Spring Break 2011

I have been trying to blog about our Spring Break for what feels like forever, but have really struggled with getting these pictures to upload. They sometimes did, sometimes didn't, and when they did upload, would not upload in the order I selected them to. Geez, what a nuisance. So. It is with great pleasure that I give you...our first day of Spring Break 2011!

This year I had the strongest prompting that we needed to go, somewhere, anywhere, for Spring Break. I was worried that I wouldn't have the driving stamina needed to drive somewhere far, so decided to stay and discover parts of Utah we'd never experienced, one of the very things Naki and I had talked about doing more with the girls. It was one of those experiences that I know I was guided to do. At first I thought that perhaps by leaving and going somewhere I was avoiding some kind of catastrophe here. But as soon as we were on the road, it was crystal clear to me that the girls and I were very much in need of spending time just playing with one another. It was so refreshing for me personally to finally be the source of fun and silliness instead of being the one reminding everyone how many minutes until we were leaving for such and such activity, or reminding people of homework responsibilities, or tooth brushing, or bed making, or chore reminders, or shoe putting on, or taking one more bite of a meal, etc. We, all 7 of us, needed this time to just BE together. It was the best time any of us has had in quite some time. The best part was that by just getting to be with one another, there was a miraculous side benefit of NOOO fighting...NONE! The girls were respectful and great listeners, they were compassionate to one another, and so gracious towards everyone they met. None of us wanted to come home, although that's a necessary part of any vacation. It was simply the most angelic time with each other.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner. It was extremely unlike me to quickly pack in 20 minutes the night before a trip and throw some food in the car and not have every detail of the trip planned. But that's exactly what we did. The night before I had also made some hotel reservations at certain places so we'd have a place to sleep. I had a rough idea of what we'd do on certain days because I'd checked the weather for the days we'd be gone, trying to match the activities we wanted to do with the best weather, but other than that I was shooting from the hip. And thankfully, all turned out marvelously. Just perfect!

So, in the order of the first day...

This was all of us, super excited. We didn't even leave at the crack of dawn, another change for my road trip style.


We enjoyed seeing any change of scenery, and these huge mill-things, whatever their proper name is, was new to us and the girls ooohed and aaahed over them.

After a few hours of driving we found this simple rest stop, where we enjoyed our premade lunch which included Malia's cookies she'd baked the night before. It was so fun to see them running around having fun and being goofy with each other.





I was trying to capture video only to have my camera tell me my memory was full. I had mistakenly grabbed the wrong SD card, and it wasn't until that night that I discovered that Line's camera had room on it for all the video and pictures I had wanted to take. She was kind and switched cards with me at the end of the day, so this was the only video I captured on day one.

After we piled back in the car I just could not resist...this was what I got to see out of my windshield. Could the weather have BEEN any better?

I told Ane that it was a good time for a little nap, gave her her blankie, and told her to lay her head down for a little bit. She decided that I actually meant that Line and Malia needed to lay their heads down instead.

This was our first destination...Goblin Park. It was soooo much fun, and thank you Ric for suggesting it. It was fascinating and fun all at the same time. I made the initial mistake of telling the girls we were going to Goblin Park, using a spooky voice, and it kinda freaked Eva out. It wasn't until we were there that she actually realized all was well.










Everyone was assigned partners and before I knew it I couldn't see the big 4 girlies, since I was partners with the two littles. I could hear them, but I couldn't see them. It was easy for that to happen, since these formations were everywhere, all of them taller than we were, so someone could be four steps away from me and I couldn't actually see them. So when I kept going around one formation, then another, and then another, and I still couldn't see them but could hear them, I couldn't figure out where they'd gone. Until, I looked further, and a little higher. They're actually in this next picture...can you spot them?

Here they are again, but this time I zoomed in with my camera. How did they get so far away so quickly? At least they followed the safety rules and stayed together.

Malia showed Eva, Ane, and I how to climb up the gravel-like mountain the girls had found, so we stayed up there and watched the girls play hide and seek.

We set some boundaries for the game, otherwise it would take forever to find anyone in there. It was hilarious having a birds eye view...they could not see where each other were, but from where we were they were only steps away from each other. At the end they had me hunt for everyone. It was super fun. Can you spot the hiders in this pic?

We left there and decided that instead of staying at the motel that I'd made reservations at locally, we'd drive on over to Moab and stay there instead. What a great choice. Again, during the drive there the girls were absolute angels. We used this time for their favorite activity ever in the car...sticker books. Thank you sooo very much Tonia. Instead of letting a girl pick one book that was there's, this time we did 30 minute shifts, switching after the time was up. Before we knew it we'd pulled into Moab. Of COURSE the first thing we had to do was go swimming. I'd picked the place we stayed based on the fact that they had rooms with three beds (which means I didn't have to sleep on the floor) and that they had a pool that was indoor and outdoor.

The one packing casualty that we experienced was that Mom forgot her bathing suit...and that is not a "forgot" kinda forgot. I truly did forget it since I packed in under five minutes right before we left. But true to nature, all the girls took turns swimming with the littles, who mostly lived in the hot tub. It was adorable watching them take care of each other. We crashed that night, tired and happy.

