The Meek Family Circus

Christmas Memories

2012-01-16T20:52:00.001-08:00

The month before Christmas fly by in a flash. Off to stores and activities we would dash.
I'm afraid this best illustrates what we felt like.

Eva met Santa at our Ward Christmas Party. She was not scared one little bit. In fact she really wanted that candy cane.

We tried out some new recipes for treats this year. The first batch of cherry divinity that Abi and I made was gobbled up so we had to make a second batch; how sad. Abi and I also made eggnog marshmallows, interesting but a little over powering. Abi made haystacks, yummy. And then the kids and I made and decorated this fantastic Lofthouse style sugar cookies. Delish!!!

Leah is the vision of her favorite princess Rapunzel in this new dress, crown and wig.

Princess Squinkies were another huge hit with Leah.

Abi's pig hat from Eva was her favorite present.

Tal spazzed out over his new Lego Harry Potter game. I think he had it beat within a week.

My little Meeks were super cute in their new outfits from Nana and Papa Fife.

We rang in the New Year a little early, at 9 o'clock, with our cousins and family.

Toot, Toot. Happy New Year.

Goodbye 2011 - you were a great year.
Hello 2012 - we hope that you are even better.

Leah the Hambone

2012-01-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Leah is the funniest kid. She says and does things every day that just crack me up. I just love this picture of her in these goggles.
She just had to wear this hat. And then she had to wear it to bed. Not kidding.

The other morning she woke up at 4 in the morning. Trying to convince Kris that she needed to stay up she said, "But dad, I'm all out of dreams."

We were eating spaghetti one night. She took 2 of her little cut up noodles and held them above her eyes. "Look, baby eyebrows."

"Mom, I am going to marry Daddy. It's okay, you can marry Daddy too."

Leah has an imaginary friend named Turbean. ( I really have no idea how to spell it but that is how she says it.) He is a prince and she is going to marry him. Many mealtimes we have to pull up a chair and set Turbean a place to eat with us. Luckily because he is invisible he eats invisible food. One dinner time we were naming the different kind of beans: green beans, yellow beans, chili beans, jelly beans etc. when Leah piped up ," and Turbeans."

Six months and growing

2012-01-16T12:38:00.001-08:00

Evangeline turned 6 months old in the middle of December but with the rush of the holidays I got behind. Then my computer was out of commission from just before Christmas until last weekend. I felt as though my left hand had been cut off. But here is the 6 month update on my little sweetie.
Christmastime was so fun with little Evangeline. She attended Dad's work and 7th District Christmas parties and was the belle of the ball in her little Christmas dress. She loved the paper and ribbons of the presents, crumpling and sticking everything in her mouth. When I set her up for a little photo shoot our Christmas tree also merited a little taste testing.
Eva cut her first tooth on December 10th. The second tooth followed almost two weeks later but you can hardly ever see them because she always has her tongue sticking out. Her tongue was her favorite entertainment for quite a while, tasting and licking everything. She even sucks on her tongue at night, too cute. She is able to sit on her own for just a few minutes but then bobbles over. Toys are beginning to hold Eva's interest. She likes to mouth the little people nativity figures and pull on the monkey on her car seat handle.
Eva also rolled from her front to her back on purpose on Dec. 10th. But she like rolling from back to front better. One of our favorite times is each evening when I lay her out on a blanket, take off her clothes to her onesie and rub her down with lotion. She giggles and laughs as I tickle her with my hair, blow raspberries on her belly, and "Boo" at her. Then she rolls herself onto her tummy and scootches around on her blanket after her toys.
Eva sure loves her food. Most nights she practically dives out of her Bumbo for her cereal and applesauce. At meal times she loves gumming little bits of bread or rolls. We just introduced peaches and graham crackers, both of which she loves. All that nutrition keeps her growing and growing. At her 6 month appt she was 28.25 in and 17 lb 1 oz. That's 99+% for height and 70% for weight. Eva had to move up to her 12 months clothes just after Christmas.

New Family Pictures

2011-12-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

For your viewing enjoyment :)

Evangeline at 3 months,

Abiela 10 years

Talmage 8 years

Leah 3 years

Donalee and Kris - 12 years and counting

Cutest family ever!!!

Eva at 5 months

2011-12-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Eva reached some big milestones this month. She first tried cereal on Nov. 10th. Of course the first few times I doubt if more than a trickle made it into her tummy, but a lot sure covered her face. Now she loves her cereal every night. She practically dives out of her Bumbo for each spoonful. Of course then she also blows several of those spoonfuls all over mommy. Eva moved out of mommy and daddy's room and into her crib in Leah's room. Well, I should say that Eva would start out the night in her crib in her room but between 1 and 2 am would wake up and be taken back into mommy's bed to nurse and snuggle the night away. Until...

Eva also slept through the night for the first time this month on Nov 30th, from 11 pm-7:30 am. Mom kept waking up during the night to go check on her. The night after she slept straight until 6:00 am. Unfortunately the third night she was back to her old schedule of 1:30 am. Mommy didn't mind too much, I missed my little snuggler. Eva has been rolling from her tummy to her back since she was about 4 months old. Well, she will roll herself over when she wakes up at least. But try as I might, I cannot get her to roll over while awake. I coax her with toys and smiles, but nothing. Eva is also really close to sitting up by herself. She will bobble for a few seconds then inevitably reach for something and topple.

Eva learned how to blow raspberries. It is literally the cutest thing ever. Enjoy!!!

Fall Fun

2011-11-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

Our leaves were just starting to fall one October afternoon when Princess Leah, Eva and I ventured outside to play. I raked a good pile for Leah to run and jump in.

But Leah's favorite activity was piling leaves on Eva.

At October's pack meeting Talmage earned his Wolf Bade in Pack Meeting. I think he was a little excited. Tal really enjoys going to Cub Scouts and all of the fun activities he does there and at home.

My little kids are the cutest Trick or Treaters. Tal repeated as Captain Rex from Star Wars. Leah was Princess Leah of course. ( I didn't even have to buy a costume, just add a little make-up and sparkles.) Eva is a sweet little bunny. And Abi is the goddess Aphrodite. Mom is quite remarkable with a sheet and safety pins.

Tal and Abi carved their own pumpkins this year. Didn't they do an awesome job. Mom helped Leah out with hers. She offered creative instruction.

Eva at 4 months

2011-11-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

Our little sweetie muffin is growing and growing. At her 4 month appointment she was 27 inches long and 14 lb 7.5 oz. Eva was in the 60th percentile for her weight but her height is in the 99th percentile. She is so long that I had to put her 3-6 month clothes away and pull out the 6-9 month box. Eva is getting stronger and stronger and sits in her Bumbo seat well now. While mommy gets ready in the mornings I set her Bumbo on the bathroom counter and let her talk to the baby in the mirror. She waves her arms and coos at the baby in the mirror as well as all other babies.

Eva loves taking baths. And I love lotioning her up and giving her kisses. Her little legs are getting so chubby and she is soft and sweet. She continues to love her nightly rub downs. She will start giggling as soon as I start taking off her clothes. Kris can nuzzle her in the belly and really get her laughing. With mom she loves to grab my hair and be tickled in the face.

Kris pulled out the saucer for Eva to try and she loved it. She's tall enough to stand in it and she likes to play with the toys. Tal and Leah love to help her. Eva also loves to put everything in her mouth for a taste and nibble. Her favorite toys are the monkey and elephant that hang from her car seat handle. She can pull down on the monkey to start it buzzing and she swats at the elephant to make it swing and it's bells to jingle. So smart.

Eva was a sweet little bunny for Halloween. She slept through the ward Trunk or Treat though so she will have to get her candy second hand. Eva continues to be a happy, sweet baby and we all love and spoil her so very much.

Eva at 3 months

2011-09-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

It is hard to remember our family without little Eva. Her precious smile brings so much joy into our lives. She is a very friendly baby and smiles quickly for family and strangers. Everyone in our family coaxes her to "Give me some Smileys" to which she readily complies. She has also just learned to laugh and will giggle along with mom or when tickled under her chin. Evangeline continues to be a snuggly baby and loves to be held, nursed, carried and rocked. At night she sleeps in the crook of mom's arm, switching from side to side as she nurses. Mom doesn't mind as she loves snuggling with her little "Sweetie Muffin" as well. During the day Eva takes 3 pretty consistent naps: a 20-30 minute morning nap in the swing while mom grabs a quick shower, an early afternoon nap usually in the front pack, and a longer later afternoon nap on mommy's bed. Eva LOVES her bath now. She wiggles and splashes her way off the tub cub so that mom keeps having to scoot her back up. After her bath when she is all lotioned and smelling sweet, I love to give her kisses. Another of Eva's favorite activities is her nightly rub down. She kicks her legs, smiles, coos and talks to me while I massage her arms, legs and belly. Eva is growing stronger and stronger and now can sit in her Bumbo chair for 20 minutes or so. She is still a little wobbly so that by the end of that 20 minutes she is really starting to schlump in the chair. Eva still loves to be carried in the front pack but now she likes to turn facing out when she is awake so that she can see everything. But when she is sleepy she is content to turn around and snuggle into mom while being carried around. Her hair is starting to fill in and now she has a little fuzzy blonde head. Her eyes are still the brightest blue while her eye lashes are growing long but continue to be blonde as well.

This and That

2011-09-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

Abi and Tal started school the end of August. Both kids were so excited to have new teachers and make new friends. Mom was super excited to get back into a routine. However it was soooooo hard to give up sleeping in mornings. Abi is turning into a little fashionista. She and I had so much fun shopping for school clothes together. At each store we would find more and more things we liked. Finally we just had to say, "Stop! We have enough." She even worked hard and saved up enough money to buy these chic suede boots. Tal decided that he wanted to sport a fauxhawk like one of his friends. As9 Tal is all boy, his wardrobe consists solely of Lego T-shirts, jeans, and a few shorts tiding over from the summer.

Leah took a little spill one Sunday afternoon while climbing up the vanity in the bathroom and split her chin open. Kris had just left for Home Teaching so he quickly dropped off brownies and took Leah to the Redicare. Leah was so brave, she didn't even cry when she got her 5 stitches!!! She just said, "That tickles." She wore a Dora bandaid over the stitches for 5 days and then she was good to go.

On Labor Day we took a little family outing up to Mesa Falls. The kids really enjoyed the Visitor's Center in the Inn where we could touch skins and antlers from many different animals. We did a little geocaching along the way and learned the valuable lesson of "If the trail disappears, there is probably an easier way."

One weekend my creative kids decided to make a volcano. With very little instruction or assistance they made this paper mache' volcano and painted it.

The next day they set it off in the back yard. With a little red food coloring, baking soda and vinegar, the volcano was a booming success.

Our little Leah is finally potty trained. Once the older kids got back in school we just decided to pull out the panties and go for it. She and I made a Princess Potty Chart that she decorated with Disney Princess stickers each time she was successful. I washed a lot of clothes at first but after a week and a half she had filled up her chart and earned her Rapunzel dress-up dress. Congratulations on being a big girl, Leah!!!

Family Reunion Fun

2011-09-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Fife Clan 2011

This past August we gathered the whole Fife clan together in Island Park, ID for a weekend of food, family and fun. My parents rented this awesome cabin called "The Mangy Moose." It had tons of space for us to spread out in and even a family of moose that would wander by each evening. We took turns preparing meals and and heading up activities. The kids especially loved going on 4 wheeler rides. This game is "See how many kids you can ride at once." Good thing Kris and Brian were great sports. We also tried out geocaching for the first time. Geocaching is treasure hunting with a GPS.

The kids were super excited to find the cache of toys and such in the wheel hub of this rusted out old car. Geocaching also helped introduce us to the local law enforcement. Kris and Brian each had a 4 wheeler full of kids while Dad, Jared, Mallory, Kalene with Bella on lap, me with Eva on lap piled into the Explorer with Leah and Sage in the back. As we followed the compass around on the iPhone we bajaed down through the church parking lot and onto a main road where we passed a friendly deputy. He quickly flipped a U-turn and came after us lights blazing. We in the Explorer panicked over out unbelted little ones and loudly encouraged Leah and Sage to lay down in the back. The officer passed us by and pulled up behind the 4 wheelers. At that time we in the Explorer took a quick left off the road into Mack's Inn and left the 4 wheelers to fend for themselves. "Stinkers" Brian texted us. Luckily they got off with just a warning. I could not stop laughing and giggled the whole way home and most of the night.

The cousins put on a fantastic talent show for us. Abi and Gabby are lip synching to "Hot and Cold." Tal and Sterling had some blackmail worth crazy dancing that we caught on video for future generations. We also had a blast playing some "Minute To Win It" games like a pencil catch, ice fishing marbles with your toes and everybody's favorite "Bottoms Up." It was a riot watching each of us try to knock plastic cups off of the table using a yo-yo tied on behind. Jared especially had a "smashing" good time and proved that "Bottom's Up" is a contact sport and proper "support" should be required.

Our cabin was just off of Henry's Fork above Mack's Inn. We loaded up the canoe and inner tubes for a little float down the river. Somehow the canoeists always ended up towing the tube floaters. The little floaters had such a great time they wanted to float again and again. Being close to Mack's Inn brought back many memories of when I was a kid and my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins would crowd into a cabin at Mack's Inn. We would stay up late playing cards, running wild, catching minnows, and having a wonderful time. During the weekend my sister Kalene asked me if now that it was our turn to be the moms at the reunion if we were Aunt Patsi and my mom, Donetta.

One of ourfavorite childhood memories of those reunions was feeding the fish up at Big Springs and visiting the John Sack cabin. A school of huge trout lived under the bridge and would swim out into the open water to gobble the chunks of bread or left over pancake that we would throw over the side. But now there were only a few medium sized trout and they were not at all interested in out bread chunks. A hungry little muskrat came swimming out and gathering the little chunks though to take back to his family. This year we bypasses the cabin tour as the little ones found it "BORING!!!" on a previous trip.

Our family reunion was celebrated over my birthday. Happy 34!!! Leah was nice enough to share her Birthday Princess crown with me while my family sang "Happy Birthday" replete with Cha Cha Cha's. My wonderful mom made my favorite, raspberry cheesecake. One night we watched a movie, "Rio" on the big screen that Brian brought up. Another night we roasted marshmallows and made smores. We played bean bags and cards, stuffed ourselves silly, and created lasting loving family memories.

All about Eva

2011-08-21T14:29:00.001-07:00

Of course its all about Eva. For the past 2 months she has dictated my sleep, my mood, our schedule and our outings. She's such a precious addition to our family that we haven't minded too much. But now at 2 months we are starting to get a semblance of a life back and so I'm trying to steal a minute to catch up. Remember, this is my journal so if the stories bore you I won't feel badly if you just peruse the pictures.
Eva was only 2 weeks old on the 4th of July so we celebrated pretty tamely. We skipped out on the parade and fireworks but mom did dress her up cute to attend a couple of BBQ's.
As Eva turned 1month that inevitable blessing rash appeared. It was enhanced with a little heat rash from having her nestled against me for nursing and sleeping in the hot July weather. Eva loves to be cuddled, held and carried. In fact that is the only way that she will sleep now, someone must be holding her. Otherwise after a few minutes she starts rustling. She starts with a little wiggle which then her arms moving like a prize fighter. Then she starts grunting and fussing making a sound like she's clearing her throat. It is so funny. She spends a great portion of her day snuggled in the front of mom's cool Moby wrap. After a brief stint in her cradle, Evangeline spends the majority of the night snuggled up with mom in bed. It makes nursing so much more convenient and then I don't fall asleep in the chair with a crinked neck. Eva started smiling just after she turned one month. Her first smile was on July 20th, 2011. They are sooo sweet and she generously smiles at all of our family, but the most for mom. Eva loves her lotion rub downs at night and is beginning to like baths, but just for a minute or two.

We blessed Evangeline on Sunday August 7th, 2011. It was a joyous celebration with our family and friends. Eva was so adorable in her blessing dress. It is the same dress that both Abi and Leah wore as well. Eva was blessed by her father, Kristopher with many family and friends standing in her circle. Our friend Derrick Thompson mentioned that just before Kris started, Eva looked up toward heaven as if opening the conduit. We celebrated with a lovely luncheon at our home afterward.
We quickly rounded us all up for a quick picture of our family.
At 2 months of age Evangeline is still the star of our family. She is growing so big and fast, she even has little chubby rolls on her thighs. At her 2 month check up she was 24 1/4 inches long and 11 lb 14 oz. She is 97% for her height and 80% for weight. She continues to be a fantastic nurser with NO colic, hallelujah. We are starting to settle into a semblance of a routine which I'm sure will get better as the older kids go back to school. She normally takes a 20 minute nap in the swing around 10ish which gives mom just enough time to run through the shower. She has another couple of naps throughout the day, usually while being carried around by mom in the Moby wrap or held by either mom, Abi or Tal and occasionally in the swing. She loves her lotion rub down about 8:30 or 9:00 where she will smile and coo, kick her legs and swing her arms. Then we dress her in her nightgown and nurse for the night. Eva insists on being rocked to sleep and her bedtime seems internally set at about 11:00pm. We're working on moving that up. She sleeps in her cradle at the foot of our bed until about 2:00 am when she wakes up to nurse and gets to snuggle in bed with mommy. She wakes again about 5:00 to nurse and then we sleep until about 8:00 am when her bright blue eyes bing open for the day.
Eva loves to go outside. She smiles and coos as long as I keep her in the shade. In the sun she squeezes her eyes shut and wrestles about trying to get out of the glare. But in the shade she is just as sweet as can be. This day she cooperated and let me capture on of those sweet smiles.

