Monday, September 16, 2013

Hey, Jude!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

We got a new cousin this week.  Jude Wallace Tatum has joined this crazy family and we wish him lots of luck in surviving all of us! We were able to visit him at the hospital after school.  He is tiny and as cute as a newborn can be, with his little turtle face.  I think he looks a lot like my babies did. The kids were so excited to meet him.





Moving the Bodies

Sunday, September 8, 2013

David Tanner has always asked my Dave for little favors.  I always joked that David Tanner would call Dave if he needed help moving a dead body.  When Tanner was called as Bishop a few months ago, my Dave was not called as a counselor and so we thought we were safe.  This week, one of the counselors were released and Dave was called as the 2nd counselor.  I know he will do a good job and I hope I can be supportive and patient when he is needed.  For this calling, Dave needed to be ordained to the office of High Priest.  I am thankful that my dad could be there and perform the ordination.  We are blessed to have worthy priesthood holders in our family and that they are so willing to serve.



Grand Canyon Camping

August 31, 2013 - September 2, 2013

Saturday

We got up and packed up the truck to spend the weekend at the Grand Canyon with the Shafers, the Goons, the Thatchers, and the Sawyers. It looked like rain would be heading that way so we had to tarp everything down.


When we got to Williams, AZ we found a cute Route 66 themed restaurant to eat at. The food was good but the service was slow. All the other families passed us up while we ate.


We got to the campsite and set up our tent when it started to downpour. Dave and I tried to put up tarps to keep things dry and got soaked and extremely grumpy in the process.


We decided to go to the visitor's center to get out of the rain. We went in looked at the displays and watched a short film. During the video the rain stopped so we took a tram to one of the overlooks and walked to another. The shear size of the canyon is awe inspiring.




We headed back to camp and set up more, made tinfoil dinners, and tried to dry out our chairs and shoes. After dinner, the families all hung out at the Goon's campsite to make s'mores, chat and play games.


Tanner, Taz, and Lex had a competition to see who could keep their butt by the fire longest - of course, Alexis won - she couldn't stand to see a boy beat her.  The kids played Mafia while the grow ups played Phase 10 before heading to bed.


Sunday

After a breakfast of Barney Biscuits, we all took trams to hike around. Alexis and Taz went with some of the Thatchers on Blue Angel, a more difficult hike, while the rest of our crowd hiked along the rim.



The big group did 3 small hikes that were about a mile each, taking the shuttle between hikes. Dave decided to go to the last shuttle stop by himself and hike all the way back. He didn't quite make it and took the shuttle most of the way back too. Hiking was fun and the kids did pretty well.


Camryn and Heather told stories and jokes the whole time, barely taking a breath.
Some of the paths went a little too close to the edge for my comfort, but we all made it safely. The shuttle ride back to the cars wore us out.


When we got back from hiking the kids played tag; Dave napped, and I read and dozed a bit.


The Shafers took their kids to a Jr Ranger activity and Seth went along to learn about deer and play a game. We all met up at the Geology museum to watch the sunset. Taz and Lex liked to go to the edge, or what looked like be edge to freak me out.

The sunset was beautiful.



We had a late dinner, including delicious blueberry cobbler and went back over to the Goons. The kids were humming songs and we had to guess what song it was. Seth and Tanner had a long talk about music. 


After a good night's rest, we ate a quick breakfast and packed up to head home. We stopped at the Visitor's Center so Seth could receive his Ranger Badge for doing some assigned activities, then we hit the road. We had a great weekend and enjoyed the vastness of the canyon. Most of all we enjoyed spending time together as a family and being with great friends. 

1st Day of School

Monday, August 26, 2013

It was time to start another school year.  Alexis is a sophomore at Silverado HS. 


The twins are Freshman this year and they all finally go to the same school.  Dave takes the girls to seminary in the morning and Chris picks the girls up after soccer-the best carpool ever.  I don't ever drive!


Camryn is in 5th grade at Fong. She is a little hipster with her new glasses. She has an amazing teacher this year, Ms. McKenna.


Seth is in 2nd grade at Fong. He is in Mrs. Carroll's class.  She is very sweet and at lunch we chat about PBS shows together.


I am on my 3rd year of being the librarian at Fong and love having my kids at school with me. I hope we have a great year.







The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

Friday, August 16, 2013

Alexis wanted to learn how to decorate cakes for one of her YW Personal Progress Projects.  We worked on this cake together all day Thursday and finished it up on Friday before the Hollywood Kids show. It turned out great!



Camryn loves to bring the cakes for the after party.


She was Pepper, the bully orphan, in the play.  She had to be rude and bossy - you could hardly even call it acting!


The play turned out really cute.  The kids did a great job and had a good time.


Camryn loves performing and is getting ready for the Aladdin auditions coming up. I am thankful for a place where she can work on her acting skills and get to shine on stage.





Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Our best friends at Fong have been the Allens.  Jeannie was the art teacher there and her kids were the same age as mine.  We have had a few fun family activities and lots of sleepovers over the past two years and the kids hung out together before and after school everyday.  We have loved our time with them and we miss them so much this year!  They had a little get together at the park for their school and ward friend to say a last goodbye. They have moved to Utah, where Jeannie is teaching Middle School Art and they are closer to family.  We wish them lots of luck in their new home.

Cam & McKenna


Seth & Cayson



Sunday, September 15, 2013

Wet n' Wild

Monday, August 5, 2013

Wet n' Wild was the place to hang out when we were kids.  At some point it shut down, but this year the made a comeback with a whole new park.  Chris and Paul took all the kids to check it out (I try to avoid chlorine so opted out of going.)

The kids all had a good time and came home tired and well sunned. Their favorite ride was the Rattler.


They also enjoyed the tide pool. I was grateful that they had a chance to go and we look forward to another water park opening next year also.

Rockin' Around the Clock

Friday, August 2, 2013

We didn't have much of a chance to celebrate the triplets birthdays, so when we were all back in town in August we threw them a big Sock Hop.  Chris and I ordered a box a records online and made these centerpieces out of paper flowers


We also set up a photo booth area.  I painted this jukebox and we set up a sheet with records hanging from it for a backdrop.


I also made a cake.


The birthday girls were all dressed up and ready to party.


They were big into taking photos.


A pretty good mix of boys and girls came, about 30 kids.  They ate hot dogs and hamburgers and drank rootbeer floats, danced, and played games.


The highlight of the night was when Chase did a whole dance from Teen Beach Movie while everyone was eating their cake and ice cream. It was awesome.


We had tons of leftovers, so the next week we had the family over to eat it and swim in the neighbors pool we were watching.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Camp Friday & Saturday

By Friday, the 4th years had done all the camp activities so they went on a short hike with the 1st years and then just hung out the rest of the day- which involved napping


and trying to keep dry. 


We ate leftovers for lunch which included an amazing dessert- French toast with chocolate, marshmallows, and Sis Van's raspberry jam. 



That night President Jenkins spoke and then we had a fire and bore our testimonies.

The next morning we hightailed it out of camp. It was a great week but we were ready to get home. 


We had to brave wet roads again and Bishop Tanner even drive our van up one hill that was giving everyone trouble. 

We met up with my folks at the Mavericks in LaVerkin to get Cam and Seth back then hurried home to shower after a long, dirty week. 

I was glad to spend the week with Lex and the other girls in our ward.