Lunch with Sissy

Could Cy be more attentive to his lil cuppy cake? She's destined to become a narcissist. haha

Mornings

Later, Cub Scouts...

I didn't grow up in a scouting family. More like an anti-scouting family. We didn't camp out. Ever. Not in a tent, a trailer, or even an RV. Never a hike or a fishing trip. I did, however, attend girls' camp. And I recall that my mom and two sisters hiked Timpanogos with the Young Women one year. All in all, pretty weak.
Rob and I have kept up the tradition. I like toilets. And hot showers. Rob likes his bed. For Fathers & Sons, Rob insists on sleeping in the Burb.
Yet, here comes the next generation schooling us in what it takes to earn a Webelos badge and Arrow of Light. We've got a lot to learn. And this boy's the one to teach us.


Crossing the bridge to Boy Scouts.

Rock on, my toddler friends!

This is how my lil Grizzabelle walked into the kitchen this morning.

Fun with Wind

Summer Olympics in Cedar

Gold!

Personality Plus

May the Force be with me.

Le Weekend

Hot-tubbing with the girls and Memorial Day barbeque with family.

Missing Vietti's.

A Day in the Life

Cam wore these pink heels as he dutifully followed his princess and her purple pony around the yard singing made-up folk songs.

Typical Saturday smorgasbord. Dad's the short-order cook. Notice Cam's nail polish. Elle polished her hair, her dress, her arms, legs, and then her nails.

Happy Birthd—

We saw her for all of 30 minutes on her birthday. Soccer camp in the a.m. Coach a training camp for kids in the afternoon. Stop off at the house to check out the car she now commandeers until graduation. Off to competition try-outs...which, when the coaches stood at the finish line of several 50-yard dashes at the end of the evening, MK crossed the line and one looked at the other, jaw dropped open. Serious bragging rights we get on this girl. She was the only one (of 36 girls) added to the existing Premier 1 team, ranked 3rd in the state.
She finished the current season as Division 1's top scorer U-16 (by 8 goals). Done bragging.

Mia and her BFF's attend Tiff's bat mitzvah. So, it's a bar mitzvah if you're a boy and a bat mitzvah if you're a girl. You already knew that? Well, that's just rude.

Rob looked up MK's soccer stats and found she's the top scorer (by 4 goals) U-16, Division I.

She’s also tied with Getty for being grounded the most this month.

[Visiting BYU women's soccer program.]

August 20, 1969 - April 16, 2010

Good-bye, Dan. We love you and will miss you.

MK was describing cars she would love to get for her 16^th birthday. Mia suggested Rob and I buy her, “A pink minivan with the license plate ‘FUTRMOM.’”

Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Cole's friends "couldn't come." Right. I think he wanted all the girls to himself :)

"Cy loves Avery.

I love myself."

Attitude

She reminds me of Muhammad Ali, "I'm the Greatest."

Will Smith said, "I have this nice delusional quality about myself that makes me believe that if I set my mind to it, I could become the President of the United States." Attitude. Don't you wish you had some?

Poser

Elle got ahold of my camera. This is her self-portrait.

Weekend Getaway with a Twist

This is Elle at our vacation rental home just hours before she was admitted to the hospital for three days with RSV. Rob and I spent the weekend watching oxygen and heart-rate monitors, fighting Elle for control of the oxygen tube up her nose, administering breathing treatments, staying up most of each night, listening to her cry for whichever parent wasn't in the room, and just plain enduring the confinement of a small hospital room while the rest of the kids stayed in Midway with the grandparents equipped with plenty of games, food, cousins, and fun. It worked out just right.

Grateful for:

confidence that Elle would be fine in a few days' time

the fact that the hospital is not a second home for any member of our family

the fact that this overnight stay was the first we've ever had (minus childbirth) with any of our kids 

Rob and his availability

health insurance

Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Meme for watching the rest of our kids on their vacation

A follow-up visit revealed a double ear infection, but with antibiotics, she is good as new. 

Don't you just want to smooch that sweet forehead of hers?!

Evans-side Family Weekend Getaway

Tube train!

A perfect day on the slopes.

Smasher and the M&Ms.

Grandpa was NOT interested in taking grandma on a gentle, sight-seeing tour. "Hold on to your bonnet, Darling!"

Cam flew down the mountain Bat-Cam style. I think he had the most fun of everyone—and we all had a party. We actually lost track of Cam and Soda for awhile, but no worries...they were either riding the sledhill or making their way up it on the tow rope. They didn't waste any time wandering around looking for hot cocoa.

Cy gives pointers on proper racing technique for busting the fence at the end of the runway. Jordan and Uncle Scott (and Wolfie) and are all ears. Fence busted, mission accomplished.

Cy hucking snowballs at me on the tow rope.

Uncle Scott "owns" this mountain. Seriously. Ok, not seriously, but you knowutimean.

Wicked-awesome snow hat. Creepy up close.

 

Ignored on Another Level

The sign says, "NOTICE: Mudroom is not a WAITING ROOM for trash bags :) 

—the Managment"

I try.

P as in ... Pneumonia

McKenzie told me last week as I lay near death, "You look ... scary. Like so scary that I don't even want to be in the same room with you." 

I almost posted a photo, but McKenzie cautioned against it. I guess you should be grateful. I didn't check my look in the mirror, so I wouldn't know. I'm picturing skin so pale it looks blue, dark circles under the eyes, a stringy-haired bun on top of my head, and a pained expression as I hack, hack, hack away. I bet Rob finds me especially attractive during those days—all snuggled up in bed with an inhaler in one hand and a roll of toilet paper in the other, sheets soaked in sweat, teeth chattering.... 

McKenzie's terrified; just imagine what the toddlers are thinking...

And therein lies my point—

scary is good if it means some good, 

old-fashioned 

alone time.