Spelling Bee!

We dropped off the blogosphere for most of 2010. Rather than try to catch up, we'll just let you know what happened this week. 1. Jacob took 2nd place in his school spelling bee (see video of his first round). Hannah had a dance recital -we'll try and post that video but its a huge file.
Benjamin has continued wrestling. Daniel is the new Deacon's president. Abby is thinking about getting potty trained.

SPRING BREAK & PHANTOM !!!

Last week was Spring Break and we had a couple of birthdays. For Daniel's 13th birthday, Dad and Daniel went to Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian in Las Vegas. We were able to see Ben after the show and chatted for a few minutes. I think the last time Daniel and Ben spent much time together was when Ben babysat Daniel for us when he was in high school. Here's a picture of them now. We had a good time wandering around Vegas.

Benjamin turned eleven and he got a set of drivers that we had to try out at the golf course. Benjamin wanted to go shooting for his birthday so we got a target from Uncle Mark and we went shooting a couple of times. Benjamin is a pretty good shot with the .22 and he was able to handle the shotgun pretty well too.

We went for a hike up the red mountain. The girls went a little ways. Daniel went up the first knoll. Benj, Jacob and Dad went up to the first half.

Wrestling!

Benja wrestled in the Wasatch Tournament last saturday. Wrestling is serious business here. The stores are empty during "the wrestles" --its the best time to shop. Kelleen has a hard time watching Benj wrestle. I think she would probably go down there and throw the other kid if she thought he was hurting her Benja. All sports help teach values such as teamwork, fair play, rules, etc, but there's something about wrestling that builds character when you have to go out on the mat all alone. Here's a clip (sorry for my yelling) of Benja's match against a wrestler from Delta. Benj won the match and took third at the tournament.

Christmas!! (Ish)

Ii have something to say...

Jake's Eight

Jacob was baptized! As he left the dressing room he told me "That was simple." He got a set of scriptures and a twisty CTR ring. He decided that from now on he will listen to his parents and "be a good boy." We have every confidence that he will!

Pinewood Derby

Benjamin and Jacob did the Pinewood Derby. This year there were 19 entrants. They each won one of their heats but they didn't take the grand prize. Benjamin's car was a snake. Jacob's car was a missile with a driver.

Hannah's Violin Recital

The big day finally came. We crowded into the multipurpose room in our old church building and watched everyone show their skills. Hannah was two years younger than the next youngest violinist and other than some stage jitters did a very fine job.

TEETH!!

Guilty as charged. I'm a bad blogger. Here's the latest...



Hannah lost her first tooth this week. She will start kindergarten this fall so it is a little early but so far all of our kids are overachievers in the tooth department. Benjamin (age 9)is getting his 12 yr. old molars and Daniel...



just got braces today. But his isn't just any old simple case of braces. He has a "very challenging Class 2" overbite. Translation: After 2 teeth yanked (ouch), lots of money (ouch again), and up to 3 yrs in braces he will have a "functional" bite.

Shout out to cousin Madi...

Can't wait until we can play together. I really love NY!!

Jacob's To Do List

FYI, I haven't posted forever but that was Daniel, my "angel child" who did the previous post.


A few weeks ago I found this on our kitchen table and later learned that it was Jacob's. It says:

to do list
- go on mission to China
- teach

- come home
- have party
- get married
- be parent
- be grandpa
- die

There you have it - life in a nutshell from a 7 yr. old.

HI

so like, i haven't like updated my blog forever so i needed to tell you to check out my angel child's blog at www.danielmipottr.blogspot.com .

Happy Halloween!!

Abby was looking a little overwhelmed in her furry cat outfit. She found a bottle that Benjamin got from his teacher today and was searching for something good to drink.




Hannah enjoyed the Halloween festivities with 2 different costumes this year - a beautiful Belle dress (thanks Grammy & Aunt Jenna) and then as an Island Princess for Halloween night (thanks Grammy again).


Jacob was Indiana Jones - quite the dapper little guy.


Benjamin was a vampire - although he really wanted to be a Pharoah and his tightwad Mother wouldn't spend $30.00 for the costume - so he didn't leave his costume on for long.


Daniel was a crazy golfer - complete with a great hat we got for Shawn in Scotland.

What's a Mom to do???

Yesterday Hannah asked me if it is OK to hang things on the wall with tape. I told her sometimes tape takes the paint off so it isn't a good idea. So a little later when I went up to her room I found she had used a GLUE STICK to hang a picture of Jesus right by her bed. She then used crayon and pen to "decorate" and write "words" all around it.
What's a Mom to do??

Soccer Season

Soccer season has come and gone and a good time was had by all. We are 3 for 3 with sons whose favorite position is goalee. We spend our whole lives trying to teach them to be kind and not aggressive and then they start sports and are supposed to throw the whole thing out the window as we yell "get in there", "kick it", "faster", "harder", etc.. So far our kids haven't proven to be very aggressive at soccer and they all prefer the less competitive position of goalee. Hannah's last game was in the rain and she didn't really even notice since she was sporting her Barbie raincoat (thanks Aunt Mabel).

