Venture Outdoors Festival 2011

About a month ago, my kids brought home a flyer from school advertising the Venture Outdoors Festival on June 18 at Canyon Rim Park. When I saw that the Drum Bus and other activities would be there...and that it was free, I knew we had to go! Apparently it's an annual event and it was so much fun... and there was a lot to see and do!

First, of course, was the drum bus...something my kids and I have experienced at our respective schools and that we love! So we hopped aboard and drummed to our heart's content.




Then there were train rides for the kids.


After that, we saw "Scales and Tails"... all about reptiles. Alfredo thought the reticulated python was particularly cool (I think he took about 15 pictures of it.) It was huge! I thought the tortoise was pretty cool (Did you know that turtles live in the water or a combo of land and water...and tortoises live on land?)...and I also found it very interesting to learn that while humans only have one gene to control skin pigmentation (melanin), snakes have 3. So the albino snake does not have red eyes and has a yellowish color.



Some other highlights included seeing an AirMed helicopter land and getting to climb inside it, meeting Smokey the Bear, having a pony ride, going in the petting zoo, rolling down a hill in a big ball, and chasing bubbles. Also, they got to hold a firefighter's hose and try to drench each other! There were other performances as well, but we didn't see all of them. And did I mention that all of this was FREE? Not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening as a family!

















Hopefully this will be the first of many trips to this festival. :)

Be Precise...or Hear About It!

Gabrielle is so full of life and personality! We are having so much fun with her. She's growing so fast now and learning so much. She is in the middle of potty training. I guess it's possible that we could be done if I tried to push it, but I really believe in letting my kids lead the process...so she goes in the toilet about 1/2- 3/4 of the time...and when we are leaving the house I stick a pull up on her. She's had a couple of accidents but only a couple... and she'll probably be completely trained in a couple of weeks...with little or no stress for either of us. She also got rid of her pacifier last week which has been hard for her. She loved her paci! It has been somewhat comforting to her to hear that the pacifier fairy took them to give to new born babies...but only somewhat comforting.



What is most interesting/surprising to me about Gabrielle is her language skills..and particularly her precision with language. She wants you to label things with their precise name, not a generic or similar term. When you call something by the wrong name or label, she lets you know! Just a couple of examples... If you call a pull up a "diaper", she corrects you. If you call her "my dear", she tells you emphatically that she is not a deer..she is Gabby. If you call a car a truck, she tells you that is a truck not a car.....and so on. She also knows what she likes to be called...and corrects you if you use the wrong name. Alfredo has begun teasing her by calling her "Coco"...and she's argued strongly with him that her name is "Gabby". I guess she's finally given in and decided to let him call her Coco...but no one else is allowed to. She cracks us up!!

The Family Party

As mentioned, we had a party after the baptism. My mom's sister LaRue lives in Logan and wasn't able to make it for the baptism, but came to visit afterward and we had a barbecue with everyone. I know I didn't get pictures of everyone, but we were so grateful that so many special people were part of the day.

Since it was a baptism celebration but also a family birthday party for Michelle and Ella, we had a pinata as well as cake and ice cream... and lots of visiting, eating, jumping on the tramp, and playing on the swings and zipline. So some photos of all we did:

Baptism Day

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Michelle has tried so hard since she was baptized (and before...but I've noticed an even bigger effort since) to do what is right. We are so proud of her!

Michelle was baptized and confirmed on Saturday, June 4. She was baptized by her Grandpa Mike (my stepdad) and confirmed by her Grandpa Bryan (my dad). It was such a beautiful, special day. Michelle was so excited to be baptized and we were so glad that Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Mike were able to fly up to be part of the day.





