6 years ago
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
My New Toy!
I remember when my mom got her new front loading washer, and I couldn't believe how excited she was over a washing machine! Well, here I am, my third post of the day, writing about my new washer & dryer! After lots of debating in my head, I decided to make the unpopular choice of not getting a front loader. I chose this GE washer that has a clear lid, and it is so fun! Yesterday and this morning, I just stare and watch it do my laundry for me (I do walk away at some point...don't worry). Brad says it's not saving me much time! :) I couldn't believe I fit a sleeping bag, 3 towels, and about 5 other items of clothes in one load. We'll see how it works for us - I just used it yesterday for the first time, but as for now, laundry is fun again!
Megan's Disneyland Re-Creation
The majority of Megan's day today has been spent doing this: Re-creating lots of the rides from Disneyland with toys she has in the toy room. She is one creative child I tell you! Last night we looked up the new Ariel ride online, and also found out that they're making a ride for cars (Radiator Springs), which is why she added those. I can't think of a moment that she's been bored all summer. She creates her own fun!
This is the Winnie the Pooh ride:
This is Fairy Land:
This is the Teacup Ride:
The Tower of Terror! Notice the elevator doors she added with paper!
The Heimlich Caterpillar ride:
Minnie's House:
Mickey's House:
The Princess Faire:
Rapunzel from Tangled (I added a photo I took while we were at Disneyland. It explains the way Megan stuck her hair out the window!):
Cars:
And Space Mountain (She strung foam star beads, hung them, and then made a paper rocket below):
This is the Winnie the Pooh ride:
This is Fairy Land:
This is the Teacup Ride:
The Tower of Terror! Notice the elevator doors she added with paper!
The Heimlich Caterpillar ride:
Minnie's House:
Mickey's House:
The Princess Faire:
Rapunzel from Tangled (I added a photo I took while we were at Disneyland. It explains the way Megan stuck her hair out the window!):
Cars:
And Space Mountain (She strung foam star beads, hung them, and then made a paper rocket below):
Campfire Fun!
Brad had Monday off because of Pioneer Day, so we decided to have a little fun. He took Megan and Paige fishing at 8:30am up to the local fishing pond. The girls were so excited about this, that they laid out their "fishing clothes" the night before. Around 10:30 they came back, saying they'd had no luck. :( Surprisingly, he wanted to take them out again, and this time he also offered to bring Ashlie along. I guess he's crazy! :) So, with the three girls in tow they headed down for the other kid pond down in Provo canyon. Around 12:30 they were home again - with nothing. He said they still managed to have a good time. Dinner time came around and we headed for the mountains, up Strawberry Reservoir way. We found the spot we wanted, and Megan said, "This isn't in the mountains enough!". We headed back to the car just as an entire family reunion pulled into the parking lot. Needless to say, we headed for a new spot. We continued driving further and further when it hit me - I FORGOT THE HOT DOGS! Oh, dear. I did pretty well - I remembered the corn on the cob, the hot dog buns, the chips, the water cooler, and the s'mores. I just forgot the main part of the meal was all. One thing I love about Brad is he just smiled and did a u-turn and we headed back to town. He ran in and bought some hot dogs and we drove up Midway Canyon instead. We drove quite a ways up, and found a perfect spot where it was just our family. I had to close my eyes, because I was sure the road was going to kill our van, and that the trees were going to scratch it to pieces, but we fared really well. Here are some photos of our fun night...P.S. I just realized that my camera lens was smudged, so that's why every photo for the last 3 posts has been blurry. Oops!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Best July I Can Remember...
This month has blown by! It has honestly been one of the best July's I can remember - and it's only half way over! I'm exhausted though...I may just sleep through the rest of the month. July started with my mom's 60th birthday, and my niece's baptism & nephew's blessing. We had Megan's birthday on the third, then we had fun on the fourth. I'd grumbled when my next door neighbor shot off aerial fireworks directly over my yard and roof, however, I realized how fun they were when my brother-in-law Adam put on our very own aerial firework show at his house. I liked it when they were at his house, and I wasn't having to worry the whole time that my house was going to catch fire! July 4th is my sister's birthday, and it also means the "Kaysville Parade". My grandma John lived on Main Street in Kaysville, and we always sat on her lawn for the parade. My brother-in-law's friend currently rents the home my grandma lived in (& that my dad was raised in), and he & his wife let us in the front room & kitchen to look around. I saw my mom tearing up and thought, "Oh mom, you cry so easily!"...then I walked in. I hadn't been in that home for 4 years (since my grandma passed away), and the moment I walked in I could remember things so easily. I could remember exactly the way she had had it, and just like my mom, I was getting all teary as well. It brought back great memories, and I just wanted to see her canning fruit or shelling walnuts in the kitchen.
