Over the River and Through the Woods...

to grandmother's house we went...but only after we had this little adventure:

We packed our Suburban, everything was ready to go, every boy had dutifully obeyed their parents and used the bathroom, grabbed a pillow, a book to read and had taken their seat in the car. The house was locked up, checked and double checked. Garage door shut. We bowed our heads to pray and then Steve tried to put the car in gear to begin our well planned trip (which we were all excited for!) And well, the gear handle thing-y wouldn't move. We all just said to each other, "have faith...it will work! We have prepared, we are ready and we want to go..." But it wouldn't budge and as Steve kept messing with the blasted thing it broke and soon that gear thing-y was hanging out of its socket. We just looked at each other a bit shocked! And then we started laughing.

But, then the realization sunk in that we were stranded... Thoughts swirled through my head of us sitting alone together at our table for Thanksgiving...kids moping around the house for one long weekend ...oh nooo... These thoughts and the look of disappointment and worry on my kids' faces made me spring into action forming plan B and C.

I ran back inside the house and called rental car places only to learn that it would cost us a mere $700-$800 to rent a mini van or Suburban to get our family to Grandma's house. Well, that was out.....so then we thought of Aunt Barbara and Uncle Rod and their large blue van that they don't use that much anymore and we crossed our fingers and gave them a call...and those generous, wonderful people came to our rescue and brought this over......our ticket to Grandma's house.

My kids let out a hoop and holler when Uncle Rod came driving down the street. Rod gave us the run down on all the van's special unique quirks that it has acquired over the years like a long time old friend... It only took a few minutes to transfer all of our luggage and things and soon we were on our way..."Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's House," thanks to Rod and Barb. I can't tell you how thankful we felt.

Yes, at first this van doesn't look like much but we quickly developed quite a love affair and deep appreciation for it. We lovingly dubbed it the "hippie van," and decided it was "out a sight cool man," and we were on our way...and seriously we decided we want one of these things....Every boy had room to spread out and that made the trip so much easier on everyone. Thank You Barb and Rod ...we will never forget your kindness...this Thanksgiving 2009!

Some Scenes From Thanksgiving 2009.....

The Cooks! Jill, me, Mom, Diana, Lynette, and Cathy... One of my most favorite places to be in this world is in my Mom's kitchen cooking with these wonderful Ladies.. We are missing Christine and Gayle who were probably whipping up the huge pans of potatoes over the other Crowley house.

Cathryn and Katie. Katie was enjoying her first Thanksgiving home after leaving for college at BYU-I.

Stir, whip, mix, peel, chop, and talk, talk, talk, cry..can't get enough..

Diana making her yummy sweet potato pie...!

Time for the Feast! We had our Thanksgiving Feast at the old Crowley Soda Fountain. Lots of history in this old place...it just seeps out of the floor boards and out of the walls. Grandpa Les Crowley's nearly life size so cool and so handsome picture hangs prominently on one wall, so he was there with us in spirit. I was camera challenged on this trip and did not take enough pictures...and I am sure being busy setting out the Thanksgiving feast also has something to do with why there are too few pictures.. This was the first time we had ever had Thanksgiving here...We are such a big group now that we can't all fit comfortably in Mom and Dad's house. So, we thought this might be the next best thing to holding Thanksgiving at a church. Hmmmm...

Cousin Fun!

Emily and Julia...

Younger Cousins hangin' together...

My two beautiful sisters, Lynette and Jill!

The whole Thanksgiving weekend was great fun and here's a few more things we want to remember:

• Game Night--crazy fun!
• The U of U/BYU game...Wow! and how all of my brothers in law and brother were willing to get up and leave to be at the temple for our session as a family in the heat of the last few minutes of the game. What commitment! I'd say they all have their priorities straight. We all made it on time and it was a beautiful experience to be there all together. I am so blessed to have such wonderful, faithful brothers in law. They taped the end of the game and we came home to watch it after going to the temple.
• Fun visit with the Lyda's our old friends!
• Feeling like a little kid while I played with my three youngest at this place called "Hop To It" a building filled with blow up bounce house types of things..obstacle courses, slides etc.
• How fun it was to drive home all comfortable in that big old van excited for the Christmas season to begin.

Thanksgiving '09 was 4 fun filled days full of singing, shopping, feasting, laughing and talking. Playing games, sacred time at the temple together....cousins and adults alike, watching movies, and lots of memories to cherish! Thanks to all of you....who made it so fun.

