A Trip to Jacksonville

What an action packed weekend! We found out that Matt's friend Lydia from Russia, that we saw back in December, was going to be in Jacksonville, FL for another show. This time it was the Russian ballet Sleeping Beauty. So we decided to pack up and head to Jacksonville (a 2 1/2 hour drive). We got there RIGHT as the ballet had started (only missed a little at the beginning). I was a little nervous because this time we had Gavin with us and I didn't know if he would last through out the whole show. But how can you know unless you try :) This time the theater was PACKED and we were clear up at the back of the balcony....actually the second to last row to be exact, and we were in the middle. So I knew if Gavin started to act up or get loud it would be tricky and disturbing to all the people around us to get out. Well to my surprise he was PERFECT! He was very interested in the first Act, but after intermission he got a little antsy. So I held him in tight and I started to breath deeply (hoping with all my heart that it would relax him...and IT WORKED!) He fell right asleep and we were able to enjoy the rest of the ballet. Emma was sitting on the edge of her seat the whole time. Luke was great through it but fell asleep the last 1/2 hour.


Afterward we went back stage to see Lydia and she showed us some of the beautiful costumes close up. Then we went in a room to visit for a minute and got to see many of the dancers as they were coming in and out. Lydia had told Emma the last time we saw her that she would sew her a dress, and sure enough she made the cutest little dress for Emma. She gave Luke a little whistle that looks like a bird (which Gavin has already managed to break, which practically gave Luke a heart attack!), Gavin got those cute Russian wooden dolls that when you open them up then there is a smaller one inside. She gave us a magnet with a picture of a Russian site, and she gave me the most beautiful pendant that is light blue with flowers on it. It was SO sweet of her! After we visited for a few minutes she asked Matt to give her a blessing. She travels with the ballet clear until May and so I think she misses being able to go to church and have the gospel discussions and fellowship. Matt was a little nervous that he would not be able to speak, but I didn't think it sounded like he was struggling at all! It seemed to flow, although afterward he said he did struggle, but it brought a tear to my eye to hear him speak and see him with his hands on her head. The spirit was strong as I pondered how wonderful it is to have the Priesthood in my home and know that my husband is worthy to give a blessing at the spur of the moment, and bring peace to a sisters heart. I was very proud of the kids because they too felt the importance of the blessing and they sat still as can be (even my over-exhausted little Gavin). What a neat night.


Then we headed to a hotel. This morning we got up and went to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States. It is one of our favorite places to go here in Florida because it is such a quaint little city with fun shops, and sites. We walked down old St. George street and window shopped, played miniature golf, and rode the sight-seeing train. We saw the old fort, the old jail, the park where they have "the fountain of youth", and an old mission. We hurried home to go to a friends wedding reception where we ate, danced and enjoyed hanging out with friends! What a weekend!

This is the head piece that the Lilac Fairy wore!!!!!

Lydia is soooooooo warm and loving and is always telling us how cute the kids are and kissing them :)

This is the wooden dolls that I was talking about (I'm sure Matt will remind me of the real name of them :)



Isn't this the cutest little dress for Emma! How sweet of Lydia!

St. Augustine...

The New Hangout

The kids have a new place they love to hang out...up in our tree! At first I was being the protective mom that I am and I wouldn't let them... and then I thought to myself "Kids are supposed to climb trees!" So they go up there to read, eat their snack, and imagine! Our poor little tree is being abused, and hopefully you won't read any posts about broken arms :)

Gavin begs and begs for me to put him in the tree for a minute :)

I thought this was the funniest picture because the kids climb up and then poor Gavin is stuck on the ground and just paces below and waits for them to come back to play with him (poor kid). He pulled up this chair to wait :)

A surprise visit from a GREAT friend!!!!

