in the Dead Sea.
Spend the night in Jericho.
Spend a few days touring around Galilee.
Say goodbye to half the group and continue on into Egypt where hopefully we won't die.

IE LI

Last week:

Moved my cucumber plants. They died.
Installed double curtain rod and hung sheers and drapes in our living room. Slowly but surely, it's coming together.
Swimming lessons
Dinner with the missionaries.
Dinner at Anita's with Annee, Rachel, and Ken
Celebrated Father's Day with grilled chicken sausages, grilled zucchini, and grilled corn. That day, Steve also got to pick the first cucumber off of our only thriving cucumber plant. It was delicious.

Next week:

Finish up a few sewing projects
Pool Time
Mi Na's birthday and all that goes along with that.
Continue to plan Mei Li's birthday party.
Look for a mirror and a coffee table.

ANNEE

Last Week:

We accomplished perfect swim team attendance for the week! Were rewarded by going out to lunch afterwards on Friday at our local favorite, Elmo's Diner.
I did run 5 times! Including my longish run on Saturday on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail running through quaint downtown Vienna. It was so lovely. It's wonderful that the Fitzgeralds live right by such a charming trail. It was also kind of like running in a race, there were so many people that morning!
I made it up to VA for a two day, two night visit with the VA families and had such a blast touring the barn furniture sales. It was just what I needed!
Sewed two cute sun dresses, and started a 4th of Julyish yarn wreath. It's a starting point.

This Week:

Plan our July trip up to Northern NY including stops in Gettysburg, Hershey, Cooperstown, and Rochester, Palmyra, and culminating in a weekend fireworks display over Niagara Falls. I think we actually have a workable timeline put together. I'm really excited now. Departure date is going to be July 10th.
I need to keep running! Just keep running.
I need to email the cute couple in our ward who had a set of twin boys about nine months ago. My kids love those babies so much, that after church on Sunday, I asked the parents if we could babysit them this week. I need to follow up on that. We really, really need to get to babysit those babies this week. We just LOVE babies at this house.
You know what?! It's summertime. If I can feed four kids and a husband three meals a day, maintain the housework, try to be happy and have fun with them along the way, well then, I think that's all I'm trying to do right now. Seriously, I don't know what else to put on the list right now.

SARAH

Last week:

We're loving the new swimming lessons at the country club! Way better program and nicer pool than the city-run lessons at the rec center, and I think the kids are actually learning something this time. Sitting on the side and watching is pure torture for poor Huck though, so we spend the time going on walks to look at trucks at the nearby construction site. This reminds me of my early mom days with little Brenden, but Huck is not nearly as interested in the trucks as Brenden was nor is he really very impressed with the fact that I still know the names of all of them.
Thanks to this here Sisters Update, I got my blog updated about the end of our trip.
Sent Brenden off to Camp Bigsprings for the whole week. He was nervous and I was kind of sad. The dynamic has shifted in our house. Unfortunately without his big brother around, Oliver has more time and energy to torment his little sister.
Planted my window boxes, but haven't gotten to the garden yet. Got the whole yard weeded and pruned, but it's only because Scott finally made me admit it was kicking my butt and called in a rescue team. A crew of 6 skilled laborers spent about 4 hours here today. I'd like to think I could have caught up on my own eventually, but I have to admit it is really nice to get it done. Hopefully I'll still feel that way when the bill comes.
Scott and I were judges for Velour's Battle of the Bands. Unfortunately it was not Provo Music's best showing on Saturday night.

Next week:

Start cooking again
Start exercising again - I've got to get back to Yoga and maybe even start running again. Scott has put it out on the table that if we as a family decided to put a team together to do a Ragnar Relay, he might consider participating. Should we do it?
Plant garden - this is it. If I don't do it this week it's not going to happen. I did discover some volunteer cilantro growing out there today which is already big enough to harvest. Funny thing is I have one thing on my shopping list right now - cilantro.
Bake some cookies to send up to Brenden at camp in the supplies truck that leaves Provo every afternoon.
Rooftop concert next Friday - oh man I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that yet. Need to renew our insurance policy, organize the volunteers, hire a security team, figure out a new lighting scheme, decide how to handle sponsor advertising on-site, and make sure it gets adequately promoted. Scott is playing in the band this time, so he's pretty busy learning his parts, rehearsing, and planning. We've been listening to The Abbey Road album a lot around here lately.
I've got to do some Lower Lights work soon - figure out their summer/fall schedule. Is it time to start charging wards/stakes for firesides? How do we make that transition?

RACHEL

Last week:

Back to work except for Thursday the US Open day. I wore a floppy hat. No cell phones were allowed so we never knew the time. A. Kim almost hit us with his ball which he overhit into the foresty area we were walking through. Watching him hit it out of the trees was really exciting!
Annee came to visit and left her old sewing machine with me to borrow!! What a fun surprise! I have quite a list of things to sew and can't wait to get started. I'm so excited!!
We went to a barn sale where Annee found a dresser and we ate amazing pretzel dough food items.
I taught 6/7 year old primary with Ken. It was hard. One girl seems to be autistic so she's crazy and will need special love. Need to think about how to reach her.
Finally tried the Gel Manicures people talk about. One week later and still no chips!!
We've gotten a lot of rain and so therefore we've had a lot of frogs around (???). One got in the house. Ahh!

This week:

Buy Spalena sheets at Costco in Brandywine MD. My friend Kristen rave about them. They're on a "Road Show" so only available in a few locations.
meet up with Annee in Richmond to hand off the dresser. Meeting halfway seems like the best solution right now. It'll be a fun adventure!
Prepare for Ken's bday and the 4th of July. I have Friday and Monday off, his bday is Saturday. Where should we go??
Dinner with Sazband and a fireside on Sunday.
Finish my yarn wreath and start on my next project. Order the roman shade supplies from JoAnn's with a 50% off coupon.
Prepare for a visit from Haley!

Ana has been traveling with Zack and Jack to see the sights in northern NY before their impending big move -- I'm still holding out hope she'll check in with us here tomorrow, so stay tuned.

East Coast Trip wrap-up

2011-05-31T19:06:00.024-06:00

It's just really too bad, you know? I was doing so well blogging on the trip. And you'd think that once we got to the beach house and had time to sit and relax I'd at least be able to catch up then. Internet was slow and spotty, Scott was trying to build his website so that got priority use of the laptop, and mostly I was never interested in skipping out on the games, puzzles, or conversation happening at all hours of the night to write a blog. So here we are, home for 2 weeks and I still haven't finished blogging about the trip.

Well luckily, it's my week to post our sisters update, which will force me to move on, but not before the travelog is complete. So here you have it.

On Thursday May 25 my brother Zack graduated "WITH DISTINCTION" from Harvard Business School. I think I've mentioned before how proud I am of him, but it was really something else to be sitting there and watching him in his cap and gown cross the stage. Congratulations Zack! And Ana and Jack too. And best wishes on your future adventures, whatever they may be.

Huck didn't totally love the ceremony (nor did the people behind us totally love Huck's discontentment), so Scott took him out for a lot of it.

All my siblings were there to celebrate the occasion. Here is our obligatory jumping pick. So ridiculous.

Thursday evening we flew from Boston to Raleigh, NC where we rented a car and drove to Chapel Hill to see where my sister Annee and her family lives. We arrived to a beautiful and immaculate house that did feel just a little bit out in the middle of nowhere.

The kids immediately remembered their fun Earnest cousins and had a great time having sleepovers every night and playing together every day.

We went to a farmer's market in a nearby artsy community. It was hot and muggy and the kids just couldn't resist the giant slip 'n slide even though we didn't bring proper swimming attire. It was totally gross and apparently a really good time.

Annee and Darin were generous and gracious hosts. The great thing about sisters is that we can live across the country from each other and have different last names, but when I visit her in her home it feels quite a bit like my home too.
Annee & Darin are living a magical lifestyle right now - back to a student schedule but with the maturity and means of grown adults. They showed us one of their tricks one night when we put the little kids to bed early and left the big boys home to "babysit" and went out to a nice adult-only dinner. It went splendidly, and was a real treat and I hope to soon implement that trick back home.

On Sunday we packed up and headed onward on our journey and caravanned with the Earnests to Duck Beach to meet up with the rest of the JAZBAND.

We were awestruck when we pulled up to this beach-front rental house - complete with 9 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a theater room, an elevator, a hot tub and pool, and a long strip of pristine private beach. It was amazing and perfect and unfortunately will probably make it difficult to accept the comparably-priced options on the west coast anymore.

My report of our daily play-by-play will look very much like this, so I'll leave it to Ie Li to tell it best. But overall highlights would definitely include the amazing soft sand and finding actual seashells and sand crabs; warm water with fun waves - Scott and I really love body surfing and all the kids got the chance to discover the ocean on this trip too; playing with cousins inside the house, out on the beach, and in the pool;

There was daily sandcastle building and paddle ball and sunning and reading and a beautiful sunset to watch every night (albeit on the wrong side of the beach, but that's ok).

I'm not sure Huck understood that he looked like he was sitting in a car (that fun Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ken built for him), but June and Stephen sure got into the spirit as they raced down the track.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love our life here in Provo. We've got it good and I know it. But beach life is better. That's just the simple truth of the matter.

Here are all the cousins (minus Mi Na and the one currently gestating inside of Ana) on our outing to Kitty Hawk - home of the Wright Brother's infamous first flight. These kids all did amazingly well getting along and making fun memories together.

Of course hanging out with my siblings was the highlight for me too. Most nights ultimately ended up around this table eating crabs, playing cards, working on puzzles or having some nerdy discussion over ice cream. We even had a book club one night which was awesome - first book I've read in probably 10 years - literally (lest you think it's because I don't like reading, it's actually quite the contrary - I love reading so much I neglect all my other responsibilities, so decided once I had kids I had to give it up for this phase of my life - moderation is not my forte). Sometimes I wonder whether having a big family is ever really "worth it" given the lopsided ratio between getting-along to annoying-your-little-sister-on-purpose, on top of how much hard work it is and how expensive it can be. But when we are all together as adults and get along well and share common experiences and values and interest and love and respect for one another, it becomes quite clear how "worth it" it was all along.

Thanks for making it all possible, Mom & Dad.

On the flight home...

East Coast Trip - days 3 & 4 (New York to Boston)

2011-05-25T21:34:00.007-06:00

On Tuesday, we got up bright and early to fit in those last couple things before leaving New York City. In particular we were invited on a personal tour of NBC Studios by my old high school buddy Todd Whiting, so of course we jumped at that chance. We had breakfast at Rockefellar Center, walked around the streets to see the buildings and statues from the outside, then met up with Todd at 11am.

He took us to see the MSNBC newsroom, the Nightly News desk & broadcast room, the behind-the-scenes control room, and most excitingly the Saturday Night Live set. When we were standing on the SNL set taking pictures and watching the crew work, we looked up to see the "official" tour members looking down at us from an upper window. It was awesome to see everything up close, and felt great to get the real personal treatment.
It was so great to see Todd again. It's been about 10 years but there's something so familiar about being with someone you knew well in high school - and when you're in a strange city far from home it is nice to have a little something to help it feel a little more personal and like home.

After we finished with our tour, we parted ways - Scott to pick up the rental car in midtown and somehow make his way driving across town, me to take the kids back to the hotel to pack up, check out, and meet Scott at the curb with our luggage. The plan mostly worked and eventually we were on our way out of town.

We drove from New York City to Boston without much incident. There was the usual amount of boredom and fighting, then everyone needs food and bathroom stops at different points. But eventually everyone fell asleep so we just drove on through and made pretty good time. Scott was a little disappointed at how much all the tall green trees obstructed his view. He had hoped to see more of America on this drive, but what he saw was mostly forest-lined highways.

We arrived at Zack & Ana's house and ordered authentic Boston pizza, let the cousins play together, and hung out with Mom & Dad & Christine & Zack & Ana for a bit. Brenden & Oliver slept over at Zack & Ana's and the rest of us headed to a hotel nearby. This time we were all in one room, which didn't really go over that well in terms of Huck ever falling asleep or June staying in her own bed. Oh - by the way - Happy 14th wedding anniversary to Scott and I. We totally ignored the event, but enjoyed spending the day, like every day, spending time and working together to lead our family.

This morning, we got up early to make it meet everyone for a tour of Harvard at 9am personally guided by Zack's HBS buddy Mike Christensen. It is such an amazing campus with all the beautiful architecture, history, and tradition. We promptly went to JP Licks for ice cream, then parted paths and the Wileys + Christine went to be tourists in Boston, and everyone else headed to HBS graduation activities.

Of course the highest priority was to take the crew on a Duck Boat Tour of Boston. It was really great. The driver was knowledgeable and interesting, you could hear and understand well, the weather was perfect, and the boys loved the chance to drive the boat.

