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Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts

Monday, August 09, 2010

Visiting the Condies


The kids & I headed all dirty from the sand dunes up to Highland to stay with the Condies for a week! Even though Wendy & are are just great friends, our kids are like cousins & sometimes we'll say Aunt Wendy or Aunt Hillary. We're just one big happy family together!

The kids all played really well together the whole time. We had the best, laid back week just hanging out. Usually when I visit Wendy I have a whole list of places I want to shop. I didn't have a single place this time that I was dying to go to. That helped things not be chaotic. It's insane trying to take 7 kids (between us) into a store!

On Monday we got ready at a super leisurely pace, took the kids to Costco for a late lunch, and did some shopping/meal planning for the week. We got home from Costco & let the kids play while we threw a quick dinner together. My sister Kayleigh came over all but one of the nights we were there. It was awesome to spend time with her. Plus she was super awesome & kept doing dishes while we tried to get kids to bed. She's great!

Jack LOVED playing with the boys! The order of the kids in age are Spencer (almost 7), Callie (6), Preston (5), Tanner (almost 4), Ellie & Emily (both 2 - just a couple weeks apart). It was interesting that Jack & Spencer especially played well together, & Callie & Preston played a lot together.





One day we took the kids to a little dinosaur museum at BYU. They thought it was awesome!



The Condies have lots of scooters & space to ride. Callie loved playing on the boys' scooters!



We had a hard time keeping the kids out of the sandbox!



After the first couple meals we decided to move the kids outside! There's seriously a lot of cleanup when you're feeding 7 kids!



Besides Costco & the dinosaur museum, we took the kids to a splash park one day, a cool regular park & also a water park another day. Wendy & I got a babysitter one night since her husband, Mike, was spending time with his brother who was moving across the country. We went out to eat, saw a movie & got yogurt afterwards. Another night after the kids went to bed we went to the dollar theater with Kayleigh. And the last night I was there Mike babysat all the kids while Wendy, Kayleigh & I went out to eat, did a little shopping, and got yogurt again.

Thanks for such a fun week Wendy! I wish we could see each other more often!!!

Our drive home was great except for the 2 1/2 hours we were in St. George! I'm a really slow person by myself but throw kids in the mix and it's just pathetic! I took a half hour nap when we got to St. George since Wendy & I had stayed up too late the night before watching a movie & I was feeling really sleepy. I gassed up & then took the kids into Costco because Jack had to poop. Have I mentioned how that just kills me?! The kid takes like 20 minutes average to poop. Sometimes longer! When we're at home doing nothing it's all good. Take your time. But when we're in a public bathroom I just want to bang my head on the wall. Except that public bathroom walls are generally filthy! And because of public bathrooms & their lack of cleanliness I usually hold Ellie while we're in there since she isn't really old enough to just chill in one place without touching everything. After holding a 25+ lb kid for almost 20 minutes I was having to really work at staying calm & nice. So this was Jack in the bathroom. Just making himself at home!



By the time he finished we'd been at Costco nearly an hour & the kids wanted to eat hot dogs. We sat & ate them & there went another 45 minutes. Next time we're going through a drive through. I ran up to a redbox & made one other 20 minute stop & that was how we spent 2 1/2 hours in St. George. Aughhh! It was great to get home!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Visit from Condie Co


It was so fun to have
Condie Co at our house for a couple of nights last week! It had been probably a record length of time since Wendy & I had seen each others kids (since July I think!). After a day at the Grand Canyon, Wendy & co got to our house around dinnertime. We couldn't get everyone at the table so we brought in the kids' table & thought the older 5 could sit there. Emily found a seat before the older kids & was not about to give it up. When Ellie came on the scene there was no way in heck we were talking her out of leaving the party! I think more goofing around was done than actual eating!



