BYU Football

This year we signed Brynne up for Cougar Club, mostly because the membership came with four free tickets to BYU football and eight free tickets to BYU basketball! Notice we didn't sign up Morgan (poor girl hates sports, with the one exception of soccer). So anyway, my sister Alyson also signed up a few of her kids and we made plans to attend a football game together. Melissa decided to get sick for the very first time the day before the game, so Lee stayed home to watch her; and Morgan was more than willing to stay home too. So in the end Brynne and I joined my sister and her kids for a great game of BYU football; although, admittedly, Aly's boys look a little less than excited in this picture. :)

 (Above: Isaac, Adam, Alyson, Brynne, Hilary)

I think the most fun part of the game for Adam might have been the walk home. Adam, Isaac, and Brynne were too tired to walk back to the car. Aly gave Isaac a piggy-back ride and I found a way to carry both Adam and Brynne:

Can I just say that I love getting together with my sisters! Alyson and I are the only BYU alum of the kids in our family. (Both my parents also graduated from BYU, but the three youngest Ross kids graduated from the University of Wyoming.) Thankfully, Aly is as big a BYU sports fan as I am - you taught us well, Dad!!

Next up: BYU basketball! :)

New Year's in Layton 2011

After enjoying Christmas in Rawlins (see post below), the girls and I drove to Layton, UT to enjoy New Year's at my sister Alyson's house. We were joined once again by my sister Lindsey and our youngest sister, Ashley, and her family. On New Year's Eve we all went swimming at the South Davis Recreation Center in Bountiful. When I'm a millionaire, I'm paying to get a facility like that down in Spanish Fork!!

Above: Me, Melissa, Ashley, Elise
Below: Brynne

Above: Alyson with her youngest boys, Adam and Isaac
Below: Morgan and Alyson enjoying a relaxing ride in the lazy river

Below is my sister Ashley; her husband, Derek; their kids, Marshall and Elise; Alyson's oldest boys, Drew, Cayden and Alex; and their friend Sam. It was hilarious trying to get a picture of this crew!

New Year's Eve was spent eating yummy food and watching movies. Alyson and Brad are always so nice to  host things at their house. Thanks Farmers!

What better to end a post with than pictures of our sweet Melissa! Alyson and Brad got a new camera for Christmas, and Brad used it to take the following pictures:

Ash -- Sorry, but it looks like no one told you to smile for the picture. :) Thanks for the awesome pictures, Brad!

Halloween -- Part 1

On Thursday night, I got a call from my sister Alyson. She invited the girls and I to come to her house in Layton for the long Halloween weekend. I happened to have a sore throat and a fever of 102 at the time, but she still invited us -- very nice!!

We drove up on Friday afternoon and played for a bit before taking the kids to watch "Up" and "G-Force." We split up adults and let the kids choose which to see -- Morgan and Brynne watched "G-Force", while I ended up watching "Up" with Lindsey and Aly's youngest twins.

After getting the kids to bed that night, Aly got a babysitter and all the adults headed off to a comedy club in Centerville. One of the guys in the club is in Aly and Brad's ward and had told them that would be a good night to come. It was definitely enjoyable being able to laugh without wondering if/when the humor would turn inappropriate. As they put it, the humor didn't go anywhere near "Bed, Bath, and Beyond!" I enjoyed it until my neck started getting super stiff at the end (thanks to my sickness...). Definitely a fun thing to do together!

On Halloween day, Alyson and I took Morgan, Brynne, Adam and Isaac to the Bountiful Recreation Center pool. I didn't get in the water because that was a sure way to pass germs. Instead, I took pictures. :) I got some decent pictures of the girls coming off the water slide. Can you guess what Morgan likes to do to keep water from getting in her nose?

After a while, Isaac took a liking to Morgan and wanted to go everywhere with her. Alyson and Adam stayed close by.

Adam loved posing for pictures as I sat on the deck to watch him. My favorite was when he showed off his amazing flexibility (both twins do this craziness with their legs!) by putting both feet up to his head:

It took me the whole 1 1/2 hours to get everyone together for a picture. We finally managed this one at the end.

I learned that it's actually enjoyable to not get in the water. It sure makes it easier to get everyone washed up and dressed afterwards, too. It helped that it was a really slow day so it was easy to keep an eye on the kids!

A Few Good Projects

I've been working hard at a few projects to try and further beautify our house and yard. First, I got some flowers to put in the planter box Lee and the girls made me for Mother's Day. I also sanded, stained, and waterproofed our bench for the front porch. Anytime I say "I", by the way, it really means Brynne and I. She is my #1 helper. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, she wants to help. When she found out I was going to take some pictures for my blog, she volunteered to be in each picture for me. :) I wish I had taken the pictures earlier in the day when the sun was shining and the colors were more vibrant, but you can still get the idea:
Today I found something I've been looking for for several months -- a patio set that would fit on our tiny patio but was big enough for four people to eat on. I honestly didn't think there was such thing, but I saw an ad for someone in Layton selling a perfectly sized set for only $50. I called my sister Alyson (who lives in Layton and happens to be getting over pneumonia, but who still stepped up to help out -- thanks, Aly!!!) and asked if she'd go take a look at it and get it for me if it looked nice. Aly ended up picking it up for me, then she met me in South Jordan to get it to me. I drove my friend Denise's van since it would never fit in my car -- thanks, Denise!!! I (I mean, Brynne and I) cleaned it up a little more and set it on the patio. Isn't it perfect?!! (Now we just have to hope the Spanish Fork weather doesn't rip it apart...)