After the duck boat tour, we walked over to Boston Commons, met up with Rachel, Steve, Annee, and Jack, and spent some time throwing rocks and sticks in the water and watching the swan boats go by. Huck spent a lot of energy yelling at the ducks to come over to us, but for some reason they didn't want to. I spent a lot of energy trying to make sure he didn't fall in the water, but quickly gave up the effort to keep him dry. (Note to self - next time include extra shoes with the backup outfit for Huck.)

We let the kids do a ride on the carousel, then walked back to the car parked at the Prudential Center along Newbury Street - dying to stop in each store to shop. On one hand, having 4 kids might be cheaper for us, since without them we'd do way more shopping. On the other hand, if we didn't have them we could spend all the extra money we spent on their plane tickets on other stuff. Hmmmm... tradeoffs.

We met up with Mom & Dad and Zack & Ana & Jack at Legal Seafood for a family dinner honoring Zack's graduation. There we enjoyed great popcorn shrimp, clam chowder, almond-encrusted salmon, and watched Zack devour the innards of a lobster - Tahitian-style. It was all delicious. A quick walk along the wharf to see the jellyfish completed the evening. We sent Brenden back to Zack & Ana's, and the rest of us headed back to the hotel. We moved into a one-bedroom suite, so hopefully the sleeping will happen a little more smoothly tonight.

East Coast Trip - Day 2 (NYC)

2011-05-23T20:59:00.007-06:00

Today's primary focus was getting to the Statue of Liberty. We had reserve tickets for 2pm and didn't plan anything before that, so we could take our time getting there. In fact, we slept in all the way to 10am and had bought some cereal and milk the night before to eat in our room. We rode the subway down to Ground Zero, walked around the giant construction site there a bit, then walked the rest of the way to Battery Park.

The kids were very excited to get to skip the longest line by having pre-paid tickets, but there was still lots of waiting and lines to go through. June was nervous about the ferry, which makes her grumpy and uncooperative (sound familiar, Oliver?). The weather was overcast and cool, so there weren't great views but at least it wasn't raining and it wasn't burning hot so it could have been worse. We thought we'd save time and money by eating lunch at a hot dog stand on the street. $55 later most people still didn't really like what they got so no winners there.

But they were quite impressed by Lady Liberty and had fun climbing all the stairs to get to the pedestal.

The whole thing went smoothly and took less time than we'd expected, although I wouldn't say it was exactly easy. Trying to do anything with this crew is a challenge, especially when it includes subways, lots of walking, two strollers, staying together, finding our way, and so many different eating and bathroom schedules.

We played around the grounds for a bit afterwards. Then boarded the ferry and headed back to the city.

Out came the ipods.

Given that Oliver's favorite food (almost only food) these days is pizza, and given that we were in the land of pizza, we decide to stop in Little Italy on the way back and try out the world-famous Lombardi's. It did not disappoint, and getting there around 5pm before the main dinner rush was a good move (plus Huck slept through dinner in the stroller so that made it quite pleasant).

After dinner we headed to Soho for a little shopping - well at least that idea sounded fun before we got there. Then we remembered we had 4 kids and 2 strollers with us so it wasn't that easy to browse. But we did track down this sweatshirt Oliver's had his eye on for a whole year, so he'd call it a great success.

After dinner and "shopping" we stopped by Stand near Union Square for one of their famous roasted marshmallow shakes - another great recommendation by Paul & Holly. We thought it would be nice to go sit in the park at Union Square and eat them before getting back on the subway (it was about 9pm at this point), but when the "kind gentlemen" next to us took Scott aside to "recommend" to him we leave, we quickly gathered our things and moved along.

We were again quite relieved to get back to our hotel and crash. This place is so perfect and now that we've done the two-bedroom suite thing I'm sure we've been spoiled for life. (Although unfortunately bedtime with 4 kids in one room did not go quite so smoothly tonight.)

We head to Boston tomorrow. Many more adventures lay ahead.

East Coast Trip - Day 1+

2011-05-22T23:38:00.003-06:00

We made it! There were of course those overwhelming thoughts, during the days leading up to our departure, of "what are we doing" and "is this really worth all this trouble", but at 8pm my dad came to pick us up and drove us to the airport. Our Jetblue redeye flight left at 11:30pm. We had plenty of cushion - a comfortable walk in,

some lounging and relaxing in the terminal,

watching our plane arrive. Taking 4 kids on a redeye is required some careful planning - new "toys" that would make sleeping seem exciting - we opted for new mini pillow-pets and character beach towel blankets. And in the end I must say it went about as well as it could have. June slept on the floor, Oli stretched out across her seat. Huck slept in my arms, Brenden leaned up against Scott. I slept a little.

We landed at 6:30am and headed to baggage claim, called a shuttle, and went to our hotel. That van ride was an awesome first introduction to New York City - crazy drivers, honking horns, and all. But we made it, dropped off our luggage, and headed out to bide our time until we could check in and sleep. We went next door for breakfast, then walked over to the Museum of Natural History, then to Central Park.

We found the turtle pond, the lake, the boathouse, the RC sailboat pond, the famous fountain and bridge, and climbed the lava rocks. Huck was delighted at all the dogs and birds. I love all the street musicians - so many of them really so talented. After lunch at the Farmer's Market, it was finally 3:00pm so we headed back to the hotel.

To our delight, the generous staff at Hotel Beacon upgraded us to a two-bedroom/two-bathroom suite (I had booked a one-bedroom suite). I had heard about this hotel from a couple "traveling to the city with kids" sites, and it is amazing - great location, beautiful rooms, quiet windows. So we checked in, showered, rested, brushed our teeth, put on clean clothes, and readied ourselves for more adventure.

Around 6pm we headed out and took the subway down to Times Square. June was super excited to go use yet another mode of transportation. The kids eyes were wide as they took it all in.

Our destination was the ferris wheel at the Toys 'R Us store. Once we were there the other kids chickened out and Brenden and I were the only ones to ride it. It satisfied my goal to ride every famous ferris wheel (already checked off Paris, Santa Monica Pier, highest-altitude ride at Christmas-town in Colorado (Annee - what was that place?). Anyway, add to the list Times Square.

So while Brenden and I waited in line and took our ride, Scott got to entertain 3 other kids in a toy store for an hour. Needless to say we did not leave the store empty handed. A last-minute plea for a restaurant recommendation brought us to Ollie's for some hit-the-spot Chinese (thanks Holly!). Then a stop at a market on the way and back to the hotel. I really wasn't sure how it would work having Huck sleep in the room with the other kids, but amazingly somehow it seems to have worked.

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and advise. Thanks to Lisa for the recommendation to bring a 2nd stroller. A trip like this is going to be hard no matter what, with the ages of the kids, but to see their excitement and their apprehensions and to see them take in the sights and sounds and make discoveries of a new place, I think it becomes all worth it and makes me proud that we are willing to do hard things to give our kids these experiences.

I can't keep my eyes open any longer. Better sign off. Big day tomorrow.

Another month gone by (plus a post edit)

2011-05-19T14:27:00.040-06:00

We're leaving on our big trip on Saturday, and I am determined to blog daily while we are away, but of course that means I have to catch up before we go. Time sure flies by. Tomorrow is the kids last day of school. Wasn't it just the first day of school?! It doesn't help that it hasn't actually gotten warm here yet. It's 48 degrees and raining again today.

We are so stinking busy these days. I know it's totally my fault for signing up for too many things, but it really doesn't seem unreasonable at the onset, but that is deceiving. Scott's been working morning until midnight every day trying to make up for missing two weeks while we are away, while still managing to go to every ball game and be home for bedtime more often than not, and satisfy the demands of his church calling. I've had huge commitments lately at work, with The Lower Lights, and with The Rooftop Concert Series, on top of the normal daily lives of 4 kids and church responsibilities and attempting to keep up with the household. I'm not complaining or bragging - just marveling on how we've managed to get ourselves so engaged in life that it is practically flying right past us. I asked Scott yesterday if I could please just have one day where nobody needs any food. That's all - just take the food needs away for a day and I think I might have a chance at catching up a little. He said no. He's so mean. Was it really too much to ask? I mean really - they would all survive just fine for one day without food. I really hate food.

OK. Sorry for the rambling. On with the update. We'll start with Spring Break, April 11-15. Because of our upcoming trip we decided not to go anywhere for Spring Break. Instead we made a list of activities - everyone got to contribute a couple ideas - and every day tried to do one or two things from the list.

The weather was good for half the week, so we were sure to do the outdoor activities on those days. By the end we had accomplished everything on our list except one thing I added (ride bikes on the Provo River trail to Utah Lake). But we did:

go to the skatepark
ride bikes a lot, including on our cul de sac, up in the mountains close to our house, and discovered "the basement jumps" (some guys built some dirt ramps and jumps near their apartments)
went skiing/snoboarding at Snowbird (June and Huck were super excited to stay home with their favorite next-door neighbor babysitter Julia)
hiked the Y with Christine and Mom and Dad
went swimming at our favorite indoor community pool
did indoor surfing/arcade/jungle gym at Provo Beach Resort

Mostly I'll just say we survived it in style. I personally am not a fan of the unstructured time that comes with school breaks. I like having a routine and purpose to each day, as well as an emphasis on work as a part of the routine, which I seem to be unable to instill on our own at home. Everyone seems to think if they're off school they should get to just play all the time, and it's true - kids should get to play - but in general no one really gets to just play all the time and I don't like the sense of entitlement that comes along with school breaks. I don't know if that makes sense.

So moving on, the week after Spring Break was very exciting because all my siblings gathered here in Provo to celebrate Christine's BYU graduation. So exciting, in fact, that it required a 2-week paper chain countdown until Aunt Rachel was coming. (Quick time out here - you'll notice a trend in some of the coming pictures of June in her jammies. June is in a definite jammie phase right now - craving to be comfy as much as possible. It's a common fight between us about when and where is appropriate to wear jammies and when she absolutely must wear clothes.) So Annee arrived on Tuesday, Steve & Ie Li and family arrived on Wednesday, Rachel & Ken arrived on Thursday morning , and Zack & Ana & Jack arrived Thursday evening. It was so great to be all together. We talked a lot, ate good food, cousins got to play together, and most importantly, we got to take this picture:

I think Mom has been dreaming of this picture for 17 years. All 6 of her kids BYU college grads. Quite a feat. Congratulations to everyone involved who helped make that dream come true.

In fact what's even more amazing is all 5 of the spouses are also BYU grads (well technically Ana and Scott are not actually BYU grads but Ana (UCSD) lived in Provo supporting Zack while he finished for enough years and Scott (USC) did take his last couple classes at BYU and lives in Provo now, so for the sake of the story we'll go ahead and count them as alumni), as well as Mom and Dad too. Our family's probably not that unique among the general BYU population, but in and of itself it is quite impressive, I think.

Having everyone in town for graduation made us think we should take advantage and really pile on the family activities. On Friday after graduation we headed over to the Provo Library where The Lower Lights were performing a big concert in the ballroom. It was a really cool room and great location and they played so amazing and there were lots of people there and it was really a beautiful concert.

On Saturday morning Scott woke up bright and early so he could start filling the baptismal font at the church at 6am. We decided to have a family baptism for Oliver while everyone was in town, and it was an absolutely beautiful meeting. We sang songs and Mom and Annee gave great talks and Scott and Dad both bore beautiful testimony. The Spirit was strong in the room as Oliver took this big brave step to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oliver is such a good and conscientious and obedient boy. He is so smart and thoughtful and anxious to do what's right. I am so proud of him. And I was so pleased that we could share that experience with so many family members. That is really a rare occurrence when those opportunities coincide, but it's so special and strengthening to feel so united and connected in purpose and love with every one in the room.

You'd think graduation, a concert, and a baptism would be enough excitement for one weekend, but no, next we moved on to Easter.

That started with dying eggs at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Saturday afternoon.

Then Sunday morning there were Easter baskets, then church, then dinner and park time at Grandma & Grandpa's, then the requisite family pictures before letting them loose on the egg hunt (notice an egg carefully perched behind us).

Again, it was so fun to share the festivities of the day with so much family. These kids had a great time together and all got along so well - making some invaluable forever memories.

Man we sure are going to miss this girl! CZ gets to brag that she was the first one for whom Huck had a distinguishable name.

Needless to say, after that weekend we needed some serious rest and recovery time. The following week we just tried to catch up, which meant leaving the house as little as possible and lots of time for the kids to entertain themselves.

Unfortunately Huck's idea of entertaining himself isn't always the same as mine, and every day I learn a new lesson like "lock the front door" or "keep the pantry door closed" or "keep the toilet lid down" and now "drain the bath".

He sure loves the attention from his older siblings, who in turn love to make him do ridiculous things. Yes, he gets to be one of those kids who will report that his older siblings dressed him up like a girly butterfly when he was a baby.

