Field Trip to the Fire Department

Today was a proud day.  This is the third time I have been to a Preschool Fire Department Field Trip.  Olivia is her with her good friend Presley.

Olivia learned that firefighters in their firefighting gear is because they need to be safe, not because they are scary.  In fact, she was a very nice lady.

Then the kids got to get up onto the fire truck, and they were so happy.

Here Mrs. K stands next to Emma, Kaitlyn, Olivia, Presley, Josiah and Dylan while Ethan is not in the picture, but his little sister walked in to join in the fun.

Guitar Hero–The making of a Girls Band

In the last few months Tabatha has wanted to learn to play the guitar so that she could form a rock band. She has some friends willing to give it a try and so instead of buying drums, guitars and other equipment, I borrowed Guitar Hero from the DeCremers and for one week, Tabathat and her friends and sisters had a Girls Band party.  Here are a few pictures of them having fun.

Alicia the rocker!

Tabatha focusing on a hard passage on the game.

Olivia learned to love the song “On the Road Again” because she could get most of the lyrics after a few tries.

Oh the joy of music.

Tabatha’s Double Digit Birthday

 

It is so hard to believe that my little girl was born 10 years ago.  Over and over she has reminded us of how much she has grown, matured, and become a beautiful young lady. 

In fact, for her birthday she wanted things that would help her to learn nurture and grow her many talents.  Piano music, art supplies, good books, and sewing projects were what she wanted, no toys or video games.  In fact below is a sewing project from Grandma Hale that she got for her birthday that she sewed herself, including the handles and flower.  Isn’t she talented.

On her birthday, we received free admission to the Pacific Science Center, a surprise present from an Autism study our whole family had participated it during the last few years.  Here are some of the highlights of that trip.

Here a butterfly landed on my head, and another on Olivia, but even though Alicia did everything she could, the butterflies were not interested in her hair today.

I am so glad caterpillars are not really this large!

Who doesn’t love trying to move large amounts of weight with your body!

The birthday girl exploring the sea animals.

Then to a 3D movie, “Sea-Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World",”  which did an amazing job showing the science behind Dinosaurs, and explaining the evolution of species in an easily visualized way, by using a clock.  I love when movies teach, and if you couldn’t tell, Olivia loved it, especially when the shark jumped out at us.  She wasn’t scared, instead she was proud to say, “he didn’t get us, he didn’t get us.”  It was so cute.

And to the last learning experience, after Tabatha got her guitar for Christmas she has been trying to teach herself, but she only got a few moments to practice on this large guitar.  Both Alicia and Tabatha will want to play this guitar again soon.

Grandma’s 80th Birthday

 

The last time I drove to Idaho was over 12 years ago, and I was driving with Stephanie then.  Since that I have been fortunate to be able to fly, but even then the last time I visited was when Tabatha was 2 years old, so 8 years ago, which is too long to visit family!

Stephanie and I got a chance to catch up as we drove 10 1/2 hours each ways, with only 3 very brief gas and bathroom breaks each way during our 3 day marathon journey.

Once in Idaho, we spent the night at Uncle Keith and Aunt Reva’s and the next morning mom and dad drove as we visited the cemetery where so many of our relatives are buried. 

We even got a chance to visit Aunt Gail and Uncle Phil, the first time I have seen them in close to 20 years.  They are looking a lot older than I remember, and I am so grateful we saw them since it has been so long.

For lunch Steph and I met up with Uncle Keith & Aunt Reva, Matt & Ilea and mom and dad to celebrate Grandpa Clark’s birthday (as seen from Stepha’s picture – here we are at the Hong Kong Restaurant in Blackfoot, ID)

But the main event was after lunch where we got to celebrate Grandma High’s 80th birthday.  I love these picture taken by Wendi Huffman, and since I left the picture taking to Steph and Wendi, I will just copy a few of my favorite of their here.

We don’t see Grandma and Grandpa kiss much, but I have to say this one was so cute I just felt like adding it here. 

Look closely and you see 80 years of Grandma life here in black & white photos.

Here we are, all of the intrepid souls who drove or flew from Seattle for this special day.  I am glad we could all make it.

Here are the grandchildren and great grand children gathered to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Here I am with my siblings, so glad we could come together for this day.

So many family and friends came, here are a few of my favorites.

Uncle Keith & Aunt Reva

All of Grandma’s children with their spouses.

We ended our trip eating with most of our Aunts and Uncles that night at a restaurant called Tony Vaughn’s, but the highlight was this birthday bash at the Stake Center.  We love our Grandma, and this celebration showed it.  The trip was long, but going with Stephanie made it so much better than going alone, and it was worth it.  I don’t make it to Idaho often, so seeing so many family members all at once made this a trip to remember. 

So with one last stop Sunday morning to fill up at the “Stinker Stores” we left to go home.

Hopefully next time I can bring Ken and the girls to see everyone too.

Olivia’s Special Day

At the Preschool Olivia goes to, the don’t celebrate birthdays, but they do celebrate a special day.  They get to make a special day book (a mini scrapbook), bring a favorite toy, and it is the one time they get to have an unhealthy snack.  I let Olivia pick her special dessert from my “Hello, Cupcakes” cookbook.  She picked these snowman, and we tried to make them look just as cute.  

We made scarves and ties out of starbursts that were rolled out thinly.

Each of the kids at Preschool got to pick their own, unique snowman.  Aren’t they cute!

Then she got to talk about herself, she didn’t want to stop talking once she got started, after all it was all about her day.  She is holding her Special day book with pictures of her, and she is next to her teacher Mrs. K. while wearing her special day crown and necklace.

And her friends all enjoyed the cupcakes.

I only wish I got Special Days too. 

PS, we shared the cupcakes with the family too, and Tabatha got an extra special cupcake too.  We couldn’t make it gluten free with the white – so she got a brown bear instead.