Zoo with Cutesy and Grandpa

During spring break I asked all the kids what they wanted to do (projects, movies, pjs, bowling)...and then I asked Cutesy what she would like to do. She said the zoo, and so we decided to take advantage of a beautiful day to go see the animals. We lucked out, seeing a baby chimpanzee and a baby orangutan, but paid a price for it - I think we were there with about 20 field trip groups. I let Jacob and Bekah take turns being "photographer" and consequentially had about 300 pictures on my camera - at least 10 for each animal and a good 10% devoted to the sky, the trees, and empty looking enclosures. But some were good, and I included those here...

Jacob has recently discovered the hilarity of bunny ears, and takes every opportunity to photo bomb with his two little fingers.

I am so glad that Grandpa (or Mustache Grandpa, as my kids refer to him), was able to come so he could be the muscle to carry Marianne and lift her up high enough to see all the animals.

Me and my own little monkey. *taken by Bekah*

Aren't they just a dashing retired couple? *taken by Bekah*

I think the kids had the most fun climbing on the tree trunks and rocks during lunchtime. Jacob and Marianne have a really cute relationship. He is a great big brother, always looking after her and offering her piggy-back rides, and she adores him for it. Also, fyi, Jacob has grown over an inch since January. I think it's the second and third helpings he has every night for dinner (as long as I've fixed something he likes). And - he is very proud of this - he is a solid half inch taller than Bekah!

Grandpa and the girls. Bekah has also been growing a lot already this year. She has grown about 3/4" since January...and she is SO skinny! Skinny jeans and leggings were made for this girl!

I always consider it very lucky to see a peacock in full array...*taken by Jacob*

"Swing me! Swing me!" Good thing my parents are so strong, because Marianne and her relentless pleas for swinging are pretty irresistible.

I swear these tigers have been sleeping every time I have visited them for the last eight years. (Rude, huh.) But this time we actually caught them awake! *documented by Bekah*

And a final shot of my Beau-monkey. He's getting so big, he loves school, and you should hear him read - he is an awesome reader!

I'm excited to be able to see a little more of my parents now that my dad is retired (but still finishing a big project at work), and they are living in Los Lunas (sort of - they are still trying to sell their home in SV and so they aren't here full time yet). I'm grateful that my kids can spend fun time with them like this and that my parents are up for the adventure!

Hungry Whale and Shark

When talking about "things to do over spring break," Jacob had only three requests:
Pajama day
Watch lots of movies
Make a sperm whale out of fabric that has a zipper mouth that is big enough so that when they have their epic battle, the whale can win and entirely devour the squid.

He's really not a very demanding child...it's just that his demands are highly concentrated.

So I got to work. I found a pattern-ish link that sort of told me how to cut the different pieces and then Jacob drew out how big he wanted it to be and then we went to work. The zipper was tricky. But it worked. And he was SUPER happy. He wanted to name him Spermy; I encouraged going a different direction, "Wally."

Ingesting the squid...

Beau also wanted a stuffed animal. Originally he wanted a "shark-lizard," but after the success of Jacob's whale, he decided to just go with pure shark. With a zipper mouth, of course. There were a couple tricky things on this guy - the zipper, and the part where the belly meets the tail - but it worked out okay.

Beau was really pleased with Sharky, I could tell. He did come up to me once saying, "This fin is not the same size as the other fin," but after a short lecture on how rare symmetry really is, he seemed to accept any flaws as character trademarks.

Next up will be a kangaroo with a pouch for Marianne...hopefully.

Riding Bareback

I know I shouldn't. But I am. Because when your feisty two-year-old uses the bathroom, but then streaks through the house before you can help her get her clothes back on, and then you find her in the living room riding the rocking horse butt naked...You just kinda have to take a picture of her. In all her birthday-suit glory.

Be grateful you got the blurry picture... (Actually I did that for you, Marianne, so you won't be completely humiliated when your older siblings show this off to all of your friends when you are a teenager...)

General Conference 2014, IN SLC

My sister in law Katie lives in Anaktuvik pass, Alaska. Don't know where that is? Neither do I, really. But I do know it is super remote and far away and thus we don't see Katie and her family very often. She planned to remedy this by getting all of us gals together for a general conference trip, and while we weren't all able to go (Carla because of her baby and DeAnn because of her pregnancy), those of us that did had a wonderful time.

