Swimming Lessons

One summer activity I wanted to make sure we got in before the baby came was swimming lessons for all the kiddos. Pool time is the best during the summer and I wanted the kiddos to be as safe as possible while having a blast. The only mistake I made was scheduling Blake's class first, so when he was done he had to wait for his brother and sister to finish their lessons. And what is more tempting than a wide open pool with a zero entry spot to splash and play even after multiple lifeguard warnings :). I know we humored all the watching parents as I attempted to chase my little 'master of disaster' all over the pool in my lovely state. It also made me feel justified when another pregnant mom said she almost fainted every time she set foot in the pool because it was SO hot and muggy in there. Yes, it was a miserable sauna that I bid a fond farewell on the last day of lessons.

The kids loved it, and loved watching each other and cheering each other on. I love the picture of Blake giving Kali a thumbs up. They made some excellent progress.

Babies at our house

This spring we were lucky enough to have some sweet little robin babies hatched on our front porch. The kids loved watching the mommy robin get worms for the babies and listening to them chirp away as she hunted and fed them. The mommy robin didn't like us watching so much and would sit not too far from her nest angrily chirping away whenever we approached. The first picture is a good example of her all puffed up and warning us to stay away from her babies. We didn't watch them too much, but on occasion would climb up to see their progress.

One day we had friends visiting and thought it would be fun to see the robins. I told the kids we could look at them and before I had a chance to regulate the viewing, the kids (5 boys and Kali) were out the front door. Well, little did I know it was the day the robins would leave the nest. I heard the kids yelling excitedly and as I started to waddle (being 9 months preggo) outside I heard cars honking away. I hurried out the front door and sure enough all the kids were in the street; the young ones were chasing these poor baby robins and the older ones were trying to get the young ones out of the street. Not to mention there were 3 cars stopped for the whole fiasco.

I waddled out to the street concerned about 1- the 6 children in the middle of the street 2 - the 3 poor baby robins hopping around trying to work their little wings, absolutely defenseless against Blake and company who found more excitement and thrill the closer they jumped by these baby birds. An observant neighbor walking by said, "boy, you've got your hands full!" Thank you very much, yes.

I rounded up the little ones and the mommy robin was LIVID! She was chirping away like I'd never heard. I hurried my little ones back in and left her to round up her little ones, hoping she'd figure out how to get them out of the driveway and across the street back to where she was going to feed them.

I went out about an hour later and she had managed to get them to safety, where I snapped a picture of one of the babies in the tree. She started hollering at me again so I wished them the best and hurried back in.

We loved our spring babies!

Slip n Slide

My Baby Sister - The Graduate!

 Anna Graduated - Class of 2011!!!

I was blessed to be able to fly (yes, fly!!! Contrary to much helpful advice I received,  the doctor assured me cabin pressure does nothing to speed up labor) to Anna's graduation last week.  Steve & I decided to see how I felt, and with the doctor's blessing I was able to meet up with the family for the celebration.  Once again, Steve made it possible, managing the kiddos and home while I worked Wed, flew Thurs, flew back Fri and worked Sat, Sun.  It's times like this I feel so blessed to have healthy pregnancies that enable me to be active (albeit slightly tired ;) ) with just a few weeks left.

I can't believe my baby girl is on to the college years!!

It was a great chance to reflect on how blessed I am to have her for a sister....how hard I prayed and fasted for her, how we all adored and parented her.  Watching her grow up as a precious little girl to an energy filled, loving, go-getter of a teenager, an incredible aunt to her nieces and nephews, and a dear friend to her siblings.  I love watching her life unfold, and know that the years ahead hold some very big "eternity decisions" for my girl.

She is one adored girl!!!

Father Knows Best

Being 4 weeks away from delivering our fourth baby I had some definite ideas of how to spend our Memorial Day weekend. They included things such as assembling the bassinet, taking down wallpaper, washing baby clothes, organizing, etc. Steve also had some ideas about how to use the weekend.

Which included not one of my ideas.

Since he had put so much time into working on the house and projects for the past few months, surviving my two 12's a week from dawn to dusk with kids and work, and has pretty much been a rock star of a husband this pregnancy there was no way I could ask him to implement my ideas. So we went with his idea - a much needed get away as a family.

He first mentioned camping, which to be quite frank at this point in my pregnancy sounded about as fun as a root canal. So when he called and said he found a condo in the mountains for a killer deal I was thrilled! It had a full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a private hot tub and was close to stores, lakes, and trails. Steve told the kids this is the kind of camping we do when Mommy has a baby in her tummy :). I married a good man.


