Pioneer Celebrations 2012

We were able to celebrate the Mormon Pioneers in several ways this year. Our stake has an annual childrens' parade and pancake breakfast that Alden, Roland, and I attended. Aaron had gone to Utah for a family wedding and took Emmett with him. Emmett almost decided not to go on the trip, just because he didn't want to miss our 15 minute little parade, but we convinced him and he had a great time with his Dad and Papa. Our fun in Mesa included the parade, the breakfast, and some pioneer games and activities afterwards. The bow and arrows and slingshots were the bigest favorite of the boys. We even broke out the crepe paper to decorate bikes, although our pioneer outfits were pretty sad & consisted of plaid shirts.

Also while Aaron was gone I gave a talk in sacrament morning about pioneers. I talked a lot about other pioneers, rather than just the early Mormon Saints: Lehi's family, the Jaredites, and the Children of Israel. I was helped out during the talk by Roland, who snuck up to the front of the chapel and stood in front of the podium during the second half. I think he even kicked the podium a few times. He mostly scowled at me, which made me smile and made me much less nervous. Guess he was mad I wasn't sitting with him.

We had pack meeting the night of the 24th, which went well. I managed to coordinate 6 peach cobblers and 3 batches of homemade vanilla ice cream. (I am the cub committee chair.) One of my den leaders texted me that they were the best refreshments yet!

We left for Pinetop the morning after pack meeting, to stay until right before school starts. I can't tell you how much we love it here. Today we went to the Pioneer Day celebrations in Snowflake. We watched the parade with my brother and sister-in-law and the cousins. Thanks to Missy and her family, we got a great parking spot and good seats too. The boys collected a ton of candy so they were pleased enough. We caught a BBQ lunch at the church, which I loved but the boys didn't. Then we went to the fair for a while, but the weather was a factor - the rain and wind, along with lightning made them deflate all the bouncy houses, which is all the boys really wanted to do. I loved the weather though, as long as it wasn't raining too hard. It was cool, but not cold. So nice in the midst of our hot AZ summers. We watched some kids ride a mechanical bull, walked through the booths, bought some snowcones, and headed home. I was anxious to get home to watch some Olympics! And the boys were anxious to get home to do this:

Alden has been desparate to make our own bows and arrows since the stake pioneer activity. He looked up directions on Google, and this week we finally bought supplies and got them started. The arrows have foam on them, so I'm hoping we have no injuries. Wish us luck! All in all, we wrung all we could out of Pioneer Day this year. Those people were amazing!

Dressing Up

My trick or treaters this year:

While Mom & Dad attended a fancy dinner at the Biltmore for ASU Homecoming:

And then Sunday night the boys handed out candy at our house. They loved it! Their costumes? Old shirts of mine that I intended to make into a quilt (yeah right!) and now serve as darling nightshirts. My first t-ball team, my first year at girls camp, and my junior high softball shirt that has my nickname on the back (Bookworm). They let me be the manager since my skills weren't quite up to snuff.

A Long & Lovely Christmas Day

Our Christmas was wonderful and jam-packed with family and fun. Santa Claus found our house and apparently the boys had been good this year. (Who am I to argue with Santa?) Here are a few pre-shots. Roley got new bath toys. Don't look too closely at the year on his My First Christmas stocking. He will have his own by next year. Luckily I finished Emmett's last week so Santa could fill it with lots of goodies. His is the burgandy one next to the cool new pirate ship. Alden Bear got a cool new Disney video game from Santa.

And here are some after shots of everyone playing with their new toys. We had lots of fun just being together as a family and enjoying the gifts. I know my boys are growing up and I'm trying to treasure this time together while they are small. Roley is 11 months and could sense the excitement but will really be getting in on the fun next year.

We had a big, yummy breakfast planned, but decided to save it for later and just grazed on whatever we could find to prolong the fun of Christmas morning. Suddenly it was time to get dressed and head to Ma'am and Grandpa's for some time with the Blasneks.


