I'm back

I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I blogged last. I'm wishing I had kept up on it for our own family records, but as much as I'd like to go back and fill in it's just not going to happen at the moment. Except to point out that the last time I blogged we only had three children and then in April 2011 our sweet Audrey joined us. She was a terrible infant but she is such a love I've almost (almost!) forgotten how cranky she was at first. She's now 15 months and so dang cute. She will be our last so I'm trying to soak up all the baby-ness she has to offer. I'm sure she's sick of me squeezing and kissing her.

Claire is now three and just about the funniest thing I've ever known. She has the most entertaining inflection to her voice and quite the lisp. She is completely infatuated with her big sisters and will miss them terribly when they head to school in two days.

Speaking of the big girls, Jenna is now 9 and Grace is 12. Grace went to Girls' Camp for the first time and had a blast, and is starting junior high this year. We're both excited and nervous. I honestly would not survive without Grace. She is so helpful around here and is truly the second mother. Jenna girl is going into fourth grade and is still the sweetest, most carefree child. She is such a pleasant addition to the family.

Here are some recent pictures I took with my phone. Life is good!

Summer Adventures Part 10

Last one! Kudos if you've made it through all the Summer Adventures!

All combined we spent about two weeks with Devon's family this summer. Staying at Devon's parents' house is always one of the highlights of our year. Luckily, we overlapped for a couple of days with Devon's sister from Texas and the kids were excited to spend time with their cousins. One day we had all ten grand kids together and took a few pictures. Quite the trick with this many kids!

We then went to Jump On It! which is full of trampolines. The kids had a blast! Thanks for the fun Nonni and Unky!

Adyson and Grace

Summer Adventures Part 9

This was our last night in Samoa. I have to say it was not fun to say goodbye again. (It didn't help that I was getting on an airplane for a ten-hour flight with three kids at midnight.) We feel very blessed and grateful for the opportunity to spend two fabulous weeks with my parents on their mission and to have created such a wonderful memory for my kids. Thanks Gammy and Papa!

After Samoa we headed to Bear Lake. It was quite sad to be there without Gammy and Papa (and a lot more work!) but we had some friends to keep us company. The Robles family joined us for the first part of our trip and we played countless games, played at the beach, swam in the pool, ate tasty food and thoroughly enjoyed each others' company. Then we got the stomach flu. That was not so fun!







We also had a visit from the Stephens. Unfortunately, our time with them was cut quite short because we shared the stomach flu. Major bummer!!


Thanks to our friends for joining us and thanks to Gammy and Papa for use of their house!

Summer Adventures Part 8

Devon was only able to stay in Samoa for one week but the girls and I stayed an extra week and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my parents. We played lots of games, hunted for seashells, did crafts and even went to tea. The following picture is my girls at tea with Sister Wendt. She hosts a formal tea party at her house every week. Her husband was the Samoan ambassador to the U.S. and she collected a whole bunch of tea sets because they were hosting foreign dignitaries. (Hope I have that story right, Mom.) So now she serves tea and food every Wednesday. It was so fun to have an actual tea party. And yes, I'm a complete nerd, and took pictures of the food because it was so beautiful (tasty too).






Inside this beautiful little package were scones. In the little cups are whipped cream and lemon curd to put on the scones. I had never eaten lemon curd before--it is delicious! In fact, the next night my mom and I went to a Relief Society meeting (formerly Enrichment) and Sister Wendt taught us all how to make lemon curd. Somehow I got home without my recipe so I'm hoping my mom still has hers!

Little sandwiches and quiches.

Super tasty cream puffs.

(And thanks to Papa for watching Claire so we could go to tea!)

Summer Adventures Part 7

We stopped one day at this gorgeous waterfall. I'm not sure I've ever seen a prettier view.

The girls trying their hand at some Samoan drums.

One of the best things we did on this trip was give away goody bags to kids. Before we left for Samoa the girls and I prepared bags full of candy, balloons and toys to distribute to the kids in the villages. My parents also had some books that our ward had donated and sent that we gave out. The kids weren't quite sure what to think of us at first but once they realized what we were doing their faces lit up and they were so excited. These are children who have very little so it was like Christmas to them. What fun!

This picture will give you an understanding of what these little goody bags meant to the kids. This is their house:

Don't you love their school uniforms? Every school is a different color.

More playing at the beach.

One day we drove out to the area affected by the tsunami. Shockingly, my parents said this is much improved from when they were first here. There used to be little to no vegetation at all and there was garbage everywhere. Still looks pretty bad to me.

This was a brand new LDS church that was destroyed by the wave.

Summer Adventures Part 6

(Are you starting to wonder if our summer adventures will ever end? We're just getting started-- at this point we still had a month to go!)

We went with Papa one morning to the fish market. You have to go early in the morning while the fish are fresh. I thought it was fascinating, but I'm sure you can tell from Grace's face that this was not her favorite place. Don't you wish it were scratch-n-sniff?!

This is Return to Paradise Beach, named after the movie that was filmed here. Isn't it beautiful?! Unfortunately, our memories of this beach are not so beautiful. The ocean at this beach almost made me a widow. Devon was snorkeling and got caught in the current and carried out to where the waves were breaking. There is no way, with my limited writing abilities, to truly express how frightening this was. Without question it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. Devon finally managed to clutch onto some coral, rest, and say a prayer before swimming to meet my Dad. His legs were completely bloodied from the coral but he was alive!

Devon and I had the pleasure of attending the temple thanks to some babysitting from Gammy and Papa. It is one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen. The glass work, carpets, and lighting are amazing.