The 4th of July

After my last post in Greeley, we started our epic 4th of July adventure.  We (the four of us in our little family plus Grandma Allen and StacyAnn) got up early on the 3rd, drove to pick up our rental car, then started our trip from Ft. Collins, CO to Blanding, UT.  The drive wasn't too bad, and we arrived in Vail, CO just in time for lunch - where we shared a couple of pizza's and then got back on the road.  Our two car caravan made it to Blanding for dinner where we met up with the Craig & Lindsay Allen family, the Danny & Aleena Royer family, and the Royers in residence.  We all settled in for the night in anticipation for the holiday that we would celebrate the next day.

The next day was quite enjoyable.  We all went to the parade and the games & booths at the park south of town.  We then went home, had naps and lunch, and played games until dinner and then most of us went to see the 29th annual EOTS Melodrama.  After the melodrama we went to see the fireworks.  MayLynn enjoyed dancing to the music and seeing the fireworks.  Owen said that the 4th of July is his favorite holiday because of the fireworks. Then we got the tired kids home and all went to bed.  

The next day we continued to celebrate in a quite Blanding sort of way.  We played games, went boating out at the lake, ate good food and enjoyed spending the time together.  I really enjoyed having both the Allen and Royer families together and appreciate their willingness to travel to spend the holiday with us. The cousins were able to play, the adults were able to get to know each other better, and the teenagers were able to take turns playing with the kids and the adults.  

Living in the midwest for the past 6 years has helped me gain a greater appreciation for the time that we get to spend with our families.  Thanks for helping to make this 4th of July a wonderful, family filled holiday!

Allen Family Fun

We've been having fun the past couple of days playing with family in Greeley, CO.  We are staying at J.J. and StacyAnn's house and Grandma Allen, Craig, Lindsay, and Emery came down from northern Utah to see us too.  We've had a lot fun playing.  MayLynn and Emery took to each other immediately, and I wish that I'd had the camera out sooner, but I did catch a cute picture of Emery's cute grinning face before Craig and family had to head over the hill to Grand Junction so he could take his MCAT test today.

Both Owen and MayLynn enjoyed going bowling last night, and after we pulled out the ramp for the ball things went pretty well.  MayLynn thought that she had finally made the big people crowd when she got to walk the ball to the ramp and then push it off.  We have one more day here in Greeley and then we'll be off to Blanding to celebrate the 4th of July with the Royer family.

Family Photos

We hadn't had a family picture taken since last Christmas, so I brought the camera with me last Sunday when we wen to church and I had a friend snap a quick picture of us.  Even with a few tries we couldn't get all of us looking at the camera at the same time, so this is the best we could get. I was able to make up for it though with two cute pictures that I took of the kids earlier in the day.  Enjoy the pictures!

Owen's Epic Birthday Celebration

Owen turned 5 this past Monday, but we didn't only celebrate on Monday. Since Bryce was leaving for a week-long camping trip with the young men from our ward Monday morning, we started celebrating on Sunday.  I made a simple birthday cake and tried to make it white with red writing, but my red turned pink and so, yes, my very boyish boy had a pink and white birthday cake.  We had him blow out his candles on Sunday, and then we gave him a gift that made his year.  His daddy gave him his first set of real Legos, and then they stayed up 3 hours past his bed time putting them together for the first time. I think they both enjoyed it.

Monday morning Owen got to have birthday cake for breakfast and then he got to play with Ella (top left below) most of the day.  I've been having a mother's helper each day this week - identical triplets Ella, Nora, and Vivian Wright.  They put together the puzzle that MayLynn gave Owen for his birthday, and also built two incarnations of Owen's first Lego set.

On Tuesday we made preparations for Owen's birthday party.  Nora (bottom left in the green from the picture above) got to spend the day with us.  She helped me plan the party and shop for party favors.  She also helped me start decorating birthday cake(s) #2.

These cakes turned out pretty well.  I baked a sheet cake, cut it in half and made a two-layered cake.  I then cut that cake into 15 pieces.  I took SweeTarts candies and matched the frosting to the candies.  I frosted the blocks and put the candy pieces on top to make individualized Lego brick cakes.

Owen had his birthday party this morning.  We had the Cannons, the Gages, and the Wrights over for cake & ice cream and a water fight.  The Lego cakes were a great hit, and the kids had fun choosing what color they wanted.  Owen once again had his day made as he received a couple of squirt guns and two more Lego sets from his friends.  The kids had tons of fun getting wet and after the party the fun didn't end, because Peter & Ben Cannon stayed to play with Vivian & Owen.

Now, after four days of birthday fun, I can officially announce that Owen is 5 years old!  We've had a whole lot of fun celebrating, but now it's time for life to return to normal.  I love my little boy and I look forward to many more birthdays to come.

Moroni's Challenge

What do you get when you combine a beautiful outdoor setting with Book of Mormon theme, 160 teenagers, some Styrofoam swords, and wooden shields?  Battles from the Book of Mormon of course.  This was just one of the many wonderful activities that we had at youth conference last weekend.  

Bryce works with the young men in our Stake (a regional group for our church) and was very heavily involved in the planning for this year's youth conference.  The theme was Moroni's Challenge (See Moroni 10:4-5).  The youth had been challenged to read the entire Book of Mormon in about 3 months, and then at the conference certain key stories were reenacted by the difference wards and branches (local church groups).  Bryce was in charge of all of the theatrical elements of the event, and he prepared the sound recordings for the reenactments, designed and built the set, and with my help, provided the sound and lighting effects for the event.  He'd had a very busy couple of weeks putting it all together, but it all was worth it in the end.

My favorite part of the event was that I got to go with Bryce.  Normally I get to stay home with the kids and let him go and have fun with the youth, but this time he needed help running things, so we found somebody to watch our children for 3 days (Thank you Qingyi Yu and Jen DeGraw!!!!) and I got to spend the time with Bryce.

It was three days of little miracles that I will never forget.  There was sunshine when we needed it and thunderstorms, driving rain, and tornado sirens when we needed them (see 3 Nephi).  Everything went better than planned and I know that the Spirit was there to communicate to the youth how real the people and the stories of the Book of Mormon are.  I know that there are many important lessons to be learned from the Book of Mormon, but the most important lesson that I took home with me from the conference is that our Savior loves each and every one of us.  He knows us personally and invites us to come unto him.  When we do, he will wrap his arms around us and help us make our way back to our Heavenly Father again.