It snowed at Disneyland

This was pretty incredible.  It fell just like real looking snow.  It was made of some kind of bubbly foamy stuff--which hopefully was edible since we all tried to taste it.  It was even almost as cold out as a (warm) snowy evening.  The kids were mesmorized by the magic of it--pretty much the whole crowd was.

Lydia catches some on her hand.

Poor Sam had to wear pink.  We accidently brought a jacket too small for Anna.  His was bigger so they had to switch.

Anna's Disney Day

We took advantage of the "get in free on your birthday" deal for Anna's birthday.  Someday we hope to move closer to home, but until then we gotta get as much of Disneyland as we can.  (And not for the kids sake...it's ME that loves it!) 

We had a great day.  Stayed almost til midnight.  But the midnight bus left early, so we had to wait twenty minutes (in the freezing cold--I know I don't even have any room to talk about cold, but we were wearing three layers by then and had the kids bundled up in blankets.  It WAS cold.) for it to come back and then wait on the bus til 12:30 for the last run.  Nathan couldn't believe we took the last bus of the night and we learned that we won't do that again for his sake.  But it satisfied my need to spend every last minute getting in as much fun as possible.  (Although I was tired enough by end that I didn't even care what else we missed.)

The Giant Christmas Tree

I was going to label the land these rides are in, but I can't remember that detail.  It must be called storybook land or something...

Pictures with our favorite Hundred Acre Woods' characters.

When we asked the kids which character they wanted to meet, Pooh was the unanimous pick.

Our classic family favorite: the Small World ride.  Can't miss this one.  The Christmas lights decorating the outside were pretty incredible.

Our Spooky House

We finally pulled this spooky house kit out of the closet for our post-Halloween FHE activity.  Boy did the kids have a fun time making it.  They enjoyed eating it just as much.

Our excited bunch.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Give him a big hand!  And foot!

Halloween at our house

 

We went to our ward trunk or treat and enjoyed super nice weather!  We loved that there was still daylight outside for trick or treating this year.  Wow!  I'm in favor of the new daylight savings date. 

Anna being enthusiastic.  She enjoyed casting spells on the people giving out treats with her pink glow stick wand.  "Bippidy Boppidy Boo!"

Style and Beauty Take 2

(It really should work this time.  Leave a comment if you still can't view it....)



She was really on one the other day.

Style and Beauty

On occasion Anna disappears into the bathroom where she expirements with styling her hair. Then she goes to the full length mirror and practices batting her eyes and posing. Sometimes she comes out and asks me if I'll take her picture.  Here's some from several weeks ago.

After checking out the pics, she decided she'd look better if she held a purse.  (I have no idea where she gets this from.  To my knowledge she's never even seen a fashion magazine.) 

Today as she was working on her look, I heard her murmuring something about being "stylish."  (Where'd she even hear that word?)  When I asked her later what she was saying about being stylish, she laughed.  "Heehee, I was just trying to get pretty."

Salsa Sunday

Our peppers are enjoying the cooler weather and producing at their peak.  The tomatoes are trying to rally themselves from the hot August hybernation and are putting out blossems, most of which won't ripen before November's frost.  Those yellow pear tomoatoes are so hardy, though.  They grow like weeds; produce all summer and as late into winter as they can.  Ironically, onions are the only other thing that survived through the summer, so we have all the veggies we need for salsa.  Yummy!

Radamacher Hills

I enjoyed hiking Rademacher Hills with the young women so much that Nathan and I went back for date night a few weeks later.  It's less than a 5 minute drive up our street and into the desert.  The first hill is a nice little hour hike up one side and down the other.  What a cool discovery and even I can do it.

Took the kids there for a short hike between Saturday's conference sessions.  We did the easy hike with them, up and over the saddle, rather than to the top of the hill.  They had a great adventure (so did Nathan and I.)  Nathan got his exersice in running back down the trail so he could drive the van around the mountain and pick us up on the other side.  He was there before we made it to the bottem.  It was a great way to break up the day.

The green oasis in the background is the community college.  Just about the only green visible in all the brown.

Applesauce Day

We took advantage of Columbus day holiday and the 39cents per pound sale at Stater Brothers to make our first ever (3) batches of applesauce.  Thanks for all the help, Nathan!

The cleaning crew.

Sam removed the stickers and plopped them in the hot soapy water.  Anna scrubbed the wax off and set them to rinse.

Nathan preps.

It takes a lot of muscle to stir that big pot.

Can't get over this amazing machine!

The Happy Helpers!

Esther and Robert

The lovely couple.

Beutler siblings.  Missing sisters: Lios and Ione.

Toad's World

Pictures to come.....

Shelton Family Reunion

Stay tuned for more pictures to come....

Thursday: Nature Hunt

Friday: Downtown Ogden
Historic Sites Hunt

Our Native American princess niece

Loved the pretty horses out for Ogden Days!

Union Staion

What a fun morning. Our only regret was that we didn't get to ride the little train.

A Sleepy Wedding Song

Nothing like enjoying a yummy lollipop while you sleep. That's our talented boy. (Note the brief capture of some of Anna's dance moves at the end of the clip. She's got so much rhythm)

Weddings, Weddings, and more Weddings

Nathan's youngest brother Matthew got married to cute Nikki Mendenhall at the end of July. Fortunately, it coincided the Shelton reunion and my little sister's wedding the next week. So we made a two week trip of it.

More pics coming......

My cup runneth over

Who knew canning could be fun and leave you with a special sense of accomplishing something that would last (more than a few hours.) Oh, the secrets I'm finally uncovering!

This week's harvest = 7 quarts.


Two weeks ago = 3 quarts.

My little helper.

Don'tcha love holidays

This is probably the first 4th of July I've really looked forward to since I moved away from home. We went to the Ridgrecrest fireworks for the first time last year and had a really nice time. Last year they had a local band play for a few hours and then at 7pm they had a really nice patriotic program put on by a traveling Christian youth choir group. Even though it was HOT we enjoyed sitting our blanket on a little section of green grass. The girls kept entertained by dancing around to the music and a friendly guy sitting next to us gave up his three glow bracelets (one for each kid to wear.) We enjoyed the fireworks and felt the sense of community to be celebrating alongside others who gathered there to watch.

So I was so excited to do it again. And I realized the change in attitude must be due to having established a tradition. Ah-hah, now I understand all that talk about traditions. There's just something special about them.

So we began the day EARLY by attending the stake flag-raising ceremony at 7am. (Even earlier for Nathan who went over at 5:30 to help set-up.) Enjoyed the band, a good patriotic talk, sing-along, and yummy breakfast treats.

Then we headed back to our air-contitioned house where Nathan spent most of the day entertaining kids so I could paint a living room wall.

The kids couldn't resist helping but that only lasted 5 minutes before they were shooed out to spend the rest of the time with Daddy.

Lydia, our resident pirate. Argh.

Yummy shepherd's pie dinner, Nathan's specialty.

Then we hurried off to the fairgrounds to claim our grass spot, enjoy the music, and of course spend some time at the electric train display for Sam.

It was cooler this year and actually pretty comfortable (for Ridgecrest.)

Anna was really into the dancing. She kept at it all night. When it comes to physical activity she's really like that energizer bunny; she just keeps going and going... Lydia and Sam had fun dancing too but nothing like thier dad and sister.

I had decided we'd buy our own glow bracelets this year. But when Sam and I came back with a light-up ray gun the girls weren't satisfied with just a bracelet. Luckily, for my wallet they settled on the light-up fan and agreed to share it between the two of them. Happy Independence Day!