President's Day Weekend Trip

Even though we had just done 24 hours worth of driving the weekend before for the Forman family get-together, when we realized that it was a long holiday weekend, Kristie and I decided it would be fun to meet up for a quick trip to our parents. None of the other siblings and neither of our husbands could come- they were all busy with school, work, projects, and studying so it was pretty low key, but it's always fun to have an excuse to spend a couple days together.

I pretty much finished unpacking and washing only to pack up again. We got into town Friday afternoon. Another reason I thought it would be fun to make the trip was because the Junior Miss Program was going on that evening. It's always a fun event to go to, although I was feeling pretty old when I realized I'd won the program exactly a DECADE before. Mom helped me round up a babysitter for the night, and she, Dad, Cole and I headed out. Kristie got into town a little later and met up with us there. It was also a blast because we met up with a bunch of the Stevens' girls at the program too. We filled up a whole row in the back and had a good time watching the program, giving predictions, etc. It was a fun night together.

(Tiffany, Mom Stevens, Nettie, Amanda, me, Mom- somehow we missed Danielle)

Being dumb with my cool 'little' brother. :)

On Saturday we found out that Grandma and Grandpa Haworth had decided to come into town for a couple days. They wanted to watch Aubree play in the State Basketball tournament. Unfortunately their team lost, but it was kind of a bonus for us, because they ended up spending the day at the house with us. We don't get to see them much so it was a treat! Grandma & Grandpa had only seen Emily once for one day, 9 months earlier so it was fun for them to see her again. I sure love this sweet grandmother.

Of course we had to bring out some music so Emily could bust some moves. She didn't disappoint and gave us the full-out baby dance.

Some of the group.

Cole and Aubrie are great buds, they're both the youngest sibling and two-peas-in-a-pod.

Somehow we only got one picture of Dad- Caleb captured this one.

Kristie and I with aunt Teri.

And Grandpa and uncle Jeff .

Mom and Grandma.

Although 'daddy' Jeff was gone, Emily got plenty of attention from uncle Jeff.

At lunch time, I was being a bad mom and let Emily try some of my chocolate cream pie. (It's just fat-free pudding anyway) She was really good at first, only putting the tip of her finger in and licking it off. Pretty soon it was the whole finger, then two, and finally a handful. I put her in the highchair at that point, but it was pretty entertaining to watch and gave us an idea of what her birthday will probably be like!

Matthew rolling out his 'muscles' on the foam roller with aunt Kristie.

Boys reading books with grandma

The whole day was pretty relaxed. Grandpa and Uncle Jeff went to watch some basketball games, and the rest of us just sat around and visited for the afternoon. I fell asleep on the couch for a bit, and the kids played. It was nice to be able to just enjoy each other. Grandma & Terri left about 7pm that night.

The rest of the night was spent doing pretty much the same:

These two little girls loved playing with Carly- she's such a good, patient dog that she doesn't mind a bit. I think she especially likes them because they usually throw her food from off the highchair.

Snuggling with aunt Kristie before bed

With Kristie's help, Cole cut himself a nasty-looking mullet. Thankfully it only stayed for about 2 weeks or I would have had to cut it off myself!

Sunday we went to church together. Meetings are getting more difficult these days. The boys spent sacrament meeting sitting nicely with Grandma, Kristie and Cole. I spent the hour out in the hallway with Emily who kept wanting to bang the chairs, throw cheerios, scream, and eat pretzels off the ground. Thankfully the other meetings were a little better, but I was good and ready for her nap when we got home.

Sunday night after the kids were in bed, Kristie and I broke out some games and played some battleship. Then we spent the rest of the evening in some entertaining conversations with Dad and Cole. Mom was a part of them too until she fell asleep on the couch.

It was fun to watch Lilah and Emily during the trip. They're still pretty young, but they're starting to play better together. Emily still likes to take her binky and they still poke each other's eyes, but I think they're starting to recognize and enjoy each other more and more.

Monday morning came way too fast, but we both needed to get back home to normal life and our husbands again.

It took me a little longer to load up because I was trying to gather our remaining wedding gifts from the closet to take home so Mom & Dad wouldn't have to store them anymore. It's only taken me 8.5 years! Emily entertained herself by playing in the window- it was a perfect seat for her cute little diaper bum.

The boys also enjoyed a couple last games of Uno before we hit the road again. It was a pretty quick, laid-back trip, but I'm glad we were able to make it down for the couple days.