July 6th I threw a double birthday party for Megan & Paige. I figured Megan's 8th and Paige's 5th birthdays should be a big deal, so we put on a luau in the backyard for 15 kids! Thankfully I had Brad, my parents, and two of my sisters, because every child came! It always surprises me how quickly we burn through my activites that I plan. Every 10 minutes you need something else!! :)
July 7th was Paige's birthday, July 9th I got to see two of my sister's racing in a triatholon in Logan, & July 10th was my brother-in-law's mission homecoming in Idaho. We spent a couple of nights camping in my in-law's backyard since there were 30 of us visiting at their house for the weekend. It was crazy, but so rare that so many of us were together, so it was wonderful. July 11th was Ashlie's 2nd birthday, July 13th we went to Lagoon with Paul & Julianne and their two oldest kids (while my parent's graciously babysat our younger kiddos).
Finally, the best part of the entire month... Yesterday, July 16th, my little Megan was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was glowing all day long, and has been all day today as well. It will always be remembered as a beautiful day for me. I love that girl so much!!!
Ready for pictures???!!! Here they come! Hopefully I can eliminate a few - I pulled aside 46 that I liked. Here we go...
My mom on her happy 60th birthday. I hope I look this good in 29 years!
My mom with all her daughters and granddaughters. She was feeling the love!
A beautiful baptism & blessing day for the Odell family!
A very happy 8th birthday for Megan! Her favorite gifts were her scooter (so she can ride with Paige, who has one!), and the huge dollhouse we got her (that's taller than Paige). I bought it used off of KSL.com, and it is awesome! It's a two-sided house on wheels, and it came with about 50 pieces of furniture that are large enough for Barbies. It's been great! I love seeing my girls give the homemade gifts that they've thoughtfully made for each other. Paige was so excited to give her 2 cards that she made for Megan. She cuts things out, glues them on paper, puts stickers all over, and finishes her projects off by writing Paige on the front. Megan loved her two cards!!!
I was thrilled when Megan requested a different dessert other than cake for her birthday. She wanted an ice cream pie with oreo crust, oreo ice cream, frozen whipped cream, and strawberries and chocolate syrup on top. It was good stuff!!!
Fourth of July Parade! I'm glad I got this photo. I don't know how many more times (if ever) I'll be able to get a picture of my dad in front of his childhood home, since it's up for sale (to be used as commercial property). This is grandma's house!
Paige was so excited when she was thrown a popsicle in the parade!
The afternoon of the 4th, my two cute younger sisters threw a "water party" for all the nieces. All five granddaughters on my side of the family have their birthday between June 25 and July 11. My sisters bought a slip 'n slide, a ball for trampoline dodge ball, and water balloons, then we got in the hot tub. I seriously have the cutest sisters....and yes, I participated! I learned that I had to bail on the slip 'n slide every time before I'd hit the inflatable part at the end (just so I wouldn't pop it!!!).
Here's Ashlie enjoying the water party:
Our luau party was so fun! My favorite part was the decorating. We made tiki faces, and made our own tiki pole, played pass the parrot, crack the coconut, the limbo, we erupted 2 different volcanos, made sand art in little jars, played pin the parrot on the palm tree, & had fruit shish-ka-bobs (that I skewered on colored straws), and cupcakes with umbrella toothpicks on them. A lot of work? Yes! Worth it? Definitely!
This is one of our two tiki poles. Cute, huh?!
My parent's stayed after the luau and gave birthday presents. They are spoilers! Megan was so excited about the new scriptures she was given for her birthday / baptism gift. It was a sweet reaction that I was thrilled I got on camera:
Paige's 5th birthday! Brad and I bought this play kitchen from the same person as the dollhouse. That was definitely an unplanned purchase (she asked if we might be interested in it when we went to pick up the dollhouse), but one that our girls have been loving! They have lots of play food, and I got her some hot pads and play aprons to go with it.
My short-waisted Barbie cake! Oh well, she was happy.
My amazing sisters who are nearly finished with the Logan Triathalon. They had finished their swim, bike ride, and had done half of their run at this point:
You're awesome Julianne and Shalyce!!!
