Visiting Family...

Grandma Woffinden's House

Me and my 93 year old Grandma Woffinden - doesn't she look awesome for 93! I hope I can live as healthy of a life as she has!!!

Abby and Grandma Great. Too precious!

Grandma and my 3 precious kids on her back porch. What a beautiful day it was in Utah with all my kids smiling in a picture. Unheard of!!!!

More pics with Grandma and cousins Kaylee and Jace.

Daddy with the kids on the back porch. This picture is proof that our Dad did join us for a vacation or at least a small part of it :)

All the great grandkids with Grandma (well, all those except Parker since Stacy didn't bring him). We sure missed Parker in Utah!

Some of my favorite spots at Grandma's

The little shed that we use to put dress-up clothes on and give my mom and grandma a fashion show. Such memories. Now, it is full of junk and spiders so no fun for Abby.

Oh, the slide! Now that is one steep and scary slide, but Abby was brave enough to try it. Notice the towel under her - it was a hot day!

swingset and old barn.

all the kids together. None of my pics really turned out so I just had fun playing with the coloring and trying to make it look a bit old fashion looking. Not sure if I accomplished what I was aiming for.

This is Ella (Stacy's baby) on the footstool. I remember these as a little girl and I've always loved them. I should get one in my house - that is how much I love this stool and memory of Grandma's house.

Slip 'n Slide

So we show up to Grandma's house to visit and Larry and Cheryl have their slip 'n slide set-up so there is no way we were going to be able to keep our kids away from it. So full dressed they ran to it and had a blast. With that came wet kids and saggy diapers :) Fun days.

I think Mackenzie took the prize for the saggiest diaper though :) Too funny. Doesn't this look like a picture from a certain sunscreen bottle? Hee, hee... Mackenzie is going to love this picture when she is 16!!!

After all the water fun the boys got on the trampoline and had fun jumping and tackling Jace. Poor Jace, 3 boys attacking him - he couldn't win that fight!!!

Grandma Dickerson's House

Me and my Grandma Dickerson, age 90. I sure have good genes! My grandma just turned 90 so this was the reason we were all down. We love you Grandma!!!

Grandma with all my crazy kids.

Kids can be so inventive when they have to be! Grandma doesn't have a swingset, bikes, or toys so what do they find to play with? Well, my Grandma's walker with wheels. So Abby sat in it and had the boys push her around. She liked how she could use the break to stop it so she didn't go hurling down the street or off the porch into the grass. The boys also took a turn on the walker.

Dinner with Mark & Callie
I was so happy I could see Mark and Callie since I haven't seen them since they got married. I think it is time they come to Texas since I've made it to Utah 2x to see them :) Evan and Mark became immediate friends.

Nathan was not too happy to be woken up from the only nap he'd had for a week so he was hysterical when we got to the restaurant. He fell back to sleep and woke up right when the food came and he was a happy camper then.

Callie and Abby - don't they look a lot a like???

Utah Trip - All the fun times....

Lagoon

We made a trip to Lagoon while we were in Utah and I'm so glad we did. When I was younger every summer we'd go to Lagoon so I have a lot of memories. And my kids enjoyed it as much as I remember as a child. I thought I would leave around 7 or 8pm but stayed until closing - 11pm!!! I can't believe my kids lasted and were relatively well behaved. Here are just some pics that I was able to capture while tracking down 3 kids by myself...

CARS
This was my favorite thing to do when I was a kid and I can see why - it was sure fun for my kids as well. Evan was a little stinker though and wouldn't ride any car except BLUE. So Nathan had a few more rides than his brother as we waited for the blue car to come around. Silly boy!!! He is so into what color belongs to him. Yes, I've created a monster!!!



This is Nathan kneeling waiting for Evan to finish his car ride. Doesn't he look so grown up???


Boat Ride
This was a fun one for all the kids, but realized very quickly that I should have given my boys their own boat ride as they were biting and hitting each other during the ride because they both wanted to be the one to ring the bell.



Mackenzie loves her cousin Abby and this was the first ride and I think the only ride she went on the whole time. Her mommy (Katie) wasn't very happy about that. But I think she had fun especially when Abby was by her side.


