A little over a week ago, we had enough snow to go sledding. The kids were so excited! To be honest, all I thought about was how cold it was. After three days, it still had not warmed up enough to melt any of the snow! Brrr!
Saturday the whole family went sledding behind our neighbors house. The kids flew down the hill with sounds of excitement floating behind them. Their faces had large rosy cheeks and even bigger smiles. David and I went down a few times, but discovered that the hill had lots of large bumps or rocks that left lasting impressions. :) Afterabout and hour, David, Anya and I went back for hot chocolate. The older kids stayed out for another two hours!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Rest of our Vacation
Shortly after Christmas day, David flew back to the bitter cold of Indiana to work. I stayed with the kids in Houston so that the kids could play with their cousins. We made some wonderful memories. I am constantly amazed at how loved my children feel surrounded by family. A great big Thank you to all my siblings, their spouses and my parents for all the love and attention they showered on us.
This is my sister Jenny who bravely allowed three little 3 yr olds to help her in the kitchen!
This is a photo of all the grandchildren. What a great looking crowd!
Since David had to leave, my sister April graciously accepted the invitation to be my date for the sibling dinner. I'll definitely ask her out again! :)
My brother-in-law Joseph is a policeman in Shenandoah, which is outside Houston. The kids had a great time being fingerprinted, touring the police station and sitting in a real police. (The policeman talking to the kids is not my brother-in-law, he is to the far right in the picture)
Each morning my bathroom turned into the hair salon! I had a great time doing hair and teaching new hairstyles.
One of the great attractions was the trampoline. The grand kids spent hours jumping on it and creating new games. I love this picture of my brother David. I think he was teaching them a new trick.
This is a picture of my mom dancing with Anya. The kids convinced my parents to pull out the old record player - soemthing they have never seen! My mom put on one of her Beatles records from her teen years and we all danced in my parents bedroom. It was hilarious! The record player couldn't decide whether to play fast or slow!
A huge thank you to my Dad who so willingly drove the kids and I back to Indiana! Without his willingness to drive us back, we wouldn't have been able to stay the extra week. I love you Dad! Thank you! (In this picture my dad is helping Hyrum put together a model airplane while he waited to get on his own airplane back to Houston.)
This is my sister Jenny who bravely allowed three little 3 yr olds to help her in the kitchen!
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| From The rest of Christmas |
This is a photo of all the grandchildren. What a great looking crowd!
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| From The rest of Christmas |
Since David had to leave, my sister April graciously accepted the invitation to be my date for the sibling dinner. I'll definitely ask her out again! :)
 |
| From The rest of Christmas |
My brother-in-law Joseph is a policeman in Shenandoah, which is outside Houston. The kids had a great time being fingerprinted, touring the police station and sitting in a real police. (The policeman talking to the kids is not my brother-in-law, he is to the far right in the picture)
 |
| From The rest of Christmas |
Each morning my bathroom turned into the hair salon! I had a great time doing hair and teaching new hairstyles.
 |
| From The rest of Christmas |
One of the great attractions was the trampoline. The grand kids spent hours jumping on it and creating new games. I love this picture of my brother David. I think he was teaching them a new trick.
 |
| From The rest of Christmas |
This is a picture of my mom dancing with Anya. The kids convinced my parents to pull out the old record player - soemthing they have never seen! My mom put on one of her Beatles records from her teen years and we all danced in my parents bedroom. It was hilarious! The record player couldn't decide whether to play fast or slow!
 |
| From The rest of Christmas |
A huge thank you to my Dad who so willingly drove the kids and I back to Indiana! Without his willingness to drive us back, we wouldn't have been able to stay the extra week. I love you Dad! Thank you! (In this picture my dad is helping Hyrum put together a model airplane while he waited to get on his own airplane back to Houston.)
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| From The rest of Christmas |
Monday, January 4, 2010
Hyrum turns 7
Hyrum is the lucky cousin who gets to have a cousin party once every two years. Two years ago we had a fire engine party and visited the fire station, crawled all over the fire trucks and took a ride in one of the trucks. This year, we had a movie party. Twenty one people went to see the Princess and the Frog for his birthday. Now that may not sound like a boy movie, but let me tell you, there are more frog legs than pretty dresses in this film!
After the movie we opened presents and ate cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday Hyrum! We love the wonderful little boy you have always been and the wonderful big boy you are becoming. Your patience and kindness earn you the respect of your teachers and the friendship of your peers. We are so impressed with your desire to learn more about the gospel and at at the many ways you apply it in your life. We were incredibly blessed the day you entered our family 7 years ago! Keep smiling Hyrum Boy! We love you!
