Trip to SC

We went to visit family in South Carolina! It was so fun! Cameron, of course, had to go out and try and  catch some critters. I'll get a few pictures of that out of the way before getting into family stuff.

Now that we're done with that, on to the fun stuff!

Yes, this is the same turtle pictured above.

These next several pictures are of various members of my family with Hellbenders. This was Cameron's number one thing that he wanted to do. They are the largest salamander in the United States, and can get bigger than the ones pictured. Why are they called Hellbenders you may ask? Heck if I know, but we sure had fun saying that we were going Hellbending!

Did I hold one? No. I was holding a cute little girl the whole time. At least that is the excuse I'm going to stick to. But I did touch one.

I really like this picture!

Eli and Natalie hiking together.

I couldn't resist...

At the family reunion.

I had a new airplane experience while on this trip. Well, besides traveling with 3 children. First of all, our airplane was late picking us up, but that's nothing. When we were on the runway speeding up to take off, all of a sudden the pilot put on the brakes. He made an announcement that we would be returning to the gate because one of the passengers needed to get off. When we returned the flight attendant called someone up to the front and led her from the plane. After she did, they announced that someone in her family had died. I guess now I know how to stop a plane...

Anyway, it was a super fun trip! Enjoy the pictures!

Picture Post

 I have a plethora of pictures that I haven't posted, and I thought some grandmas might appreciate this.

At Grandma Judd's "park" aka the swing set in her backyard.

Life is good!

Completely tired out after a hike. Yes, there is a hole in her pants. She found a rock "slide" on the hike.

Eli went to Dinosaur National Monument with his dad and made a friend.

More than one friend apparently.

He loved baseball season this year!

I love this picture beyond all reason. I think she looks like she's up to something...

In this one, I think she's trying to pick up the water.

We went to a parade.

And Brianna is so excited about getting candy!

Happy Birthday to me!

I made myself red velvet birthday cake! Delish!

It was a fun day. We went swimming and out to eat as a family. Usually for my birthday, Cameron and I go out on a date. This time, I thought it would be fun to take the kids along too, so we went to Applebee's as a family. Eli was surprised that the food took so long! He's used to fast food. There was a lady who came up to me afterwards to tell me that my kids were so well behaved. :)

I may or may not be getting to the point where I have to start lying about my age. ;)

Yesterday in Primary

Bishop: "I want to tell you a story about a little boy who lost his toy..."

Eli, interrupting: "I lost my Darth Vader toy, and my Luke Skywalker toy, but I still have my Obi Wan toy!"

Later

Primary President: "Ok, it's time to sing a closing song. I'm going to turn the time over to Sister Rognan..."

Eli, interrupting again: "Wait! I want to say something."

Primary President: "Ok, Eli, what did you want to say?"

Eli: "I'm a Jedi!"

Later in class, as related to me by his teacher when church was over.

Teacher: "We're going to learn about prophets."

Eli: "Prophets are like Jesus' Jedi!"

About Brianna

Brianna is a fun girl! She has a little baby doll that she calls white baby. It is her most favorite baby. She often talks about white baby in public, whether or not she has white baby with her. I have gotten some rather strange looks because of all this chatter. However, she also has another doll that she calls purple baby. White baby wears a white shirt and purple baby wears a purple shirt. See? I've tried to get her to call white baby something else, but nothing sticks. Her current name is "Sophia," but no one but me calls her that. Not even Eli. I find myself having to explain on a regular basis the reason for white baby's name.

...

A recent conversation Brianna and I had:

Brianna, with a big sigh: "Mom, I'm never getting married."

Me: "Why not?"

Brianna: "Because my feet are too short!"

About a week later:

Brianna, very excited: "Mom! Guess what?"

Me: "What?"

Brianna: "I'm going to marry Eli when my feet are bigger!"

...

Brianna is also very brave. There are a lot of things that Eli is afraid to do that Brianna doesn't hesitate to do. I'm excited to see how her personality will develop as she gets a little older!

Happy Birthday Eli!

 Eli wanted a batman cake for his birthday. I think when he saw this one, he was a little disappointed, since it is the bat symbol instead of batman. It tasted really good though! It is a caramel cake with dark chocolate ganache for frosting.

Opening presents!

Here is the already broken pinata. I accidentally made it too soft this time. Last time it had too many layers and they couldn't break it. This time, only one person got to hit it.

Eli, the time is flying way too fast. Already five years old? How could that be? We love your inquisitive mind and all your smiles. You can make both your sisters smile and are so very friendly. You always find other kids to play with at the park. And on the way home tell me about your new friends. Although you often forget to ask their names. We love you Eli!

Miniature Golf!

We played mini-golf the other day! It was so much fun! I laughed so hard watching these two little trouble makers. And the whole time I was thinking, "Why did we wait so long to introduce them to this game?"

Brianna would get down on the ground and hold her club kind of the way a cue stick is held for playing pool.

Eli held his club backwards quite a bit of the time, and would sometimes push the ball into the hole instead of hitting it in.

They had a blast! Eli asked as soon as we got in the car, "Can we play again tomorrow?" We told him we might come back for his birthday.

Random side note: Is this game more commonly referred to as "putt-putt" or "mini-golf?" For some reason I've always called it "putt-putt" but when I was telling people here that's what we did, they didn't know what I was talking about until I said, "mini-golf." What do you call it?