Helicopter Ride
My boys loved the rides. Evan would cry every time he got off because he wanted to go again. It got a little old by the end of the day. You'd think he'd figure it out after the 3rd ride or so that we'd be doing it all day long, but after each ride he'd cry to go again. Ugh... But it was still fun.


Abby's Roller Coaster
This was Abby's favorite ride, although I wasn't able to get a picture of her on it since I was with the boys most the time while she was with the Judd kids riding older rides.


Bumper Cars
Abby loved the bumper car ride and got it figured out in no time. Nathan liked it as well, but had a hard time figuring them out. Evan wasn't much a fun.


Train Ride
This is the only picture I have of my kids on the train ride we went on. It was perfect and relaxing and was exactly what we needed at the end of a long day. Everyone enjoyed it.


I didn't get any pictures of the kids at the water park which was probably one of their favorite things to do while there. I stayed with the boys for a couple hours then Abby joined us for another hour or two. Wow, that is what took up a lot of the hot part of the day and while we were able to last until closing. So much fun!!!

Thanksgiving Point

We made a trip to Thanksgiving Point. I had no idea how much stuff there was to do there. It took a couple days for us to fit it all in. But we were glad we did. The kids had lots of fun. There was a dinosaur museum, petting zoo, water park with fun tunnels. Here are just a few pictures as it was hard to take pictures with my 3 kids running crazy and trying to keep up with them.

Petting Zoo
They had a lot of pretend play for the kids to show how heavy things were, how to do things on the farm, etc.

Nathan being shy...


petting the animals


Evan loved the little baby lambs. Isn't it so cute!!!


Riding horses




Mackenzie - thought I'd add this since Katie didn't get a picture of this since she was standing next to Mackenzie the whole time.


Lighthouse
This was fun for the kids to climb the ladder to the top of the lighthouse. But a little scary when the little boys decided to as I was scared they were going to fall.



Trails
There were a lot of trails for the kids to run in and at the bottom of one of the trails the kids found a spot with musical instruments - that was a hit!

Boys will be boys - going off the trail, making their own.


Cousins
This took a lot of work to get all the kids in one place so I could get a picture. A lot more work than it should have, but what do you expect with 5 of the kids being 2 and under.


Fireworks
We were trying to meet up with our cousins to watch fireworks but there was so much construction going on that we had a hard time finding them so we ended up stopping in a parking lot and watching them that way. It turned out fine although we were sad we couldn't meet up one last time to hang out.

Then we went back to our house in Sandy to finish off the one's I had brought from Texas. Evan loved the sparklers and Nathan wasn't much of a fan. He was wondering why the heck it was okay for him to be playing with fire. Reminded me a lot of Abby at that age. Now she is a pro.


I can't believe I don't have more pics of the house we stayed in Sandy. Maybe Dawn took more than me and I can add them on here later. Bummer.... This is about all I have.

Utah Trip - Reunion & Temples

We had a family Reunion in Utah for my Grandma Dickerson's 90th birthday. I'm so glad that most of us could make it. We haven't seen each other in about 15 years so it was great to see all my cousins. They are all so much fun and I hope we can see each other again soon. Love ya guys!!

This was taken when we sang Happy Birthday to my grandma and they brought out a huge cake. My grandma couldn't hold back her gratitude. We were so happy we could be here to celebrate this wonderful day with her.

Notice on the pic above, little Nathan is peering in with smiles. You may think he was happy for grandma, loves to sing the "Happy Birthday" song. Nope, he just wanted to get his hand on that cake! All the kids loved the cake. Yummy!!

Uncle Glen brought sparklers and my boys loved them, especially Evan!

Abby (6) & Kaylee (8) at the Reunion. The made necklaces and put tattoos on as you can see.


Professional Shots

Me with each of my kiddos!


Love this picture of us. Wish dad could have been there so he could have been in the picture as well.



The WRIGHT Family

Siblings (Andy, Dawn, Shelly (me), Stacy, Jenn & Katie


We love our brother!!!


The WRIGHT gang with our Dad


Grandma Dickerson & Craig Wright Family


Grandma & Grandkids


Grandma & Greatgrandkids


The Whole Wright Gang!!!!


We stayed in Utah for a week so we were able to get some temples in and even made it to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house which is the first open house my kids have been through so that was neat.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple


South Jordan Temple


The kids had been in the car and sitting a lot today so when we found a long spot of grass next to the temple grounds the boys just had to run!


