We went to Yellowstone and did stuff ...

This year marked the beginning of a new tradition ... It was the first Pea Reunion.  All the living things in the following photograph are Pea's (I say "things" because I'm including the dog).  For the first reunion, held in early June, we went to Yellowstone - the cabin in which we stayed is not in Yellowstone - it's in Island Park ... So here we are in Island Park:

At Yellowstone, we saw all the usual sights and took all the usual pictures.  I have pictures of the sights, but for this post, I'll focus on people ... If you look closely at the reflection in my shades, you can see the bit of earth that is Old Faithful.  Old Faithful is just as faithful - I have photographic evidence!

Little Miss and I were excited to see it erupt, can't you tell?

Mr. Pea wasn't there.  Every morning, before proceeding with our hiking and sight seeing, we dropped him off by a body of water and he did what he loves best, after me, baseball and track and field, of course.  He went fly fishing.  After four years of enduring a trout fishing drought, it was time he replenish his store ... I don't think he's seen any part of Yellowstone other than the rivers ... 

As per tradition, we took a face shot. We were in a rush, so we didn't do as well as usual.  We were excited!  He was excited to meet some fish and I was excited to meet some vistas.  Ha!

The kids were eager to spend several days with their cousins and Grandma.  I love this picture because of the background; the rest of our family is walking behind the skipping group ...

If you're wondering what I did most of the time, here is the answer:  I took pictures.  I'd forgotten how breathtakingly beautiful and majestic Yellowstone is.  Here I am at Mammoth Hot Springs with my face behind the lens - practicing one of my loves, after Mr. Pea, my children, fresh fruit and rock climbing, of course ...

I learned a lot over those four days.  I learned about nature.  I learned what to do if I saw an American Bison or Elk.  I was reminded how beautiful Heavenly Father's creations are.  I remembered how graceful a sport fly fishing is ...

Most memorable of all was what I learned about the other three Mrs. Pea's: I learned that I am SO excited to spend eternity getting to know them because our differences add such spice and fun to my life.  We married into a great family, didn't we, girls?

So here's to Yellowstone and other stuff!  The "stuff" is what makes my life so great!  

I'm sure Old Faithful can rise for that!  ;)

4 of 12,000

Last Saturday, we joined thousands of people in the Race for the Cure.

We basked in the energy of the event and as we participated, we thought of our friends and family who have been affected by breast cancer.  Next year we'll put together a bigger team because the energy is contagious and must be passed on!  'Til next year!

Crazy Times

I have been without internet for awhile.  An experience which I don't recommend to those who, like me, are used to spending time on the world wide web.  For now, I get to come to Mr. Pea's office to search, blog and stalk (yup, I used to lurk on other people's blogs and other forms of social media; before the advent of social media, such activity was frowned upon.  Maybe it still is?  If so, please disregard the preceding).  

So, in one grammatically incorrect run-on sentence, here's what's happened since January 27th ... 

We changed our hang out from Kansas to Utah; B started at another school; Mr. Pea opened an Immigration Law Practice; B became an official member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; we said goodbye as a sister entered the world of full time missionary service; B changed teachers at his new school; and we successfully stuffed our belongings in 2/3 of the space we used to occupy without our home looking like an episode of hoarders (that's success!!). 

Typed out, the events taking place over the past month and a half don't seem like a lot.  But our haggard faces and our bank account prove otherwise.  

Goodbye for now.

The Magic Word

A few days ago, I overheard the following exchange.  (Unfortunately, due to the wall of packed boxes, my view of the conversation was limited and I did not see the object of desire; it was probably a Lego.)  

Little Miss:  "I want it."  

B-Man:  "Okay, what's the magic word?"

Little Miss:  "Abracadabra, I want it."

B-Man, chuckling:  "Not quite, say please."

Little Miss:  "Please, can I have it?"

She got what she wanted and everyone else got a good laugh.  Abracadabra!

Our Kairos Moments

Fact:  It's been awhile.  1 month, exactly.  We've been busy and my priorities have shifted.  I recently read a blogpost that inspired me to carpe a couple kairos' a day.  So, that's what I've decided to do.  Here are some of the supreme moments we've experienced in the past month.

