Greencrest Reunion 2013

 Awwwww, oh man. I love these guys! On the first weekend in August, we had a miracle of schedules lining up. The Phillips were going to be in town from Wisconsin, Angela and her boys were in town from Toronto freaking Canada for her brother's wedding (Timmy had to be back at work, so he was the only one not able to be there) and the Oversons were able to come up from Cedar City, the Stevens from Salt Lake, the Seedall's hosted at their new home in Logan and we drove up from Provo. It was a short magical visit, but so so worth it!

They set up the projector for the kids to watch Rise of the Guardians all together. 

 Eleanor quickly reconnected with her old sweet neighbors.

Sisters Ainsley and Emmaline make an Eleanor sandwich. 

(The Stevens never technically lived on Greencrest Ave, despite our constant harassment to do so, but they were always a part of our group and all of our activities.)

 All the girls! Angela (and Bennett), me, Ashley, Lexie, Ruth and Ann. The best friends you could ever accidentally live next to! I know Heavenly Father sent us to that street to meet these people, they were the best support system during our three years at law school!

 Most of the kids!

 All? of the kids! From left: Eliza, Lauren, Wesley, Jasmine, Sophie, Miles, Nora, Winston, Maddy, Eleanor, Spencer, Benny, Zach, Bennett and my Grant. Missing is Ainsley, Emmaline and Wells.

 Group shots weren't enough for our little model, so I took a few more.

 I never get "real" smiles! Usually it's some weird closed-eye, squinting thing that she explains is her "magic face" or "superhero eyes." So it's nice to occasionally get a few normal ones in.

Lamely, I was having too good of a time to take more pictures. We had awesome pies from Mmmm? I can't remember. I'll have to ask Clayton when he gets home. Ruth made her awesome cinnamon rolls and there were countless bags and plates of goodies. It all went to fast as the Stevens had to go home early, the Phillips had to continue on with their trip etc... etc... I loved it all though, and can't wait to see any of them again!

Mini-Michigan Reunion

 On May 30th we had a sweet mini gathering of as many of our Michigan friends we could find in Utah that week. It started with darling Ashley getting together with Valerie, and me somehow inviting myself along, and then quickly spreading the word. Sadly, we still missed a few- either I didn't know they were in Utah or they had just had a baby (What up, Jamie!), but even still, we had a nice gathering and  a great time. Ashley generously let us gather at her place. Her apartment complex has a cool little playground that we enjoyed until it started raining and then we moved inside for lunch. It was soooo good to see everyone again! It made me homesick for all of these friendships that defined the previous three years of our life. These are the babies who were born when E was born, when Win was born. These are kids I've known since the day they were born. So much love in the air, it was a little overwhelming at first, but oh so good for the soul!

( I'm not using last names, but my blog is public, so if you want your child's name removed, please let me know and I'll remove it right away!)

I loved seeing little friends reunited! Daxton and Dean, blond as could be!

 Wells and Benny!

Benny Blue Eyes! 

 Eleanor and Grant (and Winston and Bennett in the background). I love these kids!

 Jane and Lila, it's so fun to see these girls that were newborns when we moved.

 Benett, Grant and Eleanor. Stupid Canada. (I actually love Canada, but Toronto is where Angela had to move, so... stupid Canada.)

 He's kind of still MY boyfriend, but I try to not act jealous when he hugs E.

 Zach, Ainsley and Robbie.

 The moms! And our hilarious attempts at self timers with children wiggling in and out of the picture.

 The mom's, from left going counter clockwise: Ruth, Emily, Ashley, Tiffany, Me, Angela, Valerie and Jody.

 Little princesses, all together again. Eliza, Nora, Eleanor, Ainsley, Ellie, Kate and Emmaline.

 Emmaline, Eliza, Ellie, Kate, Ainsley, Eleanor and Nora.

And Grant, Zach and Benny.

It took us a while to officially get in the car. The kids were being good waiting for us to stop talking, from left: Grant, Bennett, Eleanor (who is DISTRAUGHT over something), Ainsley, Winston, Zach and Emmaline.

She starts to calm down...

 ... a little more...

...and then, oh my gosh! She's fine! Drama Queen!

The only bad part of the day (besides leaving) was when Winston did his usual "walk directly in front of the swing-set" trick. He does it ALL THE TIME and it makes me bonkers. Usually he does a miraculous Mr. Magoo type of thing and narrowly misses being clocked by feet by mere centimeters. Well, not this time. He walked right in front of a gal on the swing and got knocked back onto the sand. Luckily, she was barefoot and weighed about 30 pounds soaking wet, but he still got a good bonk. I gathered him up and he started throwing up everything he had eaten all day. Mostly Cheetos, don't judge. The other luck is that two of my friends have husbands who are doctors. One in ER and one who is neurology. They talked us through it and all was well, he was totally fine in a few minutes and there were no lasting effects. Yay. Look forward to his second concussion adventure when I get around to blogging our zoo visit. Poor Winston!