Finally, Brad & his siblings are all together!!! We were all in Franklin for Brian's missionary homecoming. It's been fun to have him home.
Happy 2nd birthday to my cute little Ashlie!
Ashlie's main gift was a big duffle bag of Mega Blocks. I bought a package of pink and white legos, and for some strange reason there was a large yellow Lego block in there. That made us question if the package had been opened before, so we ended up dumping them out and counting them. Sure enough, it was missing twelve pieces. So, a week later, I was able to get back down to Toys R Us to switch it out for a new bag. By the time her birthday came around my house was no longer clean, & I was all for "anything simple" as far as her cake was concerned. Her cake said Love you (heart & u) Ashlie! with m&ms. She enjoyed everything we had for her to open - she'd bring Brad and I every gift to have us start ripping it for her. Words can't describe how much we love this little girl:
With my sister's employee discount, our family & my sister's family were able to go to Lagoon for $10 a person with free parking! I didn't get to spend too much time with Paul & Julianne while they were up from Arizona, so I am so glad we had this day together! Julianne commented to me while we were at Lagoon, just how fun it was to see our kids experiencing the rides for the first time. So true!
We're the caboose!
Paige & Landon:
Landon trying to be a little gentleman, as he tries to buckle him and Paige:
Uh, help please!
Hydro-Luge!
You can't tell really well, but we are all SOAKED from this ride! Especially Julianne, whose shirt & head were completely drenched.
And finally, my favorite moment of the entire month - Megan's baptism! Every single person from our immediate families were there except for the Andrus' who unfortunately had sickness in their family that kept them from being able to come. That's pretty cool considering we have people in Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, South Carolina, & Texas. We put on a luncheon at the church, so I rushed from the primary room where she was baptized & confirmed, to the kitchen, & regretfully I didn't get a single photo of Megan in her white dress on my camera. Luckily I got these cute photos of her in her jumpsuit beforehand, and a month ago we took a whole bunch of photos of her in her dress for her invitation. This morning in church the bishop invited her up to the front, and then he invited her (like he always does) to sit up by the bishopric if she wanted to. She wanted to, but there were 7 men up front (4 from the stake). She looked back and forth like "I would, but I don't know where to sit", so she happily came and sat back down with us. The bishop said, "That's the first hard decision these little eight year olds have to make!".
Congratulations Megan! We're so proud of you and love you so much!
July 6th I threw a double birthday party for Megan & Paige. I figured Megan's 8th and Paige's 5th birthdays should be a big deal, so we put on a luau in the backyard for 15 kids! Thankfully I had Brad, my parents, and two of my sisters, because every child came! It always surprises me how quickly we burn through my activites that I plan. Every 10 minutes you need something else!! :)
July 7th was Paige's birthday, July 9th I got to see two of my sister's racing in a triatholon in Logan, & July 10th was my brother-in-law's mission homecoming in Idaho. We spent a couple of nights camping in my in-law's backyard since there were 30 of us visiting at their house for the weekend. It was crazy, but so rare that so many of us were together, so it was wonderful. July 11th was Ashlie's 2nd birthday, July 13th we went to Lagoon with Paul & Julianne and their two oldest kids (while my parent's graciously babysat our younger kiddos).
Finally, the best part of the entire month... Yesterday, July 16th, my little Megan was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was glowing all day long, and has been all day today as well. It will always be remembered as a beautiful day for me. I love that girl so much!!!
Ready for pictures???!!! Here they come! Hopefully I can eliminate a few - I pulled aside 46 that I liked. Here we go...
My mom on her happy 60th birthday. I hope I look this good in 29 years!
My mom with all her daughters and granddaughters. She was feeling the love!
A beautiful baptism & blessing day for the Odell family!
A very happy 8th birthday for Megan! Her favorite gifts were her scooter (so she can ride with Paige, who has one!), and the huge dollhouse we got her (that's taller than Paige). I bought it used off of KSL.com, and it is awesome! It's a two-sided house on wheels, and it came with about 50 pieces of furniture that are large enough for Barbies. It's been great! I love seeing my girls give the homemade gifts that they've thoughtfully made for each other. Paige was so excited to give her 2 cards that she made for Megan. She cuts things out, glues them on paper, puts stickers all over, and finishes her projects off by writing Paige on the front. Megan loved her two cards!!!