We loved spending a few hours with my parents and Tami's family. The cousins always get along so well. My Gramma Blasnek was there too - she is content to sit in the corner and quietly watch all the action. My mom made all our favorites - crepes (really blintzes), blueberry muffins, and a breakfast casserole. Everyone took turns opening the mountain of presents, with Grandpa handing them out as usual. Here he is with all of his grandkids. Some look happier than others to be with him.

My Dad always saves his own, small stack of presents until the end. I had spent a lot of time making him a special book and we all enjoyed watching him open it - then cry a bit as he read it. It was all about why his children and grandchildren love him, complete with pictures of him and all of us over the years. I was so thankful to my Mom and Tami for helping me complete it.

I love this picture of our family, despite the blurriness. I am not loving my new camera, a Sony Cybershot. There is a distinct possibility that I am an idiot and just don't know how to use it, but my pictures are just not turning out well & I miss my Cannon PowerShot.

We returned home in time to get Emmett and Roland down for naps and tried to get a little rest ourselves. Aaron made a delicious pork roast in the crock pot and we enjoyed the aroma all day. We watched a little football and had a fabulous dinner. Then Nana & Papa (Carpenter) came to visit and exchange a few presents. They got Aaron and I a digital thermostat, which I am eager to install. Candice and Jaycee made it over right after that and more gifts changed hands. Candice made the cutest wooden blocks for the boys - she Mod Podged pictures of the boys on the fronts. Even Roley loves playing with them.

We are blessed to have so much family around us during the holidays. We were happy to see many of them on Christmas day, and still save some time for just the five of us. I hope everyone else had as lovely a day as we did.

Pre-Christmas Parties

We had a long round of Holiday parties this year, with both sides of the family. We started with the Pollock party the Saturday before Christmas. When we drove up my Dad was loading up this sleigh and I jumped on with all my boys. Then we were a little suprised when he drove us all the way to Kathy & Lester Pearce's house and we all had to squish in the car to get home. It was pretty fun though & we sang carols down the street.

My Papa came down from Pima for the party and every living decendant of my grandparents was in attendance. It was full of good food as always, this year featuring my Aunt Susan's delicious soups, mom's rolls, and a plethora of other yummies. My mom had presents for all the kids (Transformers for our boys) and then banished them all downstairs to play while the adults had their gift exchange. This was the first year the Pollocks tried a white elephant exchange, and the gifts were supposed to be something that reminded you of the family, or Pima, or something. Aaron started out with a big camping/fishing stool, but ended up with one of the MANY camper/fisher/hunter in a bottle gifts that Susan brought. I ended up with the new shovel that Preston brought and tried his hardest to take home himself. And Susan got back the honey pot that she bought Papa for Christmas a few years ago that he has never used.

Aaron wasn't feeling well and went home after a few hours, but the boys and I stayed all afternoon to play with cousins. They play especially well with Preston & Melanie's boys: Bradley, Carter, and Jackson. We don't see them often now that they live in Florence and we sure miss them. Melanie is due in a couple months with their 4th boy.

Aaron was sick all weekend and ended up calling in sick to work Mon. & Tues. And since he had Wed. thru Fri. off for the holiday - that meant he was home for an entire week with us! He was a huge help with the boys and took them out for part of every day to let me get things done at home. And then he stayed home with them so I could finish shopping and go to the gym a few times. I signed up for a 30 day free pass at Pure Fitness (the old Goldens) and Aaron is joining too. We are determined to get in shape next year.

We also want to be better at writing thank you notes this year, so Sunday morning they boys made awesome Transformer cards and we took them to my parents before church. Aaron was home sick & kept the baby but Alden & Emmett looked so handsome in their blazers and we took these pictures. We ended up staying at my parents for pancakes too and still made it to church only a few minutes late.