We got here and the kids wasted no time hopping in the hot tub after Steve had cooled it down a bit.


We've done some hiking in these gorgeous mountains.


And of course, some fishing.





Our worm lover of the family turned out to be Miss Kali, who especially loved to torment her two brothers who had no interest in holding those worms whatsoever!


We drove up to Lake Granby and found a beautiful place to fish and hang out. This was our big catch for the day.





Steve is a fan of catch and release, thank goodness, so after pictures, holding and hook removal, we sent the little guy back into the lake. Trenton was very concerned the whole time he was out of water we weren't getting him back quick enough, so when we finally released him Trenton giggle with relief, "OK little buddy! There you go. Have a good life." He flipped belly-up rather quickly but his little gills were still breathing away so we told Trenton he was probably playing dead for a minute and would get swimming away pretty soon. Well Trenton is my little tender heart and kept speaking encouraging words to the fish. A minute turned to several and my hopes for a catch-and-release were fading fast. Trenton stayed with his little guy, following him down the shore where the wind blew him. I knew we were going to have trouble when I saw some seagulls began to circle.

Nature wastes nothing. It was one of those natural consequences you want to protect your kids from but can't - I suppose shouldn't - and while Steve was snapping away I heard Trenton's heart break as he shouted:

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR PLAYING DEAD FOR SO LONG!!!"

I haven't stopped laughing at that line.






This bird had no desire to share the feast and I imagine he may have a bit of a stomach ache.

We had the whole 'circle of life' talk to which Trenton had no interest. Kali tried to talk to Trenton afterwards and he was too upset to have a discussion.

"Kali, when you see something so upsetting like that you just don't feel like talking, ok?! I just wish every animal would just be a vegetarian." I heard him mumble about fruit and nuts for quite a while after that :).

The shore made for some nice down time.










Sun and sand had us all tuckered out when we got home.






I love these kiddos so much and especially love their Daddy who makes fabulous memories and magical moments for our family.

Who needs a bassinet anyway?

Grandma McDonald

 Steve's Grandma McDonald passed away in April and we felt like we should make it a priority to attend the funeral as a family.  We both took bereavement leave from our jobs and headed out on an impromptu trip to UT.  It was fairly incredible - all but 4 of her children and grandchildren were able to attend out of 39 children and grandchildren.  Quite a family reunion and celebration of her life and posterity!

I should back up and say that Steve wouldn't hear of me driving 9 hours 30 weeks pregnant.  The week before I ended up working a horrific schedule of 12 hour shifts Thurs, Sat, Mon and Wed with teaching at church, sick kids and coordinating youth activities for church in between.  So his insisting I fly might have had to do a little bit with me coming home in pain, tears & exhaustion Wed night not having a clue how I was going to pack up and travel the next day for the funeral.  Yes, that was probably it.  I was protesting through my tears, insisting a good night's sleep would make all the difference and he kept nodding and ignoring me while he bought the ticket.  So my saint of a husband drove 3 kids to UT by himself and stayed at Great-Grandma Alley's Thurs night.  We always love our Laramie stop and I especially love the relationship my kids have being so close to Grandma.

The above picture is an attempt at getting a picture with her grandchildren and great-granchildren - it wasn't the quietest funeral :), but it was certainly filled with love and appreciation for the legacy she and Grandpa started.  Steve and I reflected a lot on the life and legacy we were leaving for our children...how seemingly small everyday choices really create a tapestry of faith, love, work ethic, values, etc that effect generations to come.  Grandma's humor, intelligence, obedience and work ethic were marveled at and appreciated by all.

 Grandpa and his children who were able to attend are in the above picture - (L to R) Aunt Wendy, Aunt Nancy, Grandpa, Aunt Sandy, Aunt Leslie and Uncle Billy (with Kali attached to his lap - it was precious - she climbed onto him and in his loving way he held her for about 1/2 hour while grieving his mother and strengthening his siblings without missing a beat).  They each spoke about her during the service.  You could tell each child had a unique relationship with their mother and it was just beautiful to hear the different points of view and aspects they loved and appreciated about her.  Of course it made me think of my relationship with my children, how unique each little spirit is, how I relate differently with each child, and what each child needs from Steve & I to grow confident in themselves and in our love for them.

We got to see so many cousins!!!  It was incredible.  We spent many late nights playing games and talking with these dear friends.  Sommer, Jenna and I are all pregnant with little BOYS and are due within about 4 weeks of each other.  It's always nice to commiserate - I mean REJOICE in the joys of pregnancy with someone.

