Waite's Window The happenings at the Waite House.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Paddle and Peddle
Last week I took MaryAnne, Dallin, Joshua and Lydia to the rec department's paddle and peddle activity. They had fun playing in the water and then riding their bikes through the obstacle course. Dallin even got his picture in the newspaper. They gave each of the children a bike helmet and a popsicle for participating. Here are a few pictures of the activity.
Apples
Lately Lydia has been having a hard time when neighbors come to play. She and Micah are about the same age and have been good friends. Lately, Micah and Joshua have been playing together and Lydia has felt left out. She tells me she needs a little girl to play with. There aren't any little girls in our neighborhood so it has been a challenge to meet her needs. She tells me that big girls and moms are too busy to be fun for a little girl. Yesterday was one of those days when she needed something fun to distract her from being left out. She loves to look at our cupcake book so I decided to help her make cupcakes. She wanted to make apple cupcakes. We had a great time together making them. Lydia put in all the ingredients. I think they turned out cute and they kept Lydia happy for most of the day. She loved sharing her apples and letting the children have an apple for dessert.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Where has summer gone?
Where has our summer gone? It is only a week and half until school starts again. Neil and Bethany start on Monday the 25th, Julia and Matthew start on Tuesday the 26th, Emma, David, MaryAnne, and Dallin start on Wednesday the 27th. I think I will start Joshua on Wednesday also. We have been busy the past couple of weeks.
We went to the Waite Reunion at Bear Lake the end of July. It was a wonderful couple of days together. We had a great time visiting and playing together. We rented a cabin together and it was a great home base and made it really nice. The only draw back was 40 people sharing one bathroom and shower. North Beach was lots of fun, except for the sunburn afterward. I only burned one ankle, but it sure did hurt afterward. It was a great place for the children to play in the lake. They could walk out for a long ways without it getting too deep. Matthew and Julia had a great time playing frisbee in the water. I enjoyed visiting with Rebecca. We were so blessed to have all of our children at the Reunion. There were lots of games and visiting going on during the days we were together. We took boxes and slingshots and played angry birds. The children played lots of soccer together. They also played card games and just hung out with cousins. We took crafts for the kids to do and the sponge balls for a water fight. I always feel bad that our children only see their cousins about once a year and don't really get to know each other. I hope they will remember how much fun they had together and be friends again next year at the reunion.
We left Matthew and Julia in Idaho with Grandma Karan so they could go to EFY in Rexburg the next week. Rebecca went home and the rest of us drove to Price to see Grandma Kremers. MaryAnne rode as far as Orem with Jonathan and Kendra's family. Aunt Donna hosted a BBQ and we enjoyed a mini reunion. Grandma Kremers, Aunt Vicki and Uncle Roger, Uncle Bruce and Peggy, Aunt Donna, Ben and Dawn, Nate, Zac and Samantha, Brandi and her granddaughter Oakley, Shawn, Mykenzi and Graham, April, and Alanis were all there. It was great to see so many family members. We were about an hour and a half late and felt really bad about missing the time to visit. Grandma was getting tired by the time we got there, but was good sport and stayed to visit. We got to Price only about an hour later than planned, but I had forgotten to find out where the BBQ was going to be so we went to Grandma's house, but no one was there. We had sent our cell phones with Matthew and Julia so we didn't have any numbers to call Ben or Nathan. Finally, we called our neighbor who was good enough to come to our house and get a list of phone numbers for us. We called Ben and made it to the BBQ. It was a good time. Joshua loved playing a game called Washers that Aunt Donna had. We went to Church Sunday morning and then went over to see Grandma before we left for the long ride home. It was so wonderful to see Grandma and Aunt Donna and April were wonderful hosts.
Neil took the younger children and the children that Emma babysits to the Froggy Pool on Monday afternoon while Bethany, Emma and I clogged at our last performance for the summer. I sure love clogging with them. We did a couple of songs at the reunion and at Aunt Donna's house. I make lots of mistakes but we have a good time together. Bethany is a very patient teacher when each week I ask to see the same steps over again because I have forgotten them.