Abby's Blessing Day

Yesterday was Abby's blessing day. We borrowed a sweet Chinese dress from our friend Kim (thanks Kim!!) and she looked adorable. Hannah wanted to wear a cute Chinese dress so we let her wear one that we had for her and then the boys decided they wanted to wear their Chinese shirts so they did too. It was nice to recognize and honor her birth country in that way and the kids were all proud of her Chinese heritage. She slept peacefully during the blessing and the words spoken made it clear to all of us that she is definitely meant to be in our family and Heavenly Father loves and is mindful of her. What a touching blessing and a wonderful day! We had lots of family come and share their love with Abby - she's still a little wary of strangers (extended family included) but she is making great progress.

She is now wearing the dreaded helmet. Her head is flat on the back and somewhat misshapen from laying in a crib for far too many hours. Hopefully this will help her head grow into a better shape - she has to wear it 23/7 for a few months so we're praying she'll grow fast and it will be over sooner.

She's progressing so quickly. She took her first steps this weekend! When we got her she was barely sitting up and she has caught up so quickly. It has been fun to watch her conquer new tasks and then clap with us for her success. So fun!

Summer Fun with Cousins

Idon't know why I feel some need to "catch up" but I think I'll do a few posts from the summer and then maybe I can keep up on what is going on now.

We spent the 24th of July with my family and the kids all had great fun.

Hannah and Hadley enjoying the slides...


Some of the cousins playing after the parade.


Auntie Leesa and Abby



Abby checking out her cousin's ear.


Lindee and my sister Jenna. Aren't they so cute? People have said that she looks a bit like I did as a baby - lots of curly hair on top, big eyes and those adorable cheeks. She is such a sweet, happy baby. It is probably good we can't "special order" babies because I would be tempted to order at least one or two more just like her.

Public Service Announcement/ Olympic Hoopla

OK - why didn't anyone tell me that doing your own landscaping is a royal pain in the neck? It has been way more work, way more expensive, and way more dirt in my house than I had ever imagined. So I just feel it my duty to warn you that if you are considering building - just go ahead and budget that landscaping in and pay some nice professionals to do the job, or better yet, buy an existing home which is already landscaped. This is especially important if you have 4 young children and decide to have heart surgery one summer and then adopt a baby from China the next summer. You've been warned.




Oh how I love the Olympics!! This is our opening ceremonies party at Grampa and Grammy's cabin. It has been so very fun to watch the Olympics and all of the little stories about China. I'm the sentimental type who cries when they tell the personal interest stories, I cry for the winners and the losers, and I cry for the national anthem - ok, I've even been known to cry for commercials at times. I just love the whole thing - and adding the China factor has made it that much more meaningful for us this year. It motivates me to strive for greatness. I guess I've missed my chance at the Olympics (ha ha) but I intend to at least try and improve my level of fitness (or lack thereof) in the days ahead.

Mommy, the gerbil's tail fell off...

I made the mistake of reluctantly agreeing to 2 pet gerbils that we got from the preschool teacher. I was feeling like a bad Mom for not letting my children experience the joys, unconditional love, and responsibility of pet ownership. We had 2 kittens for a short time but one of the kids was allergic and a dog is out of the question at least until we have a fenced yard. So gerbils seemed doable. We picked them up on April Fool's day when Dad woke the kids up in the morning telling them to come into our closet and see the puppies. So then we got the cage and told them it was for a new bird at Dad's office and suprised them later. Their names are Emperor Palpatine and Pip (at least most recently, it changes).
Fast forward 3 weeks to yesterday. H. and her friend were playing upstairs and then came down and said "the gerbils got out of their cage" and while I was still processing that, since we were the only ones home and I would no sooner pick those things up than fly to the moon, she then added "one of the gerbil's tails fell off". I confirmed that with her friend - hoping she was flat out lying to me. Then I called S. and in my most panicked voice told him the story. He kindly offered to come home but I told him I'd wait the 20 minutes for the boys to come and deal with it.
A few minutes later H. came down with a little brown furry tail in her hand (ARGHHHHH!!) I think she was a bit suprised by my horrified reaction as I shrieked and told her to throw it in the garbage and we scrubbed her hands. She chuckled and told her friend "my Mom is scared of the gerbil's tail and it doesn't even move". I had to sit down and take a few deep breaths and then I ordered her to go up and shut her bedroom door (since that is where she claimed they were hiding) and then come downstairs.
When the boys got home from school they searched and couldn't find them and then I started contemplating who I could go and stay with until they were caught and back in their cage, or preferably out of my house. Dad got home later and fortunately found them hiding in H.'s room. However, I was reeling again later as I discovered blood on the baseboard inside of Hannah's closet where they must have been hiding. And then AGAIN, this morning, on the other side of her closet on the baseboard, on a cloth basket in her closet, and even on the carpet!! BLECH! I really don't do well with this kind of stuff. I thought of taking a photo for this blog but I haven't even been able to look at the little varmints yet.
Perhaps a dog wouldn't have been so bad...

Walking backwards off a cliff...

Surely all humans are born with the instinct to not walk off a cliff backwards. It is a very basic survival rule - passed down from caveman days. So when Shawn's adventurous sister and her family invited us to go rapelling for D & B's b-days I was fully intending to join only as the photographer. It was great fun watching everyone else defy gravity and literally walk backwards down a 25 - 30 ft. cliff. It was a little different story when they insisted that I give it a try. I have some issues with heights so I couldn't even look backwards until I was safely on the ground. It was scary but after I finished my second descent I decided it was really great fun. Beats the heck out of Chuck-E-Cheese for celebrating kids birthdays.