Alison in the Bathtub

First Day

The girls' first day of school was Monday. They were anxious to start off, mostly because they knew they had a bit of catching up to do. Megan, for the first time, said, "NO PICTURES!" But Russell got one anyway. Aside from being sick on Tuesday, she's been very eager and excited to go to school. She likes her world history class and Spanish.


Caitlyn, because she's not in 3rd grade, gets to walk to school (3rd graders get to ride bikes). She's joined a walking party -- our back-door-ish neighbor and some other girls -- and goes and comes home with them. She's missing Benton, a little bit, but likes a few things about Peterson -- like the stop signs in the hallways, and the music teacher.

Non-Aspen Grove Vacation: Relatives We Saw

Our trip could be divided up into two parts: seeing all the extended relatives and other touristy things, and Aspen Grove. I'm only going to put up a couple of pictures here. The rest can be seen over at Flickr. It's just easier that way.

The first place we stopped (well, not quite: we stopped in Laramie), was Evanston to see Grandpa and Grandma Harris. We had a wonderful visit, and Grandma fussed over all the girls (Alison for wearing a dress, Megan for liking her decor, Caitlyn because she talks a lot and Kristen because she's cute.) We had a lovely dinner with them and enjoyed the time we spent there.


My cousins Jeremy and Adam showed up, too, and the girls really enjoyed playing with them.


That Sunday (the 12th), we came down from Aspen Grove to spend an afternoon with relatives. We spent a couple of hours and had dinner with John and Kim (and Christy and Michael and Andrea and all the kids; Jenna and Wendell were sick). Thankfully, the girls all had someone to play with.


And from there, we headed up to Bruce and Barbara's to see whomever showed up there. And we got a chance to chat with Grandpa (who talked mostly about Rebecca! :).


On our way home, we stopped in Vernal to see people there. We did see Russell's uncle Robert, but only got a picture with William and Marilyn.


It was good to see everyone!

Non-Aspen Vacation: Friends that the Girls Liked Seeing

We saw a bunch of old friends, but the girls were really only interested in two:
The Calvins from Arkansas (their girls Emma and Hannah are pictured) who served up donuts and good conversation,


And the Bigelows (Julia and Evelyn are here playing with our girls), who served up good food, good conversation and music



Caitlyn wanted to here Jonathan play the bass, so he did. Julia played the harp for us, too. We all got a chance to play on that, afterward, which we enjoyed.

I'm glad we had a chance to pop in and see them; I only wish we could have stayed longer.

Aspen in a Nutshell

So many things happened the few days up at Aspen Grove. The girls all went into their age groups and from 9:30 in the morning until lunch and again from 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon, they had activities planned. Both Megan and Caitlyn went on hikes to the falls; Alison went on a hike to the arts and crafts center. They all got to go swimming every day. (The adults found things to do, too.) There was family time, too: Aspen Follies (a series of competitions for families), family swim, Frontier Fiesta Night, and a family dance. All of which the girls had a blast doing.

In the evenings, there was time spent with cousins. We had a family talent show (not to mention the Aspen Grove-wide one), a testimony meeting (which I missed because Kristen was fussy), and the girls played games and ran around with cousins as much as possible. It was exhausting, but fun.

Here are some highlights...

Megan's Dungeons and Dragon's game:


Melissa attempting to make something on the pottery wheel (I gave up and asked Katie to make me something so the clay wouldn't go to waste):


Russell and Daniel playing tennis:


At the Aspen Follies


Caitlyn and cousins playing their alternative Dungeons and Dragons game (it was called Once Upon a Time)


The cousin conga line!


Kristen loved the family dance!


And the reason why we were there: to see family!

Aspen Movies

They had a closing show at Aspen Grove, in which all the age groups performed for us adults. First they did their cheers:

Alison's group:


Caitlyn's group:


Megan's group:


After the cheers, they all got to perform songs...
Alison first:


Then Caitlyn:


And, finally, Megan (sorry about the jiggly camera, I had to get to a point where I could see her!):

Megan's Spread-Out Birthday

Because Megan's birthday was while we were on vacation, it kind of got spread out this year. She opened her presents on the Sunday before we left:



We were in Utah for her birthday, so we took her cousin Cambri to see The Order of the Phoenix (in the IMAX theater!)


Then, after dinner, we had cake. I hunted all over (online) for a bakery in Sandy area, and finally found one that did birthday cakes. It was a Hispanic operation; she thought Megan was older, so they did the roses in red. (I like the quotes.)


Megan was embarrassed about having cake and us singing happy birthday to her in the lobby of the hotel, so we moved the operation to our room. Hence, the cake on the bed. (She also balked at our traditional use of number candles, and insisted upon getting "normal" candles.)


Then they all kicked around in the room and played games until it was time for bed.

So THIS Is Why I Have Kids

to wash the car!

Martin's Cove

Russell, with the names of the Martin Handcart Pioneers (including my ancestors), at Martin's Cove. It's the only picture on our camera with Russell in it.... (The rest of the pictures were people sleeping and walking. Not very exciting.) The trip turned out very well, though. A lot of the youth were inspired by the time at Martin's Cove, and awed by the sacrifices of the pioneers. I guess it was worth the headaches, in the end.

Who Knew

Cutting parsley was a dangerous thing to do?

Pictures from a Sunday Evening

This past Sunday evening, to be exact.

Alison was jumping off the couch:


Caitlyn (and Megan for a while) was instant messaging with Uncle Victor:


And Megan was playing with Kristen.

So, I got the camera out.

Sisters

Sometimes, they get along extremely well.