Brandon Jamison lived with us for a little while back in 2003, just after his mission. He is the greatest guy with the funnest personality. Matt and I love him like our own brother! He now lives in Idaho with his cute wife Amanda and their little 9 month old Tessa. He was in Miami for work this past week and decided Sunday morning, after taking his friend to the airport, that he would drive the 3 hours up to Orlando to see us! So about 9:30 am there is a knock at my door. I almost didn't hear it because I was upstairs bathing the kids. I opened the door and was SHOCKED to see Brandon standing there! It was fun to visit for a bit and then I was off running to my meetings and Brandon watched Luke and Emma for me and brought them to church. It was a wonderful Sunday to sit back and visit with Brandon....what a great day! The kids cried this morning when they woke up and ran downstairs to see Brandon and he was already gone! Thanks Brandon for the fun surprise!!!

Silver Spurs Rodeo! Yee-haw!

My friend told us about this fun little rodeo in Kissimmee Florida (about 30 minutes away) and we decided to try it out and we were not disappointed! The Osceola County Fair was going on too and so the kids got to ride some rides, eat fair food, and watch a very fun rodeo with our good friends the Hillis family! What a fun night! Gavin was in awe of all the horses and sat very still and mesmerized by the bull riding! It's only about twice a year we get to pull out the cowboy hats, boots, and Matt's wranglers :)

Luke took this picture! I am very proud of his photography skills!

Luke got to go and chase the calves and try to pull the ribbon from their tale...he said he got to touch a calf but that is the closest he got.

Emma and Annie Hillis

Gavin was finally big enough for one of the rides...he kept begging all night for "his turn", but he was too small for all of them. Finally the motorcycles saved the night for him :)

We got to see Miss Rodeo Utah - Renae Cowley, who also happens to be Matt's cousin's cousin...or his Aunt Janet's niece :) (whichever is easier to make the connection)

JAM!

I made my first ever batch of freezer jam! With the help of my assistants! (of course) I must be in a "Suzy Homemaker" mood because the same day I tried my first ever wheat bread (NOT just using my breadmaker)...it didn't workout but at least I tried. :) And then I made fruit leather, dried strawberries, and chocolate dipped bananas! What a day!

Surprise!!!!

OK I know this is the funniest picture with me holding onto Matt so weird :)

Fiona, Kit, Me, Matt, Cheryl, Kelly and Colleen.

Tonight was so fun! About a week ago Matt's boss Colleen called and said she wanted to plan a surprise "thank you" and "goodbye" dinner for Matt. He has worked in the customer service side of Hewitt for almost 12 years and is now changing his role and is going to be doing the project management. So she and 5 other of Matt's counterparts were in on the surprise...I have been lying to him about tonight for over a week now and I can't believe we pulled it off! I told him that a friend of mine was coming to town and wanted to go to dinner.

I was very careful not to tell the kids about the surprise because they are known for blabbing :) So after Matt left for work this morning I thought it was safe to tell them since they wouldn't see Matt before the surprise (I was supposed to pick him up for work on our way). So I was very surprised when he came home early!!!!! I thought for sure the kids would tell him. At one point Emma said "I am NOT going to tell him, I'm just going to tease him". Which would have meant something like "Dad are you going to go eat with mom's friend tonight (chuckle, chuckle)". Or "I bet NO ONE from work will be at the dinner you are going to (chuckle, chuckle - give away, give away). :) Luckily they didn't spill the beans.

The funniest was while we were on our way Matt called the restaurant for directions and just as they were hanging up Matt said "by the way we had a reservation for the Rose party at 6:00 and we will be late". I was sweating bullets because the reservation wasn't under our name but his bosses! LUCKILY the restaurant hung up before hearing that part. I reassured Matt that he didn't have to call back :) Matt was very surprised when we walked in and found his co-workers there! Then we enjoyed a very nice and fun dinner at the Colorado Fondue Company! What a fun night! (Sorry for all the lying prior Matt - he he he) :)

Mmmmmm Valentines Candy!!!!!

Gavin found Luke's Valentine box and it looks to me that he is following in his mother's footsteps and is a chocoholic! :)

LUKE LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!!!

Today was a GREAT day in Luke's life....not only did he get tons of compliments on his new Steelers jersey, his cool "new" (hand me down) Michael Jordan shoes, and his cool Valentines box he made.....he also LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH! He was so excited! The amazing part to me was that Matt was actually videoing him right as he pulled it out!!!! So if this video will post then you can see it as it really happened and see the shock on Luke's face! It is priceless!

