Southbound

Just as the most recent winter inversion was setting in we packed up and headed south for the 4 day MLK weekend. We have been anxious to meet our new nephew and see Mike's parents - so when the opportunity presented itself, we went.

We had to leave Jessie behind. She had school on Friday and basketball practice that she couldn't miss. It seems like this having to leave a child or two behind for family trips is happening more often as the kids get older. It is one of my least favorite things about having teenagers. We missed her.

Friday we got Jess off to school for late start day...which meant it was also a late start for us getting on the road. We had an uneventful trip and pulled up to the Melton's house in Washington about 4:30. 

It felt like a long time since we had seen them...a lot had happened since Christmas.

Saturday morning we took a beautiful little hike up into the reserve north of the house. The sun was warm, the air clean, and the views spectacular!

Looking north into the reserve. A lot to explore. We'll be back!

Zion on the horizon. So beautiful!

Sully schmoozed himself a ride for the last mile on grandpa's shoulders.

 Grandpa treated everyone to slushies at the nearby Marverik on our trek back home, and we sat out on the patio in the sun to finish them.

This is the life!

After our morning jaunt, we had lunch and put Abner down for a nap. Howard took the older boys to swim at the rec center pool, while Jacque and Grace stayed home with Ab. Mike and I drove south to Las Vegas to visit his brothers and sister-in-law and meet our new nephew.

We met Gary and Val at the hospital in Southern Highlands, where Mike and I were taken one at a time back into the NICU to see baby Pax. The little guy is up over 5 lbs. now and getting stronger every day. Hopefully soon he'll be able to go home. Here he is at 3 weeks old. 

He is one special...and beloved boy. I was so proud of Gary and Val. It is a beautiful thing to watch them as parents. I was brought to tears once or twice. I could have stayed and stared at Pax all night. (If you ask Mike, I practically did, staying in the NICU a really long time. I couldn't help it.)

We love him.

We had dinner later with Gary and Val and Tim, when he got off of work. I wish I had taken a picture of everyone together. We really miss seeing them, and being more involved in each others' lives. I am so grateful for all our siblings.

We left Las Vegas about 10 PM, and made the drive back to St. George that night, getting in about 1 AM Utah time. I slept content that night, having spent some quality time, making memories with family that day.

Sunday was a very relaxing day. After church we ate, the kids went with Mike and Howard to visit one of Howard's cousins up the road, and I got a nap. Woohoo!

Cleaning up Sunday dinner with Grandma

Monday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and packed up. 

Mike and Howard played a game of football with the older kids in the park down the hill.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Sully and Ab were hooked up with a movie inside their box/fort/spaceship.

...And cut playdo with Grandma.

We finally packed up the car, and then had lunch with Mom and Dad at Costa Vida before striking out for the great white north. 

We stopped at a gas station in Cedar City where the kids all purchased a Sobe for the road. 

Not sure that was the best idea. What happened afterward  will forever be known in family legend as

the "So-pee" incident. 

It was one potty emergency after another all the way home. We stopped several more times, including a gas station and the freeway off ramp at Holden. There were also a few episodes of "refilling" an empty Sobe bottle in the back seat, (I still laugh when I think about Grace asking pathetically, "Please can I come sit on the middle row?" so she didn't have to sit right next to her brother for that.)... as well as having to change a set of wet clothes. Sully somehow also managed to wet his stuffed sock monkey...which reminded us of the time when Tillman had an accident on a family road trip to Yosemite, after which he announced confidently to everyone, "Don't worry, I wiped it up with my pillow!"  ha ha ha.

Oh my goodness. Good times.

Thanks to all our south-western relatives for the great weekend! See you soon!

It's a New Year

We are safely past mid-winter, and though there is technically more daylight every day, it can certainly seem like the dreariest part of the year. But we're keeping things interesting.

During the Christmas / New Year's break:

* I finally painted the basement kitchen area.