Emma won a Pizza Hutt gift card from summer reading. Our Pizza Hutt does half price on Thursdays if you dine in so that is what we did for dinner on Thursday. It was lots of fun! Thanks so much, Emma!
Neil and I drove over to Rexburg on Friday to pick up Matthew and Julia early Saturday morning. We planned on going to the Rexburg temple, but it was closed when we got there. We have gone to temples several times and had them be closed. I guess we need to learn to check the schedule better before we go. We had time so we decided to walk around on campus. Campus has changed so much since we were there 23 years ago. Neil said it was interesting to walk down memory lane when the lane has changed. We walked through the Manwaring Center where we first went to church together. We even got to see Matthew in the Manwaring Center as he was coming for dinner. I was looking for Matthew or Julia and was glad to get to say hi to him. I loved seeing the new BYUI center. It is very much like a small conference center. It would be neat to attend meetings there.
We picked up Matthew first on Saturday morning. He was staying in the Sommerset apartments. They were right next to Heritage Manor so it was fun to show him where I lived when I was there. He showed us where Julia was and we went and found her. She had some great roommates who wanted to take her home with them. I told them I would miss her too much and so she came with us. We had a great time coming home and enjoyed hearing about Matthew and Julia's experiences. I always love the weeks after EFY. It seems like the children are open to talking about the experiences and classes they had. They also seem to try harder to keep the spirit with them and be kind and patient.
Yesterday there was a free day at the Powell Aquatic Center so we took most of the children and had a good time together. David is working on his swimming requirements for Scouts. Emma is trying to learn to dive. The rest of us just played.
We have been having a great summer. I think we will still get a few fun activities in before school starts. There is a ward campout this weekend. I just want to check with Dr. Wiggins and make sure Joshua will be ok with the high elevation. Lydia wants to sleep out in our trailer one night. I got a new picnic table this summer and I want to do a hot dog roast one night before school starts.
Here are a few pictures from our latest adventures. Hope you enjoy them.
Sarah
We went to the Waite Reunion at Bear Lake the end of July. It was a wonderful couple of days together. We had a great time visiting and playing together. We rented a cabin together and it was a great home base and made it really nice. The only draw back was 40 people sharing one bathroom and shower. North Beach was lots of fun, except for the sunburn afterward. I only burned one ankle, but it sure did hurt afterward. It was a great place for the children to play in the lake. They could walk out for a long ways without it getting too deep. Matthew and Julia had a great time playing frisbee in the water. I enjoyed visiting with Rebecca. We were so blessed to have all of our children at the Reunion. There were lots of games and visiting going on during the days we were together. We took boxes and slingshots and played angry birds. The children played lots of soccer together. They also played card games and just hung out with cousins. We took crafts for the kids to do and the sponge balls for a water fight. I always feel bad that our children only see their cousins about once a year and don't really get to know each other. I hope they will remember how much fun they had together and be friends again next year at the reunion.
We left Matthew and Julia in Idaho with Grandma Karan so they could go to EFY in Rexburg the next week. Rebecca went home and the rest of us drove to Price to see Grandma Kremers. MaryAnne rode as far as Orem with Jonathan and Kendra's family. Aunt Donna hosted a BBQ and we enjoyed a mini reunion. Grandma Kremers, Aunt Vicki and Uncle Roger, Uncle Bruce and Peggy, Aunt Donna, Ben and Dawn, Nate, Zac and Samantha, Brandi and her granddaughter Oakley, Shawn, Mykenzi and Graham, April, and Alanis were all there. It was great to see so many family members. We were about an hour and a half late and felt really bad about missing the time to visit. Grandma was getting tired by the time we got there, but was good sport and stayed to visit. We got to Price only about an hour later than planned, but I had forgotten to find out where the BBQ was going to be so we went to Grandma's house, but no one was there. We had sent our cell phones with Matthew and Julia so we didn't have any numbers to call Ben or Nathan. Finally, we called our neighbor who was good enough to come to our house and get a list of phone numbers for us. We called Ben and made it to the BBQ. It was a good time. Joshua loved playing a game called Washers that Aunt Donna had. We went to Church Sunday morning and then went over to see Grandma before we left for the long ride home. It was so wonderful to see Grandma and Aunt Donna and April were wonderful hosts.