Welcome Evangeline

2011-06-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Evangeline Meek, our littlest angel, debuted on Friday June 17th, 2011 at 9:11 am. She weighed 7 lb 7 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Her arrival was long anticipated by our family and we are so grateful to have her finally here. Mom, Donalee, had been experiencing false labor off and on for about 2 weeks. Finally true labor kicked in early Friday morning about 2:00 am. By 5:00 am we had alerted Nana Fife who rushed over so we could head to the hospital. Labor progressed very quickly from 5 cm to 8 cm and mom was very glad to get an epidural. Thankfully things slowed down a little and mom could get a rest before pushing. Having an epidural let Eva labor down the birth canal more controlled and it only took 3-4 sets of contractions of pushing before our little one was born. She was a little bruised and beat up but the most beautiful baby in the world to us.
Kris and I had been debating names for months and months. We had a list but our two favorites were Evangeline, after one of his great-grandmothers I found doing family history, and Eliza, he also has a grandmother named Elizabeth. He was very gracious and let me make the final decision. It still took about an hour but I felt like she looked more like an Evangeline than an Eliza.
Evangeline, or Eva, is truly a little angel. She took to nursing right away and eats like a champ. She has the sweetest disposition and rarely cries or fusses. A week old now she has surpassed her birth weight and weighs 7 lb 9.5 oz. She has had a touch of jaundice which necessitated every other day trips to the doctor for bilirubin checks but no light therapy. She has become an excellent sleeper. At 4 days of age she scared me when I woke up at 3 am feeling very full with a still peacefully sleeping baby. She has kept up the 3-4 hour stretches of sleep at night since then. (I'm still crossing my fingers.) She loves to be held and look around but she is also content to sit in her bouncy chair while awake as long as she is in the middle of the action. She is starting to enjoy her nightly lotion rub downs. Every member of our family is sooooo in love with her and loves to hold and cuddle her. Right now Kris is asleep in the rocker with a sleeping Eva on his chest. Leah loves to look at and tickle her feet as well as give her sweet kisses on the forehead. Both Abi and Talmage are great holders which allows mom to get a shower, nap or do a few dishes. We are so grateful to have Evangeline safely here and love our newest addition so much.

Happy 3rd Princess Leah

2011-06-12T14:30:00.001-07:00

Leah loves everything princess, so of course we had to have a princess themed birthday party. She loved her Princess Birthday cake so much that she carried the "Barbie" from the cake around and to bed for several days. Leah requested a "pink" cake and "pink" ice cream for her birthday, but I also made chocolate cupcakes for the rest of us.
It was a gorgeous day so we played games out on the lawn. Abi made this adorable castle bean bag game.
All of the cousins enjoyed pulling the ribbon on the princess crown pinata. Leah was so excited about it that she kept it in her room for a few days after.
Mommy and Daddy bought her a princess scooter. I picked it up about a week before her birthday thinking that she would forget but she kept begging me and everyone to get out her "Princess Scooter" so that she could ride. That scooter was quickly forgotten however when she opened this tent from Uncle Eric. We could not get her out. She loves to set it up outside or in and "hide". She pulls all of her babies and pillows inside and plays. Abi bought her sidewalk chalk, bubbles and princess wands. Tal bought her bubbles and an outside ball. Other family members spoiled her with princess dress-up, princess books and a whole bag of clothes from Nana Meek. Leah really enjoyed her dinner out at Arctic Circle with Nana and Papa Fife. I'm sure the slide was her favorite. But she couldn't find any dress-up shoes because as she told Nana Fife, they were "too dangerous."
Even though she is 3 now and getting so big, she is still my little baby. At least for a week or too. This little picture definitely reminds me of that. And now:

Ten Things I Love About Leah

Leah is soooo expressive. Some of her favorite expressions are "That was so Wicked" or "Yahoo!!!" Her eyebrows furl when angry and her nose crinkles up. She sobs and wails when upset. She tilts her head when inquisitive. But mostly she smiles a broad happy smile.
She has such an imagination. She wears her princess clothes nearly every day - to the store, to church, and around the house. The Sunday after her birthday she went to Nursery adorned with crown and wand. She loves to play pretend and copy story lines from movies. Currently, she is Simba and I am Nala from "The Lion King."
She is fiercely independent. She has to put her shirt on. She has to pick which bathroom to wash her hands in. She has to climb in and out of the van by herself. She refuses to take naps any more. Instead she takes "rests" on the couch with a movie where she falls asleep about every other day. She has to say all of the prayers in our family "by herself."
She is "thankful for Sponge Bob." She prays it at every prayer. But she is also thankful for food and our family. Leah loves Netflix. The little toot can use the remote to pick her favorite shows and go to the next episode. She gets into ruts where she will want all Sponge Bob, or Pink Panther or Backyardigans.
Leah loves her babies. She is always carrying an assortment of little dolls, or Barbies, play spoons, princess wands or any other little thing that catches her fancy. These little treasures go everywhere with us as well. I have a purse full of treasures that she drops and I rescue for the inevitable. The inevitable being that she takes a pile of treasures to bed with her an heaven help you if you can't find the one fairy or Strawberry Shortcake that she is enamored with right then.
Leah loves books. Currently she has several that she likes to read over and over. We read 2 every night but she also pulls them out and tries to get people to read to her at other times. Several of her books she has memorized and likes to "read" to me. A few of these are "Dust Bunnies", "There's a Wocket in My Pocket" and "Fox on a Box." She also has her own "little scriptures" a small hymnal of mine that she reads during scripture reading. She loves when it is her turn to repeat/ read a scripture.
Leah loves to be outside. She loves walks around the block or greenbelt, jumping on the trampoline, playing in her sand box and picking my flowers for me. She helped me plant my garden and always wants to be out weeding, watering and tromping around with me.
Leah loves Nursery. Not sacrament meeting so much but it is a rare day that we have to go out in the hall now. But she loves nursery. She loves to play with the other kids, snacks, bubbles, and especially her teacher. Heaven bless those Nursery Leaders.
She loves to sing. Every night daddy or I sing her 2 or 3 or 4 songs. She always wants one more. She loves to sing at family home evening. And she loves to sing any other time she can coax me into Wise Man or Popcorn Popping. She also loves I Am A Child of God, I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home, and Do as I'm Doing. Leah sings little snippets from her princess movies like Ariel's Ah Ah Ah scale. We can tell if she's not very tired because she will lie in her bed and sing and sing at night.
Leah loves her family. She is delighted that Abi and Tal are now home for the summer. She adores Abi and follows her everywhere getting into all of her things. She loves to wrestle and jump on the trampoline with Talmage. She shouts "Daddy, Daddy" when Kris comes home at night. She likes to hug the baby in my belly and says "Ooh she is pushing hard." Leah gives the sweetest squeezer hugs and little kisses.

Shoshone Falls Road Trip

2011-06-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend we barbequed, worked outside and visited graves while the weather was sunny and warm. Then when Memorial Day dawned wet, cold and rainy, we hopped in the van and took a road trip to Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, ID. I had been there once when I was an early teen with my family but neither Kris nor my kids had ever been. As we got on the road I remarked about how since moving back home 5 years ago we have really gotten out of the rhythm of road trips. But with lunch, snacks and the DVD player we all weathered the trip really well.
With record water flow this year, Shoshone Falls did not disappoint. We had to wait in line about 30 minutes to get into the park, but once inside it is a short little walk to the different look outs. It was sunny at the falls but we headed back to the van for our jackets because there is so much spray coming off of the falls that you get soaked at the look outs. You can't even see the bottom for all of the spray because they are running so heavy. But Shoshone Falls is even taller than Niagara Falls.

One of Kris's former mission companions, Elder Thatcher, lives in Twin Falls with his family so we stopped by for a short visit. That was a really fun reunion. If I had thought about it I should have gotten a picture to see what a difference 12 years makes :)

Abi turns 10!!!

2011-05-15T21:01:00.001-07:00

How does this happen? It seems like one minute you are feeding, diapering, and snuggling this sweet little Bunkins and the next she is growing up into a beautiful young woman. Abi recently celebrated her 10th birthday and I felt like I had to pinch myself. Sure, I know this smart, funny girl but it seems like the little chubby cheeked baby is not so far away either.

Once again we celebrated Abi's birthday over a string of days. Her birthday was also the day of her GATE ( Gifted and Talented Education) play, The Jungle Book. She was running from school to school and had a night performance so we kept it pretty low key. She opened her presents that morning and the whole family came to watch her performance that night. ( More later.)
Abi had requested The Sims for the wii but it was rated T for teen. Kris spied Dance, Dance Revolution and knew that this was the game for Abi. She LOVED it.

Friday night Abi had her sleepover with favorite cousin Gabby. She requested fried chicken and potato salad for dinner. Then she and Gabs had a blast challenging each other on DDR. The next day I took the girls skating. No, I did not skate but Leah did. I held her hands and walked around and around the rink helping her. She was delighted. Then on Saturday night we had Abi's family party with cake and ice cream. Abi requested a coconut and strawberry shortcake, not a shaped cake. She is getting sooooo grown up. It was a very moist cake and shlumping right before the picture so we turned it around and sang "Happy Birthday" really quickly. I punked her with re-lighting candles. They were sparking like sparklers and really surprised her. Abi received several wonderful presents including cute clothes, a new purse, a latch hook set, jewelry, bubble bath set, and money. She is scheming and planning about what to do with it.

Abi had a great time performing in The Jungle Book. All of her teachers kept saying how expressive and dramatic she was. She played one of Kaa's coils, a monkey, a wolf cub, and part of the jungle. It was a great musical and so fun to see her stretch her talents. So, in honor of 10 great years, here are:

10 Things I love about Abi

1. Her laugh. She has a giggle like a burst of sunshine. It makes the rest of of laugh as well.
2. She is growing into a beautiful young woman. Pink is no longer her only fashion choice but she loves flower clips in her hair, wearing skirts, purses and pedicures.
3. She is a perfectionist. Mostly a good trait - her Idaho History pages are works of art. She sets her goals high and works hard to achieve them.
4. She is soooooo curious. I thought we got past "Why?" about age 3 but Abi is always questioning what something is, how it works or what words mean.
5. She loves music and makes good choices in what she listens to. She loves listening to her iPod or her radio while she cleans her room or colors. She loves to put music on the computer and dance about while we all do the dishes together after dinner.
6. She is becoming a talented pianist. Her songs are beginning to sound like music, you can tell which ones she really likes because she practices them over and over.
7. She is a great big sister. Leah absolutely adores her. Abi is patient, sharing and playful with her. Abi helps Leah play games and shares treats and toys with her.
8. She loves books. Over the past year Abi and I have read several of the same Young Adult series like the Percy Jackson series and Fablehaven. It is fun to discuss them together and have that common love with her.
9. Abi is a beautiful ballerina. She is so graceful and LOVES to dance. When we had to talk about cutting down to one activity for next year, she unhesitatingly chose ballet.
10. Abi has a very sweet, spiritual and compassionate nature. She loves and understands the gospel well and tries hard to live it. She can be the peacemaker in our home. She is very good at showing love and kindness to those around her.

Keeping Busy

2011-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Tal has been working really hard in Tae Kwon Do. He just tested for and earned his green belt. It was so fun to watch him execute his forms during the test. He was very focused and sharp. He has come a long way.
Tal is pretty proud to be advancing to the next level. And from what I saw in the sparring portion of the test, we just don't want to mess with Tal. :)
I don't think that you could call it nesting, it's more like "Aaaaaagh, I have a billion things to get done before this baby comes." And one of those things was the remodel of our downstairs bathroom. It all started with just a plan to paint the bathroom and escalated into sanding down the walls, retexturing ( by my dad), new paint, new vanity and light, new accessories, and new storage shelves in the cubby ( also built by my awesome dad). But in the end, it does look awesome, if a little bright and I am slowly paying my penance to the budget worksheet. Abi loves it by the way.

Hoppy Easter

2011-05-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we crashed the Lewisville Community Easter Egg Hunt; Nana and Papa invited us. Our kids each made quite the haul. Abi discovered that it's great to be in the oldest age group because there are the fewest kids, but she was great to share with Leah, Tal and other kids who didn't get as much. Leah was excited about the Easter Bunny from afar but not to keen on getting up close and personal.

Sunday morning the little Meeks bounded out of bed to see what treasures the Easter Bunny had left them. Each one received a basket of goodies with candy, special mini cereals and books. Leah also received the movie 'Tangled" and Abi and Tal received Tithing/Spending/Saving banks. All of the kids loved hunting for the Easter eggs. Leah really got into this year and spent a good chunk of the morning hiding and refinding the eggs.

Of course I have to post a brag picture 0f my little cuties in their Easter finest. They were so beautiful to take to church Easter morning, we even made it close to on time.

Big Steps for Leah

2011-04-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

There are big changes occurring in the Meek house. We are all busily preparing for the arrival of our baby girl in June. For Leah that means transitioning from "the Baby" to a "Big Girl." Although if you ask her she will say, "I'm not a Big Girl, I'm Leah. I'm a princess." In fact one of her favorite activities is to dress up like a princess. She also loves princess movies, princess Barbies and singing the songs off of Disney Princess movies. Leah has a great imagination. She will turn almost anything into a mommy, daddy, baby, Princess, or King ______. She is a happy little girl that loves playing games, especially Hungry Hippos and Candyland, playing dolls, play dough, painting, coloring and "helping". We are also working on becoming potty trained, but definitely at Leah's pace and direction. This means that she pees in the potty when she wants to to get jelly beans, 3 for each success. ( She's obviously my daughter if she can be bribed so easily with jelly beans.) Some days she will initiate, some days I ask, and some days she refuses all together.

This weekend Leah also moved from her converted crib/ toddler bed into a Big Girl Twin Bed. She was thrilled. Like all other furniture, Leah thinks it is a jungle gym however. She is quite the climber. Leah helped pick out her new pink sheets and this fun fuzzy pillow. She loves her "ABC" as she calls it comforter that was originally made for Abi's first bed and then cut down for Leah. But the biggest step was getting rid of the "Minky" or binky. I had put it off and off, terrified of sleepless crying nights and nap times. She fussed a bit each nap and night time but we tried to redirect her attention with a new blanket and lots of songs. Eventually she went to sleep without it. We are 4 days out now and she doesn't even ask anymore. Hooray!!!

Pinewood Derby

2011-03-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

Tal's first Pinewood Derby in Cub Scouts was smashing success. Tal and Kris came up with this concept to make a Harry Potter car with the car being a broom and Tal's Lego Harry Potter riding it. It turned out soooo cool. Their primary goal was to make it a cool unique car but it also turned out to be fast. He was thrilled once the races started and he began winning. Tal won second place over all out of 40 odd boys ( we have a tri-ward troop). By the end of the night Kris was scheming how to make it even faster for next year. It's funny how the competition gets to the dads when before the race started Kris and I had been talking to Tal about how he should act if he didn't win and that it was just fun to build the car and race it :)

Harry Potter astride his Firebolt

Chicken and Waffles, What?

2011-03-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

Having grown up in the Mountain West, I had no exposure to soul food. So when my husband first heard about "Chicken and Waffles" I was totally opposed. You just don't mix dinner food in with your breakfast. But when his birthday rolled around, guess what he chose for dinner. As he said, "It's my birthday, so I get whatever I want." In our house at least, he's right. Thanks to Winco for the chicken and me for the waffles. Mix them together with some maple syrup and ... it's not to bad.
But this was better, Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake. Yummy!!! Happy 33rd Babe, I love you.

New Beginnings

2011-03-03T13:30:00.001-08:00

Talmage was baptized on Saturday February 19th by his dad Kris. It was such a special day for him and we are so proud of him for making this big step in his life. We held a family baptism due to scheduling conflicts with the Stake baptism day. As a mom, I thought that the family baptism was an amazing experience. We filled the little center section of the Primary room with family and friends. Talmage's grandpa Terry Fife and great-grandma Arlene Hayes gave powerful and personal talks on baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Then Tal was baptized by his dad. Kris told me later that Tal said, "I'm glad I'm a boy because then I can baptize people in that warm water." The Howell cousins and Abi and Tal sang a special musical number, "If I Listen with My Heart." The whole program was so great because we had family members saying the prayers, leading the music, etc. Tal was then confirmed by his dad. We felt so blessed to have many family members able to stand in the confirmation circle including Papa Fife, Uncle Lee, Uncle Wynn, Uncle Brian, cousin Sam, Br Nelson - former Primary teacher, and Bishop Harris. After the program we enjoyed a tasty brunch that so many family members were willing to contribute to. We all felt so loved to have so many family members, ward members and friends support Tal on his special day.

Talmage with his former and current Primary Teachers
Br and Sis Nelson, Sis Klassen, Sis Roe and Sis Perez

Howell and Meek cousins
( Cousins Emily and Justin did not want to be in the picture.)

Turning eight also means beginning the adventure of Cub Scouts. Tal was so proud to wear his new uniform to his first den meeting. Just a week later we had the Blue and Gold Banquet for Pack Meeting. Tal and I made this cake for the decorating contest. When I say Tal and I, I really mean it. He mixed the cake. He mixed the frosting. I did most of the base layer of frosting but he dried it with the hair dryer ( we were in a hurry). Then I taught him how to make stars and shells and he decorated the cake. When his hand got tired I helped him squeeze the bag and guide him a little but he did the decorating. I'm really proud of him and how well it turned out.

How Great to Be Eight

2011-02-16T20:29:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to believe that my little Tally Bear turned eight years old. He is officially a big boy now. Talmage is getting baptized this Saturday and he is very excited. The bishop said that he aced his interview and knew all of the answers to the baptismal questions. He also starts Cub Scouts tomorrow and is ecstatic about that. For his birthday he received his Cub Scout uniform, Wolf book and a pocket knife. He was very grown up about the pocket knife and gave it to his dad for safe keeping until he learns how to use it. ( I guess they had a little talk about being responsible for his pocket knife earlier.)

For his birthday this year he got to have a sleep over with his cousin Sterling the night before. They were up before the birds, 5:52 to be exact and ready to play Wii; which with the two of them involves lots of whooping and yelling. This mean mom tromped out of bed in her bathrobe and made them watch a movie until 8:00 am when I would get up though. Then he had his birthday breakfast of Captain Crunch Berry cereal and hot chocolate. Also for his birthday he received his own set up scriptures, a black snap cover quad that he felt sooooo grown-up picking out. Tal got to pick a fun activity to do with Sterling and our family. He chose to go swimming at the Aquatic Center. After a little bit of splashing and sliding down the slide he asked if they could jump off the diving board. I hesitantly said yes. Tal shook a little as he climbed the ladder for the high dive and waited a few seconds too long, but then he took a breath and jumped right in. He obviously thought, "That was awesome!!!" because he proceeded to jump off over and over.
On Sunday we had cake and ice cream with family. He requested a Batman cake this year. Thanks to a tube of pre-made black Wilton icing, this cake was a cinch compared to other years. He loved all of this gifts from family of Legos and Magnetix. We don't call him our "Lego Maniac" for nothing. As I looked at the baby picture of him and me hanging in his room tonight I marveled again at how much my chubby cheeked little baby boy has grown up. Here are 10 things all about him:

Tal is so creative. From Lego bases and original ships, to cardboard box armor, and his own Flip-O'Rama books, Tal loves to make and create things. (Mom tries to sigh and look past the mess.)
He has an ear for music. He can play the theme from Star Wars and a few others by ear on the piano. His favorite songs he memorizes quickly and will delight unsuspecting audiences with an impromptu concert.
He loves potty humor, Captain Underpants books, monsters, fart jokes, stories about monsters, and guns, or acid and things blowing up.
His favorite food is probably Macaroni and Cheese. He also loves pepperoni pizza, cocktail wieners, and soda. But after a recent joking play on words he refuses to eat the "tenders" of a chicken.
Tal bursts into a room. Whether it is through the front door with a bang after school, or bolting out of his bedroom like a rifle shot in the morning, Tal always makes his presence known.
He is a great big brother. Tal will build train tracks for Leah, comfort her when she is sad, or play crazy pillow stacking, couch jumping games with her until she laughs like crazy.
He hates kissing. He will cover his eyes during movies or even when mom and dad kiss. But he still like receiving kisses from Mom and Dad and will come back for more.
He loves to have his back rubbed. I'm sure I can't count the hours I have rubbed his back during sacrament meeting or at night when I sing him songs. It really seems to calm him down.
Tal is a great reader. He read at 180 wpm in school last week. I've caught him snuggled on his bed reading the Book of Mormon Stories and also his scriptures before. But currently Captain Underpants books are his favorite and he reads them over and over. He is also really into the Harry Potter series we are reading as a family.
Talmage is a kid to get things done. When I give him a list of chores to be completed before he plays, he will dig right in and quickly work at them until they are done. I don't catch him dilly dallying around getting distracted. He can be really focused and hard working.

