Spring!

Last week, we got to spend lots of time with cousins! First, we went to Table Mountain in Oroville to see the wild flowers. We also spent the night at Jeanette's house. Dad and the big kids had to stay home : (
Some of the beautiful wild flowers we saw on our hike
We hiked down to the bottom of this waterfall.
Anna at the bottom of the waterfall
Anna holding a salamander. There are tons of these to be found. Guess what the boys did the whole time? Yep! Looked for salamanders!
My sister, Jeanette, and her husband, Curt, at the base of the waterfall. We went later in the day so Curt could come along after he got off work. Thank goodness he came because he helped us get Anna up and down the steep climb to the bottom of the falls.
Jeanette and I. My pants are rolled up because I slipped while helping Anna up to the falls and cut a deep gash in my knee. I haven't been able to kneel on it since!
Beth
Cousins climbing back up from the falls. Jeffrey, Josh, Adam then Ryan and Gus (the dog)
Cousins walking along together
More flowers. The mountain was covered with flowers. That is a gift from Heavenly Father. Flowers that grow spontaneously in the spring.
Bloom where you are planted, like this little flower growing in the rocks.
Everyone hiking back. Again, it was nice to have Curt along. Anna's shoes got wet, so she took them off, which made for a painful walk on the rocks in some points. I carried her for a while, then Uncle Curt put her on his shoulders.

A few days later, it was Joshua's 13th birthday. Jeanette, Curt, Melissa and Ryan came for the evening.

Officially a teenager!
Ryan, Adam, Melissa, and Beth
Josh opening his presents
Birthday cake!
The next night, we had a birthday party with 10 13 yr olds. They are so easy to please. We had pizza and soda, they played Capture the Flag at the park, and then we had ice cream sundaes. There was extra time leftover, so they held an impromptu Brawl tournament. Fun stuff!

Young Women Broadcast

Katie and I went out on a shopping date and then attended the Young Women's General Broadcast. The Stake held a dinner, with mother/daughter pictures and then the broadcast. We had such a fun time! I love this picture. I think Katie is so beautiful. I love spending time with her.

Jeffrey's 6th birthday

Friday was Jeffrey's birthday and it was also the day that he had a Star Wars themed birthday party. I got the idea, the games, even the cake and pinata suggestions, from my friend Afton's blog several years ago. We held the exact same party two birthdays ago for Adam, and it was a hit both times. Here are some pictures from the day:
Josh and Adam led the activities. Mostly the 8 little boys, who had just gotten out of school, wanted to spend a lot of time fighting with their newly acquired light sabers. Noisy but lots of fun!

Jacob jointed in the fun and got everyone attacking him in a group, while we were waiting for Darth Vader to arrive. Darth Vader had accidentally taken a nap on the couch upstairs and wasn't ready to come down when we originally felt a 'disturbance in the force'.
Princess Beth-Leia made an appearance.
Can you believe how in style Darth Vader is these days? He wears Nike shorts and long black Nike socks. I'm just sayin'...

Jeffrey wanted a cake featuring himself fighting Darth Maul. So here is our best effort. He thought it was "awesome"!


Even Padawans need a snack/cake break.
And the Darth Vader pinata. Thanks, Party America!

Overall, Jeffrey's big day was great. In fact, he told me it was "my best birthday in years!" Six years to be exact. : )

Isn't this the cutest birthday card ever?

Grandmas are the best!

Some things that have made me smile this week

This is a picture of Jeffrey and Anna when he was 4 and she was 2. Jeffrey received it in the mail as a birthday picture from Grandma Jeri and Grandpa Lewis on a mission in Ecuador. I think it is so adorable, and it reminds me how big they are both getting.
The trees are blooming! Popcorn popping...this is the view from the balcony outside our bedroom.
A close up...aren't they gorgeous? I love them. I love the fruitless pears when they bloom in the backyard and the birch tree with its flowing leaves in the front yard. I can just sit and look at them.
Love those blossoms! This means that sunny days are just around the corner...

Okay, this actually made me laugh. This is how one of the children recently put away the peaches after dinner one night. The child 'covered' them this way and then put them in the fridge overnight like this. I found them the next morning. Inventive. Clean up for the creative child who doesn't want to go to the trouble of digging through the tupperware containers to find one the right size!