Taking a picture in front of where our family began.  

Chastely ;) kissing on the dance floor at our brother's wedding reception.

Dancing with our 2nd favorite dance partners.

Spending time with BFFE's (Best Friends Forever and Eternity).  These boys are so great!.

Finding a new place to walk, watch cardinals, pretend to "Sing in the Rain", search for fossils and learn about Kansas City/the Missouri River.

Eating a favorite treat in the warmth of the January sun.

Quietly celebrating a 4th birthday with purple, pink and white balloons, purple sparkly finger nails, little Disney Princess' and a purple cake with pink and purple icing.

Going up to Winter Quarters with good friends one last time before our move.

It's been a fun month.  It'll be exciting to see what the next 30 days bring!

The P.F.B.

I haven't been feeling well.  Yesterday, Mr. Pea asked if I might be dying (he was joking, of course).  I've begun to feel better, but I was pretty close to the "get to the doctor now" stage; then again, I probably wasn't.  I'm digressing.  Back to the story at hand.

This morning was more of the same.  Sore throat, chills, headache ... Blah, blah, blah.  I was laying on the couch, waiting for my over-the-counter-medicine-cocktail to kick in when Little Miss approached me and yelled:  "Mommy, r'you still sick?"  I'm sure she wasn't yelling, but with the headache I had, that's what it sounded like.  (Earlier this morning, I asked Mr. P to turn off all the lights.  They were all off.  I guess it's pretty hard to turn off the sun.  I've veered off course again.)  

Little Miss asked if I was still ill and I said, "Yeah."  After I responded, I closed my eyes; when I opened them again, I noticed she had covered me with her most beloved Pink Flower Blankie (it's ranked so high among her possessions that P.F.B. is deserving of its status as a proper noun).  

Little Miss was comforting me by lending me her prized possession.  For her, that was a sacrifice and I feel so blessed to be on the receiving end of her generous heart.  

I thought about grabbing my camera and having someone capture a photograph, but it was difficult to move and it hurt too much to talk.   

The moment lasted for about 10 minutes.  After those minutes, she covered me with her second most favorite blankie.  If I were three and my favorite thing was a P.F.B., I probably would have lasted 8 minutes.   

Right now, I'm feeling great; the sore throat is gone; I'm feeling warmer than I have in 3 days and my headache has all but disappeared.  Maybe all I needed was 10 minutes with a Pink Flower Blankie.  

Little Miss and P.F.B.'s first glimpse at a second birthday surprise - 2010

Little Miss and P.F.B. enjoying a patch of sunlight on a cold, wintry day - 2010

Little Miss and P.F.B. resting after a fun-filled day with mom - August 2010

Littls Miss and P.F.B. after an exhausting day.  August 2010

From L to R:  P.F.B., Little Miss and Mommy watching General Conference.  October 2010

P.F.B. Little Miss and B-Man reading on a Sunday afternoon.  March 2011

We love it here:

That is all.

Our Thanksgiving and Birthday of Awesomeness

If I had to choose one word to describe our long weekend, it would be:  RELAXING.

This is what happens when we don't shut one of the van doors all the way:  The battery dies and we create another memorable beginning to our Thanksgiving.

After a delicious feast at the Haddock's (of which this post is in want of pictures), the kids were able to run around and shoot a potato gun.  I stayed inside to chat and play games.

We went home with one extra kid and spent the next day putting up Christmas decorations and cutting out snowflakes.  Cutting out snowflakes is one of my new favorite Christmas-y things.

Hours later, Little Miss put up the star:

And the four of us added the little details.
Our ornament collection grows each year and it's fun to talk about the memories brought on by each one.

A few RELAXING days later, it was my turn to celebrate my Birthday.  I blew out my 30 candles (and for the first time, I forgot to make a wish before doing so; which is a bummer because I only used one breath to accomplish the task.  Maybe there's a post birthday-candle-blowing-out clause that says, if I forget, I can have a wish anyway ... Maybe, instead of using the word "forget" the phrase: "concentrating so hard at keeping children out of reach of fire" ... would be used instead.)

