First Friends

When we moved to Payson in 2005, I didn't think that we would be there for very long.  I felt like our little basement apartment would be a quick stop for us while we were house hunting.  Seriously, how long could that take?!  Since I was sure that we wouldn't be there for very long, I didn't see a need to make friends.  Boy was I wrong.

On my way home from running errands one day, I stopped in front of our house to get the mail before driving around to the side yard where our entrance was.  As soon as I stepped out of my car, I was greeted by the cheeriest person I had ever met.  Lindsay introduced herself as my new neighbor and told me that she and her husband, Stan, had a little girl, Abish, that was just about Amelia's age.  Little did I know that Lindsay and I would become friends so fast and how great it was to have a friend since we ended up being in that apartment a lot longer than we anticipated.

Fast forward 9 years or so when I got a message out of the blue one day that Lindsay was in town and wanted to come visit.  Abish had asked her mom who her "first friend" was and wanted to know if they could meet again.  These two girls had not seen each other in 9 years but it was as if they had never been apart.  They had the same interests and the same quirky personalities.  It was so fun to watch them spend time together.

So, Lindsay came over with her 5 kids who played with my 5 kids, except Benjamin slept the whole time.  It was quite the house full of kids but definitely a fun day to remember.  Lindsay's next kid, who was born in Payson while we still lived there, is Zebulon.  He is just about the same age as Ashley.  Those two got along great too.  I wish that she still lived next door instead of hundreds of miles away in Texas.

Going clockwise around the table from the bottom left: Yoshi, Lindsay, Eppie, Ashley, Zeb, Elliot, Amelia, Abish, Micah, Boaz.

Elliot's Preschool Program

I have absolutely loved Elliot's preschool.  I love the lesson plans, the teachers, the crafts, the worksheets, the songs.  I could go on and on about how wonderful it has been for him to go to the Kinder Garden for the last two years.  At the end of his school year, he got to participate in a program full of super learners.  It was so cute.  Since Amelia and Ashley were already out of school for the year, they got to come too.  It was so fun to see Ashley get a picture with her old teachers too, Miss Nicole and Miss Meghan.

Memorial Day

Slowly but surely, I am getting caught up on my blog.  I can finally say that I am just one year behind.  Now I just have to keep going and soon I'll be just 9 months behind, then 6 months, then 3 months.  Then maybe one day, my blog will be current and you can actually read about things that we are doing right now.

Memorial day is one of my favorite holidays.  You get to be with family, have a BBQ, spend time outside, ice cream at Farr's, and the only gifts are for loved ones who have passed on so you know they will love whatever you get them.  This year, Connie invited us to a BBQ at their place and then we all went to the cemetery in Ogden.  It was so fun to see everyone and spend some great time together.  Of course, the ice cream was fabulous!

Spring 2014 Recital

I have mixed feelings about the Spring dance recital.  I love to see the girls perform dances that they have worked so hard on.  One dance is the same from the competition from about a month ago.  But, I always feel like their second dance is just thrown together and that they really haven't worked as hard on it.  Either way, I love to see them dance.  Amelia always uses BIG facial expressions and Ashley has come so far in the last two years of dancing.  They are both amazing.

Micah dressing up

There is something about this firefighter helmet that Micah just loves.  He wears it all the time to preschool and around the house whenever he can.  It has been worn so much that it is cracked down the middle but that doesn't stop him from loving it.  Apparently this night, he wanted to wear the helmet with goggles and snow boots. Sure it was mid-May, but why should that make any difference?

Benjamin's baby blessing

Benjamin is baby #5 for us and I still get nervous the day that the baby blessing rolls around.  I wonder if the baby will cry during the blessing, if Guy will remember how to start the blessing, if we will make it to church on time, if all Benjamin's siblings will behave during the meeting, if I've prepped the house enough to have people over, if I will get through the day.  Luckily, I have wonderful family and friends to help me do it all.

By the time we did some pictures, Benjamin was done.  He was hungry and tired.  I wanted to get done with pictures as fast as we could but Elliot and Micah were not exactly cooperating.  They both wanted to stand by mom and kept pushing each other out of the way.  After they made it in a picture or two, they left and I didn't attempt to call them back for any more.  I'm totally fine with that.

Gotta Move 2014

Amelia and Ashley were so excited to dance in the Gotta Move competition. And of course, get another trophy.  Yes, this is really just a participation trophy, but they don't need to know that.  They danced to "When Will My Life Begin" from Tangled.  I was really nervous about Ashley leading the line of dancers out to the floor, but she did a wonderful job.  So proud of my girls.  And remember when I said having a Spring baby would be so wonderful?  Well, that was before I brought a 4 week old baby at a dance competition.  He was a good baby but I was glad when it was all over and we could go home.  The girls got 1st place for their dance!

Trying to get a good shot

I have a new-found appreciation for photographers who take newborn photos.  I have no idea how they can time everything just right to get a happy, sleepy baby who they can position any way they want.  Benjamin was not going for that.

His eyes looked jaundiced for quite a while so I held off for a long time before trying to get a picture for a birth announcement.  After hundreds of pictures, I finally found one that I liked.