Draper Temple

We could see the Draper temple from where we were staying in Sandy on a mountain top. It has such a great location and view. This is a shot I got coming down the road after seeing the temple in person. I thought the views were just amazing, but not sure this picture does it justice.

Salt Lake City Temple (of course)!!!





cousins: Judd's (Kaylee, Jace, Bryce & Joshua), Mackenzie Donaldson & of course my cute kids as well...


Restoration Statue on temple grounds


Joseph Smith Memorial Building
We also went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I always have to get a picture of the large statue of Joseph Smith with my kids.


This picture was also taken in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on the top floor. Great view of the temple!!!


We had a really sweet tour guide and he immediately grabbed Abby's hand and they were best friends from there on out.



Conference Center

We took a tour of the conference center but with all my kids, Dawn's kids and Mackenzie there were 8 kids to 4 adults so we were definitely out numbered and it was hard to keep all the kids in control through the whole tour so I don't have many pictures.



Roof of the Conference Center



my kids actually sitting still and mostly smiling for a picture!

All about little Nathan

I had a lot of pictures of little things I find cute about Nathan that I had to share. I'll have to do one of Evan when I get back from our vacation.

Rock Band guitarist
Nathan loves to pretend to play either the drums or the guitar. He seems to have a bit of a beat about him and loves music in general. When he wants to play with the Rock Band instruments he comes up to me and says the same tune "dah, dah, dah" the exact same way each time. I guess when we are playing it this is what it sounds like in his room.


Molly
Nathan loves Molly more than any of my kids. He is constantly wanting to give her treats and always gives her loves whenever he goes outside and always wants to pet her. He has such a sweetness to him although he is ALL boy most of the time it is so nice to see that sweetness about him.


Swing
Nathan loves the swing. Evan does as well, but it is usually Nathan that comes inside to requests me to push him on the swing. And he does it so funny that I can't say no because it is just too cute. He closes his eyes really tight and then says "Sssswwwwiiiiinnnnnggggg". It is so funny. I should record him saying it because it is priceless!!!

Abby's Swim League

I'm not sure how many of you know, but Abby is on a swim league in our neighborhood called F.A.S.T. Dolphins. She has done a great job and is such a good "little" swimmer. She is in the 6 & under Girls group and has improved by leaps and bounds since joining the league. We have meets on Saturday mornings usually from 7:00am-11:00am where we compete against another league and try to beat their times. Isn't she the cutest swimmer you've ever seen!!!


Here is the entire team! Where is Abby?.... Well, she is the one hunched over 8th from the right, bottom row.


Abby chilling before/after her individual events:


Abby and her friend Bailey hanging out and coloring.


We haven't quite perfected the dive yet, but I love how she jumps in!


Here are some videos I tried to capture for you to see her in action. Our camcorder has been out of batteries for awhile now and we haven't been able to find our cord so I went to Wal-Mart last night and bought a small and very cheap video camera to capture her swimming today. So although the video quality is pretty bad, I think you can still see her in action to see how good she is doing in her swimming. CAUTION: I'm LOUD when I cheer Abby on so you may want to turn down your volume :)

25 yd Freestyle
Abby is the one in the cap between the two girls without caps. She finished 1st in her group.


When Abby started out with her freestyle they taught them to breathe by going on their backs she has been doing that every meet. As you can see she is now breathing on the side. I've been working with her to try to get her to breathe on her side instead of turning over and I may have bribed her a little as well, but she did it and I was so proud of her!

25 yd Backstroke
Abby is the one in the cap and bright pink goggles. She is lane #4 - count from top of screen down to find lane 4.


Abby has always loved doing the backstroke and it has always been her best stroke. It has just come very natural for her. At this age, they only teach them these two strokes. She has also been in 3 relays as well. They pick their best swimmers to go in those and she's made it to 3 of the 4 relays! Go Abby!!!

In Abby's age group there are 3 groups of kids that go - around 24 Girls 6 & under swim to compete between 1st and 24th Place.

