Cousins

Jason, Aleese, Afton, and Lila came over for dinner on the Sunday before Marin Luther King day. Afton slept over because of the holiday and no school on Monday. The kids had so much fun playing and wanted me to take pictures of them sitting on the basement window sill. I love how Afton found a way into each picture... She is quite the little poser!

Growing Up!

Evie is starting to grow out of needing a nap everyday. This is a sad day because she has always been such a good sleeper. On the bright side though she will take a nap if she needs one and has been falling asleep on my bed for naps, which is just fine with me. She is still napping the majority of the time. I guess the necessity of naps going away is nice in a way, because if we're out and about and she doesn't get a nap, I know it's not the end of the world, like it used to be. Now we're about ready to put up her big girl bed and maybe even start potty training soon! I'm not in a big hurry though, she's my baby, and always will be!

Haden update

In this picture Haden is wearing Great Grandpa Buswell's bow tie that he was given for Christmas. I think he looks pretty snazy in it! Lately Haden has been having some fun things happen in his life (what's new?). He is constantly surprising us with his new adventures. During Spirit week they had a dance off during lunch. The kids were asked to do the school spirit dance and there was about 8 counts of freestyle in it. Anyway, guess who won? Haden. Then later during another Spirit week; (they seem to have a lot of these); they had pajama day. During lunch they had a "Pajama Pageant" and once again, Haden took the title! I really wish I could be a fly on the wall:) Also, Haden's reflections contest entry (his guitar solo) has advanced again, now past the council level!

Sand Springs Spelling Bee

January 8th 2010. Andrew was in the Sand Springs Elementary Spelling Bee. This is the 3rd year in a row for him. Andrew is an excellent speller and rarely misses a word on his spelling tests. Prior to this, each class (grades 4-6) had a class spelling bee and took the top 3 finalists to the school Spelling Bee. The school spelling bee started out with 39 kids, Andrew made it to the final about 15. It takes a lot of courage to get up there and spell in front of everyone, I was so proud of him!

Hiding Place

I was just picking up around the house and went to put something in the coat closet and much to my surprise, there was Evie playing Andrew's DS. She was actually hiding in the pitch black closet all by herself trying to be all sneaky, the door was all the way closed and everything. It totally cracked me up...She and I both had a good laugh!!

Popped!

Andrew's exercise ball popped all of the sudden with no warning. He was riding it across the floor toward the dinner table when it was time to eat, when it finally gave out. For those of you who don't know, Andrew does all kinds of tricks and cool things on the ball; things it wasn't necessarily intended for. But he loves it and has so much fun with it. So needless to say, he was really disappointed when it popped because he has been using this one for about 2 years now. However, after thinking about how much it was used and how it really held up over a long period of time, he felt better about it, and bid his "old friend" good-bye. I'm sure he can't wait to get a new one!

Sneaking Soda Pop

We went to Grandpa and Grandma Langston's house Christmas Day evening. We had a yummy dinner, exchanged gifts, and played games. Evie and Tate were trying to be sneaky and hid behind the barstools with the soda pop. I love how they didn't think anyone would notice. It was a fun evening!

More Highlights from Christmas 2009

The kids love having Anne and Mitch over for Christmas morning, they almost always get to come to our house! Also, Troy put together a surprise ski trip for the whole family on January 23rd. It will be the first time any of the boys have skiied, even Troy. They will be having a private lesson, and then we'll all hit the slopes together! Troy got two suits for Christmas, he looks so sharp in them! And I finally got a KitchenAid stand mixer, I can't wait to put that to good use. Also, above is the before and after pictures of the bench press. For about a year Troy and Haden have used the "make-shift" bench press, it will be so nice to use the new one!

Christmas Day

The boys all slept in the same room, so that Grandpa and Grandma, Anne, and Mitch would have a place to sleep. I guess they hardly slept at all, if any, and made several trips to the kitchen to "get a drink of water." Which only made the anticipation worse as they saw all of the wrapped and unwrapped presents around the Christmas tree. Troy and I were oblivious to this all, as we slept well! We got up around 6:30 a.m.; Evie was not too happy about this at first, but as soon as she saw her doll house, she warmed up to the idea!! Haden was excited to get a bench press and Andrew the Nintendo DS (I think Stratton was almost happier though), and Stratton well, he just liked everything! It was fun to have Grandpa and Grandma Harris, Anne, and Mitch spend Christmas morning with us!

Christmas Eve

Decorating Christmas cookies for Santa!

Evie loving her vanity set from Lola.

Anne showing her great love and enthusiasm to the boys. She flew in from Portland and was able to make it to the tail end of the party!

Mitch and Ashlyn lip syncing Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer with the "hand" talent of Aimee and Jason.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at the Raddon's home. These are pictures of the Nativity, the kids all had a part, along with Uncle Mitch who made a super realistic Joseph.

Christmas Dress

Evie looked so beautiful in her red Christmas dress. I put her hair in a bun for the first time and I think it looked adorable. Her hair is getting so long and she is really growing up.

December 14, 2009

Grandpa Buswell's funeral was a wonderful tribute to him and a celebration of a life lived well. As Uncle Keith so eloquently stated, Grandpa died living. He always lived life to the fullest and was a great example to all of us. We will miss him greatly! It was so nice to see and be with family.