Here are a few more jammies shots for you.

So a post on May 19th wouldn't be complete without a horticulture update as well. During the growing season it is like I have another child with how much I pay attention to, tend to, and worry about the landscaping. We've loved seeing the color bloom along the rocks out back, and this crabapple tree was splendid. Out front the honeysuckle vines are completely taking over the pillar along the driveway, but thankfully my work earlier in the season to re-train them I think is paying off. The grass has come in well, albeit with a few more dandelions than I would liked. I tried to spray them but must have used the wrong stuff because now we have a bunch of dead patches throughout the grass. The short fall took a bit of a toll on our roses, but overall I think they've fared well enough.

Our bulbs bloomed beautifully including an extra row of daffodils out front which Mom surprised us with (secretly planted them last fall).

I'm not quite sure where these volunteer tulips have come from, but I'll take them over dandelions any day. The dogwood tree is about to pop out back, which is my all-time favorite, but we will miss most of it's bloom while we are away. One of the two peonies bushes is doing great. The other one is struggling. My lemon tree is still holding on to one last leaf and I'm still holding out hope of a comeback, but no signs yet. I'm excited to get the porch pots delivered soon. Maybe they'll come while we're gone.

Actually the most exciting thing happening in our plant world is this funny house plant which I've been tending for years. You know these kind that completely wilt when they need water and then revive so quickly you could practically watch them come back. Well it all of a sudden decided to produce some flowers! So now our bedroom is starting to feel rather tropical.

OK, moving on (pretty sure no one is still reading this after that disproportionately long horticulture update, but it's for my records anyway so I'm ok with that).

One huge thing I'm involved in this summer is the Downtown Provo Rooftop Concert Series (free monthly outdoor concerts May through October). We had our first concert on May 6th with Fictionist headlining and Paul Jacobsen and the Madison Arm opened. With all the planning and preparation that goes into a concert, you never quite know how many people (if any) are going to come.

We were completely floored when over 1500 people showed up! What a thrill! Plus I'm sure it's more than a coincidence that the weather that day was absolutely perfect. (It rained all the week before and the week after.) Great crowd, great weather, amazing music, huge energy. We call that a success of utmost proportion.

We've got a great crew of volunteers organized to help out this year, which is so great, and I'm getting better at delegating and letting go, so hopefully the monthly burden won't be too great. I appreciate Scott for letting me be a part of this, since I do really enjoy it and I know it takes a toll on our family (anything taking the mother's time and attention away takes it's toll on the family).

(More great poster design from Matt Mildenstein)

We are planning the next concert for June 3rd, which sadly we will miss, so I've been working hard this week trying to be organized and anticipate everything and get assignments out and mostly just have faith it will all go on just fine with out me, which I am quite sure it will. I'm sure the Rooftop Concert Series theme will continue to dominate our summer as we have already discussed how quickly the months fly by (and thereby how quickly the next concert comes up after the one before it). This might end up being one reason to love winter in Provo since it forces us to take a 6-month break from the outdoor concerts. But like I said, I love being a part of this project. It brings together so many of my favorite things - the provo music community, getting to work with fabulous committee members and friends, helping enhance our great little downtown, being involved with the community. My problem is always about finding balance and not obsessing about anything to the point of neglecting other stuff too much.

OK. I think that's it. Or at least that needs to be it. Mom took the kids to see African Cats so I could "get ready for the trip" and I see them pulling up now. We leave on the red-eye flight from SLC to JFK on Saturday night (arriving Sunday morning). Wish us luck.

Post Edit:
I forgot to post my before & after haircut pictures.

Still can't decide which I like better, but change is fun. And it certainly was about time.

Post Edit #2:
I forgot to link to our continuing sister updates. After I hosted the update on April 18, then

Annee hosted (vintage graduation style) on May 2

Ie Li hosted on May 9 (where I show my entry into maxi dresses)

and Rachel hosted this week's (with bonus update from honorary sister Summer)

Z Sisters

2011-04-18T22:06:00.010-06:00

Here's our weekly Zackrison Sisters update. See last week's post on Christine's blog here.

In reverse order...

CHRISTINE

Hey sorry, the update might need to go up without me this week, I don't really have the time to focus on it for now and I don't want to hold it back from going up anymore. I have a test I should be studying for and a project due today.
Sorry. Love, CZ

So we give CZ a pass. She's just GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE THIS WEEK. nbd.

RACHEL

Last Week:

I did work a lot, although not as much as the week before. By the end of the week I was hitting the wall. And that's ok. I worked the last Saturday I'll have to for a long time.
I stopped into Anthropologie during a break on Friday. It's been so long!
The baseball game was fine, not as awkward as I feared. The client's wife was very chatty and her friend was very drunk. So that was entertaining.
We went to the Marriott School Alumni dinner. There were TONS of people there. Prez U.'s talk was directed mostly at the Ambassadors and dignitaries at the dinner so I felt like an observing bystander. Not too exciting.
I hung the mirror on our wallpapered wall. Finally more home progress!
I got pulled over while I was driving home from work one night (morning?) at 5am. I made an illegal u-turn (on purpose), was driving without my license, didn't a VA license (even though I've lived here for 18 months and it's required after 30 days), did not have a current VA safety inspection (didn't know I needed one) and my insurance card was expired. Nonetheless, the police officer showed pity on my and let me off with a warning. Amazing.

This week:

Buy and hang a tie rack and belt hooks from Bed Bath & Beyond
Spray paint the frame in the kitchen from gold to white. It'll match better.
Haircut Wednesday. Mentally preparing for a fix on Thursday in UT if I hate it.
My car failed the Virginia safety check last week. We have a list of things that need to be repaired which we'll try to do on Tuesday. Sad...
Drop off the dry cleaning before we leave town.
Plan our budget for the upcoming trip to UT.
FLY TO UTAH FOR GRADUATION & FAMILY VISITS!!!!!!! So, so excited. Next week's update will be interesting, since everyone's plans will overlap. Can't wait to see it.

IE LI

Last week:

went to the farm to see the baby animals
registered Mei Li for kindergarten. I hope her teacher is wonderful and that she makes wonderfully nerdy friends.
made Chinese egg tarts with a friend
went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum
did four workouts
went to bed early Sunday and Monday nights. I went to bed really late for the rest of the week. I am incapable of going to bed early when Steve is working late. I used that time to clean and talk to my mother and sisters.
had our cabinets painted white. I'm actually not thrilled with the paint job that they did, but they seem to not want to talk about that with me. I'll have to keep pestering. I hate pestering.
missed the BYU Management Society Gala. I tried giving Mi Na a bottle earlier in the week. She didn't know what to do with it. I tried putting her down at 6 PM one night and that didn't work. So in the end, I just did not feel comfortable leaving Mi Na. I'm sad that we missed it, but Steve was very kind and understanding about it all.
made ribs for the first time at Steve's request. Steve is so easy-going all the time that I couldn't say no to such a request.

This week:

Go to Provo! See you all there!

ANNEE

Sisters,

You will not believe me when I tell you my photo was not staged in the least! To get that kind of look, you authentically have to have not showered for a couple of days, have had only a few hours of sleep the night before, and generally have given no regard to what you look like.

Last week:

I attended over 10 hours worth of Church meetings. I’m not complaining, lots of things were accomplished, merely stating it for the record. Maybe it was more than 12 hours. It’s kind of all a blur at this point. No doubt my Bishop had even more, so truly my degree of gratitude for the magnitude of his service is pretty great right now.
Hosted my second of what I hope will be many a fun sewing nights. It was delightful.
See item number 2, I sewed three dresses last week. One was the prototype for the other two, which are now safely tucked away to be pulled out in time for Easter! I’m really excited.
Went on the kindergarten wide Zoo field trip. Spent a most lovely day at the zoo with my all time favorite kindergarteners.

This week:

Stepped in as substitute at the very last minute Monday morning for the elementary school P.E. Teacher. Surprised both Henry and George when their classes came later that morning to P.E. They were not expecting to see Coach Earnest there!
Decided I could sew together my queen sized quilt that I blogged about HERE ( http://madeonmaple.blogspot.com/2011/04/im-going-to-do-it.html), before I left for my trip to Utah. I’m losing faith that it will happen. But I will not fully give up until it’s time to board the plane!
Will leave on a five day trip to Utah, all alone! I will miss my family, and they will totally miss me, and my kids miss their cousins and wish they could come. But, a “momcation” is totally priceless every once in a while. I’m so excited to see all five of my siblings gathered together for a few fun nights.
Excited about attending BYU commencement exercises while remembering when Darin and I walked together across that graduation stage 12 years ago! I was barely pregnant with Henry at the time. Where has the time gone?!

SARAH

First of all, on the subject of these pictures, I'm seriously struggling here. It's like pulling teeth to get anyone else to take a picture of me, so when I want to say "wait do it again and let me look slightly normal first" the complaining is intolerable. It's kind of nice actually having some pictures of myself from time to time, but I guess I'll have to go back to the mirror next week. This is seriously lame.

Last Week:

SPRING BREAK!!! Since we weren't going anywhere this year, we made a list of activities and everyone got to put one or two on it, and then we made a plan and every day did something from the list. The weather was good half the time, so we planned our indoor/outdoor activities accordingly.We survived, but it did not make me super excited for the impending summer break. The good times were great, but there's just so much bickering all the time it's maddening.
Scott took one day off and we took the boys to Snowbird. On the last run of the day we finally talked them into taking the tram up - of course that was the best run of the day and we wished we would have been on that side the whole time.
Hiked the Y with my 4 kids plus Christine, Mom and Dad, with Huck strapped to my back all the way up. My legs were serious jello on the way down. Dad carried either June or Huck pretty much all the way up and down. Mom & Christine helped carry kids too. Next time maybe we'll get a sitter for them.
Made serious progress on my work project that I'd been avoiding for weeks, and learned a ton of new skillz. There's still lots more to do, but it's a real load off to at least have it started.
Announced the lineup for this year's Rooftop Concert Series. I'm really excited. There's going to be some really great shows this summer.
All 4 kids got haircuts, which included me pinning Huck down and holding tight while he screamed and she clipped. The kids called him "Jack" all the way home thinking he looked like his cool older cousin with his new 'do.

This week:

Get ready for Oliver's Baptism - bishop's interview, call Grandma, assign talks/prayers/songs, plan luncheon, invite friends
Get ready for house guests - change sheets, clean towels, clean out closet space, grocery shopping
Get ready for The Lower Lights show - plan room setup, hang posters around town, guest list, merch sales - do we need more stickers/buttons, make signs, promote online
Find a sitter so I can go to CZ's graduation without Huck & June on Friday morning.
Maintain regular life stuff too -- more progress on work project, soccer games & baseball tryouts, work out
Pull the trigger on my Anthro shopping cart. Ladies - what do we think of Maxi dresses this year (besides hating the name)?
Plan all of the above well enough so I can RELAX and ENJOY all the great time with family this week. Can't wait to see you all!!!

we should catch up sometime

2011-04-11T22:52:00.026-06:00

I'm only a month behind. Here goes...

I know I already blogged about my birthday, but I just found this picture of the amazing yellow cake with chocolate frosting we had. It might not look like much here, but Mom's repair job melting the frosting and pouring it over the cake to re-assemble the crumbled pieces was quite impressive and even more delicious. We're on a bit of a diet right now, so this is looking particularly tempting to me tonight.

OK, we'll start with Scott's Birthday, celebrated over the weekend of March 12-13. Having a birthday as an adult is always hard, but having a birthday as an adult on a Sunday when you're in the bishopric is even harder. I tried hard to make the whole weekend special, but try as I might Scott refused to wear the "It's My Birthday" button on his lapel to church, so I don't know how special he felt on his actual birthday.

We did manage to have a funfetti cake and a coldstone ice cream cake on various occasions over the weekend. We also had a fabulous meal at The Tree Room at Sundance Resort, which has become an annual tradition for us. Scott's brother Brett was in town with his snowmobiles so Scott and the boys went up to Strawberry Reservoir for a ride. Scott's big gift from us this year was a BMX bike. He's working hard to remember all the tricks he could do as a kid and impresses us regularly with his wheelies and bunny hops. It's become a fun low-barrier-to-entry activity he can do with the kids.

Scott used his birthday money to buy himself a fancy RC car. Oli bought himself one too with his allowance he'd been saving for 6 months plus birthday money, and we already had one that Brenden can drive, so now we have 3 of these monster powerful RC trucks that the boys like to drive over obstacles and off jumps and through the snow. Great to have another activity to do together. Less great that they regularly break (remember the jumps and obstacles?) and need new parts which means I've become best buddies with the super cool guys at Hobbytown USA.

Moving forward a week, March 21 we celebrated June's 4th birthday.