On Friday Mike went to check out Jer's operation (as in the business) & then we met the boys for lunch. Thank goodness we got the party room at Pizza Hut! I would have felt terrible otherwise for all the other people wanting a normal Pizza Hut volume lunch! Jeremiah & Mike went 4-wheeling after lunch & Wendy & I took the kids to the park. That night we got a couple of babysitters & did my favorite date night: dinner & a movie! When we got home the kids were asleep in all sorts of places, and here were Ellie & Emily (they're just a couple weeks apart in age).



The little girls really got along fine for the most part, but they weren't too happy with each other over breakfast Saturday morning! Notice the matching pj's? Wendy had left out Emily's pair for the babysitters (not even knowing we had the same ones) but when we got home Emily was in a pink sleeper & Ellie was in her own set of the pjs. Wendy & I have always done pics of the girls together in matching shirts so it was totally a fluke that we were able to this time with the matching pjs! :)



It was hilarious watching the kids on the jeep. From the time they got to our house on Thursday evening until the time they left, we could look out the window at any moment & there would be multiple kids trying to get a ride on the jeep.



Hopefully it won't be such a long time between visits with the kids again. My kids are always asking about the next time they'll see the Condie kids. They loved spending time with our friends!





Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Recent play

One of the kids' favorite things to do right now is play store. If only they could inventory & return things to the back when they were done playing!







Did you take this picture Kate? Jack loves to read! When I stumbled upon this picture I just thought it was SO cute! That's the kids' friend Kiera with Jack.


There's this great, fun new way to watch your favorite show. Have you tried it?!

Callie-girl

Here's some pictures I've been meaning to post of my number 1 helper. Callie really is a great help to me. Tonight while we were having dinner (it was the kids & I), I hadn't remembered to get us all drinks & before I even knew she was up (I was at the table feeding Ellie & Cal/Jack were at the bar), she was handing me a glass of water. She does thoughtful little things like that a lot. She really is a sweet girl & definitely a little mama. Because she also likes to repeat directions or scoldings that I give Jack! :)






she dressed herself and it was freezing outside btw




don't worry, they're bathtub crayons :)


Callie & Spencer

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Tana's baby shower

I really didn't think about throwing a surprise shower until about a week before Tana came to Kingman for a visit, so I'm so glad that most everybody that I called was able to make it to Tana's shower! We'd decided to get together for lunch so I told her Chili's at 1 on Friday. She was completely surprised when she walked in expecting to just see me & the kids & instead saw a whole group of friends & family. It was so fun for me to do this shower for Tana. It was her first boy & plus she's one of my best friends!

The only con about doing a shower at a place like Chili's (and when I say like Chili's I mean any place w/out a party room) is that it's very difficult to converse with more than just the people right around you. But a huge pro is that there's not a lot of decorating to do. Oh, & no prep cleaning or post clean-up. And it's not necessary to do games (although I like them but if you've thrown a shower you know it's obviously easier to not have them). So there were balloons (a must for a casual restaurant shower!), a couple centerpieces, & cupcakes! Wallah! It's a shower!

As a side note I've really had a change of heart about baby showers. I remember thinking one time (years ago) when I heard a co-worker talking about her upcoming shower for her 2nd daughter how stupid that was & why was she getting another shower. But like I said I've had a change of heart. Jeremiah's mom told me once that in their old ward every baby got a shower and every mom was made to feel special. And I just love that because babies are special & plus it's also a lot of work for the moms so I think they need a big high-5 in the form of a party with presents! :) I think mom's & their babies should be celebrated whether it's their first or fifth child (and so on)! And even if it's your second girl or second boy & you might not need any new clothes or anything, it's still fun. Besides, we women all update our wardrobes, right? Why wouldn't we want to update our kids' wardrobes too if we can? And diapers don't grow on trees. And what about baby shampoo & baby tylenol & all those kinds of things? Okay, I'll step off my soapbox. But really, if you're from the old school of thought on baby showers I truly think you should reconsider. I'm done now.





Jack & Kiera tickling each other.


Ellie enjoying spinach artichoke dip. She loved it. Hand & fisting it!


Tana & me.


The cupcakes & centerpieces to match her PBK Oscar bedding. I have to admit, I love how they turned out!