A Week of Firsts

This is Carter's first week in the mission field. He left on Tuesday, which seems like forever ago.

In reality, it's only been five days. But I keep thinking, I just have to get to Wednesday and then I get a letter. Then, I just have to get to the next Wednesday. I do better if I just think a week at a time rather than try to picture the whole thing.
Suddenly, two years seems like a really long time.

Here at home, we've been enjoying our last few days of summer. We tended the Remund's (family friends) cute little yorkie while they took a trip up north. His name is Coda and he was a delight to have around. The kids ran around the house and played with him. He weighs a whopping five poutnds, doesn't shed, and his poop is about the size of a tootsie roll. Even Tyler was smitten. 

We are officially Coda fans.

He found Carter's room and jumped on Carter's bed. 

Of course, I haven't been able to clean his room or change his sheets yet, 

I just left everything just as it was. I'll get to it next week.... I just wasn't ready yet. 

We also spent time at the pool. I went grocery shopping on Saturday and Spencer found this inflated dolphin in the toy aisle. I told him we could get it if it was less than $10.

It was $7.99, so we had a deal. He walked around with it in his personal cart the whole time I was at the store -- just to make sure some other kid didn't come in and buy the last porpoise while we were in the juice aisle.

What's better than an inflatable porpoise to give your pool life extra meaning?

We took the dolphin "Willy" to Grandma's pool. 

The boys had a blast. 

It was worth every penny.

This next week is busy! In addition to being Carter's first full week out on a mission,
it is April's 7th birthday on Wednesday, and Chelsea's 16th birthday on Thursday.
It's also the first day of school on Thursday. Lots of exciting firsts! 

Jr. Prom 2015: Carter & Jenzee

My boy is a junior. He's 17 years old. He's handsome. He's charismatic. 

He's dating beautiful young women who are lovely and virtuous. 

And he's breaking my heart. 

How is it that not so long ago we were here?

I love him and I'm so proud of him. But stop with the growing up already. 

 Sheesh. 

And, completely unrelated to anything... I love this white kitchen

 We visited some model homes in Huntington Beach this summer. I loved this one. 

The white cabinets were simple, clean & streamlined. 

 Dining right off the kitchen was also light & open. 

Family room flanked the kitchen. I love how it was tucked away in the back, so it's not right off the entry. 

Book of Mormon Party

Can you see how excited everyone is?!! 

 There we go, that's better. 

We finished the Book of Mormon this Fall and as a reward (yes, it was a reward) we had a Book of Mormon party! The kids were supposed to dress up as a person from the Book of Mormon. Everyone did a pretty good job, except for Carter. I had to remind him there were no vampires in the Book of Mormon. So he donned a blanket and looked better. 

 Chelsea was Mary. Carter was some sort of shepherd. Bryce was a stripling warrior. Spencer was Nephi and April was a Abinadi.  

 Later that night, we had a surprise hail storm. 

                                         It was quite severe and was accompanied by loud thunder. 

But that didn't stop Bryce from dancing!

Woot! Woot! Book of Mormon Party! Yeah! 

Proud Mama!!

My lovely Chelsea accomplished an amazing feat!!

She had a goal to earn her Young Women Medallion before she turned 14. 

She worked hard over the summer to finish her last requirements. 

The biggest one was reading the Book of Mormon. 

She's tried several times in the past, but as she read, the words and the meaning 

seemed to get jumbled and she would get frustrated. So, she came up with a great solution! 

I have the scriptures on my phone via the LDS Library app. It has an audio option, 

so she asked if she could listen to the Book of Mormon on my phone 

while she followed along in the book. It worked marvelously! 

She found we was better able to understand what was happening and suddenly, 

the stories made so much sense! She came out one evening after reading and said, 

"You know that guy, Amalickiah? He's a bad dude! 

He tricked the king, poisoned the general, 

went back and killed the king and then married the queen! Seriously...bad dude."  

It's true, Amalickiah is a bad dude. But there are some good dudes in their too! 

I was happy to see her not only read and understand the Book of Mormon, 

but also be able to comprehend the stories and events and how they are relevant to our day today. 

On Sunday August 17th, just a week after her birthday, she was awarded her medallion in Sacrament Meeting. 

(She did earn it before her birthday -- it just took the Bishopric a few weeks to process the  information :) 

Good job Chelsea! I love you! 

First Day of School 2014

First day of school:

August 11, 2014

(Yes, it was also Chelsea's birthday)

 Always the cool kids :)

 Carter is in 11th grade this year. 

Chelsea is in 9th at the Middle School.

Spencer is in 5th

Bryce is in 1st

 April started Kindergarten! 

 This was a few days later when we actually got the hair cut!

 Aren't they handsome?!

 April started a week later. She was so excited to have her own desk! It even had her name on it. 

