Sonoran Sunset

Katie Takes To The Streets!

Katie first hands-free ride!

Katie's cousin Jessie brought her bike over to Grandma's house today! Who knows what got into the Dad's but the next thing I knew Emily was running into the house saying Kate was riding a bike without training wheels. I guess Dave and Jon decided to tackle this Dad job together. So Grandma, Nicole and I ran out as fast as we could cameras ready!

It was a beautiful evening. Thank goodness for Arizona it was still plenty warm outside and the beautiful sunset made for a perfect backdrop! Kate was so excited. She was concentrating so hard and being uncharacteristically brave. Her jaw was set and it made me smile to see her tongue peeking out from her smile. She had an extra large cheering squad and her cousin Jessie to run along beside her routing for her all the way.

Isn't that cool that Kate and Jessie can say they learned how to ride their bikes together!

Thanksgiving

We were so busy making and then eating delicious food that I forgot to take pictures. So I swiped this one of the kids eating pie from my sister. It's the only Thanksgiving picture this year. I know, tisk, tisk...I already slapped my own hand.

An Influence Like No Other

Grandmas and Grandpas are everything nice.

Like presents and candy and raspberry ice.

And chocolate fudge sundaes, with cherries on top.

And popcorn and peanuts and grape soda pop.

In winter or summer, in rain or in sun,

Grandmas and Grandpas are wonderful fun!!!

- By Unknown Author

These last few months have been good months for visitors for us. We saw all of our Grandparents and even Great Grandpa in the last two months. That is unusual since we live so far apart from everyone. It was so nice and it has left me thinking a lot these last few weeks about the importance and influence of these wonderful people.

Isn't it wonderful that today's increased life expectancy allows us to have these wonderful people in our lives longer! And though they would all probably argue with me these "great and grand" people in our lives enjoy better health too. These two blessings are so important in today's times. Here we are nearing the second coming with all of it's signs of fear, doom and trouble and our loving Heavenly Father has given us a gift. He has allowed our parents and grandparents to tarry here a little longer. To give of their strength, to continue to teach by example and to love us just a little longer.

Of all of the blessings I am thankful for in my life one of the most cherished are the relationships my children have with their Grandparents and Great Grandpa!

When I can not teach - they're lessons are accepted.

When it doesn't matter what I say - what they say matters most.

When my hugs and love become "uncool" - there's will still be cool enough.

When I lack an experience to share to teach - they have a million to share for back-up.

When I'm flustered and impatient and overreact - their patience and wisdom give balance.

What a blessing these dear people are. How blessed I am that my children have such prime models! I couldn't ask for more perfect Grandmothers. They are such a wonderful compliment to each other. And together they have such strength and exude love for my children from every pore. (this dumb post is making me cry) And as far as Grandfathers go I don't think there are two better men in this world. I love them both so much. And then Great Grandpa...well I thought I loved him a lot. My children worship him. We love his stories and the quiet strength he has about him. My favorite picture of him is this one,where he is holding Kate. Because that is what he does best. Hold stuff. He holds up our family and is the link that keeps it together. He holds up his missionaries. He holds and supports Dave and I in our efforts to raise a good strong family. And he can quietly, lovingly and without a world hold my children until they have had their fill.

Heaven forbid the time when they pass away. I hope they will remember planting flowers and painting with Grandma Wilcox. Being read to and being held by Grandma DeWitt. Golfing and fishing with Grandpa Wilcox. Tickling and wrestling with Grandpa Dewitt. Making cookies and airplanes with Great Grandpa. And I hope they remember all of the lessons, advice, stories and examples. I hope they find things within themselves that link them to these great people. And that their strength, love and influence will go on and on throughout the generations.

After Great Grandpa's last visit Chase is all full of ideas of going off to BYU and living in his condo. (most kids have other reasons to go there...for Chase the only thing that matters is that is where his great grandpa lives) Just the other day he said, "Mom, won't Great Grandpa be great when I have kids?" And that is exactly our hope. That these special people will never leave us.

Busy Hands

Busy hands work in my garden.
Hands that are wise with experience,
patient and etched with the lines of caring.
Other hands are small and soft,
they rush and hurry throughout the day
and are learning with time to share.
The hands of the Matron guide those of the child.
Together they are a team.
The flowers that grow are just part of the doing.
The time spent together is more of a treasure.

Grandma's Are The Best!

It seems like the very moment Grandma Wilcox came for a visit the girls we on hands and needs begging for sessions playing nail salon. We are painting nails more and more frequently at our house. The girls are always asking. And I am usually saying "maybe", which Kate has already astutely discovered means no. So having some fresh grown-ups was a big boon to the girls in their quest for every day beautification. Grandma even went the extra mile and applied tiny gems to their freshly painted nails. That is no small task on wiggly girls with tiny fingernails.



Emily and Katie have never asked to paint my nails. Grandma's are more queenly, and so apparently Dee Dee was deserving of her own beauty sessions with our resident nail fashion artistas. Each girl got there own hand. A few minutes later Grandma's nails were transformed into works of art. The girls (especially Kate) had painstakingly painted a flower, complete with stem and leaves, on each finger.

Grandma was the perfect patron. She sported flowers on her nails her whole trip. She even got a special compliment at the grocery store. Art Grandmas the very best!

Have You Seen Us Lately?

Well, here we are.

Cocoa

by Emily Wilcox

Do you own a stuffed animal? There are many reasons why Cocoa is important to me. First, Cocoa is quiet. My sister, Katie, is a chatter-box. That is a huge reason I like Cocoa. I can share my secrets with him and not worry about him blurting them out. Since I sleep with Cocoa, I can sleep in peace. (or is that because I have a pillow over my head?) Once I was telling Cocoa something, he was quiet about it, but I wasn't and Chase burst in and said, "Really?".

