Archive for the ‘Family’ Category.
A couple of months ago we decided to finish our basement. Brian thought that it would also be a great time to get cabinets put in his office. Today was the day that they got put in. Even though there are a few more touch ups to be done on them, I think they turned out really nice.
It finally happened about a month ago, Diana taught herself to ride a bike without training wheels. I am so glad she was not like Anne or Caroline who fussed and fretted about riding without training wheels. All of Diana’s friends on the street learned how to ride a bike last year so Diana decided that it was her turn. She got on our littlest bike and kept on trying to ride it until she was successful. Here are the pictures to prove it:
I was busy with school this year so we didn’t have time to take a fancy family vacation. Instead we decided to go camping. Somewhere I had read that Tony Grove Lake in the Cache National Forest was a decent place for beginning campers so, without ever seeing the place, I reserved a campsite on the internet.
Tony Grove Lake 2010
It actually turned out to be a good campground but our particular site was a bit disappointing as it was situated on a steep hill. There was a semi-flat place higher up on the hill with enough room to pitch our big family tent and there was a smaller flat place near the campfire with room to pitch the two-man tent. Emily and Anne occupied the two-man tent while Nancy, Caroline Sam, Diana, and I grouped together in the big family tent.
The older girls' tent
As expected with an 8 year old boy, the campfire was simply irresistible to Sam. He spent all of his time poking sticks in, taking them out, putting more wood on the fire when we were trying to let it die down, and setting other bits of wood around the fire pit on fire. Notice the burning log outside the fire pit and the look on his face just after getting a tongue lashing from me for it.
The campfire was irresistible for Sam
We took our dutch oven camping and tried several different recipes from the booklet that came with it. The favorite was Mountain Man Breakfast in the morning. Somehow everything tastes better when camping. I wasn’t adventurous enough to try cooking a fancy cobbler dessert in the dutch oven but the kids didn’t seem to mind as they enjoyed making s’mores each night.
On the trail to Coldwater Springs
One of the days we took a hike up to Coldwater Springs. Actually, we didn’t know we were going to Coldwater springs – we just decided to hike up the hiking trail a little ways. After about a mile we came to a sign that said Coldwater Springs was 2 miles away. The weather was nice and the kids seemed to be enjoying the hike so we decided to press on to the springs.
On the trail to Coldwater Springs
The springs were flowing and the water was indeed cold. The water was probably safe to drink but I decided to be on the cautious side and wouldn’t let the kids drink out of it for fear of getting giardia or some other parasite.
The view from Coldwater Springs
Another day we had fun hiking around Tony Grove Lake. Tony Grove is a high mountain lake so it was still chilly at times, even in August, but aside from that the weather was great the whole time we were there.
Hiking around Tony Grove Lake
A beautiful view
In general the kids enjoyed puttering around the camp site and generally seemed to have a good time. My biggest problems with camping are the noise at night (the squirrels and chipmunks and other wildlife chattered non-stop all night) and the fact that a tiny camp mattress and a cramped sleeping bag are not the same as a king-size bed. I also don’t like to stink like campfire smoke. If it weren’t for those things, camping would actually be pretty enjoyable.
Fun around the campsite
Caroline
By the end of 3 days, everyone had their fill of camping and were ready to go. In the end, it turned out to be a pretty fun trip for us amateur campers. Perhaps we’ll making a summer campout a regular occurrence… well, perhaps not.
The kids loved the tree stump
Waiting for dinner
Down the road a ways the city built a new park. It is not that great, but since it is a change from the old on they have been going to it is like hitting the jackpot for the kids. One day I decided to take their pictures just for fun.
For mother’s day this year all the kindergarten classes got together to do a program for their mothers. We were off track at the time so I had to drive Diana to school instead of sending her on the bus. Diana has been excited the past month or so because they have been practicing the songs they were going to sing. Some of the songs she would sing at home while she watched TV or played with her barbies. She did a very good job singing although one of the songs she didn’t sing. I asked her when we go home why she didn’t sing the one song and she told me, “I didn’t like that song mom!” Boy was I not smart to know that!