Still getting used to the color. I don't know, but I think once we get the white kitchen cabinets that I want up, it should look pretty good. (crossing my fingers)

 * We went down to the BYU MOA to see the exhibit, "Sacred Gifts" - paintings from the life of the Savior by Carl Bloch and several other artists. We met my brother Casey and his family.

It was a beautiful exhibit! I liked it as much or more than the Carl Bloch exhibit we attended a few years ago down there. There was one particular painting by Frans Schwartz that I had never seen before right at the entrance of the exhibit, and which is now one of my favorites. It is on loan from a church in Denmark.

It is very impressive.

"Agony in the Garden" - Frans Schwartz - 1898

* We hosted Jessie's basketball team at the house for a party. The older kids went to their friends houses for a late night, and the BHS lady Sophomore basketball team took over the basement. Good times.

* New Year's was, as usual, a long night for Mike and I. I have never been a big fan of staying up just to watch the clock tick into a new calendar year.  #1. I value my sleep. #2. I don't particularly love going out partying, especially late into the night... waiting for the clock to strike 12. (See #1.)  For these reasons New Year's usually passes without much fan fair around here. It was actually a bit of a relief when our kids were old enough to want to have their own get-together's with friends on New Years...it took the pressure off of me to have big plans. I had to be at home to keep tabs on the kids. So this year the little brothers went to bed, J. went to the big multi-stake dance with friends, Noble and his gang roved back and forth between houses...mostly ours...playing ping pong, Xbox, foraging goodies, etc., Grace went to the neighbor's,and Tillman hung out with Mike and I. We watched a Nova documentary on Amazon Prime, and dozed off to sleep on the couch about 10 PM. We woke up later to make sure everyone was home, and to send stragglers to their own homes...and, of course, listen to Jessie's enthusiastic retelling of her highlights from the dance.  :)    Happy New Year!

* We had a death in the family. Poor Grace. Her little hamster, Mars, passed away a few days after the new year. We don't know why. Grace was devastated and asked questions about animals going to heaven, and resurrection, etc. We reassured her that animals would not be forgotten.

We also tried to comfort her by explaining that her hamster was "guaranteed"... so we could go pick out a new one at the pet store. That helped a little, but she was really concerned about remembering Mars, and wanted to bury him in the yard. This led to an awkward explanation about how the pet store would require us to bring the body back (good thing I kept the box they sent him home in) in order to get a new hamster. 

So we boxed up little Mars and drove to the pet store. 

Grace absorbed in her sorrow.

Once she had been reassured by the pet store staff that his body would be respectfully disposed of, she started the happier work of picking out a new hamster. Her face lit up when she considered the candidates. She chose a big, gentle, red-haired guy and named him St. Patrick. We signed the papers and brought him home.

Picking out Patrick

He has his own wing of the laundry room, where he is secluded from some of the noise of the house and the cat...and where it's always nice and cozy warm. (The pet store guy speculated that Mars may have become over-stressed with lots of action and noise all around him...which was certainly the case at our house over the holiday.) So far so good. Grace loves him so much. 

As a side note, when we got him home, Mike teasingly asked Grace which hamster she loved more, Mars or Patrick. She gave him a disgusted look and said, "That's like asking which of your children you love more!" Mike, with his quick wit, jumped on that, "Go ahead, ask me which child I love the most." 

Grace: "Who do you love the most?"
Mike: "Tillman." 

Tillman, who was sitting there at the counter, minding his own business, eating a bowl of cereal, totally removed from the conversation, almost choked on his food, and Grace and I doubled over, as we all burst into histerical laughter. ha ha ha ha

Touche' Mike! 

As usual, perfect comedic timing. 

(In case you are worried that our kids' psyches have been damaged, Mike afterward assured Grace and Tillman that he has no favorites.) 

