Great-Grandpa Ellis

So it's been a really busy week again for us... still a blast, but again... very busy.

First of all Ada, Sammy and I got to go to the "This is the Place" Park in SLC. It was another of Diane's brilliant brain outings... I'd never been there before and thought that someday I'd like to go but wasn't too excited to take kids... but we got there and it was a blast! It also happened to land on a $2 day... so for me and the two kids under the age of 3... I only paid $2. And guess what... I actually forgot my camera. All these really neat things to take pictures of and I don't have it. Grrr. Ada got a "shave" at the barber shop... she got in the barbers chair and then told the barber that she didn't want him to use his razor... that's a trick. It started raining part of the way through but not too bad. Ada's favorite was riding the mini-train... there wasn't a line so we got to do it a couple of times. It was quite a view of the valley up there too. Ada also liked the pony ride and when she woke up from her nap in the car on the way home her first incoherent comment was, "I want to ride the pony." Sammy's favorite was the petting zoo. He was following the goats around and trying to lay on them. It was pretty funny. Then we went directly to my cousin's finance's bridal shower in Payson. Yeah... that wasn't a fun drive... but there was really cool lightning on the way.

And my brother Seth was here for the weekend! YAY SETH! It was fun to see you! It was hard to pack in everything and let it be a vaction too...

We also held my Grandpa Ellis' 80th birthday party. It was really neat to see all the people that came to support them. They drove up from Arizona and at least 100 people plus came to it. I haven't seen him in about a year so it was really good to see him and get to physically hug him. Heather also brought Paige and Brittany too! I haven't seen them in person since Paige was about 3... now they're in high school. Weird. Jer played soccer with all the older great grandkids and I ran around taking pictures of everything. I wish I had thought to get my camcorder out though... Mom and her siblings had done a program and it would have been a good one to get a recording of. First they sang "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang" for him... and he got all teary eyed. (They used that song to compete when they were younger.) Then all of the grandkids joined in for "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing". Then Grandpa led us in a round of "Sipping Cider". It was very touching to see how much he loves everyone! We sang that song every Bear Lake trip while I was growing up... it's about how a man and woman meet, get married and have their family. When he got to the part that says, "Got 49 kids, all call me pa." He started to cry and couldn't make it any more. Mark took up the song for him and finished. I think it was a very special experience. Here he is sitting with the bulk of his family that he loves so much and who he is sure he won't see many of again on this physical earth because he says that he just can't make the trip up from Arizona anymore... I came close to crying and only didn't because I had to stop to get mad at Ada for trying to shove red punch in my face and all over my yellow shirt. We'll be able to see Grandpa at least once more though. He's going to be sealing Tiff and Tim in the temple on Saturday. What a neat thing to have! We were lucky enough that he was able to marry Jer and I. And I think he's also married Renee and Steve, Joe and Jen, and a couple more that I can't think of right now. I love you Grandpa!

And it was so fun to had Landon and Katie stay with us. It was fun to visit and chat while the kids played! I hope that we see each other again soon!

Then tonight was a going away party for both Seth and Janelle... It's so weird to know that only Sharon and I are now living in Utah out of the 5 kids... McKay's halfway here... his family is even if he's in Afghanistan. (or "Ghanistan" as the twins call it.) It was fun to play and to see you mug our kids. We love you guys and hope all is well in your various endevors!

I'll post pictures on my next entry. Right now I need to get to bed.