Key Recovered

2011-01-04T07:52:00.001-08:00

Yes, we recovered the key. Last night Leah had a stinky and there it was. The key looked perfect. No, I did not take a picture. And no, I did not give the key back to Talmage even though he asked. Whew!!!

Don't let this face fool you

2011-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

Our little Leah Meek is "M" for mischievous. She is 2 going on trouble most days. This last week she has had a bit of a cold so before bedtime and naps I have been rubbing a little Vicks Vapor Rub for babies on her chest. I did this on Thursday just before her nap and then put her down. She went to sleep really well and then seemed to sleep for a long time. When I finally opened her door to check on her, I met the Grease Monster from the Vicks Lagoon lying in her bed. She had used a good 3/4 of the jar to coat her hair, her face, her bed, the night light turtle, her books, her toy cars and many other things in the room. Even after 2 baths and 6 hair washings with Dawn dish soap she has extremely shiny and smooth hair. When Kris called her a "Slick Leah" she retorted, "I not Slick Leah, I look like daddy." Well....

The next night was Friday New Year's Eve. We had a great party with our kids playing games and stuffing ourselves with treats. At early midnight ( 9 o'clock) we tooted our horns, pulled our poppers and unfurled our streamers. What fun!!! Then we got our kids settled and into bed so mom and dad could play games with a couple of friends. Leah had been in bed for a while when she called out "Mommy, I need you," but then quieted down so I didn't go check on her. About 20 minutes later I heard "Mommy, I need you," again and again. When I entered Leah's room she said "I put my key in my mouth and I can't get it out" as she stuck a finger down her throat. Panic gripped my heart as I remembered the little luggage type key she had been playing with earlier. After Kris and I tore her room and bed apart looking for the key we came to believe Leah when she told us "I put it in my mouth and now it is in my belly." Aaaahhh. Then she covered her face in her hands and said "Oh, my key, I miss him soooo much." I lost it right there, laughing the silent, tear streaming, body shaking belly laugh of hilarity. Oh Leah, what do we do with you. She didn't seem to be in any physical distress so we gave her a few drinks of water and are now biding our time and combing through the you know, waiting for the key to pass. It's a good thing she is so cute.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Meeks. Our Christmas was soooo much fun this year. As a parent the anticipation for your children"s reaction almost matches the anticipation they feel waiting for Santa Claus. This year, neither parents nor children were disappointed.
"Oh, my Pillow Pet, I love him." Leah also loved her Yot and all of her other gifts. A special hit was her dollhouse ( it used to be my dollhouse made by my dad for my sister and I one Christmas long, long ago). Leah loves to play with her new dolls and furniture in her dollhouse and loves to have mom and dad play along. It is hilarious to hear her narrate her perspective on life in the Meek home.
Tal was nearly spastic about his Lego jail. He couldn't wait to get it out of the package and start building. Uncle Eric, dad and Tal spent most of Christmas morning constructing the new Lego jail and he has been showing it off ever since. Other favorite gifts were Lego Harry Potter Wii, Six Flags for the Wii, and his Ninja swords. You should see his moves.
Abi received a hot pink iPod nano for Christmas. She and the iPod are nearly inseparable now; I think we created a monster. She relished downloading Taylor Swift and Colbie Calliat songs this morning. Her other favorite was the terrarium for hermit crabs. Abi could barely wait until Monday when she could go to the pet store to buy her own hermit crab.
Every Christmas I wheedle my family into taking our annual Christmas picture. I just like to look back and see how we grow and change year to year.
My cuties all dressed up in their new Sunday clothes. Nana and Papa Fife always spoil them with the cutest or handsomest clothes for Christmas. ( Tal is going through this crazy face phase.) Then after Christmas dinner the grandkids clamor to play "Grandma Bingo" where they get to win really cool and fun toys. I'm not sure who loves it more, the kids or grandma.
Abi had a cousin sleep-over and they all decided to create Cindy-Lou Who hair. If they ever need a stand-in for Cindy Lou in "The Grinch" I think we have it covered.
Abi was thrilled to finally get her hermit crab "Violet." Tal has one as well but the novelty wore off quickly and it's a good thing that Abi is willing to take care of them. She had been researching them since this summer. She even wrote her summer report about hermit crabs. I think she will be a good little pet owner.

Catching the Christmas Spirit

2010-12-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

On our way home from Abi and Tal's school Christmas program last night, Kris said, "That really got me into the Christmas Spirit." With kids as cute as ours, I had to agree.
The theme of the program was "The North Pole's Got Talent." Each grade performed a song. Talmage , in the second grade, was a North Pole Bell Ringer and they sang a song and accompanied themselves on triangles. Note the astute look of concentration on his face.
Abi was a North Pole Security Guard with the fourth grade. They amazed us with their precision marching and kazoo playing. Nothing says Christmas like the sound of a kazoo. :)

Announcing - The Littlest Meek

2010-12-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

June 24th, 2011 - give or take a few days

We are soooo excited to announce the upcoming arrival of the newest member of our family. Life has been a little rough at the Meek house for the last 2 months as we all dealt with mom's hyperemesis gravidarum ( extreme morning sickness). But thankfully, I am finally off the couch and out of the bathroom. Zofran is my little miracle pill that has saved me from the worst complications of my condition. While I am still not 100% I am grateful for this early Christmas miracle that the worst is subsiding earlier than it did with any of the other little Meek pregnancies. I am also profoundly grateful for my husband who pitched in to do the shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, even holding my hair back when ... you know, and in general took on all of my responsibilities. My kids were troopers as well and stepped up to take on extra jobs to help out. A big thank you to my mom who would come clean my house, bring my family dinner - a respite from freezer meals, and in general just look after me. My sister Kalene was an angel as well, often calling from Sam's or Winco to pick up a few groceries for me or bring over dinner on the spur of the moment. My best neighbor, Ranay, was also a god send running errands and providing meals. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have expressed love and support during this time, we love you.

For the Design Challenged Like Me

2010-11-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

Let This be a warning...

Gracie has been going to bed promptly at 8:00 ever since Elaine put up the pictures of “other daughters they gave away because they stayed up too late.”

For all readers who may be design challenged like me, this great website pokes fun at all of those too perfect pictures in the catalogs. Complete with snarky comments like the above, it rescues the rest of us from the insanity of trying to make our homes look like a Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn catalog.

In our Stake Conference in May of this year our Stake President told the following story, of which I will highly paraphrase.

A bishop was counseling a young wife and mother who lived in a little apartment in a ward full of established families and nicer homes. This woman was always depressed and complaining about how small her apartment was, the nice things that she didn't have and dreaming of the big house full of nice things that she wanted, like her neighbors. The bishop counseled her to "count her blessings", serve others, yada yada. ( All good and important things themselves.) When he went back and visited with her he found her happy, cheerful and grateful. The bishop asked what had prompted the abrupt change in her attitude. The woman replied, "I threw out all of the catalogs."

I loved it!!!! All she needed was a change in perspective. Throwing out those catalogs and poking fun at them helps rescue my little home from Pottery Barn Envy. Because doggone it, It's good enough, It's smart enough, and I like it.

Brand New Yellow Belt

2010-11-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

Doesn't he look fierce?

Tal was so excited to test for and earn his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do at the end of October. We are so impressed with how far he has come. He knows 3 forms and is working on various kinds of kicks as well. He is also beginning 2 step sparring.

Tal is learning focus and self control. His memory is really improving with the precise strong movements of his forms. He really loves Tae Kwon Do and it is great to see him growing.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T13:56:00.001-07:00

We spooked up our yard with these easy ghosts from Family Fun magazine. The weather has been unseasonably mild so I still have a few blooms in my garden. We also have a tree full of leaves that are just now starting to turn gold.
On Monday night we dove into our pumpkins for FHE. Leah really got into the spirit of pulling the insides out of her pumpkin. Most years we save and toast the seeds for a yummy snack, but not this year. In the end, mom and dad did most of the carving while the creative input came from the kids. I think that is called "management skills."
Our jack o'lanterns turned great. Kris did an amazing job on Tal's Dracula pumpkin. We celebrated Halloween over a couple of days. On Thursday we attended the carnival at the kids' school. Candy. Then on Saturday our ward hosted a potato bar dinner and Trunk or Treat. I didn't plan very well because our 100 blow pops were gone in 5 minutes and we had to blow out our jack o'lanterns and close down. I'll buy more candy next year. But the kids hit the mother lode. More Candy. We hit a few neighborhood houses after that and then went home. I think Kris might have instituted the Dad Tax on a few candy bars out of their baskets.
Then on Monday night we Trick or Treated our grandmas and grandpas. Abi had wanted to be a pig ever since last Halloween. Mom even made a curly tail to go with it. Tal makes a dashing Harry Potter. We've been reading the books as a family and he's become quite obsessed. Leah got to be Blue from Blue's Clues by default. It was Abi's old costume. I can't believe how much she looks like Abi did. ( Abi's pics are pre-digital so you'll just have to believe me.) Leah didn't mind though. She loved being a puppy and was especially enthralled with her tail.

Catching Up with the Meeks

2010-10-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

We haven't fallen off the planet, although sometimes it does feel that if our world spun any faster we would get thrown off. Maybe we haven't been very exciting lately, or maybe I haven't taken so many pictures. But here is a little re-cap of a few things we have done.
We went to the local Harvest Festival which unfortunately was a big disappointment. There were a lot of vendors but not a lot of harvesty type things going on. I gave each of the kids a dollar to spend however they wanted. Abi had been looking forward to the pony rides for a few days. She even wore her cowgirl hat. This is the first time she's been on a pony since she was one. She really liked it, but the ride was too short.
Tal earned his fireman's hat going through the HazMat trailer. Leah's favorite friend is "Bear." He goes everywhere with her. What cuties to pose for a picture for me.
If it was for any other reason, I would have a heart attack to see my husband in high heels. But this was for a good cause. Kris participated in the Domestic Violence Intervention Center's "Walk a Mile In Her Shoes" fundraiser. Friends and family sponsored in his mile long walk, several were there to take pictures. He came away with a new respect for women and a few blisters.
Our Fire Department sponsored an open house for Fire Safety Month and we took a trip down for Family Home Evening. This amazingly restored fire engine ran in our town back in the 30's, 40's and probably even the 50's. Abi and Tal had a great time checking out the engines and ladder truck, putting out a "fire", and going through the smokey demonstration trailer. Leah thought the juice and cookies were the best.
Today was a day off from school and Tal had been asking to do this "Family Fun" experiment ever since he spied it in the magazine. It is our very own lava lamp powered by Alka Seltzer. It's really cool and he is thrilled to have it in his room.

Tendoy Reunion

2010-08-22T20:36:00.001-07:00

Our annual Hayes family reunion was the first week of August in Tendoy, Idaho at the family cabin. We eagerly await this trip every summer. This year our campers included Jeremy, Lisa and Walker Meek; Reagan, Kevin and Paul Hayes; and of course our little Meek clan. This pic was taken right before we left for home so please pardon the dirt and grime and be grateful this is not a scratch and sniff presentation.
Every day it clouded up in the afternoon and rained for about an hour. I just love this pic of Abi, Tal, and Walker toughing it out in their rain ponchos by the fire. Unfortunately the rain brought out the mosquitoes and we were eaten alive. My poor girls got it the worst, it must be because they are so sweet. The fire pit is the heart of our community. We gather around first thing in the morning with our hot chocolate. We eat most of our meals around the fire. And at night after a relaxing soak at Sharkey Hot Springs we would roast our marshmallows and starburst, talking and laughing until we would drift off bit by bit for bed.
The greater part of our days was spent riding the trails on the four wheeler. Leah was too little to wear a helmet or to go very far or fast so we took turns staying with her in camp. But she loved little rides around camp or down the road a little ways and would beg " Four Wheeler?"
One morning we entertained the kids by helping them build tinfoil boats to float down the ditch.
The tinfoil regatta sets sail. They would pick them up at the little bridge and bring them back to the put in over and over until they looked more like tinfoil balls than boats. Tal and Walker also entertained themselves by building a small dam in the ditch to create a waterfall and splashing about in the pool behind.
Every year our first ride is up to Chief Tendoy's grave site, or "the crystal" as Tal calls it. It is a beautiful site overlooking the Lemhi valley, no wonder he couldn't leave. Each year the valley calls us back as well to enjoy the beauty of the hills, flowers, river and family.

Wet and Wild Activity Days

2010-08-14T15:12:00.001-07:00

I have a soft spot for the Activity Days for Girls Program. I was the leader in our ward until I was called into the Relief Society Presidency. I begged and pleaded not to be released, but alas, it was not to be. The Activity Days Leader is THE BEST calling in the church. So when our ward needed a second leader to go to Day Camp at the last minute I was thrilled (once I got the babysitting arranged). I had a fantastic day getting "Wet and Wild" with my daughter Abi and the other girls at Krupp Scout Hollow.
One of our first stations was the Dunking Booth. My little Abi hopped right up to be the first one in line. She was so brave. She hit her head and came up spluttering but after toweling off, she was back in line to do it again.
I challenged all of the girls that if they would get dunked, I would. Sadly, they did not all catch the vision of "Wet and Wild" days until a few stations in. But I saw 2 other leaders get dunked, and I guess you lead by example. I was a little nervous, the water was very cold, but it was a blast.
We played water volleyball, slid down a long water slide, were soaked by basketball sized water balloons, and played water kickball and other water games. One of our favorite stations was Soccer where we played with this giant beach ball on a field where the sprinklers were going. Any lingering thoughts about any semblance of dryness were sodden as soon as the whistle blew. Oh, but it was soooo fun. Especially beating the big, burly scout staffer and his team with our team of 2 leaders and girls. Whoot Whoot!!!

Our soaking but happy group at the end of the day.

July Summer Fun

2010-08-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

In July we were too busy out having fun to write much about it. So here is a brief rundown of some of our more notable activities.
OK, so I have to have some brag pictures about my gardens. I'm a little crazy about them. In fact, once the snow melts in the spring I'm out in my yard almost every day checking on my plants, watching their changes and generally just enjoying myself. My dianthus put on a real show this year.
My Butterfly Garden remains a work in progress but I love to see how it changes. My little heart just sings to see bees and butterflies visiting. I haven't had a humming bird yet, but I'll keep working for it. Each year I move some plants around that didn't perform so well and plant new ones. It is fun to see the changes through the season. ( Next year I'll be sure to put hoops around my Sweet William.)
A friend told us about 17 mile Cave which is appropriately 17 miles outside of town. I love little adventures like this, so we packed a lunch one Saturday and took a little day trip. Abi is really afraid of caving but after some coaxing by mom and dad and deep breathing by Abi, we got her inside and she was even able to venture a little ways in. Leah found it exciting until she got cold and had to head back for the surface. I guess I didn't think that a lava tube even in 90 degree summers is around 50 degrees. Our adventurer Tal loved it though. He took turns going deeper and deeper with mom and dad until we reached the pools at the back. Unfortunately many cavers have covered with walls with graffiti and left their litter behind, but it was a great adventure.
Leah loves my gardens almost as much as I do. Well, she loves to play with out fountain. And she loves to throw flowers in the pool. And she loves to smell, touch and pick the flowers. This evening with the sun going down, her dress and the flowers were glowing in the garden. I just had to catch her in the act.

Day at the Spray Park.

My sister, Kalene, and I treated our kids with a day out at the Spray Park. Leah thought she owned this little bubbling fountain and would furrow her eyebrows and scowl her lips whenever another little tot came to play.

I didn't think that Leah would do it, but Abi coaxed her to go down the slide. And of course after one slide, Leah wanted to go again and again. Abi would shield Leah from the spray as they ran up the stairs and but she still got soaked from the splash at the bottom.

Abi and Gabby have a little water fight in these spraying fountains.

Tal and Sterling are actually practicing their "karate" moves in the fountains although it more closely resembled a spastic dance.

Thanks to some awesome neighbors we got tickets to the Blue Angels Airshow. Now I have a few choice words for the organizers about the logistics of the shuttles and lack of food and water, but the Airshow itself was amazing. I remember my parents took me when I was probably about Abi's age. We left Leah with her Nana Meek which turned out to be a great choice. Abi and Tal got to meet "The Boss", the No 1. Blue Angel and get his autograph. I was just thoroughly impressed at the speed, power, and amazing tricks they performed.

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July is Kris's favorite holiday. I used to think it was because of the warm weather, the barbecues, and going to watch the fireworks. Nope. It's because he gets to light things on fire and watch them blow up.
Here we are gathered on the steps of Nana Meek's house to watch our annual fireworks show. I'm pretty sure that Kris enjoys it even more than the kids.

Leah was enchanted with sparklers this year. Don't worry, other than to take this picture I was pretty close making sure she held it far out and didn't try to touch it. Kris and the kids did purchase some fantastic fireworks this year. The sliders were a big hit as well as the pop-its. We always love our Killer Bees, Happiness Fountains and Cones. Kris bought some Ground Bloom Bang fireworks that he thought were the coolest. But the little Ladybug stole the show by spinning around in a blaze and then rocketing high into the air. ( We won't tell you where we bought that one :)
Fourth of July morning dawned unseasonably cold. We all changed out of our shorts and into long pants and jackets for the parade. We had a lazy morning and still made it to a great spot just as the parade was starting. After that we wandered downtown for the Liberty Fest and Tal and I even were interviewed for TV. (Check out my Facebook page for the celebrity link.) Back home we rested up and Abi and Tal painted their faces with fireworks. We hosted a last minute barbeque with my family and our neighbors that turned out so fun.
And of course we took our annual 4th of July pic. Kris groused a little, but after 10 years he doesn't put up much of a fight anymore. This year we were adventurous and hiked clear down the Greenbelt in front of the LDS temple for a fantastic view of the fireworks. It was a little crazy getting out of downtown but we had Abi and Tal hold onto my blanket, while I held onto the back of Kris and he carried Leah. No one became separated and we made it back to our van. After a short ride back home we all collapsed wearily into our beds and with the help of earplugs to ward off the continued revelry of our neighbors, fell quickly asleep. Happy Birthday America.

