Family Reunion

I guess we've already been back a while, but we had a great time seeing Scott's parents, seven brothers, 2 sisters, their spouses and kids -- 43 people in all! We had a great time, and Stu even performed in the family talent show -- here he is

Dancing Cousins 2009 2.0

These are my oldest nephews, performing in the family talent show.  Mad skills, no?

Happy Father's Day!

Ladies!  Sorry to brag, but I've got the best man around. Gentleman, take notes.

Some of you may have heard, but he took ALL three of the kiddos away for the whole weekend (left Friday at 11:45am, will be returning late Sunday night).  

He was eager to go to a family reunion in southern Utah this weekend, and was planning on just taking the boys.  Veronica and I were happy to go with them, but when he offered to take all of them, I just couldn't refuse. 

I have to admit I was tempted to just hop in and go, but I've had a lovely weekend (so far) all my my lonesome.  I hope he makes it back home alright -- that is a LOT of driving.  

My list of things to do while everyone is out is nowhere near complete, but the silence is amazing.  I'm sure by tomorrow night I'll be dying for them to be back home.

Here is a little video of Veronica -- she is in love with her father, she talks about him all day.   

The Search for Robo-Tron

We had a lot of fun making this little movie.  Stu learned how to add "titles" -- to add his own special touch.

It's kind of a long one, sorry.

Spring Break 2009

Sorry this report is so late, but I figure better late than never.

For Spring Break this year, we headed to Newport Beach, CA!  We stopped in Provo to see our friends and my aunt and Grandpa, then moved on the St. George.  Scott spent most of the time in the car writing a report on his laptop and finished up in the hotel room with Abe and Veronica.  Stu accompanied me to Walmart, where we got some last minute things.

On to the beach!  We drove out to Newport to see Scott's parents, brother and aunt and uncle.

We got to go sailing to Catalina and along the way saw some dolphins!  There was very little wind, so it took us nine hours to get there.  We wandered around and got ice cream, then headed back to sleep on the boat.  Not a great night's rest . . .

The next day the wind picked up so much we lost one of Abe's shoes and Stu tossed his cookies.

All in all, the kids loved it and the grown-ups did too.

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Eliason!

An Experiment with Stu

Stu loves science and recently did an experiment he would like to share with you.

Knitting pieces

A few of you expressed some interest in seeing some of my knitting stuff.

I've really never considered myself a 'crafty' person, and knitting definitely didn't come naturally, but it was really something I wanted to be able to do.  I love having a little something with me to work on while kids are playing at the park, swimming in the pool, or practicing the piano.

When I only had Stuart, my friend Katrina told me that when she was little, her mom felt like it was really important to always have some kind of a project going.  Something that doesn't get undone, unlike more of what I do (think laundry, dishes, bathing kids, dinner, cleaning up, grocery shopping, the list could go on forever.)  I tried sewing, but didn't like how much room it took, the mess it made, or the undivided attention was needed. I knew myself well enough to try scrap-booking, as the final product would just make me bad instead of glad.

I love knitting, because I can just sit and chat and relax, and feel like I am doing something at the same time.  The local knitting store is like my "Cheers", everybody knows my name.  They have comfy couches and fire going in the winter, so it's great to just sit and knit have have people to answer all my questions.

Out of the  pictures here, the blanket was the first completed.  I started it when Veronica was in utero, while I was living at my sister's house, before we moved to San Francisco.  Since I had yarn left when I finished, I made myself a matching scarf.  It's a 100% cotton yarn and they both have held up rather well in the wash.  There is often a cool breeze in San Francisco, so I wore the scarf year-round.

You can't see from the picture, but the red and white striped hat comes to a point at the top, like a little elf hat.  Sadly, it got lost on the bus.  Stu is sporting what he used to call his "night hat".  He read a book about a boy who slept in a hat, so I took him to ImagiKnit to pick out the yarn for his own.

Abe is sporting a "video watch" inspired by the one in "Go, Diego, Go"  The boys each had there own -- and they have many uses.

Veronica's sweater turned out better than I expected, and she loves wearing it.  The weather is getting warmer, so I have to put her in it a lot.  She'll be much too big next year. :(

Right now I'm working on finishing some edging on little decorative clothes for Veronica to play with, a purse and some arm-warmers.  I also have a hat to finish before my friend's baby is born!