Family History Night

Yesterday we had to make a trip to St. George for a doctor's appointment for one of our kids, so we decided to take all the kids a long and make a day of it. Ryan and I went and did some temple work with Weston while my parents watched the rest of the kids. It was really nice spending one on one time with him. He chatted about his friends and school and his plan for getting an Ipod (he's been saving up the money and he's almost there....actually he has enough money but we told him he has to get two merit badges for scouts before he can get it).

We had lunch in the temple cafeteria afterwards. Mmmmmm, roast beef for Weston and Hawaiian Haystacks for Ryan and I. Then we raced back to my parent's house to drop Weston off and pick Emmett up for his Dr. appointment. After we got that taken care of we went back to my parent's and had the rest of the day to hang out and chat.

My mom made her famous (to us!) Beans Chalupa. Oh, my. It's so so yummy. I need to get her recipe....I mean, how do I not have this already? I don't know.

We played a bit of hide n seek with the kids in their backyard.

My dad brought out some homemade raisins he dried himself. The kids gobbled them up!

 

And then it was time for a Friday Night Family Home Evening.  A couple weeks ago Ryan mentioned how he thought it would be cool to do some genealogy nights with each of our parents and have them talk about their families, what life was like when they were kids, etc.

So, we asked if my mom and dad would be willing and they were game. I'm so glad Ryan thought this up because it was really fun. They got out photo albums and talked and shared stories.

My Mom shared a bit of what it was like growing up in Star Valley, Wyoming. She showed us the pictures of our ancestors who first came to America from Liverpool, England. She talked about her dad being a kid during the Great Depression. He came from a family with 14 kids (wow, right?!) and sometimes all they had for dinner was a piece of white bread with water on it and sugar. So sad and so hard to imagine life being that hard.

My Dad talked about his ancestors and how they came over from the Isle of Man. My great great (and then some) grandfather was George Cannon. He made the death masks for the prophet Joseph Smith after he was killed. Apparently, death masks were something that were commonly done at that time. Somehow they made a mold of the deceased face using melted wax.

Also, it was interesting to learn that one of our ancestors is Hosea Stout, who was the chief of police in Nauvoo, Illinois. Cool, right?

My dad shared pictures of me as a little girl and him and my mom when they were first married and their kids were tiny.

My mom made yummy lemon bars and we ate and continued to chat and share for quite some time. Finally it was time for us to motor on home. It's always hard for us to leave. I love being around my parents and I wish we lived closer to them. But, luckily, they're not too far away.

Long Lunches

A few months ago, I took Weston out to lunch for a Long Lunch. It was something the middle school was encouraging parents to do. The kids could be late for their classes after lunch. It was really fun. He chose the Pizza Hut buffet, of course. And we had a great time talking and being together...with his two wee sisters along for the fun. I thought I snagged a picture of him, but maybe not. I couldn't find any....maybe I didn't want to embarrass him, taking pictures of him in Pizza Hut! 

Then I was reading a blog the other day, 71 Toes and read an entry about how she likes to take her kids out for long lunches individually so she can spend more one on one time with them. 

Brilliant! Why didn't I think of doing this with the other kids? 

So, a couple weeks ago, I took Sam out of school and he chose Pizza Hut, too.

We had a great time chatting and and laughing and eating pizza. It's amazing how much Sam can put away!

As you can see, they are really excited to get their picture taken. 

Next, it was Emmett's turn. Surprisingly, he chose Lefty's Hideout for lunch...

Apparently, he passes it everyday on the school bus, so he wanted to go. We tried their buffet which was pretty good. Emmett really liked the taquitos. 

We had to throw some coins in the little fish pond, right? And while it may be a little fish pond, those fish are really fat. What are they feeding them?

This was super fun and I hope I'll be able to continue the tradition. I probably won't be able to take them all out every month, but a few times every school year would be fun. It's nice to have some easy time with them, without the whole crew around needing my attention. 

Dummies, Sugared Toothbrushes & The Fool's Cafe

I love April Fool's Day.

When I woke up, I came out to the living room and Weston told me Emmett got mad at him and was sulking....

Ha! Emmett was hiding in the laundry room so I wouldn't see him. For a split second I thought it was a real person.  So funny!

I put sugar on  everyone's toothbrushes the night before. *snicker*  Ryan laughed. But most of the kids didn't notice! Um....maybe they're not brushing their teeth too good? Eh?

The whole day was full of tricks and laughing. It was awesome.

I found a This great idea on Pinterest for doing a mystery dinner. And since I've tricked the kids loads of times in the past with food that isn't what it looks like on April Fool's Day, I figured we better try something new. 

I went with the menu the girl hard already thought up. It was way easier that way...

Answer Key:

1. Ice

2. Deviled Eggs

3. Mashed Potatoes

4. Gravy

5. Jello

 (Utah consumes more per capita than any place else).

6. Goldfish

7. Cucumber Wheels

8. Ants on a Log

(Raisins on Peanut Butter on Celery)

9. Ham slice

10. Corn

11. Fork

12. Spoon

13. Knife

14. Toothpick

15. Water

16. Napkin

17. Ice Cream

18. Chocolate syrup

19. Mint 

20. Lemon-lime soda

Ryan thought of way to divide the kitchen from the dining room. We have this big cardboard thing from a Cub Scout pack meeting where I made it for a game...

So, we covered it with blankets and the kids couldn't peek through the holes. Oh my! They were so curious. And one of my favorite parts? When they started guessing what they could smell. They guessed pancakes and biscuits and all sorts of other things that weren't even close. 

They were so excited when it was finally time to order...

And I loved serving them their courses! They were so surprised. It was fun when they started figuring out what things were like, Titanic's Demise was ice and the son of Noah was ham. In Ryan's first course he got just a pile of chocolate syrup. I don't think he got the ice cream for it until the last course! Zoe wasn't so keen on her first course (jello, cucumbers, corn, etc.) and she actually dissolved into tears. So, if I were to do it again, I would make sure everyone understood the idea of courses and how more food would be coming soon and all of that. 

Sam did pretty good eating all of that with just a toothpick!

Molly took things into her own hands and decided to see what Corn Soda 

would taste like! So yummy, right?

Toothpicks might not be the best utensil for eating ice cream. 

It's a bit fussy to do dinner like this, but it was totally worth it! We had a lot of fun and it just might become our new April Fool's Day tradition.