Needless to say this is one she was really looking forward to. Her birthday was on a Monday this year, so I was again determined to try and get all the celebrating done in a day.

June woke up to streamers and balloons and a pile of presents. By 8am they were all opened, and she was thrilled with the lot - most especially her pink girl's bike. She rides that thing every day, rain or shine, and has perfected skid marks and riding standing up like the boys. She is fast and strong and I'm training her with daily rides around the block to be able to keep up with the family when we ride together.

On Monday afternoon we had 8 little friends come over for a very simple party. We had them all wear costumes and played 3 games: musical pillows (which then also turned into freeze dancing and follow-the-leader), chubby bunny (not sure they got the concept, but they sure loved the marshmallows), and cupcake decorating (notice none of the games required any advance preparation - just baking cupcakes). We sang happy birthday, had a cake with pink frosting, handed out party favors (classy "pooping chickens", as June calls them), and by the end of the day June was literally ready to tear down the streamers and call an end to her big day.

The next day was filled with a show of all the things she could do now that she was 4 -- put on her seatbelt herself (hallelujah!), go to the bathroom herself (double hallelujah!), do handstands. And she tried really hard not to do anything that 3-year-olds liked to do anymore. She wanted to only watch 4-year-old shows and play 4-year-old computer games, which proved to be quite disappointing when we explained to her that 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds like the same shows and games.

In any case now she's 4 and she is a big girl. I am impressed and scared at how mature and capable she is. She is strong and coordinated, she is curious and smart, social and friendly. Of course she is also head-strong and bossy a lot of the time, but she can also be a very sweet little sister and big sister and funny and without guile and just a joy to have in our family.

So, moving on from birthdays...

The past month has brought sure signs of Spring. We've done what we can to spend time outside, and are reminded how much we love where we live when all the neighborhood kids congregate on the cul-de-sac to hang out and play night games. I love that the kids are outside, I love that they're being social, and I love that I can see them out my window while they're doing it.

I've been riding my beautiful Madsen bucket bike every day lately.

We finally made it to feed the ducks - one of my favorite activities. Even June was able to ride herself all the way there and most of the way back. Luckily the Madsen bucket comfortably fits 2 kids plus a mini-bike, so no trouble when she tires and wants to rest for a bit.

The kids spend plenty of time every day on the neighbor's trampoline. What ever will we do if/when they move?! Might we actually have to break down and get one ourselves?! NO!!! Say it isn't so!!!

June blows bubbles for Huck

Brenden takes Huck for a walk

Huck has discovered 3 households in on our block that have dogs. This one is down the street and the dog is visible through the fence. The other two are indoor dogs that live next door and across the street from us. Huck has also figured out how to open our front door. So whenever we forget to lock it, we can usually find him at any one of these locations playing with the "da-doo" (his word for dog). He will even walk himself up to the neighbors front doors, knock, and be let in, before we notice he's missing. So we're working on keeping closer track of him now. He is definitely a dog guy, so I am very grateful the neighbors have nice kid-friendly dogs they are willing to share with us.

Brenden has gotten acquainted with some nice boys nearby who also like to ride bikes and they've started building their own jumps up in the undeveloped foothills near our house. The boys are both getting quite brave and skilled at jumping.

My poor lemon tree has not been doing so well, so I'm happy for some good weather to finally be able to move it outdoors and hopefully let it heal. I've re-potted it to make sure it has good drainage and the roots aren't covered too much, and am encouraged that the branches are still green and there are two little leaves still hanging on, so I'm still hopeful of a recovery.

Unfortunately, Spring in Utah does not mean 72 degrees every day. It means every day you have a 50/50 chance of 65 degree weather or 6 inches of snow.

April 3rd

So when the latter happens, we're forced indoors and have to find ways to occupy ourselves.

Here, we see June with the neighbor twins each with one bowl of water and one bowl of cereal "dog food".

June's nest

Cooperation (this game didn't stay fun for very long)

"Baking" a cake "together"

Huck loving up his own "da-doo" after his bath

costumes are always fun

Huck's nest

This recorder has provided hours of *beeping* fun since June got it for her birthday

He has a way of making you forget about the mischief he just got into and is sure to get into again soon.

On occasion, when the weather forces us indoors, we do actually get bored at home and are forced to venture out on an adventure. A couple of our favorite spots right now are:

Power Tumbling (pptutah.com) - they've just moved into a huge new facility which is amazing - 10 trampolines, 4 foam pits, climbing wall, trampoline runways, and much more.

and bungee jumping at the Provo Town Centre mall (notice June's toy panda bear got to ride along too)

My sisters and I have continued to keep in touch through our weekly combined blog updates. You can see the past few weeks linked below (the above pictures of Christine and I doing headstands together is explained on 3/21 and 3/28). It's been a great way to keep in touch, and also a fun excuse to talk about myself more than my kids from time to time.

Annee's blog - March 21

Ie Li's blog - March 28

Rachel's blog - April 4

Christine's blog - April 11

Guess it'll be back to me next week.

Other things we've been doing:

Brenden got to meet Governor Herbert on a recent field trip to Salt Lake City
I've been working hard planning this year's Rooftop Concert Series
The Lower Lights have a show in Provo on April 22
We're going on a trip to the east coast at the end of May - anyone have any suggestions for what a family of 4 should do or where we should stay or how we should get around for 2 days in NYC and 2 days in Boston? Then we head down to a week at a NC beach with the whole Zackrison crew. Can't wait!
Scott and I are getting back in shape with help again from Total Health and Fitness
In connection with the above, I've been going back to 6am yoga classes at B3 Yoga in the Riverwoods
I got to hear Oliver speak beautiful chinese at his parent/teacher conference. Such an amazing program Wasatch elementary has put together.
My work at Intuit has picked up lately, which is hectic, but some pretty "fun" new projects have given me renewed enthusiasm for my job.
Soccer season is upon us, and this year we have June and Oliver both signed up. Oliver's a champ. June loves the gear but is still a bit apprehensive about playing on a mixed-gender team (?!). Nevertheless, that's two practices and at least 2 games every week. Fun.
I'm sure I could go on, but let's just call it quits there, shall we?

And thus we are officially caught up, and thus we see how much goes on in a busy family over the course of a month, and thus we see how regrettably fast time flies. But they are good times, so no complaining here.

Sisters

2011-03-14T11:56:00.009-06:00

It's my turn to post our weekly Zackrison sister update. You can see last week's on Christine's blog. I'm loving this way of keeping in touch and getting a glimpse into each others every day lives.

Sarah

Last week:
I failed on my goals big time last week. Didn't feed the ducks, didn't make it to yoga even once, didn't plan our east coast trip, and skipped out on my rooftop planning meeting. But I did buy those shoes, so at least I can feel good about that.

We pulled off a fun birthday celebration for Scott, complete with Oreo Stuff ice cream cake and a new BMX bike (maybe just a little aging-denial?). Dinner at the Tree Room felt a little more grown up, though.
We also went to an amazing house concert on Thursday night
Enjoyed a surprise visit from Uncle Brett
Pulled together information for our accountant to do our taxes (uhhhh.... I have 3 sibilings who do taxes professionally, don't I?)
made lots of spreadsheets as I did after-tour financial reconciliation

This week:

yoga - let's say 2x
plan east coast trip
send out checks and tshirts to lower lighters from tour
rooftop planning meeting - can't skip this one. Time to announce the series and start promoting our first concert in May
swimming lessons for June, Oliver & Brenden

Annee

The week went by with nary a photo of myself. I could only document the fact that I was wearing flip flops and a knit skirt all day long today because it was 78 degrees! Other than the fact that I need a pedicure in a bad way, I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome the return of Spring. I hope it’s really here.

On the agenda last week:

Celebrate spring break with Darin. It was awesome. We went to about five different malls. Had lunch dates 3 out of the 5 days he had off. Went to an afternoon matinee. And ran together everyday but one! Other than the fact that we worked together like crazed tornadoes every morning to get our kids out the door to school, it was almost like being on vacation together. The next best thing. I’m counting down already for spring break 2012.
Ran five times! Although my longest run was only 7 miles, such that my total weekly mileage isn’t tremendous, there is something to be said of consistency. I hope. Next race, Tar Heel 10-miler on April 9th http://www.tarheel10miler.com/. It’s great to have a goal.
Hosted sister-in-law Ie Li and her three little ones. On the agenda was sewing together, making food together, playing with kids together, and an early spring tour of Duke Gardens. It was lovely. We hope they’ll come again soon.

On the agenda this week:

Maybe I should substitute teach again. I think the Bernina fund is not growing as rapidly as it should be. Please see agenda item #1 from last week.
Another 10 mile long run. Or should it be 12? Either way, more mileage for this week.
Come up with a dish to cook for cooking club night. The theme is fresh herbs. Does anyone have any great ideas? I’m thinking Pesto. Delicious.

Ie Li

Last week's agenda

kids' swimming and preschool
no P90X
I attended a family finance/emergency preparedness Relief Society meeting
I drove safely to and from North Carolina to visit Annee and family. Activities included going to the nearby park, frolicking in the gardens at Duke, eating frozen yogurt, sewing and almost finishing a dress for Mei Li, backing into Annee's car (no damage, thank goodness), losing my keys as I was packing the car to leave, and calling a locksmith to make me a new key. Needless to say, there were moments when I felt like a hot mess. But overall, we had a grand time with wonderful people, and I want to do it again (without feeling like a hot mess). Thank you, Annee!
I came home to a clean house and my Steve on Saturday night, and on Sunday we enjoyed some much needed family time.

This week's agenda

Go grocery shopping with coupons
6 (!) P90X workouts
kids' swimming and preschool
Friday girls' night in/boys' night out
a Saturday night date with Steve

Rachel

Last week I:

Worked. I really can't think of anything else that I did. Worked late each night, came home with only enough time to go to bed. Even Saturday I didn't really accomplish anything other than sleeping, working (and watching 20 minutes of some Charlie Sheen interview. That guy is NUTS)... This spring, I'm working for the second year on many of the same clients. It's fun to see how much I've improved, catching issues I didn't see last year, and trying to do them faster than I did before. I'm proud of myself for progressing and yet I know there is still more for me to learn. That's a good feeling.
I tested out this hair tutorial and wore these fun twisty buns to work one day. It was really easy and I think it ended up being pretty cute!

This week:

I'd like to bring treats to the March Madness work party on Friday. But what should I make??
Are any of you going to make a green meal on Thursday? I loved it the couple times mom did that growing up.
I'm participating in this March Madness Crock Pot challenge. Which means I need to cook two crock pot recipes during the week, compare and pick a winner. The winning recipes advance to the next round until one is crowned the grand champion. Sounds neat right? I hope it's fun.
We will watch the BYU basketball game on Thursday and then (hopefully) again on Saturday.
Uh most of those relate to food... so I'll also be running 7 miles on Saturday on the beautiful trail by our house (preparing for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in a couple weeks). I also plan to run home from the office 2 other nights.

Christine

Sorry I'm late getting this to you. I had a big assignment to get done last night.

Last week:

Ice fishing!
Breakfast at Communal with Beth, Addie and Hillary (I may need to request a family breakfast there when everyone is in town in April, it was delicious!)
Lunch at Station 22 with Hillary and Scott (didn't quite make my goal of not eating out, but I only ate out twice, which is actually a good improvement for me. This is another great place we can all try together!)
Indexed 790 names (I kind of have an addictive personality - I single handedly got my FHE group into second place in our indexing competition after being in last place the week before.)
Played a lot of games of Words With Friends (like I said, I kind of have an addictive personality, can be used for good or bad)

This week:

Hopefully finally make it back to yoga since I didn't last week
Grade more Jr. Core exams
Take one exam and study for two next week
Snowshoeing??

Scott's been out of town, plus our weekly sister post

2011-03-07T22:34:00.005-07:00

Scott's been away for 5 days "on tour" with The Lower Lights. According to all reports, they've had some amazing shows - Scott even says some of the best musical experiences of their lives. That right there makes all the hours of preparation and physical and emotional support worth it to me. I've tried hard to keep things very low-key this weekend since I was feeling quite stressed last week. So that has been sort of nice, although I am pretty sad to have missed out on some great shows.

So we're all super excited to have Scott home tonight, for several reasons.

The trash is really piling up and I really don't want to take it out in the snow. If I hold out just a little longer I'm sure he'll walk in the door and be happy to resume trash duties as his first order of business.
The water bottle needs to be changed. I'm really thirsty.
I haven't had a decent meal the whole time he's been gone. The kids have eaten chicken nuggets and grilled cheese sandwiches, and I've had at least one (maybe two?) whole bags of tortilla chips and a big jar of salsa, plus a whole pan of layered brownie goodness, and oh yeah, cakebites. But my stomach aches for a good reason to cook (or order?) a real meal.
Brenden was sick on Sunday and had to endure my non-compassionate nursing and constant second-guessing. Scott is much better at that.
I need some sleep - haven't been to bed before 3am since he's been gone. That doesn't help me get or stay healthy.
Being a solo parent is lonely.