Every girl should have a sister that while visiting you for their Spring Break chooses to clean your garage while you're at work...not a small feat since I'd been told that it looked like the aftermath of Japan out there. Add to that the fact that all my children flock to her and choose staying with her to clean instead of coming in the car with me. Then the icing on the cake is when she took all the kiddos with her to Kangaroo Zoo for dinner and playing so that I could go through every container on the garage shelves to sort through them and find spaces for all of the items that were piling on the floor of the garage. What is your magic spell you've placed over all of us? We love you. Thanks for coming with some of your sweet kiddos and brightening our days. We miss you already.

Tonight I read this verse in the Book of Mormon, and it needs to be on a plaque somewhere in my house. It reads,

"And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we know not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice."
Alma 13:25

Would to God...

Line's before and after

Line was in definite need of a makeover. Her image was way out of date, and her hairstyle, glasses, and shirt choices were reminiscent of Rosa Parks...



So with the help of our favorite hairdresser, she worked her magic and now Line's a whole new girl, and loving it.



Seriously though, Line has been working for weeks on a school project about Rosa Parks. The conclusion of the project was her class "wax museum" this past Friday, where she dressed like Mrs. Rosa Parks and gave an oral report on her life. She of COURSE did a marvelous job. But the crazy part was how she kinda looked like her. I needed to take a pic.

The other pictures of her are of her new look. I let the girls know that I'd scheduled hair cuts and Line surprised us all by telling us that she wanted bangs. Ohh...bangs...all my girlies' dream hair cuts include bangs, and for me each hair cut that includes bangs means more teaching how to use blow dryers and flat irons, and more juggling all of our getting ready time in the morning, which I've been warned about for years would happen, having six girlies! But I am thrilled to see them figuring out some beauty tricks early, and these ones don't scorch the crap out of their hair, like their Auntie Ginny and I did on our poor poor bangs all those years ago. I can still remember the sound my hair would make as it was singeing and the steam coming out as I "curled" my bangs. I'll never forget the morning Mom threw away the curling iron because she was tired of us frying our hair. I think Ginny and I hyperventilated that morning, trying to figure out what to do with our poor hair without our precious curling iron.

Congrats on the great job at school and the new cute look. Love you Emeline.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

We all had such a fantastic day yesterday. The night before we all painted our nails green and decorated them with shamrocks and four leaf clovers. Before we went to bed we also had a fun time running through everyone's closets to see what St. Patrick's attire we had. The morning of we enjoyed some Lucky Charms with some green milk, munched on some nummy green shamrock rice crispie treats after school, and convinced our brains that green eggs still taste the same as yellow ones for dinner. But the best part was knowing that we feel the luckiest to have found our own personal pot of gold...each other. Hokey, I know. But the girlies and I honestly talked about that yesterday. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oh, That Woh-man! (Closer lovers will know where that quote comes from)

We were in Sacrament Meeting today and things were surprisingly manageable for me as we sat there listening and singing. Through out the meeting, as usual, Eva would tap me and want to show or tell me something. Today she'd aggressively tap me while simulataneously saying something to get my attention. I'll admit that the first couple of times I didn't actually notice what she was saying. Then on the third or fourth time I wasn't sure but it sounded like she was saying, "Mormon". After trying to really decipher what it was she was saying, I realized she was saying, "Woh-man!" to get my attention. You should have seen the twinkle in her eye and heard her loud stomach chuckle when she knew I'd finally gotten her sarcasm. I LOVE glimpses like this of my Eva, the one that makes me laugh instead of cry.

Changes 3

Back when Eva was a baby I took a trip, just her and I, to see my some of my family in Idaho. While I was there I had a conversation with my sisters about eyebrow waxing/plucking/tweezing and what they thought about when it was appropriate for the girlies to start doing their eyebrows. The reason I was seeking other's advice on the matter was because one night as I was tucking Line and Malia into bed, Line asked me, "Mom, why do my eyebrow's look like a man's and yours don't?". We had a cute little conversation about the fact that mine used to look like two caterpillar's wrestling on my forehead, until I was introduced to my first pair of tweezers. I reassured her that when she was old enough, she too would own her very own pair. That day has finally come. It was part of the hair straightening day, and it was super fun to gather all of our waxing equipment around us in the kitchen after all the littles were in bed. (Thanks Canny for helping us pick out the right stuff.)

Oh my word. You should have seen us. It was so enjoyable for me to just banter back and forth with these two stinkers. Line was the most freaked about how much it would hurt and ended up being the most chill about it. Malia on the other hand, was the one who gave Line the hardest time about being nervous, and then ended up shedding a few tears during her turn...you can see her ducking her head at one point. The girls were each other's photographer.













These growing up moments surprise me. When these changes occur as a result of the girls growing up, I want so badly for Naki to be there to celebrate them with us. I crave being able to hear his voice teasing back to the girls and just being physically present. Although I am unable to adequately find the words that will express the feeling I have after we've completed an event that went smoothly and was cheerful, in this case the girls' first eyebrow waxing, I know that even though I didn't see him or hear him, he was an active participant. The times that I don't feel like this are the times when there is contention and when it seems like everyone is arguing and/or crying. In this case, it was just the weirdest experience, to know that even though we did something again without him, somehow we didn't. It doesn't even make sense to try and explain. I think part of it is feeling him through the girls and the things they say and the expressions on their faces as they say it, that I know he would so enjoy. Sometimes it really does feel like I didn't do it alone even though to the eye it appears that way.