Daddy Daughter Date

February 7, 2013

My kids attend Somerset Academy.  Somerset puts on an annual Daddy Daughter Dance each winter.  Natalya was so excited to participate!  She put on her favorite party dress and high heels and met daddy at the dance.   

They had a fabulous night!  Natalya said that they even danced "Gangnam Style".  Haha!  I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that one.  

She looks SO grown up. 

When the dance was halfway over, Natalya said to her daddy, "This is the best night of my life."

This is a picture of them after the dance - home late and tired.  All that dancing made them hungry so daddy treated her to dinner on the way home.  A great way to end a great night.  :)

Dear Devon,

February 3, 2013

My nephew Devon recently left on a proselyting mission for our church.  He was called to serve the people of Lima, Peru.  He has already had a fantastic experience and loves spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.  My kids drew pictures for him that were included in a package he received after his arrival.

From Natalya, age 8:

Dear Devon, 

The Book of Mormon... is true.  I love you!  

Natalya Reeve 

From Branson, age 6:

Dear Devon, 

I hope you actually know how to say CTR [choose the right] in Spanish.  I will tell you, "Haz Lo Justo". 
Love, Branson 

From Irelynn, age 4:

I love you.  

Dear Devon, 

"I love to see the temple.  I'm going there someday!"  

Love, Irelynn 

From Annika, age 1, translated by mom:

Cousin Devon, 

I hope you like being a missionary!  Maybe I'll get to be a missionary one day too.  Guess what?!  I turn 2 this Friday!  When you get home I'll be almost 4.  

I love you, Annika

I heard he loved getting the letters - and it was a good experience for my kids to write to him.  

Aunt Jackie

February 2, 2013

My Aunt Jackie passed away just two weeks after discovering she had stage four cancer.  We were all shocked.  She had such a vibrant personality and seemed so healthy and sharp - it was hard to swallow. Yet I couldn't help but imagine the wonderful reunion she's having with her sweet husband on the other side.  Uncle Mel died just two years ago.  I think he missed her and asked the Lord to let her come home too.  

My parents and I drove to Utah for her funeral.  It was a bittersweet reunion.  I enjoyed seeing all my cousins, but wished it had been under different circumstances.  

Here we are at her burial.  It was a beautiful day.

They had 5 sons and 1 daughter.  My cousin Christie put on pink lipstick and kissed her casket right before it was lowered into the ground.  It was so sweet.   

All the grandkids let a balloon go in her honor.

Aunt Jackie was buried next to her husband, my Uncle Mel.   (Here's my dad pictured next to his brother's grave.)

I loved seeing my cousin Brittany and her new son Hyrum.  Sometimes tragic times bring about great reunions.  

I'll miss you Aunt Jackie!  I love you!  

I can almost hear her saying, Love you back.  

January in a Nutshell

January 2013

In effort to keep up with this family journal, I thought I'd dump a bunch of photos in a single post to encapsulate all of January.

Here we go-

 Annika kept giving everyone high-5's with my oven mitts on.

 

Annika's favorite hide-and-seek place is the strange cubby behind the couch.

Annika loves getting in her brother's bed and sometimes fakes being asleep in effort to avoid going to her crib.  

 But they can never stay serious for very long :)

I couldn't resist taking this picture.  Branson loves Mario Kart and the girls love to watch him in action.  

Oh, Annika.  When I saw her chocolaty face, I ran to the pantry and found the remnants of Hershey Kisses all over the pantry floor.

    

What's more fun than walking around blindly with a cardboard box on your head?  Leave it to Annika to find joy in the simplest things.

Family Home Evening

I seriously love having family in town.  We had the Taylor's over for FHE one night.  We did the lesson, they did the treat.  

My mom, Auntie Lilah, and my sister Ellen joined us too!  It was a pleasant surprise.  My mom had been hospitalized for pneumonia and they drove up from California to visit her.  The night we were scheduled to do FHE with the Taylor's, my mom was released from the hospital.  So we invited them to join us.  They were in for a treat... 9 kids and very high ceilings.  It was loud.  But fun. 

I read the Book of Mormon story of Captain Moroni as he led his 2,000 stripling warriors into battle.  We armed Zachary with the full armor of God - complete with the shield of faith, sword of the spirit and helmet of salvation.  We learned that we can be like Captain Moroni as we find protection in righteousness.  We also talked about how we can put on our own spiritual armor every day to shield us from the "fiery darts of the wicked".  

Then we let the other children throw their "fiery darts" (marshmallows) at Zachary as he protected himself.  

Since they've moved here, we get together regularly.  Whether it's Sunday dinner, FHE, or a movie and popcorn night, we so enjoy spending time with the cousins. 

Paradise, CA

December 26th - 30th, 2012

The day after Christmas we loaded up the car and traveled 11 and 1/2 hours to Paradise, California!  Grandad and Granny Kim had outdone themselves with 4 days of fun for everyone.  I wish I took more pictures.  They rented out a whole movie theater for our family (nearly 50 people!) where we watched Elf.  They had a big family picture scheduled for early one morning - it was a miracle everyone made it on time with their kids dressed and their hair and make-up done.  They also rented out their local roller rink and we skated for a couple hours and had pizza - that was easily my kids' favorite activity on the trip.  And Granny Kim even put on a little girl's dance class, complete with tutus and leg warmers!  My favorite part was when we put our kids down for the night and the adults got to have an auction where we used tickets to buy some awesome gifts.  So fun!