Abby's times (in seconds)

Freestyle went from 48.44 on her first meet to 36.17 on this meet.
Backstroke went from 56.14 on her first meet to 38.48 on this meet. Abby has come in 6th place 2x and received 2 ribbons for this event. They give special ribbons from 1st-6th place. Of course since they are 6 years old every child gets a ribbon after each swim so no one feels left out. All the kids think they are winners :)

I'm so proud of Abby on how well she is doing and I'm so glad she has found something she loves and is also good at. I have a feeling I'm going to get a tan since I'll be out every summer in the heat watching her at her practices and swim meets!

Abby's Birthday Party

Abby's 6th Butterfly Birthday Party



Butterfly friends - here are all the girls at Abby's party plus 2 boys that came that didn't want to get in the picture. Left to right we have: Bailey W., Mackenzie, Rhea, Abby, Bailey B., Duncan and Miranda. Boys were: Jacob & Aiden


These are definitely Abby's favorite friends. Rhea in her homeroom class, Bailey from church and great friend. She sure picks sweet girls as her friends!


Pinata
This is the first time I've done a party with a pinata. It turned out pretty good and the boys were thrilled that candy came out of something they could bang to death :)




We had each child hit at least 3x and then came all the candy and as all the kids went for the candy Daddy made candy "rain" on top of the kids - they thought that hurt a little, but no one seemed to move from the candy load.


Cake time
I decided instead of making a cake and decorating it that I wanted to make cupcakes and arrange them to look like a butterfly. I thought it turned out pretty good, although Abby couldn't tell it was a butterfly until I pointed it out to her and then she was still trying to see what I was talking about. Too funny!




Returning chairs and table we borrowed from the neighbors. It became a family event. I had to capture the moment. As you can see Evan was lagging and thought the chair was a little heavy, which it definitely was. But Nathan had no problem as you can see.

Evan finally gave up and I had to carry the chair the rest of the way. What a slow poke. But if it came to climbing he'd definitely beat Nathan and probably be close to Abby. He can climb a rockwall at a park I go to that is about 6' tall. It is amazing to watch!

Abby turns 6!!!

My little girl turns 6 today. I just can't even believe it. She is just growing up too fast. Not only is she turning 6 but is also graduating kindergarten on top of that. Too crazy. Nathan had to tell Abby her birth story and we told her she had to be cut out of me and that when she came out she wasn't breathing and they had to work to get her to breath a few times and how scared we were to lose our little miracle. But thankfully we had a great staff of nurses and doctors and they brought our little bundle of joy to us. And we told her how absolutely beautiful she was and that we've never seen a cuter child in our whole lives. After that I went to tuck her into bed and she said to me, "Mom, I was the cutest baby ever." and I said "Yes, we were and you still are beautiful." and she said "I was cuter than Nathan and Evan." I laughed and said, "You were pretty darn cute, but Nathan and Evan were cute too." And as I was leaving the room she said "But I was the cutest." I guess the sibling rivalry has begun :)

Abby Opening gifts on her Birthday

We wanted Abby to open gifts with her Daddy so we woke her up at 5:30am to open gifts before Dad headed off to work. Then back to bed went Abby and I!!!


Abby got 3 Webkinz - this one is a Webkinz Jr. that Daddy bought her because he knows how much she loves cats. Nathan and Evan got her a Siamese cat and an Owl she's been asking for.


Abby also got a Nintendo DS so she could have a game system on our long trip to Utah and Arizona this next month! That'll keep her busy hopefully :)

Also thank you Grandma Elaine for the light bright, Grandpa Wright for the ladybug umbrella, Fenn Family for the gum and chapter book - Abby is really into chapter books right now, Goodman Family for the Scripture CD and funny card. Abby has opened and laughed at that card over and over. She even got strep throat on Sunday night and wasn't feeling good all day Monday when the gift got here and when she heard the card she broke a smile for the first time that day. It was a good pick-up for her. And of course we can't forget Grandma & Grandpa Hatch for sending a sweet note and $5! Thank you family - we love you!!!

My Kids are finally asleep! . . . Or are they?

So we put the boys to bed and they both climbed onto their changing table and got into the lotion. How fun that was to clean up! Crazy boys!!!!


close-up: Nathan & Evan in the lotion!


Abby loves all her stuffed animals. This night was funny though because not only did she lay all of her stuffed animals all around her, but she had the umbrella out as well. I had to capture a picture of this. Too funny! And Yes she was sound asleep.