Lake Land

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Warm Hearts in Cold Idaho

We said our goodbye's to Utah and headed for the LLL Ranch to meet up with the Lovell clan. There was plenty of snow for sledding and snowmobiling. The great thing about the ranch is that there is plenty to do outside and many fun games inside the house as well. Ambie was excited to show off her Christmas gift - adult sized footie pajamas. It takes a special person to feel confident enough to sport those, and Ambie is just the person to do it. We love her!

Funny Ambie in her footie jammies

Footie PJ party

Berry ready for her first mountain sled ride!

Curly ready to launch

After a couple days at the Ranch and an exciting drive home that involved pulling a loaded snowmobile trailer back on to the road on -10 degree night, we were happy to be settled at my parents comfortable home in Rexburg. We enjoyed games and visiting and spent time preparing for Jeniel and Jason's open house. We were able to visit and have lunch with Great Grandpa Lake one day.

Great Grandpa Lake and Spud

The nieces loved to see their aunt in her beautiful wedding gown. One morning she let them take turns trying it on. It also happened that my wedding dress and Shar's wedding dress are stored at mom's, so with those three dresses plus my mom's each girl was able to try on a dress. Curly is wearing Grandma's, Lettie is in Jeniel's, Lydia is in mine and Gracie is in Shar's.

Trying on wedding dresses

Jason and Jeniel sampling the cider at the Open House

Sisters and Nieces - So nice to be together!

Monday, January 7, 2013

A Winter Wedding

It has been more than 10 years since there has been a wedding in my (Lainey's) family so we were all very excited when my sister Jeniel announced her engagement to Jason Jacobs back in October. The blessed event took place a few days after Christmas and we were lucky to avoid the drive and fly this time.

Our kids and I flew up with T-man and Shar, and Fisher joined us the following evening. We looked like a circus traipsing through the airport with 7 kids under 8, two strollers, 8 suitcases, a few stuffed animals, sippy cups, backpacks... you get the idea. That would have a been ~~very rough~~ nearly impossible trip on my own and I am so grateful T-man and Shar were willing to let us travel with them.

Settled in on the plane

We arrived in Salt Lake City in time to literally cram our luggage and ourselves into two waiting SUVs (my dad and Fisher's dad) and drive all of the kids to Fisher's parents who very kindly offered to watch them so that the adults were able to be in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with my sister K-Rae as she attended for the first time. Afterward we enjoyed a delicious soup and salad dinner provided by Lore.

Warm hearts on a a chilly night at the temple

So that all of us were able to enjoy time together, we stayed at a hotel in Bountiful. The sisters stayed up late talking and waiting for my brother Nathan to arrive from Florida. In the morning we had fun swimming together and then eating take-out while watching Jeniel and Jason's wedding shower interview video. That evening there was a family wedding dinner at The Lion House for the sibilings of Jeniel and Jason. I was happy to pick up Fisher that evening to join us for the rest of our vacation.

Happy to be together

Matching Christmas PJs and sister time - Me, Shar, Jeniel,
K-Rae, and Paisley

Lunch at the hotel

Jeniel and Jason were sealed in the Bountiful Temple on a very cold, clear Saturday morning. It was wonderful be there with them. They are both great people and it is refreshing to see two very happy newly weds excited about the life ahead of them. A lunch reception followed at Edlridge Manor where we visited with many family and old friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs

Flower girl nieces watching the wedding video

Kung Fu Spud

Grandma W. and Spud

Cutting the cake

The cake topper was our great grandmas!

Lou blowing bubbles

Sending them off

A happy goodbye

We spent a few more days in Utah enjoying time with our Lake family. We spent an afternoon having dinner and playing in the snow at the Waters. We had our annual Lake family bowling game and a fun party together for New Years Eve. We celebrated an early "midnight" for the kids - complete with noise makers, hats, party poppers, and ice cream sundaes. After the kids were in bed, we enjoyed playing games and yummy snacks and managed to keep ourselves awake until midnight - I guess we are getting old! As always, we loved spending time with our families and wish it happened more often.

Berry's first snow!

Playing with cousins

Happy New Year!

Jenny and Ba with their popper crowns

Playing "Masterpiece," an OLD family favorite

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas 2012

I don't know about the rest of the world, but this Christmas snuck up on me at lightning speed. I hate to admit that I was not ready, though I feel I had a few really good excuses - one being a sweet chubby faced, melt your heart little boy. In spite of the craziness and the stress, I got my act together and our family enjoyed a very nice Christmas. We LOVED having the Lovells here to celebrate with! (Have we mentioned how glad we are that they moved here). Our traditional celebrations prior to Christmas included caroling, lots of baking, being secret Santas, a traditional Finnish meal, more baking, preparing gifts, delivering gifts, and reading lots of Christmas stories. Curly participated in a Children's Christmas Choir and we enjoyed watching her perform at several events.

Each year the kids draw names and get each other a gift. This year Curly decided to make a gift for Spud. With a little help from me, she sewed a soft felt "toy" box for him to hide his toys in. We enjoyed working on this simple project together.

On Christmas Eve, we shared the traditional German dinner with Lovells. We ate Rouladin, spaetzle, rotkohl, bunter salat, rye bread, and german cheesecake. Oh yum! It was fun (and really nice) to have someone to split the menu with and more importantly share the food.

Christmas Eve Dinner

We had enough people to have a reading and performance of the Nativity. Maybe not the most reverent nativity ever performed, but certainly memorable.

The Nativity Cast - Baby Spud did not play his role well

Grandma Lovell sent matching PJs for the grandkids

I always hope that Christmas morning is as anticipated and memorable for my children as it was for me. The rule at our house is that you can't leave your room until mom or dad comes (which makes it easier for parents to get a little more sleep). I think we made it until 6:30 before the excited voices could be heard throughout the house.

Another tradition is the family treasure hunt to find the "family gift." Growing up, these treasure hunts were always written in rhyme and usually integrated one or more family chores (shoveling snow, taking care of the dog, etc.) We have continued the tradition, though not always in rhyme. The girls were not very happy about having the empty the dishwasher, and they weren't very excited about the new computer that was the family gift, but they were thrilled about the soccer ball! Funny kids.

On Christmas afternoon we went to the Lovell's for a delicious classic Christmas dinner. The kids played and we exchanged gifts before heading home. It was a nice, low-key day. Perfect preparation for the business for the rest of our holiday break.