Not pictured: Mom at home, sobbing.

April turns 5!!

 We celebrated April's 5th birthday on August 10, 2014. 

It was the day before school started. 

 She got a new pink scooter. (To replace the one I ran over). 

 It's perfect! 

 Another puzzle -- she loves puzzles :) 

 And the specially requested present: a space helmet. 

Tyler had to go online to find one that met the appropriate April-specified parameters. 

It was just what she was hoping for. Now, to infinity and beyond! 

Or, maybe just on to Kindergarten. Sometimes school feels like infinity...

Dance Video

I found this on my computer. It is a hilarious video of Chelsea & Spencer :) 

Cleaning the Playroom -- Not for the Faint of Heart

I spent the afternoon cleaning our playroom. Granted, we are lucky to have enough space as to indulge ourselves in a room designated just for toys, but therein lies the problem; and the danger. 

I feel it would be in my best interest to say publicly, that if I ever mysteriously go missing, before you file a missing persons report or call 911, check the playroom closet. There’s a good chance I may be the victim of a Lego tsunami or stuffed animal assault. When it comes to the deep recesses of the crumb, Lego head, missing arm infested undiscovered country at the back of the toy closet, anything is possible. I have seen the unseeable: random doll parts, amputated Buzz wings, a Lightning McQueen stripped of paint, debris either from the first world war or spewed from the depths Mount Doom. Actually, that last one was just an unfinished corndog someone had discarded, leaving the few remaining bites, stick impaled, to harden and wither at the bottom of the doll bucket. 

I have to say that I am not really a toy person. I am too much like my father: 

“Go play outside!” 

“You don’t need toys, you have each other!” 

“Explain to me the point of 6,000 Barbie shoes, you don’t even wear your own shoes!” 

When we first got married, both my husband and I swore that we would be toy minimalists. Our children would have wooden blocks, a doll, some playdough and maybe a skateboard. But somehow, when that first child arrives, and you go shopping as a parent for the first time, everything changes. 

Suddenly, toy shopping is a transcendent experience -- when you walk down that glowing aisle of factory-molded goodness, and realize: you don’t have to ask for anything, you are the parent now, and these shelves and shelves of pink and blue hunks of battery-operated plastic are here for you, to fill that void, to make your child happy, to compensate for that toy you never got. Suddenly, you are the toy-fairy, the benevolent giver of all things that make unnecessary noise -- and the power is intoxicating. This is why you see new parents walking out of Target with $300 worth of toys, even though their baby can’t even hold his head up yet. Because those toys really aren’t for the kid. And, when that baby does learn how to lift up his head and move around, he’ll just eat the box. 

Toy manufacturers are brilliant. 

Thankfully, this aura of enthusiastic inexperience fades quickly -- usually sometime after the first credit card bill -- and Tyler and I are not under that spell anymore. But, after 19 years and 5 children with Christmases, birthdays, holidays, Happy Meal treasures, and of course, all those "dentist, doctor, school carnival, mean kids, bad hair day" compensatory toys, we now have more junk than we ever intended. 

The other thing I have realized about toys is that when used properly, they quickly become mismatched, strewn about, colored on, thrown, jumped on, skipped across the lake, left out on the tramp, and of course, chewed by the baby. Why does this happen? Because creativity isn’t pretty. Toys are meant to be used, learned from, and played with; not stored nicely in a box like Mommy would like. The consequence of happy, well-adjusted children is a playroom that looks like death.  

Just today I counted 17 stuffed animals, hunkered down in dark corners and under beds, hiding from the impending onslaught of April’s creativity. I found them huddled together in groups; no doubt rehearsing reassuring stories and words of survival and faith as they wondered at their lost plight and dreaded their eventual, terrifying rediscovery. 

My instant urge (not really being a toy person, as I mentioned) is to throw everything away -- leave nothing that could possibly offend, brake, get lost or be stepped on. My favorite tool when scouring the playroom is the black garbage sack of sorrow (I’ve watched Toy Story way too many times...) But as I picked up a doll that had been thoroughly loved, her pacifier missing, her clothes mismatched, her feet tatooed with marker, I heard the slightest whimper, “Et tu, Brute?” And I knew I couldn’t throw her away. So I cleaned her up, readjusted her clothes, wrapped her in a blanket and set her down in the now corndog-free doll bucket.

Because that’s the way with toys. They are kind of like children. The instinct to provide them a happy, clean play environment overrides the immediate irritation of obvious -- and sometimes obnoxious -- disarray. My playroom now looks as it should: clean, organized and free from all food remnants. I can’t say it will still look that way tomorrow, but at least I got in one clean day. Ultimately, the truth is, both the toys and the children are worth it. 

But, seriously though, if I ever do go missing, check with the strange, menacing, stuffed squid thing. 

He creeps me out. 

