TJEd Forum & Family Ball

It was so much fun having Mary & Honica join me at the Thomas Jefferson Education Forum! (Payden came also and enjoyed the youth classes.) Thanks to my good friend, we were able to work off the cost of the forum (hence the Hostess tag on my suit--bottom picture). Last year was my first experience and I loved the things that I learned and was anxious to come back. This year was wonderful as well. So many great speakers, so many excellent recommendations on books to read, etc. Friday evening, Mary, Honica & I went to a fancy banquet and enjoyed a great meal and a lecture from Brad Wilcox. Saturday was a full day of great speakers (we all went to different classes so that we could share the information with each other). That evening I convinced Lou to join his family at the Family Ball where we were able to dress up and dance to a live band! Here we are just before the dance.

 

I wish I could say that it was more of a success, but Damian upset Emma in the car and Isaiah fell asleep on the way over, so by the time we got there, I already had tired kids. While Damian & Emma were waiting for their daddy to get ready, they were dancing around the house together, but when we got to the actually dance, Damian wouldn't dance. As it turned out, I think Isaiah had the best time. He loved dancing with me to the music.

I know this is a random picture, but I liked the way my hair turned out with the fresh highlight job and Mary's tedious application of the triple barrel.

 

I LOVE the way Gehrig is looking at his daddy in this picture.

 

Angela, Honica & Mary

 

I just have to add this little tid-bit about the ball. The kids were tired and it was time to go, so we all gathered and began walking down the stairs. We were down the first flight of stairs when we realized Isaiah had taken off somewhere. I knew he couldn't be far b/c we had just barely had him, so I told Lou to take the other 3 to the car and bring it around for us.

Well, I started looking and didn't find him right away. I went through both ballrooms loaded with people and still didn't find him. My friend and her family were looking too. I just knew that he couldn't be far, so I wasn't worried at first, but after what seemed like hours (maybe actually 10 minutes) went by, I really started panicking, so I asked her to make an announcement over the microphone at the dance.

Just as the announcement was being made, I saw him from the back, his little body standing up to a table in the hall where we had been and a young girl told me that she had found him underneath the table--EATING A CHOCOLATE BAR! There had been a small concession stand where they were selling candy bars for $2, etc. I guess while we started walking, he swiped one and dashed under the table.

I was so happy to find him, I grabbed him up and took the candy bar away and set it down on the table and interrupted their announcement to say that I had found him. It turned out to be extra embarrassing because he was so angry at me for taking the candy bar, that he was calling me the worst names he could think of (stupid, idiot, etc.)and scowling. Except for the fact that my 2 year old has a potty mouth that really makes me sad, the event can be looked at with some humor now--now that I have him safe and sound!

Oh, and lest you all worry about the stolen candy bar, Lou paid for it and finished it off in the car while I visited with a friend I met just as we were leaving!

JAZZ Part 2

Well, we finally made it to the Jazz game last Saturday as a family! I was grateful that Lou was with me this time. He dropped Emma, Isaiah and me off and then went to find parking with the boys.

 

Our seats were on the 2nd to last row in an arena that holds 20,500 people! We were WAY up there! Fun for the kids, but a bit hard to really get into the game from that high up.

 

Proof that I was there too--aren't self-shots great?!

 

I just loved this shot of Isaiah.

 

Well, as I expected, it didn't keep their interest well enough to stick around for the whole game, but we did make it through half time. The downside is that we got a $30 parking ticket. Lou took a chance and it didn't work out for us. So. . .our nearly free night of entertainment turned into a $30 night. Oh well.

Momentum-Rock Climbing with Elisabeth & Her Family

Yes, even I took the chance to face my fear of heights and climb. I always love the descent, once I get started. This was probably a kid's climb, really quite easy to get up, but I kept stopping to make sure Lou was able to catch me and not worry about what the kids were up to around him!

I was belaying Lou, so this is the best picture I could get Gehrig to take of him--wish I had one with him facing us--maybe he's afraid of heights too and didn't want to look down?! :)

Gehrig is perfectly fine with climbing trees to the top without any kind of safety system, but put a harness on him and stand there to catch him and he becomes afraid of heights. Go figure.

Damian was the same way. They climb much higher than this in trees, but at least they had a good time climbing partially up the wall.

Emma said she didn't want to climb, but every time I looked over, she was on the wall climbing. She actually probably would have gone at least as high as the boys if we had taken the time with her. She's quite the little daredevil most of the time.

Yep, Isaiah climbed about as high as the boys did too. He was a pretty cute climber!

A pretty cute self-portrait from the photographer. He was having way too much fun with the camera--something I RARELY let him use.Thanks so much to my cousin Elisabeth and her husband Nate for providing this fun activity for our family. It was so fun to see them and their cute kids, although we discovered this wasn't the most conducive environment for visiting--always having to help and watch the kiddos.

The Pool in Park City

It's been so much fun having Michael & Brinn and their family close by. We've enjoyed a couple of times together in the past couple of weeks. On Saturday, they invited us to the pool in Park City to play. We had a blast in the pool for a couple of hours and then Jared & Amanda and their family joined us for more fun and a barbecue. I wish I had taken more pictures. Lou spent a great deal of time helping the kids work on their swimming skills and vigilantly making sure they were safe. It sure was nice and fun to have him there with us!

Gehrig underwater!

Daddy and his boys.

Fun at the Fitness Center

My friend Mindy motivated me to do something I've been avoiding for over two years now. . .take my kids to the Fitness Center (maybe a mile or two away from us) to let them swim. Taking four young children who don't know how to swim but aren't afraid of the water, is daunting! Since I don't have a membership, I figured we should take full advantage of the fitness center, so we arrived earlier in the day to try out the rock wall. There wasn't anybody there running it, but the kids had fun climbing anyway.

Then, we went to the kid's Play Zone and they had a blast playing in the miniature grocery store, etc.

Then, we went outside for FREE lunches at the park. Here are the four rugrats at the front of the line surrounded by some of our friends from our ward we ran into.

SWIMMING!! They had a blast. Can you tell? Thanks Mindy for convincing me to join you and your babe swimming! The boys even got to go down the big dragon slide several times!

Puzzlemania!!

We found a family hobby this week! Puzzles! Lou, the boys and I have been putting puzzles together like crazy! It's been so much fun. We started with Mt. Vernon. Then Lou called me from DI to see if we'd like another puzzle. The next was the Amish quilts. Very fun! The third one, I forgot to take a picture of (a crazy zoo scene with the animals acting like the people and vice versa) and now we're working on a Disney Panorama puzzle (750 pieces). We've been listening to the greatest books on tape while we puzzle away (The Great Brain Series by John D. Fitzgerald). The stories remind me so much of Uncle Tim and dad growing up! I think Dad would get a kick out of reading them. Anyway. . .such fun memories we're building as we work together on a project and listen to good books! Anybody want to trade puzzles? :)

That was Gehrig & Damian putting the last piece in!