Friday, September 16, 2011
Grant is two!
We celebrated Grant's birthday in Arizona and had a combined party with his cousin whose birthday is just the day before. I think they had fun. We played Limbo with a black light, opened presents and ate cake. It was just enough for Grant. He loved all of the "Ka-Chow!" things he got. That's Lightning McQueen in Grant-speak. Now that Grant is the ripe old age of two his favorite toys all have wheels. He loves cars, bikes and trains. His favorite past time seems to be finding ways to make messes. He is finding his voice and learns new words every day. He is starting to do better during our school time and isn't quite so distracting or destructive. We all love Grant.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Galloping Grace Horse Ranch
For our first field trip we went to Galloping Grace Horse Ranch. Their motto is "Bringing joy to children". They hope to accomplish this by letting kids interact with horses. I think it mostly worked in our case. 
Grant got to try first and he wanted nothing but to be far away from the horses. He immediatly started to cry. He liked watching them from afar, but being on top of one, even a little one was scary.
Lily loved her chance to ride on the horse. She wants to take riding lessons now. She can't wait for our chance to go back again.
Abigail loved riding too. She smiled the whole time.
Eve was nervous when we first arrived. She stated firmly that she was not going to ride a horse. But after she saw the little horse that they tried to put Grant on, she said she would try THAT one. She was in heaven. She wanted to ride longer when they told her her turn was up. She convinced them to let her have one more round.
After our riding lesson we got to feed goats and help clean up after horses.
We had a great time and can't wait to go back!
Thanks to Jenny in letting me know about this opportunity!
Grant got to try first and he wanted nothing but to be far away from the horses. He immediatly started to cry. He liked watching them from afar, but being on top of one, even a little one was scary.
Lily loved her chance to ride on the horse. She wants to take riding lessons now. She can't wait for our chance to go back again.
Abigail loved riding too. She smiled the whole time.
Eve was nervous when we first arrived. She stated firmly that she was not going to ride a horse. But after she saw the little horse that they tried to put Grant on, she said she would try THAT one. She was in heaven. She wanted to ride longer when they told her her turn was up. She convinced them to let her have one more round.
After our riding lesson we got to feed goats and help clean up after horses.
We had a great time and can't wait to go back!
Thanks to Jenny in letting me know about this opportunity!
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
More and more family!
After the outing on the first day we came back to the cabin. Again, not a bad place to be!
There was a lot of fun to have.
Like bubbles...
hot tubbing...
water hopscotch...
and hanging out.
Each night we played a big family game together. These pictures are from our "Minute to Win It" competition. We found out that some of our family members have some unlikely talents.
In this competition there are five needles stuck in the box. You have to thread the needles only using one hand. Gabriela was a pro.
This picture is the show down of who can empty a box of kleenex's the fastest. Abigail was able to pull hers out in a train and emptied her box well before her older sister.
Here Mckayla needs to blow the cards off of the deck leaving only the bottom card on the glass. She got it!
Gordon and Ethan are shaking their booties to try and empty their boxes of ping-pong balls. This was so entertaining to watch I don't even remember who won.
This was a puzzle show-down. Amber blew Steve out of the water with this one.
Next was a super silly challenge that we all got to try. We put Oreos on our forehead and tried to get them into our mouths without using our hands. We did it in three different shifts so everyone got a change to watch the silliness as well. Boy did it make us laugh!
It was so great to have fun with our extended family. These are some wonderful people who are just fun to hang out with.
There was a lot of fun to have.
Like bubbles...
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| From 2011-07-11 |
hot tubbing...
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
water hopscotch...
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
and hanging out.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Each night we played a big family game together. These pictures are from our "Minute to Win It" competition. We found out that some of our family members have some unlikely talents.
In this competition there are five needles stuck in the box. You have to thread the needles only using one hand. Gabriela was a pro.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
This picture is the show down of who can empty a box of kleenex's the fastest. Abigail was able to pull hers out in a train and emptied her box well before her older sister.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Here Mckayla needs to blow the cards off of the deck leaving only the bottom card on the glass. She got it!