11 Months

Emily turned 11 months old on February 19th

-We don't have a scale & I didn't have access to one, so I don't know sizes at 11 months. She's definitely growing though, many of her little pants are becoming floods.

-She loves glasses. From my sunglasses, to the boys' nerf glasses, etc. Emily loves to put them on and walk around with them. She thinks she's pretty funny.

-This little girl is really starting to show her personality. She has a lot of spunk and can be a little feisty at times, but she is still so sweet and cuddly.

- She's gotten more difficult during church. It's funny because usually Emily is the sweet one, and the boys are crazy. During church, sacrament meeting especially- the boys are perfect and Emily is the difficult one!

-She still giggles all the time, especially when she hears other people laughing. I also love to watch her clap when she is happy or excited or feels proud of something she's done.
-Emily now has a total of 8 teeth. 6 on top and those 2 cute little teeth on bottom.

-She is still saying 'ma ma' and 'da da' and 'hi'- especially when she's playing with her toy phone. She likes to pick things up and bring them to me, then she'll say 'heh' when she does. I don't know for sure but she sure seems like she's trying to say 'here.'
- Emily still loves cars & trucks & trains! In fact, Matthew usually starts to worry when she comes around because she'll grab an armful and run away with them!
-She can actually be really helpful when we're cleaning up. She likes to pick up toys and help put them in their baskets & bins. She seems to like to clean up the train tracks best.
-Emily is quite the little dancer! When the music starts, she can really bust a move. It usually consists of bouncing up and down, sometimes really getting her arms into it as well. I love it!

-Emily is also quite the climber! She loves to climb on anything and everything! It's all I can do to keep her off the dishwasher. Other favorites are chairs, baskets, beds, bins, shelves, etc. She gets so proud of herself and isn't too happy when I get her down.

-She finally has enough hair in the back to do a little pony tail or two mini pig tails. Jeff thinks it looks funny, but I'm excited to finally be able to do something. I'm sure it'll just get more fun from here on out.
-It's a little sad knowing that she will turn a year old in just one short month. I have many friends who have just had babies or who are expecting. It doesn't seem real that it's already been almost a year. Sometimes I wish I could shrink Emily back to that sweet, little newborn stage but at the same time I'm loving watching her grow up. She is such a sweet baby and such a joy. I can't imagine our home without this sweet little girl.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was low key this year due to the fact that we arrived home at 4:30am that morning and that is also happened to fall on a Monday/school night- which makes arranging babysitting a little more difficult. So we opted to do a fun dinner at home with the kids.

Dinner included steak, baked potatoes, a yummy salad, steamed carrots and homemade rolls. And of course cake and ice cream for dessert. Jeff brought me the beautiful red & pink roses that made a perfect centerpiece.

Emily finished her food quickly and then wanted to play in ours- Jeff found a perfect solution. He gave her a streamer of crepe paper and let her play with it. She loved it! She would hold it and spin it around. She was pretty pleased and would only put it down so she could clap to show us how happy she was. She looks a little grubby in the pictures, but I just thought it was so cute!

Daniel's Homecoming

In February, we had the great opportunity to travel to California for Jeff's cousin, Daniel Forman's missionary homecoming. Daniel just recently returned from a 2-year mission to the Ivory Coast in Africa. It was a long trip, 12-hours both ways, but so worth it. It was so wonderful to be able to bask in the spirit of a valiant, newly returned missionary. Daniel is such an amazing young man. We loved being able to share in all his experiences through videos, pictures, stories, and of course his powerful talk on Sunday. He is exactly the type of young man we would love to see our sons become someday.

Even though the drive was long, we were able to take a beautiful, scenic route which made the drive a lot of fun. It makes the hours go by much more quickly when you have nice things to look at along the way. Mount Shasta was one of our favorites!

On the trip down, we decided to break up the drive into two parts and actually spent the night in a hotel. The boys thought it was pretty cool. Especially since they were able to enjoy a big yummy breakfast of waffles, fruit and orange juice. I thought this picture of the three boys was pretty funny- they did well sharing the big bed, and it sure beats our normal practice of driving all night, or sleeping in the car.

We arrived at Dean & Linda's house about 4:30 on Friday afternoon. It was such a sweet moment to see Daniel again and more of our amazing cousins. Grandma Forman also arrived about an hour after we did. It was so wonderful to have her there- she was still recovering from a pretty intense surgery. She's the same grandma we all know and love- nothing keeps her down! She is an amazing lady, a great example of faith and service, and a wonderful matriarch of the family.