Whatever Luke does Gavin has to follow....when he saw me taking pictures of Luke's mouth he wanted his done too :)

I'm so relieved he finally lost it. He was starting to feel bad. Just yesterday he was getting all down because he's the smallest boy in his class, he says he is the youngest, and he said he was the only one that hadn't lost a tooth yet! He asked me why he had to be the skinniest. So I sat down with him and told him to think of the benefits of being skinny. I mentioned that no one will ever be able to call him "Fatso" to which he replied "Ya but they can call me Skinnio". :) But soon he started to ease up and list the benefits of being skinny, like he can run faster, and do the monkey bars easily.

Pretty funny stuff :) I'm so excited for him!

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Gavin cracks me up :)

Gavin is always cracking me up....and sometimes he isn't doing anything but sitting there and I still get a chuckle! I thought he looked so dang funny sitting with his legs crossed :) Cute little boy!

We are ready for Valentines Day!

I don't know what has gotten into me the last couple of days...I guess I'm feeling crafty :) I saw the cutest little Valentine idea in the Family Fun magazine and decided to do it with the kids. They had a great time doing it. We made these little ipods from conversation hears and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. They turned out adorable.



And then tonight the whole family helped Luke with his Valentines box. I remember as a kid always wanting to come up with something so cool and original, but for the life of me I couldn't remember one box that I had made! My memory is getting worse and worse! Luke wanted a guitar and so here it is. Matt has informed me it is a bass guitar because it only has 4 strings :) AND it is so unlike me to have it done already! Usually I do it the night before because of my procrastination problem! :)

Sometimes they do remember the lessons we teach!

A couple of weeks ago Luke said that he wanted to give the lesson for Family Night. He had a story that his Primary teacher had shared with his class, and he even had cute little pictures to go with it. The story was about a little boy named Danny who saw that his mom's shoes were very dirty. He cleaned the shoes for her. When she saw what he had done she grabbed her purse and gave him some money for his work. Later she went to put her shoes on and inside was the money she had given Danny and a note. The note said "I did it for love". Such a cute lesson in service! Luke was so pleased with the lesson he gave and he was beaming!


Here we are about 4 weeks later and suddenly Luke came downstairs and asked Emma and me to come up for a minute. We went up and Luke had made Emma's bed and put a little note on it that said "I did it for love". CUTE!!!! I was so impressed that he remembered the lesson from weeks ago, and that he did it without any prompting! Emma immediately went and cleaned his room up for him and had me write the exact same note for him :) AHHHHH....if they could only be like that to each other ALL the time :)

Our last night with Grandma Rose...

We were so sad to see Matt's mom leave today! We had such a great time with her and were so grateful for all she did with the kids. They were very sad she left and have shed many tears. Today at the grocery store, just after we dropped her off, there was a worker that was helping us out to the car with our groceries. He must be a Grandpa himself, he was very cute with Gavin, and then he handed Gavin a balloon. Gavin looked at him and said "Thank you Grandma!" I guess now we need to see Grandpa so Gavin can get used to saying Grandpa! :) He could barely say Grandma before she came and he got it down in no time :)

Last night, for our last night together, we went to eat and then bowling. It was funny to see how Gavin really got into it! He would roll the ball and then squat down and watch as the ball rolled and hit the pins (or didn't hit the pins :) And then he would RUN back screaming like he had just won a bowling tournament!!!! And then he would give all of us a high five! It was very cute.

Thanks Wendy for a great time! We love and miss you!

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Thank you Grandma Rose for making it possible!

Matt's mom recently retired and offered to come watch the kids while we were away...oh wait... did she offer or did we beg???? I can't remember. Either way she was kind enough to come and watch the kids. They were so excited to see Grandma and had a great time with her while we were away! Thanks Wendy for coming! Here's some of their pictures and fun!

Gavin kept pretty entertained with his cars...

Grandma taught Luke and Emma a fun hand slap game "Double, double this this..."

They wrestled

They showed off on their bikes!

They got to make cookies AND lick the beater!

I'm sure Gavin kept her busy with all his messes!

They had a GREAT time!