The other night I wasn’t ready to get the kids ready for bed so I just let them keep playing.  I thought the girls were downstairs in the playroom.  When I realized they were upstairs I figured I should start getting everybody ready for bed.  I walked into the room and they said, “Stop!  It’s a surprise!  We’re getting ready for bed by ourselves!”  There they were both in their pajamas, already brushed their teeth, reading the scriptures together!  It was the best surprise ever.

Amelia, Kathryn | No Comments »

Sooooo, Amelia and Kathryn each had some swimming lessons.  It was interesting to watch my kids be the worst at something.  There were times I just wanted to get them out of the pool and take them home and tell them they never have to swim again.  Kathryn cried a few times and I just about cried! 

 Amelia was in the three year old class.  I waited for the class that started the day after her birthday.  Because the two year old class needs a parent and there was no way I could do that with the other kids and I don’t like the hassle of getting a babysitter.   I think Amelia’s only fear is water.   The first day she sat at the edge of the pool and the teacher tried to get her to come in the water with her.  Her teacher’s name was Amanda, and I’m pretty sure that was what tipped the scale to finally get into the water.  

Kathryn was in the 4-6 year old class, which had 10 lessons.  I look forward to both girls being in the same class next year.  She was also afraid to get into the water and clung to her teacher’s neck.  I don’t think she ever actually blew bubbles, but she did put her face in the water.  She made a lot of improvement.  And now she will float in the bathtub on her back, even letting her ears get wet.  Big step!

Amelia, Kathryn | 1 Comment »

 Three years ago, the summer before we moved to Ukraine when Amelia was just a couple months old, we drove through Idaho to Utah and back visiting lots of  family and friends.  We just got back from a very similar trip, which included a family reunion.  We visited some of the same people, whom we had not seen since the trip three years ago!  We got lucky with kids that are quite good travelers.  We also decided to not wake up early to leave, but get a good night of sleep and regular morning routine before leaving.  It worked great for the kids.

So the first day we planned to leave about 10am.  Unfortunately that morning we realized we had failed to include time zone change into our plan.  So we got ready as fast as we coud an left about 8:45 for Boise, ID.  We made one stop for lunch, and one for gas.  The kids were so great.  We got to Boise and stayed with my cousin and her family.  Another cousin and her family also came for the evening and we had such fun talking and the kids playing.  We also enjoyed some real summer heat.  It was about 100 degrees, compared to the 60 degrees and cloudy in Seattle.

Later my cousin’s daughter, Lindy, dressed my girls up in costumes and they practiced a dancing show they later performed for us.  Kathryn and Amelia did not want to leave the next morning. 

But we did, and drove to Utah where we stayed with my aunt and uncle in Highland.  Daniel couldn’t have been happier about the dogs and cat there.  As you can see they loved him, too.  Or maybe they just loved the food he dropped.

We went on a walk one evening and Darryl caught the gorgeous view.

We spent a day at BYU.  Darryl and I were excited to visit, of course, but the kids kept complaining about so much walking and sun.  I decided the next time we take our kids to BYU they should be 8 years old.  Then maybe they would appreciate it more!  They did like the statues. 

I was amazed at the addition to the Tanner Building.  And we went into a jr. core class room, where Darryl and I (not in the same class) had spent many hours. 

For lunch we went to J-Dawgs, a hot dog place south of campus started by a Marriott School student a couple years ago.  The best hot dog I have had in my life.  Definitely.  Go there when you are in Provo.  Wow.

We also met up with Kristina, a friend from Ukraine.  I thought we took a picture, but I couldn’t find it.  She was in our branch in Ukraine and it was great to see her again, as a BYU student. 

The next morning we met another friend from Ukraine, another girl from our branch, Annie (Anya).  Again I thought we had  a picture but couldn’t find it.  After so much traveling and visiting, we found a park where the kids could play and Darryl could practice taking pictures. 

That night we visited a missionary couple Darryl had served with in Armenia, the Hadleys.  He is so good at keeping in touch with people!  They were so kind, and had toys for the kids to play with and a delicious dinner for us.  It was a great visit.  Notice Kathryn posing in the picture.

On Friday we had lunch with one of my former roomates who lives and works near Salt Lake.  I think she was the first babysitter Kathryn ever had.  Then we headed up to Josh and Andrea’s house where we had a fun night.  Kathryn and Amelia loved playing with their cousin Katie.  And we saw some amazing hula hooping.  Four hula hoops at a time. 

Saturday before the family reunion, we visited our good friend Melissa.  I had several classes with her at BYU, and she lived in Seattle briefly working at KPMG.  I loved seeing her!  Again notice Kathryn’s pose.

Also before the family reunion we had lunch with John Henry, Darryl’s former mission companion.  Whew, that was a lot of visiting before the official visiting of the family reunion.  That will be a separate post.  On the way back to Seattle, we stayed in Rexburg for 2 nights with Darryl’s mission president, President and Sister Schwartz.  It was nice and relaxing.  We spent a day at BYUI and met up with our friend Katya from Ukraine, who is a student there now.  Kathryn was especially excited to see her and we loved hearing how great she is doing at BYUI.

The point of the post is, get a J-Dawg for lunch when you are in Provo.  My mouth is watering.

The real point is we had a great time seeing so many people!   The troubles of taking the kids around to so many people and places have already faded.  It was worth it!

Family | 1 Comment »