Joseph, Daniel, Tony Sam

Dean and Linda were so kind and accommodating, putting everyone up in their beautiful home. They have an amazing set up- a gorgeous home on 18 acres, complete with pool, pool house, tennis courts, and a 'park' for the kids. The sunsets were absolutely amazing. We felt like we were vacationing at a plush resort with the added bonus of having loved ones there as well! (photos courtesy of Amanda)

Friday night, Uncle Dean decided to put on the jukebox for everyone to enjoy. Emily thought it was the coolest thing ever and spent most of the time hanging out at the jukebox showing off her awesome dance moves. She loves music and loves to dance. It was pretty cute!
Growing up, I always felt like I had been blessed with the most amazing family- my immediate family and extended family on both parent's sides. I'm not sure how I lucked out, but somehow I was able to marry into a family that is just as loving, dedicated, amazing and inspiring. I really feel like I'm surrounded by spiritual giants and examples on all sides and I'm so grateful. I love this family like my own, and feel so grateful to be included as part of the family.

Some of the girls:

EmiLee, Gina & David, Tami, Grandma Forman, Lisa, Linda, Sarah & Hope

Lisa's youngest, Travis and Jacob became instant best friends during the trip. The two were pretty much inseparable all weekend. They have very similar personalities- sweet, kind boys and they had so much fun together. I only wish we lived closer so they could spend more time together.

Aunt Lisa, Grandma, and TaraLynn. I just can't say enough how much I love these sweet women. They are everything I hope to become someday.

On Saturday morning, the girls were able to go on a quick run together- it's always so fun to be able to go with others, then everyone enjoyed a huge, gourmet breakfast.

Later on that morning, we broke out the tennis racquets and took advantage of the tennis court, appropriately named "The Champ" court after Grandpa Forman. There were games going on all day long. It was fun to play, and fun to sit on the side-lines watching and talking with everyone.
After too many weeks of December, January, and February, that beautiful, warm California sun was heaven! It was near 70 on Saturday- definitely a treat for us cold-dwellers.

These benches definitely got some good use!

Christian, Tony Sam, Scott & Jeff- these boys have skills!

While the adults took turns playing tennis, the kids had plenty of fun things to keep them busy as well. The trampoline had non-stop visitors, and the sandbox and swings provided plenty of entertainment as well.

By the end of the day, the kids were all pretty tuckered out. It got cooler when the sun went down and Matthew wanted to sit with Grandma Stevens under the blanket. It didn't take too long before he was out- I think he slept for over an hour. He sure loves his grandma!

Emily had lots of fun friends as well- these cute girls made sure that Emily had constant entertainment while she enjoyed her dinner in the high chair.

On Saturday night, we had a nice family devotional. We were able to watch Daniel's videos, see pictures, and listen to stories. There were testimonies by Daniel, Grandma, Linda, Grandma Stevens and a few others. The evening ended perfectly with everyone singing songs. I love having everyone gathered together in the family room.
Of course, it wouldn't be a true family gathering without some good laughs as well. This was one of my favorite moments- and I just happened to have the camera handy. It still makes me laugh to think of Dean's deep laugh. I'll leave out the details of the incident, but everyone was dying with laughter.
Church was at 9am, so we had an early morning getting everyone up and ready. We were ready to go at 8:30 so we could get a good seat for sacrament meeting. It was such a beautiful meeting- Daniel's talk was wonderful, he shared a message both humble and powerful.

My niece Lora was so cute and wanted to watch and help me get Emily ready for church. I'm sure these two cute little girls will have lots of fun together.

We tried to get a quick family picture while everyone was dressed up. As always, you end up with a few funny ones before you can get one decent shot.

Fortunately we did end up with one that turned out with most kids looking, and mostly smiling.

After a fabulous lunch, and the chance to meet and visit with friends and family of the Formans, it was time to finish packing up our bags and say goodbye to everyone. We ended up doing the entire 12-hour drive in one stretch and arrived home at 4:30am Monday morning. Again, it was so worth it!

Our kids weren't too eager to leave either. They had a blast playing at the Forman's place with all of their cousins. Jacob told me that for his birthday next year, he wants to come back to the Forman's home. One of their favorite activities was looking for and trying to catch lizards. Caleb and Matthew were determined to take one home with them.

It's always sad to say goodbyes, but we're so grateful for the wonderful weekend we were able to be a part of. On our drive home, Jeff and I spoke of how inspiring and uplifting the entire weekend was. We left with our spirits lifted and testimonies strengthened, with an even stronger desire to follow examples of wonderful parents and grandparents. It is such a blessing to be part of this wonderful family.