On the positive side, I have managed to make some major headway on Mi Na's Christmas stocking, and also did a much needed re-org in my closet. For the closet clean-out, I found myself having a hard time with the standard throw away/give away/put away piles, so I renamed them:

I'm excited to wear this tomorrow - keep it and hang it up
I sure wish I liked this more (aka I used to like this and I feel like I should still like it) - put them in a pile on the floor of the closet to most likely give away in the next round, but don't force myself to get rid of them just yet.
I wish I didn't even have this so I wouldn't feel so guilty about not liking it and never wearing it - these go to DI immediately

This week's installment of the Sisters blog is hosted by Christine here. We'll be rotating through the sisters in birth order - so I guess I'm next.

P.S. Mom asked about the bedding and curtains in this guest room. I did sew the curtains before our recent house guests came. I got a bit of inspiration for a yellow and white stripe, and added some crocheted flower trim and tied them back with some lace. The bedding I did not sew, but found on ebay from Pottery Barn's Matine Toile series. I really love it - might be my favorite bedroom in the house right now.

staying connected with my sisters

2011-02-28T13:13:00.003-07:00

Click on over to Rachel's blog for a glimpse into what everyone's up to this week.

before & after

2011-02-23T21:39:00.005-07:00

This is the chair we picked up a couple years ago abandoned by a port-a-potty at the beach house. It's taken me a while to get around to it, but I'm thrilled with the makeover. At every turn I had to apologize to those helping me for knowingly spending more on their services than what the chair is probably worth, but I think in the end it was worth it. I'm loving this fabric - exactly what I was looking for. The chair's going in the living room, so of course now I think the rest of the room needs a bit of a makeover to suit the new chair. Eventually...

On an unrelated note... this was the scene I woke up to this morning. Can you see what's going on here? Huck's holding a bottle in one hand and holding up the ipod to watching a movie with the other hand, with Scott on his ipad in the background. Do these kids even realize they're growing up in the FUTURE?!?!

our week in review - the beginning of Wiley Birthday Season 2011

2011-02-20T21:46:00.010-07:00

Oliver's 8th Birthday

This year Oliver's birthday was on a Sunday, which meant a whole weekend of celebrating.

On Friday we took donuts to school and heard all the kids sing "Mr. Evensen's version" of the happy birthday song to him.
Then, Friday after school we invited 14 friends to go to Progressive Power Tumbling with us, then back to our house for cake & ice cream. It was the perfect activity for energetic boys.
We did the party on Friday so Brenden could be there. Immediately after the party, he went with the 11-year-old scouts to a klondike campout. He said they were freezing but it actually sounds like they had a good time.

When Brenden got home on Saturday afternoon, we met Mom & Dad & Christine and went to the new Provo Beach Resort. This time (we've been there once before) the kids did the ropes course, the laser tunnel, the jungle gym, and Huck and June did a round of mini-bowling while everyone else played a game of regular bowling - congrats to dad for a nearly perfect game of spares. Then Brenden gave the flow-rider a try and had a great time boogie-boarding - in Provo in the middle of winter.

After that activity, we met the Wells (along with everyone getting out of the BYU basketball game as well as a whole slew of dressed-to-the-nines Springville High School pre-Sweetheart-Dancers) at Oliver's choice - Brick Oven Pizza for dinner, free lollipop sundae and all.

Sunday was Oliver's actual birthday, and Scott got permission to skip his morning bishopric meetings so we could open presents and have a birthday breakfast together (sausage-filled Æbleskivers with bacon on the side). That evening The Lower Lights played a fireside in Orem so we got a sitter for Huck & June (currently not welcome at such events) so the rest of us could go watch. It was awesome as usual. Then Mom & Dad came over afterward for dinner and dessert - and to help us scramble to finish the school Valentines due the next day. And thus closed out Oliver's Birthday celebration weekend.

The next day was Valentine's day which brought a family trip to the mall to get a case for Oliver's new iPod and use his mall gift certificate,
and these gorgeous flowers from Scott (via Flower Basket). After bedtime, we had a romantic stay-in date complete with PF Changes takeout and the final farewell episode of Friday Night Lights - the best show ever on TV. I can't believe it's over. I don't think the reality's hit me yet.

On Wednesday June's glider bike got run over by the neighbor's car, which forced her to pull out the pedal bike and learn to ride it. Here she is showing Dad her new skill when he got home from work that day:

Day 1

By the next day she was starting by her self and going down the driveway:

Day 2

We are completely converted fans of the no-pedal gliders for teaching kids to ride. That plus the tricycle to learn to pedal allowed us to completely skip training wheels and falling and running along side her.

Wednesday night Mom & Dad took Christine, Grandma Z, Scott, and I to see Ballet West's performance of Sleeping Beauty. We had amazing seats, and I thought it was breathtaking. This marks the 3rd year in a row of this tradition, and I really love it. Certainly doesn't hurt to follow it up with dinner at Hires - always a treat.

Thursday Scott's sister Stephanie and her boys, along with Uncle Brett, came up from California for a visit.
We were more than ready to show them a good time.

On Friday we let the boys skip school and took the whole crew to Sundance to ski/snowboard. The boys all did great. Scott went with them in the morning, and then I tag-teamed him and skied the afternoon.

photo by Justin Hackworth

Sundance has got to be one of my favorite places on earth - and being so close and accessible makes it all the better.

Saturday was my 35th birthday. That sounds old. But I can't complain - it was a great day filled with family and fun activities and a great excuse all day to force people to do what I wanted them to ("no fighting on Mom's birthday!"). The day started with Scott taking all 6 kids by himself for breakfast at Krispy Kremes. Then we convinced the boys to babysit the little ones so Scott, Brett, Stephanie and I could go to have brunch at Communal. That was heavenly. Such an amazing place - great atmosphere and even better food.

When we got home, the kids were ready for an activity but we couldn't decide on just one so we decided to do it all. First we took them all to Jump on It for 2 hours of trampoline jumping. Immediately followed by Provo Beach Resort to do the flow-rider, and an alternate activity for those not tall enough to surf, Color Me Mine. With a day like that, can you think of even one reason for kids to complain or fight or be grumpy? Me neither. Especially on Mom's birthday.

We got home and everyone was exhausted, so we put the little ones to bed and Aunt Stephanie offered to bbsit so Scott & I could go out. My one request was I wanted to go somewhere quiet and simple and non-kid-friendly. We ended up at Spark with the Kendricks, who also had sleep-over babysitters so we got to stay out past midnight! That was the perfect way to close out my birthday.

The next day we left Huck with Grandma, made sure our ridiculously massive collection of ipods/iphones were fully charged, and ventured up to Park City to find some real snow. We took the kids tubing at Gorgoza Park.

June was very nervous at first, but thanks to their great toddler practice area (plus a $1 bribe) she soon found her nerve and tried out the big hill and had a blast. The boys had a great time too in spite of the super snowy and freezing cold conditions.

After tubing we went to Main Street for dinner, then headed home (the boys completely crashed in the car). At home we watched The Karate Kid remake (although Scott refused to watch it since he thinks it's blasphemous that someone dared to remake his beloved original Karate Kid), and enjoyed some hot cocoa with whip-eez homemade whip cream for dessert (thanks Rachel!). The Wileys leave bright and early in the morning to head back home.

Needless to say, this has been a rather exhausting week. But, really, it's nothing to complain about.

skiing is fun

2011-02-05T15:20:00.006-07:00

Yesterday I arranged for my mom to watch Huck & June for the afternoon so I could go up to Sundance and ski with the boys (who were there with their school ski program). I talked Christine into going up with me and even though we got there late and only got about 5 or 6 runs in, I thought it was a total blast. I was really struck with how beautiful it was to be outdoors, how nice a resort Sundance is and what a great resource it is to have it so close, how fun it is to have kids getting older and more capable to do fun grown-up things with, and mostly how nice it is to do something outside of our usual routine.

Here's a snapshot of our lives today:

Huck and June are asleep right now. Oliver went next door to play and Brenden and a group of friends walked over to the Wilk to play at the arcade. I'm going to put that in the "Pro" column for living in Provo - if I'm going to have an independent pre-teen who wants to walk to the arcade, I'm glad it's at BYU.

I'm in the middle of sewing new curtains for the guest room in the basement. I'm anxious to finish that project. I'm also in the middle of knitting a Christmas stocking for (new baby niece) Mi Na - nice and early for Christmas 2011. I'm in the middle of finally refinishing the chair we picked up at the beach a couple of years. I picked fabric and painted the chair so it should be done soon. I'm excited about that. I want to put together a new photo wall in my kitchen. I've been talking about it for about a month now but need to just sit down and do it one of these days.

This weekend I need to: make a spotlight poster for Oliver to take to school on Monday. He's supposed to do an Oral Presentation in his Chinese class - I hope he'll let me go and film it. I also need to make and deliver birthday party invitations for Oliver - I think we'll take a group to Power Tumbling (trampolines, foam pits, gymnastic mats) - seems like a good place for energetic 8-year-olds to burn off steam. I really should work on Valentines this weekend, since next weekend is going to be crazy, but I'm not sure we'll get to that just yet. Anyone have any cute ideas for homemade Valentines? I need to come up with something.

I'm in the middle of scheduling concerts and tours and firesides for The Lower Lights for the upcoming year. It's like a total jigsaw puzzle figuring out 12 work/vacation/family schedules plus venue availability plus host availability plus expenses and accommodations, etc. Good things I like puzzles.

I'm also in the middle of figuring out the lineup for the 2011 season of the Rooftop Concert Series. We're hoping to have the funding and lineup all figured out and ready to announce by April 1. I'm really having a blast working with Mindy Gledhill, Justin Hackworth, and Courtney Kendrick again on that project - getting to have weekly meetings with those guys makes the extra work totally worth it.

I've got a couple new assignments at work these days which are actually kind of exciting and fun to work on - it's been a while since work has been stimulating and not just drudgery.

For Christmas Scott got me a slow cooker cookbook from Williams-Sonoma which has totally changed the way I do dinner. I have tried about 10 of their recipes so far (about 80% success rate so far) and the family is loving it. I have the time & energy to prepare food in the morning which I absolutely do not have in the evening. We've gone from about 1-2 home cooked meals per week to about 5 or 6. Pretty impressive. We'll see if I can keep it up.

Huck had his 18 month appointment this week - he's 80th% for weight, 70% for height. Dr says to continue to just ignore his high-pitched-blood-curdling-screaming - he needs to know that's not how you get our attention. Unfortunately it sure gets the attention of anyone we see in public. Huck is in his water phase now - obsessed with pouring water from one cup to another or really pouring water on anything. He is not satisfied with sippy cups. He is also obsessed with buttons - the car door, light switches, garage door, TV, CD player, door bells. He doesn't talk much - Uh oh, No, Mom, Daddy, P.U., Hi, Bye, Nigh-nigh, and Dadu (we think this is Dog or Creature or Animal or something), are about his only words. The Dr said not to worry too much about his speech - just continue to read books and work on flash cards with him - yeah ok we'll "continue" to do that. Oops might have forgotten a few developmental steps with this 4th baby. He climbs like crazy, is a bit OCD about closing drawers and cupboards, and is overall still a total rascal.

June asked me to sign her up for skating lessons. I should look into that.

We are still hoping/planning to go to the East Coast this spring. I need to figure that out.

I've become totally addicted to chips and salsa lately. Well I've always loved chips & salsa, but I found a new brand of fresh salsa that I'm loving (Jack's Special from Costco) and unfortunately, like any of my other food obsessions, I've gotten to where I go through a whole bag of chips (Tostitos bite-size rounds) and a whole big jar of salsa in about 2 or 3 days. By myself. So now I'm going to have to cut myself off. (Well I don't really mean "now" - but you know, eventually pretty soon.)

I'm finding myself a little disappointed about turning 35, and this is the first time I think I've ever cared. That's starting to sound rather old to me. No longer close to 20. No longer barely 30. Now I'm entering almost 40 territory. That's kind of sad.

Guess that's all for now. I should go put a bunch more pictures in and link to all my friends/family/products/groups mentioned above, but I'm going to keep this simple and ease myself back into the swing of blogging.

