Memory Lane

I was going through some old photographs and came across this one and it really made me stop and smile. Although it is not in the best condition, (as noted in the marks on the photo), it made me realize how fast these kids have grown up. I remember the day this picture was taken. It was in November of 1994 at the photo studios at BYU.

I remember how hard it was to get all four of these little kids (ages 1-7) ready for a picture and then the task of keeping them neat until the session was over. Tara had cut her hair just a few days prior (as you can clearly see) and not one of the photos taken that day had Christopher looking directly forward. He was distracted by EVERYTHING around the camera. Josh was tired and wanted a nap and Jenni was in one of her "moods". Aunt Dayna had made the cute little dresses for the girls and I had rushed to the fabric store to get some ribbons for their hair right before we left the house. If you look closely, you can also see the little necklaces Aunt Dayna bought the girls as well.

After looking at all of the proofs a few days later I contimplated re-doing the session because Christopher was not facing forward in any of them. I all at once realized that was what I wanted to remember from this day. That is exactly how Christopher was as a child...always taking everything in around him and not paying any attention to what was right in front of him. How glad I am that I did not change my mind and re-do any of this. I really love this picture and how it makes me feel when I look at it! My, how they have all grown up.

The Legend of Jenni and the Key

We love our little Jenni! She is always keeping us laughing at the crazy things she does and says. Hopefully someday she will figure out this big world and be able to be on her own-hahah! Yesterday we had a great story to add to the book. However, before you read this, I want you to know that she was totally fine about me sharing this. She was laughing too :)

Last night she had my Expedition out by herself. I was shopping with Greg, Emma and Josh. Suddenly I get this phone call from her telling me that she locked the keys inside the car. I told her she probably needed to call the police department and see if they could come unlock it for her. After a few minutes I get another call asking for information to fill out a waiver from the police department...we hang up. Another couple of minutes pass and she calls back laughing like crazy. I ask her what in the world is going on. She then proceeds to tell me that as the policeman was beginning to try to unlock the door, he glanced over at the passenger side and begins to walk over there. He touches the handle, lifts it up and poof! The door opens. She had not checked the other doors in the car to see if they were unlocked before making the call. THAT GIRL!!! That story would be funny in and of itself...but there is more.

So we get up this morning and she tells me that she had to have the police come again to unlock the door last night. I say "Right, Jenni." She insists that she did and proceeds to tell me what happened. She came home late last night (all of us were asleep) and was outside talking to some boys in the driveway when she suddenly realized that she had locked the keys in the car AGAIN. She calls a bunch of friends to come over to help get the keys out of the car with no luck. By now it is about 2am and I am asleep and have no idea that there are about 6 young men in my driveway trying to break into my vehicle (at least I know that it is fairly secure). Finally, with no luck, they decided they have to call the police again to come help. A nice policeman shows up and stops, looks at the vehicle and asks "Hasn't someone been here tonight already for this car?" Jenni quickly replies "Nope." All of the guys chime in emphatically "YES!!!!" The policeman starts laughing like crazy and told Jenni that she has been the talk down at the police station all night and now he has more to add to the story! Oh yeah...the first thing he did was check all of the doors to make sure none of them were unlocked :) Jenni we love you and hope you never stop making us smile!

One more side note...she is going today to make herself a copy of the key and getting a key chain that attaches to her belt loop so she can't possibly leave it behind.

Days of '47 Parade Float Exhibition

This past Tuesday afternoon my friend Marja, Emma, Braige, Brogan and myself went to the Sandy Expo Center to see the exhibition of all of the floats for the annual Days of 47 Parade. Greg joined us after he got off of work. I had heard on the news that they had all of the floats on display for a free viewing and thought that I could not pass up the opportunity to have an up close look at these amazing floats.
The floats were incredible and the amount of detail is beyond words. Many of the exhibits had drawing boards that showed how the idea for the floats began and the process of making the float into these wonderful works of art. When we arrived we were handed a ballot for each of us. We were given the responsibility of choosing one float as our favorite. That was not an easy decision. All of them were simply amazing.
After we had seen all of the floats we realized that there were some people doing free face painting for the kids, so we stayed another 45 minutes in line waiting for our turn. All in all it was a very fun afternoon and something that I think I will look forward to attending annually as a new tradition!

