crochet hats...

When I had use of both hands I made these little hats for my nephew Max.  He is so adorable and a great model for my hats.  Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks! :)

opposable thumbs...

It supposedly separates man from apes and this morning I am discovering why.  I feel very clumsy and apelike today. Yesterday I was hit by a sweet teenage driver who thought she was at a four way stop instead of a two way. She pulled out right in front of me and our cars collided. 

My hand hurt at the scene, where it gripped the steering wheel, but it wasn't any big thing. Throughout the day and evening it got worse and I couldn't grip things or use it much. I went into instacare last night and after xrays they determined it was a sprain. Because of the location of the pain and the chance the bone  could have a hairline fracture they immobilized with a hard half cast.  Thus my thumb and wrist aren"t working independent of each other and have taken on primate characteristics.

I have conked my forehead several times in the last few minutes while trying to brush hair out of my face. I will probably have a cute bruise on my head by the end of the day. The kids enjoy just hanging around to witness that one.  Don't even get me started on fasteners like hooks,buttons,zippers or snaps.  I didn't make any speed records at getting dressed this morning.  I am typing with one hand and developing a strong dislike for capitalization and anything involving the shift and control keys.  Cass put my hair in a ponytail for me today after feeling pity watching my unsuccessful attempts.  I can't crochet or hold a book so hobbies are on hold.  Thank goodness chocolate consumption only requires one hand or else I would be in total despair!  :)

Seriously, I am grateful no one was hurt in the accident and by the end of this experience I will have developed a profound appreciation for thumbs and wrists.  Just don't be surprised if the next time you see me I am making unintelligible sounds, climbing trees,  and eating a banana, albeit a chocolate covered one.

cassidy is a teenager...

Cassie's new room

This past week was Cassidy's 13th birthday.  We decided to redo her room for her.  Every member of the family was involved.  We had her spend a couple days babysitting and hanging out with her cousins in Springville and the rest of us began the makeover here at home.  It has become a tradition for Kelly to make something for her each year.  This year he made a beautiful bookcase.  Ryan has great talents in the shop also and helped him from the design to completion. 

The day before her birthday Josh and I went to work.  Josh was a HUGE help as he emptied her room, patched the walls, masked and help paint.  He also helped hang things on the walls and set everything up later.  It was fun to see Ryan, Josh and Mark, painting in pink's and purples as they helped get decorations done for their sister's rooms.   Big thanks to Beth and Catherine who came over to help and made the cute fuzzy pillows for the bed. 

Cassie with her friend Aubrey and her cousins Sydney and Ashlyn

Finally the night of Cass's birthday came and she opened a couple presents and then went to see her room.  She loved it and her smile made all the effort worth it.  I love you Cassidy.  Happy Happy Birthday sweet girl. 

The beautiful bookcase made by Kelly and Ry

Beth and Catherine's pillows!

crochet backpacks...

I found a new pattern and adopted it to some drawstring backpacks.  I made one for Cass and two for my little nieces Kennedy and Tacey.  They were a lot of fun to do.  

fun on the water...





June 30-July 2 our family went to Park City. We went with my sister and her family and had a blast. We stayed in a hotel and although we had planned a horseback riding trip the first afternoon, weather caused us to postpone till a later time.  We saw Cars 2, had fun on the water and enjoyed shopping at the outlet stores.  I think our kid's favorite time was hanging out at the hotel swimming and playing pool, ping pong and hanging out with their cousins.

For some strange reason the only pictures we took, was the day spent at Jordanelle Reservoir. We borrowed a boat from another sister and spend a day on the water. It was cold, but as you can tell, the temperature didn't keep the kids out of the water. We have always loved taking vacations with the Grants.  My sister Letha, and I, had our kids about the same time and our families have always been close.  It is hard to see Kailey and Ryan, the oldest, going off to college this fall.  I remember our vacations at Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon over the years and to think how fast time has gone once again astounds me. 



Josh showing off his moves on the knee board



Ry and Cass braving the cold

Mark has got some skills!