Jonathan's Big Birthday Celebration

Jonathan turned 14 on November 18th, Wednesday...

He had 3 Celebrations...

On his actual birthday we had Crepes with Nutella and Bananas for his birthday breakfast. This has been his favorite birthday breakfast his entire life. I thought the boy was half French when he was three because his favorite restaurant was NOT McDonalds but a European cafe that served all types of crepes. He learned to make crepes with me around age three as well. It is a yummy dish ..those crepes with Nutella and Banana...also good with the usual jam, butter and powdered sugar.

First Celebration......He had his end of season football banquet on his actual birthday...November 18th. He was sung to and had birthday cake with all his football buddies. All I can say is those boys sure can play football but singing is a different story. Ha Ha! But, it was fun to share a moment with his football team who had a truly amazing year together.

Second Celebration.....Friday night Jon and 4 of his closest friends got together at Classic Skating to do boy things. These boys have been buddies since we moved in when Jon was three. I love watching them hang out together. They are so comfortable with each other and have such fun bantering back and forth. And when I thought about past birthday parties it was interesting for me to see how much they have each changed. They are as tall or taller than me and their voices are getting lower and the topic of conversation was frequently about girls!!!

I have learned that throwing a party for a 14 year old is way different than throwing a party for a ten year old. You set up the activities and then get out of the way. They had a blast at Classic skate playing lazer tag, playing tag in the bounce house and capture the flag in the blast zone. ...oh and talking with girls!!

After they did all those boy things at Classic Skate we were off to eat at the Training Table. Jonathan's first choice was In and Out Burger but because it was its first day open in Draper we thought, ahhh.. let's avoid the crowds and go to the good ol' Training Table. It was the boys' idea so we didn't feel bad about that at all!

Bodie was such a pro at placing everyone's orders.....

Hanging onto childhood just a little longer...they all colored and laughed and talked while waiting for their food to be ready... ! Ha Ha!

Yum...burgers and cheese fries with fry sauce!! Pure heaven!

After eating, they all came home and watched a movie together and slept over. The next morning it was Wii games, computer games and breakfast together. We had crepes ofcourse!

Happy Birthday Jonathan! He sure has a wonderful group of friends who all get a long so well and will probably be friends for life.

Third Celebration....

and my favorite is our own family party. We had this on Sunday November 22nd. We had his birthday dinner: Steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, scones, green beans with bacon and salad. These dinners are just the best of times. Everyone gets the chance to give a small gift to the birthday person and share a funny story, at least one reason why they love and appreciate the birthday person and one thing they hope for the birthday person's future. It always ends up being such a fun afternoon with laughter and family togetherness. We lit the candles on his cake--the Icecream Sandwich Cake..that has been the family favorite this year, sang him Happy Birthday--and Jonathan is officially 14 years old!! Here's a few pictures from our fun afternoon celebrating Jon's birthday:

Jon's an expert at making scones..... He insisted on making this part of the meal and I love to cook with him in the kitchen. I have since he was a mere 3 years old....when he learned how to make crepes with me.

I put the three youngest boys to work peeling potatoes. Scott even had to get in on the action. He is using a butter knife to "help."

Ready to eat his birthday dinner!

Joseph sharing a funny story about Jonathan...

And Eric too...

We have a great tradition where everyone buys a small gift for the birthday person. It is really fun to see what each person comes up with. They are usually quite simple and from the heart. Michael knew that one of Jon's favorite treats is Ho Ho's... It is such fun to give gifts to each other.

What is it? Hmmmm...

Time for cake!!!

And the Birthday song!!!

Happy Birthday my beautiful boy! My handsome Young Man...We Love You

So Grateful....

To Be Their "Mom......!"

From the time the boys come home from school until they are snuggled down into their beds ..there is a hummmmmm of energy in our house and it usually involves many interjections of Mom!, Mommy! Hey Mom, Oh Mother...(said the funny way Eric says it) .... Sometimes these requests for my attention all come in about the same minute and are of such a variety that I just have to giggle at the hilarious chaos of it all. (Ok it is funny unless it is after 10 pm., then Mommy is not so amused!)