 After the funeral we headed home and made it in time to see beautiful Anna off to prom.  She was all dolled up and had a blast that night. 

 Luke, Mary and Max also drove down from Rexburg to spend a couple days with us.  It was a great little family reunion (minus Em who was in San Diego running the Ragnar!!!)!

 Blake LOVED holding Max and talks all the time about how he's "gonna hold his little brudder just like baby Max."

 Mom and Dad hosted us for the week and dyed Easter eggs Sunday night, took the kids on train rides, planted little gardens and spoiled us rotten.  The kids (all of us) loved it.

 

The Monday after the funeral the McDonald cousins were still making the most of our time together!  Matt Jeppson (Wendy's son) brought up the great idea of doing some fishing on the Provo River and doing a little adventure with the kiddos in St George.  We were completely on board...what better adventure guide than Matt who LOVES the outdoors, used to be a river guide, is now an environmental lawyer and always on the lookout for the next great adventure?  And Steve, JV and Matt used to spend a lot of time together fishing and playing - I loved that they had the rare chance to do it again.  So I kept Blake with me and Steve took Trenton and Kali down to St. George.

These are some shots from the St George trip.  Aunt Wendy and 11 of the cousin's kids also went on the hikes in St George and the adults did a lot of trading off kiddos who were too little or got a little too hot to finish parts of the hike (above - Kali on Matt's shoulders) .

They found a tortoise...

 a gecko...

 a snake...

(yes, Kali is in heaven holding snakes)

 and a scorpion (no pictures of children holding that one though). They really had a blast and talk about their adventures in the desert often.

While they were gone Blake and I got to see Emily and spend some time with Johhny!!!  Yea!  Johnny and Blake are little buds - it's so fun to watch their relationship.  I also got to see our dear friends, the Barlows and found a beautiful picture of the temple for our dining room.  I have been looking for years and consider myself pretty picky.  I love it.  We also got spoiled by Mom and Dad with an incredible dinner at a Hibachi grill - it was  absolutely succulent.   Little Johnny wasn't a big fan of the flame at the table and I will be watching to see how he does in the future with fire ;).  Blake cautiously enjoyed the flame but both boys LOVED the food.

Steve once again insisted I fly home and didn't bat an eye or utter a word of complaint driving 3 kids across UT and WY with a week of very little sleep while I loaded up on a plane and headed home. What did I do to deserve him?

It really was a week of family and reflection, which I suppose is a big part of what funerals are about. 

We love you Grandma McDonald!

A Child's Prayer

A few months ago the music director in our church asked me if I could find a musical number to sing in church.  After looking at a lot of options, it dawned on me Kali had been asking to sing in church for a while.  I asked if she wanted to sing in church and she said she would LOVE to!  I chose a simple and sweet duet between a parent and a child called A Child's Prayer.The practice sessions were very sweet and spirit filled as I listened to my little girl's sweet voice.

We practiced for weeks and the week we were supposed to sing Kali came down with Influenza B.  We cancelled that Sunday in Feb and rescheduled for today.  Last Sunday our pianist came over to practice and Kali completely clammed up, hiding behind me shyly.  It dawned on me this could go very, very badly and I had to come up with a backup plan.  I asked one of my friends if her daughter McKinney, who is Kali's good friend would be at all interested in singing with Kali.  I smiled when she asked, "Does she need to hit the notes?"

After many practice sessions, the big day came and I just said many prayers these two little five-year-old girls  would have the courage to sing in front of our 500 member congregation. We got ready for church early and this morning Kali showed me a picture she drew of us singing "our song" in church.  I showed Kali who we would sing after and when this woman got up to speak Kali started panicking.  "I can't do it, Mom.  I am so scared to sing in front of all these people.  My voice will not work."  The tears came and she started twisting and turning in agony.  Oh Boy.  I told her we could say a prayer and Heavenly Father would give her courage.  When that didn't quite stop the tears, I turned and looked back at McKinney who was calmly eating fruit snacks on her daddy's lap. Hmmmm- let's get her blood sugar up - I turned to Steve and he handed me a piece of candy for her.  Worked like a charm.  The time came and she and McKinney held hands up to the front.  They started singing and a calm sweet spirit came over me as they sang:

"Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?"

I started singing and it felt like I was bearing my testimony to these sweet little girls.  My heart and the spirit confirmed the words I sang:

"Pray, He is there.Speak, He is listening.
You are his child, his love now surrounds you."

I put my arm around my little girl and wanted her to instill in her that Heavenly Father would always be there to answer the pleadings of her heart. Singing with my little girl was a very sweet experience and made for a very special Sunday.