Another thing that made me smile was a birthday card for Jeffrey from Grandma and Grandpa in Coarsegold. Grandma Pat makes her own cards, and she made this one with Jeffrey with his face in the round window of a rocket ship. It is absolutely adorable. It has been the hit of the family, so much so that I can't find it to take a picture of it to post on here. But it has made me smile all week, every time I run across it. I will try to post a picture of it when I document the Star Wars birthday party taking place on Friday.

Last, this picture of Anna makes me smile. She woke up Monday morning and informed me that I was going to buy her some "clothes" that day. I asked her what clothes she needed. She said she needed shorts, a shirt and a hat. I told her I would try to take her to buy some clothes later just to pacify her, figuring she would forget. It did not make me smile that she bugged me all day long for three days about going to buy her "clothes", especially when I have been trying to plan and shop for stuff for Jeffrey's birthday this week. However, I finally relented and sent Rich and Anna to the girls' section while I got the last of the party stuff. This is what they came up with. I guess the dress won out over the shorts and shirt.

Final fun of President's Week

We had a great week for our vacation. Besides the snow and painting, we watched Megamind and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the older kids went to several parties, we had too much ice cream, and I personally ate out at least once each day. Wow! Now that's a vacation! We also had the Pinewood Derby for Adam and celebrated my grandma's 99th birthday--the same night. Here are some pictures.The final car that Adam submitted. He came in 5th overall. We thought it looked more like a Hummer than our white van with big wheels. He also received the Most Realistic award. Huh? I have never seen a Hummer painted in rainbow colors. But Adam had fun!
Here is the group that helped my Grandma Beatty celebrate her 99th birthday. We all went out to dinner and stayed visiting for a long time. Left to right, Rich, me, Grandma, Art & Adrienne (half-sister and husband), Dad, Darren and Heather (half-sister and husband), and Joey (half-brother). What a great night!
Rich and I with Grandma. We are so lucky to live near her so that we can see her on fairly often. She still lives alone. Can you believe it?!
Lastly, we went to the temple to do family baptisms on Thursday. That was a wonderful experience. We had half of our children in the temple with us. We are half-way to our goal.

Here are the pictures from yesterday's snow trip. We had a great time! We went to a snow park called Adventure Mountain just before you go over the summit down into South Lake Tahoe on Hwy 50. We went with two other families with children ages similar to ours.

Here is a view of the mountain. It was gorgeous weather!
Anna and Daddy hanging out, watching the sledders go by
Jeffrey and Jacob Grimsman sledding down together

Katie, Jacob, Ashley Mork and Lexi Grimsman--Watch out, here they come!
Anna loved sledding down the hill!
Rich helped her get started at the top
Jacob landed at the bottom of the hill
Jacob, Ashley, Katie and Lexi
Running down the hill instead of sledding? Lexi in front, Ashley next, then Katie and Jacob with Jacob Grimsman and Jeffrey on sleds in the middle
Lunchtime--Anna, Adam, Jeffrey, Beth and Josh
Jeffrey, cutie
Kris Wells, Tricia Grimsman, and I
Someone gave us a propane heater so Rich lit it up to keep everyone warm. The weather was warm up by the sledding runs but down by the picnic tables, there was a wind that kept it chilly.
Ashley and Anna
Anna loves the snow!
Josh at the end of a run
Beth showing off the icicle she found
Beth and Anna made a snack of icicles hanging off the pine trees

More food!
Adam on the black, fast sled
Here Adam comes
Josh in front, with Daniel and David Mork close behind, racing down the hill
Crashed and laughing at the bottom
Daniel and David, just before the crash. Daniel was actually sick and had a fever when we got home, so he had his fun before lunch. After lunch, he hung out in the warm car.
Snowball fight! Katie and Ashley getting Jacob
Jeffrey and Jacob Grimsman, sledding buddies for the second year in a row
Here comes Jeffrey!
Here comes Beth!
Anna going up, Beth going down...
Almost the whole group of kids--starting from the left, David Mork, Daniel, Adam, Jacob Pettingill, Nicki Grimsman, Annie Wells, Cami Grimsman, Lexi, Josh, Beth, and Jeffrey and Jacob Grimsman in the front. Ashley and Katie, Anna, plus Nick and Lilly Wells were missing from the picture. What a fun group!