Claire’s Gymnastic’s Recital

Claire has been taking gymnastics at the American Fork Recreation Center since September and she absolutely LOVES it! She is in the advanced girl’s class (mostly kindergarteners). This past Saturday she had her gymnastics recital. It is very low-key and each class goes from station to station displaying what they learned through the year.

Claire started by doing two running jumps. Next she did her routine on the balance beam. The teacher spotted her carefully but Claire did really well. She even did a somersault on the beam. After the beam she nailed her routine on the bars. That is her best event and shows her real strength. She then finished with her floor routine. She was so brave and not phased at all to be performing in front of a lot of people. She did awesome!

We are so proud of you Claire!

Thanksgiving Point

This past week me, Drew and Ellie met up with Rachel and her kids and G’ma Jan and went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. Due to my hectic schedule it wasn’t perfect timing for me and honestly I wasn’t really thrilled to be going. However, it turned out to be a near perfect outing.

The weather was great, the kids were pretty good, and the tulips were amazing! I also really enjoyed looking at the new “I Am the Light of the World Sculpture Garden” that displayed bronze sculptures of Christ (and other biblical scenes). By the time I loaded up the kids and headed home I realized how grateful I was that I went. I am glad I didn’t pass up the chance for a little family fun and a lot of great scenery.


Drew & Ellie


G’ma Jan and some of the grandkids.


Me, Drew & Ellie


Ellie Bellie

Easter in St. George

It was a first for our family, Easter away from home. We decided to go and visit my Dad and Kathy in St. George. Although it was a little different than what we have done in the past, it turned out to be a wonderful weekend away.

Our trip began Friday after school. We loaded up the kids and headed out. We arrived in St. George around bedtime. The next morning we woke up and went to the Art Festival downtown. It was a beautiful day. We walked around and viewed all the artwork. It didn’t take long for the kids to find the water area. We then spent the next couple hours doing crafts in the kid’s corner and playing in the water. We found some yummy drinks to sip on and just hung out and played. It was a really fun afternoon. The kids were all tuckered-out by the end of the day.

The next day was Easter. The kids woke up to an endless amount of eggs and Easter baskets. It was a little chilly so the kids made quick work of their hunt. In the end everyone seemed happy and content with their findings. We then got ready and went to church. After church we came back to the house and were greeted with a deliciously prepared meal by my Dad and Kathy. We spent the rest of the day going on walks, riding bikes, playing with G’pas dog Heidi and visiting together.

Monday morning we got up bright and early and headed home. It was a really nice trip and especially fun to spend some quality time with G’ma and G’pa.

Happy 6th Birthday Claire!

The highly anticipated day has arrived, Claire’s birthday. She has been counting down the days for as long as I can remember. We didn’t plan a big party, as I only do one of those every couple years, but I did offer to take a couple of her friend’s to the swimming pool to play and then back for some yummy cake and presents.

Claire invited Cash and Allie over (and Kate too but she was out of town) and they played at the pool for a couple hours. Afterward we had some cake, opened a few presents and played some more. She got some fun summer toys, Sarina (her favorite Crib Life doll), a Cuttlekids and some dies to go with it, a digital scrapbook (birth to kindergarten), a new bike, some sandals, and money from Grandpa Gary and Grandma Kathy so she can go buy an outfit of her choice.


The whole gang

Later that evening after Seth came home from work, we went to Cafe Rio for dinner to celebrate. She even got to get a soda instead of water – and that is a big deal in a family of eight! After dinner we opened more presents and ate some more cake. It was a simple and yet sweet day for our “not-so” little Claire.

It is hard to come up with the words that really describe Claire. She is one of those kids you have to meet to appreciate, but I will do my best to describe her in a few words. She is independent, smart, sweet, affectionate, caring, stubborn, creative, coordinated, dramatic, beautiful, talented, tough, persistent, intelligent, inquisitive, and so much more. I love her so much and I can’t imagine our family without her in it.

Happy Birthday Claire! I love you so, so much!


Happy Birthday Claire!


Opening presents.


Claire and her new bike (with a bell, basket and kickstand just as she requested).


Jake and Claire


Claire and her friends.

Threepeat!

You could just feel the pressure.

For the last two years, Jacob has won the school spelling bee. His first win, as a fourth-grader, was totally unexpected. As a fifth-grader, the contest was still his to lose, but nothing could compare to this year.

He almost didn’t enter, because of the high expectations. Once he decided to go for it again, several of his buddies (who were his stiffest competition last year) bowed out. In the minds of all of his classmates, he was already the winner before he’d spelled a single word.

Jacob studied, but not as diligently as in previous years. He was a nervous wreck the day before the contest, to say nothing of the morning of. He was worried that Dad was going to be there and not Mom. He was worried that he hadn’t studied hard enough. He was feeling the pressure.

