Cameron's Birthday Part 2

Cameron really wanted to take her friend Breanna to Lowe's Extreme Air Sports (the jumping place) for her birthday.  We decided to go while Ryan and Dallin were at the Priesthood Session of Conference.  It's a trampoline place right next to my friend Kelly's work.  She told us about it over the summer and my kids love it.  Who wouldn't?  I love just watching what some of these kids can do.

Cameron and Breanna

They have a little section squared off for little kids.  Evelyn loves crawling around, I just have to make sure she doesn't eat any of the fuzzies off the floor.  She puts Everything in her mouth.

They have trampolines, a climbing wall, a mountain you can jump off of and big foam pits surrounding everything to catch you.

Eden has been in gymnastics for a while now and as she was practicing she learned how to do a flip.  It was so cool to see but really hard to get a picture of.

Yes, they even had little stairs for Evelyn to play on.  The interesting thing about this is that she learned to crawl up stairs a few hours before we came here.  I was out running errands (if you can believe I squeezed that into this day) and on my way home I had the thought that maybe I should look for a gate for the other set of stairs.  I came home with the box and one of the kids said "hey mom, look what Evelyn can do". I walked into the living room just in time to see her crawl up the stairs.  Ryan attatched the gate immediately.

And here she was practicing her newfound skills.  I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to keep up with this girl.

Austin has absolutely no fear.  He lasted in the kiddie section for about 10 minutes before he was standing in lines with teenagers waiting to jump on the big trampolines.  It's actually really funny to see him having conversations with them as he waits.  It's also great to see them being patient with a five year old as he takes his turn jumping.  I've been really impressed with this place.

But then I look up and see Austin climbing the rock wall.  Amazing.

Cameron had a lot of fun with Breanna and I'm pretty sure she had a great birthday.

Cameron's Birthday Part 1

Cameron's birthday was on a Friday (the day of her Greek play) but since Ryan was out of town we decided to celebrate Saturday.  Unfortunately Saturday was also General Conference so we made plans to squeeze her party in between the afternoon session and the Priesthood session.

There was one present that just couldn't wait, though.  After all of her recent disappointments Ryan and I felt like giving her something a little out of the ordinary.  We let her open it up just after lunch.

She thought it was sheet music.

But nope, it was...

Are you serious? ... yep, two tickets to go see Wicked in LA in December.  We're also going with my Dad and Kathy.  It took a few minutes but when it finally sunk in she was super excited.

Just a little pause in the birthday celebrations.  It's a tradition in our house that the kids get to play with playdough while watching General Conference. One reason is because it keeps them mostly quiet and listening and the other reason is I can't stand playdough but I can handle the mess twice a year.  These are some of the cool things Dallin and Cameron made.  Dallin made the boat and Cameron made the tiger.

Back to the birthday party.  Cameron got some fun stuff too, like fuzzy socks, and some great sheet music from her friend Breanna.

Cameron requested this chocolate cake for her birthday.  We made it gluten free but not exactly dairy free (you can't win them all).  It has a minty cream cheese filling in the center and minty white chocolate drizzle on top of a chocolate glaze that tops the cake.  It was delicious.

There's always something that I forget.  This year it was candles.  I had to dig around to find 11 but they unfortunately didn't match.  Stay tuned for part 2 of Cameron's birthday fun.

A Few Disappointments

For the past few years Cameron has told me that she wanted to be on student council when she was in sixth grade.  All summer she talked about the speech she would give and the posters she would make.  She had me sign the paper to say she was interested in participating the day she got it and turned it in right away to her teacher.  She was so excited.  At the same time she auditioned for one of the lead rolls in the Children's Theater performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Again, she talked all summer about being Veruca Salt, and she put everything she had into her audition.

