Birthday Kids

As you can probably tell from my posts about Levi and Aaron, December is Birthday Central around the Ekstrom home. 5 of our 7 children were born in December as well as Sarah, Isaac, Eli and Scott. It is a pretty crazy time with all of the birthdays and Christmas. It is fun; though we really do get tired of eating cake!!

Today is Luke's birthday and yesterday was Hannah and Hilary's 2oth birthday. I found these pictures of the three of them together. Aren't they just adorable??

Mr. Luke's birthday

15 years ago today, Luke joined our family. We weren't really planning on having any more children after the twins were born, but we are so glad that we got Luke. He has brought so much fun and happiness to our family. He was such an adorable little boy and him being born after the twins started school was such a bonus. It was awesome to have so much one on one time with him!

Luke's birth was a hard one. For one thing, I was almost 35 when he was born. I never thought that that was old, but the nurse at the dr.'s office kept saying, "at your age" and so I guess I developed a complex. Anyway, the main reason the birth was difficult was that I had had a c-section when the twins were born and I was trying to have Luke normally. My poor body was confused and worn out. It didn't go into labor as it should have and so my dr. decided to use the pitocin to induce labor. What a nightmare!!

We started the process in the wee hours of the morning, but it was hours later when he finally arrived. It wasn't until hours into the process that a nurse noticed that my dr. ordered an epidural so I had been suffering with crazy piggy back contractions all day. It was horrid. A bad contraction would start to ebb and just as it started down the curve, another would peak, and then another. It was pretty awful. It's a good thing that he was so precious!!

Luke is such an amazing kid! He is smart and witty and such fun to be with. He is an obedient, respectful son, brother and uncle. I am so thankful that our Heavenly Father saw fit to send him to our family!! Life would be so dull without him brightening our lives!!

I sure love my Luke!!

Hannah and Hilary turn 20!!

People have asked me many times what it is like having twins. I am sure that I give a different answer every time, but in truth, it is amazing! I have loved having twins and it has been a fantastic trip through these past 20 years! It has been crazy at times, that's for sure. (Puberty in stereo was interesting, but it only lasted a couple of years so it is all good!! :p) )

Our trip down the road of twinhood started when Ben was about 2 years old. I had really wanted a girl when I was expecting him and was rather sad when he turned out to be a boy. (I was going to name her Melissa, but obviously Melissa wasn't appropriate so we named him Ben.)
We loved Ben very much, but I really wanted another girl and so when we decided to have just one more baby, I really hoped it would be a girl. Emily shared my feelings and she was so cute; whenever it was her turn to pray, she would ask Heavenly Father to "make Mommies baby a sister." (I think it was her sweet plea that brought about the twins. Heavenly Father was so touched by her entreaties that he said, "Lets give her two!")

I was deathly ill at the beginning and middle and most of the end of the pregnancy. Other than that, things went well. I grew so quickly. After each Dr. visit, my mother would ask me if it was twins. The doctor had delivered all of the other kids, but Aaron, and as each one was about 10 oz bigger than the one before, he told me that this one was following the pattern and would be bigger than Ben's 8lbs 6ozs.

I went to my appt. in November and the dr. was out delivering a baby, but since my baby wasn't due until Valentines day, the nurse did the weighing and measuring. Upon reviewing my chart later that day, my Dr. notated to have me have an ultrasound as I had grown an enormous amount since my last appt. I didn't make it to my next appt. My water broke on December 3rd and when we called the Dr. to report, he said to head to the hospital but not to let anyone check me inside until he arrived and we could do an ultrasound. He wanted to see where the placenta was. (I had had a placenta previa with Ben.) During the ultrasound, the technician said, "Here is the placenta," and then, "Here is another placenta!" That is when we discovered it was twins.

I was flown to the U of U Medical Center where I laid around leaking for 3 weeks. At the time, it was one of only 8 places in the US where they had surfactant, an experimental drug used to soften the preemies lungs. After 3 weeks and no twins, they sent me back to Idaho where the twins were born a few days later via C-section.

The birth of the twins was a fantastic, wonderful time and the last 20 years have been the same. They have brought so much joy and love into our family and they are dearly loved! They are my little girls and I am so proud of the beautiful women that they are becoming!!

