My children in One Word

My friend was asked to sum up her children with one word. I thought this would be so hard, and it was. I started thinking what words I would choose if I was asked about my children. I don’t want to sound like a bragging mother, but my children are the best and have soooo many qualities that I could have picked. Here is my best attempt to narrow it down to one word. :)

My oldest daughter would have to be leader. She has always known what she wants and goes after it. If people are in her way she doesn’t push them aside she delegates tasks to them to help her achieve her goal. Every time we babysit the nieces she takes it upon herself to organize stations to keep the kids busy. Also, one summer, while she was attending a summer camp, she wanted to have a talent show. The camp leader said that would be fine but you have to organize it. The camp leader thought that would discourage her. She delegated flyers, posters and then went around to every child and teacher to ask them to be in the talent show. If one of the kids didn’t want to participate she helped them find a talent. She had some boys making paper airplanes and lifting big rocks. She had a huge turnout and it was a big success. She also thought that since they scheduled during lunch that they should bring cookies because the parents wouldn’t have time to eat lunch before returning to work.

My son’s word would be kind. He is always very thoughtful to everyone including his sisters. One day we visited a rest home and took picture frames that the kids made. I have to be honest, I sometimes feel uncomfortable in the rest homes. My son felt right at home and he made sure everyone had a picture frame. He also would make sure to talk to everyone. One lady kept asking him the same questions over and over. He just smiled and kept answering her. As we were leaving he notices one elderly man walking by himself. He said that he didn’t get a frame. Without even thinking about it he grabbed a frame and ran over to him. He held his hand and walked with him. Then he gave him the frame. When he came back he said that really made that man happy.

My youngest daughter’s word would have to be happy. She is always happy, and if she isn’t then she will let you know why. The other night she wasn’t happy because she didn’t have a place to sit on the couch. She started to lecture me that clean clothes (waiting to be folded and put a way) didn’t belong on the couch or the floor. They should be put away in the dresser. This made me happy for one, because she can tell me why she isn’t happy and also maybe she can find a way to live her life more organized so the clothes don’t sit on the couch for more than an hour waiting to be folded. Even when she was a baby she was happy, (in fact I was ready to ask the doctor what was wrong with her because she never cried.) She is always playing jokes on her family and continues to get in trouble at the dinner table for making the other kids laugh because they either start to choke or spit their food out. Even at school the teachers comment on how happy she is and how easily she makes friends.

Visit with Curdy Family

wow! I've seen family TWICE this year already and is't only March! I drove up to NC to visit Deon and family and pick Colin up from Fort Bragg. Deon and I had a great time catching up. We also went to their girls' Talent Show and saw about 15 different versions of Hannah Montana songs....of course the best were sung by Sara, Emily & Erica! As always, the kids just LOVE Colin! I can bribe them with candy and my charming self :) but Colin's goofiness just makes them giggle like crazy!

Colin was in Fort Bragg for a day before heading to Florida for 3 more weeks of training (really tough in Florida!) He will then be heading to Afghanistan for a year. Hopefully he is going to write something in here before heading off.

loved being out West!

Hey ya'll!

Thanks for putting this together Lisa!

I had a great visit at the end of January with Rachael, Grandma, David, Miriam, Kevin & Lisa...and probably ate the best pizza of my life (see picture below from Rachael)! And I like to think of myself as a pizza connoisseur! I flew into Salt Lake with my boyfriend and friends for my very FIRST ski trip. We were very lucky to have an enourmous amount of snow. So my snowboarding lessons weren't quite as painful as my attempt at skiing in North Carolina a few years ago. I was pretty miserable the first two days of snowboarding....my legs were like jello and I just couldn't keep that slippery sucker under my feet! I took a day off to let my body recup, and then on our last day I made myself give it one more try. I did SO much better and really enjoyed myself......it's alot more fun when you don't fall the ENTIRE time.

Atlanta has had an odd winter.....as you may have heard, we have been in a major drought since the summer..but somehow we managed to get snow TWICE in one week! And it actually stuck around for a couple of days! I had my first sledding experience, I'm sure most of you guys did that before you walked :)

Have a great weekend! Kelli

Hello Family Blog

This is going to be such a great way to keep in touch with one another. I use code names, so let me introduce you. This is the Warlock with me, The Silly Witch, or SW for short.
This is Pippi:This is Bardo:
This is our odd family dog, Hunter, who loves to chew on carrots. I assure that it was not ME who gave him the carrot. I only took the picture...and cleaned up the mess.

Science Projects

For the past month our family has been knee deep in science projects, in preparation for the Science Fair that was last night. I don't remember doing a lot of science projects as a kid, but my kids choose to do this every year. It is so much fun. Makala gets extra credit for completing a science project and the other two just do it for fun. We were so excited to hear that Makala gets extra credit except she is already getting 100% in Science; maybe the teacher can throw the extra credit onto her spelling grade. :)

Hello Everyone

This is so cool that we have a family blog. It will be fun!
We have been keeping busy during January, which was coolish. Preston is excited to hear that it might reach 47 on Monday.
I went cross country skiing twice in one week and am not ready to stop, so 47 doesn't sound that wonderful to me. I am working on perfecting my weather control skills. So far, I have not had much success.


Preston has finished most of Garage-mahal. He is enthusiastic about having a place to park his truck. He doesn't have to scrape windows or wait to work until his stone has warmed up.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Recipes and Reunions

This post is from Grandma the Great

Grandma would like to thank all of you who have sent her recipes for the Family Reunion Cookbook she is very excited about all the recipes she has received. For those of you who haven't sent her any recipes PLEASE email them to her by the middle of February. This book is going to be so cool because it will have a large variety.

Remember the Reunion is July 12 in Malad. I think we better plan a 4-wheeler day for the day before. What do you think?