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Gordon and Ethan are shaking their booties to try and empty their boxes of ping-pong balls. This was so entertaining to watch I don't even remember who won.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
This was a puzzle show-down. Amber blew Steve out of the water with this one.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Next was a super silly challenge that we all got to try. We put Oreos on our forehead and tried to get them into our mouths without using our hands. We did it in three different shifts so everyone got a change to watch the silliness as well. Boy did it make us laugh!
 |
| From Collages |
It was so great to have fun with our extended family. These are some wonderful people who are just fun to hang out with.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Don't you wish you could be a Maple?
We just got home from a really fun family reunion. I was so glad to go and sad to leave. I think if it weren't for the lack of sleep I would have wanted to stay twice as long!
We stayed in a beautiful cabin in Heber, UT.
It was perfect. There was a big living room for gathering, a giant kitchen we all wish we had in our own homes. The backyard had a grassy area for playing lawn games and a hot tub that was used every day by the kids and every night by the adults. In the basement was a theater room and a fabulous game room. It was equipped with a pool table, ping pong table, fooseball table and a weight bench.
In another room in the basement was a family room type room. There was a table in there that was set up with craft supplies. The kids were allowed to make whatever they wanted. This was genius, the girls would disappear into their creative world for hours. I saw crowns made out of pipe cleaners, microphones made with styrofoam balls, and so much more.
We like to take a big family picture when we get together. This usually causes me a bit of stress since the last two reunions I've been named photographer. I think this one actually turned out pretty good. Our instructions were to choose a solid color for our whole family to wear so individual families could be picked out from the group. It just turned out that everyone chose cool colors for their families.
Not that we needed to leave the cabin for entertainment, but we did go on a few outings as a group. Our first one was to Cascade Springs. It is a pretty area with boardwalk paths built over natural springs. My family has been several times over the years. It was fun to share it with our spouses and children who had never been before.
My sister, Barbara has a picture of herself at Cascade Springs when she was a toddler. She was leaning over the side to touch the water with her hand in the picture. Since Barbara's son, Davey, is the same age as she was in the picture, Barbara asked me to try and get one with Davey in the same pose. Davey would have nothing to do with it. He did not want to touch the water and was upset at being a model. But he's always cute, no matter his mood.
Davey's slightly older cousins weren't afraid at all to look over the edge and kept on trying to see what we were pointing out to Davey.
Here is a picture of the area.
My cousin Maria and her baby.
Me with Gordon and Grant (aren't you proud of me for handing off the camera for a picture!)
Amber with some wildlife she found to love.
My mom and her sister, the original family our reunion stems from
There is, of course more, but I think that is enough for one post. More to come!
We stayed in a beautiful cabin in Heber, UT.
 |
| From 2011-07-13 |
It was perfect. There was a big living room for gathering, a giant kitchen we all wish we had in our own homes. The backyard had a grassy area for playing lawn games and a hot tub that was used every day by the kids and every night by the adults. In the basement was a theater room and a fabulous game room. It was equipped with a pool table, ping pong table, fooseball table and a weight bench.
 |
| From 2011-07-10 |
In another room in the basement was a family room type room. There was a table in there that was set up with craft supplies. The kids were allowed to make whatever they wanted. This was genius, the girls would disappear into their creative world for hours. I saw crowns made out of pipe cleaners, microphones made with styrofoam balls, and so much more.
We like to take a big family picture when we get together. This usually causes me a bit of stress since the last two reunions I've been named photographer. I think this one actually turned out pretty good. Our instructions were to choose a solid color for our whole family to wear so individual families could be picked out from the group. It just turned out that everyone chose cool colors for their families.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Not that we needed to leave the cabin for entertainment, but we did go on a few outings as a group. Our first one was to Cascade Springs. It is a pretty area with boardwalk paths built over natural springs. My family has been several times over the years. It was fun to share it with our spouses and children who had never been before.