I'll be home for Christmas!!

As you can see from the picture, we had just about everyone home this year for Christmas! Hannah was the only one not able to join us. She was down for Thanksgiving, so she was not able to come down again for Christmas. We really missed her!

We had an amazing time together! There were 15 of us and so everything we did, we did big! Christmas Eve was Isaac's birthday and we celebrated it by having a party on a grand scale. We also celebrated for Levi, Aaron, Sarah, Eli, Hannah, Hilary, Luke and Scott's birthdays which are also in December. Whooo Hooo!!

Christmas Eve we also acted out the first Christmas while Scott read from the Bible. It was awesome! We even had enough people for all the parts, including a donkey and a camel!! (Last year there was only the twins and Luke and so we didn't have quite the production we had this year!!) It was an amazing evening!

Santa found us here in Washington even though there isn't any snow. We had a great time opening presents and I think everyone was happy with what they received. It was fun to have kids around again as they are always so excited about everything and it is so fun to watch them!! We gave each of the kids a photo album and later I gave them a packet of pictures I had been saving for them and it was so neat to watch them looking at the pictures and putting them in their albums.

I have really enjoyed watching the kids interact with each other and to feel the love that they share. I also love watching the kids with Scott. He is such an amazing father and it really warms my heart to see them hanging out together! I think that is what I miss the most about them all being gone. I love having the kids here!

Aaron in pictures

Wasn't Aaron cute??? The boys, Aaron and Luke cruising in the lawn mower!
Not exactly 4 generations, but here are 4 Ekstrom males!!

Happy Birthday to Aaron

Aaron is 25 today! Can you believe it??? It seems just like yesterday that I was pushing him into this world!! I remember the night before he was born so well. We had taken Emily and Levi to Pocatello to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Ekstrom for a few days (we were living in Franklin Idaho by then) and on the way home the contractions started. We arrived home and got everything ready and settled down to time the contractions. Scott pulled out a yellow legal pad and started writing down the time with every contraction. We started playing Yahtzee to pass the time and we actually played all night long. I don't know how many games we played, but the legal pad had 3 or 4 columns of times on it by morning. We called the doctor's office first thing and he had us come in to the office so that he could check me out. We did and we waited for a couple of hours for them to "squeeze" me in. The doctor saw me sitting out in the waiting room and really blew up at the office staff for keeping me out there. He checked me and sent me directly to the hospital where Aaron was delivered a couple more hours later!

Aaron come into the world full of enthusiasm and energy and has kept that up his whole life. As a young boy he was always busy, always up for a game or ready for an adventure. He was usually the first one to try something new or to come up with an idea for a new game. He was (and is) a joy to be around and usually kept us laughing at his antics or stories!! He has always been a hard worker and was usually the first one to get his jobs done, many times lending a hand to the slow poke. He has always been very determined and focused on his goals.

Today, Aaron is still that young boy, only bigger. He is full of energy and is busy and organized and works hard. His enthusiasm is contagious and you can't help but feel energized and uplifted when you are working by his side. He is a thoughtful and caring son and brother and is a loving husband and father. The energy and determination that he had as a young boy have propelled Aaron forward and his ability to set and achieve goals is one key to his success. Aaron can see what needs to be done and isn't afraid to work hard to accomplish it!

I am so proud of Aaron for the man he has become. It has been a privilege to watch him grow from a cuddly little toddler to a handsome, strong, loving man. How I love you, Aaron!

Levi through the years!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Levi. I am not very good at the whole colage thing, but I think you can see him in the pictures.


Here we are with Levi at the MTC right before we left him there. It is Hannah, Levi, Luke, me and Hilary.

This picture was taken this Thanksgiving. It is Levi, Hannah and Scott. Aren't they pretty!!