* We had a birth in the family! Mike's younger brother and his wife welcomed their first child. He came a few months early and will have to stay at the hospital for a while to get stronger. But he looks like he is doing better every day. I know it has been a scary beginning for Gary and Val. We wish we could be closer and do more. We love them. And we LOVE, LOVE baby Paxon. Can't wait to meet him in person.

Grandma Jacque and her newest grandbaby. This just makes me smile.

* Speaking of birthdays...Tillman marked a decade here on earth. Wow. Can you believe that?

It was a really busy day (school, piano lessons, pack meeting), but we broke away so we could come home and celebrate. Happy birthday Tillman! I am forever grateful that you came to us when you did. I love you!

With his standard cherry pie instead of cake.

That about covers things for our household for the past few weeks. 

I hope it's been a good start to the new year for all of you!

Catching Up: The Final Installment - Christmas

We have been talking about taking the kids to Temple Square to see the lights this year, but trying to find an open evening in this family's schedule is not easy. We finally decided that Monday night - the 23rd - would be the night. What added to my desire to go was that Sully saw a story in the Children's Friend some time ago that talked about the Christus statue at the visitor's center at Temple Square. He told me he wanted to go there and see it. He has been persistently asking when we were going to see the statue of Jesus. Every time he asked, I felt a growing urgency to make sure he could have that experience.  So on Dec. 23rd we drove down town and braved the crowd. I have NEVER seen it that crowded. As we came into the visitor's center  my heart sank a little as I realized how long the line was to see the Christus. It wrapped around the main floor of the visitor's center, with people shoulder to shoulder 5 or 6 across. I looked at Mike and then got down on my knees to break the news to Sully that the line was just too long for us to wait. I told him, and then asked if it would be ok if we just looked at it from outside through the big glass windows. He didn't hesitate, but with the faith of a child, simply said, 

"No, I want to see Jesus. There will be room for us."  

What could I say to that? I looked at Mike and then at the other kids and shrugged my shoulders. The expression on Jessie's face said, "Are you serious?"  But there was no way I could tell Sully no. So we followed the line to the end, and took our place, all the while I was saying a silent prayer that this would work out for Sully, that his sincere desire to be closer to Christ would be granted. I had a lump in my throat as I thought of his words, "I want to see Jesus. There will be room for us." We waited and waited as the sister missionaries took up one group after another. Noble took Abner a few times to look at the exhibits on the lower floor and Jessie and Noble took the younger kids to the bathroom while we held the place in line. The kids stayed remarkably patient. I was proud of them. After what seemed like hours, we made our way to the top floor to see the Christus. Sully's face was full of awe as he saw the Christus come into view. We found a prime spot right in the center of the front row of seats, to listen to the short presentation. Sully looked for a moment at the statue and then announced confidently to me, "Look! I see the holes in his hands. He's showing them to us." I just sat there amazed at his perception.

I can't help thinking about the significance of those words, "room for us" especially at Christmas time. We don't always make room for Christ in our lives, but he always makes room for us. My 5 year old son had pointed this out to me in a profound way. And just as he predicted, there was room for us.

Sully and Ab in  front of the carpenter Christmas tree in the visitors center.

Sully gets his wish.

After seeing the Christus and the lights, we headed over to City Creek Center for a pizza, and let the kids run wild at the big dinosaur play area.
We had a wonderful time.

And now, a brief digression, just for the heck of it...  a random moment of awesomeness from last week...

DSCN6097 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

ha ha ha ha! Thanks, Noble for capturing that priceless footage.

And on to Christmas...
Christmas eve we had lunch with the Melton's and then met at Sullivan's for the annual Nativity. It was beautiful. I even had pictures. But I can't find that memory card at the moment. Sorry. Maybe I will update later if I can track it down.

Later, when we got home, we read the story of the first Christmas in America from the Book of Mormon with the kids. I like adding that to our yearly observance.