The only unfortunate part of the trip is that 19 out of 46 of us got the stomach flu and were vomiting by day 3.  Yuck.  Having said that, we still had a great time for the first 3 days! :)

I'm embarrassed to say that during the trip I only stopped to take pictures of the dance class.  So on the last day (just an hour before we went home) I ran around and took most of the pictures you see below.

We traveled a looong way away from the desert!  I can understand why they named this town Paradise.  The greenery was breathtaking.

They recently repainted the exterior of their house.  

I think I recall Brian telling me how he helped his dad landscape his backyard.  In fact, I've seen pictures of it in the process.  It's hard to find a yard like this in Las Vegas!

They built a serious playhouse for their many, many grandkids to enjoy.  The Grand Kiddle Inn was used by most of the 4 year old girls again and again.  

Due to the shear numbers of a group our size, not all of us could fit in the house.  So Angie's family and our family had our own RVs.  My kids thought it was the best camping ever!  They thought it was like having our own little house.  All 6 of us slept comfortably...

Annika was still able to manage some mischief while we were there.  But lucky for her, there were enough little kids there her age that it didn't seem out of the ordinary.  

Dance class was darling.  Kim and Kendra had them doing the hokey pokey, balancing on the beam, skipping, playing, and stretching.  They were lovely little butterfly fairies!

The Hospital Ward

Here's a peek at day 3 in the house.  Lots of fevers, vomit, diarrhea, and buckets.  The healthy ones took care of the sickies.  

Despite the rough ending, we truly enjoyed the rest of the trip.  

Thank you for everything!!

Christmas Morning

December 25, 2012

He came!!  Santa came and even tracked a mess from our fireplace through the house...

Beautiful chaos

Favorite Gifts...

Annika's favorite gift was her Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.  (Although I think Irelynn liked it just as much as she did.)

Irelynn's favorite gift was her own, real (play) make-up!  No more stealing her big sister's make-up - Yay for everyone!

Branson had several favorite gifts.  I think he liked Mario Kart from Santa the best, but I think his Lego Indiana Jones Xbox game and his skateboard were a close second.

Natalya's favorite gift was for sure her desk.  She also got a chair and a lamp.  Now she can do her homework in the quiet of her own room.  Sweet peace!

Grandma and Grandaddy celebrated Christmas morning with us.  Santa even filled their stockings.  :) 

Daddy was surprised to open 8 boxes of his favorite Girl Scout Cookie Crunch bars!  They're a limited edition and already out of production - which makes them super expensive online.  (I'm talking $25-$45 per box!)  I searched the entire Las Vegas valley and found that every Target, Walgreens and Wal-Mart were sold out.  Then I discovered that the last boxes (within a 200 mile radius of our city) were at the Wal-Mart not 2 minutes from my house - for only $4 a box.  It was a Christmas miracle!!

We had a very bright, happy, jolly, Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2012

December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve is always such a high-energy day!  Our kids were so full of excitement it was hard not to act childish around them.    

Grandaddy, Grandma, Lindsey, and the rest of us.
Reeve family traditional Christmas Eve dinner... steak fondue!  We look forward to this day every year. 

Brian's favorite Christmas Punch (cranberry juice, pineapple juice, Squirt, and vanilla ice cream)

Christmas mint cookies.  My favorite year round!

Kid's Gifts

Our kids get 10-12 dollars to spend on one another each year.  We have them trade their Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve.  They love this tradition and look forward to shopping for their sibling.  They also love wrapping their gifts without any help.  

Natalya bought Irelynn a stick pony that makes clip-clop sounds.  Natalya figured that if she liked riding around the kitchen on a broom so much, that she might like a real stick pony even better.  She was right - Irelynn loves it!

Branson bought a set of Mini Mouse board books for Annika.  They come in a box with a handle like a purse.  Annika was so excited and squealed, "Min Mou!" which is Annika for "Mini Mouse."

Annika, with mom and dad's help, bought Branson a paper air plane book with special folding paper.  He loves making paper air planes and flies them all over the house!  (Though sometimes they get permanently stuck on pot shelves.)  Grandaddy has helped him make some really cool ones that do flips.

Irelynn bought Natalya Sudoku books and logic game magazines.  Natalya loves a challenge!  And she enjoys doing a puzzle before bed.  It was the perfect gift for her.

It's not Christmas Eve unless Grandaddy reads, "T'was the Night Before Christmas".  Our kids expect it every year :) 

We set out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer.  But Annika helped herself.  Naughty baby.

The advent calendar is complete!  

We always tell our kids, "The faster you go to sleep, the faster you'll wake up.  Then it will be Christmas morning!"  So they were all out before 8:00pm in anticipation of Christmas morning...