Our son turns 27

27 years ago we had just moved to Preston Idaho. Since I was 8 months pregnant, we made weekly trips back to Pocatello to visit Dr. Lackey. About the end of November he told us that I had better stay in town as the baby could arrive any day so Emily, then just a year old, and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Ekstrom. A week went by and no baby so we decided to go home to Preston. A day or two later, the baby let us know that he/she was getting ready to join us and so we hurried back to Pocatello. About the time we arrived, the contractions stopped so Scott dropped me off at my parents house while he and his Dad ran a couple of errands. No sooner had he left me, than the contractions started again in earnest. I was worried that Scott would not get back in time and really had myself worked up, but he returned and we headed to the hospital. It wasn't long before we delivered a beautiful, dark haired little boy. We named him Levi Thomas. Levi for his Great Grandpa and Thomas for his Grandpa. He was so sweet and cuddly.

The next morning in the wee hours, they brought me the baby to be fed. I sat up in my bed and propped myself up and reached for the tiny child. I carefully unwrapped him and looked down into his little face. I immediately felt a pounding in my chest and a lump in my stomach. I checked the tag on the blanket and sure enough it said, "Baby boy Ekstrom", but somehow I knew that this was not my baby. I tried reasoning with myself, "Of course this is your baby, the tag says so. " The new mother in the other bed in the room sensed my distress and asked what was wrong. I told her that the baby they brought me was not my baby and she echoed my thoughts. What did the tag say? Of course it was my baby. The longer I held the impostor, the more panic threatened to consume me. I leaped to my feet and ran out into the hall. A nurse coming out of a room a few doors down saw me and before she could voice her question, I cried out, "This is NOT my baby!!" She immediately came to my side speaking calmly and soon had the baby unwrapped so that she could read the ankle tag. Her face flushed as she said in a surprised voice, "You're right, Mrs. Ekstrom, this is not your baby. Why don't you go back to your room while I get this straightened out. She took the baby away while another nurse urged me to return to my room, but my feet were rooted to the floor and I refused to be calmed until I held my little Levi in my arms. In a few minutes the nurse returned with a tiny bundle of blue which she laid into my arms. I nervously lifted the blanket and looked into the eyes of my little baby boy. Tears coursed down my cheeks as I silently thanked our Heavenly Father for that little blessing!!

I have repeated that prayer every day for the last 27 years! I am so thankful for my Levi. He is a thoughtful and sensitive son and brother. He has brought joy and laughter and sunshine and music into our home. He is a friend to everyone and has a way of listening and caring that makes people feel better when they are around him. He is an awesome person and I am very proud to be his mother!!

Happy Birthday, Levi!!

29 years and a day!

Yesterday was our 29th wedding anniversary. Can you believe it?? It doesn't seem that long ago; time has seemingly just flown by! As you can see by the above pictures, there is a little bit more of each of us to love! Scott is a little (tee, hee!) balder and amazingly enough, my hair is similar to the 'do' I sported back then. Who knew??? Gone with Scott's hair are the enormous glasses I wore then, but I really think that Scott still has that enormous tie!

Beyond the physical changes that are so obvious, we have both grown so much. I remember the feelings of expectation and anticipation that I felt that day as we left the Temple together that night so long ago. I trusted Scott so much. I knew that he would take care of me and any children we would have (I wanted 6-once again, who knew???) I hoped that I would be a good wife to him and that he would always feel loved and valued.

29 years later, Scott still has my trust. He has always worked so hard to provide for us and he has been an amazing husband and father. He loves me and he has always considered me and my needs and done all he could to secure my happiness. I hope that I have always done the same for him. We have had ups and downs over the years, but we have tried to reach out to each other and take each other by the hand and go forward together.

Scott has been an amazing father and earlier this week I witnessed the proof of this. I was scheduled to work a clinic in Spokane and so I drove up the night before and stayed the night with Lynze and Aaron. It was so fun to be with them and to watch Aaron as a husband and father; to see the tender way he cares for his family. The moment that touched me so profoundly was early the next morning when I was preparing to leave the house to head to the clinic, Aaron got up and put on some shoes and went outside to start my car for me and scrape the snow off the windows. He came back for a broom and went back out and swept all the snow off my car. He did just what Scott would have done for me had he been there. My heart swelled with love for a man who has lived a life so selflessly and who set such a wonderful example for his children; and for a son who unselfishly demonstrated his love for me in such a powerful way.

I just asked Scott if he feels loved and valued and he put his arms around me and gave me a long thoughtful kiss. I'll take that as a YES! (He agrees!!)

