Category: Adventurous kids

Easter Snapshots

I have a glimpse of family life for your reading pleasure? today.

We saw my parents and extended family on Saturday for my Mom’s Easter egg hunt, then came home to welcome Tim and Queenie who spent the night at our house. Richard mowed the lawn for the first time this season on Saturday evening, and the lawn, blossoming trees, and tulips are beautiful. We stayed up late that night talking to Tim and Queenie about their adventures. Queenie will complete her bachelor’s degree this month and Tim is busy helping his friend Josh build a house and has some stories to tell about being a property manager. They made a trip recently to Arches National Park and Goblin Valley, which were firsts for Queenie.

We had a freeze a few nights this week, and Richard protected his apple tree blossoms with a tarp and heater.

We had our middle kids with us on Sunday. Add to the energy and events of Easter weekend the four sessions of general conference, which we watched while eating cinnamon rolls, Chex mix, and peanut M&M’s. We also visited Daniel and McKenna’s newly remodeled house where they will live after Daniel graduates this month.

Although we didn’t get a complete family picture this Easter weekend, we almost had one on Sunday during a video call. Richard played with filters to delight our grandson.

In my excitement to be with my kids and extended family, I oversupplied them with desserts. After our Easter feast on Sunday, we read passages of scripture around the table to complete our long tradition of opening eggs which hold tiny objects and scriptures. Happy Resurrection Sunday!

The best part of our day

Timothy, Christmas 2004

The best part of each day lately is when Richard and I sit down to watch an annual family Christmas video. We have made these videos since 2003, so if we want to see them all before Christmas, we begin early. They feature our kids’ performances, piano pieces, and sometimes lip syncs to Christmas songs. They end with a slideshow of the year’s photos put to music. They were originally intended for the grandparents, but as the years pass, they probably bring the most delight to us.

We are working on the 2025 installment. There is always a story to tell about family.

Here is a part of our 2014 video:

2014 Christmas

mix and match on Paige’s birthday

This was one of the calls I had with Paige on her birthday this week. We mix and match people who can participate for any given thing. Of course we miss the other members of the family not included in this shot and others. I took for granted being a 6-person unit that I could count on to see each day, but as much as I miss them, I don’t want them to clip their wings for me. They are doing amazing things in many places.

Paige is worth celebrating!

Paige is a wonderful mother, a peacemaker, a kind friend, and a keeper of traditions. She is what a disciple of Christ looks like. She’s strong, patient, steady, faithful, and a listener. She has developed many gifts. She’s a talented professional illustrator, a foodie, a dancer, a musician, and a wonderful daughter. And so much more.

Treasure of the week

This week while sorting through boxes, I discovered these kid quotes I scribbled down during the first few months of 2009. Mark was 2, Tim was 6, and Daniel was 9. I don’t know if they are entertaining to anyone else, but they still make me laugh. 😃

1/09:”My legs love to fight,” Mark admits as we try to pull him away from Timothy.

1/09: “Get your fingers off!” Mark screams as we try to help him steer the mini jeep.

1/09: To Mom, sitting at the school table, “Hey, I was sitting in that chair. Can you sit on my lap?” -Mark

1/30/09: “This is my room where I fight and build things and take naps and get changes.” -Mark

1/09: “It’s not really comfortable to play computer games before your first jobs are done.” -Timothy, discussing his daily moral dilemma.

2/09: Mark: “We need to go to Grandma’s house.”

Mom: “Which grandma?”

Mark: “The one with all the Legos and the sewing and the snacks and the little red cups!”

2/18/09: On the way to church on a cold February morning, Daniel says, “We wouldn’t want to send Cupid out in this weather. It would be hard to shoot an arrow and make anyone fall in love.”

2/20/09: Daniel, after viewing a stern photo of his ancestor, Daniel Spencer, said, “If great-grandpa Spencer were a dinosaur and they found a fossil of his skeleton, they would have a hard time knowing what he was really like because he would look pretty vicious. Thank goodness we have family history because he was really a good guy.”

3/1/09: Tim, on the carpet, “I’m making a snow angel. It’s not working.”

3/4/09: “When I wake up, I want to be in a jet. A red jet.” -Mark

3/5/09: Mark, handling a toy cement mixer, asks what it is called.

Mom: “It’s a cement mixer. It mixes cement.”

Mark: “And diapers. It mixes diapers.”

Mom: “How did you come up with that?”

Mark: “It’s just my observation.”

Mark, hearing Mom tell Dad about his “observation” quote asks, “Am I significant?”

3/6/09: Mark, displaying two of his Lightning McQueen cars, tells Paige, “These ones are sweet. But you don’t eat them.”

3/9/09: Mark, looking at the messy table after dinner, exclaims, “There are chili dots everywhere!”

3/10/09: Mark asks, “Are you the singing mommy?”

3/10/09: Taking in hand his electric toothbrush, Mark exclaims, “Start. Your. Engines!” and begins to brush.

3/21/09: Daniel, after spilling a little lemonade, remarks in a frustrated voice, “I just wish gravity wasn’t so strong. I mean, I’m grateful we’re not just floating around (although that would be fun sometimes) but I wish it wasn’t so easy to spill.

3/22/09: Discussing possible musical selections the kids can do for an upcoming sacrament meeting,

Mom: “Paige can play piano and Daniel and Timothy can sing.”

Mark: “And I can do flips!”