I went outside to check the garbage can in case the camera had fallen in, and I found it. Luckily it wasn’t in too deep so I could reach in and get it with not too much searching in the muck. So now I will put some pictures in my post about Samuel’s birthday party.
This past Saturday we had five little friends over to celebrate Sam’s 8th birthday. It was a very low key affair. To start things off we had Pizza and lemonade, while the boys talked about video games and other boy stuff. Then we played the candy matching game which is like memory where they match two of the same candies and then they win the candy that they matched(my kids love this game for some reason).
Then we played a game similar to pin the tale on the donkey. I had Anne draw me a picture of a boy without a face (she did a FANTASTIC job) and then the boys had to draw and cut out the facial features to put on the faceless boy. The boys had fun drawing and cutting, but I think the part when we blindfolded them and put the facial features on was somewhat boring to the boys that had to wait for their turn.
After that game it was time for cake, ice cream and then presents. The boys weren’t in to cake and ice cream all that much so this part went fast.
The last thing we did was the pinata. Sam chose a pinata shaped like a football, he got to choose the candy we put in and was really excited for this part of the party. We went one time through with the blindfold and after that I just gave them the baseball bat and let each boy have at it. After about three boys it was toast, broken in half candy flying everywhere, they had a blast.
That was it for the party and the boys went home their party bags and their bellies filled. I hope everyone had fun.
Now for the lost camera bit. I would love to show you all the cool pictures I took with our camera of Sam’s birthday party, but I have no idea where the camera went. Sam says I left it on my desk and someone must have knocked it off into the garbage and now it is sitting in a landfill somewhere. The last time I saw it, it was on the kitchen island by the fruit bowl. I hope it is not in the trash and that it is sitting somewhere in the house hiding out.
December was recital time. Emily, Anne, and Caroline’s recital was at the piano teacher’s house. Sam’s recital was at the West Jordan Library.
Emily played Petite Russian Rhapsody by John Thompson and I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables by Claude-Michel Schönberg:
Anne played the Raindrop Prelude by Chopin and the Minute Waltz by Chopin:
Caroline played Hogwarts Hymn by Patrick Doyle and Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John:
Samuel played Chocolate Cake by Bastien:
Anne’s 7th grade band had a concert last year at Christmas time. It’s taken me this long just to get around to posting the video. Thank goodness for Conference weekend where I can catch up on all this stuff. Nancy was the videographer on this one.
I don’t know what would possess someone to become a 7th grade band teacher but I’m glad that there are people out there who are willing to take on the job. I’m betting that 7th grade band teachers are among the highest consumers of aspirin and acetaminophen.
Anne is one of only two girls in percussion. She is looking forward to next year when she can be in concert band and jazz band.
Diana’s elementary school is going to have a Chinese Immersion Program next year for select 1st graders. What? An elementary school in Utah with a Chinese language immersion program for 1st graders? Pretty amazing if you ask me. I agree that it’s important to speak a 2nd language and you can’t really argue with the selection of Mandarin Chinese seeing how it is the most spoken language in the world. That being said, it just seems a little odd having 1st graders in a Chinese language immersion program.
I took Spanish in 7th and 8th grades and, while rusty, I’m good enough to get the gist of what people are saying if I concentrate hard. Anne is taking Spanish next year and it will be fun to work with her on it. My Chinese is only good enough to get a taxi back to my hotel or to order one or two simple street dishes that I learned about while spending time in Tawain during my days in the semiconductor industry. Still, it would be fun to throw some words around with Diana and see how she is doing. Of course, Grandpa Kent speaks Chinese pretty well and he could evaluate if Diana’s progress in the program is legit.
So, what do you think? Should we sign Diana up for it?