I don't know if we will live long enough to celebrate 29 more years, but what I do know is that we will keep moving forward together.

Thanksgiving day!

We had a great Thanksgiving day! Food, fun and family are an awesome combination!! Scott's sisters, Ann and Michelle and brother, Ken were there. Michelle's husband and boys were also there. His other sister, Karen, and her family and brother, Bill also joined the festivities a little later in the afternoon. It was fun to have so much of his family together!!

I am so thankful that we live close enough to join the family for these holiday get togethers! It is still over 8 hours from here, but it's do-able in a day! What a blessing!

Cabin in the woods

Friday after Thanksgiving we headed up to Island Park to see my parents. They have lived up there for a couple of years in a little 2 room cabin. They are all snug and happy there and seem to really love it. We didn't stay long, just overnight as we needed to get up and leave first thing Sunday morning to head home so we wanted to get back to Grandma Ekstrom's on Saturday.

What an awesome week!

It has been a wild and crazy few days here in our neck of the woods. Hannah and her and Hilary's friend, Chibby (Kirsten) arrived early Tuesday morning and Wednesday we headed down to Idaho to spend the holiday with our family. We headed to McCammon to Grandma and Grandpa Ekstrom's house. Emily and her family, Levi and Hilary and Ben and Sarah were all there waiting for us when we arrived! It was so fun to be together and wonderful to be with Scott's parents and his siblings and their families!! We missed Aaron, Lynze and Eli. They were spending the day with Lynze's family.

We realized when we were driving away that we never stood the entire family up together to get a picture. I don't know what we were thinking. Here are some of the pictures we did take.

The guys and their spoils

Scott and Luke just returned from a day of hunting, Washington style. Luke was so excited when they got back, he came in and practically pushed me out to the garage to see their "spoils." It is pretty exciting for them. It is Luke's very first bird hunting trip and Scott's first in many years.

Scott has had a bag of duck decoys since we were married and we have been moving them from place to place, but I have never seen him use them. He got them out a couple of weeks ago and was getting them all spruced up for the big hunt. I am not sure if they even used them as the day dawned with rain pouring from the sky. They loaded the kayaks and headed off on their adventure and as you can see from the pictures, they were successful.

Luke reported that they had a lot of fun, but the rain was "death." "Really Miserable," he added. They also got a citation which carries a fine of over a hundred dollars. It seems that the new shotguns that they bought at Sportman's Warehouse, were not equipped with plugs. (huh?) Scott says that the salesman assured them that they met all of the regulations for hunting in Washington. I guess Scott will be heading down to Sportman's Warehouse to have a chat with that fellow on Monday. You think that they will pay the fine???

Fitzwilliam accompanied the guys on the adventure today, but he wasn't allowed to help. I think he needs some serious training before he is ready for bird retrieval.

It has been fun to watch Scott and Luke bond as they have prepared for this adventure. It took quite a bit of effort from Luke for him to get his hunting license and he and Scott have spent quite a lot of time together fulfilling all of the requirements. We now have several targets to display somewhere (probably in the garage) and it has been interesting to see Luke improve with each trip to the shooting range. He actually beat Scott the other day.

Beautiful world

Living in Alaska for so long, I really forgot how beautiful Autumn could be. I actually think that I never really appreciated it before now. Here in Washington there are so many trees! I don't even know the names of most of them. Autumn has been an incredible experience. For one thing, it has lasted longer than a couple of weeks. In Alaska, we learned to enjoy it while we could because it was a fleeting time. There really aren't very many colors in Alaska either. I have always felt that there was a disturbing lack of red in the fall.

Washington has been a riot of colors for several weeks now. The drive from Richland to Yakima has been amazing with all of the shades of red and orange. I have loved walking in the crisp air amid the changing colors of fall!!

I have also discovered that I have an incredible fancy for leaves. I find myself unable to stop myself from picking them up wherever I go. I get out of my car and before I have gone a few steps, I am stooped over gathering some leaves. They are amazing in their variety of shapes and colors and there are so many perfect specimens!!