My sister, Barbara has a picture of herself at Cascade Springs when she was a toddler. She was leaning over the side to touch the water with her hand in the picture. Since Barbara's son, Davey, is the same age as she was in the picture, Barbara asked me to try and get one with Davey in the same pose. Davey would have nothing to do with it. He did not want to touch the water and was upset at being a model. But he's always cute, no matter his mood.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Davey's slightly older cousins weren't afraid at all to look over the edge and kept on trying to see what we were pointing out to Davey.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Here is a picture of the area.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
My cousin Maria and her baby.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Me with Gordon and Grant (aren't you proud of me for handing off the camera for a picture!)
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
Amber with some wildlife she found to love.
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
My mom and her sister, the original family our reunion stems from
 |
| From 2011-07-11 |
There is, of course more, but I think that is enough for one post. More to come!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Update on us
It's been a while since I did a real post so I thought I'd do a "Christmas letter" type update on our family.
Gordon is doing great at his job. His former CEO recently retired so there has been so adjustment for the company as they get to know their new CEO. But Gordon is excited to work with him and is feeling like the changes are positive. Gordon continues to be a great handy-man around the house. He recently finished installing wainscoting in the little girl's room, at my request. Gordon is working in the young men's organization at church. He loves that this calling takes him on fun outings. My only problem is trying to get him to not volunteer for every one! He went water skiing earlier this month and is preparing to go on a 50 mile backpacking trip next month!
I am taking the summer off of school. During the last school year I was forced to take another lab science class for my business major. Because of that I found a love for chemistry! I have taken two chemistry classes now and will take another in the fall. I'm planning on majoring in Chemistry now. I am going to school part time, and I don't know when I will graduate. (Everyone asks that.) I often feel divided between school and home, so I try to not take too many credits at a time. At home I am quite the painter. I've painted almost every room in our house. We've lived here just over a year now. I only have the laundry room, one bathroom and a hallway left to paint. I'm trying out gardening this year and planted a vegetable garden in our backyard. Gordon installed soaker hoses so I hope with just weeding left, we'll get some yummy fresh food this summer. And just as a little fun trivia, I was able to cut 17 inches of hair off and sell it about a month ago.
Lily just finished the 4th grade. She loved her teacher and has promised her that she'll visit her often next school year. Lily participated in Book club at her school and Battle of the Books this year. For that she had to read assigned books then be quizzed on trivia from the book. She really enjoyed being part of those groups. Now Lily is enjoying the summer with a stay with some friends (without parents!) and biking, rollerblading and swimming as often as she can. Lily is very helpful around the house (when she's in the mood.) She will often take care of Grant for me, or take it upon herself to make breakfast or lunch. She has gotten really good at making pancakes and quesadillas.
Eve graduated from Kindergarten. She is still singing the songs she learned for her graduation. She did really well in school and made a lot of friends. Eve is doing well reading beginning level books. Eve jumped right into swimming this summer doing really well at swimming farther and deeper than she ever has. Eve is still very girlie-girl and loves to dress-up and play Barbies and ponies. Eve has gotten a lot better at working around the house in the last little while. For a period there both Gordon and I were frustrated because we couldn't figure out how to motivate Eve to follow directions. But as Eve has matured, she has become more willing to do what is asked of her.
Abigail is four. She just finished up her first year of preschool. We did a Mom co-op preschool with some friends. She loved preschool and still asks when it will be another preschool day. Abigail made some tight friendships in preschool and loves to see those friends as often as she can. Abigail is doing great on emerging reading and writing. She can write all of the names in our family plus several other words. She is a great little artist too. I think having two older sisters who love to color and write and really helped push Abigail along in this.
Grant is one and a half. He is learning to talk and is mimicking lots of words until we try to get him to do it for a performance! His favorite word on those occasions is "Mo" (no). He calls both Gordon and me "Mom" even though he can say "Daddy". It's really funny to watch Grant when Gordon drives home from work. Grant recognizes the sound of Daddy's truck and will start dancing and calling "Mom!" so excited to see his daddy again. Grant is, of course, walking and running well now. He also recently learned how to push chairs around in the kitchen to be able to climb and reach the sink. He loves to play in the water. He is voicing his opinion often, saying "Mo" when he doesn't want something. He has learned a little sign and it's really helpful for us to know what he does want. He can sign "drink", "more", "down", "ice cream", "book", and "food".