When the participating students lined up to pick their order they chatted, “Jacob Johnson is doing this again? Great, he’s just going to win it again now.”

The pressure was on. Jacob was issued number 42 of 63 kids. After the first couple words, he didn’t seem quite as nervous and confidently spelled each word given to him. In order, his words were:

  • similar
  • sabotage
  • immediately
  • astigmatism
  • succeed
  • fiasco
  • theatrical
  • adjudicate
  • hemorrhage
  • humidifier
  • valedictorian
  • transcendent
  • dilapidated
  • tachometer

When it got down to “adjudicate” there were only five kids left. Most of them were little fourth graders, and it was cool to see Jacob give them fist bumps when they got words correct.

And then, all of the sudden there were two. Jacob vs. a fourth grader. The fourth grader was noticeably nervous, and started spelling dilapidated with a D – E – L. Since you can’t go back and change what you’ve spelled, Jacob allowed a hint of a smile — he knew he’d won. Jacob calmly stepped up to the microphone and spelled dilapidated correctly. The judge gave the next word, tachometer, and Jacob breezed right through it. Pressure? What pressure? Jacob won again, completing the threepeat.

Jacob was a gracious winner and congratulated all of the other kids. Several of the moms congratulated him and one said that winning three times in a row might not happen again for a very long time, and I wager she is correct. Not many kids leave elementary school having never lost a spelling bee. Congratulations, Jacob!

Boy Scout – 2nd Class

Jake entered Boy Scouts last June when he turned eleven. Having your dad as the Scoutmaster gives you “extra” motivation to get your requirements done and merit badges completed quicker than normal.

Jake got his Tenderfoot rank back in December and as of yesterday he received his rank advancement to Second Class. He has been working hard and has completed 12 merit badges so far and is on target to be First Class and have 18 merit badges by his 12th birthday. We know how much work this takes and we are so proud of him for making this a priority with all the other stuff he has going on in his busy life! Way to go Jake!


Here is Jake explaining what he had to do to get his Second Class.


Here I am receiving my “mother’s pin” for all my efforts in helping him. 🙂


Scoutmaster Seth, Jake and me

Sports Galore

We are always involved in some type of sport around our house so I never think to post about it. Basketball season ended last month. Jake played on a team that played in several leagues so it went from October to February. We were happy to see it finally come to an end. Jake started the season off strong and hit three-pointers like nobody’s business. It was really fun to watch him and his confidence grow. By the end of the season he was shooting less, but his defensive skills increased a ton.

Megan and Katelyn played on a the same city league team. It was actually a 3/4th grade team, but since Seth was the coach we figured we could sneak Katelyn on as a 2nd grader. And the funny thing is, she fit in just fine. She kept up with most the girls on the team, no problem. Megan led the team in scoring and nobody could outrun her on the court. This year was Katelyn’s first year of basketball and she picked up on it right away. She dominated on defensive. Seth actually had to tell her to quit taking the ball from the girls she was defending so they could have a chance to play. She also scored several baskets and most of all, had a lot of fun.


Megan listening intently as her dad coaches the team.

Drew and his Dinosaurs

Drew has had a real obsession with dinosaurs. He plays with them ALL the time. I’ve noticed his favorite thing to do is take each dinosaur out of his bin and set them up in a row. It will sometimes take an hour to do this (he has a lot of dinos). He patiently sets each one up. I don’t recall all of my kids having such obsessions like Drew has had, but I want to document it so we have memory of it. If you ever come visit, ask him to show you his collection. He will be thrilled to do so!

Ellie’s Photo Shoot

A good friend of mine, Samantha, began doing photography a year or two back and happened to come into town when I felt the need to get Ellie’s “two year-old” photos taken. She does amazing work and you can see more of her stuff at Thunell Photography. Of course the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was freezing and a little windy too. Snow was quickly approaching so we made a quick 20 minutes of it. Ellie was likewise cold, but she loves to have her photo taken so she was quite the trooper. Here are a few of her shots.

Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun!

This past weekend we decided to turn a quick trip into a girl’s five-day getaway. Seth’s brother, Matt and his finance Jasmine (who we all love) decided to tie the knot in San Francisco. With only a few day’s notice, mom thought it might be fun for the girl’s to head down and surprise them at the courthouse.