I went to the Senior center in Pasco for the Rolling Hills chorus rehearsal last week and when I started into the building there were the most amazing leaves I have seen yet. They were enormous!! They were as big as dinner plates! I looked around to see what kind of tree they fell from, but did not see any trees with similar leaves. Of course, I collected a few to take home. A few days later I stopped by the post office and on my way into the building I couldn't resist picking up a beautiful leaf and as I was completing my transaction with the postal worker, the worker noticed the leaf I was holding and asked if I picked it up outside. I sheepishly said that, yes, I had. That opened an interesting dialogue with her and the worker at the next window. She, the one at the other window, mentioned that there are some amazing Oak leaves outside and I confessed that I had taken several home with me the last time I stopped there (I didn't know that they were Oak leaves though.) and she said that she too had taken some home. I mentioned the huge leaves I had collected from the Senior center and she told me that they are Sycamore leaves. She said that she can't resist collecting leaves as well. It was nice to learn that I am not alone in my obsession!

Today I found a beautiful leaf right outside our front door. I had gone out to sweep the leaves off the front walk and there it was. I had to bring it in and add it to my collection.

Scott and Luke have been very patient with me and my fancy for leaves. They don't make fun of me too often. As a matter of fact, when Scott came into the house after work today, he snuck up on me and presented me with a beautiful leaf that he had found on the front walk just where I had found the other one this morning.

I am so grateful for this beautiful world we live in. We are so blessed!!

Brother and Sisters

Smokie, Roy and Me. I think I look the oldest. :p(

Last week I drove down to Idaho for a few days. Yes, I drove all alone for 8+ hours. It was awesome!! I actually got somewhere at the end of the driving. In Alaska, you drive for 8 hours and you are in the middle of the wilderness!!

I spent some time at my sister, JoAnn's, in Idaho Falls where we quilted the quilt I pieced together and then I went to St. Anthony with Smokie, Paul and Lora. We met Mom and Dad for lunch and then we went to check out Paul and Lora's brand spankin new house. (It is awesome, by the way! Absolutely beautiful!!) Friday I headed down to Smokie's house and Saturday my brother, Roy, made us Spanish Eggs for breakfast.

Hilary, Ben and Sarah joined me at Smokie's and we made a trip to McCammon to see Grandma and Grandpa Ekstrom. After dinner at Smokies with Steve and his family, they headed back down to Utah. I headed home first thing Sunday morning.

It was an awesome trip! I really love being close to family. I love hanging out with them and visiting and just being together! It is still a long drive, but 8 or 9 hours is a lot closer than the 5 days it used to take me to get there from Alaska!

4 Generations of Ekstrom Men

When Grant and Edna and Aaron and his family were here last weekend, we took the opportunity to take a picture or two of the guys. 4 generations of Ekstrom men sitting there in a row. Aren't they handsome???!!?

I see some themes running through the generations. One is the nose. I am not sure if Grant has the same nose, but Scott sure passed his on to his sons and since Eli looks a LOT like his Grandpa, I would say that he has it too!! I didn't realize how much Aaron and Luke look alike either.

It is such a blessing to have such an awesome heritage and to see the torch being passed and carried by the upcoming generations!!

Boys and dogs

What is it with boys and dogs? I think that they are just attracted to each other! This weekend we have company! Whoo Hooo!! We LOVE to have company and for the last 16 years, we haven't really had much because Alaska is so far for everyone to go to visit us. Well, this weekend, Grant and Edna came up and so Aaron and Lynze and Eli came down from Spokane to stay as well. It was incredible!! It was so much fun to have them here and we enjoyed being together and watching conference together.

Eli loves Fitzwilliam, but he is afraid of him at the same time because he is so big and trollops around like a bull in a china shop and so for most of Saturday he kept his distance. Sunday he was starting to get closer and closer to Fitzwilliam. In the bottom picture they are sizing each other up. Fitz is so good with the kids. He is very protective of them actually. (He just can't seem to control his tail and has been known to knock the little ones down while wagging his enthusiam!)

The top picture is of Aaron, Eli and Fitzwilliam. Aaron is using Fitz for a pillow while cradling Eli on his chest and Fitz is lying his head on Aaron's shoulder, almost nuzzling Eli. It was really sweet to watch them interacting with each other.