6 month catch up

2011-01-29T23:34:00.023-07:00

well here we go. i have decided to forego my innate desire to spend time cleaning up in the garage and get sarah caught up on her blog. here is a major catchup post that covers the last 6 months. Feel free to skip it. It's mostly for our own records, and because sarah has a hangup about getting back to blogging without catching up first.

we spent plenty of time at Seven Peaks this summer, and Oliver made and achieved the goal of going on every single slide - multiple times. Even the big scary ones.

we spent the 4th of July at capistrano beach with my parents and my sister and her boys peter and tommy

june practiced a lot and got the hang of balancing on her glider bike.

the first of many pictures to follow proving that june is awesome

on the way home from the beach we continued our wiley family tradition of stopping in primm nevada to go on the rides and decompress. here you can see the great contrast to be found between the boys and june when riding the log ride.

the boys and I went on the father and sons overnight. the boys made soda bottle rockets which would fly amazingly high but would certainly kill you, or at least cause significant bodily damage if they hit you on the way down. (the nose cones were full of rocks)

we spent a day up at utah lake to rent a waverunner and do some swimming.
and eating go-gurt and crackers.
the earnest kids joined us for a while before heading off to their new lives in north carolina.

huck turned 1

we spent a lot of time in the nice park in front of grandma and grandpa z's house. grandma's tennis ball pitching machine was a big hit with june and the older boys. this picture is worth clicking on and looking at the bigger version just for the sky.

grandma z made us tin foil dinners which we enjoyed around the fire pit. i'm pretty sure that corn dog might have been microwaved however.

the boys went back to school hoping to earn awards for brightest shoes.

june went back on the slide hoping to earn an award for widest hair

the boys really got into flying off the swings at the park

sarah and i went to capistrano beach with our good friends the hardys, the kendricks and the wells.

the lower lights started playing firesides with our first in the provo utah east stake

oliver and brenden helped me build them a new, larger jump ramp

oliver demonstrates how the ramp is to be used

brenden turned 11 and to celebrate it was back to salt lake for our annual trip to the mountain dew extreme sports tour. here are brenden and oliver with some famous bmx guy who's name i dont know, but his mom clearly shops at all the same places that sarah does.

i'm quite sure that the 6 pack of cream soda would be listed very near the top of brendens favorite birthday presents. the boy likes his soda.

exhibit b demonstrating june's awesomeness

sarah, along with courtney kendrick, mindy gledhill, and justin hackworth, planned a rooftop concert series in downtown provo. last summer they held two concerts, the second of which featured the lower lights as well as libbie linton. they are already gearing up for 6 concerts for this summer.

this is from the after party following the lower lights concert. i just think it's an awesome picture of my beautiful wife.

with my new calling in the bishopric, i'm rarely able to leave church soon after it's over. i found all of these vagrants waiting for me one day. soon after they decided to drive themselves in the morning.

sarah got this fortune, which although troubling, is also kind of awesome.

brenden showcased his super creative and inventive side when he dressed up as a bmx rider for halloween. here he is at his school halloween parade. note the new neon yellow bike which was his other favorite birthday present.

i need to say right now, if you have little kids who have not yet become really into carving pumpkins, please, im begging you, steer clear of the kits that have these templates in them. we made this drastic mistake one year and there is just no going back. now the kids expect that every pumpkin is a huge work of art with intense detail. here's how it usually goes:
"dad, i want to make this frankenstein"
"but oliver, that looks pretty complicated, maybe you could choose something simpler?"
"i can do this dad, but you could just help me a little"

then we smash cut to 3 hours later, me still sitting out there carving this dumb, overly elaborate pumpkin while oliver, having retired hours ago, is enjoying dinner and tv inside.
pumpkin templates are like mini vans - lame, and there is no going back.

huck was a duck for halloween, although im not sure he ever even went outside in this outfit. oliver, along with every other boy in the neighborhood, was an army guy.

june was super girl

brenden and i went up hobble creek canyon in springville to go motorcycle riding. the trail was too hard and i fell and got all bruised up on some rocks, so it was a short ride

in november we went back to california for rachel and ken's wedding. a few days before we went to disneyland. the boys were pretty open about trying the rides and found splash mountain to be a real favorite. i think oliver went on it 10 times. brenden wanted to go so much he even went by himself.

and oliver talked sarah into going with him

june enjoyed the more mellow rides

brett joined us halfway through the day

here is huck in his wedding outfit

here is huck proving that he really has a long way to go in the decorum department

the lower lights played a sold out show at the post theater in salt lake on a very snowy night.

huck is also pretty awesome

somehow i managed to get oliver and brenden to help out with the snow shoveling

here's brenden and oliver hanging out in the studio with tyler from neon trees.

somewhere along the way here huck learned to walk. here he is demonstrating that ability as we look for a christmas tree

nearly every picture we have lately features some pretty awesome face from oliver. this one has a bonus feature displaying brenden's 11 year oldness

sarah decorated the mantle with all kinds of girly red stuff. it looked really good, although the bowl of red peanut m&m's didnt really stand a chance of making it all the way to christmas day.

the kids got the traditional matching christmas jammies.

here are the kids waiting at the bottom of the stairs where santa clause put up a wrapping paper wall. note oliver's face.

seriously, june is awesome

after christmas it was back to california to spend a week and new years eve with my family. santa brought oliver a new bike and sarah and i a new camera. this picture illustrates both.

in the off chance that one day huck is a mild mannered mellow mathmatician or philosopher or something, let me just state for the record that i didnt see it coming. this kid is extreme. if our other kids were 100% on the kid energy scale, huck is 190%.

we decided to build a ramp for peter and tommy as a christmas present.

santa really put his thinking cap on and brought june a scooter that no boy would ever want to take.

brenden and his cousin peter both got the same present from santa clause - four days at woodward west action sports camp.

this place is enormous and is a favorite training spot for all the bmx and skateboarding professionals. despite our worries, the boys loved it and are looking forward to going back.

huck doesnt really get the skee ball rules

another great huck trait is a total lack of desire to stay close by. he loves to wander. recently at church i was watching him, and YES, i was really watching him. i turned for a just a split second, turned back and he was gone. so headed after him, got to the foyer outside the chapel but he was nowhere to be found. knowing that there was no way he got farther along than that, i headed back the other way to go to the cultural hall/gym. huck loves to go in there every once in a while and just yell to hear his echo. anyway, i got there and again, he was nowhere to be found. that's when i heard it. someone in the chapel was banging on the high notes of the piano, loudly.
the chapel wasnt empty mind you. another ward was in the middle of their testimony meeting. yes, someone was at the pulpit bearing their testimony. well, i knew what that sound was so i went running down the hall and by the time i got into the chapel i found a lady carrying huck down the aisle asking everyone if he was their kid.

they opened a new place called 'the provo beach resort' in the local shopping area. its supposed to be like going to the santa monica pier fun zone or something. it's not like that at all. but they do have a ropes course thing -

lots of video games

a pinewood derby track with a digital counter that tells the times, speed, etc, and even a flowrider wavepool thing.

and finally, one more picture of june. she pretty much wears these jammies all the time. not just every night. ALL the time.

ok everyone, there you go. now if you would be so kind and just write a comment telling sarah what a tragedy it would be for her to waste all this effort and not continue blogging from here on out, that would be much appreciated. otherwise, see you in 6 months.

Not the post you were expecting...

2010-10-13T09:20:00.006-06:00

Hey there everyone,
Scott here. As you may have guessed, things have just been way to busy around here lately and we have had to let the blog go for a season, but it will be back soon.
In the meantime, I really wanted to let you know about Sarah Sample's new album that has just been released.

This is really such an amazing album, the songs are so great, the musicianship is off the charts. I do hope you will go here and have a listen, and hopefully decide to buy a copy for yourself.
This is certainly one of the best albums I have been a part of and I would say some of my best work.
If you are in Utah you really should come out tomorrow evening, Thursday Oct 13, for the cd release show - you can find information and pick up tickets here.

June 2010 - super catch-up post

2010-07-09T00:17:00.012-06:00

Apparently I only have time for regular blogging while on vacation. Or maybe I only think there's stuff worth blogging about while on vacation. But here's a little about our regular summer days this month...

June and Huck are good buddies. She watches out for him (read: gets extremely anxious when he's doing anything remotely close to something she thinks he shouldn't do), and has fun trying to make him laugh or keep him entertained.

There's been a lot of laying around. This is pretty much the view I wake up to every morning. But hey - they're getting along and at least for this brief moment entertaining themselves pretty well without undue messes.

Brenden is finished with his baseball season now. He really came into his own as a great hitter and strong thrower.
As much as baseball takes over your life (and that field couldn't be further from our house), we genuinely enjoyed spending the evenings watching the games and getting to know the really nice parents on the bleachers. Everyone was so encouraging of each others kids and equally un-concerned about our not-so-impressive record, as long as the kids were having a good time.
Brenden had a few good injuries to show for his season -- this one was a twisted knee on a slide to home plate. Also getting hit by wild pitches is pretty common in the kid-pitch league.

Huck figured out how to climb up the stairs, but refuses to try to go down just yet. He sits at the top and whimpers until someone gets him. That seems like a pretty good solution to me.

Of course the most exciting thing about June 2010 was that the Earnests came to town. They sure bring a party with them wherever they go. I was particularly struck when I walked down to find this scene in the kitchen at just how many kids we have between us and how much work it is to feed them.
Annee did a much better job chronicling our time together on her blog, so click on over there for more details. But suffice it to say we were busy and well entertained with hikes, swimming,

boondocks, plenty of eating out,

snow cones, crafts, backyard baseball games, and lots of plain old hanging out. It was fun to have built-in playmates every day. And the kids did remarkably well getting along (well, except sometimes June who perhaps felt a bit threatened by her super-cool older twin cousins who look a lot like her + 2 years and who are so confident and creative and capable).

Grandma & Grandpa Z took the older grandkids to Aspen Grove family camp for a week. Although the kids felt some serious technology withdrawls, they had a really fun time together and talk fondly of fishing, jumping on the beds, nightly ice cream runs, and weird soda mixtures at dinner.
Thank you so much, Mom & Dad, for your generosity and bravery and strength. This was such a special thing to do for and with these kids that they will remember forever. Hope you've recovered.

Annee loves babies. Actually her kids really love babies too. Huck had a serious fan club in town with no shortage of people to hold him, push his stroller, and play with him.

Look at those eyes!

Rachel can hardly keep herself away when there's a family gathering happening, so she popped in for a weekend while Annee and Darin were both in town.
She managed to capture Huck's new ugly squishy pig face. This is not an attractive look for him, but he does think it's pretty funny.

After the kids went to bed, we pulled out the Rook cards and played hours of Up. Scott surprised us all with his heretofore secret skills and crushed us all. Ken held up to the initiation pretty well, and quickly got the hang of removing the pile when he plays the 14.

Other activities this month included:

- Scott busy mixing and preparing for the release of his hymn revival project, The Lower Lights.

- Lots of working out and trying to fit the THF plan into our hectic lives (semi-successfully)

- I've been working with some great Provians trying to bring some (more) culture and entertainment to downtown.

- Yard update - everything is fully in bloom which is beautiful and exciting but also a ton of work. Lots of pruning and weeding and getting behind and catching up. We got the garden planted finally, and had some beautiful peonies bloom this year. We were excited to see hundreds of cherries growing on our baby cherry tree, until one day when they were all mysteriously gone. Not sure who to blame for that (birds? deer?). We're down to just two apples left on our apple tree, and I'm not too optimistic about their chances of survival to adulthood. The squirrel has discovered the garage trash can, so if you leave the door up too long you will inevitably come out to find him in there.

- Tonight June was pretending to be Sparky the dog, and tried to bark her bedtime prayer.

Tune in next time for the exciting tale of our extended Wiley family beach week over 4th of July.

Hawaii -- last day

2010-07-01T00:38:00.009-06:00

On our last day we spent a long time playing at the beach out in front of the house.

Chris showed off his mad skim boarding skills

Renae played with her pretty babies on the beach

Brenden spent a lot of time on a boogie board

Brenden and I worked pretty hard to coordinate our wave riding

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some new family photos in paradise. It's so easy at the time to think it's too much trouble, but I'm so glad we pushed forward and made sure we got some good shots. (note the new sidebar - finally!)

Oliver got really good at blowing the conch shell by the end of the week

Here's a fun little series capturing some of Huck's mischief:

1. Eying the target

2. Kind of like a hug

3. Just a little pinch

4. Caught red-handed

And just a few more of my favorites...

We packed and cleaned and made it on our 10:50pm flight just in the nick of time. The flight back is another one of those experiences best left forgotten (complete with baby melt-downs, daddy melt-downs, seat complications, etc). But we made it back and have jumped right back into real life. Now it's been about 3 weeks since we've been home and looking back at these pictures it seems so long ago already. Sad.

My mom always said, "A change is as good as a rest" which I find to be particularly true of family vacations. It's not like the work of parenthood goes away just because you're on a beach in Hawaii. There are still meals to fix/feed, fights to break-up, kids to entertain, hurt feelings to mend, and cleaning to do. But I find it quite refreshing to do it all in a different place with beautiful scenery where we might also be able to make some new memories and lasting impressions on the kids as well. (At least I work really hard to remind myself of that and not to feel too sorry for myself that I never actually got to read that People magazine I so hopefully bought in the airport on the way out of town.)