Yellowstone - Take Two

2010-07-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last year we drove up to Yellowstone National Park and raced around the Upper Loop of the Park and then down to Old Faithful. We drove a lot and saw many cool things but missed most of the geysers. So this year we decided to take a much more relaxed trip and just see the sites from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful.
We started our adventure with a little camping at Warm River just outside of Ashton, ID. It was a great campsite. We roasted our hot dogs and warmed our beans in the fire. Kris and I pitched our tent and we were set. Then Leah fell into the river. Blessedly, it is a very shallow, slow river at that point and a fellow camper plucked her out quickly. She was scared and soaked but OK. After we dried her off we started off on a little hike up an old railroad bed trail. Our goal was the train tunnel but as we started out late and mom couldn't really remember how long it was supposed to be, we had to turn back before the tunnel even came into sight. As we roasted our marshmallows that night we saw clouds moving toward us. As we got the kids ready for bed, we started seeing lightening off in the distance. And then as Kris was driving Leah about to make her fall asleep, the storm blew in in earnest. I tried to comfort Abi and Leah in the tent while lightening flashed and thunder boomed. (It is so much more vivid and loud in a tent.) Kris scurried about the campsite moving our gear back into the van in the pouring rain. And Tal slept through the whole thing. He didn't even stir. Finally the storm blew over and we could settle in for a slightly damp, very cold night of little sleep with Leah between Kris and I in our sleeping bag.
The next morning dawned gray and spitting rain. I cooked breakfast running back and forth from the fires to the shelter of the trees. Finally it cleared off in time for us to eat and then the morning warmed up with the sun. We drove into Yellowstone National Park through West Yellowstone. On our way to the Madison Junction we saw this huge herd of bison. You can see all the little calves with their mommies. There were probably 200 bison just lazing about.
One favorite spot was Firehole Canyon. Kris and I took our picture here back when we were dating before Kris's mission. Then we honeymooned partially in the Park and took another picture. And here we are now, fourteen years since the first picture. We are even better looking with three Little Meeks to show for it.

I won't bore you with all of my pictures of hot pools, fumaroles, and paint pots. But we loved it all. Well, maybe not the sulfur smell which Tal constantly complained about. But the pools are especially beautiful with their deep blues and greens. Our final stop was Old Faithful Geyser. As always it put on a great show. I remember coming to see it with my parents. It's really fun then to take my kids and give them the same experience. Leah was tired, hungry and grumpy so therefore less than impressed. But Kris and I, Abi and Tal all thought it amazing. What a beautiful world Heavenly Father has created for us to enjoy.

Leah Turns Two!!!

2010-06-21T21:13:00.001-07:00

How did she grow up so fast? It seems like a such a short time ago that she was a tiny baby and now she is a little girl. I tried out a cupcake cake or pull- apart cake this time and it was much easier to serve although my options for decorating were limited. Leah didn't mind though and we had a hard time trying to keep her hands out of the cake long enough to sing "Happy Birthday" to. Leah especially loved the singing birthday candle.
Despite her anxiousness to get a cupcake all she really did was lick the frosting off of it. Leah surely loves "I-ceam" though. She is becoming a really good talker. She speaks in little phrases or sentences now.
Mom and Dad bought Leah a sandbox for her birthday. From her Nanas and aunts and uncles she received several sand toys. Oh how she loves to go out and dig and get all messy in the sand box. Hopefully this will keep her out of my garden.

Leah is such a joy to have in our home. She is still such a sweet little girl, although her stubborn streak rears it ugly head often now as well. She is definitely 2 and knows what she wants. Leah wakes most mornings about 7:30 or 8:00. I will hear her talking or singing in her crib. When she sees me she usually says, "Hi Mommy, Look, I found you" with a big smile. She is a little slow to wake up so I usually get her a sippy of strawberry milk and let her watch a show while we wait for the other kids to wake up and then make breakfast. Leah's favorite breakfast is eggs, usually scrambled, but she also likes instant oatmeal, Cheerios, French Toast and of course strawberries.

Leah is a third child and unfortunately her stimulating morning activities usually involve helping me clean, do laundry, shop and run errands, or tag along as I do things with the older kids. Leah does like to go to the library to see the fish and listen to the stories on the computers but of course she refuses to ride in the stroller, insists on trying out every drinking fountain, and runs away several times. She does love to color and often I set her up at the table with her "colors and paper" while I do dishes, cook, or clean.

Leah absolutely loves going outside. Since the weather has finally warmed up she spends a lot of time either "jumping" on the trampoline or in her sandbox. She is also a bit of a wanderer and likes to follow her older siblings around. She also loves to pick my flowers - not so good. She likes to smell them which is so funny to watch because she wrinkles up her nose and then puffs air out of her nose instead of breathing in.

Leah also loves to sing. Her favorite songs are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "I Am A Child of God", and the "ABC song". She knows almost all of the words to each of them but it is so funny because she has memorized the sounds but obviously doesn't know all of the words or letters so it gets a little mixed up. She really surprised me today though when she sang 2 lines of "Jesus of Nazareth" and all of "Happy Birthday" - complete with Tal style Cha, Cha, Cha's. Leah also loves books but will get fixated on 1 or 2 books for a time and we have to read those books every nap and bedtime over and over. She also loves "Mooovies", as she says when she climbs into our van. Her current favorites are "The Princess Frog" and "Monsters Inc." Elmo is her favorite character on Sesame Street and she hugs and kisses her little Elmo doll. She is learning to dress herself. Although she has mastered taking off her shoes and pants - especially outside - we are working on putting on our shirts and pants. "I do it," is what she always says to me.

I could wax on and on about my little Baby Love, but sufficeth to say, Leah is growing into a little girl with mounds of energy and personality. She is our little sweetie.

Crazy is the New Normal

2010-05-23T20:36:00.001-07:00

I've given up trying to establish "normal" in my life. I'm trying to accept that "CRAZY" is my new normal. With Kris in the Bishopric, my calling in the RS Presidency, 3 kids and all of their activities, I feel like we are coming and going all of the time. We try to carve out sacred time for just us to be together at home: FHE, movie nights on Fridays and Saturday as family time. I love those times when we are home, just us, hanging out together.

Happy Mother's Day to me.

These 3 little cuties are my best present for Mother's Day. Abi and Tal made cards and little crafts for me. Leah just gives me loves. Then the kids set the table and got out the cereal for breakfast that morning. I felt so loved.

Snapshots from around my yard.

My yard and my little gardens make me so happy. With all of the yucky weather we've had this spring I've been aching to get out and work in my flower beds and plant my square foot vegetable garden. I finally got most of my seeds in 2 weeks ago. I'm still waiting for my tomatoes and tender annuals. Nearly everyday I get out and walk around my yard checking on the growth and changes to my plants. Today I noticed that my maple tree had suddenly budded out and it looks so beautiful. My gardens are my therapy.

Stayin' Alive!!!

Tal's teacher organized a First Grade Dance Extravaganza and throughout the year taught them all of these little dances. Last Wednesday we went to the Jr High gym where we watched him perform to "Stayin' Alive, The Electric Slide, The Boot Scoot Boogie and more. It was so funny, spectacular, and great. Tal was impressed when I showed him that I knew the "Electric Slide" and we practiced together. Whoot, Whoot for the Quad Stake Dances growing up.

Happy Birthday Abi

2010-05-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

Abi celebrated her 9th birthday with 2 parties. The first was a late night on Friday with her friends Sarah and Elle. We didn't really have a theme but somehow everything but the movie started with the letter "P". Abi chose pizza for dinner, pepperoni with olives.
Then the girls had way too much fun with face painting. They giggled and giggled. They also decorated little ponies. It was a Meek birthday so of course we then had a pinata' outside.
Abi chose dessert pizza as her treat. She had a lot of fun helping me cut the fruit and decorating it to look like a rainbow. Next she opened presents from her friends. Abi was thrilled with the hair streaker from Sarah and the purse and flower hair pretties from Elle. Finally it was movie time. The girls watched "Aliens in the Attic" and had our special popcorn with white chocolate and jelly beans. After the movie, at about 10 pm Sarah and Elle's moms came to conclude Abi's late night.
Then on Monday night we had cake with the family to celebrate Abi's birthday. Abi asked for a strawberry shortcake pig. This is as good as it got. You can't really tell from this angle but it does have whipped cream eyes and gummy triangles for ears. It might have looked funny but it tasted delicious.
The Saturday before her birthday Abi and I went shopping for her present: rollerblades. She loved them so much in the store that she begged and begged to try them out before her birthday. But alas, she had to wait until her party. She also received a Skip-it and the complete Fablehaven series of books.
Abi was a little trepidacious at first but she soon was rolling up and down our sidewalk. A rainstorm cut her first evening of rollerblading short but she's been out nearly every day since. Today, Saturday, Abi went to breakfast with Nana and Papa Fife to Perkins. She really liked how the employees sang her "Happy Birthday." Afterwards she got to go shopping with her birthday money. She chose to go to Barnes and Noble where she bought a book holder and a clip on book lamp. Then she also bought earrings at Claire's.

9 Great Things about Abi

She is a voracious reader. Currently she is steaming through the Percy Jackson series but also loves Nancy Drews and the Babysitter club series.
She is very intelligent. She is in the Discovery program and excelled at her standardized tests.
She is becoming a good pianist. She earned a blue ribbon this year at her first piano festival and is a joy to listen to.
She is a beloved big sister. Leah thinks she is the bees knees and Abi is always good to play with Leah and to help out Tal as well.
She is a "chatty Kathy" as we say. Abi tells me all about school and her friends and keeps me good company.
Abi is deeply spiritual for nine. She reads her scriptures every night on her own. She loves Activity Days and is memorizing the Articles of Faith.
Abi is a planner. She likes to make lists and detailed plans and check them off. I wonder where she gets that from :)?
She is a graceful ballerina. Abi loves her new ballet studio and is excelling. She moves with such grace and poise.
Abi is a scrapper in soccer. She loves playing forward and goalie, she likes to be in the action. She is not afraid to challenge other players for the ball or to really run after it.

Happy Birthday Abi. We love you!!!

Happy Graduation

2010-04-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my brother Jared Fife who graduated from BYU-Idaho on Saturday in Interior Design. All of the siblings plus my husband and aunt were able to attend. We are so proud of him for this great accomplishment. If you need to design a kitchen or bath, that is his specialty, he is your man.

Snow Day

2010-04-11T21:50:00.001-07:00

Yes, I said "Snow Day!!!" Tuesday morning I was willing myself out of bed after my alarm went off when Kris called to inform me that school was canceled because of snow. "What!!!" I said. But this look out my front window told me why. Absolutely crazy that our only snow day of the winter comes on April 6th.
To add insult to injury as I checked my e-mail that morning I had a notice from Henry Fields Nursery that my flowers had shipped. Fine time I would have trying to plant them in this.
We took advantage of the day though. I went back to bed and slept in until Leah woke up after 8:00. Then after breakfast my kids put on their snow clothes over their PJ's and went out to play.
Tal pegged me with a few snow balls.
Leah was delighted by the "now, now" and loves wearing her boots. I had to drag her kicking and screaming into the house later.
Abi was a great helper trying to clear the heavy wet snow off the driveway. By the afternoon though most of it had melted and we were back to normal the next day.

Spring Break In Idaho

2010-04-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I've given up on scrap booking for lack of time. As my blog, if I ever get it printed into a book, will be my only record of my adorable family I am cramming as many pictures into a post as I think bordering on decent.

Perhaps it was because I actually planned fun things to do over Spring Break that Mother Nature played tricks on us. But then again, it truly was representative of spring in Idaho that it rained, snowed, rained, snowed, blew and rained some more throughout my kids week off from school. However we tried to make the best of it without going crazy.

On the Monday before Easter for FHE we celebrated Passover. I loved this Jewish tradition when I was at the BYU Jerusalem Center and we've adopted it into our family tradition. Each year we tweak our Seder dinner a little to fit with our family or friends. Abi and Tal love the hiding of the Afikomen and of course the finding of it. We have a short little Haggadah ( book for the Seder) that we follow. The kids really enjoy drinking the grape juice and eating the matzoh and eggs. This year I made sure to have at least 1 egg per person. We do a little finger puppet show to tell the story of Moses going to Pharaoh to ask for the release of the Children of Israel. Tal loves the Hillel sandwich which is matzoh, horseradish and haroset ( I cheated and used applesauce this year.) He will eat and eat the stuff. For each of the blessings we have scriptures about Christ that show how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Passover with His Atonement, death and resurrection. Our Seder dinner is so much fun and a nice way to begin the Easter Celebration.

On Tuesday it rained and rained so I took the kids to Blast Off. This time I only bought them playground passes but they still got to run around and get some energy out. We invited friends to come with us which made it all the better. Leah loves the ball pit and the slides.
Tal loves everything. He just ran and ran and ran until his "hair [was] sweating." My pics of Abi turned out blurry but she had a good time as well until she got too hot. Abi was a great big sister and helped Leah navigate the tubes to get to the big slides.

On Wednesday we dyed our Easter eggs. I saw this tip in Family Fun to have the little ones put their egg inside a whisk. Well, it worked well except that Leah liked dunking and lifting and dunking and lifting her egg. After she climbed onto the table and spilled the whole cup of blue dye onto her she made a quick exit to the tub.
Tal got quite creative dipping his eggs in more than one color to come up with various shades of colors - many variants of brown and weird but fun.
Abi of course had plans and designs which she followed of drawing patterns on them with a white crayon or making sticker patterns and then dying her egg to reveal a different color under the sticker. Once they were dry she decorated them with more stickers and glitter glue.
On Thursday we made a big batch of Playdoh and colored it different colors and had fun playing. Leah really got into the smashing. Saturday and Sunday were General Conference so on Friday I took the kids shopping for their General Conference activities. I let them each pick out a new activity, or coloring book etc. to help keep them occupied during Conference. This year they had origami kits, Tal had a little beading project and Abi made friendship bracelets. I also set out a bowl of candy for Conference Key Words. We pick a key word for the session like Jesus Christ, scriptures, temples, etc and when you hear that word you get a piece of candy. Tal swears he hears the key word 5-6 times per talk.
On Easter Sunday our kids woke up to their little Easter Baskets and egg hunt. Then for lunch we went out to Grandma Hayes' for lunch and out to Nana and Papa Fife's for dinner. My mom always does a fun little egg hunt for the grandkids. This year it had to be inside.
The grandkids gather plastic eggs that have slips of paper or money inside them. Each child gets so many of each size of egg.
Then they get to redeem their eggs for corresponding prizes from the prize table. They get royally spoiled with little toys, bubbles, Capri suns, cookie packs, little prizes and candy. Leah loved finding the eggs but wasn't so sure about having to trade them in. (Post nap/I pulled out my pigtails hairdo.)
My mom just adores spoiling her grandkids and giving out the treats. Then after a delicious Easter dinner we headed home hoping to get our kids in bed to be ready for school the next day. But crazy things happen and my brother in law ended up in the hospital with appendicitis so I hung out with my nieces and nephew. After I put them to bed I found my sister's book "The Hunger Games" and practically devoured it. I kept telling myself that I would go to bed after 1 more chapter but I couldn't put it down. I had to leave it after she came home but she later lent it to me and I'm afraid I'm going to have to pull another late night to finish it.

True Love ......and Why I Won't Read the "Twilight Books"

2010-03-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

I know that everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I have not and most likely never will ( never say never) read the Twilight Books. Now, that's not saying I won't see the movies, which I have and I quite enjoyed for a Girls Day Out, but the books are another story. Why?...........

Because I am a big believer in True Love. Once upon a time I read those romance novels by authors like Anita Stansfield and Nicholas Sparks, and I loved them, I devoured them. But then I would find myself angry with my husband. Why? Because he didn't talk, or think, or do things like the men in those books. And then I came to the realization, that those weren't real men. No man I know talks, or thinks or acts like that. My husband Kris showed me True Love and that is what marriage is all about. True love is washing the dishes for me nearly every night. True love is snuggling up on our love seat to watch the Office and The Marriage Ref while we laugh and laugh. True love is going on a walk with the kids and I around the block. True love is getting up and leaving for work by 7:00 am so that he can provide for us and still be home for dinner.
True love is spending a whole Saturday carpeting a bedroom for us. My husband learned a lot about true love from my dad who came over after working all night and helped carpet our bedroom. ( My dad is a great example of true love.)
True love is spending our tax return on a new bedroom set instead of the dirt bike that his heart is longing for. I am sooooooo spoiled. Our bedroom feels like a hotel. I love it!!!
True love is being the greatest father to these little cuties. I let them wear their Easter clothes to church this Sunday as General Conference is on Easter. My girls just adore their Dad and Tal wants to be just like him. I never could get Tal to wear a vest, because Daddy didn't and he wants to look just like Dad. My husband Kris is my true love.

Little Blessings

2010-03-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

The other day I was a whining a little to my friend about the craziness of our lives, mostly due to the demands of our church callings. To which she reminded me, "But just think of all the blessings you are receiving." At first I thought "Humph, I don't want these blessings" but on further reflection I really could see the blessings.

1. My great and adorable kids who are healthy, intelligent and generally good- natured and obedient. Last Sunday we were all lounging around the living room, curled up on couches or in blankets listening as Kris and I took turns reading "Harry Potter" for nearly an hour. I had to take a mental picture of that moment because I was just so content being with my little family.
I've been coaching Tal's YMCA basketball team and it has been a blast to watch him and the other players grow and develop. Abi is playing basketball as well and she is such a scrapper. She just goes after the ball on defense and is becoming a better shooter. Leah is going to Nursery again. After our time change to 1-4 church she wouldn't go unless I stayed but thanks to many prayers and some loving leaders, (and the bubbles), she goes with a little wave and a "bye-bye."
2. A little bit of financial security. I hate to say it for fear of tempting fate. We've had a few little problems and fixes crop up in the last little bit that had they happened 2-3 years ago would have sent me into a panic to find the money. But we just shrugged and wrote the checks out of our savings and said "It will be OK." Oft times the green eyed monster still plagues me but I am working on being happy and grateful for my little piece of heaven.