After the movie we opened presents and ate cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday Hyrum! We love the wonderful little boy you have always been and the wonderful big boy you are becoming. Your patience and kindness earn you the respect of your teachers and the friendship of your peers. We are so impressed with your desire to learn more about the gospel and at at the many ways you apply it in your life. We were incredibly blessed the day you entered our family 7 years ago! Keep smiling Hyrum Boy! We love you!
Christmas Activities 2009
For Christmas we spent two wonderful weeks in Houston with lots of family. We had a great time and made a lot of fun memories. Christmas eve activities included: a pinata, making Christmas cookies, acting out the Nativity and culminated in a visit from Santa Clause while Grandpa Steed took a nap. He always misses Santa's visit! But according to little cousin Logan: "Santa tickles like Grandpa!" Santa brought each child matching Disney pj's, a real harmonica and a good tickle!
Christmas morning brought more presents to unwrap and many exclamations of excitement. Daylin's santa gift: A scooter
Bethany's Santa gift: A pioneer costume
Hyrum's Santa gift: Bakugans
Anya's Santa: A playhouse
There were so many wonderful gifts! Thank you to all the grandparents for their generosity and thoughtfulness and to our Secret Sibling who managed to make $20 stretch to such great lengths!
Christmas morning brought more presents to unwrap and many exclamations of excitement. Daylin's santa gift: A scooter
Bethany's Santa gift: A pioneer costume
Hyrum's Santa gift: Bakugans
Anya's Santa: A playhouse
There were so many wonderful gifts! Thank you to all the grandparents for their generosity and thoughtfulness and to our Secret Sibling who managed to make $20 stretch to such great lengths!
The Clubhouse
These last few months have been difficult, filled with illnesses, physical ailments and the job search. Now that Christmas is over, traveling done for a bit and the job search finished, I have a few moments to breath before the next crisis diverts my attention.
On to more interesting things:
My kids love playing over at our neighbors house. They have three girls who are best friends with my three girls. If there is any free moment, they are together playing. Hyrum also spends time over there when there are no boys available to play with. I must also admit, I like spending time with their mom too. We both love to sew and be involved with our kids, so we have a lot to talk about!
This fall the kids decided to make a clubhouse out in the woods behind the neighbors house. They spent weeks working on it! We could hear the kids and catch glimpses of them through the trees, but never actually went to see the club house. When I was a kid, I loved building clubhouses and tree houses! I was thrilled that they were getting the opportunity to explore and imagine! Then, one day, I heard the kids talking about how the almost got lost getting to the clubhouse and that they hoped the people driving by couldn't see them. That made me wonder how far back in the woods this little project was. So, instead of braving the bitter cold and finding out - I sent David.
To get to the club house they had to cross a stream and follow pieces of string they had tied to the trees. The trek wound back and forth for about ten minutes and finally ended up at a few trees they had wound string around. That was it - oh, and the cars on 56th street could see them!
David told the kids the clubhouse had to be moved back into the trees and he helped them put a log across the stream so that their boots wouldn't be soaked (something the kids didn't tell me about. Boy they stink!).
Here are some fun pictures of their trek to the tree house and the new bridge.
On to more interesting things:
My kids love playing over at our neighbors house. They have three girls who are best friends with my three girls. If there is any free moment, they are together playing. Hyrum also spends time over there when there are no boys available to play with. I must also admit, I like spending time with their mom too. We both love to sew and be involved with our kids, so we have a lot to talk about!
This fall the kids decided to make a clubhouse out in the woods behind the neighbors house. They spent weeks working on it! We could hear the kids and catch glimpses of them through the trees, but never actually went to see the club house. When I was a kid, I loved building clubhouses and tree houses! I was thrilled that they were getting the opportunity to explore and imagine! Then, one day, I heard the kids talking about how the almost got lost getting to the clubhouse and that they hoped the people driving by couldn't see them. That made me wonder how far back in the woods this little project was. So, instead of braving the bitter cold and finding out - I sent David.
To get to the club house they had to cross a stream and follow pieces of string they had tied to the trees. The trek wound back and forth for about ten minutes and finally ended up at a few trees they had wound string around. That was it - oh, and the cars on 56th street could see them!
David told the kids the clubhouse had to be moved back into the trees and he helped them put a log across the stream so that their boots wouldn't be soaked (something the kids didn't tell me about. Boy they stink!).
Here are some fun pictures of their trek to the tree house and the new bridge.
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