Aloha.

Hawaii - days 5 & 6

2010-06-07T13:55:00.006-06:00

Saturday
This morning started with a longish drive across the island headed to the North Shore. We motivated the kids with the promise of world class snowcones from the snowcone inventors themselves in Haleiwa.
After a quick lunch at Pizza Bob (thanks for the recommendation, Shumways) we headed to Matsumoto's with their ice cream on the bottom and sweetened condensed milk on top and every flavor you could dream of in-between.

We walked around the town looking for souvenirs and browsing surf shops. We checked out the famous surfing beaches and the cliff jumping spots. Then we moved on to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

We got there rather late, so skimmed through the villages quickly, took the canoe tour around the park, walked through one souvenir shop, and then headed over to the Luau. The park is so impressive -- well run, clean, informative, authentic, beautiful.
Dinner was yummy and the show was absolutely amazing. Totally worth it. The dancing, the costumes, the sets, the color and energy, the music, the drums, and the fire dancers - oh the fire dancers. Totally mesmerizing for everyone (except for Huck, who doesn't really find anything mesmerizing at 9pm but his bed). But honestly, we had questioned the cost and looked for discounts and some people had told us the park was boring for kids, but in the end we were really glad we'd splurged and gone there.

The ride home was rough but everyone was asleep by the time we got home.

Sunday
Several people told us about the big Aloha Bowl swap meet that happens every weekend, so on one of our last days we headed there looking for more souvenirs. All the kids wishes came true with...

these crazy sunglasses

a blowing conch shell
(that Oliver's actually learned how to do pretty well with instructions from his trumpet-playing father)

and a mini Ukelele

Scott also got a beautiful Nice Ukelele made of Hawaiian Koa wood in a guy's garage here on Oahu.

After the swap meet we enjoyed some delicious southern barbeque at Dixie Grill (thanks for the recommendation, Tanners) and then headed back to the house for some fun in the sun.

Scott & the boys did some boogie boarding

June finally was willing to put her feet in the water

Huck took a dip

And I remembered how much I love body surfing -- especially when the water is warm and clear, and the bottom is smooth and sandy. What a thrill to feel that wave curling under you and be propelled forward at top speeds. Well ok the waves aren't really that big here, but it is still really fun to get back out there after years of California beaches had pretty much convinced me I didn't really like swimming in the ocean anymore.

June is serious about her sandcastle building

Huck really loves the sand too. I kept trying to put him on a towel to play nicely, but he didn't want that. He loves the water too -- sitting in the surf and yelling at the waves as they'd come and go.

Sadly we're heading home tomorrow.

Aloha

Hawaii -- days 3 & 4

2010-06-04T20:02:00.007-06:00

Thursday

This morning I got up and watched the sun rise again with Brenden, who had missed it yesterday. There is something so invigorating and serene about being up early and on the beach watching the day begin. The peaceful moment was interrupted, however, when we noticed the hundreds of little white crabs scrambling all over the sand, and realized that the tracks and holes and mounds that we were sitting on were from them. Brenden pushed his luck by poking a stick into one of their holes, and was terrified when it popped out and ran over his foot, causing Brenden to run full speed back up to the house.

Breakfast. Playing in the house. Packing our things. Then on an adventure to Waikiki. The goal: Japanese tourist sighting and surfing lessons. We found both in droves.

Brenden and I signed up for a surfing lesson, while Scott and the others played in the surf and the sand. We had a great time and both managed to get up and ride quite a few waves.

It was sort of scary and very tiring but totally thrilling. On my first wave I screamed the whole time, flailed my arms, and as the wave was dying out I forgot the teachers instructions so I kept yelling "now what? now what?" On my second wave I crashed into a big canoe. By the end I had improved my form a bit. Brenden was a pro. Chris rented a board and rode a few waves with us.

We grabbed a Paradise Burger, went to Yogurtland, hit an ABC store - doing the whole Hawaii tourist thing. Everyone fell asleep on the way home.

Friday
This morning we planned to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay before the tour buses arrived. Oliver tried to get us up at 6:30am, but we held him off until 7:30. Breakfast, pack our things, and we were out the door and in the water by 9am.

Scott pulled the boys around on a boogie board. There were tales of octopus and sea turtles but we saw tons and tons of tropical fish. Big ones, small ones, individuals, schools, of all colors and patterns - right there below the surface just a few feet from the shore. Amazing. June and Huck played on the shore.

Chris watched the kids for a bit so Scott and I could go out together.

We stopped for a "plate lunch" and "shave ice" on the way home, then took it easy around the house and the beach out front for the rest of the day.

Could it get any more picturesque here?!

We searched multiple video stores for a copy of North Shore, but unfortunately no luck. Sushi and pho for dinner. Chris & Renae went to the movies while Scott & I stayed with the sleeping kids.

North Shore (the real one) and Polynesian Cultural Center tomorrow.
Aloha

Hawaii - Days 1 & 2

2010-06-03T02:32:00.009-06:00

Well, we made it. We are in Hawaii. Traveling with 4 kids was a daunting task but we had prepared well and were ready for the challenge. We knew what type of plane we'd be on and all the snacks that would be available. We knew where our seats were and what movie would be playing. And had purchased snacks and activities to fill in all the gaps. But of course the best laid plans...

The trip out that was supposed to take about 8 hours and 1 quick layover was "extended" to a 27 hour trip with 3 layovers and a hotel room without any luggage.

Our original Phoenix -> Honolulu leg was canceled after having been delayed multiple times and an extra long wait in the airport. Finally they individually re-booked every passenger (thankfully they took families with children first) and we ended up on another airline going through San Diego. We waited another 3 hours and hopped on a flight to San Diego, got ourselves to the Holiday Inn, and set out to find some dinner. Apparently it is uncommon to see a family of 6 roaming the streets of downtown San Diego at 9pm on a Monday night, so we got a lot of awkward stares. We were looking for chinese, but ended up at TGI Fridays, but even they were unwilling to seat us anywhere but the way back corner of the restaurant. After a mediocre meal, we found a cab and made it back to the hotel and our two double beds.

Huck was fed up with the whole situation, and ultimately kicked Scott out of bed to share the floor with June.
For a 6am flight with special circumstances, we were advised to arrive 2 hours before and believe it or not we made it. We got ourselves onto what we thought was a direct flight, only to find out that we would be laying over again in San Francisco. We kept having to tell poor June "one more plane" and putting off pulling out all the new toys she was excited about. She did her best but there's only so much a 3-year old can take, so a major meltdown at the beginning of the San Diego -> San Francisco flight was rather predictable and unavoidable. Both nasty and understanding stares from nearby passengers were shared, as well as plenty advise to give her valium or whiskey, and reminders from the flight attendants that we can't take off until she has her seatbelt on. Good times.

Salt Lake City -> Phoenix -> San Diego -> San Francisco -> Honolulu isn't the most direct path, but we rolled with it and now we're here and it was totally worth it.

And miraculously, despite the last minute re-route and airline change, all our luggage made it too.

We're staying with long-time friends Chris & Renae with their cute kids Gunnar and Paloma at a beautiful home right on the beach in Waimanalo. The views and constant ocean breeze are breathtaking. The scent of tropical flowers in the yard and humidity in the air are invigorating. Not to mention the great hospitality and how priceless it is to arrive on vacation to a stocked fridge and beds made and ready for naps.

Hawaii is 4 hours behind Utah, so when the kids woke up this morning at 5:30am we figured we might as well go out and enjoy the sunrise.
We went in for breakfast, and were back out by 8am for some boogie boarding and sand castle building. I even went in and did some body surfing, much to the boys surprise and June's chagrin.
After a much needed nap, we headed out to a nearby lagoon to test out our snorkel gear.

This location was a huge hit with the kids since there were no waves and it was super shallow for a long way out.
After a quick lunch and dip in the hot tub, we headed out to Sandy's beach to watch some hardcore boogie boarding and to fly our kite (thanks Julie!). Vietnamese food for dinner and the kids all fell asleep in the car on the way home.

I can't keep my eyes open any more. Real snorkeling tomorrow.
Aloha.

April and May

2010-05-29T08:57:00.028-06:00

The Wiley family is leaving in 2 days for an amazing and much anticipated vacation. Taking 4 kids on a week long trip, especially one that involves air travel, results in a great amount of needed preparation, most of which has fallen to Sarah.
So, in order to help her out, I thought I would get this blog up to date, so that it no longer has to weigh on her conscience.

Here we go -

The last few days of the kid's spring break found us on our way down to Southern Utah. St George? Lake Powell?

Nope.
Bluff, Utah.
Go ahead, Mapquest it, Ill wait. Yeah, that's right, it's waaaaayyyy out there. By the way, the picture above - that's downtown. that is not a joke. that IS downtown Bluff.
Brenden had to do a report for school on one of Utah's counties, and he chose San Juan county. Sarah's ancestors, the Decker family and also the Wood family, were early settlers of Bluff Utah and Hole-In-Rock Pioneers so we went down to learn more about them and San Juan county.

Here is Brenden at the Bluff Fort monument.

We stayed at the Decker House Inn, which is now a bed and breakfast but was the original house built by James Decker, Sarah's great great great grandfather, for his family. So that was pretty cool, plus they had the greatest bread ever. Yeah, not sure why it was so good, but man oh man, I had some serious helpings of bread for breakfast.

We saw many petroglyphs while in the area, which were really interesting and also allowed Oli to show off his impressive mandatory 7-year-old-boy-camera-face. (in case you are interested, I could also send you about 87 more pictures from this trip which feature either that exact face, or something closely resembling it)

oh yeah, Huck was there.

I know! It looks just like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland! Those Disney guys owe the folks of Bluff a serious shout out.

We did not, however, encounter any runaway locomotives.
We did see the Bluff cemetery and the Decker family plot.

We also did not get to see Four Corners, the place where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. It was closed. No, I don't fully understand how you can close a meeting of state boundaries, but none the less...

Sarah's mom joined us for our second day of San Juan County exploring. We found the Hyland Hotel in Monticello, known previously as the Wood home. When the Wood children were older, Joseph Henry Wood moved his family north about 45 minutes to Monticello, so the kids could have the chance to go to college there.

Sarah's mom remembers visiting this home when Sarah was just a baby.

As we were leaving Monticello, and on our way Northward toward home, Dorothy's car broke down about an hour south of Moab. Very unfortunate for her, but the kids sure did enjoy having her to ride the rest of the way with them. At that point we were pretty much through with them anyway, and it was getting more and more difficult to ignore the constant screaming and crying.

That last part was a joke. It wasn't hard at all.

Here are two of the 37 pictures (37, seriously 37) that the boys took of themselves on the drive home.

Oh yeah, Huck was there also.

I like to call this next series of photos 'June is awesome'

You may notice the headset microphone June is sporting in that last photo. On the trip she discovered a new favorite movie which featured some singing bugs who did kind of a backstreet boys thing. Anyway, a coat hanger and a little black fabric and Sarah was mom-of-the-year.

In more recent news, Huck learned how to crawl. I wouldn't say he is completely speedy yet, but he gets himself around, in fact, as Ive been writing this he got himself around to the flower pot and ate more than a few bites of potting soil! I'm sure he'll be fine.

The weather has been a bit strange. This next picture was taken May 24th.

This video was taken the very next day, May 25th.

The Spring has brought with it our plants and flowers.

In Brenden sporting news, the baseball season has arrived at long last, and I'm here to tell you, there is not much that is more entertaining than a little league game. Especially one where Brenden makes a double-play and is awarded the game ball!

Brenden also ran in the school track meet. He is in line third from the top with his hands on his knee.

Sarah's parents live right across the street from a great park, so we have been spending a lot of time over there. Huck is demonstrating some great form for such a swing rookie.

He's still a lightweight when it comes to staying awake in the car however. This time, in a show of solidarity, June joined him.

This may sound cruel, but this picture kind of makes me laugh. Cmon, what could possibly warrant that kind of drama??

Well, let's see, I think that's about it for now. I guess in the interest of journal keeping, a few other details:
Sarah and I are on a big 14 week diet/exercise plan laid out by these guys. After 6 or 7 weeks, or however long its been, I still look like a fat loser and Sarah still looks like a skinny model. I will say, however, that we both have lost a significant amount of weight, and I am desperately in need of a smaller belt and some new pants. And new shoes while your at it. and maybe some of those Bose noise cancelling headphones for the plane.
I got made part of our Ward's Bishopric, which seems an ill-conceived plan on someones part, but I'm doing my best and hope to serve well.
Oliver Brenden and June hit the Seven Peaks waterpark this morning for the opening day. Never mind that it was 57 degrees and windy, those kids were lined up in their bathing suits 15 minutes before. Needless to say, they pretty much had the park to themselves.
We celebrated our 13th anniversary on May 24th.
Sarah is on committee to promote downtown Provo. She has been working hard on a concert series that will try to get people out and experiencing downtown.