Tribute to Grandpa Buswell

I have so many memories of Grandpa Buswell. I will narrow it down to three main lessons he taught me and related experiences.
First, Grandpa loved life and loved sharing it with others. I remember how Grandpa loved to ski. One particular time our family went skiing with Grandpa at Brighton Ski Resort (our family favorite). I don’t remember why exactly, but Grandpa skied with just me for much of that day. I remember the talks we had on the lift ride up. He was so interested in me. He wanted to know anything and everything I could tell him. I remember how he specifically pointed out the beauties around us and expressed his gratitude for the world in which we live and how we should enjoy it and take care of it. After enjoying much skiing with Grandpa, the inevitable plague of skiing set in; cold toes! I asked Grandpa if we could take a break and go into the lodge to warm up. I know Grandpa would have loved to continue skiing but he graciously granted my request and we went to the lodge to warm up. He bought me some hot cocoa and didn’t seem in a hurry at all, just took time to be with me. Grandpa taught me gratitude and how to take time to enjoy the journey.
Second, Grandpa and Grandma had the coolest house to visit ever. I definitely felt I had bragging rights! I would ask my friends what they got to do when they would go to their Grandpa and Grandma‘s house. It would usually pale in comparison to the fun I had when I got to visit my Grandparents home. As we turned into the long driveway with their house tucked in behind, my excitement as a child would soar. I loved the farm, the orchards, and the swing set (where Janika and I would spend hours perfecting our circus act to later perform); rolling down the hill out front, riding horses and the list goes on and on. Grandpa would usually have a chore or two for us to do. I remember bailing hay, picking cherries, picking apples and helping with farm chores. I didn’t mind a bit, Grandpa taught me the value of work.
Third, Grandpa and Grandma were always so supportive of my various activities throughout my youth. They were always there for birthdays, baptism, dance recitals, drill team performances, choir performances, homecoming shows, school musical, etc. Grandpa was so impressed with the caliber of school performances at Bingham High that he actually wrote a letter to the school principal. He begins, “To introduce myself, I am Dr. Don Buswell of North Ogden, Ut. The important thing is that I am the grandfather of Jenny Harris.” He went on the express how impressed he was with the school and the excellence in school performances and activities. He went into great detail and congratulations. My choir director read it to our A’cappella choir during class time. I remember being so proud that my Grandpa would take the time to write such a fine letter to my school.
His support over the years did not stop there. He has supported me throughout my life and has come to all of the baby blessings, baptism, many of the birthday parties, and sporting events of my children. Just last year I have a picture of Haden with Grandpa after one of his football games in Layton. I will relate one more special experience with Grandpa. We blessed Evelyn in May of 2007. Grandpa and Grandma came to the blessing. Afterwards, at my home, Grandpa gave me something very special. In the night he had a dream. He dreamt that he gave my little Evelyn a grandfather’s blessing. The dream was so vivid and so real that he immediately woke up and wrote it down. I have a typed copy of the blessing. It is so special and something I will always treasure. Grandpa taught me the importance of family!
Love, Jenny

Cute kids!

We were downstairs playing and Stratton said, "Mom, I have a present for you." He then said, "Just stand up and open you arms and I'll give it to you." So I did, and he came toward me with his arms outstretched and gave me the biggest hug! The best present of all!! Stratton is such a sweet boy!

We were over at Grandma Harris' house and Evie found a dolly and brought her over to me and let me know that the dolly was sick. We started to take care of the "sick" dolly together and she then proclaimed, "Mommy, (referring to the doll), she is a child of God." It was so adorable. Later as she was talking to the doll, she said, "Follow the prophet!" Too cute!

Evie has been wanting to brush my hair lately, which I don't mind that at all! Anyway, a couple of days ago when she got done brushing and fixing my hair, she said, "Mom, you look like a rockstar."

On our way to Grandma Harris' on New Years Day, Evie was pretty honery due to lack of sleep over the holidays. Anyway, she was sitting right next to Stratton and started pestering him by pinching and hitting. Then she immediately broke into tears saying, "I want to say sorry, I want to say sorry!", as she is sobbing. So I said, "Say sorry then", and she did, only to soon start up the hitting and pinching again and the cycle started all over, "I want to say sorry...." The funniest part (mind you we are trying not to laugh), she began some self talk after the incident, "Don't scream Evie, it's alright" to herself until we finally reached our destination.

Christmas Decor

It is so fun to get out all of the Christmas Decor for the holidays. I try and change it up a little bit each year. This is how it all came together this year. The kids love to help put the ornaments on the tree and will just sit by it and study it and dream of Christmas morning when presents will appear!

Getting ready for Christmas

Each Christmas I bring out these cute little figurines. The kids love them. There are about 12 of them. Inside each figurine is a little trinket, such as in the Christmas tree is a present, in the igloo is a penguin, in the snowman is a snowflake, etc. The kids are so excited for Christmas to come!

The night before the Thanksgiving Feast

Stratton came home from school with this cool Turkey hat he made. He couldn't wait to show it to me and insisted I take a picture. I love how he grabbed a spoon and fork for the picture!

Hike

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Grandpa Langston led us on a hike through Ghouls's wash to the 3 falls in Hurricane . It was a really fun hike. My kids love to hike in areas like this where they can rock climb. Evie was all over it too, and wanted to keep right up with her brothers.

Thanksgiving Turkey!

After our hike we were walking through this neighborhood to our cars when we came across this turkey just walking around. It was so cool! The kids were pretty fascinated by it. Come to find out it was a pet of one of the neighbors in the area. It squawked at us a few times and followed us around.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in St. George and Hurricane this year. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Bluff Road in St. George. There we swam, slept and played. Thanksgiving dinner was at the home of Gordon and LuAnne Dotson. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious and the company was great! We were also able to stop in and visit with Grandma Church, she is always so fun to talk to and is doing well.