Boys and dogs. You gotta love em!!

Birthday Surprise

I did it! I successfully navigated my way around the sun again!! Now I am a whole year older! EEEEKKK!!

Jim told me when I called him on his birthday that the human body regenerates itself every 7 years and that this year was my year. He said that when I woke up on my birthday, I would be a new person. Well, I woke up in the wee hours with a terrible headache. Do you suppose that is what happens when all of your cells are new??

I took a nap after church to help ease the headache and shortly after I woke up, the phone rang and it was Hilary, Emily, Patrick, Isaac, puppy Eve and Esther singing me the most awesome Happy Birthday song!! It was such a treat!! Everyone should wake up to that!!

Yesterday when I got home from work, a surprise was waiting for me in the garage. The plant in this picture had been delivered. Thank you so much Mom and Dad Ekstrom!! What a fun surprise! It was sure thoughtful of you to think of me!!

Scott and Luke have sure taken good care of me today. They cooked me a steak dinner last night and had flowers on the tables. (I LOVE flowers!!!) They planned an awesome breakfast in bed, (which had to be deferred because today was Fast Sunday,) and Scott made my favorite pork chop and creamy mashed potatoes dinner. He even did the dishes!! What a guy!!

So now begins another trip around the sun. I am sure it is going to be an awesome year full of adventure and joy!!

Hilary at her best

When Hilary and Levi were here, she took a picture of herself with my phone and put it as the wallpaper. Every time I have looked at my phone since that day, this is what I see. The evil green eyes of death! I actually love this picture!! Hilary is so beautiful even when she is trying to look really scary!

I feel so grateful to be a mother. To have nurtured these little ones from the time that they were totally dependent on me, through the years when they tried to pull away from me and find themselves and now to the days when they are fledgling members of society; out in the world beginning to make their way. I am so proud of them and my love for them has grown a thousand fold. When I held their little bodies close and breathed in their wonderful baby smell, I thought my heart would burst with love for them. Little did I know that instead of bursting, it would expand and the capacity to love would grow along with it.

So, each time I flip open my phone, I chuckle and I give silent thanks for Hilary and each of her siblings!!

Uniqueness lost

As you know, we lived in Alaska for 16 years. Not only did we find a home in Alaska, but Alaska found a home in us. I think that the hardest part about moving is letting go of the Alaska in our souls. As we slowly made our way out of Alaska just 3 months ago, we felt the invisible, yet tangible threads tying us to Alaska stretch and eventually fray and break. Some easily and some through much heart tugging and effort.

I finally severed a strong thread that I have been clinging to. Having my Alaska plates on my car has been my link to the place I identify with and love. "I'm from Alaska! I am different and special. I have lived in the 'Great Land' and survived to tell about it. I might live in Washington, but I am Alaskan." Well, my friends, there is nothing special about me anymore. I am just like every other shiny little suv driver around here. I live in Washington.

I am sure that we will grow to love Washington just as we grew to love Alaska. Our 5 year committment to Alaska stretched into 16, who knows what will happen from here!

Handsome Luke

Here is Luke looking pretty handsome!

Luke

Luke gave a talk in Sacrament meeting last week. He did such an awesome job. He did it all on his own and I was very proud of him. He said it was o.k. for me to share it with all of you.

"Hello, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Luke Ekstrom, and I have been asked to give a talk on D&C 58 verses 26 & 27, on what it means to be engaged in a good cause. In D&C 58: 26 -27 it says,

"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things, for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;"

This means that we need not only need to do good things, we need to not be lazy or as it says slothful and we should do it without being asked and of our own free will. If you look in D&C 107 verses 99-100 it says,

"Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.

He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand. Even so, Amen."

So once a gain, don't be lazy. In Proverbs 15:19 it says, "the way of a slothful man is as a hedge of thorns." All of these scriptures point to one thing, we need to take the initiative and do stuff without being asked, and we need to do all we can to do good, because you will get many blessings from doing good.