Kevin's new dew!

 

Letha and James



Big thanks to Rach and Jeff for the generous use of their boat and to Josh's friend Kyle who dog sitted for us while we were gone.  Even though it was a quick trip and not far from home the memories will last long into the future.  Thanks Leth and James for helping plan a great trip.

pinewood derby....



I am playing catch up with my postings!!  I have fallen behind, good grief what's the world coming to!  Last month was Mark's first pinewood derby.  After watching Josh and Ryan race over the years, Mark has been counting the days until it was his turn.  Although he has been in cubs for nearly two years, this was his troops first pinewood derby.

From the moment he got his car he was making plans.  He wanted to start that first day (he gets his patience gene from his mom) and everyday reminded Kelly and I that it was time to begin this long sought after project.  I remember one day after dinner Mark announced that they were going to start his car right then.  He went out into the shop area of the garage and cleaned it (which loosely translated meant moving things from one side of the garage to the other).  Next thing we noticed is that he was carting fans out into the garage.  We went to inspect and found he had prepped the area and even thought of ventilation.  Kelly went out and they began work on the car.

The night of the derby it was fun to see how excited Mark was.  He ended up coming up first in his den and second overall. I don't know whose smile was bigger that night Mark or his dad's! 

marks family reunion 2011 and the amazing race...

The whole Marks crew

This past week we had all of my siblings (there are eight of us) and our families (32 grandchildren)  gathered together for the first time in over six years.  We have had fun visiting, swimming, playing, eating, amusement parking, boating and just being together.  Because I live in Utah, I get the chance to see most of my brothers and sisters throughout the year as they come here to vacation, but there is something about all being together at the same time.  We have a boisterous, crazy group but we made some fun memories. 

The couples

Mom and Dad and their children

my incredible sisters

I have a fantastic sister, Shelly, who goes out of her way to create fun moments and memories, both in her own family and extending on to the rest of us.  She forces us out of our comfort zones, and gets us to try things we haven't done before.  Sometimes, we are a little hesitant to try her brainstorms, but in the end they become some of the best memories of all our time together.  This trip was no different.  She decided that the adults would do and "Amazing Race" around Orem.  She and her husband Warren thought up all the clues, and drove around texting us the next clues and taking pictures of all our crazy antics.  These are some of the pictures of the fun.

We divided up on two teams of four couples each.  Our first challenge was to use enormous sling shots and shoot various items of different weights and sizes into buckets.   Letha, my sister on the opposing team decided that Kelly was a threat so she pulled out some crazy moves to block us.  Who knew she was that competitive, good thing Kelly took her in height!

We started receiving our clues after we conquered the first challenge.  We received these by texts.  When we would get to the correct location we had to text a picture to Shel and if it was correct she would give us the challenge we had to complete there.  So the night involved lots of crazy driving, wrong locations and crazy people running all over town.

One of the challenges took us to a grocery store where we had to purchase and someone had to eat the grossest thing we could find.  The winning team got minutes subtracted from their over all time.  Pickled pigs feet and sardines were the choices.  I think I will stick with chocolate.

 After visiting a cemetery, department store, Trafalga, Winco, a bowling alley, and a whole bunch of other wrong locations, our last clue took us to Mimi's cafe where we all had dessert together and compared stories of the night. My team came in second, (notice I said second and not last) but it was close!  Again, thanks to Shelly and Warren for putting this all together and then insisting we do it.  It will be something we won't forget for a long time.

 

Shel even put a cute short video together of some of our adventures, just click on the amazing race link below! 

 

amazing race....

By the way, I stole most of these pictures and video from my sister's blog, so thanks again Shel. For those of you who want to see the clues they came up with you can visit her blog which is listed on the right hand side of mine. It's called hill happenings.

family pictures...

We had family pictures taken this weekend.  We always get them in the fall so we thought we would try some in the summer.  :)  Cassie and Mark love to pose, but Ry and Josh weren't as accommodating.