As a family we're planning on several camping trips this summer and looking forward to a family reunion next month. We are excited to have been so blessed with such a great home and love to have others come to eat and play with us in our yard. We have three fish and two turtles as pets.
That's it for our update!
 |
| From 2011-05-14 |
Gordon is doing great at his job. His former CEO recently retired so there has been so adjustment for the company as they get to know their new CEO. But Gordon is excited to work with him and is feeling like the changes are positive. Gordon continues to be a great handy-man around the house. He recently finished installing wainscoting in the little girl's room, at my request. Gordon is working in the young men's organization at church. He loves that this calling takes him on fun outings. My only problem is trying to get him to not volunteer for every one! He went water skiing earlier this month and is preparing to go on a 50 mile backpacking trip next month!
I am taking the summer off of school. During the last school year I was forced to take another lab science class for my business major. Because of that I found a love for chemistry! I have taken two chemistry classes now and will take another in the fall. I'm planning on majoring in Chemistry now. I am going to school part time, and I don't know when I will graduate. (Everyone asks that.) I often feel divided between school and home, so I try to not take too many credits at a time. At home I am quite the painter. I've painted almost every room in our house. We've lived here just over a year now. I only have the laundry room, one bathroom and a hallway left to paint. I'm trying out gardening this year and planted a vegetable garden in our backyard. Gordon installed soaker hoses so I hope with just weeding left, we'll get some yummy fresh food this summer. And just as a little fun trivia, I was able to cut 17 inches of hair off and sell it about a month ago.
Lily just finished the 4th grade. She loved her teacher and has promised her that she'll visit her often next school year. Lily participated in Book club at her school and Battle of the Books this year. For that she had to read assigned books then be quizzed on trivia from the book. She really enjoyed being part of those groups. Now Lily is enjoying the summer with a stay with some friends (without parents!) and biking, rollerblading and swimming as often as she can. Lily is very helpful around the house (when she's in the mood.) She will often take care of Grant for me, or take it upon herself to make breakfast or lunch. She has gotten really good at making pancakes and quesadillas.
Eve graduated from Kindergarten. She is still singing the songs she learned for her graduation. She did really well in school and made a lot of friends. Eve is doing well reading beginning level books. Eve jumped right into swimming this summer doing really well at swimming farther and deeper than she ever has. Eve is still very girlie-girl and loves to dress-up and play Barbies and ponies. Eve has gotten a lot better at working around the house in the last little while. For a period there both Gordon and I were frustrated because we couldn't figure out how to motivate Eve to follow directions. But as Eve has matured, she has become more willing to do what is asked of her.
Abigail is four. She just finished up her first year of preschool. We did a Mom co-op preschool with some friends. She loved preschool and still asks when it will be another preschool day. Abigail made some tight friendships in preschool and loves to see those friends as often as she can. Abigail is doing great on emerging reading and writing. She can write all of the names in our family plus several other words. She is a great little artist too. I think having two older sisters who love to color and write and really helped push Abigail along in this.
Grant is one and a half. He is learning to talk and is mimicking lots of words until we try to get him to do it for a performance! His favorite word on those occasions is "Mo" (no). He calls both Gordon and me "Mom" even though he can say "Daddy". It's really funny to watch Grant when Gordon drives home from work. Grant recognizes the sound of Daddy's truck and will start dancing and calling "Mom!" so excited to see his daddy again. Grant is, of course, walking and running well now. He also recently learned how to push chairs around in the kitchen to be able to climb and reach the sink. He loves to play in the water. He is voicing his opinion often, saying "Mo" when he doesn't want something. He has learned a little sign and it's really helpful for us to know what he does want. He can sign "drink", "more", "down", "ice cream", "book", and "food".
As a family we're planning on several camping trips this summer and looking forward to a family reunion next month. We are excited to have been so blessed with such a great home and love to have others come to eat and play with us in our yard. We have three fish and two turtles as pets.
That's it for our update!
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
2011-06-06
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| From 2011-06-06 |
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| From 2011-06-06 |
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| From 2011-06-06 |
These are the pictures I took of the smoky sunset in NM.
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