She was supposed to find out about student council on Friday and the play the following Wednesday.  Friday afternoon she came home and said, "I didn't get it."  "You didn't get what?" I asked.  She said she didn't get chosen to be on student council.  I was shocked.  The reason is because the teachers actually choose who gets to be on student council and then the students vote for President, Vice President, and Secretary.  Cameron, my star student, outgoing, helpful, teachers pet daughter, did not get chosen by the teachers to be on Student Council.  To say she was devastated would be an understatement.  I held her in my arms and told her I was so, so sorry.

On Wednesday she came home from play practice and said she wasn't going to get to be Veruca Salt.  I was ready for the tears but instead she said she was excited because she got a different part that had four lines but allows her to be other characters in more scenes that include singing and dancing.  I was surprised at her good attitude and felt proud of her.

But little did I know just how proud of her I was really going to be.  The following Sunday she was sitting next to me in church.  Before the meeting began she opened her scriptures and asked me to read the following:

 23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in ^adarkness.

 24 He doeth not ^aanything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he ^bloveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw ^call men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

(2 nephi 26; 23-24)

She told me that Friday afternoon when she didn't make student council she went to her room so no one could see her cry.  She was really sad and didn't know what to do so she opened her scriptures.  She thought she would try what Joseph Smith did and open the scriptures randomly hoping to find an answer there.  She said the first time it didn't really work but on her second try she came across these verses and instantly felt like the Lord was telling her that he knows her, that he is in control of all things and that he has a plan for her and that maybe being on Student Council right now wasn't part of that plan.  She said she felt comforted and knew that everything would be alright.

A few weeks later her teacher was picking students to act in their class's Greek mythology play.  Again she came home and told me she wasn't chosen for one of the main parts.  I know she's feeling frustrated at all of her missed opportunities but once again she showed an amazing attitude by playing her part (a greek statue) very well and by helping others with their parts; decorations, scripts, etc.

Tunnels

Austin created this for Evelyn to crawl through.

Pictures taken September 29

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Ryan had to go to Houston for work at the end of September so he stayed an extra day and traveled around to see some of the places he lived and played as a child.  He was also fortunate to be able to stay with his brother Steve who lives in Houston and take his trip down memory lane together.

A house they lived in for a few years.

A park that's still around after all these years.

I guess he used to play in this ditch behind the park.  He said it was just as big as he remembered, although other things seem much smaller.

After driving around to see places from his childhood he went with Steve's family to the beach.  Garrett's their oldest.

Cute Olivia

If it wasn't for the height difference Ryan and Steve would be identical.

A cool storm rolling in.

I'm not sure what's up with Dairy Bar but I've heard from more than a few Texans that it's all the rage.

Tuesday Tidbit #7

Homemade Applesauce

I thought for my kids I would do a post about canning applesauce.  I love canning every fall.  I usually do peaches, pears, salsa, applesauce, and peach raspberry jam.  It makes an already busy season just a little crazier but it's worth it to have all that tasty fruit and salsa all winter.  I wanted to take pictures of all the things I canned and leave instructions for each of them but that didn't happen.  I only got pictures of applesauce this year so maybe I can get the others next year.

I start with Golden Delicious apples that I pick up from The Big Red Barn in Santaquin.

I peel them and take out the centers.

Then I collect the prepared apples in a large bowl of cool water with Fruit Fresh sprinkled in to keep them from turning brown.

As soon as the bowl is full I put the apples in a basket inside of a large pot that has a few cups of water boiling in the bottom.  Then I steam them until they're soft.

Once they're soft I put them in the food processor and blend them until smooth.

I collect the pureed apples in a large pot and keep it on low on the stove (or even turn the heat off) otherwise it will splatter.  Then I add sugar until it tastes slightly sweet.  Finally I put the applesauce in hot quart jars and process for 25 min.

They turn out beautiful and delicious.

The Hills

Every fall Ryan's cousin Brandon comes out for a BYU football game with his kids.  It's always fun to have them stay with us.  This year was a little crazy.  We had more than a few things going on and didn't get to sit back and visit as much as we wanted to.