Just before bedtime, the Melton's stopped by so the kids could "open" their gift to them, a ping pong table, in the basement. It's pretty awesome. If you want in on the action, let me know. I'll put you in the brackets.
After a few rounds of table tennis, the 5 oldest bunked out together in the basement family room as is their tradition, to wait for Christmas morning.

As a gift to us, the kids slept in a half an hour more this year, giving us till 7:30 Christmas morning. I thought that was pretty nice of them.

Sibling gifts - first thing Christmas morning.

Santa came through with that Tummy Stuffer dog that Sully had been fixated on for months.

Super fans.

Grace lucked out and scored a hamster from Santa...making this a 3 pet household again. (Sorry no picture.)

She named it Mars. Our kids LOVE the planet names.

Sleepy-excited

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a white Beastie Boys Check Your Head t-shirt in the USA. This was my Christmas triumph.

Mike also received the entire Gem State as a Christmas gift (actually, just a sound bar for the tv)

For the second year running, I received a John Stockton themed gift (last year it was a #12 jersey) --- this time his autobiography. I have been reading it every chance I get! Thanks Mike and kids!

Christmas dinner with the Melton's! (not pictured: the 3 youngest boys at the island counter)

We had a Christmas to remember.

Catching Up: Part Dos

Getting ready for Christmas came a little later than in past years because of our trip to St. George. The kids were pretty anxious when we finally did dig out the Christmas boxes and put up the tree.

This year I got my way again with an open, untrimmed, candlestick style fir (aka, the Charlie Brown variety), despite Noble's protestations. (He wanted a big fat one this year.) I can't help it. I just love a natural-looking tree. (Plus, they last longer when they are un-trimmed.)

It's a beaut!

Here's Abner meeting Santa at the ward Christmas party!

And........more basketball. It seems like this is all we have been doing for the past couple of months. Jess has been playing point guard for the Lady Miners. They are much younger than just about every Sophomore team they have played in preseason action (Bingham's system fills the Sophomore roster with freshmen while every other team they've played plays all their sophomores on the Sophomore team - no matter if those girls also play JV and Varsity.) Consequently, our girls have had a tough time in the preseason. They won their first game the Friday before Christmas, and you would have thought they had just won the world championship. They were SO excited. Jessie is learning a lot about basketball, team dynamics, demanding coaches...but mostly she's learning a lot about herself.

Jess isn't the only one playing basketball. Tillman has been having a good season so far. His team has been wracking up the wins. Grace's team scored their first win the Saturday before Christmas. Grace was beside herself with excitement. Apparently we need to remember to take some pictures at those Jr. Jazz games too. Somehow I don't have any yet. (note to self)

We  got our first really good snow storm and the kids were all over that.

The little brothers suited up and ready to go.

DSCN5849 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

 A blurry Tillman launching off the backyard sledding hill jump.

Noble and his buddies (along with a very eager Sully) spent an entire day building this GIANT snow cave in our front yard. (It was way bigger than it looks in this picture.)

After which, Noble served dinner to the little boys inside. Noble had great plans to sleep in it, but that didn't work out before the weather warmed and the snow cave collapsed. Another time, Noble.

Catching Up: Part One

Hello again. It's been a while.

There's a lot that I have missed. I'll pick up where I left off. November (now that December is almost over).

We have been in desperate need of some garage shelving since we moved in over 3 years ago. I found a guy on KSL classifieds who makes custom bike stands, and had him make one for us. (The cool story behind that is that when I contacted his wife to arrange for a pick up I discovered that she was an old middle school basketball teammate from my youth. It was awesome to catch up.) 

So when a Saturday came up on the calendar without a trip or camp out or major commitment, I pounced. I showed Mike the YouTube garage shelf tutorial, pointed to the pile of lumber leaning against the side of the garage, and then went to borrow a power saw from my dad's shed. A few hours later....presto!! (Now we just need to find a few more Saturdays to build shelves for the north and east walls of the garage.) 

Thanksgiving highlights...

