Litte Pioneer Children

We had the funnest Primary Activity a few weeks ago. We all dressed up like Pioneers & went on a "Pioneer Trek" at the church. When we arrived the kids made pretzels to bake for their snack. Afterward, they split up into groups & went to different stations. One of the stations was an actual trek where the children listened to a short description of the Saints during the church's early years & why they ended up leaving Nauvoo. Then they "walked" to the Primary room & down the hall stopping at several pictures along the way. The pictures were posted on the walls & Sister Mary Jane Ungrangsee gave brief descriptions at each picture of the pioneers' journey to the Salt Lake Valley. The kids sang "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked" while they were on their journey down the hall of pictures. Another station was some pioneer games. I didn't get very many pictures of the games, but they had rope tossing & a 3 legged race to name a few. There was a story station where the kids participated in telling a story about a little pioneer girl & how she helped find & keep her brother safe one night when he had wandered away from their camp.

After the stations, some of the children chose to participate in a talent show. Ambrian did a short gymnastic routine. She did a great job & I did take video but have no still pictures of it. There were some fun talents; a Recorder duet, an old fashioned string/can toy demonstration, a Pioneer narration, a Violin solo, a couple of Piano solos, Ambrian's routine which she did with Alaina Pinvises, & a vocal duet. The kids all did such a great job. For lunch, Sister Quan had prepared yummy barbequed pork that we ate on buns with chips, the pretzels, & then had homeade ice cream. I think that was the kids' favorite part. Go figure. We had a really fun day dressing up & learning lots of things about being a pioneer.



Aybrielle & Abby listening to Sister Mary Jane tell them about the real pioneers' journey.



Pretty pioneer Aybrielle.




Beautiful pioneer Ambrian outside at the games. The kids really had a fun time dressing up.


Ambrian with good friends Libby Bunker & Alaina Pinvises.



Baby Ellie adjusting her bonnet. I just love this picture. She still looks like a little girl to me.



Abby & Aybrielle again, participating in the story telling with Sister Gibbons.



Kambren all decked out in his 10 gallon hat & handsewn chaps Grandpa Nielson & Grandma Silvaria made. He would have made a true pioneer & loved the life. Outside all day long! He just wouldn't have enjoyed wearing shoes. It took all my prodding just to get him to keep his flipflops on during the activity.


Kambren & Kalen listening to Sister Mary Jane.



Brother Maskovich showing the kids how to throw the rope ring over the cone. Also pictured, Seth Maskovich, Alina Ungrangsee, & Angelina Yo.



Kambren is a pro on the first try. Don't you just love Alina's little barefeet! That would have been Kambren if I would have let him. Mary Jane is the nice mom.


Waiting for his turn.



The little pioneer boys, Kambren & Kalen.



Kalen learning to throw the rings.



"Mom, they go on alot easier if you just walk up & drop them over the top instead of tossing them."



Pioneer mommy & her darling little kids (minus her husband who was home & Rhees who had a Scout service project). Sorry, the pioneer outfit isn't flattering on the mommy. I guess I forgot to put on my corset.

Circle of Eternity

Almost 16 years ago, on April 10, 1993, the day before Easter Sunday (funny that Easter Sunday was on the 11th that year, 11 years to the day that we would welcome Kambren into our family), in the Jordan River Temple Celestial room, Devin surprised me with a marriage proposal. He did so by presenting me with a beautiful diamond engagement ring which he had kept hidden in his stocking during the Endowment session we had attended. The moment was as beautiful as the room we were sitting in, & also the ring itself. I had never felt more like a true Cinderella.

Unbeknownst to me, he had driven back to Idaho to purchase the ring we had chosen together & then driven back to Utah in a day. I know that marriage isn't about the ring, but rather the love that it symbolizes. Nonetheless, I have always been so fond of my beautiful wedding ring.

Fast forward almost 11 years to January 22, 2004. We were one week away from moving to Thailand. Devin was already here & I had stayed behind to finish packing up our house, selling our car, & attending my youngest sister Crystal's wedding. Her wedding was the 22nd & she had lovingly & thoughtfully planned an early morning sealing, for the convenience of those of us with children. (Just kidding Crys. I know that the SL Temple is busy & you take a time you can get.) So I was running around like crazy that morning trying to get all the kids ready in the middle of all of our half packed up mess. I'm sure that I was running behind anyway, since that is so me. But we finally got out the door & on our way. Somewhere just before the exit I was supposed to take, Aybrielle got car sick & started throwing up. I was on the phone with my friend trying to find out where would be the best place to park, since I was having 2nd thoughts about the underground parking at the Conference Center. I hurredly said goodbye & was trying to see about Aybrielle while still keeping my eyes on the road. Well, although I managed to keep the car on the road, I ended up missing the exit I was supposed to take. That was just about the time I should have been walking into the temple to go change my shoes.