We left Wednesday morning and drove 12 hours to San Francisco. Thankfully Jan, Seth’s Mom, had a friend who had an apartment in Redwood City and we were able to bunk there since her husband was out of town on business. We arrived in time to eat dinner and come back to the apartment for TV and sleep. The next morning we got up and went downtown for some shopping. Boy was that an experience! Honestly, I was a little uncomfortable and kept my mace and sharp end of my umbrella in hand for quick use if necessary. There were so many homeless people on the streets and sadly a lot of crazy people yelling about random things. I found it a little depressing, but I will admit that it didn’t take long to get used to it. We did some shopping and then had lunch at the cafe in Nordstrom. Of all places we ate, this was one of my favorites. The food was so good and the bread pudding was to die for. Yum!

After lunch we wrapped things up at the mall and headed toward the Courthouse. Of course with all the rain and humidity, my hair was a nightmare! I felt a little unkempt for a wedding! 🙂 The wedding was supposed to start at 3:00 so we arrived a little early. Jasmine looked beautiful and Matt just as handsome. They were so happy. Luckily they were able to get married out by the big stairs so we could all watch (instead of one of the tiny courthouse rooms). It was so fun to be there and support Matt and Jasmine. After the wedding we met up with them and Jasmine’s family at the Ferry Building. We shopped at the shops, visited, and finished off the night by having grilled cheese sandwiches (amazing!!) at the Cowgirl Creamery.


The girls at the ferry building with the ferry’s in the background


Here’s my lovely hair and my umbrella which I was always carting around with me.

The next morning we woke up and went to Stacks for breakfast with Matt, Jasmine and some of her family. The food was again so good! Rach and I shared an omelet and strawberry waffles. Did I mention how good the food was on this trip?! After breakfast we pulled out our umbrellas and braved the wet streets. It was pouring!


Jan, me, and Abby

It didn’t take long to realize we didn’t want to be walking in this weather. We headed back to the car and basically viewed all of San Francisco (probably several times) through the car windows. We drove and drove and drove and drove… This was the best view I got of the Golden Gate Bridge.

After a lot of driving we decided to once again brave the rain and we headed to China Town. We spent the rest of the evening there buying souvenirs for the kids back home. We finished the night off by eating at R & J Lounge, which came highly recommended by one of the locals at a nearby shop. The prices were outrageous, but we got to eat loads of seafood, even a deep fried crab, also highly recommended (but in my opinion wasn’t all that great). Other than being herded in like cattle and forced to eat and run, we quite enjoyed our food there.


China Town


R & J Lounge…we all shared! Yikes, that is a lot of food!

The last day, we decided to hit Fisherman’s Wharf, the Pier, Alcatraz, Ghirardelli Square, and other areas down by the water. This was a favorite day for me. We had a blast! Our first stop was Lombard Street. There is one section of the street in which the roadway has eight sharp turns (or switchbacks) that have earned the street the distinction of being the crookedest street in the world. We took pictures and then drove down it. The speed limit is only 5 mph, but it was a fun, and a little frightening adventure!


You can see Lombard Street in the background.

Next, we headed to Boudin Bakery on the Pier for a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Unfortunately, the clam chowder was a let down (it doesn’t hold a candle to the clam chowder at Market Street grill), but the bread was quite delicious. We then began hitting the shops on the pier and enjoying a day without much rain. Of course the lack of rain was too good to be true and as we made our way up to Ghirardelli’s the hail hit and we ran for cover in their shop and sipped on some yummy hot chocolate.

After more shopping, browsing and such we eventually headed back down to the Wharf. Unfortunately, the tickets for Alcatraz were sold out. Instead Rachel and I opted for a boat ride out around Alcatraz. Mom and Abby chose to do some more browsing while we went (probably a really smart idea). The wind was blowing and the ship was rocking. Water was sloshing up on the boat and it seemed we were almost completely sideways at times. Both Rach and I were a little nervous, but in the end we made it back safe. I got a few shots of Alcatraz, but I still would like to go back and get a real tour someday.


Me with San Francisco in the background.


As close as we ever got to Alcatraz.

Afterward we met up with Mom and Abby and spent quite some time at an old time arcade on the Wharf. It was pretty funny. We had our fortunes read, took our pictures in a photo booth, played an old-school wack-a-mole and listened to old-time pianos. It was fun!


Us being goofy with one of the games in the background.

We ate dinner at a seafood joint by the water. Of course, seafood is delicious and so fresh in California so we ate far more than our share this weekend. And of course we did more walking, shopping, and hot chocolate before we headed home. It was a great day!

I had such a fun time with those girls. It is a necessity to get out and have fun laughing, relaxing and playing with girls. Things were a little rocky on the home front and Seth felt that five days was a little too long to be away. I can understand how hard it can be with six kids so I will sympathize a little. 🙂 Due to weather over Donner’s Pass our trip was pushed out another day, but I went ahead and flew home on Sunday so Seth could make it to work the next day and have a little time-off from being the “mom”. Thanks hon for letting me go. I had a great time!


Jan, Abby, and I in front of a cable car