We hosted Thanksgiving again at our house this year with the ever-expanding Sullivan clan. Before the meal, we gathered for a big group shot in the side yard.
Here we are breaking ranks after the photo shoot ...I love all the candid moments captured in this photo.
I love my family.

...and my own family...

Thanksgiving cousins

 More moments from the day...

The day after Thanksgiving we packed up and hit the road for St. George to spend some time with the Melton's.

As you can see, Jess picked up some driving hours on the way down. Her first freeway driving. She did really well, but it was still a white-knuckle experience for me and Mike. Turning over the wheel to our 15 year old with all our other children on board... at 80 miles per hour. (breathe....)

Chillin' at grandma's house...

Tim and Gary and Val came up from LV.

The weather was gorgeous and it was great to see everyone.  

The Big Time

Big time indeed.

Jessie played a little basketball last year. Church ball and one season of county rec. She liked it a lot and decided that she wanted to try out for the high school team. But as the year passed and then the week of tryouts approached she got cold feet, telling us she didn't think she wanted to try out after all. What if she embarrassed herself? What if she got cut right off the bat? She knew she lacked experience and she was worried. We told her to just try. Mike told her about how he regretted not showing up for wrestling tryouts in high school, and told her to avoid the same regret. Either way it would be a good experience. She asked me if I thought she could make it. I told her I had no idea, that it depended on the competition, what the coaches were looking for, etc. I had a pretty good idea that they would be looking for as many freshmen as possible, and told J. she had an advantage there. I knew this because I was cut myself as a Sophomore at BHS during basketball tryouts, ending my dream of becoming a professional basketball player. True story. ...ha ha ha...

As tryouts progressed throughout the week, and she survived one cut after another, we became more amazed. We had given her an outside chance, but now we dared to hope. We also became more nervous for her, because the stakes got higher every day.

It was an awesome moment that last day of tryouts when they called her over and then sent her jogging to the team locker room to claim her spot. I know parents sometimes get a bad rap for living their dreams vicariously through their children. But I have to admit, I am pretty stoked. For the record, I did not drive her toward basketball in any way. She was the one who asked to play rec. last year, and practiced on the driveway for hours. I sometimes worked with her on some fundamentals, but we didn't sign her up for any camps (we couldn't justify the cost this past year).

As a side note, we had to pull her out of the school she's been going to since 1st grade (that was a teary day for both of us) and put her in our boundary middle school so she could make it to daily workouts and games. What a fiasco. Did you know that in Utah if your boundary school is at capacity they do not have to accept  mid-year transfers of students living within their boundaries if they are transferring from a charter school? Neither did I. There was some high drama around here for about a week, as we made phone calls and visits to both of our nearest middle schools, the district, the high school, and met with the head coach. It basically came down to the principal (a really good guy) taking pity on us, and the head coach at BHS putting in a call to the middle school to plead our case. We were grateful that they made it work in the end. She transitioned fairly smoothly, although the first day when I picked her up after school she was in a state of emotional shock and awe. It's tough to come from a small, strict, simple, and academically heavy environment to such a crowded, chaotic place. I felt for her. We were able to get her into a few honors classes, and release time seminary (yippee!! --after half a year of early morning seminary). But she has been blown away at how little time teachers spend teaching, how disrespectful kids are in some of her classes, how watered-down the curriculum seems to be at times, how kids dress, the language, the lunch room. On the flip side, she's been pleasantly surprised at the social opportunities (for Jessie this is big...so many new people to meet!), the technology in the classrooms (every kid has an iPad), her honors Lit. class, how welcoming teachers and kids have been, not wearing a uniform... and the cute boys.
:)    

Middle school USA.

She has a whole new perspective now... and an appreciation for where she's been. So do we. I love NPA more than ever.  I worried that she would wither on the vine - academically and socially...but I think she'll be fine. We feel like it's the right thing to let her play.
This is going to be great. Go Miners!