Fortunately, I had been to Salt Lake enough times to still figure out how to get myself from the freeway back over to the temple without too much problem; except for the fact that the mistake cost me an extra 10 minutes. (Which I've learned is actually nothing. Here in Thailand missing an exit would cost you at least 40 minutes.) Anyway, I tried to find parking in a little lot that looked much easier to get in & out of than the Conference Center parking lot, but thank you, it was full. Given the time, I just ended up going to the Conference Center so that I could at least get parked & over to the temple.

Once underground, I completely lost my sense of direction & although I found a parking space, I didn't know how to get us & the stroller out of the parking lot. (Remember my 2nd thoughts about the Conference Center parking lot?!) The whole time in my head & heart I was praying for Heavenly Father to lead me to an exit out of the underground maze. I finally found some stairs, a lot of them, but at that point, who was complaining. So I carried Aybrielle, age 2, in 1 arm, the stroller & diaper bag in another arm, & kept coaching Rhees, age 7, & Ambrian, age 5, to stay close & follow me. We made it up the stairs only to find that there were just as many stairs outside that we had to go back down in order to get to the sidewalk & cross North Temple street. Uuuugh!

It was about 10 minutes before the sealing was to begin & I still had to hike back up the street to the temple entrance, get in & get the kids settled with my nieces & Broc's sisters who were going to be watching them. In addition, I had to get Aybrielle cleaned off, & still go change into my slippers. We were basically running the whole way.

We finally made it into the temple & after a short fashion, I was in my slippers & hurrying up to the sealing room hoping to make it in the door before Crystal & Broc did. Oh the tender mercies. I met my older sister, Jennifer, in the stairway & we were able to walk the rest of the way together & slipped in the room before the bride & groom.

You are probably wondering what in the world that whole, long story has to do with my wedding ring. Okay, so here you go. I hadn't been seated for more than a few minutes, & was trying to catch my breath - literally. (I was 7 months pregnant with Kambren & was totally out of breath.) I went to straighten & brush the wrinkles out of my dress, when I noticed a little fleck of something on my lap. I nearly brushed it off, until it caught the light & I realized it was a small diamond. My eyes nearly popped out of my head & I immediately looked down at my wedding ring. Sure enough, one of the small diamonds that make up a triangle on the right side, was gone. That was the diamond on my lap. I couldn't believe it! Of all the places that morning that it could choose, I know, as if a diamond has a brain & could choose where to fall out, it chose right then, where it could land safely on my lap.

Isn't that AMAZING!!! Jennifer had the great idea to wrap it up in a Toys R Us receipt that I had in my purse (yes, not cleaning out your purse can actually have it's benefits), & there it has stayed, wrapped up in that receipt in my jewelery box for the past 5 years. I know. I'm a geek. It really has been 5 years, & I hadn't ever taken it to get put back in. Partly it's because I always had a ton more things to do that go find a trustworthy jewelery shop, & partly because I was so afraid of my diamond being switched. Well a few weeks ago Devin & I happened to be at the new Central Mall here in the area & found a small jewelery shop. On a whim, I just decided to stop at their window & show them my ring. I asked them if they could put the diamond back in & also check the other prongs. They said that they could. I told them I was concerned about the diamond being switched, & they consoled me by saying that they were honest & wouldn't ever switch it. Of course they said that. What jewelery shop would actually admit that they did switch real diamonds for fakes. But I really did feel good about the shop, & they even offered to let me come in & watch them fix the prong & re-place the diamond.

Well, last Saturday I took the girls for a little bit of girl time & we went to the mall to get cinnamon rolls at Starbucks, walk around & look at clothes, & take my ring to get fixed. They did a beautiful job. They fixed the broken prong, one that was about to break, cleaned it, & then redipped it so that the gold looked nice & new. I was so excited! It looks like a brand new ring!

And the best part - it only cost me $10.00 US!! Oh I do love Thailand!

Thanks again Devin, for such a beautiful gift!!!

I LOVE YOU FOR ETERNITY!

Goodbye Christmas

I know, I know. It is February 1, & Christmas was a month & a week ago. And so, in true Devin & Jeanette fashion, we are now taking down our tree & all our decorations. I'm not really sure why we always leave our stuff up so long. Is it because it takes so long to get everything out & put up that we want to make it worth all the effort? Is it because we love looking at the beautiful red & green, & all the fun decorations? Is it because we love seeing the lights twinkling against the green boughs on the tree & on the rail? Or is is more simply, because we are just lazy?