Next Cocoa is one of a kind. He's the only Cocoa I've ever known. He isn't fuzzy or fluffy. Cocoa lost all the stuffing in his neck, and he's old.

Lastly Cocoa is always obedient. If I tell him to sit, he's already sitting. If Mom tells us to be quiet, he already is. If I throw him high into the air by one foot and tell him to do a cartwheel in midair, he'll do it.

All in all, there are many reasons Cocoa is important to me: he is quiet, one of a kind, and always obedient. That is why I love Cocoa.

The End

P.S. Cocoa is my stuffed bunny!

Burning The Midnight Oil

This evening Dave and I found Emily asleep at her work. We went up to tuck in the kids before heading to bed ourselves. (and we stay up late...like 11:00-12:00) As we came to the top of the stairs I laughed as I caught Emily asleep at their work table out of the corner of my eye. Her pages were strewn across the table. She had draped multiple blankets over herself to keep warm. And she still had pencil in hand mid word, frozen as sleep overtook her.

Emily has become a writer. This year she has really grown into a wonderful story teller. And lucky for her, Mrs. Gruver, her teacher, is really into writing too. It seems like every week Emily has been writing a new story. Where most kids stop at a page or two; Emily's stories go on for pages and pages. This story that we caught her working on late into the night was eleven pages!

I love watching her grow as a writer. Her since of humor is really developing and I actually enjoy and sometimes even laugh to myself while reading her work. As she matures I hope she will learn to separate her wonderful since of humor from silliness (the bane of motherhood).

Her latest work was my favorite. It was full of excellent sarcastic humor. When she gets it back from her teacher I will post it for everyone to enjoy!

Angry Robot Band!

Wow it is hard to manage a band! Especially a band of Angry Robots. The kids did a cover of the Flight of the Concords song, "The Humans Are Dead". (we listen to an edited version at home) We set up a stage, got instruments ready, costumed the kids and they did the rest. They will be appearing in concert soon at a venue near you. Tickets are $100 and can be mailed directly to our home address. If you are interested in any autographed memorable please contact the web manager!

Best Costumes Ever

Do you know what happens when you put Dad in charge of the costumes for Halloween?

* You spend WAY less money!
* You spend WAY less time!
* You don't loose sleep because you are having a hard time following a pattern!
* You don't freak out if they start to fall apart (because they were way less money and took way less time)!
* The kids get to be more involved.
* After years of making great costumes your kids finally won a costume contest!

So Dad you had better watch out because, that's a whole lot of pros and not any cons. You might be on the hook for all the years to come!

Seriously the kids had the coolest costumes this year, don't you think?

Bones, Ribs, Gordon Salad...

How do you feast "Halloween" style?

With:

Blood soup (tomato bisque)

Bones (thank you Heather R. for your brilliance)
Ribs Gorgon Salad (with Gorgonzola, another Heather R. recipe)

Hand pressed apple cider

Pumpkin Squares (my friend Kathryn L.'s yummy recipe)

Ghoulish vanilla shakes

And there you have it. A perfect Fright Night Feast. This year we shared our special dinner with our Sister Missionaries. Hopefully we didn't "spook" them too much!

Cupcakes For School

Our Halloween Huant

It's no secret, I really love Halloween. Halloween parties are paramount in the party world. They reign supreme. And here's why:

- DRESSING up is almost always a must (and what party isn't better with a costume magic)
- there are endless themes to run wild with
- decorations are limitless (Christmas gives some stiff competition here)
- candy
- outside commercialism (I'm talking pumpkin patches, corn mazes, haunted houses and woods etc...)
- the weather (I love the crispness in the air and changing leaves)
- food (anything goes and creativity reigns)

A Monster Mash

This was the invitation the kids made this year to invite their friends to our first Halloween Party at our new house. We had a really fun planning session over the weekend and got to have Emily's friend Kaitlyn help us plan.

The kids looked through my collection of Halloween magazines and my idea folder (I am a collector of creative ideas...the only thing I don't purge in my home). They chose these cool pumpkin invitations. We collected cool Halloween do-dads for them to roll into the crepe paper. When their friends opened up the pumpkin they were surprised by spiders, skull rings, pumpkin erasers, stickers and other fun stuff. They made them all by themselves (except the stems and ribbons). The hardest part is always making the invite list. The kids had such a rich kid environment in Dupont. They have sooo many friends. I try to limit them to a certain number of families each. I think next year we will have to go smaller. Surprisingly as the kids and their friends get older they get more unruly.

Then the kids looked for cool Halloween food dishes to assign to each family. I think this is always their favorite part. It is fun to imagine all the cool stuff that will soon grace our table when party day arrives.

Another really hard part is always choosing the activities for the party. There are so many things the kids want to do every year. I let them each pick an activity this year. I think everyone had a great time with the games they chose.

All but one family made it to the party. What an awesome turn out we had. It was a really awesome night. And I had lots of, "your the best Mom ever" afterwards.

This is the group of party goers for 2009. The Phillips family came late and so they are not pictured.

Just some of the really yummy goodies everyone brought.

Donuts on a string was Chase's choice!

Emily chose to play charades.

Katie wanted to play Halloween Bingo.

I wanted to have a pinata. The kids and I made this a really awesome bat pinata. It was way stronger than I though tit would be too. It made it through almost everyone getting two turns. One with a blind fold the next turn without.

Kaitlyn got to chose a game too. She wanted to have a bat hunt. Unfortunately it rained all day. So I had to come up with something else. We blew up clear balloons and put glowing light sticks in them. The kids had a balloon stomp and then a light dance to Halloween music all in the dark!

I think the most memorable part though was when we lost our electricity. And I had 35 kids running around bumping into each other and screaming! Wow! Didn't plan on that one...