It's A Small Mormon World

I went to church today and as I was sitting in the chapel waiting for the meeting to begin, I had an elderly lady come up to me and tell me that her daughter saw Christopher at a dinner last night. First I thought...Do I know you? And second I thought, who is your daughter? I guess her daughter (Laura) lived in our ward for a while and taught Primary and remembered our family. Unfortunately, I do not remember her. Her mother told me that Laura walked right up to him and said "you have a little brother, don't you?" He said "Yes...", she then said "Your Mother's name is Dawna, isn't it?" Again he replied, "Yes." I guess she proceeded to tell him that she used to be in our ward and remembered him. Evidently he was very surprised and asked that she let us know that he is doing great and loves being a missionary! She said that he looked healthy and fit and seemed to have a great spirit about him.

I am so thankful to have these members around the world taking care of our missionaries. How grateful I am that he has all of these wonderful sisters to dote on him, bake for him when he asks me for recipes, and make sure his needs are met. What a wonderful church we have! Thank you to anyone that has assisted a missionary in any way. You have no idea what comfort you give a Mother who can't perform this service for her child.

Giant Slip and Slide

Tonight for Young Men and Young Womens we had our annual Giant Slip and Slide Night. It was a huge success and as you can see we had a great time! The kids really look forward to this activity each year. We have access to three large advertising banners that we lay over the top of each other and then hook up a hose and pour water on it the entire time. We also pour lots of dish soap down the banners helping with the sliding part of the activity. Not only did the kids have a good time but they also came home squeaky clean from the dish soap! I highly recommend that you find a big hill and join in the fun! Adults loved it too :)

Temple Visit

This past Saturday our family had the awesome experience of attending the temple for baptisms. I have been researching Greg's genealogy and have finally completed the temple ready process for a number of them. All of the nieces and nephews on the Williamson side of the family that were old enough to participate were able to attend. It was the first time going to the temple for Sam, Callie and Lindsay, which made it even more special. This experience was amazing for me and I think the kids that participated felt it too. I am lucky to have such great children, nieces and nephews that could help with this special ordinance. Definitely a memorable day.

Lagoon Day

Yesterday was Greg's summer work party at Lagoon. We had a blast! Jenni and Tara chose to stay home and work so we went without them and had a lot of fun. Josh brought along his friend, Darryl to keep him company. They kids were maniacs riding all of the rides. This is the first year that Emma has been tall enough to ride the "big rides" so it was a whole new park to her. She definitely has no fear.

All of the kids rode The Rocket, Wicked, Cliffhanger, Spider, all of the roller coasters, and numerous other rides. The first picture is of Emma and Greg on Cliffhanger. That is a crazy ride and I cannot believe that Emma was brave (crazy?) enough to ride it. You go up and down in the air, turned upside down, flipped around and while all of this is happening, water is spraying upwards towards you. She is number seven from the right and Greg is number eight. If you click on the photo it enlarges so that you can see her better. Notice she is one of the smallest people on the ride. Crazy. Another picture is of Greg and Emma after riding Rattlesnake Rapids. They were drenched from head to toe.

Josh and Darryl were not around a whole lot, so unfortunately I do not have a lot of pictures of him...once again. I have the hardest time getting pictures of that boy.

We also spent a few hours at Lagoon A Beach relaxing in the Lazy River. All in all it was a very fun day and we came home exhausted...as shown in the picture of Greg taking an afternoon nap :) Notice the little yellow fuzzy ducky he is cuddling with-Ha!

Our Garden

This has been the first year in a long time that we have had time to plant a garden. Now that I am home full time I finally have the energy! I love looking each day to see what is growing and having the kids help out in it. They are not as excited as I am but agree to come help with minor weeding and watering. Hopefully we have a great harvest in a month or two. I planted 24 tomato plants (only a couple are in the picture) thinking that a few of them would die. All of them survived and now I have lots of canning salsa and tomatoes ahead of me.