The Carpenter family party was on Monday night and we ate shrimp cocktail, soups in breadbowls, and Aunt Bev's jello knox blocks. We had the traditional white elephant exchange, separated for the kids and adults. Alden got a coloring book & crayons, Emmett got a talking Elmo, Aaron stole one of Candice's homemade tote bags and gave it to me, and I got a container of Ghiradelli baking chocolate - we had a great year! It's always fun to see all the Carpenter cousins. Bob & CJ's condo is a bit crowded, but they are in the process of buying a new house here in Mesa. We were supposed to have the adult fondue party Tuesday night, but it was cancelled because CJ was not feeling well. I guess you don't feel like hosting dozens of people just days after you get out of the hospital where you received multiple blood transfusions. Go figure. We are sure hoping that the doctors can find out what's wrong with her soon.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents for the Blasnek party, where we were again fed very well. It was really nice to spend a little time with my Gramma Blasnek and Aunt Cheryl - I wish we saw them more often. (It's my own fault.) Alden also made fast friends with his 2nd cousin, Tyler Colby, Patrick & Sheila's son. Tami and her family came too and we are loving seeing them so often over the holidays. There was another white elephant exchange and we got a great Land o Lakes hot chocolate set and a cool clock/picture frame that Aaron is going to take to his office. The only bad part of the evening was that my mom had a terrible migraine and was pretty much in bed the whole evening. Everyone pitched in to clean up, since my parents were still expecting Tami & I with our families on Christmas day. Then Aaron & I headed home to tuck our boys in so Santa Claus could visit us.

Merry Christmas (Post)Cards

I sent out our Christmas cards this week, which consisted of a postcard with our faces and a crossword puzzle. I promised the puzzle answer for those of you who spent hours debating over Aaron's favorite pasttime being golf, polo, or ball.

Let's just qualify some of my answers for a moment.

*Roland is not quite walking yet, but almost and I thought he would be when I first made this crossword. It's not my fault he's stalled.
*Aaron takes the bus several times a week to save money & cavort with all the bus-rider friends he's made. He's only been kicked off twice.
*Yes, Emmett is still pretty attached to his blanket. And he tends to suck his thumb when he holds it. But it's mostly at night and hardly ever out of the house. Aaron & I take a backseat to the blanket when Emmy gets hurt. He cries, "Blanket, want my blanket!" and runs to find it instead of coming to Mom or Dad for comfort.
*Aaron got a set of golf clubs from Santa last year, after playing a round with his buddy, Kim, when we visited Utah the summer of '07. And wouldn't you know it - those clubs have been sitting in the closet for the last year now. I think Aaron just needs another buddy to go with. If you play golf, please call him!

If you don't get one in the next few days, and are just dying for a postcard of your own, leave me a comment & I'll get one to you. Or, if you just want to see it - click here.

Much to be thankful for

We celebrated a little differently this year. Instead of a big Thanksgiving dinner with all our extended family, the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, fixings, pies, etc. - Aaron and I took our three boys out to eat at a restaurant. It was his idea. I supported him but was disappointed to be missing the big family dinner. Then I realized what a brilliant plan it was! No chance of us hosting, so no frantic scrubbing, scouring, dusting, and cleaning. No rolls or pies to make. No schedule to follow. We just get to enjoy the day with our own little family. This works for us because we are only skipping the family event with the people we see every week, all year round.

So we spent Thanksgiving day watching the Macy's parade and lots of football. Later, after naps, we took our boys to Cracker Barrel. Laugh if you must, but it's the perfect place for kids, and it's home-style cooking. We waited longer than we had planned before we were seated. Good thing there's the great porch with rocking chairs and some old-fashioned game entertainment, not to mention the country shop for mom to browse through. We had a sympathetic server who brought me as many biscuits as I wanted and didn't mention the smashed carrots and other detritus under our table. We tipped well and came home to a peaceful & un-trashed house. (Thanks to Aaron for sweeping our daily under-table detritus.)