When the boys were little I seemed oblivious to this phenomenon ...or have I forgotten or was I absolutely drowning in the multitude of their demands so that I didn't appreicate it...? I am not sure. But during this past year I am often in awe... grateful, moved, and touched, by this sign that I am so important in their lives. I don't take this for granted. Sure it is easy to be irritated by it... Someone said once that being a mom is like being pecked to death by a a bunch of ducks. It can feel like that sometimes...but then I just look at them...my children and realize that this is a special season of my life... A time I waited for, prepared for and looked forward to all my life.

I realize how central I am in their universe; how I brought them in to this world and how theystill look to me for affirmation..."Mom look at this" "Hey Mom you've got to see this, "Mom I did this..." "Mom where is my?" "I am home Mom!" "Mom can you come get me" "Mom can you make me a sandwhich?" And, while it can seem so exhausting at times to mean so much to so many people I just sit back and marvel. I know the years will come all too quickly when our home will grow uncomfortably quiet. But, for now there is a hustle and a bustle in our home that is well, all I pictured and hoped it would be. And I love it.

Tired Mommy...but Happy Mom

Grateful for....

This Adorable Two Year Old.....He is a bonus, a blessing, a gift!

bo⋅nus

 :

Something extra or additional given freely

Synonyms: reward, honorarium, gift. 2. A bonus is a gift to reward performance,

bless⋅ing

 [bles-ing]

a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

Those who know us well, know that this little boy barely made it into our family before it was too late. At first, this was a great leap of faith for us. And that leap of faith was answered with numerous small miracles and tender mercies. Bringing Scotty into the world brought me so much closer to my Heavenly Father. Scott has been a blessing in our family from day one. He is adored by each of his brothers and he makes each person in our family so happy.

So lucky to be able to cherish this-- my last baby just one last time.

Grateful for ......

Cottonwood on the Creek.....and the man behind the dream...

We raked leaves at Cottonwood on the Creek yesterday.... We do this every year. These pictures are a few years old...but I wanted to use these because they include my father in law, Darwin Knudsen who passed away 3 years ago. This property was his pride and joy and has belonged to his family for 4 generations, since the days of Brigham Young. A large mill was located here that served the people of the Salt Lake Valley from the late 1800's and because of that it was named a historical site of Utah in 1995. It used to be much larger and was referred to as "Knudsen's Corner" and still is today by weathermen and the traffic reporters. But, all of it has been sold off except for this 4.5 acres that sits along the banks of Cottonwood Creek.

Some in the family call it the Millstream Farm but I have always called it Cottonwood on the Creek. It isn't a flat piece of land. It has so much character with its gentle rolling hills. It includes a mill wheel (patterned after the original mill wheel.) It also includes a large barn that has housed a cow, horses, geese, sheep, and llamas through the years. It is sort of a "fairy tale" farm as some have called it. There was a zip line that every kid has enjoyed riding from up above the old cellar ending down at the barn doors. There is a tire swing that hangs from a huge tree that every kid has loved being pushed as high as possible on. There is more family history on this ground then I could ever write about here..... just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

It was a tradition to ride with Grandpa on the old tractor in the Fall. Here's Michael enjoying his turn. I really really miss that.....

Thank you to Grandpa Knudsen for providing such a wonderful place to enjoy the changing seasons and family togetherness. Oh how we miss you!!!

Grateful for....

Unhurried Time and a Magical Afternoon...

Today was one of those unusually good days... We had a wonderful and delicious Sunday dinner....on the nicely set table in the dining room... And the best part of all was the talking and laughter that lasted for more than an hour after the meal. The boys started telling stories about when they were little and not so little. It was one of those moments for Steve and I when we realized that we've created something here...that we've created a family with stories and a history all its own. We just sat back in awe....and watched and laughed with them until our sides hurt... So much nest warmth in my house today... so much love....life seems almost perfect.. for the moment....No money could ever buy this kind of happiness...

Grateful for....

Glorious Autumn Days....

I live in such a beautiful area... The trees lining our streets are ablaze with color..reds, golds, browns, and green. Today, I went for a short bike ride with Scotty in the bike trailer. The sky was a brilliant blue (I could swear it is bluer this year) The air was a perfect crisp temperature. There were a few fluffy white clouds hanging in the sky. It was perfect. I am a nature lover and see God's hand in it all and see it being a sign of His great love for all of us. The world He created for us is glorious and brings us cheer and comfort every day if we just look for it. So today I am grateful for this beautiful earth and this beautiful time of the year.

