New hobbies

It's been a busy few weeks for me. I am glad I have absolutely nothing on my schedule for this week, except playing with the kids!

Last week our Relief Society started creating a quilt. We were each assigned to make our own quilt block to contribute. Not having had much training, and even less success, with my sewing machine, I was daunted to say the least. With the help of some lovely ladies, here is what I managed to create:

I was so inspired, I decided to take up sewing and especially quilting for my new hobby. I started with sewing the badges on mine and DJ's scout shirts. Well, good thing I got a new seam ripper, because I didn't have any help with the scout shirts and it's going to take a few tries to get it looking good.

The other new hobby is hiking. I realized today it's not such a new hobby, because we did a few hikes while we were in Erie. Utah is a great place for hiking and I recently purchased a couple of books on great hikes with kids.

We started with the Jordan River trail. Since it is less than a mile from our house, it seemed the logical place to start. Saturday morning, we got all laced up and packed our water and snacks and headed out.

I think we went about a mile south along the river, ate our oranges and ZBars and headed home. There were lots of friendly walkers, bikers, and joggers sharing the trail with us. And a few dogs. It's a paved trail, which made it nice and easy for us to take the stroller for William and Amanda.

I love my laptop!

I know, two posts in the same week. But it is a different month.

I got a laptop when my very old (6 years) computer died a few weeks ago. It allowed us to have school outside earlier this week, thanks to a neighbor's wireless network.

We were talking about continents, and it was the coolest to pull up Google maps and show them a map of the world and have them pick out the continents. All while sitting on the hammock swing.

My other favorite part is taking the laptop into the kitchen. I taught a raw foods class last week and am doing a smoothie event this Saturday. Preparing for both has been made so much easier by having the laptop, internet, and my saved recipes, in the kitchen with me.

Amanda is our fourth child to learn how to walk using the below pictured walker. She's getting pretty good at it, but hasn't learned how to turn yet.

We were having a great time outside, until it started snowing again this week. Don't get me wrong, I love the cool weather and the excuse to stay inside and read books. But Amanda loves her swing in the backyard.

April is almost over?!?

Where did the last month go?

We took a trip to Logan, for my cousin Brad's wedding. It is always fun to get together with the Daines extended family.

I had a great birthday, doing just what I wanted to do - reading most of the day, shopping at Costco, and going out for a raw food feast.

William was trying to set a new personal best for how many stairs he could jump down - 6. He broke his foot on that attempt, the first metatarsal with a possible fracture of the second. It's been five days since the accident, and he's running at almost full speed again. I love how fast kids heal!

DJ and Gwennie got new bikes. DJ had a bit of a learning curve, now without training wheels, but he's doing great now. He begs to ride to Church every week.

Gwennie had one successful ride around the block on her bike the first week she had it and hasn't gotten out of the driveway since.

I got a new computer, as my old one died after 6 good years of service.

Amanda has started cruising on the furniture, and signing. She eats everything she can find on the floor and everything William gives her. She even tried to eat drywall joint compound yesterday.

The wallpaper is off of the kitchen walls! Hopefully we'll have some new paint up soon.

I have a new calling as the Cub Scout Committee Chairman. It was a lot of meetings the first month, getting trained and all. But I think it will be fun.

Lyman still is coasting without a calling in our Ward. He's keeping busy reading the Ender series. DJ also has read Ender's Game and is working on Ender's Shadow.

My list of books goes on and on. Some noteworthy ones are Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson), Saints (Orson Scott Card), and No Greater Love (Mother Teresa).

We got memberships to the Zoo and the Children's Museum this month. We also have tried out some new playgrounds. We are looking forward to consistent warm weather so we can plant our garden.

Horton Hears A Who

Our babysitter was a no-show last night, so we took the kids out on date night and saw Horton Hears A Who. It was such a fun movie! We all loved it.

In other news, we have new kitchen countertops. And they are beautiful! Thank goodness we have the second kitchen downstairs, as this was almost a week in production. But it's worth it!

Now if we could just get the awful wallpaper off so we could paint the walls...

We're Back

So, it's been awhile since our last update. 5 months or so. The good news is we are settling in quite nicely. We know where most things are located now, I think.

DJ is reading the Book of Mormon before he turns 8 in August. He's in Mosiah right now.

Gwennie is turning into a girlie girl. She got fingernail polish for Christmas, even. She loves to read and give talks in Primary.

William still likes to jump more than anything else. And eat, although you wouldn't guess it by looking at him.

Amanda is crawling and starting to pull up to a stand. She has no teeth yet, but that doesn't stop her from eating everything William feeds her!

Jennifer has started a new homeschool curriculum Karl G. Maeser Academy. It's great, so far and the kids are learning a lot.

Lyman loves his job and has no Church callings yet. What an easy life!

I'll post some pictures as soon as I find the camera.

Our New House

Our new house was quite a sight to see. We arrived around 5:30 pm on Monday the 15th. It was a bit of a shock to see all the repairs that needed to be done. Also, it was fun to see all the personal touches added to the house to make it right for the large family that lived here before. We like the built-in diaper changing table in the bedroom and the master bedroom addition that is really an office. It works for us, too!

The kids love the back yard swing set and shed/club house. Next summer it will be fun to have a full garden of fresh veggies.

Our neighbors are so friendly. There are not a lot of young children, but each of our kids has a kid their age very nearby.

There's lots of painting, and more unpacking, so if anyone wants to come help us we'd love to see you! Or you can just come visit, we'd still love to see you.

We're Moving!

Yes, it's a surprise to us, too. But when it's right, it's right, and things move fast.

Lyman's last day with GE will be October 10th. We will be driving out to Utah shortly thereafter. We are looking for houses in the Sandy area, to be close to Lyman's new job at S5 Wireless.

Oh, how I am looking forward to living near a Costco again! Not to mention family and friends in Utah. : )

We have loved being in Pennsylvania, except for the taxes. We will really miss our friends out here. Hopefully we will have lots of visitors!