My cell phone went missing in December along with all my pictures, and intentions to upload them and catch up with my blog before the new year. It being just barely the afternoon of the thirty-first, I'm still hoping to be current by 2014.
I feel grateful for each day with my children, in all honesty, notwithstanding the fact that I just excused myself to pound the mop on the dining room floor in futility, my effort to quiet an argument in the girls' basement bedroom. So I will gather up what pictures I prudently posted to Facebook, and call it my archives for the past few months, although I know that there are many that I've neglected, and are now lost somewhere in the memory of my very cracked iphone, in a random drawer, under the bathroom sink, tucked into Sophie's glittery dress-up purse. The possibilities are endless with a three-year old in the house. Much better to post pictures quickly, I've learned.
Lovely Olivia turned ten in August.
The present opening.
Grant started Kindergarten.
Sophie's third birthday in September, and the first day that Grant got to ride the school bus.
Our front yard,
the day of the great flood of September 2013.
Our favorite event of the year, The Riverwoods ward September Salmon fry.
Another favorite Fall memory, picnics with Grandma Martha at Paul Ream nature park. Hunting for leaches.
And feeding the ducks.
The kids performed on the hay wagon ride at the Spanish Fork Harvest Moon celebration.
Grant turned six in October.
We celebrated with a picnic lunch in the canyon, and dinner at Nickle City.
And just before Halloween, beautiful, spirited Mary turned nine. She hosted a small party with friends, and dangled doughnuts from the ceiling fan--one set of pictures I really hope to find again.
In November, Bethany turned twelve on a Sunday, and graduated from primary to join the Young Women's organization at church.
Ben performed in his high school's production of Damn Yankees.
The moment before Caitlin's first roller coaster. She was actually fearless from that point on, and accompanied Sam on all the rides.
I found a note that Caitlin wrote to Amelia shortly after our impromptu Beijing friends picnic in August. It said, " If I could see you again it would be like Heaven." It's funny that I had thought the same thing about seeing our friends again.
Our traditional reunion spot is Rock Canyon park. Bethany, the naturalist, took to the trees to photograph creatures and siblings.