3. The onset of Spring. A little over a week ago as the snow was rapidly melting I went out and shoveled the top 8 inches of snow off of my corner flower garden. And there under the snow were my little primroses, all green and growing. To me they speak of endurance and hope. Good things are right around the corner, under the snow just waiting to poke through. The increasing light does wonders for my moods and everyone in our family enjoyed the first non-freezing Saturday outdoors.

4. Little Blessings. Sometimes good things pop up that I forget to be thankful for. For instance, my brother's friends were trading out a slightly used dishwasher which he got for us for $50. Then my brother was able to fix it. We have a spot just big enough for it in our kitchen if we slide a set of cabinets down to the sliding door. With hopefully not too much work, I'll have a nearly new dishwasher by next weekend. Just a small thing - but a big blessing to me.

The Moral ( As my mother would say): Heavenly Father is just waiting to bless our lives both big and small, probably mostly small but significant. Whatever we may sacrifice in service to him is returned tenfold. He loves us.

Leah at 21 months

2010-03-14T20:03:00.001-07:00

My little Leah is growing into such a little girl now. I can't really call her a baby, although she will always be my "Baby Love." She loves to color! Unfortunately if there is not a paper handy she is happy to color on the walls, fridge, cupboards or whatever else suits her fancy. Leah is also becoming a very independent child. She doesn't want me to carry her anywhere but squirms out of my arms and yells, "Walk!!!" This also includes stairs, which can be very slow going. She is good about holding my "Hand" as she says while she clutches one or two fingers and we toddle along. She mostly wants to feed herself but utensils are optional. She still loves "Sauce" but is also branching out to "Butter" which can be anything from peanut butter to sour cream. She will literally lick the PB, butter, or jam off of the bread and the holler for "More." Oranges, pickles and instant oatmeal are a few of her current favorite foods.
This little grin is just adorable. She loves having her picture taken and will cheese for the camera. Leah's vocabulary is exploding and she is stringing several words together. A few of my favorites are "Where did it go?" and "I found it" as well as "Blech, No like it." She loves playing with her baby and pushing her in the stroller. She has discovered "Mooovies" and her favorite is "Dora, Dora Explorey" which she asks for with a lilting voice and her head cocked to one side. Mostly Leah loves being involved in whatever everyone else is doing. She clamors to put on make-up with me in the morning and we do our eyes and "wips" to look "pretty." Leah loves taking bubble baths and playing with toys. We say "bye-bye" to the bubbles as they swoosh down the drain. She always wants to play piano while the kids are practicing, or color on Abi's homework with her. She loves to play in the bubbles while we do dishes and wipes her baby with a wipe while I change her bum. She LOVES going outside to jump on the trampoline, to explore the yard, or walk around the block with mom. Leah is full of energy and we rarely make it through a whole sacrament meeting, but she is loving Nursery again and goes with a little wave and a "bye-bye". (Blowing bubbles with the leaders did the trick.) Mostly Leah is a joy to our family and we just love our little "Honey."

Newest Nephew

2010-02-26T11:34:00.001-08:00

Justin Dean Funk
Born Feb 26th
5:35 am
7lb 14 oz - he hadn't been measured yet when I left.

Sarah labored really long and hard but Justin just wasn't coming that way. So at 5:00 in the morning they went in for a C-section. Justin came quickly and did really well. He needed just a whiff of oxygen but perked right up. Justin looks just like his daddy Nathan but has Sarah's chin dimple. He is so cute and was very alert. He liked licking his blankets, being talked to by grandma, and being snuggled by dad and mom.
Sarah was in recovery and getting her pain under control when I left. She worked really hard and did a great job. Nathan was an amazing support. Mom and babe are taking a much needed rest right now but would appreciate your prayers and good thoughts.

School Fun

2010-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Tal is an AR (Accelerated Reading) champ. Well both Abi and Tal are really, but this post is about Tal. He has really caught onto the AR challenge that his school is having. The kids earn points by reading books and taking tests on the them. Tal has over 50 AR points!!! (Abi has over 200.) But Tal is only in 1st grade. For reaching 50 points he earned this cool blow up chair that he likes to do his reading in now. We aim for 15 minutes a day. He currently loves reading Cam Jansen, Pee Wee Scouts and I found a Sponge Bob book that he thought was awesome.
Abi and Tal's school recently held a Crazy Hair Spirit Day. My kids really got into the spirit. Abi even won out of her class. Leah just has to join the spotlight because she knows that she is cute.

Talmage turns 7

2010-02-20T15:05:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that my little Talmage turned seven. He received Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii at Christmastime. He has been crazy about playing it and so naturally that was the cake that he wanted.
After some internet searching I found a cake at coolestbirthdaycakes.com that I pretty much copied. I thought that the gummy worm/snakes were a nice touch. The cake was a hit and Tal had a great birthday. On Friday we celebrated with his birthday dinner: macaroni and cheese, cocktails weenies and cooked broccoli. He also received his gifts from us: Lego Batman for the Wii and a K-Nex Ferris Wheel. Then on Sunday we had cake and ice cream with family. Instead of a party this year, Tal chose to go to Blast-Off with one friend, his cousin Sterling. Abi and Leah got to go as well, and so on President's Day we had a blast at Blast Off. :)

The older kids enjoyed the Ultimate Pass which included the play land, rock climbing, laser tag and mini golf. Abi and Tal were hesitant about the rock climbing at first but both did really well. They were super excited to play laser tag and Abi turned out to be a really good shot.
Leah loved the playground as well. We spent most of our time on the slides and in the ball pit. We just kept going back for more and more.
Abi, Tal and Sterling are all smiles after a fun filled afternoon.

Little Bits of Fun

2010-02-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break we took advantage of a snowstorm to hit the sledding hill at Community Park. This was Leah's first time sledding and she loved it. She would take turns riding down with Abi and Tal. Even Mom and Dad went a couple of times. In this pic Abi and Tal are getting ready for a race down the hill. The boogie sled is faster but the red plastic sled goes farther. The rough part is that Mom or Dad has to walk down the hill to then carry Leah back up the hill. :)

Tal earned his orange belt on his first week back at Tae Kwon Do after the Christmas break. He is so proud of himself and we are proud of him. Tal is learning to focus and follow directions more. Tae Kwon Do is also helping him learn respect and listening skills.

Just so you know, I AM THE COOLEST WIFE EVER!!!

Yes, that is my husband at his first ever NBA game. I bought him tickets to see LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Utah Jazz for Christmas. I totally surprised him, he thought he was just getting shoes. We got down close during warm-ups but when it was game time.....

Yes, that is us up in the nose bleed section. It was also my first time buying NBA tickets and I totally got ripped off by a second party seller. The game was intense and unfortunately the Cavs lost on a last second shot by the Jazz. But we had a great time and Kris said that "It was the best Christmas present that [he's] had in a long time." Big thanks to Uncle Eric and Camille for watching our kids while we made a quick trip to Utah and back.
Redecorating Tal's room was on my to do list for July. OK, I'm a little late. I repainted his dresser, painted his walls, bought the posters, sewed the pillow and drapes over the summer but the shelf got put on hold. This fall Kris and my dad built the awesome window shelf to hold all of Tal's Lego creations. And finally in January I got around to painting it and putting up the drapes. Tal is thrilled and I'll admit, I'm quite impressed with the final result.

Christmas Journal

2010-01-21T20:25:00.001-08:00

Warning!!! This post consists of many pics and Christmas memories of my children constituting a lengthy journal entry. Unless you find my children as bright, charismatic and photogenic as I do...you may want to browse quickly.

Abi is "dreaming of Christmas Goodies" as she sings in the school Christmas program. Their music teacher wrote this adorable program about Santa being hooked on an X-Box and forgetting about Christmas while the North Pole residents try and remind him of the magic of Christmas. Abi and her grade were bakers trying to woo Santa away with Christmas delights.

Talmage and his grade are singing snowflakes, caroling about "Suzy Snowflake." Who doesn't love melodious frozen precipitation?

The celebration of Christmas in the Meek home is a drawn out affair, at times I have even described it as an ordeal, as we journey from house to house so that each grandma, Nana, and Nana and Papa can have their special Christmas time. This year however, we tried to keep it simpler and relish the joy of living so close to our family.
Our festivities begin Christmas evening at Great-Grandma Hayes's where we have dinner with all of Kris's extended aunts, uncles and cousins. His aunt Nancy makes this wonderful rolls and hides a tin foil ball inside one of them. The lucky recipient of the ball wins a prize. Kris and I have been married for 10 years and this is the first year I have ever found the ball. Yeah me!!!
Leah and her second cousin Emily loved rifling through the white elephant presents. You never know what you are going to get - this year it was a cool headlamp for Talmage and candles for Abi.
Later we go over to Nana Meek's for a round of present opening and wassail. One of our traditions is to read "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve.
Leah really was thrilled with this new jumper because it had "circles" on it. She is fascinated by circles and points them out on things from books, to stickers, to clothes, etc.
Tal truly is my Lego Maniac and really was this crazy about his new Star Wars ship and the fact that it had droids to go with it.
Leah didn't want to feed the baby Polar Bear from Uncle Eric the bottle, it was Leah's. But Leah surely loves snuggling with Uncle Eric. I think that he might feel the same.
Abi strikes a pose in her new Christmas jammies from Nana Meek. She is sooooo stylin' with the sleep mask as well, and you KNOW that she wore it to bed that night.
After a late night, Christmas morning dawned a little toooo early for mom and Leah. Tal of course was up about 6:00, but Mom chased him back to bed with dire threats of NO PRESENTS unless he stayed in bed until 7:00. Abi was awake in her bed counting the minutes as well and at 7:00 on the dot I heard her feet on the stairs.
Santa had the right connections this year and found Abi the white Zhu Zhu hamster that she had been dreaming about. Mom is really happy that this pet runs on batteries, doesn't need it's cage cleaned, and can be turned off at will.
Once Leah opened this baby stoller and we put her baby in for a ride, there was no stopping her. Up and down the hall, around the dining room, kitchen and back to the living room she went. Leah loved pushing her baby so much that she would NOT stop to open any more presents; she howled in protest when I tried to persuade her. So Abi and Tal took turns opening the rest.
Tal's favorite present was Lego Indiana Jones for the Wii. I know this because he played all Christmas break and every spare moment since he started school.
And mommy received the best present of all. Daddy bought mommy a new piano that arrived Christmas Eve. I've been waiting for this for 10 years. Many thanks to my wonderful husband who spoils me rotten. Kris thought he was getting shoes, but I totally surprised him with tickets to see LaBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Utah Jazz. He was almost speechless. (More about that later.)
The Meek Family mugging for our annual photo that I make them take every Christmas. I just like the regularity of the comparison so that I can see how we change from year to year. After opening presents on Christmas morning we host a breakfast for whatever family wants to stop by. This year we had cinnamon rolls, make your own omelets, hot chocolate and wassail. Listening to my kids play on the new piano or with their new toys, chatting with family and just relaxing and soaking in the warmth of love, family and the season; Christmas morning was definitely my favorite.
Later in the afternoon we drove out to Nana and Papa Fife's for Christmas dinner and more present opening. The kid's favorite activity is playing Christmas Bingo for their fun prizes. Nana shops year round to stock up on tantalizing gifts for Christmas Bingo.
As a finale' we tried to remind everyone of the true meaning of Christmas with a little program and Nativity. Nana's leading the children in a chime rendition of "Little Jesus" captured the season perfectly: joyful chaos.
A little crazy, very noisy, and a lot of fun - our Nativity is kind of like "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" - it didn't go according to plan, but we all felt the spirit, maybe even because of that.
Nana and Papa Fife always outfit our kids so adorably for Christmas. Mom enjoys that gift Sunday after Sunday. Hoping you all had a Merry Christmas and a not toooo crazy New Year.

Leah at 18 months

2009-12-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Our little Leah is officially a little girl but she will forever be my "Baby Love." Leah turned 18 months and is the joy of my heart. She still loves me and needs me in a way my older kids have outgrown. Leah knows that she is sooo cute and adored in our family but she in turn loves each family member as well. She says "Abi" really well and likes Abi to read to her, or hold her or help her with things. Talmage is really good to play with her. When Daddy comes home at night she runs for the door with up stretched arms squealing "Dadoo, Dadoo." In the middle of the night or when hurt or sad she still calls out "Mom, Mom," though.

Leah is really enjoying the Christmas season. She helps un-decorate the lower branches of our tree. She points at our tree and says, "Pretty, On!!!" indicating that she wants us to turn on the lights. Our Little People manger set is her favorite though. She always seems press the star to turn on the song during family prayer. She likes to carry the characters, especially Baby Jesus and the animals around, even to bed. So far she has only looked at the presents under the tree but she loved dancing on the unrolled wrapping paper as we tried to wrap presents. It made a nice crinkly sound. We went and visited Santa after the Downtown tree lighting and she did really well. At first she was curious about this strange man, then she got close enough to him that Abi could hold her for a picture and finally she let him hold her for a picture, but just for a minute.

Leah remains tall and skinny but her weight and her appetite are picking up. She is 33 1/2 inches tall which is the 95% for height, and 21.4 lbs for weight which is the 10%. I think that is the highest percentile for her weight since she was born. Leah had gone through a really picky stage but she is surprising me how much she will eat at some meals. Here she is eating a favorite - Mac & Cheese and peas. She also loves instant oatmeal, cream of wheat, tomato soup, any pasta with tomato sauce, apples without the skin, grapes, yogurt and anything with sauce. We have to be careful to keep all ketchup, jam, salad dressing etc. out of her sight or she will holler "Sauce" and climb on the table and will not be redirected until she has a big pile of "Sauce" on her plate in which she is sticking her fingers and then licking them off.

This picture is deja vu as I have one of Abi also clomping around in my shoes in her PJ's. Leah loves to put on her "Shuzy" and then will grab your hand and lead you toward the door to go "Side"/Outside. With the recent cold and snow I haven't taken her outdoors much. After the first snowfall, I bundled her up in snowpants, boots, coat, gloves and hat. She tromped around for a minute, tore off her gloves and refused to put them on again, started eating the snow, and then tripped and face planted in the snow and started crying. That ended our first snow outing. Leah's vocabulary is really expanding. She knows most parts of her body, titles to our family, foods like apples, cheese, "tookie", "Nack"/snack, "Juz"/ juice, "Mik"/ milk and water. She also knows to brush "teeth" and bath. Leah enjoys a few "Mooovie"s including "cars" and "Doggy" or 102 Dalmations. She also likes coloring pictures, playing with her toys and jumping on our little trampoline downstairs. Leah can communicate most of what she wants with words, Uh-Uh's, or by taking your hand and pulling you over to what she wants you to do. She adores Nursery and her leaders. Leah is a joy to all of her family.

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-20T20:29:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Meeks 2009

Kris and I celebrated our tenth anniversary this year. It was fun looking back and realizing how much we’ve done in the last ten years, how much we’ve grown ( +3 kids), and how many blessings we have received. To commemorate this banner year I have compiled a TOP TEN LIST of things that have happened in the Meek family this year.

10. Abi (8) and Tal (6) again played Spring Soccer with AYSO. Kris coached Tal’s team – the Fireballs. Dad especially learned a lot and the kids had a great time. Abi and Tal each scored several goals and we are proud of their hard work.

9. Abi turned eight years old and was baptized this June by her dad. We were so grateful to have many family and friends join us in celebrating this milestone. Abi gave a talk in sacrament meeting about her baptism in which she confessed she was a little scared at first, but afterwards thought “That was the easiest thing ever.”

8. Kris was called into the bishopric of our ward as the Second Counselor in July. I’ll admit, I bawled at first; but the Lord has truly blessed us. Two lovely angels sit with the kids and me on Sunday. Kris and I are learning even more how to schedule and balance our lives to keep the more important things and let go of the rest. Kris’s law practice is growing. And with the right attitude, we are growing closer as a couple and as a family by serving the Lord.

7. We took our first non-camping Family Vacation since law school this summer. We went down to Utah where we spent 2 days traipsing around Ogden Dinosaur Park, Hill Air Force Base, Hogle Zoo, Temple Square, the Clark Planetarium, and then a whole fun-filled day at Lagoon. Kris, Abi and Tal rode Wicked and claim it was “AWESOME!!!” but I was a big chicken.

6. Tal started Tae Kwon Do this Fall and is loving it. He is “this close” to earning his orange belt. His favorite part is breaking the boards.

5. Donalee and Kris are ever busy with their projects. I should say that Donalee keeps Kris busy with projects. We spruced up our deck and yard, refinished a dining room set, and redecorated Tal’s room. Kris is President of the local Civitan Club this year as well as being active in the Inn of Court (I don’t know either). I juggle PTO, church callings, my home and family, and my new interests, Food Storage and Couponing, in my spare time.

4. Leah is growing and growing. She just turned 18 months and started Nursery which she adores. Her vocabulary is exploding and she is starting to string words together - “No want to!” Leah loves to sing songs like “Popcorn Popping”. She also loves books, drawing pictures, playing with Little People, and going outside. She is the center of attention in our house and knows it; good thing she is soooo cute.

3. Abi and Talmage are excelling in school, their activities and piano. I continue to teach them piano and hope to start teaching a few other beginning students in January. Abi continues to dance ballet and is so graceful and talented. Both Abi and Tal are in the Discovery class in their school.

2. I was called to be the Activity Day Leader for Girls in our ward. It is THE BEST calling in the church. I adore the girls I teach and even more love spending extra time with Abi.

1. Our family spends a lot of time together. Game nights on our Wii whether bowling, tennis or carnival games are a new favorite. We’ve also started reading the Harry Potter series together before bed. We enjoy grilling outside in the summer, taking walks around the Greenbelt, playing board games and watching movies accompanied by popcorn. Our family is our greatest blessing and we love doing things together. I try to capture the highlights in our blog www.meekfamilycircus.blogspot.com.

We hope that this Christmas season finds you all well, peaceful, and happy. Delight in this season of remembering our Savior and the “good news” of the gospel – He lives, He has atoned for us, and we can live with Him again. Merry Christmas.

Wrapping Up November Blessings 25-30

2009-12-01T13:32:00.001-08:00

Blessing #25 - Being a Stay At Home Mom. Now it took me many years to believe that it was better to stay home than to be at work, but now I can't imagine trying to work and take care of my family. I am so grateful for my husband and his job which let me spend time doing fun things like making our first ever pie with Abi. It is a pumpkin pie and it turned out pretty good.
Blessing #26 - My Activity Day Girls. I've said it before, but I have the best calling in the church. My girls are fun, beautiful, smart, cheerful and a load of laughs. ( Even if they think that my frosty pink nails are "old ladyish.") We had a really good time learning how to do manicures from Camille. Two weeks later the girls gave service by giving manicures to a couple of shut-in ladies in our ward.

