War Paint

Chalk art is always an adventure with our kids. It usually gets all over their clothes and then just brushes off. Add an artist to the mix, and you get even more unusual results-- not bad, just unexpected. Jack got the inspiration this time. Doesn't he look like a "native?" I think he went around town like this for a few hours...and he still brings smiles to our faces.

Happy Fourth of July

A very big Happy Freedom Days to everyone! In honor of the 4th of July, we take the kids to see the balloon festival every year. It's held in the baseball field behind the Utah Valley hospital and this is it's 26th year. They have lots of balloons, people, kids, and even an early pancake breakfast by the Kiwanis club. It's a good time!

We decided to see the balloon launch on Friday morning. I was hoping that there wouldn't be as many people attending the Friday session as the ones for Saturday and Monday. I was right. It was a LOT less crowded! It was actually more enjoyable this way. The only problem we/the pilots encountered was a strong crosswind somewhere overhead. There wasn't any wind on the ground, but it's been fairly windy for the past couple of days, and the atmosphere above us could be doing anything.

Anyway, we got to see the balloons inflate and one was even offering rides (I didn't check out prices). But it was an awesome sight to watch deflated fabric suddenly "balloon" overhead and then lift off of the ground! The kids loved it!

Thanks to Daddy's camera abilities! The panoramic picture is awesome, Shawn! I think the Coke bottle was a favorite of everyone's this year. John kept calling it "Dr. Pepper" but he finally figured it out when he could see the letter "C" on the huge label.

Amazing what they can fly? So...the unusual balloons this year were the bottle, piggy bank, and Smokey the Bear. Kinda fun to see something different in the sky.

One Great Fishing Season

This past saturday John, Cousin Adam, and I woke up before the sun to hit Vivan Park Pond and terrorize some fish. Well the sun didn't make it over the mountain as fast as I thought it would, and the only thing that got terrorized were some Water Skeeters. The kids did get a kick out of a dog that was roaming the park. He had found a box of almost full velveta cheese by one of the trees and decided to make a snack of it while the kids watched and giggled.

John and Adam had a great time though, casting in the water, and both had a great time seeing who could pull out the biggest "green" or, as Adam called them, "spinach" fish. The pond was full of weeds and gunk. Eventually I had both boys, after Adam tried just about every other lure I had, casting small Rapalas. Adam didn't get but maybe a nibble or two. John got one great bite, but didn't set his hook in time. A bit later John brought in the first fish of the day, a pretty little 10" Rainbow trout that he was so proud of. He's turning into a great little angler.

I think we'll have to go out again with cousin Adam and see what we can terrorize before he leaves for Okinawa with his family.

John's First Fishing Day

I didn't get any pictures as I was busy pulling trout out of the water myself. But, today was John's first fishing day. He had a blast and actually landed the first fish of the day. John was really excited to go fishing and even more excited when we went out last night to pick up a spiderman fishing pole for him. He spent most of the time casting into the water and reeling back in.

Though he got really excited when I started fishing and pulling out fish. I caught 3 rainbow trout and kept 1. John's trout didn't quite make it out of the pond, but he caught it none the less.

He's excited to go again. If anyone is interested in coming with us we have an extra rod you can use.

Seeing the sights with Grandma Sue

Next stop, Dunlap to see Grandma Sue. And boy did we do a lot of stuff! I think we ran everyone down to exhaustion because of what we wanted to see and do! Ah well...we had fun!

First stop, Nauvoo. It was the first time back since we'd started our adventure as the Colloton family, and we've increased our numbers. Does the following picture look familiar?

The last time we were here, we only had Mommy and Daddy touching the door to the temple. This time, we had three little hands with us! The kids loved being able to touch the temple and see where we started our Forever Family.

We toured a few of the sights in Nauvoo...not very many because the kids' attention span isn't much for the tours that aren't hands-on. At the ox wagon, the girls weren't much for touching the animals but they did join us for the ride in the wagon. John was a little leery of the big animals but at least he got closer than Kelsey did. Oh well. Maybe next time we'll get a horse carriage ride for Kelsey.

We stopped by the blacksmith shop for our Prairie Diamond rings. John claimed the horseshoe the senior missionary made for Grandma Sue. Silly John! Both he and Kelsey were very concerned if they lost track of their rings.

Next stop, Pioneer Activities for the kids. It has great activities for the kids to do...to show them some of the ways kids in the 1840s played. Bekah and Kelsey were great little moms as they made dinner, took care of the baby dolls, and even fed the sheep and horse.

John and Daddy played ring toss, climbing bear, tops, and stick pull...mostly boy games, of course. But John did want to ride the horse too...and show us all how he could spell his name on the chalkboard in the little schoolhouse.