Bear Lake

Well... I've just spent every second not with kids this morning trying to post about our fun Glen Ellis Reunion... I've deleted my post once... had my computer freeze on me once and lost my internet connection at least twice. I had a nice post too about all the fun stuff that we had done... but oh well... I guess it just wasn't meant to be and I really can't afford to lose any more time on it... I still have to clean the bathrooms, shower and do the dishes before kids wake up. I will say that despite the fact that our car died, we set up three different tents, and all sorts of fun things like that.... I loved it! Sammy got to get as dirty as he wanted... loved all the attention from Aunts, cousins and distant realtives... Ada loved being with Aubrey and Devin, asked where Grandpa was as soon as she woke up in the morning, and got to go swimming in the deep part of the lake with Aunt Nella. Jer got to do a 16 mile run on the lake side in the pretty morning light, and I loved not having to sit next to a computer just in case a customer called. My parents, sister and uncle all finished the inside bathroom and did an amazing job. And I got to find sea shells with The Three Musketeers and Sammy. Ada and Devin ran around shooting bad guys with the paper guns that uncle Son made them. And we roasted marshmallows with Liz, Rachels, and Miriams kids on sticks that were way too long for them... so they couldn't reach to blow out the small fires that they started. I got to meet Tifff's Tim and I'm really excited for her! I think that they fit together really well and I'm so glad that I get to see them married in the temple and hope that they find the house that they want soon.

Sophie was trying to finish her book, but it's hard to when your twins decide that they both want to take a 2 1/2 hour nap in your arms!

Ada and Aubrey kept putting their feet up together and pushing each other over... about the third time that we ended up with crying kids I asked them not to push on each others feet.

Sammy found and raided Grandma's Oreo Stash... he had about five before we decided that he was done.

Some of the kids digging and building sand castles.

I buried all the kids up to their waists... as soon as I was done with one of them another one had gotten out. Sophie helped me get them all buried for the 30 seconds that it took to take this picture.

Sammy's happy oreo face.

Look at the beautiful sky! The weather was just perfect... a little stormy at night... just enough to keep it from getting to hot... and the clouds were amazing!

Jer digging a hole for a "kiddy pool" for the little kids to play in the mud.

My cheeser!

Sammy

Well... I actually would like to post about our camping trip but I want to remember a couple of things that Sammy's done lately first.

Climbing off the bed where he'd been napping... I walked in to the room to check on Sam and he was hanging halfway off the bed... clinging to the blankets and looks at me desperately and says, "Mama!"

Today while I was loading things in and out of the car, Sammy and Ada were playing on the lawn and Sammy decided that the cement was too hot for his feet. So, he went in the house... brought his shoes to be put on and then went to get his handfulls of spoons... then he was so excited that he just ran around screeching... What more could you want from life than shoes and spoons?

I'm a Prince

Ada has decided that since she is a princess then I must always be a prince. But not just any prince... one that wears a green, foam, St. Patrick's Day hat that looks an awfully lot like the mad hatter hat... I don't mind wearing it from time to time... and it's fun dancing with her in the kitchen. (Sammy thinks it's funny to watch us and just giggles)... but I will say that wearing that hat while cooking over the stove in our house where the swamp cooler doesn't quite cool the kitchen and in the middle of July gets to be just a little to hot for my taste.

Superman attends the drive in

Have you ever seen that picture of the little Superman walking with his dad down the street?

Talking to Uncle Seth on the phone.

We spent the day at my parents the other day. Sammy decided to be Superman and we watched Stardust on a projector in the backyard.

Lastest kid photo shoot

These are some cute kids... there are 8 of them... 5 girls and 3 boys... and ironically the 3 boys were the hardest ones to shoot.

Battle Cry: SPOON!

Sammy has a fetish... Spoons. He'll wake up in the morning... I get him changed and put him on the floor and off he goes... down the stairs and to the kitchen. A few rattles later and you'll see him coming back up the stairs with 2-4 spoons in his hands. Then he'll wander the house with them for a few hours and heaven help anyone who tries to take his spoons from him! He has a grip of steel, I swear!

The last two weeks

I'm tired... I must admit that everything is draining me... but we've had fun and here are the pictures to prove it. And for some reason... blogger has been putting my pictures in a backwards order if I upload lots at the same time. I don't really have the time to get them all straight so just remember that the bottom ones were first. They're pictures of our Saturday with a hike, picnic and 3 birthday parties. Our visit to Bridal Veil Falls, to the Kenicott Copper mines, etc...