Conference Saturday- AM.

 

Owen is working on mending holes in his “bobby” so he can sleep with it again.

 

(watching Robin Hood- Prince of Thieves and wearing a Star Wars Tshirt with his Star Wars guys always near by… he’s turning into a big kid, but I still love to see little hints of baby. Hope he keeps his “bobby” for quite some time.)

Mia is hard at work rearranging and decorating her room- for the umpteenth time. It’s her favorite hobby.

all done… now she’ll recover by watching a show on her laptop.

Jessie is anxiously waiting on Mitch for something… what could it be?

Me? I’m taking pictures and messing around on the computer. What did you expect?

Making childhood memories- the Sanpete way.

Yesterday on facebook some family members demanded that I blog. (thanks guys!) As luck would have it, I actually have something to blog about. Soooooo, you asked for it!

My wonderful grandpa had a little surgery on his hand Tuesday and needed someone to drive him home to Spring City afterward. What a perfect reason to go on down and take a little family excursion.

When I was in the throes of my anxiety I couldn’t handle going down there (I know, It’s crazy. But, I was a little crazy, so there it is.) Mia also struggles with the same problem, but we discovered that a dose of Benadryl helps her out a lot. Thank you makers of Benadryl.

Anyway- I’m happy to report that this little road trip went perfectly. I loved it so much that in the car on the way home I got a little teary about finally getting the spend a night under my grandparents roof again. It felt just as good as when I was little. Some things never change.

Here’s our trip in photos.

In the afternoon there was a thunderstorm… the kids watched it from the porch and O made a fort to keep jessie safe from the rain. She loved the huge backyard- treed three cats, barked at roosters and actually liked the horses until the kids started feeding them and she freaked out about those huge horsey teeth being so close to her kids’ hands. She’s a little protective that way.

The kids wanted a bath in Grandma’s Kajuzzi tub (that’s how Mia said it when she was just little and it stuck.) I was fixing dinner so I sent them down to get started. When I went down to check on them I discovered that Mia had spilled the shampoo bottle into the water and then started the jets. There was about a foot of water at the bottom of the tub topped by at least two feet of bubbles. Sheesh. At least it was a good photo opportunity even if it took forever to clean up.

Bubble Freaks.

(does this picture freak you out as much as it does me? {{{{{shudders}}}}}}

After dinner, we played some pool.

and Owen talked Mitch into a game of chess. Grandpa has the coolest chess set.

At dusk we headed to The Basin Drive In (located in exciting Mount Pleasant.)

I LOVE Drive ins. When the huz and I were dating before his mission and then again after Mia was born, the Art City and Pioneer drive ins were a staple. Oh man, the memories. You don’t need to know the mushy details but good times were had for sure. Fast forward to this drive in- we found ourselves packed into a Buick with two kids, a dog, mosquitos and 20 bucks worth of snacks. Different, but equally fun. I’m so glad my kids got to have the drive in experience. I don’t know how a kid can grow up properly without that.

*** thoughts on Super 8 **** My reaction was mixed. I loved the parts with the kids, they were such great characters. Sympathetic and hilarious (Chompers was my favorite.) There was a hint of ET and even some Stand By Me. I think the girl actress (Elle Fanning, Dakota’s little sister) was unbelievable. In the best way. The explosions and train wrecks were also unbelievable, but not in a good way. A little restraint might have helped out there. I wish they’d kept the alien as a nebulous creepy presence and left out the huge swirling magnetic ship at the end. Too much CGI starts to really annoy me real quick. It’s a good movie, but not great. Not SIGNS. (which I need to watch again now.)

Mitch slept on the back porch with the puppy doggers and the kids and I were downstairs in the guest room. Morning came much too soon followed by a big breakfast and a ramble around town with the dog.

Owen said he loved the wide open space and the way the air smelled. It really is so beautiful and peaceful there. (bonus to anyone who spots the super cool cloud shape in one of these photos. Totally real.)

The past month has been so stressful for our family with Mitch’s broken foot and the financial troubles that came along with it. This little trip was just what the doctor ordered for us to relax and enjoy a simple summer road trip together.

The birthday hat.

Last night was my brother Ken’s birthday dinner. We had fabulous hamburgers, a huge chocolate cake and this Key Lime Pie (made by my friend Natalie. I won it at the relief society service auction and it was awesome.)

As mom was putting candles on the cake, Ken moaned about having to blow them out and listen to us sing. He’s too old, too cool, for those shenanigans. Right? In true Martin family fashion we registered his objections and found a way to ratchet up his discomfort another notch. “Don’t we have a crazy hat he could wear while we sing Happy Birthday?” I asked Mom. On the door of her closet was the perfect thing.

Meet the birthday hat.

(thanks for playing along, Ken!)

Eli loved that hat, which is good since he will be turning one year old this week.

But, Daisy was the one who really embraced the hat. She worked it.

Could we have a little model on our hands? I asked if I could take some pictures of her wearing her new sparkly sunglasses and little pretty did this.

I thought of Grandpa.

In Relief Society on Sunday, the lesson was about charity.  The definition I took away was that real charity is not something that you give away but something you acquire for yourself and that charity requires expecting the best of each other.

The question was asked… who is the most charitable person you know and the room exploded with answers. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise so I just sat there and thought about my Grandpa to myself. I have the perfect story to illustrate Charity starring one of my favorite men- My Grandpa Boyd A. Hansen.

After my divorce and Mia’s birth, I was in a very bad place emotionally and was lucky to work for a wise and accomplished man who was in a position to help me, if only I could afford his usually very expensive skills. I approached him and while we were talking and I was telling the “story of my life” he realized that he knew my family.

Rewind a whole bunch of years. My grandpa is a teacher and a builder. He has a flaky, crazy teenage son who invites his equally flaky and drug addicted friend to come work for the summer with his Dad. They work for a whole summer building together (I’m sure that was interesting) and towards the end of that year that young man has an incredible conversion experience. He reads the Book of Mormon from cover to cover in a day and a night and is convinced of its truth. He quits all the drugs cold turkey from that moment and goes on to serve a mission and to eventually grow into a highly educated and successful man who spends his career helping troubled kids in the foster care system.

Fast forward again to the day I am meeting with him and sharing how much I am struggling. He offers to help me and charge only as much as I can afford. (which is 10 bucks. Laughable.)

When I cry and ask why he is willing to do this sweet thing for me, he replies with a simple story and lesson that has stuck with me ever since.

He said- “Your Grandpa was one of the kindest men I have ever met. I was a complete pain in his butt the summer I worked with him but he was always good to me and treated me with respect. Helping you is just a way that I can thank him for that summer.”

From this I learned that the blessings of doing good never end. You can’t guess how far the results of charity and kindness might reach.

So, there’s my soapbox message for the week!

Lincoln- 6 months old.

Yesterday I met up with Cassie and Maryann to take baby Linc’s 6 month pictures. He has the funniest, smooshiest, sweetest little face.

Daisy’s second birthday bash.

I’ll let the photos tell the story about tonight’s party for my adorable stinker pants niece Daisy.