December 2012

 December was lovely.  Early in the month we got to join up with some of our Greencrest friends at Temple Square. We took the kids over to City Creek before hand to check it out. Poor Winston, our stroller seat was pretty much worn off, so he had to kind of perch on the end of it. (We got a new stroller.)

 

 The Disney store is magic and chaos. Too many people for a curmudgeon like me, but man-oh-man. If I were ridiculously wealthy I would have a problem there.  Eleanor loved the little movies they play in the back.

 Temple Square Lights! Making families fights since... Just kidding, sort of. I do not like it all. I don't know what is wrong with me, yes it is beautiful, but I don't like being herded around and it's stressful when no one will wait for me, the slowpoke. Also, losing speedy one-year-olds was making me nervous. Does anyone remember  last year's fun run? Yeah, I'm calling it: No more Temple Square until the kids are older.

 However awful a mood I was in, it all truly melted when I saw these sweet faces. I love my old neighbors so much. I forget how much so and then when I see them I get instantly homesick for them all. Here is dear Eliza. She is always so sweet to Eleanor.

 And Maddie. I payed her and Spencer a dollar to chase my kids when they got loose. Best money I ever spent.

 E and E.

 And little Benny! I can't believe how big he's grown. He talks and stuff!

 Our family!

 It really did turn into a special night with our friends, so we left in a wonderful mood.

 We tied the balloon to his belt so we wouldn't lose either one.

 Ann, me, Ruth and Benny. (And Maddie!)

 Back at home, Eleanor loved decorating the tree. And redecorating and redecorating and redecorating...

 Clayton grew his usual winter beard. He shaved it off into disgusting phases as usual and we took a few shots of the "suspicious van owner" version.

 Or I suppose "gross hipster" mustache would work, too.

 One day Eleanor tried on all of her swimsuits. ALL. Of. THEM.

 Dressed up for the ward Christmas party. I love the coat she is wearing. It belonged to her cousin Abby (not Allie) who is now 15. Jennifer was going to sell it at a yard sale about 10 years ago and I stole it, kept it forever, and now she finally gets to wear it. Worth the crime, I am telling you.

 This December Jack got baptized! He's such a doll, we just love him to pieces and are so proud of him for making this step!

 Jack and my boys.

 Winston playing with all the cars he could find. How he found so many in a house without little kids is beyond me.

My kids love Hannah's cat, Phoebe. Phoebe quickly tires of my kids, however, and escapes to a safe place. Can you find Phoebe in this picture?

 

 Another night we had Allie over for a sleepover. The girls fell asleep in the car, well, one of them did. Can you guess who is faking? Hint: she could barely stop smiling for me to take the picture, also, it's not Allie.

 Playing outside in the snow.

 One night Eleanor says to me, "Mom. I've made a huge mistake." I was so proud of her for quoting Arrested Development that it took me a moment to see what she had done. Oh, just split the seam open on her micro-bead pillow and made it "snow". Aw, crap. 8 billion statically charged styrofoam beads the size of a pin head all over the carpet. (6 months later I am still vacuuming them up.)

 Yet, for all her shenanigans, she looks like an angel as she sleeps.

 At one of Abby's dance recitals, hugging Jack til he pops.

 Keep on hugging! (Man, Abby is so photogenic.)

 We also got to go to Allie's gymnastic recital. That kid is bendy!

 She's the tall one in the middle of the bottom row.

 The girls with grandma Judy.

 I LOVE THIS PICTURE! It wasn't posed, neither one is looking at the camera, but it just cracks me up. This is pretty indicative of their relationship. Allie is patient with her little kid cousin who wants to follow her around like a puppy.

 Allie is just the sweetest!

 Shagan came to cheer her on as well. (Shane, and Megan... Shagan. Get used to it.)

 The whole gang.

 How freaking cute is this shot, I ask you.

 And on another day, my cute neighbor, Muffin was over and we got visiting. Winston was being very quiet, too quiet. She went over to check and was like, "Um, Marianne? You might want to come check this out." Lo and behold, Winston had found my mom's pin cushion and was methodically poking each pin into the carpet. Pins and needles are truly Clayton's very worst phobia, so I had to REALLY check to make sure I got them all cleaned up. Winston had been at it for probably 10 minutes or so, I am really impressed he didn't poke himself once.

A close up shot so you can see what was going on here.

 And Eleanor, being Eleanor.

 Later in the month Clayton's parents took us out to Red Lobster for his birthday. So good!

More December to come!