I also found a great deal on a bench for our backyard. I really want a cast aluminum bench. I have found several that would be great options, but they are all $130 - $200. If I'm going to spend that much, I want to make sure it's exactly what I want. I also have to make sure I have that much! :) So I had decided maybe I wouldn't be able to get a bench this summer. That's when I found one on clearance for $26. Mind you, this is the kind of bench that looks really nice but is actually quite cheap and weathers quickly. I decided that as long as the bench lasted this summer (and we might be able to get another one or two years out of it if we're careful) then it would already be worth the $26. I somehow managed to put it together myself (don't tell Lee I can do all these things by myself!). I think it's great, and so does Brynne:

The final project is one we just completed this evening. We planted a vegetable garden! We have two small planter boxes, and I set out to plant my own garden for the first time. I (I mean Brynne and I) planted cucumbers, zucchini, string beans, lettuce, peas and strawberries. I am quite anxious to find out if things even grow. This picture looks like some boring beds, but I'm really hoping to have a picture in a few months of the same beds full of yummy veggies. (Keep your fingers crossed!)

This last picture is just a cute one. We helped my sister Alyson in her yard a few weekends back. Unfortunately, Alyson has an abundant supply of snails in her yard. Alyson thinks they are pests; Morgan thinks they are pets. :) Morgan seriously carried her snail around for a good hour. She kept stroking its neck, and I swear the snail loved it and thought it was in heaven. Morgan was very sad when she had to put it down, but Aunt Alyson was quick to point out that it would probably be happiest in a special place a good 30 yards from her house. :)

The Discovery Museum

My sister Alyson invited Brynne and me to join her and her two youngest, Adam and Isaac, at the Discovery Museum in Salt Lake City this morning. The biggest accomplishment is that I found my way there. It's in the Gateway Mall, which I have heard of but have never ever been to or even realized where it was exactly. Anyway, we had a ton of fun and could have stayed for lots longer if we hadn't had to be back for when Morgan got home from school. (Is it just me, or was that paragraph way weird in how I worded everything? Oh well. I'm way too tired to worry about it...) Here's Brynne with Isaac (and Adam in front of them kinda hidden) in the helicopter.

I watched for almost 10 minutes as Brynne used this spoon to fill up a little bucket with water.
She played in the water area for quite a while. I wasn't really surprised though. Water and sand are two things this girl could play in forever!
She took a break from the water long enough to go for a spin in this car. Her arms appear to be in motion because she was making really big motions to spin the wheel as fast as she could -- good thing there's still many years before she'll be out on the road in a real car! Brynne got brave and tried the climbing wall. She actually loves climbing up, but then she "freaks out" and needs help getting down. I don't think she was too happy when I made her hang on long enough for me to get a picture.
And in case you're wondering what Brynne looks like after a long day...

The Ultimate Parenting Challenge

My sister Alyson recently started a blog. She has five boys, including two sets of twins, so you better believe she's got plenty of stuff to blog about. Most recently, however, her blogs took a new twist -- a twist that's hard to believe without reading it from the source. I highly recommend that you take a moment to read her blog: Aly's Blog. I promise it'll make you feel better about whatever parenting challenges you're facing. Here's a teaser photo to get you interested:

My mom, Lee, and I were recently having a funny conversation about what makes a good mother. I decided that a good mother is one who gives her kids gum (see--it wasn't a serious conversation). Lee decided the best mother is one whose kids completely wreck the house and she still lets them live (obviously referring to Alyson). He followed that comment with: "That's assuming all her boys are still alive right now."

And for the record -- I'd like to point out that when her littlest boys are good, they are some of the cutest kids around!

And one more thing...When you read the second post, be sure to read Lee's comment at the end. He definitely turns the situation into a real good laugh!

Running a 5K with My Big Sis

I've run a few running races in my life, but my sister Alyson is just now experimenting with the running bug. We decided it would be fun to do a 5K together. We found a perfect one at Wheeler Farm in SLC. There were only about 60 people or so running, and it was mostly flat. Perfect for a first race! My sister-in-law Ruth came down with her kids and watched my kids while Alyson and I ran. Ruth also snapped a few photos for us. Alyson's camera has better pics, but I wanted to get something on my blog. (Aly, send me those pics, will ya?!) Here's Aly and I (and some other unsuspecting lady) at the beginning of the race. And here we are a bit later after we had warmed up enough to shed the sweatshirts. :)
We have plans to run a 10K in a month or so, but I'm still waiting to find out if Aly ever wants to run with me again. I pushed her a little harder than she was expecting, but she ran it in six minutes less than she thought she would. I seriously thought about getting behind her and pretending to be a shark to chase her to the finish line (memories from our youth), but instead I stayed beside her and encouraged her to finish hard. :)