So many friends and family members were able to be there and/or to join us afterward for a birthday celebration for Michelle and Ella. It was wonderful. There were talks about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I thought the talk on the Holy Ghost was especially wonderful. She had each of the three children being baptized stand up and had 3 people speak to them...then asked which of those three was their mom. She then compared how well they knew their mom's voice to how we need to come to know and recognize the voice of the Holy Ghost. After the Baptism and Confirmation, Bishop Delamare welcomed her to the ward and said how much he enjoys hearing what they learned in Primary/Nursery from each of the girls each Sunday. (They go to his office right after church and each child gets a candy. The primary kids all love it... and Gabby knows what she's learned even before she goes to nursery... "I learned about Jesus.") Then Sister Calder, the Primary President, spoke for a few minutes about how well Michelle has been taught and how she always tries to be reverent in primary and listen to sharing time.

Michelle's wonderful primary teacher took beautiful photographs of her at Wheeler Farm the Monday before her baptism. We love them!




Friends and family in attendance at the baptism: Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Mike; Grandpa Bryan; Great Grandpa Floyd; Aunt Elaine and Uncle Phil; Aunt Diane and Ashley and Trevor; Uncle Dan and Aunt Suzanne; Jeremy, Stacie, Avy and Eli; Justin, Asher and ; Leo, Annette, Dante, Daphne and Drake ; Jeremy, Olivia, Savannah and Jackson ; Conrad, Shannon and Jordan ; Chuck, Alyson, Annie, Max and Sofie ; Brooke and Chloe ; Carey, Maddy, Andrew, and Sean; and Bishop Delamare.

Testimony Prayer

I have so many things to blog about, but decided to jot this down before I forget. My older two girls say such sweet prayers. I'm not sure where this came from, but their prayers often turn into their testimonies rather than just the traditional giving thanks and asking for help. For example, in Ella's prayer last night, she said, "I know that Jesus is real and Heavenly Father." Michelle said, "I love all the animals and all that you've created for us. I know the church is true. I know the scriptures are true. I love my testimony and I"m glad that I got baptized." They often pray about how they know that Jesus died for us and that they know there is a prophet. I think it is their way of giving thanks...but it is so sweet to hear them bearing testimony of what they know and believe as they pray to their Father in Heaven. I am confident that while they don't always use the typical phrases that their Father is very pleased with what they are saying... (except maybe on the ocassions when they use their prayers to chastise each other... as in... "Bless that my sister will be reverent when I am praying." or "Help everyone remember to keep their eyes closed during the prayer. Help them to listen and be respectful." and so on)

Such sweet girls I have! Gabby also loves to pray and does quite a good job. She still often prays that Alyson's back will be better and prays for Sofie and Chester and the rest of our family and says thank you for Jesus.

Birthday Party

Yesterday we had a friends' birthday party for Michelle and Ella. It was our first drop-off birthday party. The theme was Tangled, and I think everyone had a lot of fun. The girls each had a couple of friends from school and a few friends from the neighborhood.


We started off by letting them color Tangled pictures or just play on the tramp, zipline, and swings. Then we played some actual games. Many of the games came from
Super Mom Moments and at this site.
First, we played Pin the Frying Pan on Flynn Rider's head. The kids really liked that. A couple of funny things. Maddy put her frying pan right smack on top of her brother Andrew's frying pan. We all laughed at that. Then Kodi predicted she would get it right on the bump on Flynn's head...and she did!

Then we played hide-n-seek with Pascal. I had hidden a couple of plastic chameleons (lizards) and the kids searched for them.


Then we played Tug of War with Rapunzel's braid (a rope). Then we did an obstacle course because Rapunzel had to overcome many obstacles to be reunited with her real parents. The kids had to throw a frisbee, climb up and slide down the slide, jump on the trampoline and run around a pole, then do the teeter totter and get back in line...and the first team to have everyone finish was the winner... happily the teams tied.



Then it was pinata time. (For some reason, I hear this in my head being said in Mario's voice... just like he says on the Wii game... "It's Mario time.")


Then we had cupcakes. Because Rapunzel loved to paint and decorate her tower, each child got to decorate their own cupcake... with sprinkles, frosting, heart shaped cake toppers, and so on. (This was my idea...not borrowed from anyone else! :))Then we sang Happy Birthday to the girls and ate our cupcake creations with ice cream.







Finally, the gifts were opened and the girls were thrilled with all the wonderful gifts. The kids played for a few more minutes, and then the party ended. Success!