We had such a great day we are planning to make this a new tradition. We alternate years of celebration with the Blasneks and the Carpenters - and now, every three years we will skip all the hub-bub and spend our Thanksgiving day with our own little family, and leave the cooking to someone else. As the boys get older, we can try out much nicer places. And I can bake pies or rolls anytime I want. Maybe next year.





This year I am thankful for:
my husband and our eternal marriage
our sons
the time the five of us spend together (especially this week)
our health
our beautiful home
plenty of material blessings
our extended family
the word of the Lord through scriptures and prophets
the atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ

Childhood Romances

One last post about Halloween. Here's a shot of Alden's entire preschool class, including their favorite gypsy teacher, Miss Peggy. I will add the story (in the off chance someone hasn't heard it ten times) of Aaron and I. We like to tell people that we met in preschool. Which is true. Even though we didn't become friends until high school, we found out later that we went to the same preschool. And we have this picture of us sitting next to each other at Sister Benson's preschool, in our Halloween costumes. I was the witch and Aaron was the ghost in the front row. And for some reason, both our younger sisters are in the picture too. They were both clowns and were sitting by each other, on the right. So you see that little witch next to Alden above? Haylee better watch out.

All Hallow's Eve

We started off our Halloween with a visit from Nana & Papa, who even helped get the boys dressed. They were wearing their dog paraphernilia & fun hats. Then we dropped by Auntie Candice's house to see our favorite Flinstone family. Aren't their costumes great? After that we headed over to Ma'am & Grandpa's house to eat ate their neighborhood hot dog & chili dinner.

We came back home to put Roland to bed, then Aaron stayed and handed out glow sticks to our Trick or Treaters, while I took the boys down Evergreen street. They had a great time! We ran into tons of people & kids from the ward, Alden saw Miss Peggy & his soccer coach, Coach Thomas (Alden has been saying he wants to be a soccer coach when he grows up). Emmett saw his friends from nursery, and a few scary houses that he wouldn't go to. Both sides of one street was more than enough for little Buzz & Woody - Alden was saying he was ready to go home. We had a very successful Halloween & are already looking forward to next year.

Halloween Morn

Alden got to wear his costume to preschool, but the other boys are stylin' in their Halloween t-shirts. There's the Jack o' Lantern we (I) carved yesterday. Roland is distracted by the ghosties hanging from our porch.

Here's Alden with his best buds, Kaleb (The Green Lantern) & Brigham (Captain Hook). Where's your mustache, Brig?

October brings...

"It's Looking Pretty Scary in Here"

quote by Alden

Pioneer Day Weekend (Backtracking)

Hopefully almost caught up to the present now. We went up to Lakeside & Snowflake for the big 24th of July weekend and had a great time. We took in the parade with Missy, Gabe, Corinne & the Baird family - after which wewent to the little carnival at the playground. Alden collected 4 times as much candy as last Halloween, and Emmett seemed happy to hang with us in the shade. He also loved Corinne's Elmo backpack. Alden loved the dinosaur at the park, as well as the tractor train, which cost like $6. We had some fun times at Nana & Papa's and spent a bunch of time Sunday with the cousins. Aaron & I even got a babysitter and went out to dinner & saw Harry Potter. A great weekend overall.

Go, Emmett! It's Your Birthday! Have a Party!

Excited to start this birthday thing at 5:15 am.

So big! Still on the bottle, but can walk and drink simultaneously.

My sweet baby, Emmett, turned 1 on Thursday and we tried to make the day a little special for him. He had portraits taken and they were all so cute, I had a hard time choosing and ordered too many. I'll post them in a few weeks. But the big party was this afternoon. Like all 1 year olds, Emmy had no idea what was going on, but enjoyed the kids here to play with him. And apparently he loves cupcakes, even after the trauma of having chocolate frosting cleaned out of your eyes, ears, and nose. It did take a bit to calm him down after that. A big thank you to all the people who dropped by, and thanks for the gifts also - we will put them to good use. If you were one of the many people who couldn't make it - don't feel bad - Emmett didn't miss you, even if Aaron & I did. But come see us soon!