Spring Break 2014

This year for Spring Break, we took the kids to New York and Washington D.C. 

I've never been to either place, so it was also a new adventure for me. 

We left Saturday night and flew straight from Vegas to JFK in New York.

 Waiting in the airport in Vegas. So excited! 

 We booked a limo to take us from JFK to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. 

It was the same price as two taxis and well worth the experience. 

 Day 1 (Sunday)

 Freedom Tower, World Trade Center Memorial Pools
and Lower Manhattan

 Trade Center Memorial Pools

 Chelsea in front of the Freedom Tower

 Standing next to George Washington in the Financial District

Carter and Chelsea attend a Hasidic Conference 

New York Stock Exchange

 Standing in front of the Bull. 

It's now gated off because someone rode on it once... 

 Staten Island Ferry looking back toward the Brooklyn Bridge

 Manhattan Skyline 

 LDS Temple

April in Central Park, enamored with the dirty snow. 

"It's so white and beautiful!" 

Day 2 (Monday)

Rockefeller Center and 5th Avenue

In front of Rockefeller Plaza. The ice skating rink was still there, 

but it looked cold and the ice was pretty rough. So we opted for a quick photo shoot.

 30 Rockefeller Plaza

On Top of the Rock. It had great views. Unfortunately it was a bit cold and blustery.
But we still got some good shots: 

 We saw this face a lot :) 

This picture is from inside, looking up over Central Park. Tyler took it just as Bryce hit his head on the window latch and had a sad moment. He got a hug and felt better.
Sometimes it's tough being six in New York, but he was a real trooper. 

 And of course, the giant piano in FAO Schwartz

That night Tyler, Carter and Spencer went to a Knicks/Sixers game at Madison Square Garden
while Kristen, Chelsea, Bryce and April saw Newsies. The boys were happy with their choice.
And as for us: a bunch of fit, mid-twenty-something men singing, dancing, jumping around and otherwise being fantastic? Yes please ;)

Day 3 (Tuesday) 

China Town, Central Park, Carnegie Deli and more Times Square

A stop outside in Central Park was refreshing. The weather warmed up and we enjoyed an hour or so relishing the sun. 

The teenagers sunning themselves on a warm rock.

 Cool skyline behind

Trying to get Carter to pose with us at the park.

Ok no? Then just the girls.
Look at my lovely Chels :)


April didn't want to leave.


Chelsea is moderately surprised by her lunch at Carnegie Deli.
"This isn't a sandwich... It's a tower of turkey!"

We walked back to Times Square from the deli and beat Tyler who took the little kids in a taxi.
I loved all the walking! It kept all that deli food from weighing us down.


One more stop in Times Square for some chocolate :) Who can pass up a store called "Chocolate World?" Granted, I'll take Sees over Hersheys, but I'm not one to pass up free coconut kisses.


That evening, Tyler and I attended the play, "Waiting for Godot" with the venerable Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. It was as existentially magnificent as "Godot" can be. Afterward I got both signatures on my playbill. Not usually a fangirl, but I just couldn't pass it up...

Mr. McKellen


And Mr. Stewart

Day 4 (Wednesday) 
Amtrak Train to D.C. and Lincoln Memorial


Taxi ride to the train station

"So, why don't we go on the train every time? This is so much better than a plane!" 

That evening we walked to the Lincoln Memorial. 

Again, April's face is indicative of her general mood. "Old man statues? Really?"

It is a magnificent place. 

Bryce holding up the penny at the Lincoln Memorial Museum.
"Look, Mom! I've got big money!"

Day 5 (Thursday)

Capitol Tour, National Archives
 and Museums of Natural History and American History

 Ceiling of Capitol Rotunda

 Enjoying the Capitol tour

 Good O'l Ronnie. How we miss ya

Statue of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Office door for Speaker Boehner. With strange orange backlighting...

After the Capitol and National Archives, we headed down the National Mall. Chelsea and Spencer posed with some friends at the Natural History Museum

Day 6 (Friday)

Air and Space Museum and return trip home

Bryce and April enjoyed flying planes and driving aircraft carriers at the museum

April is very Earhart-esque. She has a bit of a bite and will not be discouraged or deterred. A good thing? Let's hope so ;)

Nelson boy/girl combo #1: teenage edition

Nelson boy/girl combo #2: child edition

In front of the Capitol at the Mall

This is the best smile we got all week

The Washington Monument. We couldn't tour it because it is being retrofitted due to earthquake damage, hence the scaffolding. But it is still a stately sight. 

Finally, back at our hotel, waiting for our ride to the airport

We left the hotel at 5pm, drove two hours to the airport, 

took a five hour plane ride home (arrived in Vegas at 12am St. George time) 

and drove another two hours home from Vegas. 

It was a great week. 

But I'm tired.