Utah has a special little holiday on the 24th of July every year. They call it “Pioneer Day” or the “Days of 47″. It’s all in the name of celebrating the heritage of Utah and the pioneers that settled the area in 1847, which eventually lead to statehood later on. Funny I always thought it was to celebrate statehood until a few years ago when I was corrected by my “out-of-state” friends who pointed out that Utah didn’t become a state until much later then 1847. At any rate, it’s a funny little holiday that makes this big state of ours feel like a little down home country town. We were able to celebrate it in true form with my parents and my brother’s family in the small town of Amalga last weekend.
Amalga put on a good fried chicken dinner Friday night at the town park and fireworks later that night. Grandma and Grandpa’s neighbor Tad invited us down to his patch of land at the “river bottoms” to view the fire works. Once Dad got us parked in the right place we had a great view of the fireworks over a bend in the Bear river. Wish I had taken my camera for that one. The following morning we went back to the park to attend a pancake, ham & eggs breakfast. After the breakfast the youngsters in the town put together a sweet little fair including bounce houses and little homemade games such as Plunko, go fish, ring toss, etc. Ellie and her cousins had a blast soaking it all up and playing their little hearts out.
I see London I see France I see Ellies underpants
After all the game time fun we gathered up the kids and sent them off with Gary and Grandpa to ride in Grandpa’s shinny 67′ Chevy Malibu for the town parade. Grandpa had just got the Chev all “cherried” up with a nice wax and such so it was a perfect addition to the wee parade. Look close at the pics you can see the by standers reflections off that slick black Malibu. The parade was precious to say the least so fun and small and neighborly. There was a ton of candy tossed about on the roadside. Our family filled up a gallon size baggie full of salt water taffy.
After the parade we came home to Grandma and Grandpa’s for some R&R. Later in the evening we lit off some of the fireworks Jon, my brother, brought. It was Ellie and Owen’s first firework experience as they usually can’t seem to stay up late enough. But the cousins kept us alert. Owen let out a few cries and Ellie didn’t quite know what to make of it. She sat on the blanket for a little bit then ran to Grandma and finally ended up in Grandpa’s lap trying to ignore the pops and sparkles and find a comfortable place. All while the McKenney cousins were hooting and hollering for more.
We all had a great time and Gary and I were impressed with Amalga’s little holiday and happy we were able to join in a true small town celebration. The evening ended with a bit of a sour note as my Mom was feeling progressively sicker and sicker. Finally she had Dad drive her down to the emergency room where they found that her gallbladder was filled with little stones and one was already trying to be passed. So my poor mother who is still recuperating from knee surgery had to go through two procedures one to remove the stone and one to remove the gallbladder. She is home now and all is well, and that better be it for her 60 year maintenance.
It’s very peculiar to me that we can have a tiny little girl who was below average on the “charts” her first year of life and then a super sized boy who is in the 90th percentile on the “charts” and just keeps getting bigger and bigger by the day. When I was preparing for Owen I purchased wee things like newborn size pjs and a smaller then usual bassinet thinking I would have another wee baby like Ellie was. Oh boy was I wrong he is now filling out the 6 month size clothes we have for him and is maxing out his bassinet, bath tub, and sleep sacks.
And just for kicks here is what we found sprouting up in our bath tub the other night…
“We do not Inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we Borrow it from our Children.” -Native American Poverb
We participated in Craft Hope’s Project 8 this week. I cut up some old rags and sewed them into appropriate size squares with ribbon loops for hanging. As I was doing this my children were napping and I was trying my hardest to focus on putting out “good thoughts” into the Cosmic Soup for all who are suffering from the Gulf Coast Oil spill animals and humans alike. It was a small, easy way to feel helpful.
“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter…to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”
~ John Burroughs
“It’s a very fragile world, she told us So we walk carefully everywhere we go and we promised to remember as long as we could.”