Neil took the younger children and the children that Emma babysits to the Froggy Pool on Monday afternoon while Bethany, Emma and I clogged at our last performance for the summer. I sure love clogging with them. We did a couple of songs at the reunion and at Aunt Donna's house. I make lots of mistakes but we have a good time together. Bethany is a very patient teacher when each week I ask to see the same steps over again because I have forgotten them.
Emma won a Pizza Hutt gift card from summer reading. Our Pizza Hutt does half price on Thursdays if you dine in so that is what we did for dinner on Thursday. It was lots of fun! Thanks so much, Emma!
Neil and I drove over to Rexburg on Friday to pick up Matthew and Julia early Saturday morning. We planned on going to the Rexburg temple, but it was closed when we got there. We have gone to temples several times and had them be closed. I guess we need to learn to check the schedule better before we go. We had time so we decided to walk around on campus. Campus has changed so much since we were there 23 years ago. Neil said it was interesting to walk down memory lane when the lane has changed. We walked through the Manwaring Center where we first went to church together. We even got to see Matthew in the Manwaring Center as he was coming for dinner. I was looking for Matthew or Julia and was glad to get to say hi to him. I loved seeing the new BYUI center. It is very much like a small conference center. It would be neat to attend meetings there.
We picked up Matthew first on Saturday morning. He was staying in the Sommerset apartments. They were right next to Heritage Manor so it was fun to show him where I lived when I was there. He showed us where Julia was and we went and found her. She had some great roommates who wanted to take her home with them. I told them I would miss her too much and so she came with us. We had a great time coming home and enjoyed hearing about Matthew and Julia's experiences. I always love the weeks after EFY. It seems like the children are open to talking about the experiences and classes they had. They also seem to try harder to keep the spirit with them and be kind and patient.
Yesterday there was a free day at the Powell Aquatic Center so we took most of the children and had a good time together. David is working on his swimming requirements for Scouts. Emma is trying to learn to dive. The rest of us just played.
We have been having a great summer. I think we will still get a few fun activities in before school starts. There is a ward campout this weekend. I just want to check with Dr. Wiggins and make sure Joshua will be ok with the high elevation. Lydia wants to sleep out in our trailer one night. I got a new picnic table this summer and I want to do a hot dog roast one night before school starts.
Here are a few pictures from our latest adventures. Hope you enjoy them.
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Sarah
Sunday, July 27, 2014
In search of adventure
Last year the young men in our ward went to Cloud Peak Wilderness area for three days of fishing and adventure. Neil really wanted to go along, but it happened to be the same time as Joshua's fontan surgery. Neil told Matthew he would take them this year. Neil, Matthew, David, MaryAnne, and Dallin set off on an adventure Thursday morning. They had to backpack in (about 4 miles) of uphill and downhill. I think it was about all MaryAnne and Dallin could handle with their packs. Here are a few pictures before they started out.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Boys and Water what a combination
A few weeks ago it was finally warm enough for the children to play in the sprinklers. They had been wanting to for awhile and they were thrilled. MaryAnne was sad because she had Activity Days and didn't get to play in the water. I let her the next day though so hopefully she forgave me for the timing and her having to miss. The boys had a great time together. Lydia got in at the end and had a good time with the boys. I love the part in the video when it looks like whichever boy has the hose has the power. I love how Matthew keeps Kodi off the tramp and away from the children playing. I think the whole video is fun and I love seeing the children playing together and Matthew playing right along. I am glad that boys will be boys and don't grow up too fast. I love summer togetherness!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Fourth of July weekend
We were lucky enough to have a reunion planned for the 4th of July. Actually, we were double lucky because we got to see both sides of the family for the 4th of July. How fun is that?
