the candy man

The "sweet bean" pancake.

Trevor enjoying his "sweet beans." Haha! This picture is blurry because I was laughing so hard, and holding Will at the same time!

Livi, sneaking a caramel.

Squid bite, anyone?

Yeah.

The squid bites package, I feel, is very misleading.

My brother, Trevor, has THE coolest job. He travels around the world with his camera, making amazing films and taking fabulous photos along the way. Since my job as a mom doesn't include travel benefits, I have to make due by looking at his pictures, watching his movies, or in this case, by eating his candy. Trevor just got back from Japan, and he went overboard on the candy I asked him to bring back for my kids. It was like Santa came to town!

Japanese candy is great. The packaging alone is worth the purchase. It's like a little piece of bright, crazy artwork in your hands. Most of the candy was yummy...strawberries and cream hard candies, grape flavored chewy ones, tiny round lemon thingies. The kids were loving it.

There were some really nasty things in the mix though. First there was a pancake sort of treat, filled with what the Japanese call "sweet bean." We passed that all around so everyone could have a taste. I thought I tasted peanuts, so I spit it out.

Next we ripped open a package that revealed dried, breaded pork, like beef jerky with a crust. So sick! Hannah actually swallowed it, but that's just Hannah.

Last, but definitely not least on the list of disgustingness was the exciting swirly red and white package with the little elf on front, just tempting you to try it. Daring you.

"Guess what these are?" Trev asked.

I had no idea.

"Squid bites!"

You've got to be kidding me. Dried squid, cut into little pieces and died neon red. Japanese kids love this stuff, apparently.

We took a whiff from the package, and burst out laughing. "Ugh! It smells like fish food!" I said.

Trev and I agreed to eat a squid bite at the same time. "One, two, three!" Chew, chew, chew, uh, wait, UGH, OH MY GOSH! Run to the sink! Spit it out, spit it out, spit it out!!! Water! Water! Water! Blech!

Trev says, "Can I have a piece of bread or something?"

That was by far the nastiest thing I have EVER tasted. Something I'll never understand is how Ben actually swallowed a squid bite! He was very proud of himself.

ben's valentine box

Ben made this all on his own, and as you can see he won "Most Creative" in his class!

nina is 6!

Olivia loved her donut so much that she decided to feed some to her baby doll too.

This little girl is growing up much too quickly.

Where'd my fat little baby Nina go?

I honestly can't believe she is 6 years old!

I asked if she thought it would be fun to do a pajama party, and of course she was super excited about that. Since we don't really do sleepovers, we had everyone come in the morning dressed in their pj's. All her little friends were off track too so it worked out perfectly, even though it was a Thursday.

I was going to make sleep masks for each of the girls, but get this...when I went to JoAnn's to get all the fabric, lo and behold, I stumbled upon a bin of pink satin sleep masks on sale in the very back of the store. I just about clicked my heels right then and there because they were only 50 cents! That saved me a ton of time and money. Then I bought some craft foam stickers so the girls could decorate their sleep masks when they came to the party.

My sister Erika came and helped me run the little manicure station, then we had a rousing game of Bingo, woo! Actually it was a pretty quiet crowd. Erika and I were laughing about how serious and quiet everyone was being. Next came presents, Hannah read the Charlie and Lola book, "I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go To Bed," and then came the towering donut cake! Does it get any easier than that? Sheesh, I used to go crazy with birthday parties when Ben and Hannah were little. We'd invite 25 kids and I'd spend weeks planning and preparing. Then I realized that the kids really don't care if you go over the top. They just love to have their cute little friends over all at once, open a few presents, and eat a bunch of sugar. Simple! So yes, I have drastically simplified over the years.

I simplified so much that after they were done with their donuts and orange juice, we still had 45 minutes of partying to do, and I was totally unprepared, haha! So we cranked up the tunes and played freeze dance, did a few rounds of "hot pillow," played more Bingo, and did Simon Says. They loved it! And they didn't know the difference, right? They all got to "fish" for their goodie bag before they left, and Nina was a happy girl.

That night we went out for smoothies, watched Dennis the Menace {funniest movie of all time} and had popcorn downstairs.

Happy birthday Nina! I love you!

january in a nutshell

Hannah's gingerbread house.

Clayton installing a stick of dynamite into it.

The aftermath.

Night skiing at Snowbird!

Flora and William...it reminds me of the good ol' days when Zoe and Ben were babies.

My life is totally crazy right now with all these little kids! I feel like I never sit down. Plus, my kids had Christmas break and "off track" back to back, so they were home for five whole weeks. Five weeks I tell you! Phew. But more on that later. I just wanted to quickly write about January before it's too far gone. I posted a few things from Christmas down below {I cheated and backdated because I've been so slow posting lately}.

We started the New Year off with a BANG! Yes, we pulled out the leftover Roman candles and firecrackers from the 4th of July and bundled up for an exciting few minutes outside. Nothing like blowing up gingerbread houses and having a mini fireworks show when it's way below freezing! Our friends across the street introduced us to their New Year's Eve tradition of blowing up gingerbread houses, and I think it's a keeper! Too funny.

