Danny's Daily Dose

This will be a re-occuring post I hope to share often. Danny is a funny kid so maybe you'll laugh at (uhh, I mean with) him too! 1.Grandma Char is making pb&j's for her and Danny. SHe makes PB only for grandpa ric. She begins to take one with jelly in to him and then stops and say's to Danny "woops, that would have been bad to give grandpa one with jely." Danny replies, "Yea, he would have looked at it and said "what the HELL is this!"" 2. Danny helped me grate al the zuchini's from our garden this morning. As I was cleaning up we had the following conversation: Danny: Mom I love you, you're pretty. Me: Thanks, I love you. You're great! D: You're wonderful B: You're cool D: You're wonderful, cool, great pretty and Fabulous! B: You're stupendous! D: (he thinks for a minute) Well you're exceptional! I win! 3. As I'm writing this he is playing on the piano behind me and wants to show me something D: Mom do you want to see how hard this is that I'm playing? B: (no answer, still typing and preoccupied) D: Sigh...too bad for you, you missed it. 4. Saved the best for last Derek: (dripping sweat) I am so hot Danny: (with a sly smile) You're right Dad you ARE hot!! I agree, Derek IS hot!!

Memories of Summer '09

MAY Danny graduates preschool. See previous posts. Oquirrh Mountain Temple Youth Celebration. After a few months of rehearsals Derek and I were able to attend the main event. It was a wonderful program. I love anything with music. June Trek meeting, girls camp meeting, Laurel graduates elementary school. Volunteering at the temple Open House. Attending the temple open house. Fish Family Reunion - SO, SO, SO, Sooooo fun! It was so fun to meet so many distant relatives. It was GREAT to see Uncle Ash and Aunt Marie, and Ginger and her children. What a fun Saturday we had in Midway. July Trek meeting. Girls camp. Girls camp was a blast. I got to spend time with Kathie G. (one of my favorite people). The girls are all wonderful and it is so fun to be with them. I went two years ago, and six years ago, and ten years ago. By my count I have only missed two ward girls camps since we have lived in this ward. I've also had the great opportunity to attend a few stake camps on the off years. I LOVE GIRLS CAMP!! I had a great experience taking a few girls on a 3 mile hike. It was so hard and they were having a hard time but we just kept smiling and singing and we were there before we knew it. Geri's Swim School - I took lessons here when I was a girls and this is the best place to take your children if you want them to learn to swim. Brady and Danny had a ball in their classes and we noticed great improvement over the course of the two weeks they were here. Sunday dinner and party at Uncle Ash and Aunt Marie's house in Heber. It was great to be with cousins and to see the VanLeuven family. Brady loves William and they really hit it off like long lost friends. We hope to visit their home next summer on our way to Missouri. The Bezzants came for 3 1/2 weeks. We started their visit off with a very scary emergency with Dixon. He was tough under pressure and, 30 stitches later, was ready to play some more. Brady and Dixon are great buddies and have so much fun together. Harriet and MaryJoyce are so cute and we all enjoyed them. We had sleepovers, dinners, all day play dates, and just a load of fun while they were here. Brandon and Andrea are always very thoughtful to us when they are here and Andrea surprised our girls with a fun day of shopping for school and we (with her girls and Grandma too) had such a great time together in Park City. The Vuki's came - It was so fun to have them in our home. We had a great Sunday dinner, and some fun playtime at Sugarhouse Park. The kids all got along great and it was so nice to have them here. The Fishes came - Gavin and Kimberly have a great family and it was a party having two more families in our "humble" home. We had a ball swimming and the magna pool. August Trek Hoe Down, Trek meeting, Trek Fireside, Mini Trek for Ma's and Pa's - Got a good dose of what the trek would be like. The women's pull seriously scares me to death!!! Loved spending time with Tracie and Lyman (some of our new favorite people.) Dinner at the Hills, and with the Vuki's and other Fishes. The Bezzant's head home - boooooo!!! It was a wonderful three weeks with them. We got to see more of my brother Brandon than we usually do when they come in the summer. I'm counting down the days until Christmastime when they'll be back I hope! THE TREK!!! One of my favorite experiences. We fell in love with our new children: Bo (17), Tracie (17), Leslie (16), Patty (16), Joseph (14), Amber (14), Abbie (13), Reanna (13), Joshua (12), and Josh (12). They were amazing! They were tough! They were spiritual! And they were HILARIOUS!!! The women's pull was scary and amazing. Our stake did a masterful job of transporting us to this period of time and allowing us to feel these emotions. It was a huge loss to watch our men and young men march away in two lines in the Mormon Battalion. It took them forever to get up the hill and out of site. Derek said many were having a hard time walking up the hill that the women later pulled our handcarts up. Our Trek daughters were wonderful. I got in the middle up front and picked up the yoke. Our oldest daughters got on either side of me. Our four others got behind the handcart and pushed. I have never worked so hard in my entire life. All the while I am praying that this experience is opening up the hearts of these sweet kids so that they will fully experience the purpose of this exercise. I am also praying that neither of my knees give out because I can't let my family down. As we neared the final third of this monstrous climb we noticed that it actually elbowed and had another shorter, steeper, hill before we reached the top. I saw that up ahead men were lining either side of the trail and were watching us pass. Before we even reached our family our oldest son, Bo, ran down and took the place of Tracie. Before we knew it the rest of the men in our family had come and Derek and the boys told me to let go. My entire body felt like jello. The men and even still a few of our girls pulled the handcart up the steeper final section and we walked behind them. Once we parked the cart Derek gathered me in his arms and all I could do is sob. I HATE drying in front of people, but I was so overcome by it all. A few minutes later we got to hear a wonderful testimony born by our actual daughter (12) who was in another family on the trek. I could write volumes about the many experiences I had on trek. If you ever get the opportunity take it. You will be tired, you will be sore, you will be dirty, you will be underslept, you will probably have blister (I didn't get even one!!), but you will be forever changed by the spiritual growth you will gain in those four days!!! Attending the temple dedication in the temple itself. Wow. This will be a separate post soon. Brady's first Day of school, Laurel's first day of Junior High, Nat's first day as a Freshman, Danny's first day of Kindergarten. My first day of having everyone in school five days a week BOOOOOOOO!!!! I am not a mom who loves this time. I miss our kids. It's boring without them around. Lolly is a beautiful, talented, 12 year old young LADY and this seriously took me by surprise. When did this happen? It really makes my heart hurt sometimes when I look at Nat and Lol. There is a real physical ache sometimes. (Very cute back to school pics are coming soon!) We didn't go to the zoo even one time? No family outings to any of the nearby lakes for the day? Not even Bear Lake? As you can see there wasn't any time! But... September is here, the house is clean, the kids are happy, and my husband is wonderful!!! Who could ask for anything more?