We started the holiday out on the 2nd when we drove to Grandma Karan's house. We didn't leave until Emma got off work at 5:00 so it was late when we got there. It was fun to visit with Karan and Jim the morning of the 3rd. While we were there Dallin and MaryAnne found a caterpillar on one of Karan's bushes. They looked around and started finding them all over the bush. They ended up with a whole jar full of caterpillars. They took them with us when we left. We ate lunch with Karan and Jim and left about 11:30 in the morning so we could make it to a temple session at the Twin Falls Temple.
We drove to Sam and Anne's house and visited for a little while before leaving the children there so we could go to the temple. It is a beautiful temple! I have a picture of it that I have been wanting to put up on my temple wall. Now I can put it up because we have been there. It was a really large session. There was a family being sealed after the session. They just kept bringing in chairs. The session took longer than we expected because it was so large, but it was a wonderful night at the temple.
We got back to Sam and Anne's the same time Sam did. It was fun to see him. We did family scriptures together and then put kids to bed. Most of the kids were sleeping out on the trampoline. They were excited to be together. Ben and Dawn came and got Tyler and then went back to Twin Falls for the night. We stayed up and visited with Sam and Anne quite late. It was fun to be together.
The morning of the 4th Anne and I went for about a 4 mile walk. It was fun to see Jerome. Sam and Anne seem really happy there. When we got back Ben and Dawn, Johanna and Tyler were there. We all hung out for the morning and enjoyed being together. Sam cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and we had a great lunch together. I brought Mom's chocolate chip cookies so I could feel like Mom and Dad were involved with the reunion. They were a hit and disappeared quickly! We all said goodbye about 4:00 that afternoon.
We drove to Twin Falls to see Shoshone Falls. They were beautiful, but it was a hot day so we didn't stay and look very long. We headed down the road to Idaho Falls. We met up with Neil's sisters Candice and Molly and their families to watch the fireworks. It was really fun! We got there early (at least for us) because there was supposed to be about 50,000 people there to watch. Candice had found a nice spot to watch. There was a grassy field where some of us played Ultimate frisbee. I was really wishing Matthew was there to play. The girls sat together and talked and made flower pens out of duck tape. They had a good time. It felt like I spent an hour waiting in the convenience store to take Lydia to use the restroom. Next time I'll be smart and have Neil take the children because there was no waiting in the men's line. There was one dad who let the girls in his family use the men's room and he guarded the door. It was kind of funny to watch when he explained to the other men who came why they couldn't go in.
The fireworks show was amazing. It was set to music on the radio. I love celebrating the freedoms we enjoy by watching fireworks. There was a lot of traffic after, cars were not moving at all. Molly and Scott had bought some fireworks to light off after. Kaden and Jonathan had fun being our firework masters. It was a late night, but a great time together. We all went back to Candice's and put kids to bed. Most of the children slept out on the trampoline.
Saturday the 5th we got up and started a family work project at Candice's house. We cleaned up her yard and worked on her fence. She had some slats that needed replaced and the whole fence needed stained. Neil, Scott, and Gerry worked on the fence while the rest of us cleaned up, moved rocks, and then stained. It was a good time, even though it was hot. The children were good helpers. I think it is neat to work together with our family. We all had lunch and then we headed home. To cap off our trip we saw a bear in Yellowstone, that doesn't happen very often. It was on a hill right by the road. It was scratching around in the dirt. When Lydia saw the bear she thought it was a baby bear. We were trying to tell her it wasn't a baby, but she was determined. We asked why she thought it was a baby and she told us that it was crawling like a baby. She is so cute!!
We had a great fourth of July!! We missed having Rebecca, Bethany, Julia and Matthew with us. It was great to see both sides of our family and spend time together, and to attend the temple. I am so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy living in this amazing country!
XOXO, Sarah
We started the holiday out on the 2nd when we drove to Grandma Karan's house. We didn't leave until Emma got off work at 5:00 so it was late when we got there. It was fun to visit with Karan and Jim the morning of the 3rd. While we were there Dallin and MaryAnne found a caterpillar on one of Karan's bushes. They looked around and started finding them all over the bush. They ended up with a whole jar full of caterpillars. They took them with us when we left. We ate lunch with Karan and Jim and left about 11:30 in the morning so we could make it to a temple session at the Twin Falls Temple.