Alright, I'm off. Hawaii, here we come!

what else has been going on (including Easter 2010)

2010-04-12T23:54:00.016-06:00

We finally harvested our lemons

And what a delicious harvest it was. We made a beautiful pitcher of lemonade which everyone greatly enjoyed over dinner.

June and I made a huge snowman on March 5

It was gone before the boys made it home from school. (she is obsessed with eating snow)

Brenden performed in the 4th grade dance

The teachers paired up the kids at the beginning of the year and they've been practicing traditional ballroom, square, line, and swing dancing every Friday afternoon. While he didn't win any wards for enthusiasm, we were so proud of him for doing it all even though he was super nervous and had to dress up and actually hold hands with a girl. (Don't you love Maude's striped tights?!) Way to go, bud. It's over now.

Scott & Brett went snowmobiling

Brett brought his snowmobiles down from Idaho and they found a great trail with plenty of snow up at Strawberry Reservoir.

June plays more baseball

She loves the equipment best of all!

More fun with a cape

This black cape (which I think is supposed to be a vampire cape but was modified to work as a magicians cape) is our best flying cape, as June is demonstrating here. What a body!

We took the boys snowboarding at Brighton

This was Oliver's 3rd lesson, and he was so proud to show us afterward how he can get on/off the lift all on his own, strap himself in, and heel-side-turn like a pro. It was quite impressive indeed. Brenden is doing great too, although he doesn't really like doing toe-side-turns either (any pointers from those who have taught kids on how to get them past this hurdle?). It was an ideal day with perfect conditions for spring skiing -- fresh snow & warm temps.

Easter 2010

Easter was on General Conference Sunday this year, which meant we didn't have regular church, which meant we had no great excuse to dress up - no new outfits this year. So it was a casual Wiley Easter this year.

We colored eggs on Saturday between conference sessions. It's fun to have kids old enough to actually be able to follow the instructions on the tie-dye egg kit (that would be the boys and absolutely not June).

We woke up to 5 new inches of snow on Sunday, so Grandma & Grandpa & Christine came over for a long winter walk and an indoor egg hunt. Too much candy. Delicious deviled eggs. Scrumptious egg casserole for breakfast, and Honeybaked ham, homemade applesauce, and funeral potatoes for dinner.

What else?...

Huck's dying to crawl but hasn't figured it out yet.
He cut one of his big front teeth yesterday.
He ate a whole banana by hand on our long car ride last weekend -- both impressive and totally gross
I've been pretty good at 6am yoga a couple days a week, and have even been (gasp!) running on the treadmill a bit.
We had FHE for the 4th week in a row tonight -- a new family record. I've started trying to focus on and pass off at least one of the boys Faith In God requirements every week (since up until now I've been a complete flunk-out at the program)
I need to transition June out of her crib. Huck would like a turn. I'm not looking forward to that process.
Oliver has started playing spring soccer. Brenden will start baseball at the end of the month and June will start a pre-school baseball team in June. I can't even tell you how excited she is about that.
My car is disgusting. It rained dirt a couple weeks ago, as it does here from time to time, but I never got it washed, then we went on a trip and the inside is full of red sand, but now it's raining more and on Wednesday it goes to the garage to get the brakes fixed, so it just doesn't make sense to clean it yet. But I'm dying it's so gross.
I'm intrigued by e-mealz. This might be my solution to the stress and agony that is dinnertime. Menus and shopping lists created and published every week by real moms with real kids.
Our yard is starting to bloom. I've taken advantage of any opportunity I could to go out and do some yard work - I really love working outside. Is spearmint a perennial here? We had a ton growing in our garden last year and I tried moving it to a new spot because it was just taking over, but I'm not sure if it will survive. That smell reminds me of our childhood home in Silver Spring, MD. I'd like to plant some vine-y things to grow down into our window wells now that we've finished our basement.
We've been watching the movie "Scripture Bugs" a lot around our place lately, and there is a boy band in it (they are ants) who make wearing a microphone headset look really fun. June just had to have one. We fashioned one out of a coat hanger and black felt and she wore it all day long, mostly singing the ABC's.
It's 1am and both Huck & June are awake. Guess that's my cue. The End.

Happy Birthday June! (thus marking the end of the Wiley Birthday Season)

2010-04-12T22:57:00.020-06:00

June turned 3 on March 21. We made the mistake of telling her about 2 weeks early that her birthday was coming up, so by the time it came around she had big ideas that had been described at length to anyone who would listen about what her birthday celebration would entail. I had sort of hoped we could get away with playing it down this year, but alas that was not to be.

We started with a friends party on Saturday. This was a very last-minute thrown-together party so we were grateful to have 3 friends able to make it. We played 3 games -- costume dance party in her room, baseball in the entry hall, and balloons in the basement.

We had cake and opened presents. The kids were all good sports and June had a great time. I felt bad there was no theme or coordinated goodie bags or decorations. I know if I tried I could put together a really first-rate 3-year-old birthday party. This wasn't that. But it was just fine.

Later Saturday night we went to Chuck E. Cheese's -- just as June had planned. Christine, Grandma & Grandpa met us there for mediocre pizza and tears over lost tokens and not enough tickets (doesn't that sound fun?!). June wanted to wear her princess dress & black cape and we let her, because, afterall, who are we really trying to impress at Chuck E. Cheese's.

The next day was her actual birthday on Sunday. She opened a few presents in the morning, and then insisted on wearing her cape to church, so we made sure she also wore the "It's My Birthday" pin prominently, as if that would give us a pass on the church fashion faux pas. After church she opened the rest of her presents which led to more costume changes.

One of her favorite gifts this year was her very own authentic karate uniform from Grandma & Grandpa Wiley & Brett. As soon as she opened it she put it on and started practicing her moves.

She's gotten really into team sports and all they entail -- in particular the equipment and the cheering. Soon her new pom-poms were added to the ensemble (Oliver is trying out her new bike)

but the pom poms were quickly traded for butterfly wings and wand when that gift was opened.

When the bubbles set was opened, the party moved to the back porch, which called for the donning of the black cape and an "Amazing Karate" show.

Grandma & Grandpa & Christine came over for Sunday dinner and more cake.
And at last the celebration came to a close. (That is, except for the fact that she doesn't get the concept of time at all, so keeps wondering almost every day if her birthday has come back again yet.)

But the biggest gift of all was one June gave to me -- she is now completely potty-trained. She was reluctantly accepting of the whole activity, and it only really took her about 2 days in-the-nude and one motherly-breakdown for her to get it -- including at night. She didn't want any fanfare or accolades. She was happy with a few treats but not insistent.

Coloring Ni Hao Kai-lan printouts and watching episodes of Dora on my phone kept her occupied. What a champ she's been. What a relief.

Happy Birthday to my sweet and spunky girl. You make me laugh every day with your crazy ideas and uninhibited performances. You talk my ear off, and surprise me constantly, and bring such life into our home. I love you June Bug.

how to cill elmo, 'n stuff

2010-03-15T23:32:00.010-06:00

First and foremost, Happy Birthday Scott!! We had a great day together starting with breakfast at Joe's Cafe (heavenly biscuits & gravy, omelets & waffles, and Joe was, well, just so Joe-ish). Then that afternoon Scott and I and friends Ryan & Emily saw Brian Regan perform live at Abravanel Hall. It was our first time seeing a live comedy show and it was really funny. Followed by a delicious dinner at Sawadee with even more friends (Jacobsens & Hardys) and then heavenly chocolates at some little place Holly recommended made for a great day all around. Sunday the fam come over for dinner and we enjoyed a coldstone ice cream cake for dessert. (sidenote -- will the kids ever outgrow wanting to "help" blow out the candles?) (another sidenote -- isn't that a great shot -- all three of them with puffed up cheeks?!) I'm sorry you have to get older, Scott. But I love you all the same (or even a year more) and couldn't ask for a better companion for life.

Other family business...

image from Island Def Jam Records

Friday night Scott & I took the boys to see the Neon Trees play in Provo at Velour. (Paul Jacobsen & the Madison Arm were supposed to open the show, but unfortunately Paul got detained in NYC. Boo.). I just have to say it was an AMAZING show. I was sooo impressed with their showmanship, professionalism on stage and off, how nice and friendly they all were, and how really great their songs were. Oliver could barely keep his eyes open, but we made it to the end for autographs and all. Brenden sat right up against the stage and even got the attention of the bass player who played right to him on one of his solos. (Watch them on Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 23rd.) So great.

The boys got new shoes -- for Oliver's birthday (and Brenden paid for his own) they got to design their own Converse. It was an agonizing long wait to get them all the way from China (exciting for Oliver) but they are thrilled with how they turned out. It's cute how Brenden is trying to define his style. He said he wants to become known as "crazy shoes guy". I think he's on the right track with these ones.

So the other day Brenden and Oliver both had friends over and I look out back to discover this happy scene -- all the kids crowded around the firepit - that's right - PLAYING WITH FIRE! My natural instinct as a mom was that I was supposed to run out there and chastise them and yell and stop them and tell them never to play with fire. But somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it. They were outside, they were excited, they were playing nicely, and they were basically doing a science experiment to see how different materials burn. They were being safe -- in the firepit, fire never got too big or out of control, no lighter fluid, hose nearby. So I just stood there and watched. And debated. I finally concluded to let them go and keep monitoring the activity, and as each of the friends went home I told them, "When you go home and tell your parents how fun it was to play with fire at the Wileys house, be sure to tell them I was there and made sure you were being safe." So I probably won't win the Smokey the Bear Best Mom Award this year, but maybe my kids will give me a few fun points. (Did your neighbor's friend's brother burn his face this way? Maybe I need to hear some horror stories to change my mind.)

Huck is easily distracted while eating.

June is a great helper :)

And finally, I'll leave you with a nice little bedtime story written by Oliver.

(wait - is this a sign I should have stopped the fire activity?)

Justin Hackworth session

2010-03-07T22:02:00.007-07:00

Last summer Justin Hackworth was running a special and I signed up for a mother-daughter photo shoot. I scheduled it for the beginning of August since I'd be very pregnant and I could use it as maternity shots as well. Huck surprised us at the end of July, so our session was put off for a while. Justin came to our house last week and did his thing. June was a little less-than-cooperative (that is unless there was a pink dora phone or a stuffed boots the monkey or a dart gun in the picture) but he still managed to get some great shots of her. Here are some favorites.

classic "i'm not going to smile" face

the darn dora phone

Oops - boots made it into this shot

Here's June singing the lead in a musical

Happy Birthday to me! (Among other things)

2010-03-02T22:55:00.010-07:00

This year on the actual day of my birthday my brother Steve came to town and provided the impetus to get all the local family adults to hit the slopes together. It's the first time that has happened in years and it was a blast. Steve, Mom, Dad, Christine, Scott & I all managed to take the day off, make arrangements for the kids, find all our snow gear, rent equipment, and spent the day at Brighton together. As a mom (or really any type of adult), your birthday often passes as you take care of normal daily duties and people ask "are you having a nice birthday" and you grin and say "yes" even though you're just changing diapers and doing dishes again. It was so special to get to do something so out of the ordinary on my actual birthday -- I highly recommend it. We stopped at Hires on the way home, then had some dessert with the kids.

Yellow cake straight out of the box mix with chocolate frosting from the tub remains the best cake in the world -- especially the leftovers. Man that's a lot of candles.

Other family activities...

Haircuts for the kids at Cookie Cutters (in Lehi). I highly recommend this place. Besides the fact that each kid gets to pick their own movie to watch or video game to play, besides the special cars to sit in and kid-friendly dispositions and tricks of the stylists, besides the jungle gym and computer to play on in the waiting area and the balloons & lollypops at checkout, besides the reasonable prices (especially given all of the above), this place actually gives decent haircuts.

Did you know Provo has it's own DINOSAUR MUSEUM?!?! We've been wanting to go for a while, but their hours (M-F 9-5) aren't completely convenient. It was totally awesome. They had lots of cool stuff set up and you can watch the BYU professors/students working on some real fossils. Definitely worth the $0.50 admission price.

We have been enjoying some nice weather lately, and trying to get outside more. Can't get enough of feeding the ducks! Also the past couple of days I've been tackling the massive amounts of yard cleanup work that should have been done last fall. At first it was overwhelming, but now I remember how much I like working out in the yard and am opting to be outside over pretty much every other household responsibility I should be doing. I wonder if it will snow again this year. Probably about time to take the Christimas lights down.