We also saw the rope making, candle making, and bread making demonstrations in the Family Living Center...but the kids wanted to be up and doing rather than listening to what the missionaries had to say. They loved the cookies in the Scovil Bakery and the brick from the brickyard. All in all, Nauvoo was fun...and such nice weather too! Much better than the crowds and heat of summer.

We then took the kids (and Shawn) to Wildlife Prairie Park in Peoria! We saw bison, wolves, red tail hawks, great horned owls, bald eagles, foxes, bobcats, cougars, elk, cranes, cardinals...and several bus loads of grade schoolers...lots of native wildlife of Illinois.

We took the train around the loops and the kids had a blast on that! But I don't know who was more excited about all of the slides in the park: Shawn or John? Everyone had such a great time!

We had so much fun at Grandma Sue's house! We'll have to go back after Jack Jack arrives and gets big enough to enjoy some of the fun stuff in Peoria.

Happy Halloween....You Hallowieners you.

I don't normally do what I consider "cutesie" so this was a bit of a stretch for me.  But it's different and different is always good as it stretches us in ways that we normally wouldn't be pulled.  Anyway, Happy Halloween!

Sidewalk Art

Kelsey's favorite things is sidewalk chalk.  Usually it boils down my asking me "draw mines beet" or "draw me" which translates to me drawing an outline of her foot or... her.  Which is fun until the 5th time in a row.  

However, sometimes John, Kelsey, or Linda ask me for something interesting.  Eitherway, it's great to play with the kids.

Bacon

Yes, Bacon. I spent 2+ hours Friday night cooking bacon for a ward breakfast the next day. How much cooked bacon can be cooked in 2+ hours? 10LBS!!! Well, that's 10lbs uncooked bacon...so that probably yields...what?.....4lbs if that. Anyway, it made me think of the following video, enjoy.

Things That Really Made Me Laugh Hard This Week

I'm not the type of person to unabashedly laugh out loud. But, this week had some great moments.

1) Skunk?

We went camping Wednesday and Thursday to celebrate Linda's Mom's Birthday. Now this place was infested with "Barking Spiders." I had been stepping or sitting on them all night as well as a few other people at the camp. However, there seemed to be a particularly bad infestation following me around all night long. Well, as we were settling down into bed I found another, rather large, "barking spider" in my sleeping bag. As is custom when squashing these creatures I got the giggles. Well I burst out into full uproarious laughter as soon as I hear Kelsey a minute or two later ..."mommy, I smell skunk!" Absolutely made my night, and that night I really needed the laugh.

2) Big Head and little arms.

We rented Meet The Robinsons last night. This movie is a gem and definitely worth picking up. Well there was one scene that absolutely had me rolling.

The arm waving really got me....still kills me to watch it. Hope you all enjoy.

It looked just like this...really!

I thought it would only be proper that I add my own account to the previously added message. I did last Saturday ride my very first motorcycle. I had an absolute blast. It's amazing how small you feel on the rode when you don't have a car surrounding you. But it was also very cool to have that feeling like you are more a part of the driving experience.

I didn't have a camera to catalog the experience. So I've included the above picture which is a pretty darn accurate representation of my first time riding a motorcycle........honest. I still have somethings to learn, obviously, but all in all I would say I had a successful first ride.

Never Enough Chefs In the Kitchen.

Linda, as a special treat, picked up some French bread and pesto mix from the store. Unfortunately we didn't have the needed ingredients to make a truly killer pesto pizza (read: no chicken or spinach laying around). So we improvised.

I made some sauce and garlic butter. But the true chefs of the night were John and Kelsey who both were able, with a little help from the head chef, to create their own French bread pizzas.

We tried to get some good pictures of the whole process. But, the most difficult by far was to co-ordinate John and Kelsey. Getting these two to look at the camera and smile together, at the exact same time. Is difficult to say the least.

First we would get John to look at the camera.

Then Kelsey would do as we ask and John would go back to working on his edible masterpiece.

But, with a little "Daddy Persuasion", we got the intended result.

A New Year, A New Calling

As the title states. I have a new calling. I have been serving as the 2nd counselor in our ward's Bishopric since 1 January 2006. Just this past Sunday I was released from that calling and it was announced that Both Linda and Myself will now serve in a C.E.S. (Church Educational System) Calling as Institute Teachers. We do not have full details yet, nor have we been set apart, however we should have more information later on this week.

I truly enjoyed serving in the ward Bishopric. It was there that I learned fully the joy found in serving. Granted I had my difficult times with everything else I have to pack into my schedule, and lack of administrative knowledge. However through the blessings of our Heavenly Father I was able to do some good and learn quite a bit.

I'm grateful for those that I was able to work with in my previous calling and all that they were able to teach me. I've had some wonderful experiences and am looking forward to the experiences and lessons that I will have the opportunity to have in my next calling. I can't speak for Linda, but I'm really excited to teach.

Relevant Links:
www.lds.org
www.mormon.org
www.ldsces.org