We drove to Sam and Anne's house and visited for a little while before leaving the children there so we could go to the temple. It is a beautiful temple! I have a picture of it that I have been wanting to put up on my temple wall. Now I can put it up because we have been there. It was a really large session. There was a family being sealed after the session. They just kept bringing in chairs. The session took longer than we expected because it was so large, but it was a wonderful night at the temple.
We got back to Sam and Anne's the same time Sam did. It was fun to see him. We did family scriptures together and then put kids to bed. Most of the kids were sleeping out on the trampoline. They were excited to be together. Ben and Dawn came and got Tyler and then went back to Twin Falls for the night. We stayed up and visited with Sam and Anne quite late. It was fun to be together.
The morning of the 4th Anne and I went for about a 4 mile walk. It was fun to see Jerome. Sam and Anne seem really happy there. When we got back Ben and Dawn, Johanna and Tyler were there. We all hung out for the morning and enjoyed being together. Sam cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and we had a great lunch together. I brought Mom's chocolate chip cookies so I could feel like Mom and Dad were involved with the reunion. They were a hit and disappeared quickly! We all said goodbye about 4:00 that afternoon.
We drove to Twin Falls to see Shoshone Falls. They were beautiful, but it was a hot day so we didn't stay and look very long. We headed down the road to Idaho Falls. We met up with Neil's sisters Candice and Molly and their families to watch the fireworks. It was really fun! We got there early (at least for us) because there was supposed to be about 50,000 people there to watch. Candice had found a nice spot to watch. There was a grassy field where some of us played Ultimate frisbee. I was really wishing Matthew was there to play. The girls sat together and talked and made flower pens out of duck tape. They had a good time. It felt like I spent an hour waiting in the convenience store to take Lydia to use the restroom. Next time I'll be smart and have Neil take the children because there was no waiting in the men's line. There was one dad who let the girls in his family use the men's room and he guarded the door. It was kind of funny to watch when he explained to the other men who came why they couldn't go in.
The fireworks show was amazing. It was set to music on the radio. I love celebrating the freedoms we enjoy by watching fireworks. There was a lot of traffic after, cars were not moving at all. Molly and Scott had bought some fireworks to light off after. Kaden and Jonathan had fun being our firework masters. It was a late night, but a great time together. We all went back to Candice's and put kids to bed. Most of the children slept out on the trampoline.
Saturday the 5th we got up and started a family work project at Candice's house. We cleaned up her yard and worked on her fence. She had some slats that needed replaced and the whole fence needed stained. Neil, Scott, and Gerry worked on the fence while the rest of us cleaned up, moved rocks, and then stained. It was a good time, even though it was hot. The children were good helpers. I think it is neat to work together with our family. We all had lunch and then we headed home. To cap off our trip we saw a bear in Yellowstone, that doesn't happen very often. It was on a hill right by the road. It was scratching around in the dirt. When Lydia saw the bear she thought it was a baby bear. We were trying to tell her it wasn't a baby, but she was determined. We asked why she thought it was a baby and she told us that it was crawling like a baby. She is so cute!!
We had a great fourth of July!! We missed having Rebecca, Bethany, Julia and Matthew with us. It was great to see both sides of our family and spend time together, and to attend the temple. I am so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy living in this amazing country!
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Friday, June 27, 2014
Fishing
I have a confession to make. I am not a good fishing mom! I feel terrible even typing that out for others to see. I am sure both my grandpa's shake their heads at me from heaven. I'm sorry. I don't like the smell of fish. I really don't like it when the children want to touch the fish. I am not a good fishing mom. Neil is a good sport despite my lack of enthusiasm and takes the children fishing each summer. Matthew loves to fish and he was so excited that the younger children wanted to go to the fishing pond this morning. I enjoyed taking pictures of him helping Joshua and Lydia catch fish. We spent the morning and came home with three catfish. Lydia really wanted to catch a dogfish, but she was happy with what they got. I tried really hard to not tell anyone to wash their hands and just be a good sport. I hope they will have happy memories of fishing and not just of their mother not handling the experience.
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