A Mighty Wind

Look what the wind did?! It broke my two amazing ash trees right at the trunks. I almost cried. Really. I loved those trees.

Well, on the bright side, London is miraculously healed. And back to her sassy self. Here she is too busy eating her otter-pop to pose for a picture. I just kept pleading "Okay, don't smile. Just open your eyes!" No good.

Here's the best I could get...still no eyes open. Man, she is so sassy. Where does she get this from? (Mom don't answer.)

(Aunt Kiki, this smile's for you.)

London has a fever today. I think it's the 24 hour bug. I hope it's only the 24 hour bug. When she wasn't in this chair I was holding her. Well, we might be in for a long 24 hours...

I looked out the window and what did I see?

We have six apricot trees in our backyard. Here are the beginings of our first harvest.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Isn't Mother's Day a little bitter sweet? For one glorious day you are showered with gifts and tokens of gratitude. Then on Monday you're back to the daily routine of duties minus the fanfare. Thus is the life of mother.

I know what you're thinking: these flowers are amazing (and really heavy). Well, you're right. But they didn't belong to me. The delivery lady asked us to hold them until the neighbors got home to come claim them. I got something better. A beautiful paper rose from Porter that I can keep forever.


Before church I was treated to a gourmet breakfast. Not a single egg shell to be found.

I had a very wonderful Mother's Day and hope that it was the same for every other mother. I couldn't ask for more than I have already been blessed with. Now that my parents have moved closer in (and in to their dream house, no less. I'll have to post a picture some time) we were easily able to visit both of our mothers and families. Good times.

"The St. David Way"

So I cleaned out my pantry today. Yes, congratulations are in order. I found some cans of diet Coke left over from an open house I held and was just going to throw them away. Then Olen said he'd show me how to take care of them the "St. David way" (a term I've coined when he does something really hick - but totally adorable, of course). St. David, AZ is where Olen grew up; for those of you wondering.


Allow me to introduce you to the St. David way of getting rid of extra diet soda...

Step One.

Drive out of town...or at least past the wash. 

Help kid aim the "Red Ridey" (Porter's beloved Red Rider BB gun he got for Christmas...no he has not shot his eye out, yet.)

Step Two

Kid takes aim.

Step Three

Watch the diet go out the window.

Awh, yes. The happy spectators and picnic providers. Alright, it was really fun and way cooler than just throwing them away. FYI: I did take a shot with the ol' Red Ridey and nailed the can straight through the "e" on my first try, thank you very much.

So now you know how we handle left over diet soda in our house (and why nothing past the pantry got cleaned today). Ask me what we did with our Halloween pumpkins...you'll understand why I, so lovingly, say "The St. David Way".

Perks of Parenthood

Today in Porter's kindergarten class was a Mother and Father Tea Party. Basically a combined Mother's and Father's Day party.

Porter made this paper mache tie for Olen. I'll have to translate what is written:

My Daddy
I love you more than a rolucdr (a roller coaster). When I think of fish (fish) I think of you.
You make me laf (laugh).
My favorite thing we do together is fifishn (go fishing).
Love always,
Porter

This is a picture of Porter's flower hands that he made for me. Here's the translation:
My Mommy
I love you more than pcl jus (pickle juice - Porter loves pickle juice A LOT).
When I think of aplsz (apples) I think of you.
You make me laf (laugh).
You are so pridee (pretty).
You are funny too! You make me laugh. Remember when you tikols me (tickles me).


Porter's class sang a cute song "If you know you love your parents" sang to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it". In this picture, they just sang "If you know you love your parents, blow 'em a kiss!"



This is Porter and his little buddy Jake. They get in all kinds of trouble together and have to sit at opposite corners of the classroom.

This gig as a parent doesn't pay much. The benefits package can't be beaten. I wonder what the retirement package will be like?

The Wizard of Blog

Call me Dorothy. My three sidekicks and I are off to discover the wonderful Wizard of Blog. It's Katie's fault. She's moving to St. George in three weeks and we needed a way to keep track of each other. So we're off....

Since you are reading this, you must be one of the select people I've invited to check in on us when ever you feel like (or are bored, or need a good laugh, or are a grandma and feel obligated to read each post, or just to catch the latest family update). Lucky you. So bookmark the site and check in often (at least once a week) and leave a comment or two if you feel so inclined. I'm still working out the kinks and getting the hang of being a blogger so the look may change (once I figure out how to do that). Also, this is probably going to be a long post, so make yourself comfortable.

Alright, let the fun begin. The first post: our family vacation to Washington, DC and Buena Vista, Virginia (pronounced by the locals as 'bew-na vista').

To anyone who is thinking of attempting five hours on an airplane with a two year-old; think twice. No more flying with the kids until they're in their twenties. Thank goodness for original formula Dramamine. Thank goodness.

The motive behind our cross-country excursion was to visit Arlissa (Olen's sister) in DC and Houston and Cara (Olen's youngest brother and his wife) in Virginia. We spent the first day in DC touring monuments and the National Museum of Natural History. The weather was beautiful and the dogwood trees were in bloom. It was a gorgeous day.

My favorite of the memorials; the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Porter is doing what he calls his "cool dude" pose. It is very effective.




The Natural History Museum has an exhibit on butterflies. You can walk among 300 butterflies in this small climate controlled "cocoon" room. The butterflies were very flirtatious and would land on us and let us hold them. London would try to swat at them so we had to hold her hands back. She's still stuck on the all-bugs-are-bad-bugs idea. And for now, that's OK.


The next day we drove to Buena Vista, Virginia (three hours from DC) to visit Houston and Cara. We went to the Virginia Safari Zoo on our way to their house. We stood in the bed of Houston's truck and fed animals from around the world buckets of grain. It was a blast.

The next day we drove to Buena Vista, Virginia (three hours from DC) to visit Houston and Cara. We went to the Virginia Safari Zoo on our way to their house. We stood in the bed of Houston's truck and fed animals from around the world buckets of grain. It was a blast.


Houston graduated from Southern Virginia University on May 3rd.


Houston, watch your back...in about seven years.

Since Porter's been taking wrestling lessons twice a week for the past five weeks; he honestly believes with all of his sweet little heart that he could beat Houston in a wrestling match. But when asked to go "live" with Uncle Houie, Porter always had something else he needed to do first.
Well done Houston! Here's the fam at the graduation.

From left to right: Molly, London, Olen, Adam Welker (cousin), Porter, Houston, Cara (and the adorable baby bump), Arlissa, Billy Ray and Arlyce (father and mother-in-law)



After the graduation we took a drive to Charlottesville, Virginia to tour Thomas Jefferson's estate, Monticello.
Definitely a highlight of the trip. My favorite.

The grounds are kept just as they were when Thomas Jefferson lived there. The photo above is of Mr. Jefferson's private veranda and green house. That man thought of everything.

The next day was Sunday and we joined Houston and Cara at their ward that met in the University shown above. Picture London in Sacrament Meeting at the University Singles Ward. (yeah right.) Now picture London and me walking the foyer at the University Singles Ward. Yup. Story of my life. But it was a beautiful foyer.

After church, Houston and Cara took us for a scenic drive and picnic. Virginia is so beautiful and we couldn't have ordered better weather the whole week.

 

After saying "See ya soon!" to Houston and Cara we drove on back to DC. We delayed our flight home so we could fit in a few more stops "down town".

Porter found the Air and Space Museum especially interesting since he wants to be either a space ship pilot or a garbage man. He just can't decide which one has the better ride. Porter-naut! To infinity and beyond!

Join us next time for more adventures of the Reynolds family.