In Memory of Sage and Errands for Ethan

This time of year (for the past few years anyway) is a time of reflection and feeling heavy-hearted.  I just want to remember two precious boys who have changed our lives for good (hey, I didn't even mean to make that a Wicked reference).

Our sweet little 8-month-old nephew, Sage, passed away from SIDS on March 19, 2009.  Although we didn't get to spend much time with him, his death greatly affected us.  Our own Jonny is just 2 months older than Sage, and our hearts were broken with what his parents, Spencer and Crystal, were going through.  The last three years have brought more trials, but also JOY, as their family finds a new normal.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them always.  To learn more about this wonderful family visit Sage's blog.

Tomorrow, March 26 marks the one year anniversary of the passing of Ethan Ellsworth, a 7-year-old boy in our ward (Church unit) family.  Ethan died from complications of an AVM which ruptured.  Ethan's mom, Kim, is a good friend of mine and is blogging her memories of Ethan here.  As I read her story, my heart is broken for any one who has to endure so great a loss.  I am also strengthened by her faith and testimony that they will see Ethan again, because Jesus Christ has made it possible for families to be together forever.  I KNOW this is true.

To honor Ethan, his family has asked everyone who would like to participate to do random acts of kindness.  They are calling this "Errands for Ethan."  Our family has made an effort this past week to look for ways to serve others, as we try to do all the time, but this week and tomorrow especially in honor of Ethan. Read more here.

Please join us!

Spring Break

Last week was spring break and we spent it mostly just hanging around....

The kids had fun making forts and playing a home version of Angry Birds.

Had a fun picnic at the park.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Jonny waking up with a dry bed for 5 nights.  If only he would do it every night.

We went to the zoo with most of the valley (or so it seemed).  We love going to the zoo, but we like it better when it isn't so crowded.  For some reason, I only have pictures of the kids with statues of animals and not the real ones.

A big highlight of the week was spending the night at Aunt Carla's house and watching House of Anubis.  So fun!
Richard surprised us and took Friday off and we took the kids bowling.  Jonny got so excited every time he knocked anything over.

 

After bowling, we took the kids to a "real" restaurant (one with a waiter).  Most of the kids enjoyed it...but Katie refused to eat because the spaghetti had too many tomatoes.  Weird kid.  :)
Then Richard set up the tent in the backyard, where we all slept except Megan (who was in her crib and we had a baby monitor).  This is my kind of camping.  At least until Megan is a little older or we get a tent trailer.  

We had a great tinfoil dinner (cooked in the oven so it didn't even burn).

And of course, s'mores!

 

It was a great week, filled with family fun and no schedules.  It almost makes me excited for summer.  Except for the whole heat thing.

Kid History and WICKED!

Gotta catch up from the last several weeks. Been busy with life.  :)
One night in February we got tickets to go see Kid History Live!  We had bought tickets for Richard and Katie to go, but some of the kids were still sick, so they stayed home and we brought cousins Brandon and Jacob.  If you don't know what Kid History is, stop reading now and go watch them here:  Kid History.  I think my favorite episodes are 4 and 6.  Anyway, they are great and these 4 kids were sure happy and I think I earned some cool aunt/mom points.


Then a couple of weeks later, Richard and I got to go see Wicked.  It was our second time seeing it, but we had much better seats this time (like we could see the whole stage).  We loved it!  So fun to have a night to dress up and see a good show.  :)

 

Kindergarten Field Trip

I got to go with Katie and the Kindergarten class to Superstition Farm this past week.  We were the purple group.  (I am so impressed with Katie's teacher.  She is so organized and so involved with the kids.  So thankful for Mrs. Haynie!)  Here we are getting ready to head out.  Just a little excited!

The first thing we did was go on a hayride to see all the cows.  This really isn't a farm, but more of a dairy.  Tons of cows.  And poop.

Then we got to feed and pet some of the other animals.  Katie is pretty shy sometimes.  Katie would not feed or touch the goats and sheep.  I pretty much forced her to give the donkey a carrot.  She looks so scared to even touch the bunny in this picture. 

Nope...not gonna touch the chicken either.

The last station was pretty boring, even for me.  Just a guy talking about cows and stuff.  But then they got to drink some flavored milk.  All the smart kiddos in the purple group chose chocolate.  Now Katie's happy!

With a little time on our hands, the kids enjoyed playing on the haystacks and cotton seeds.  Mrs. Haynie got right in there and got them all playing Duck, duck, Goose.  There's Katie right next to her teacher.  This is her favorite part of the whole trip.

Running and jumping on the haystacks, playing keep away from Mrs. Haynie in the middle.  :)

Thank you for letting me come with you Katie.  I enjoy making memories with you (even if you are more shy when I'm around).

Cavalcade of Rhythm

So proud of my two piano playing girls!  They both participated in Cavalcade of Rhythm, which is basically a huge piano duet.  It teaches them to work together, to listen, and to follow a conductor.  I was not able to go, as Megan and Katie were really sick (and we still have sickness in the family! ack!), but I was able to see most of the practices.  The girls were happy that Grandma and Grandpa Eldredge were able to go.

This was Breanna's first year and she did great (even though her partner didn't know his part). 

Rebecca didn't have a partner for some reason.  She did really well.  It has been so fun to practice with the girls.  They are getting so good and it is really enjoyable for me.

I wish my videos would load on here.  I can't figure it out.  So sorry.  One last picture.  Aren't they beautiful?  :)

 

4th Grade Field Trip

I got to go with Breanna's class on a field trip about a week ago out to the desert where the Don's club has some workshops set up.  Unfortunately, the Don's were not expecting us and had another school group there, but they allowed us to stay and they made us feel welcome.
The first station our group went to was about ancient Native American art.  The kids all got to try their hand at painting pottery using a cactus needle.  It wasn't very easy.  Here's Emily and Breanna.

Next up was a station about roping and branding cattle. The kids all got a turn at roping, and although they all wanted to get branded, the presenter didn't think that would be a good idea.  :)

Here's Desiree, Breanna and Emily in front of an old adobe house.

Our last station was panning for gold!  Oh my goodness!  These kids thought they had struck it rich whenever they found anything shiny.  Panning is harder than it looks but they each were able to bring their "gold" home in a little cup.  So fun!

Breanna the frontier woman!

 

I'm so glad I was able to go and spend time with Breanna and her friends.  Great memories!

A perfect family day - by guest blogger Rebecca

Hi! Sorry if this is not as great as other posts because this is Rebecca writing. I love the blog and read it constantly even though I might have read all the posts 10 times. So my mom let me write a post and I hope she'll let me write more. (Mom's note: Of course I will!  Becca has been sick most of the week and I may not ever let her go back to school.  She is a great helper, even when she is sick.)

So our "perfect family day" was on President's Day. Dad had the day off so we decided to go to the zoo, one of our favorite places to go as a family. But that was a bad idea. You should have seen the line! It was the busiest we've ever seen it. So our parents decided to go to the Scottsdale train park. When we got there we had lunch. Megan loved her sandwich.

                          I did too. But I hate it when dad takes pictures of me when I'm doing something embarrassing...

Here's another example...

Well, anyway, after we had lunch, we wanted to go on the little train you can ride. The line was long but it moved pretty quickly.

Here's us when we got on.

They have an amazing playground that everyone loved. We didn't get very many pictures though.

This is us in front of a real train (doesn't work anymore) that some U.S. presidents stayed on.

After we left, we made one final stop at an ice cream shop. Megan just loves ice cream.

I hope you guys also had a good President's day! I hope to be writing again soon.