Angel food cake, fresh whipped cream and raspberries were the chosen birthday cake-y items.

After cake, came presents.

This year, I got the perfect gifts ... 

If you need me, I can be found wrapped in my cozy blanket.  I may not pay much attention to you because the book I'm reading is so good. 

The end.

Quiet

It's really quiet in our home right now; the quiet began right after lunch.  That was almost three hours ago.  The boys are out fishing; I've been reading.  As for Little Miss ... 

She's sitting at the dining room table.  Her mouth is full of a bite of food; a bite she took almost three hours ago.  She won't spit it out and she won't swallow it.  Instead, she let's it sit.  

As for what I'm doing:  after telling her again and again to swallow, I took a picture.  

And now I must go because I believe the quiet is over.  I hear her singing; I just hope she swallowed before the singing began ...

Avatar Aang and the Little Princess

Halloween was a blast this year ... Enjoy the pictures!

Avatar:  The Last Airbender is a cartoon we watched as a family this summer.  I used the following image to create the costume:  

B decided he wanted to shave his head and we went for it!

He had a lot of fun getting into character:

Our Little Princess was at home in her costume.  She twirled and twirled in her princess dress and loved every part of the transformation.  It didn't take a lot.  Just a few curls (thanks, Jeni!) and glitter spray.

Of the images I captured that night, this one ranks high among my favorites:

The costumes, the warm-er weather and the relaxing atmosphere helped create one of the best Halloween experiences we've had.
Even our pumpkins were happy.  

The Mister's Daughter

Tonight for our FHE treat, we made a batch of instant Pistachio pudding.  To me, the pudding is all right.  My favorite part is the nuts.  I end up picking out the nuts and leaving some of the pudding.  (Dear Jello-O: Add more nuts to your pudding.  Sincerely, Me.)  Where was I ...

B finished his pudding, excused himself from the table and said he was headed upstairs to brush his teeth.  I remembered his toothbrush was in the downstairs bathroom, so I told him to pick it up on the way.  Mister P went up to ready himself for bed, so it was Little Miss and I at the table.

She asked for more pudding.  I said no.  She said that was all right.  We talked about other things, but I don't remember what.  

Under her breath I hear her say ... "I scrubbed with B's toothbrush."

Me, not sure if I heard her correctly:  "Huh?"

Little Miss:  "Never mind."

Then she RAN from the table ...

Me:  "Hey, come back here!"

She walks back, eyes downcast.

I ask:  "You used B's toothbrush to scrub.  Scrub what?"

Little Miss:  "The bathroom."

Two things:  1.  I realize WHY the toothbrush was downstairs.  2.  I sprint upstairs where sure enough, B's diligently brushing his teeth.

Me:  "Stop brushing your teeth!"

B, looking at me like I'm crazy:  "Why?"

Me:  "No reason, just stop brushing with that toothbrush, throw it away and I'll get you a new one out of the closet."

B, with a shrug:  "Okay."

Seriously?!  Apparently.

I think if B knew what happened with his now discarded toothbrush, his expression would be something like this:

What a silly girl the Mister's daughter can be!  We love our little girl!

The Sun Did Not Shine

A few minutes ago, Little Miss vented her frustration:  

"My sun isn't working."

Mr. P asked:  "Did you want to play with the sun today?"

Her reply:  "It didn't work, it just didn't come on!"

At least it worked on Friday.

Who knows, maybe it'll "turn on" tomorrow.

The sun may not have shined, but I witnessed a lightbulb turn on.  

B understood a math concept this evening and I can't be happier ... Inside, I'm smiling like this:

Maybe I'll start kicking my legs like these boys did, but rather than sing the "We're happy to be on a field trip at the zoo" song, I'll sing the ... "Wahoo, he get's it" song. 

FYI:  witnessing the moment a child understands something might be one of the most profound moments a person can experience.  I wish I had a picture of THAT!