Clayton took the kids night skiing a couple times and Nina turned into a little ski bunny. It was her first time skiing and she was loving it! Zipping down the slopes faster than Ben and Hannah, leaving Clayton in her wake. Woohoo Nina!

We spent MLK weekend at the cabin with Tadd and Julie and their kids...we love those guys so much and we're so happy they don't live in Boston anymore! We missed them way too much. It was such a great weekend just reconnecting with them and getting to know their kids better. Highlights of the weekend included Clayton being dragged on his stomach behind the snowmobile while Tadd drove it {with a broken foot}, laughing about big trucks with elk stickers on their windows that say stuff like "Bachelor Party," and the time Clayton pulled me and Julie around in a sled behind the snowmobile, while she and I sat "spider" style.

"Can you believe we're doing this? A couple of 35-year-olds sitting spider being dragged behind a snowmobile!" Needless to say, I nearly peed my pants laughing.

william at five months

grandpa stanley

This is Grandpa Stanley.

He left this life on November 15, 2010. He was 94. I loved him very much.

I've been putting off blogging for a long time because I've felt I needed to write about him before I could move on to writing about anything else. And all my emotions are difficult to put into words, so I have just let time slip away without writing.

Grandpa was the most positive, happy person I ever knew. I never saw him frown. Never heard him complain or say a mean thing about anybody. He raised six girls {number 5 is my mom} in a tiny little house, and before that house they lived in another tiny house that he built himself and that didn't have indoor plumbing. He and grandma didn't have many worldly possessions, but they had each other and they had faith in the Savior, and that was all the treasure they could ask for in this life. They were so happy.

I remember every time Grandpa was around he would greet me {and everyone} with a big smile, a big hug, three kisses, and a, "Well, hello there, Heather!" He made me feel like I was the most important person that he'd ever talked to.

He let us pick boxes and boxes of apricots. Showed my kids the raspberries growing in the garden. Shared little green grapes and fat red tomatoes from his garden in the summer. He'd wave and wave as I'd drive away from his little yellow house until I couldn't see him anymore in the rear view mirror.

He was full of energy and life right down to the end. There's a picture of me riding on his back like he was my horse when I was three. There's a picture of him riding down a hill on skateboards with me and my cousins Joi and Lindsie. There's a memory in my mind of his voice singing with Grandma while playing his guitar, "It's June in January because I'm in love..."

Why didn't I go visit more often?

He became sick on October 24th, 2010, with an aneurism near his abdomen. He was in so much pain. Yet he cooked breakfast for Grandma that morning anyway. He took such good care of her. I wasn't worried at the time he checked into the hospital because he was supposed to live forever. He was mowing his own lawn and driving to the store for groceries and Diet Coke just this past summer. He wasn't going to leave us, not yet.

Then more complications arose while he was at the hospital. I took the kids with me to see him there and it was such a shock to see him in that way. He looked more frail and old than I had ever seen him. He was a little confused and our conversation didn't make much sense. But he held Olivia's little hand and he got to see baby Will. The nurses tried to help him stand up and he had such a hard time, "like a ton of bricks" he said.

I went to North Carolina with Mom and Erika, and Mom came home early because she was so afraid to not see him again.

The day after I got home from that trip, Dad called and said that they were taking him off the oxygen and it wouldn't be long until he was gone.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be there. But then I decided to go. I sobbed and sobbed in the car. A chapter in my life was ending. My Grandma was losing her husband. My mom was losing her "Daddy." Life was moving much too quickly.

I missed him by 5 minutes.

Mom said that just before he passed away, Grandma went over to him and kissed his face all over. He was unresponsive at this point. But as she kissed him she said, "I love you! I love you forever!" Just then Grandpa raised his shoulders twice, as if he was trying to hug her. Then his last breath came with a single tear that ran down his cheek.

The tear was still there when I saw him.

I hugged Grandma and she said, "I'm lucky, because I had him for 72 years. Not many people can say that." That's for sure. They loved each other more than anything.

The funeral service was probably the best meeting I've ever been to in a church. My mom and each of my aunts spoke for about 5 minutes, talking about favorite memories. We laughed and we cried. I wanted to be a better person, I wanted to be like him.

I still think about him everyday, and I'm sure I will for the rest of my life. I love you Grandpa.

Glenn Foster Stanley in his blessing gown, 1916.

{I guess the boys wore them too back in the day!}

With his parents Loyd and Hannah Stanley,

his sister Ella, and little brother Lorin.

Grandma and Grandpa's band, the "Rythm Wranglers," 1946. Grandpa was nicknamed "Kurly" and Grandma {Elaine} was "Prairie Rose." They were the all time most popular radio show in Vernal, Utah. They built a dance hall and played there on weekends, and hundreds of people would pay to come and dance, and listen to their music.

Becky Jo {my mom} and Grandpa. Mom was 5 years old here.

Grandma, Grandpa, Becky Jo, Terry, Gail, Kaye, and newlyweds Harley and Carla.

Aunt Shelley wasn't born yet.

Grandpa with me and my cousins Joi and Lindsie, camping at Lodgepole for Swiss Days.

Grandpa was such a good sport!

Summer 2009