Blessing #27 - Living close to family. I enjoy the closeness most at the holidays when we get to be with them rather than being far away. I appreciate my mom being able to babysit for us on occasion. I am glad we can visit our Nanas and Papa on Sunday afternoons. I really appreciate all of the help, meals and love we enjoy.

Blessing # 28 - Music. Nothing sets the mood like music. I love being able to listen to Sunday music on Sunday to get me in the mood for church. I love playing Christmas music to put me in the holiday spirit. I love listening to my kids practice the piano. I love playing the piano ( in the rare moment) I get the chance.

Blessing #29 - Modern Conveniences. Our power was out for 2 hours on Sunday. Somehow, it takes the removal of a blessing to make you aware of it in your life. I am thankful for electricity, and heat, for running water and indoor plumbing. I am thankful for a grocery store down the road and a refrigerator and freezer in which to keep our food. I am thankful for our cars to take us around town and anywhere else we need to go. We are truly spoiled.

Blessing#30 - Family Home Evening. Monday nights we gather as a family and spend time together. We usually sing songs and open with a prayer. Currently we sing "Popcorn Popping" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" for Leah because she loves the actions. Then we have a story or lesson. If I start a story from The Friend, Kris usually has to end it because they always make me cry. ( My husband and kids make fun of me.) Then we have an activity and treats. Yesterday we made our annual Gingerbread House. I hadn't read the instructions so I was unaware that with this particular kit you were supposed to let the icing dry 2 hours after constructing the house before decorating. Well.... we didn't really have time, so HOT GLUE to the rescue. We covered it up with icing and it looks as cute as ever.

Blessing #24 - Random Things

2009-11-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

I know this may sound odd, but I've been thinking about a few random things that make my life soooo much easier and nicer, and I'm really thankful for them.

Family Shopping carts - You know the ones with the extra seating attached on the back for all of the littles to ride in. They are awful to maneuver around the store but a lifesaver when I have more than just Leah.

My cell phone - It's my only phone and I can take it anywhere. Think back 15 years, unheard of then, and yet I take it for granted now.

My minivan - It has automatic sliding doors for when my hands are full, a DVD player to keep the littles occupied, removable seats for when I need to transport big things like a table and chairs, and carries our whole family while keeping them separated so that I don't have to hear, "Mom, he's breathing on me."

Our Wii - Having never been a video gamer growing up, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like it. I love my Wii Fit and Kris and I had a fun little date playing Mario Kart the other night.
We can all go bowling together or take turns teaming up for tennis. Loads of family fun.

Blessing #23 - My Family

2009-11-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

Today and everyday I am thankful for the family I grew up in. My parents taught me to work hard and encouraged us in developing our talents. The gospel was taught in our home through FHE, scripture study, prayers and everyday life. We enjoyed family time playing card and board games, bowling, vacations and going out for ice cream. Both my mother and father are great examples of Christlike service. Countless times I remember my mom baking rolls and carrying big pots of soup or casseroles to neighbors and ward members. My dad is the hardest worker I know and is willing to help everyone out. Just last week he drove out to the butcher to pick up my beef for me, then drove it in to town and carried it into the house and down the stairs to set it right next to my freezer. My sister Kalene was my best friend growing up. I drug her into all of my crazy plans, schemes, plays and performances. I love having her live so close so that we can raise our kids together. She is a huge help to me in watching my kids. She is one probably the most patient, even tempered person I know. I wasn't as close to my brother Jared and youngest sister Mallory growing up, but as I've gotten older I am getting to know them better and appreciate their amazing and creative talent and fun personalities.

Blessings #21 & 22

2009-11-22T20:16:00.001-08:00

OK. This 2 for 1 day is becoming more of the rule rather than the exception. I apologize but I doubt that it will get better as we head into the week.

Blessing #21 - Friends
I truly believe that women need girlfriends in order to be happy and well balanced. Not "girlfriends" per say, but friends that are girls. ( Did you see New Moon? I totally laughed at that part.) On Saturday I went out with a few friends to see New Moon and have lunch. I liked the movie, but I really enjoyed the company. Women talk differently to other women vs. husbands etc.: we share and commiserate, and dissect silly things like movies. I leave Girls Outings with a wide smile, a happy heart and a more positive outlook just from spending time and talking with friends.

Blessing #22 - Sis Johnson and Camille
When Kris was called to the bishopric, one of my first thoughts was "How will I ever make it through Sundays?" And Heavenly Father responded by sending two lovely angels to sit with me and my little brood during sacrament. Sis Johnson rubs Tal's back and lets Leah explore her watches, necklaces and pretty clothes. She helps the kids sing and acts as a fence on one side. Camille plays with each of my children but especially Leah and acts as a fence on the other side. I sit in the middle and pass out snacks, toys, drawing implements and referee any fights or climbing over or under the benches. Were not perfect, but thanks to these wonderful women we make it through each Sunday.

Blessing #20 - Our Home

2009-11-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

After moving around and living in little apartments for so long, we were so excited to buy our home and put down roots. Admittedly, sometimes I do grumble and wish for my "dream home" but when I sit back, I am so grateful for our house which we've made our home. I love having gardens to dig in, putter around in, and admire. I love the rich color in our hardwood floors. I love having a Master Bath right off of our bedroom. I love having my office in the breakfast nook of my kitchen so I can blog while dinner bakes. I love the yellow walls and crisp white cabinets in our kitchen which brighten even the darkest winter day. I love finally having a garage to park my van in, ( hopefully someday we'll get a 2 car garage so that Kris doesn't have to park outside.) I love having a place to call ours, to take pride in, to improve and to love. I especially love our home on Fridays when I clean and it stays clean for about 10 minutes.

Blessing #18 & #19

2009-11-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

This is harder than I thought, blogging every day, not counting my blessings. Another 2 for 1 day.

Blessing #18 - A Good Book
Last night I didn't feel like doing anything I was supposed to, you know those days. I grabbed a book that Abi had been reading "City of Ember" and started in. I had previously watched the movie with Abi and Tal so I was intrigued. Two hours and 195 pages later I had to quit to go to bed. And tonight while Kris is away at meetings, I curled back up on the couch and finished it. Oh, sweet luxury.

Blessing #19 - A Good Neighbor
I have the best neighbor, she knows who she is. She is my walking and talking partner, mostly in the summer, but I'm trying to get her back out. She watches my kids often, probably toooo often for her, and they LOVE to go to her house. She always has that ingredient I just ran out of on Sunday afternoon. She is ever willing to give and share. She makes fantastic cookies and sends little plates over to my house. She shoots me funny little e-mails that brighten my day. She organized a Girl's Day Out and invited me and I soooooo need to get out. She lets me bounce ideas off her and always has a good thoughtful response. She is kind, lovely, talented, compassionate and caring. I'm so glad that she is my neighbor and I hope that you have a wonderful neighbor like that too.

Blessing #16 & #17

2009-11-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

Blessing #16 - Food, Glorious Food

I love food. I don't LOVE to cook, but I do love to eat. And I don't mind cooking because I love eating so much. And I love to try new and different things so I cook them. I am so grateful for the wide variety of foods that we do have to eat. My family likes everything from down home cooking, through Mexican, Asian, Italian and more. I've tried out a few Middle Eastern dishes which I really like, but my hubby thinks that cumin tastes like body odor, so that rules most of them out. Generally however, my family is really open to new things. I love growing our own food in the garden in the summer. Nothing beats a fresh strawberry out of the patch or picking all of your salad items right out the back door. Tonight we had chicken and dumplings with carrots and sage from our garden. Yummy!!! In America, we are truly blessed with an abundance and variety of good food.

Blessing #17 - The Internet

Now it's almost hard to imagine life without the Internet. But I can remember back to when I was in college and our Internet just hooked us up to databases at other institutions. Then we got a DOS based e-mail system and I could keep up with friends and family. Then the Internet seemed to explode and now so much of my life operates within the Internet world. I check my e-mail almost every day if not 2-3 times a day. I hardly ever write a letter anymore. I pay most of my bills and do a large portion of my banking online. Today I ordered a Christmas present online. I'm blogging - and that is my journal. I browse grocery ads and belong to grocery forums online as well as print coupons off the Internet. One of my favorite websites is Allrecipes.com, which I go to for almost all of my "new" recipes. I am on Facebook, but I'm almost never on there - it's a big time suck. We use the Internet as our encyclopedia, to watch episodes of "The Office" that we missed, to entertain our kids with games ( Horrible parent, I know), to listen to General Conference, and to search for just about anything I can think of.

Blessing #15 - Nursery

2009-11-15T19:54:00.001-08:00

Leah is not quite old enough to officially go to Nursery until December 3rd. But our Nursery Leader has let Leah come in the last 2 weeks as long as I came as well. Leah LOVES Nursery. She runs from toy to toy and loves having all of the kids around. She doesn't play with the other kids but she really enjoys watching them. She enjoys coloring and snack time. Leah is a little hesitant at singing time but she does like to do the hand motions for "Popcorn Popping" and "Do As I'm Doing." Today I had to sneak out for a minute to play the piano in R.S. and she didn't even peep; I'm not sure she even noticed that I was gone. The Nursery Leaders are so kind and loving with the kids and know little details about each one. Nursery and the Leaders are a HUGE blessing in my life.

Blessing #14 - Lazy Saturdays

2009-11-14T13:27:00.000-08:00

Sleeping in, snuggling with my hubby, pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, and nowhere we have to go and nothing we have to do. What could be better than that? I love Saturdays at home with my family. We hung out, did a little Christmas browsing in a few stores but mostly were just lazy. I'm also looking forward to a low key dinner of tacos and chips and salsa with friends. P.S. Wassail mulling in the crock pot is like the cherry on top.

Blessing #12 and #13

2009-11-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

Woops!!! I missed a day. We all knew it would happen, life just gets busy. So today I'm posting a two for one.

Blessing # 12 - The Temple

Even before I received my own endowment, I have loved going to the temple. I got a special use recommend from my bishop when I was in college at the U of Utah and would go to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms a few times a month. After I received my endowment I loved returning often. The temple has been a great source of peace, comfort and strength for me. Many times I have taken important decisions or things I have been struggling with to the temple, and many times I have received the personal revelation I was seeking while in the temple. Unfortunately life always seems to get in the way and as we've added more children and moved around it has been difficult to get to the temple very often. But tonight my dear mom has offered to watch our children and Kris and I will be going to do an endowment session. After a long week at home with "the chillens" I am looking forward to a little peace and enlightenment.

Blessing #13 - Mall Walking

OK, not quite as spiritual, but none the less morning mall walking does lift my spirits. During the nicer few months of the year I love to get out and cruise the neighborhood, often with baby in stroller and a friend and her stroller at my side. I enjoy the exercises, the outdoors and maybe most of all the conversation. But with the onset of cold I am stuck indoors. Exercise helps keep me out of my winter blues and other years I have joined a gym, done yoga or Pilates at home, and last year worked out with my Wii Fit. But Leah loves to climb all over me when I try to exercise and I can't really justify the gym membership to my budget, so mall walking it is. Good thing the stores are closed at 8:45 in the morning or that might put the kibosh on my budget. Feel free to join me Mon, Tues, or Thurs mornings.

Blessing #11 - My Savior Jesus Christ

2009-11-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight our Relief Society Activity was entitled "A Walk With Christ." The night focused on the last week of Jesus Christ's mortal ministry. Each day was titled such as "Day of Recognition" for Palm Sunday through "Day of Triumph" for Easter Sunday. I was blessed to have the opportunity to provide the scriptural narrative for each day and then different presenters discussed how the principle of that day applied to our lives and provided a thought provoking question for us to then reflect on. As I studied in preparation for writing this narrative I again had the opportunity to delve into the scriptures and examine my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I remembered feelings, thoughts and experiences I had while living in the Jerusalem studying at the BYU Center. I reflected on His life and the importance of the Atonement in mine. Tonight was the capstone of my week of drawing closer to Him. At one point a video clip was shown of Christ ministering to the people of the Americas after His resurrection. I yearned to be there, to see Him, and to feel His hands touch me. I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He took upon Himself my sins so that I might live with Him and the Father. I love Him and bear testimony of His greatness, goodness, kindness and love.

Blessing #10 - Public Library

2009-11-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

Tuesdays are our library days. Abi, Leah and I go while Tal is at Tae Kwon Do. As I was checking out the librarian commented that I had quite the pile - which I did, 23 items. I had books for Abi, I swear she reads 1 good sized book in 1-2 days, Easy Readers and a few early chapter books for Tal, a novel for me, a parenting book for me, 2 board books for Leah ( She loves "Moo, Baa, La La La"), 2 CD's of kids songs for the car, 2 Baby Einstein DVD's for Leah, 2 DVD's for the Kris and I , and 2 DVD's for the kids. Wow!!! All for free. Well, mostly free except for the taxes of which the library portion is negligible and the late fees I have to pay every once in a while. But even with that, what a great deal. How blessed are we to be able to read for one, and secondly to be able to borrow so many books on so many subjects to educate and enlighten our minds. I am a lover of books, but not books to read once and put on my shelf. I am a lover of the library books which I can read and then exchange over and over again.

Blessing #9 - Sunshine

2009-11-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

Fall is still holding on to its crisp sunny days before the snows and cloudy skies of winter set in. My 9th blessing is Sunshine. Sunny days boost my spirits and I love to get outside. Today, like most nice days, Leah and I went outside for 15-20 minutes after lunch. We jumped on the trampoline and lay down to feel the warm sun on our faces. The sun is still streaming through my dining room window brightening my house. In a few minutes, I'll be doing my dishes but I can look out my kitchen window to a sunny patch of backyard miraculously holding onto the green of a summer past.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

We had a very busy Halloween season this year. On Wednesday we started off at the ward trunk or treat. It took Leah a few cars but she soon figured out that if you held out your bucket people would put treats in it. Then as soon as she got one treat, she wanted to eat that one right then before moving on. Then on Thursday we went to the carnival at the kids' school where they had a wonderful time. Here we are Friday at Kris's Civitan Party that they host for the disabled people in our community.
And on Saturday my little Trick or Treaters made the rounds. Talmage is a Clone Trooper from Star Wars though I forget which one. Abi is a Vampiress. And Leah is a little ladybug. She wore the same costume Abi wore at that age and they look sooooooo much alike. It brings back memories of Abi running around our living room saying "Bug, Bug." Leah only treated around our block and then helped me hand out candy as Kris took Abi and Tal around to some friends houses. Whenever the trick or treaters would come to our door to collect their candy, Leah would say " NO, MINE!!!" And then would I would close the door she would "Uh, Uh" beg me for another candy out of the bowl. Sooooo much fun.

Fall Nesting

2009-11-08T20:51:00.000-08:00

I realize that the term "nesting" usually has to do with pregnant women. And NO, I am not pregnant. I never have the urge to clean my house while pregnant. Rather, I am content to lie on the couch for 9 months.

However, "Nesting Instinct" always seems to hit me in the fall. As the days grow shorter and cooler, and especially on those blustery rainy days, I get in the mood to scrub and organize my house top to bottom. I crave freshly baked bread and creamy soups to warm me and my family up. I feel compelled to knit my family woolen hats to keep them cozy. ( This one I have to suppress because they never liked the hats I knitted.) My CD players spins the Celtic Music I borrow from the library just at this time of year. It must just sound fall-ish to me, or it could be that I love historical fiction set in the Scottish Highlands and as fall sets in I love to curl up under a blanket with a good book. I stockpile hot cocoa, cold medicine, kleenex and soup. I'm also compelled to fill the shelves in my storage room, like a little mama squirrel storing nuts for winter. I put my gardens to bed last weekend: trimming my perennials, rolling up my hoses, and nestling my plants under blankets of chopped up leaf mulch. And I reflect. The slowing down and shuttering up for winter encourage me to reflect on the things we did this past year, to ponder the things I am grateful for, and to plan for the months coming - especially the holidays.

As I was reflecting, I thought it would be fun to post one blessing a day to help keep me in this mood of pondering and thanksgiving. But of course, life gets in the way and here it is the 8th. (Someday I am going to figure out a system whereby I can blog while I wash my dishes as that is the time that I do most of my thinking and mental journaling.) So here are my first 8 and I am making it a goal to take the 5 minutes each day to post my blessing for that day.

1. My husband Kris - my best friend, confidant, father of my children, lover, and soul mate.

2. Abi - my biggest helper, smart, cheerful, friendly, compassionate daughter

3. Talmage - my 100% boy, best hugger, spirited, intelligent, loving son

4. Leah - my "baby love", joy of my days, active, sweetest little girl

5. My financial planner - Trent Yost, who kept me out of the bigger house we really couldn't afford and encouraged us to save at least $100/ month for emergencies.

6. Kris's job - I know we will have the same paycheck every 2 weeks. It covers our needs and many of our wants and lets me stay home with our kids.

7. Full storage room shelves. To paraphrase President Hinckley, " It may not always be tasty, but it would be nutritious."

8. Our Health - After a few little health problems in our family this last few weeks I can be grateful for our relative good health and I can cope with the little bumps in the road.

Are you nesting this month? What are you grateful for?

Fall Fun

2009-10-28T20:37:00.001-07:00

Admittedly, fall is NOT my favorite season. I mourn the passing of the warm, lazy days of summer and I dread the coming cold, dreariness of winter. Fall in SE Idaho lasts about 2 days as well before the snow flier and we are socked into winter for half of the year. But both Abi and Tal love fall for the leaves. They had a great time raking and building this giant leaf pile in our front yard. Tal had been dying to rake the leaves on Sunday but he couldn't, so on Monday he burst home from school and grabbed the rake. He was a more than a little upset when I made him come in and do his piano practicing and homework first. But when he saw I wasn't budging, he raced through he chores in record time.
Leah loves the leaves as well. She loves getting outside everyday after lunch for 15-20 minutes. Some days we walk around the block and as the first leaves started falling she would squeal in delight as she crunched across them. Then she would turn around and dance back across them again to hear the delightfully crisp sound.
On Saturday, Kris took Abi and Tal to the U-Pick pumpkin patch to choose the prefect pumpkin for our jack o'lanterns. Leah was recovering from the flu, so we had to stay home.
They regaled me with stories about the corn maze and how much fun they had. Abi confided that by the 3rd time she had it memorized and so "it was easy."
They also got to ride on this fun little train. See them peeking out of the yellow caboose.
On Monday night we carved our jack o'lanterns. This year we gave in and bought the $4 carving kit. We are NEVER going back to plain old knives. It was quick, easy and little chance of impaling ourselves or chopping off a finger. Leah got into the act by smearing pumpkin innards all over her belly.
We turned out some pretty cool pumpkins. Tal's is a face of flames. Abi's is a bat. My favorite part is making the roasted pumpkin seeds. They are soooooo addictive. Recipe below from one of my favorite sites: www.Allrecipes.com.