Who knows. But whatever the reason, we love looking at Christmas stuff & it just always takes us this long to finally be ready to put it away. So, for the last time this season (or probably rather the first since none of you were here to see them yet anyway), enjoy the pretty holiday things.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

The title to this post could easily be the theme chant for 4 of our children. It doesn't matter how much ice cream we have in the house, have just eaten, or plan to get, it is never enough. Thank Heavens we live in a hot climate where ice cream, popsicles, & the like are cheap & easy to find. If I haven't been to the grocery store for a few days, we have to make a trip around the corner to 7-Eleven for the kids' ice cream fix, or hope that we can catch the ice cream man who comes around to our neighborhood. Devin loves ice cream too, & the pictures below are all because Kalen couldn't stand watching Daddy eating the sweet, creamy confection & not sharing. If you can't tell by the pictures, he enjoyed it immensely. If only he enjoyed eating food as much. Sigh.

*Warning* If you are the type who can't stand looking at a child who is all messy & sticky, leave this site now & return in a few days when I have posted something new.

*Disclaimer* I really did not sit him in the high chair & give him ice cream without a bib.

Oh, & by the way, isn't Kalen just the cutest, little doll!! I wish that you could all see him & get to know him. What a little sweetheart!

Happy New Year from Thailand

Well, the Blogger gods must have heard me lamenting (cussing, although I really don't cuss) the fact that I haven't been able to get pictures to post for the past 2 weeks, & did some magic on my computer. Because tonight, out of the clear blue, everything was seeming to work just fine. We shall see, when I actually go try to publish it. So, all's well that ends well, and I'm finally getting back to posting about New Years. Nice, now that it was a month ago. (Maybe Mr. Houtz, my freshman early morning jazz band conductor, was right when he warned me that I was going to be late to my own funeral. I think he jinxed me with his ominous prediction.)

And now, finally on to New Years.

So, what do farongs (foreigners) with small children do in Thailand on New Year's Eve?

First they go to the newest, closest shopping mall they can find & get some good eats. In our case, this happened to be Kentucky Fried Chicken in the brand new Central Department Store shopping complex which takes a little longer to drive to, but that we can get home from in a total of 7 minutes. That is fun when we aren't in the mood to sit in downtown Bangkok traffic. When are we ever in the mood for that? Devin & I would have chosen something different for lunch, but it's all about making the kids happy right?! And what kid wouldn't want potatoes & gravy with greasy chicken nuggets & red Fanta?




Then they would go see a really fun show in a really comfy theatre. So, we went to the brand new cinema in the same shopping center & saw Madagascar 2. The show was great! We laughed so hard! The worst thing about going to see movies in Thailand is the typical LOUD volume that Thai shows are so famous for. Note Rhees & Ambrian plugging their ears. The best thing about going to movies in Thailand is that you get really comfy seats, cheap treats, & tickets for an entire family of 6 (we don't have to pay for Kalen yet) that cost only slightly more than a single ticket does in the States.



Then they would walk, or skip if they were Kambren, & catch all the eyes of the natives who were visiting the same mall that day. Which we did.





After the movie, they would surely be hungry for ice cream, so they would stop at a creamery & indulge in some yummy ice cream cones, or brownies ala mode - minus the ala mode - if you were Rhees. So we went to Bud's Old Fashioned Ice Cream & got all sticky & drippy with dessert.



I guess Rhees hadn't gotten his brownies yet.




Once back at home, a farong family in Thailand on New Year's Eve would want to go swimming. And since there is no snow in Thailand on New Year's Eve, it is possible to do just that.
So we did. Even though the weather in January is cooler & the water felt freezing the kids loved playing in the pool. And we took silly pictures from under the water just to see what they would look like. (Maybe this is how film makers get their ideas for imaginary creatures that they invent for the movies.?)






Rhees. On your mark, get set......




Jump!

And Rhees, once in the water, doing his Aladdin sinking to the bottom of the sea impression.

Pretty little Aybrielle.




Kambren & Floppy Ears. We miss you Flops.





Darling little sisters & best friends! Ambrian & Aybrielle.




Rhees & Kambren.









Aybrielle pretending to be a frog.




Once inside & bathed & in jammies, children in a farang family living in Thailand, would want to play games before ringing in the new year. Fortunately Santa left a few new games for Christmas, so we could do that. If you haven't ever played Freddy the Fish, well, you're missing out. Freddie blows fish continuously through an imaginary stream of water out of his mouth, & the idea is to try to catch as many as you can in your net before the fish are all gone. This game is alot of fun, until you get tired of hearing the song "Swim said the Mommy Fishie" played over & over.





Then they would don party hats & continue the games until the big countdown.









Then, the farong children would definitely want to get out the noisemakers & confetti they had been waiting to use since before Christmas & make a lot of noise & lots of mess while cheering for the new year to arrive. Except that if you live at our house & you are under the age of 12, you would ring in the new year with Australia, several hours early for Thailand.




We had alot of fun on New Year's Eve & we hope you did too!!!

We love you!!!