A New Way of Looking at November....

After Halloween is finally over.... and the decorations are put away and the pumpkins are shriveling on the porch, the kids are coming down off their sugar highs and the costumes are finally put away, I have traditionally been left feeling a little bit dull.....

Back when I was little, Halloween was the highest moment of the glorious Fall season. After Halloween everything was just downhill until Christmas with a happy Thanksgiving hiccup along the way. I absolutely adore Fall, and since I was feeling like a Halloween Scrooge this year, I decided I needed to do something different to continue to delight in this wonderful season.

So, when this dull "morning after" feeling descended upon me November 1st, I thought I would begin to celebrate Thanksgiving early by counting my blessings every day. At first this was a little hard, but now a few days later, I find myself counting and rejoicing in so many blessings. My heart is singing. November is a beautiful month; a month to count blessings,spend time with family; and enjoy simple pleasures... We are all so blessed...! So, here's to the month of November and all of its special delights...

Trip to the Zoo!

(disclaimer: it took me about a month..maybe more..... to get this posted....)

Oh the wonder! The excitement!!! I think Scott's face says it all. It is thrilling to go to the zoo...especially with cousins! Jill, Zeke and their adorable children were down for a visit. We met up at the zoo for some quick afternoon fun.

Are those cute kids or what! Alivia, Caleb and Scott. So fun to spend time with you!

Joseph was my most splendid helper on this trip to the zoo. Thanks for tagging along Joseph and for being such a great sport!

Our visit to the zoo was even more special because of the baby animals! We had a month old baby elephant to ooh and ahhh at....

And...a

simply adorable baby giraffe to peek at... Now isn't that the most elegant mother you have ever seen? And not pictured ...because I guess we were just awe-struck..there were 4 Bengal baby tigers rolling around playing with each other in the Asian Highlands exhibit. Their very handsome mother lay close by keeping her watch over them.

It was fun..it was quick, but we loved it.

Scotty ran right up to this and knew exactly what he should do...Are those two cute boys or what?

And, of course no trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the train.

What an adorable family! Thanks to Jill and Zeke for letting us crash their party and hang out with them for a couple of hours at the zoo. We just try to grab any moment we have to be together.

Goodbye...aren't they just the cutest family you ever saw?

On Flying the Nest.....

I think about this everyday...... My oldest son is leaving for college next year.....

When I was a younger mother, older wiser mothers would stop me in the store and tell me, "Enjoy your children. They grow up so fast." And, I believed them and I tried to enjoy every day...But I didn't fully comprehend. And now I really do know exactly what...they.. meant.

My oh my...whoosh....where did the last 5 years go? My little group of children have been mine....here around me in my nest. I have mothered them, read them the same favorite books over and over again, made them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, helped them with homework, kissed their "owies," carted them off to scouts and lessons, cheered for them at their games, applauded them at concerts and recitals, reminded them to do their chores, come for family prayer and scriptures, make their beds, tell the truth, talk nice, be polite, do their best, be a good friend and say their prayers..and I could go on and on..Whew!!!!

Steve and I have worked and planned together creating family adventures, outings and vacations. We have counseled and prayed together about each child...We have been intentional in the way we have planned family home evenings and have worked to cultivate a "spirit" in our home that is loving and affirming. Whew!!! That is a lot of work!

It has not been easy....This has been HARD work...there have been discouraging days when we have really questioned whether or not we could be successful at this parenting thing. But we've also known we are not alone in this work and have relied on faith and prayer to pull us through... We know deep in our souls this is our greatest work..and now it seems when we are just getting things sort of figured out...one of our's is going to fly the nest....It is so strange, no.... surreal.... to contemplate that we are entering the next phase.... And that after he goes...others will follow.

So, I am really trying not to freak out or be one of those mothers who cries more than normal when their children try out their wings...but...I can understand now why they do. I will get used to this and I will have a good attitude. I will. For their sakes... It's all good..... And, I still have many years left to enjoy....Well, really when do you ever stop being a mother? It just changes- that's all. I have a two year old for heaven's sakes. I know there are many grand adventures and challenges ahead. And now I will appreciate it all more. I am grateful for time...and the precious time I have to cherish with this little group of boys...I shall not take a minute for granted...for time slips through our fingers like sand.