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp margarine, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce ( I used more because I love it.)
2 cups cleaned pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together to coat pumpkin seeds and pour onto cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes or so. Enjoy!!!

Happiness Is...

2009-10-18T21:16:00.002-07:00

I've been struggling a little lately with that green eyed monster. I get caught between wanting the bigger house , the new furniture, and the exotic vacations and then learning about a woman from Kris's mission whose family was hit hard by the typhoon in the Philippines or the devastation from the tsunami in American Samoa where other friends once lived. I keep re-learning over and over that gratitude and service are the only ways to combat that green eyed monster. True happiness has to come from within - not from material possessions. ( I'll have to come back to this post often to remind myself.) Here are a few random things that have made me happy lately.

Abi, Tal and I made these festive pumpkins on their long weekend off from school. I am becoming a pro with the spray paint.

I wasn't too happy when I first discovered how Leah had disposed of an entire tube of my favorite lipstick - OK the only lipstick I wear. But before I got mad, I just had to grab the camera. She was so pleased with herself and thought that she looked soooooo pretty.

Making Ultimate Chocolate Brownies - Yum Yum. Talmage was my good little helper, and of course the best part is licking the beater.

The gorgeous sunshine of this weekend. I got out in my gardens and cleaned them out and put them to bed. Working out in the sunshine, especially in my gardens is one of the things that brings me the most happiness in life.

Ten amazing years and counting

2009-10-18T20:47:00.001-07:00

This past September 17th, Kris and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. Now I don't have a scanner so I can't post a photo from our wedding, but trust me, we were really good looking :) And here we are ten years later with 3 kids, a mortgage and a minivan. And life, love and marriage are better than we every dreamed it would be. We celebrated with a Stay-cation. We sent our kids to my parents for the weekend and we stayed at our house. If you haven't tried it, it's FANTASTIC. We ate out at places we've wanted to try, we went golfing, we went to all the stores we have wanted to go to, we went to a late movie, stayed up late, slept in late, and thoroughly enjoyed just being together.

Milestones always make me reflect and our anniversary made me think about what an amazing husband I have and how grateful I am for our marriage. As a tribute to my darling husband:

Ten Things I Love About You

Kris went grocery shopping for me the other night - coupons and everything.
Kris fixed our toilets yesterday and does all of the other handyman jobs around the house.
He washes the dishes for me nearly every night.
He brought home a chick flick from the Redbox that he knew I had been wanting to watch.
He bought me jelly beans at the grocery store because he knows how much I love them.
He brings me home the flowers from work.
He sacrifices buying things he wants - like a motorbike - for things that I want.
He suggested that we read Conference talks together for scripture study and that we go to the temple more often.
He got up with the kids on Saturday morning and let me sleep in.
He is my best friend, my confidant, my lover - amazing by the way, a wonderful father to our children, and the person I fall more and more in love with every day.

Modest is Hottest

2009-10-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

To preface, I have THE BEST calling in the church. I am the Activity Days Leader for our ward. Activity Days For Girls is a bit like Girl Scouts. We meet twice a month to work on goals and projects that help the girls develop talents and skills in 4 different areas. Most of our activities are planned around the "Faith in God for Girls" program of the LDS church. The girls are fun and silly and developing into such sweet young women. Best of all, I get to spend extra time with my own daughter Abi who is eight. In September we had a Super Activity that we called "Modest Is Hottest." During one of our weekly activities we learned about modest dress and made a poster of modest fashions. Then we planned this activity for a Saturday where we made pajama pants, had a little luncheon, and a fashion show of their pajama pants and a school outfit.

The moms and girls had a great time sewing together. Now, I'm not much of a seamstress but with a little help from an expert seamstress in our ward I had asked to help guide us along, we all turned out a cute pair of pajama pants.

Abi and I are working hard.

After our lovely luncheon the girls modeled thier pajama pants. They were so proud of themselves. Big shout out to Julie for the decorations and Tony for the sound system and catwalk music. It was awesome!!!

New to Us - Table and Chairs

2009-09-20T16:17:00.001-07:00

When Leah insisted that she was tooo big for her high chair and that she wanted to sit at the table like all of us, it expedited the need for a new dining set. A humongous THANK YOU goes out to my sister Kalene, who gave us her old dining set with six chairs vs our four. It was a great, solid wood set that had been treated really well but didn't quite fit into the eventual grand decorating scheme for our house. But with a lot of hard work and even more black paint, it looks amazing now. First Kris secured any loose legs, arms or dowels with screws and gorilla glue. Then we sanded them all down, the steel wool on the spindles was the hardest. Next I washed them all with TSP substitute. The chairs we decided to spray paint and so I first sprayed them with Rustoleum Primer in brown, 2 coats. Then I used Rustoleum spray lacquer in black for a top coat, 4-5 coats. This is what took soooooo much paint. I used 7 cans of primer and 15 cans of lacquer on 6 chairs. I just kept going back, and going back to Home Depot for more paint. For the table, my cousin - in-law a professional painter recommended painting it by hand. Per his recommendation I used Zinser Bullseye Primer - that's a latex primer- tinted grey. Then I painted it with Porterguard Oil based enamel in black satin. Because our table will be well loved for many years to come by our family of 5+ I protected it with polyurethane, 2 coats gloss and 1 coat satin. Total cost - about $150. But look at it now........

Of course, it's not perfect but I am thrilled. I looks gorgeous and when the chairs get dinged up, as they will, I can just wash them down and hit them with another coat of lacquer. We are also protecting the table with the clear vinyl heavy duty tablecloth.

I'm posting my re-do on A Soft Place to Land http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/2009/09/diy-day-and-giveaway_23.html. Check out all of the other fun DIY projects.

Fair Fun

2009-09-20T16:14:00.001-07:00

Visiting the Eastern Idaho State Fair is a tradition for the Meek family. Opening day was a beautiful Saturday so we loaded up and went. Abi and Tal love seeing all of the animals. They were especially excited to get to pet this miniature horse.
You have to get a hat from the Culligan Water booth - it's tradition. Leah is our little runner, but we kept close tabs on her with her Elmo harness. Tal is upset that I wouldn't buy everything for him.
We love going to McKee's petting zoo. Leah was thrilled that the goats would eat right out of her hand. You just hold out the food and they lick it right off. It tickles.
In the Ag Education Area our kids participated in many fun activities. This is as close to milking a cow as my city slicker son will probably ever get.
Leah found it quite enjoyable to play in the corn pit. This is one time when it is OK to play with your food.
Abi enjoyed milking the cow too. Hmmmm, maybe I should hire them out. We topped it all off with what else, ice cream from the Dairy Barn. Huckleberry Cream for me - Mmmmmm.

Leah at 15 months

2009-09-20T16:12:00.001-07:00

Our little Leah is making the change from baby to little girl. This past month she refused to sit in her high chair any more and made the jump to the booster seat. She looks so tiny sitting up to the table but she knows that she is soooooo BIG. She is pretty good with a cup and spoon as well. Leah continues to grow tall and thin. She is 32 inches, in the 90th percentile for height, but only 19 lb 5 oz, just above the 3rd percentile for weight. Leah also stopped nursing and started sleeping through the night this past week. Yeah!!!
Leah also had her first haircut. Her bangs were getting a little long and so they got a little snip. She was soooooo good, just fascinated with the cape. Leah continues to love to take baths and play with the toys. She also likes to "help" wash dishes and drink out of all of the clean cups.
Leah's vocabulary is really starting to take off. She knows the parts of her face as well as "belly" and "toes". She loves animals and can say "doggie" and "bird". "Want down" is another favorite but it can mean down or up. Leah loves snacks and food. Here she is tearing into a fresh chocolate chip cookie. Yum. Other favorites are mac and cheese, cottage cheese, cheese, juice, cheerios, peaches, yogurt, peas and all kinds of sauces. I joke that her carrots or fries are just the vehicle for the sauce. She will dip them and then lick all of the ranch or ketchup off. Likewise she will lick the peanut butter or jam off of her bread and leave the bread. Leah loves books - her two favorite are "Baby Faces" and "Busy Baby." We read each of them before nap and bedtime.

Rock Reunion 2009

2009-09-20T16:06:00.001-07:00

Our annual Rock Reunion was held in Lewisville this year at the homes of my parents and my aunt Patsi on August 21-23. Over the 3 days we were able to visit and socialize with all of my aunts and uncles, my Grandpa Rock who is 89, and many of my cousins and their kids. The kids enjoyed sleeping out in the tents at grandma's while mom and dad enjoyed sleeping inside in beds. (Now this is my kind of camping.) Our first activity was hiking the Menan Butte. Even though I grew up in Lewisville, I had never hiked to the top of the Butte. It was hot and steep but we made it.
Up at the top you can look down into the Crater and out to Rexburg or back across to our side of the Valley. ( Cousin Clint and Regina Hinckley and kids. Me, my brother Jared, Donetta and Terry Fife, Abi and Talmage, and Gabby and Sterling Howell. Cousin Elliott Hinckley and Ellie. Cousin Troy Hinckley and several of his kids. Aunt Patsi and Uncle Lee Hinckely.) On Friday night we watched a movie outside and enjoyed cobbler and homemade ice cream. The kids loved to watch the ice cream being cranked but weren't so fond of actually helping with the cranking.
On Saturday, the little cousins had the opportunity to make our craft - personalized tote bags. Luckily we kept the paint and markers mostly under control. Kris took charge of adding the buttons with the hot glue gun.
Later on Saturday afternoon we went to Jefferson Lake for wading, floating and a hot dog roast. Leah tip toed into the water at first but soon we couldn't keep her out.
The older crowd hung out up on the grass near the beach and visited. What else are family reunions for.
Kris organized and supervised the building of a sand castle. It was quite impressive, complete with a moat and suspended bridge.
Before dinner we tried our marksmanship with the BB guns. I'm not to good, but Abi and Tal are spot on.
After dinner we walked over to the Lewisville park where Uncle Brian shot off the Candy Cannon. It is quite a sight to see it go off.
And obviously it is a BIG HIT with all of the kids. They run for the candy.
Finally we enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the chimea'. That is my favorite part. Oooh, I love a golden brown toasted and gooey marshmallow. Yummy!!! We're looking forward to seeing you all next year.

Utah Vacation Day 3

2009-09-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

Lagoon, It's what fun is!!! ( I never remember to take pics of signs. Thank goodness for the Internet where you can borrow someone else's :)

Abi and Tal were soooooo psyched to go to Lagoon. They've never been to a real amusement park before. Ever since we started researching our trip they talked and talked about going on Wicked. But we decided to start slow with the Lady Bug Bop.

Kris and I took turns going on rides with Abi and Tal while the other chased Leah around. After 2 days of sitting in her stroller she was ready to run around. The strollers main purpose was carrying the lunch and the diaper bag. I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to rides. I'll go on scarier ones with Kris, but I don't want my kids to hear me go "Oh, I don't want to do this," all the way up the line. So Kris and Abi rode the Rocket together. Tal was heartbroken that he was too short but we made up for it riding a couple of other rides together.

As the day wore on we worked our way up to the bigger rides. Even Kris opted out of riding the Samurai though, no one wanted to lose their lunch. Flying Aces did me in, so there was no question that I didn't want to whirl around and around anymore. Soon we were over to Wicked and Kris took off with Abi while I was going to watch Tal ride the kiddie rides. But soon Kris and Abi were back with great news, Tal could ride the big rides if he rode with an adult. Abi was tall enough by herself so off they went.

When Tal got off of Wicked he ran over to me yelling, "That was AWESOME!!!" They also rode Cliffhanger and Colosus. My favorite was The Bat. Then we took a little break and cooled off at Lagoon A Beach. Both Abi and Tal loved the water slides and Leah liked to float around the Lazy River so again Kris and I took turns going with each of them. After that everyone got to pick their favorite ride to ride one last time. Kris, Abi and Tal all loved Wicked again. Mom got to ride with them on The Bat which was also my favorite. And Leah got her first ride on the Carousel. She squealed as a little breeze ruffled her hair as she went up and down. And then she squealed again when the ride stopped because she didn't want to get off.

We finally drug ourselves out of the park just before 9:00 pm. We grabbed a bite to eat and changed into our PJ's. Then our kids fell into an exhausted sleep for the ride home. I loved our vacation: the fun, the memories and the time being together. My eyes twinkle whenever they talk about our trip, it was soooooo worth it.

Utah Vacation Day 2

2009-09-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the delay in recording the fun memories from our Utah vacation but life got in the way of blogging. Sooooo....

Tuesday morning we awoke bright and early, Ok it was like 7:30, but this was a VACATION. After a delicious breakfast buffet we were off on our adventure at Hogle Zoo, just up Emigration Canyon in SLC.
I realize that random pics of the animals we saw are not really entertaining for anyone else but this display at the elephant enclosure helped give us an idea or how massive these animals really are. One of the female elephants had just given birth the day before so there wasn't an elephant show that day.

We did however enjoy the "Birds in Flight" Show. The doves, hawks, owls, and eagle all flew right over our heads, skimming just above our hair. Leah was fascinated. My favorite animal is the giraffe and I love Hogle Zoo because they have giraffes whereas our zoo doesn't. This little baby is only a few months old and was sleeping out in the open. His mama was watching close by.

Abi of course loved the monkeys the best. Tal likes the big cats like the tigers. Leah was mostly thrilled with all of the animals, they are all new to her but at the meerkat exhibit she stood right up straining in the stroller to press her face against the glass and look at the little meerkat eating just inches away from her. None of us liked the prehensile tailed porcupine though, his scent drove mom right out of the exhibit. Pheeyew!!! Abi, Tal and Leah enjoyed climbing on this huge elephant sculpture and had to have their picture taken.

One of our last stops was to ride the Wild Kingdom Train. I remember riding this train when I was little and visiting Hogle Zoo on a Utah vacation with my family. Too fun.

After Hogle Zoo we drove downtown to Temple Square to see some of the Latter Day Saint Church sites. We were melting in the August heat so we made a quick stop at a Utah favorite, 7-11, to get slushies. Yummy!!! We strolled around Temple Square and the Joseph Smith Building. A cute young couple took our picture in front of the SLC temple. Crazy that it's been almost 10 years since Kris and I were married here and took our pics in almost this very spot.

The kids were amazed by the number of pipes in the Tabernacle Organ. And Tal commented that the Tabernacle benches were very hard. Having sat through a couple sessions of General Conference on them, I can attest to that. ( Saturday Afternoon Session Standby Line - it's the easiest to get into.) Abi and Talmage enjoyed seeing large representations of pictures they knew from Primary in the Visitors Centers. But their favorite was seeing the Christus. My heart did the little mommy melt when they both just sat and looked quietly for a minute. Mind you, it was only a minute, but I could tell they were feeling the Spirit.

After that we went across the street to see the Conference Center. It is exciting to be in the building that we see on TV when we watch General Conference. Abi said that she loved being up on the roof and seeing all of the plants, waterfall and gardens that are up top. I am always blown away by the sheer size of the Auditorium. Kris and I attended the Saturday morning session there the first time they had General Conference in the Conference Center. We were way up in the 3rd balcony and still when the prophet came in, the room was electric, and you can feel the power.

Tal loves the Book of Mormon heroes, especially Captain Moroni and Samuel the Lamanite. So it was sooo fun to walk through the Arnold Friberg gallery of the Book of Mormon paintings and have Talmage tell me about each one. After that we went to dinner at the Red Iguana on North Temple. The Red Iguana is Kris's favorite Mexican Restruant; no one else is even close. He craves their Mole Verde. The kids' Killer Nachos were yummy as well. To top off the night we went to the Clark Planetarium in the Gateway Plaza and checked out all of the free exhibits. Tal was mesmerized by the perpetual motion machine and we all had fun "visiting" the moon and Mars.

Soon it was time to get my little Martians back to our hotel for another quick dip in the pool and then off to bed so we could be ready for another big day.

First Day of School

2009-08-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone in the Meek household has been anxiously awaiting this day for the last few weeks. The excitement started mounting as we bought our crayons, glue and other supplies at the end of July. Then we started shopping for pants, long sleeve shirts and new shoes and the excitement built. A week and a half ago we found out who their teachers would be and they literally jumped up and down for joy as they got the teacher they wanted. We packed our bags last Wednesday and on Thursday went to Back to School Night. Abi and Tal met their teachers and found their desks. Last night they picked out their new outfits to wear and laid them out. This morning they bounded out of bed at their alarms and were dressed before I could ask. ( I hope this lasts, but I'm pretty sure by the end of the week I'll be dragging them out of bed again.) I was even up on time and made a breakfast of pancakes to start them off. Then while Tal was brushing his teeth, he came to me and said, "Mom, I'm going to miss you."

Oh, I'm going to miss you too, Abi and Tal. As much as I said I was excited for school to start so I could shop with only 1 kid, or finally really clean my house, or not be feeding someone and cleaning up all day - I'm going to miss you. I'm going to miss lazy mornings, picnics, hearing you laugh and play with your friends outside, having you raid the raspberries, peas and strawberries, and just having you around. After Kris took Abi and Tal to school this morning, and Leah was still sleeping ( after another rough night), I had that moment where you think, "What am I going to do with myself?" And then I remembered the piles and piles of things I've been putting off until the start of school and yet I put them off for a few more minutes to record this moment.

Utah Vacation - Day 1

2009-08-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

After months of planning and anticipation we took off on our long awaited Utah vacation. Wahoo!!! We left bright and early the morning of Monday August 10th. OK so it was 8:00, but we have 3 kids to get up and ready. Our first stop was Smith and Edwards "The Country Boy Store." This has got to be Kris's favorite store. It is packed with all sorts of crazy gear as well as Army Surplus. The kids each got a pair of "cheap sunglasses" as Kris kept singing and we found a lid lifter for our dutch oven. Then we loaded back into our van for a short drive to our first real attraction - Hill Air Force Base Museum.We enjoyed wandering around the museum and looking at the planes. This is a bomber that flew missions from England to Germany. Tal was fascinated by all of the machine guns and of course the bombs.