Emilee and Louise drove up to ABQ on Thursday night. On Friday morning after a hectic run getting the kids off to school (except Bekah), getting the oil changed in my van, and picking up last minute goods, we were off (with Carla's daughter Libby). I was driving and said I didn't know how to get there, but we needed to head in the general direction of Santa Fe, right?
Right, they said.
And then I actually drove to Santa Fe, missing our exit by about 30 miles. So we took a different route to Utah, and it worked out fine, and Louise and Emilee were much better navigators after that.
We drove and drove...I'm not really used to doing 10 hours in one swoop, but I know a lot of families that do it and my hat is off to them. I felt blessed to not have all my kids with me, and to have Emilee's awesome playlist to keep me musically entertained. And to have survived driving Price Canyon at night. Seriously. That road is not safe.
We met up with Katie and her daughter Claire that night at the hotel, and we all were happy to go right to sleep.
We had tickets for the Saturday morning session of GC, so we had to get up bright and early to get ready and catch our Blue Line to Temple Square on the Trax. (I think riding the Trax was one of the girls' favorite things to do!) I had been texting my BFF Lindsey to coordinate where and when we were going to meet at temple square so she could go in with us, and right as we were getting of the train at temple square, I got a text from her that she was at the same intersection. I looked around but couldn't see her, and so, with crowds all around me, I simply yelled, "Lindsey!" as loud as I could several times. I still didn't see her so we all crossed the street and began to walk towards the conference center. The crowds cleared and there she was, saying, "I heard you calling me so I turned around!" Ah, happy reunion! I love my Lindsey!
We happily made through the crowds with none of us tripping up the stairs whatsoever and into the conference center. Our tickets were for the terrace, where all the people on the stage look miniscule and it's easier to just watch the big screen tvs. But it was still awesome. I just kept telling myself that if I were to yell President Monson's name really loud, he would hear me.
Before the speakers spoke, I made a list of questions and concerns that I have. Bekah made a list as well. I was so happy when her concerns were specifically addressed by one of the speakers. We both looked at each other and knew that Heavenly Father had answered her prayer. It was a special experience. I have failed to mention how completely excited Bekah was to go to conference center! She had watched the women's conference with me and had been excited for the whole week to actually be in SLC, at temple square, in the conference center. I gave her a little backpack to hold her pens and notebook and snacks, and she had everything laid out before the first talk - pens, paper, snacks. She kept wonderful notes that she insisted I read after every speaker. She did it for every session and never once said she was bored or tired. She wants so much to be good and choose the right, and I am so grateful for her valiant example. Favorite talk: Jeffrey R. Holland (If he were a Baptist, he'd be pounding the pulpit, and I love that about him!)

After the first session (and working the crowds for lunch and a tiny bit of shopping), we made our way through temple square to try and find a good place to watch the second session. Katie had been teasing that at least one of the girls needed to be photographed in the Ensign - Katie's kids and Carla's kids have been in the Ensign before - and as we were walking towards the tabernacle, we saw a man way across the lawn with a big camera. We told the girls to run over towards him because he was the Ensign guy and maybe they would get their picture in the Ensign. They took off running while Emilee and I made "caw-caw!" sounds to get the guy's attention. He must have heard us because he turned our way, saw the girls running towards him with their umbrellas, and immediately started taking pictures of them...which made them immediately freeze and start posing. It was hilarious how instantaneously they turned on the charm. (That's where the above photo came from.)
It turned out that the guy was planning to submit pictures to the Ensign, and he wasn't just some guy, he was a friend of Lindsey's that she hadn't seen for a long time! I uploaded the three photos here from his blog, you should check out his other amazing conference photos at timhansenphotography.com
We wound up watching the afternoon session in a movie-theater-type-room in the visitor's center - with way comfier seats and a better view than we'd had watching it live. And again the session was wonderful. Favorite talk: Craig W. Zwick about communicating more compassionately
Afterwards we tried to peruse Deseret Book with about 1000 other people, and the best things I found in there were the Richardson's (from SV, AZ), and these heavenly lemon-covered almonds. Mmm...
I had to say my goodbyes to Lindsey at this point because she needed to head home to her sweetheart. I have to tell you, Lindsey is the most insightful person I know - always studying and praying and learning and being taught. I love that about her.
The rest of us ladies headed back to the hotel (yay for Trax again), enjoyed a fun dip in the pool, opened Emilee's eyes to the world of IKEA, and had a super late night dinner at the Cheesecake factory (it was worth it).
Sunday morning was nice and slow - amazingly enough those little girls slept in until 9am - and as the adult staying in the room with them, I was super grateful. (Favorite talk: Elder Bednar) We watched part of conference on the TV and then headed back up to temple square to have a picnic lunch with Katie's inlaws. We had tickets to the afternoon session that day, and so after lunch we made our way to the conference center. We had seats on the balcony this time, the highest level, because the girls really, really wanted to sit up there. I think the spirit dissipates the higher up you sit because I found myself behind a large family that couldn't stop massaging each other's backs and hands and arms...and in front of a group of college kids who really liked to audibly quote the scriptures along with the speaker, and then leave during the closing song (rude). Please, please, if just for me, DON'T spend two hours massaging your companion's back. I don't care how much you like them or how bored you get. The person sitting behind you might not be able to control their puking-reflex as well as I can. Favorite talk: Marcos A Aidukaitis
After that session, we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then went back to the hotel for another dip in the pool. We knew we had an early morning the next day, so we headed to bed before midnight that night.
The drive home (with Katie and Claire now joining us), was long but swift...even swifter because we went the right way that time. I am so grateful that we were able to take this trip. I love Katie and Emilee and Louise and I feel very blessed to have had that time to spend with them! And I am grateful for the time I had with Bekah. She and I have had some rocky times together, and this trip was really good for us.