In a way this is like that story where the guy needs a farmhand and he interviews a few guys for the job, all the kids tell about they they should get it, and one guy says, "I can sleep during a storm" and the farmer picks him in the end. One night as the farmer wakes up in the middle of the night, and there is a big storm going on, and he goes out to put away everything and put the animals in their pens and he finds that all of that stuff had already been done; and finally just then he realized what the boy meant when he said he could sleep during a storm. St that boy wasn't lazy and he didn't wait till the farmer told him to do all those things. He did it himself.

So, if everytime your parents want you to do something like homework or mowing the lawn or dishes, and they have to ask you a bunch of times to do it, think how they would feel if they came home and found out you had done all those things of your won free will. So we should strive to do everything we can to not be lazy and do all the things that we know are good.

Amen

I don't know where Luke said it, but he said that he was really lazy and that I have to ask him 20 times before he does what I ask him. It was pretty hilarious! I let him know that that was kind of an exaggeration because I usually only have to ask him 5 to 10 times. :p)

Luke is really growing up!!

SuperIsaac

This is the picture that started all of the video madness. I took the camera to the park when Luke and I took the kids to play and was just taking random pictures of them. One picture was a picture and the next one was this. Isaac was pretty cute! He was doing some really scarry stunts and wanted me to take his picture. Here he is doing the "Look Grandma, NO HANDS!!" trick!

Camera woes

It has been awhile since I posted. I have taken some pictures to post on here and when I downloaded them to the computer, they came out all black. I think that I broke the camera. As you can see from the video clip below, I do not have many camera skills. I took a bunch of pictures and when I downloaded them, they were videos. I had no idea. I have several quick clips of the grandkids and then it pans down to the ground while I look at the picture to see if it took it or not. You see, our camera barks at you when you take a picture and when I took those pictures, it didn't bark and so I didn't know if it took it or not. I had not idea that I was filming. It is pretty humiliating!!

I wanted to get a picture of Levi with his do rag and Hilary's red hair and if you look quickly, you can see them.

Hilary and Levi

Wee hour fright

Does this guy look familiar?

4:00 am Sunday morning Hilary and this guy arrived at our house. Peeking at this guy through my sleep filmy eyes was a scary experience!! Fitzwilliam was pretty freaked out as well. He was snarling with his hackles up all across his back!

It didn't take long for me to see my beloved Levi under all of that hair, so I pulled Fitz back and let him into the house.

It is awesome to have Levi and Hilary here. They will head on down to Utah tomorrow morning so it will be a short visit. Yesterday we drove up to Spokane to hang with Aaron and this afternoon we plan to kayak around the lake.

Fun in the sun with grandkids

One of the most precious things about being down here in Richland is the proximity of family and the last couple of weeks have been filled with the joyous sounds of small children. Emily came up with the kids and stayed for a week and then she left the kids with us for a week. It was an awesome time full of popcicles, play dough, Dora, Sponge Bob (Luke's contribution), coloring books, snacks and mud. All I can say is, "How did I do this with 6 under 8???"

We loved having the kids here and to have the time to bond with them. Living thousands of miles apart has really not given them much of an opportunity to know us. By the time they left, Esther was calling, "Gamma" around the house when she couldn't see me. It was awesome!!

We have also spent some pretty special time with Elias these last couple of months. Spokane is only 2 1/2 hours away and so we have been up a couple of times and Aaron, Lynze and Eli have been down to spend a weekend. It is so fun!!

These pictures are of Luke and Em's kids at at park having fun together and one I took of Eli yesterday.

Art Critic

They say that everyone is a critic, but tonight Esther really picked up on that role! Emily and Eve drew a beautiful sunflower complete with leaves and vines and Eve promptly sat on it and smeared it with her bootie and then she ran off and got the broom and proceeded to sweep it away. It was absolutely hilarious! Here is Esther sweeping and then a close up of the little stinker!

Sidewalk Art

As you can tell from the above pictures, Emily and the kids are here. We had a fun day at Sakagawea Lake and this evening we spent some time decorating the concrete patio in the back yard. The top picture is of Grandpa being traced, and the next one is Isaac and Eve giving him some eyes. Luke gets traced and there is Eve with the "garden" she made. The last picture is of the tracing of Emily. That's Emily? If you ask me, it looks like the snufalofagus from Sesame street!! We had a lot of fun creating our unique and amazing sidewalk art!