The coolest part of the museum is the Aviation Center for Education - ACE. Here Abi and Tal tried on flight suits and got to sit in real cockpits. There were also displays that helped you understand how airplanes work and flight simulators.

Tal flies a fighter jet. He has always been fascinated by airplanes. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a real cockpit someday.

Abi flew a little puddle jumper. Here she gets a little help landing it at SeaTac airport. Only 3 bounces, good job.

Our second stop was the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park and it was awesome. Inside the museum many real fossils were displayed in cases but the coolest part were the replicas of real dinosaur skeletons. Several of them had interactive kiosks that helped us learn the differences between the types and the periods in which they lived. This one is a cousin of T-Rex, Ankylosaurus, I believe.

This woolly rhino was fun to touch. Leah liked petting his thick fur, ( and playing with the rocks.)

Aaaaagh!!!!! This T-Rex is going to eat us.

Upstairs there was a robotic display of a T-Rex taking on a mama Triceratops who was defending her babies. The babies kind of purred and Leah loved them. Don't worry, the fence is turned off. :)

Outside we wandered around the park looking at the replicas of many other dinosaurs. We are dwarfed by this Brachiosaurus. I'm sure the ground shook when he walked. The kids also got to dig for fossils in a sand pit and play on a little dino playground.

For dinner we visited a "Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives" recommendation - The Blue Plate Diner - in Sugar House. We were all in the mood for omelets and they were scrumptious. After dinner we checked in to our motel, the Crystal Inn Downtown. Kris took Tal and Abi for a dip in the pool while I put Leah to bed. And then we all zonked out after a day of fun so we would be ready for more tomorrow.

Not Sleeping

2009-08-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Notice the time - 3:15 or maybe a little later by the time I'm done. I wish I was sleeping, but my little babe has other ideas. She's been up since 1:00. You would think she'd be tired by now. I fed her. I snuggled her. I lay in my bed for over an hour while I listened to her cry. I brought her to bed and tried to get her to sleep. I nursed her again. She wants to play. Little Leah, you are toooo spoiled. She's back in her own bed, screaming now. I gave Kris a pair of earplugs. I hope that he sleeps. And here I am out at my computer because I can't bear to lie there and listen to her cry. I vacillate between wondering what could be wrong with her, feeling bad that I am letting her cry, and getting mad that I am not getting any sleep. I clench my jaw and grind my teeth, not because I want to, but because the sound of your own baby screaming is the worst sound in the world. And so, I blog. I love you Leah.

Roaring Youth Jam 2009

2009-08-07T21:05:00.001-07:00

Once again I am marathon blogging. So scroll way down to catch up with the fun things we've been doing this summer.

Thursday morning my sister and I took our kids to the "Roaring Youth Jam" along the greenbelt. It is always a fun paint, glitter and glue filled experience.

Abi and Tal try their hand at sand art.

Of course we had to stop and visit the face painting.

Leah rips it up with her spoon at the "Junk Jam."

Abi and Tal loved tagging the graffiti wall.

My children get thier hula hooping skills from their dad. He is amazingly talented, he even wins contests. I, however, am quite pathetic. Wahooo, little Meeks.

Painting the xylophone is always a crazy experience. I tried to think ahead this year and my kids wore their grubbies. We had a roaring good time.

Hayes Reunion in Tendoy

2009-08-07T20:46:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was our annual Hayes reunion in Tendoy, Idaho. ( Tendoy is a tiny town about 20 miles south of Salmon in the Lemhi valley.) Kris's great-grandpa had a little piece of property that over the years has been developed into a cabin, a few outbuildings and camping spots. Now when I say cabin, I mean cabin, not the second homes you see in Island Park. But it has everything we need and is soooooooo much fun. Our kids look forward to it every year. Their favorite activity is riding the 4 wheeler all around the trails and county roads. Leah only got to ride around the camp site but she was hooked, she hollered and cried when she had to get off. Our first ride is always up to Chief Tendoy's grave site.

Abi, Tal and Walker cooled off on a warm afternoon by floating boats and rafts down a little irrigation ditch while mom watches close by and reads her book. ( A rare treat.)

Abi and Walker liked to send their boats under the bridge.

Another favorite activity is visiting the hot pools at Sharkey Warm Springs. Back in the day I guess they were rather primitive but now they are concrete pools where you can relax and play.

Most of the crew in front of the cabin, all dirty and stinky right before we went home.
Paul, Jeremy, Lisa, Kevin, Reagan, Leah, Donalee, Kris and Eric
Walker, Talmage, Abi

Phil - who always thinks he is the center of attention.

Nathan and Sarah left right before I remembered to take a picture. Wynn and Nancy and GG Hayes also came up on Saturday and spent the day with us. We had a wonderful time riding, playing, resting, playing bean bags, roasting marshmallows and hanging out by the fire.

See you again next year.

Guess Who's Walking Now!

2009-08-07T20:27:00.001-07:00

Leah finally took off walking on her own and she hasn't stoppped since. Since about the middle of June she has taken a few steps in between people but was too chicken to just take off. She preferred to scoot around. But then about July 20th and 21st, she just started walking. She was a little hesitant at first with her arms out for balance but every time she fell down she would get back up and keep going. Soon she was practically running everywhere. Now all she wants to do is walk. Shopping has turned into a really exciting experience as she doesn't want to sit in the cart, she wants to be "Down" and exploring everything on the shelves.

These are Leah's 1 year photos. Where is my baby going, she is turning into such a little girl. It's too bad that the photos don't show it but she has the prettiest blue eyes - cornflower blue. Leah's vocabulary is expanding also. She now knows "down" and "up", thank you, I love you, eyes, doggie, ball, milk, and my favorite "Hi." Nearly every morning she greets me with a cheerful "Hi" when I go into her room. Thankfully she is also sleeping through the night again. We made it through another round of teeth, the eye teeth this time, and now she has 16. She goes to bed about 8:30, will sometimes rustle at 11:30 and then wakes to nurse at 6:30. I put her back to bed and she sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00. I can't even explain how fantastic a full night of sleep feels. Leah has a great sense of humor and is quite the ham. She loves to play peek-a-boo, patty cake and to beep your nose. She squeals with delight on the slides at the park or on falling back onto my bed.

Whirlwind Yellowstone Trip

2009-07-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the free National Park weekend to drive up to Yellowstone and introduce our kids to its wonders and beauties. Unfortunately, Yellowstone is impossible to see in 1 day but that is all we had so raced around trying to get a taste of Yellowstone and maybe next year we can go back for some feasting.
We started at Madison and signed our kids up for the Junior Ranger Program. It is awesome. They get a newsletter filled with info and activities that helps them learn all about Yellowstone as you go around the park. After completing certain requirements they earn a Jr Ranger patch. Here Abi and Tal learned about the 3 dogs in Yellowstone from Ranger Bob. Just ask, they can identify a red fox, a coyote and a grey wolf.

If you see a traffic jam in Yellowstone, it is because of the wildlife. We spent more time in traffic because of people slowing down to take pics of animals that we did for road construction. But then here we are taking pictures of the big bull elk as well.

Norris Geyser Basin: Abi and Tal laughed and giggled that it smelled like "cow poop" or other things we won't mention. Tal didn't like the steam from the fumeroles spraying onto him.

Mammoth Terrace: We hiked down and around and back up again. There are 131 steps going up: we each guessed and then counted. It was a great incentivizer to make it back to the top. It's just amazing to see what water and minerals can make.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: Leah was asleep by this point so Kris hiked to the overlook with the kids. It's OK, I've been before. For one of his activities, Tal wrote a poem about the canyon and waterfall. Just gorgeous.

We saw a whole herd of bison in the Hayden Valley. This guy crossed the road and few cars in front of us and then was just posing for pics. I stayed in the car but there were of course other crazies who tried to get close.

Abi and Tal earned their Jr Ranger badges and were presented with them at the Old Faithful Visitor's Center. They worked hard and learned a lot, I'm proud of them.

Old Faithful: Our last stop and everyone's favorite. Both Abi and Tal described it as "Awesome". By this time we were all exhausted. After a quick trip to the gift shop we grabbed McDonald's in West Yellowstone and were on our way home. We arrived just before eleven o'clock, tired but happy.

Day at the Spray Park

2009-07-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

For Playgroup last week we drove up to Rexburg to visit the Spray Park at Porter Park. The weather was a little chilly but the kids had a blast anyway. Leah loved the little bubbling fountains but DID NOT want to share with any of the other babies. She would stick out her leg as if to push them all away. She also liked to stand in the pools at the bottom of the slides but then would shriek as she was splashed by the sliders coming down.

Abi and Tal loved the slides and the bucket dumping on them. Our cousins came to play with us and so they all had a great time.

Splash down!!! Tal has always been a little bit of a daredevil.

Big Changes and Blessings

2009-07-20T21:04:00.001-07:00

Have you ever stopped and thought to yourself, " You know, life is pretty good right now?" If you haven't, DON'T. Heavenly Father always want to stretch us and for some reason he doesn't want us to get too contented and comfortable. What am I talking about? The first counselor in our bishopric was moving out but I felt very confident that they wouldn't move Kris out of the Elder's Quorum Presidency. Until........ I got the phone call on a Tuesday night from the Stake Executive Secretary inviting both of us in at 8:15 on Sunday morning to meet with the Stake President.

Well, I got off the phone, promptly called my mom and bawled about why this was not fair and that I was not ready to sit by myself on Sundays with 3 kids. As good moms do, she listened for a minute and then set me straight. Thank you mom. :) After that I took her advice to heart and decided to be grateful that my husband is worthy, willing and able to be called into the bishopric and that I need to saddle up and be willing and ready to support him. And surprisingly, I have been blessed with a feeling of peace ever since. Consequently, Kris was called to be the 2nd Counselor in our ward and was ordained to be a High Priest by my dad and then set apart. Wonderful members of our ward have offered to sit with us and we made it through the last 2 Sundays.

On a separate note I was called to be the Activity Day Girl's Leader. Yipee!!! I am really excited to get to spend this fun time with Abi and the other girls in our ward.

Blessing # 1: Callings that make us grow.

Blessing #2: A Heavenly Father that watches over us and knows our every need.

Dresser Rehab

2009-07-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

One of my projects for the summer is to redecorate Tal's room. He has picked Star Wars for a theme and his favorite color is red. After some online shopping, I think I have a plan worked out. The first step was to rehab his old dresser. It's actually a dresser that my mom had when she was a girl that I had stripped and painted for Abi before she was born. As we didn't know whether she was a boy or girl before birth we decorated her nursery in Winnie the Pooh and so the dresser was a turquoise blue and sunshine yellow. I've been following Kimba at http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/ for a few months with all of her furniture rehabs and love of spray paint and caught the bug. My friend Becca is also a great inspiration with her creativity and style, everything she touches turns out sooo cute. So I took the plunge.I washed the whole dresser down with TSP substitute and then sanded it with my handheld electric sander. I had to to a little hand sanding but it was mostly just to rough up the finish to help the primer stick. Then I primed it with Rustoleum primer from Home Depot. The doors and drawers are sprayed with Rustoleum's Colonial Red in Satin. The white is Valspar from Lowes. I love how it turned out so crisp and clean. We added new pulls and hinges and it's almost like new. In fact, my dad thought is was. Nope, I just painted the old one. I love that it's oil based so it dries harder than when I hand painted with a latex paint. I'll post more pics of the room when I'm done.

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July is Kris's favorite holiday and I think aside from trying to get our annual pic, it was a great one.

On Friday night we went to Kris's mom's house where we grilled brats and hot dogs, stuffed ourselves with watermelon and chips and then lit off our fireworks. If my husband weren't a lawyer, his dream job would to be a pyrotechnic engineer. It think that will be his retirement. Leah liked her sparkler but kept trying to grab the flame.

Abi and Tal loved dancing about with their sparklers as well. Our favorite fireworks were the Killer Bees, Happiness Fountains - because they made us happy, and our grand finale The Jellybean Fountain.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to catch the parade. After lunch and a little stroll along the Greenbelt we drove out to Menan for another parade. The Menan parade may consist mostly of every Central Fire District fire engine spraying the crowd with water ( good thing there weren't any fires), antique farm implements, kids on 4 wheelers and bikes, and the odd business here and there but Menan has the best treats. Everyone gets chocolate milk, otter pops and loads of candy. After checking out the festival in the park we went to Nana Fifes for a little rest and a BBQ. Then we went back to Menan for the fireworks. It brought back fond memories of me as a kid lying out on the blanket with my siblings and cousins, eating popcorn, to watch them shoot off one or two aerials at a time. Not much has changed, they shoot off a few more, the finale is bigger but my kids "Ooohed" and "Aaaahed" ( especialy little Leah) lying on the blanket and eating sticky popcorn. ( Smile)

Leah sports her new shades she got at the parade. You know they only stayed on long enough for this picture.

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

2009-07-05T21:51:00.001-07:00

Oh we sit on our porch eating ice pops and cookies and watch all of our neighbors go by.

Oh we hike up the Cress Creek Nature Trail and have a picnic. ( PS we hiked it on July 3rd, 2 days before the Post Register profiled it.) It is a great little hike outside of Ririe, near Heise. It's only about 1 1/2 miles and has little signs that tell about the topography, plant and animal life.

Here we are enjoying our picnic by the creek. It was a beautiful, cool and shady spot.

Oh, I work in my gardens and pull lots of weeds. My dianthus are blooming a profusion of pinks and whites. My bleeding hearts are still going and the geranium and lobelia are starting to take off. My hostas looked really great but we had a big hailstorm which punched big holes into the leaves.

This is my butterfly/hummingbird garden which unfortunately hasn't had many visitors. My wiegela in the middle suffered some transplant shock and dropped all of its blooms but it seems to be perking back up. I also have purple salvia, magenta Sweet William, Bachelor's Buttons, a peony that didn't bloom but it is it's first year, a pink ( yes I said pink) coneflower that is just getting a good start, bee balm, blue delphiniums and pink yarrow which haven't bloomed yet, and some red hot salvia that will hopefully bloom soon. I also planted parsley at the back to attract the butterflies. Of course I am already dreaming of the additions I can make next year.

And sometimes I even like to lay on my back and watch as the clouds go by. Is that what you do?

Catching up with Leah - 13 months

2009-07-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Our little Leah is growing from a baby to a little girl. She is developing an adorable personality. She likes to be right in the middle of everything. Here she is "helping" me wash dishes. Mostly she just drinks from the cups, eats the bubbles and pours water everywhere. But it keeps her happy and entertained and I can get a few dishes washed. ( This is her signature crazy hair because she always pulls out the hair pretties I put in.) Every morning I set her on the side of the sink while she "brushes" her teeth and I do her hair. And every morning I say "Ooooh pretty" and she will smile and touch her hair. And every day she ends up looking like this, ah well.

Leah adores being outside. She will scoot over to the front or back sliding glass door and bang on it, to be let out. She loves to crawl around in the grass, pull on my plants and play on the trampoline. But she absolutely loves swinging on the swings. Here she is at my mom's just happy as a clam. She will laugh and squeal as the breeze ruffles her hair swinging back and forth. On the bigger swings I have to hold her and we can't swing as long because mommy gets motion sick.

Yes, Leah can climb onto the trampoline by herself. Abi taught her how. However, she cannot climb off - she just scoots over to the edge and looks over so that a frightened parent runs to her and picks her up. Then she will squirm out of our arms into the grass, scoot over to the ladder and climb back up. You can tell she just knows that she is soooooo big. And while she loves to climb ladders, stools, boxes, onto the couch, stairs, you name it - she still isn't walking. It's not that she can't; she just won't. She took her first steps on June 16th. And she will walk well in between 2 people, even 6 -8 feet away from each other. But she won't just take off and walk around by herself. She's a little chicken. :) If I do stand her up and point her off to walk, she says " No," and sits right down and scoots. I guess that scooting is faster.

"No" ( or "Nooo") as Leah says it is her favorite word. Sometimes no means yes though. But I think her favorite use is when she does something she knows that she is not supposed to be doing and she says "Nooo" to herself. Like when she goes over and pulls the leaves off my plants, "Nooo." This afternoon she scooted right over to the strawberries, pulled the netting up and started picking them and stuffing her little mouth. Leah LOVES strawberries. Here she has at least 2 in her mouth and one in her hand. But we have a great crop this year of big, sweet strawberries so I guess there are plenty to share.

Leah is starting to say several words and understand many more. She says "Yes, No, Ball, Baby, Mommy - which means I want something, Dadoo, Abi, Ju - juice, Uh-oh and What." She loves it when I sing this little song about a pet hippo and will sing "Oh yes" at just the right time. Leah loves to dance and clap to music, she just lifts herself up onto one knee and one foot and bounces along to the music. We are down to one nap a day from about 1:00 to 3:00 pm. She is getting much better as sleeping now that most of her teeth are through. She has 14 now and 2 lower eye teeth starting to work through. She can eat just about anything and has a particular talent for sniffing out Abi and Tal's candy stashes. She like to look at books and turn the pages but only for a minute. Mostly, Leah is a girl on the go and looking for adventure.

Catching up with Talmage

2009-06-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

One of those huge benefits of being a Stay At Home Mom is that I can do fun things like go on my kids' field trips. When I was working I never knew about these things far enough in advance to get myself off. Leah and I accompanied Talmage's Kindergarten class to the Tautphus Park Zoo. Thankfully, I only had to be responsible for him and 2 other kids as we followed our docent about.

Every time we go he has to hop on this tiger and get his cheesy picture taken. "Mom, Take my picture!!!!!" After the zoo they had lunch at the park and then got to play lots of games like kickball. Amazingly it was one of our few hot and sunny days this spring.

Tuesday, May 26th was Talmage's Kindergarten Graduation. It was sooo cute to see the kids all march in to Pomp and Circumstance with their little blue caps on. They regailed us with the school song and a few others of which my favorite was "Wiggle Like a Wiggle Worm." For the Principal's remarks he called a few of the students up and asked them questions. When he called on Talmage my heart sank as you never know what your son is going to come up with when he's in the spotlight. For the most part he was cute and fun, "Yes, he liked school and his teacher." When he asked him what he would do for the summer, Tal said "Sleep In." HaHa. On school days I have to threaten, bribe, and ultimately drag him out of bed for school. But on the weekend or a day off from school he is up with the sun at 6:00 and waking the rest of the house up too.

Tal really liked his teacher. His favorite was when she would read "Skippy John Jones" with all of the different voices.

Tal's last soccer game was rained out so this one ended up being the last. It was fun to see Tal and the rest of the Fireballs improve to where they could pass the ball to each other and try to score goals. The best part was always running through the tunnel at the end and the treats.