I was thrilled when Megan requested a different dessert other than cake for her birthday. She wanted an ice cream pie with oreo crust, oreo ice cream, frozen whipped cream, and strawberries and chocolate syrup on top. It was good stuff!!!
Fourth of July Parade! I'm glad I got this photo. I don't know how many more times (if ever) I'll be able to get a picture of my dad in front of his childhood home, since it's up for sale (to be used as commercial property). This is grandma's house!
Paige was so excited when she was thrown a popsicle in the parade!
The afternoon of the 4th, my two cute younger sisters threw a "water party" for all the nieces. All five granddaughters on my side of the family have their birthday between June 25 and July 11. My sisters bought a slip 'n slide, a ball for trampoline dodge ball, and water balloons, then we got in the hot tub. I seriously have the cutest sisters....and yes, I participated! I learned that I had to bail on the slip 'n slide every time before I'd hit the inflatable part at the end (just so I wouldn't pop it!!!).
Here's Ashlie enjoying the water party:
Our luau party was so fun! My favorite part was the decorating. We made tiki faces, and made our own tiki pole, played pass the parrot, crack the coconut, the limbo, we erupted 2 different volcanos, made sand art in little jars, played pin the parrot on the palm tree, & had fruit shish-ka-bobs (that I skewered on colored straws), and cupcakes with umbrella toothpicks on them. A lot of work? Yes! Worth it? Definitely!
This is one of our two tiki poles. Cute, huh?!
My parent's stayed after the luau and gave birthday presents. They are spoilers! Megan was so excited about the new scriptures she was given for her birthday / baptism gift. It was a sweet reaction that I was thrilled I got on camera:
Paige's 5th birthday! Brad and I bought this play kitchen from the same person as the dollhouse. That was definitely an unplanned purchase (she asked if we might be interested in it when we went to pick up the dollhouse), but one that our girls have been loving! They have lots of play food, and I got her some hot pads and play aprons to go with it.
My short-waisted Barbie cake! Oh well, she was happy.
My amazing sisters who are nearly finished with the Logan Triathalon. They had finished their swim, bike ride, and had done half of their run at this point:
You're awesome Julianne and Shalyce!!!
Finally, Brad & his siblings are all together!!! We were all in Franklin for Brian's missionary homecoming. It's been fun to have him home.
Happy 2nd birthday to my cute little Ashlie!
Ashlie's main gift was a big duffle bag of Mega Blocks. I bought a package of pink and white legos, and for some strange reason there was a large yellow Lego block in there. That made us question if the package had been opened before, so we ended up dumping them out and counting them. Sure enough, it was missing twelve pieces. So, a week later, I was able to get back down to Toys R Us to switch it out for a new bag. By the time her birthday came around my house was no longer clean, & I was all for "anything simple" as far as her cake was concerned. Her cake said Love you (heart & u) Ashlie! with m&ms. She enjoyed everything we had for her to open - she'd bring Brad and I every gift to have us start ripping it for her. Words can't describe how much we love this little girl:
With my sister's employee discount, our family & my sister's family were able to go to Lagoon for $10 a person with free parking! I didn't get to spend too much time with Paul & Julianne while they were up from Arizona, so I am so glad we had this day together! Julianne commented to me while we were at Lagoon, just how fun it was to see our kids experiencing the rides for the first time. So true!
We're the caboose!
Paige & Landon:
Landon trying to be a little gentleman, as he tries to buckle him and Paige:
Uh, help please!
Hydro-Luge!
You can't tell really well, but we are all SOAKED from this ride! Especially Julianne, whose shirt & head were completely drenched.
And finally, my favorite moment of the entire month - Megan's baptism! Every single person from our immediate families were there except for the Andrus' who unfortunately had sickness in their family that kept them from being able to come. That's pretty cool considering we have people in Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, South Carolina, & Texas. We put on a luncheon at the church, so I rushed from the primary room where she was baptized & confirmed, to the kitchen, & regretfully I didn't get a single photo of Megan in her white dress on my camera. Luckily I got these cute photos of her in her jumpsuit beforehand, and a month ago we took a whole bunch of photos of her in her dress for her invitation. This morning in church the bishop invited her up to the front, and then he invited her (like he always does) to sit up by the bishopric if she wanted to. She wanted to, but there were 7 men up front (4 from the stake). She looked back and forth like "I would, but I don't know where to sit", so she happily came and sat back down with us. The bishop said, "That's the first hard decision these little eight year olds have to make!".
Congratulations Megan! We're so proud of you and love you so much!
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