Welcome to our World

Our ward (congregation) but on a magnificent 4th of July program & breakfast this year.  My children were talking about it for weeks afterward.  There was a flag raising ceremony by the boy scouts, special musical numbers, a great little patriotic speech that ended with a balloon launch and even gluten free pancakes that tasted good! That night our neighbors did a great job of entertaining my family until it was time for the city fireworks to start.  I must admit my mommy alarm was going off as I watched how close my 2 oldest were getting to the action, but one of the dads in charge was also a PA (physician's assistant), so I figured if anything did happen, at least immediate help would be available.  lol. The next morning I took Danny, Michelle, and Natalie to the Disney Store for a Planes Fire & Rescue "special event."  Kaelah opted to stay home with dad while he started refinishing our dressers.  The event was pretty lame but som...

In June I had the privilege of feeling unconditionally loved.  I left Taiwan in 2003 but a piece of my heart will always be there.  This summer a part of the love I felt for Taiwan came back to me to visit for a couple days.   First, a little background.  One day while I was at the church building, a man came walking in that reminded me so much of my dad.  When I told him so he replied something like "but you're American & I'm Chinese."  I showed him a picture of my family & we agreed he was the Chinese version of my dad.  As such, he made sure that I was taken care of.  His family fed me and he took me to play tennis on my p-day.  (A missionary's day off -- well, part of the day.)  When I left Taiwan he gave me a beautiful necklace and also told me that the man I married would have to have certain qualities.  We have kept in touch through emails & Facebook all this time.  (Henry even added me as his "daughter" o...

In June we enjoyed the luxury camping experience.  Before heading to hubby's family reunion in Utah, we rented a camping trailer in Denver.  That thing was nice!  Our 2 oldest got their own beds that turned into a sofa or a table when not in use and, for safety, Dan & I each shared with M & N so they would't fall out.  We stopped in Vail and camped at a beautiful state forrest right next to a rushing stream.  It got down to 38 degrees that night but we were nice and warm.  This was certainly the way to go with a one-year-old in tow.  It was so comfortable to stay inside for a simple breakfast out of the cold as well.  I seriously may never be able to tent camp again.  lol. It was grand to be with family at a great location.  One of my mother-in-law's cousins owns the perfect property for a reunion.  There is a great pavilion with  kitchen and showers, a play area with grass, a huge play set, trampoline, carnival st...

For D's birthday he chose to party at Lakeside Amusement Park again. This year he was joined by friend L and neighbor W.  It was these boys' first time going to Lakeside and I hoped they loved it as much as D did!              Our family was there from 3 until 9:30pm.  Totally worth the $40 we spent for all 6 of our family members to ride something, including K, D, and M having unlimited rides.  Yes, Natalie rode too!  She even rode the train all by herself when her siblings were on the roller coaster. And yes, I still can't believe I let her do that! Also to my amazement, he joined Dan and K in riding the Cyclone, one of the oldest roller coasters in America. Later I took the two of them and loved it!  Oh my word I thought D was going to fall out at one point because he seemed to small and the cars were so old (aka not as safe looking as modern ones).  It was fantastic. D picked a Despicable Me 2 theme based on the Ta...

With the earlier sunrises, it was obvious that if K was ever going to get to sleep at night, it was time to add curtains to her honeycomb blinds.  Since I don't even own a sewing machine, let alone have ever made curtains before, Lisa to the rescue!  Look at these big helpers while we were at JoAnn's picking out fabric.  That is a huge roll of black out fabric that is working quite nicely now.  After walking to Crazy 8 (and the children giving us a great photo op) we headed through the local Chick-Fil-A and on to Windsor Lake.  This was our first time enjoying the beach and lake and certainly something we would like to do with the P family again this summer.   The finished curtains are a success!  K can get to sleep at her normal time of 9pm again.  On those days we didn't have friends over for BBQs, at least.  We've been able to do that a lot more this summer than last summer.  The M family, C & M, and our former ne...

K only had to wait a matter of hours after her last day of school to have cousins come to visit us!  On a brand new adventure Dan's older brother & his family set off for the Wings Over the Rockies museum at the old Lowry Air Force Base.  We thought it was great!  I highly recommend it, especially if there are any little (or big or tom) boys in your family.   I geeked out at their space exhibit when it talked about Dr. Who, Star Wars, and Ender's Game all in one place. Our crew of 8 children ages 9 & under did so well we even went to the zoo afterwards.  One of the elephants was entertaining himself with a log in the water and entertaining us at the same time.  And after promising my children the last time we could try out the new penny smashers, we just had to do that this time.  M lost her penny twice so K gave her hers.  Then M lost that one too.  So we have D's lion one to put in the book.  Oh, well.  And as we found...