~ Brian Andreas, Storypeople
It’s been a slow start to summer up here in TL as usual. We have enjoyed a few beautiful days here and there. So, here is a video and pictures to share…
We took a little vacation to southern California. Packed up the truck on Friday and delivered Adah to my parents and then left for Laguna Beach Saturday morning. We stopped in Mesquite, NV for a nights rest both there and back not my favorite place to be but good for a cheap nights stay while passing through. Gary attempted to win our gas money but failed. The kids did good with the long hours spent in the car. Owen was easy to please as long as we stopped to meet his needs. Our dvd player is out of commission so I was anxious about keeping Ellie entertained. I packed a bag full of surprises and snacks to keep her occupied. It worked like a charm she was easy to please as well. I did load up a bunch of her favorite TV episodes, music, and audio books onto my ipod and that was pulled out when we were desperate. All in all I’m proud of my little family for enduring a 14 plus hour drive.
We stayed in a great little hotel called the Tides (thanks for the info Charie). It was a cute little place that had been totally remodeled and updated. They had a fantastic pool area with a great grill area and fireplace. Our room also had a little kitchenette so we saved a lot of money by stocking up at the grocery store down the block and making all our meals. It was right on the Pacific Coast Highway and only a few blocks to the beach. So it worked out well we were able to walk every where we needed to. We will definitely be back there again.
We basically got up in the morning ate breakfast and went straight to the beach, then returned for lunch, kids and Gary took naps while I went out exploring (shopping), then back down to the beach in the afternoons. There was a great little park at Main beach that Ellie couldn’t get enough of. She made a lot of friends there. It was fun to watch her interact with the other kids. On the last day she made a good friend named Mackenzie they quickly became pals and gave a great big hug when it was time to go. Ellie wasn’t to sure what to make of the waves at first. She was a little scared of the water the first day and just wanted to play in the sand and collect clam shells. On the second day I finally coaxed her out to the waves and we had a ball running out to them and then running back in away from them. She even got so brave she sat down in the waves at one point. The ocean is very foreign and intimidating to me so it was nice to see Ellie overcome the fear of the waves and get in there and enjoy it. We explored the tide pools a little bit as well, checked out all the shells, sea weed, and saw a few little crabs. I can decide which picture to put up of the 50 we have so I’ll do a little slide show…
We had a family reunion last week. Leslie, Mark, Bailey, and McKenna were here visiting from Germany. We had an excellent time with them at my Mom and Dad’s house. I stayed the whole week with Ellie and Owen. Gary came up on the weekends before and after. We were able to get together with our Jackson relatives to celebrate Great Grandpa’s 90 Birthday. It was a fun day and so great to get together with my cousins and their families. It was so great to hang out with the Frandsen’s, Mom and Dad, and my Brother Jon’s family too. It was a packed week with lots of shopping, playing, and eating.
Ellie had so much fun with her cousins she was so wiped out by the end of each day. We had a tie dye party, a tea party and a pizza party. Along with some Birthday celebrations and Mothers Day. Ellie and McKenna fast became best friends. Ellie followed her around and would repeat everything she was saying. One night they were in the bath together and suddenly Ellie started crying to get out saying she was scared. Mark asked McKenna what had happened and she said all she did was cross her eyes. So, Ellie doesn’t like crossed eyes they creep her out a little bit. Bailey tried it on her a little later and she still got upset. Such a funny thing to get scared over.
Listen to Bailey in this video she had my Mom and I rolling and tearing up with that British accent.
Owen did very well too. He is such a good tempered baby so easy to please. He gave everyone some big smiles. We weighed him on the scale while there and found out he is a whopping 13 lbs. He is growing like a weed! His wee socks don’t fit him anymore. I almost feel like we skipped over the whole newborn phase with him save for the late night wake up calls. Although he is finally giving us 5 to 6 hours at night now.
I think a special shout out to my brother-in-law Mark is in order. We was so good to us all week driving us around from store to store, waiting patiently while we shopped, taking care of all the kids and lending a hand when in need. My sister is fortunate to have married such an awesome man. They are in Texas now as I type celebrating the completion of his dissertation. He has worked so hard the past few years to earn his PhD. We are all so proud of him. Check out the “Marcercial” the military TV network did for him.
