Summer is such an eager student! I'm hoping I'll be able to teach her piano myself.
All of the Robinson kids are in town! We had a great tubing afternoon at Grandma Henrie's hill.
First major snowfall! Had to get a quick picture before heading to work and school. Due to unplowed roads, it took me 45 minutes to get from my house to the Riverwoods area that day.
We cook a big dinner like this once a year. The leftovers were great!
These are all the wonderful people I work with: (back row) Victoria Sucher-naturopath, Jenn-office manager, Kindra PA, Carly- medical assistant, Scott-medical assistant (front row), Stacy Kupperman -naturopath, Dr. Pam Vincent, and me. Stacy took a job in California, so this was her goodbye party at my house.
Mom dressed up as Miss Trunchbowl from the Matilda movie. She really got into the character, waving her stick at the kids and making them eat chocolate "Brucie" cake. However, she didn't make them eat until they threw up. If this isn't familiar to you, you should watch the movie. It's very good. I'm Amy Winehouse, if you can't tell. Who else are you going to be with a black beehive wig?
Zach is Optimus Prime and Jack is Donald duck.
Millie was a perfect fairy.
The kids loved this dried corn room. I remember playing at my friend's barn when I was 8. We loved to bury ourselves in the wheat. It's very relaxing. There should be a spa treatment of submersion in dried grains.
Who is that bearded man? Oh, it's Dave!
Oh, the kiddie maze. We thought it would be pretty simple. But we accidently took a shortcut into the main maze. The picture cut into the field this year was David Archuletta's face. The kid's maze was just the bottom corner of the picture. By the time we figured we were lost, we made our way to a watch tower in the middle of David's face (deep into the maze). The kids thought we were doomed, but we made it out eventually.
Josh and Jenni (Hall) came to visit in October. It was so great to just sit around and talk and watch the kids. We had dinner and watched the BYU football game at our house one night. Lindsey can't wait to have her baby. I liked this picture of Lindsey and Lizzie.
Quite a sight to see Josh carrying his twins. Lindsey and I went with Jenni to the mall. I didn't realize all the work that Josh and Jenni have to do for an outing. Well, at least with twins you are building your arm muscles equally.
Summer and Parker had fun playing cars.
Thanks to Lizzie, Zach's girlfriend, Ethan now has braces! She works for a wonderful orthodontist and she said he probably should get started on braces now to prevent complications later. It makes him seem a lot older to me, more mature.
Ethan before braces. Doesn't he seem immature?
Ethan and Ben making "mice" cream treats for their late night. This "late night" concept is the alternative to sleep overs. I'm finding that most parents I've talked to don't allow sleep overs. I think it's a good thing. During the week days kids are so busy. Friday and Saturdays are the only days Ethan can play with friends. Ethan and Ben love playing Adventure Quest on the computer, playing with Ben's rat, going on neighborhood adventures, and BYU basketball games.
Ethan and Dan went to General Priesthood meeting at the conference center with Larry, Tim, Shae and Zach. Ethan told me he felt "really good inside" during the meeting. I'm glad that he was able to have this experience. Before the meeting all the boys went out to dinner and had a great time.
Definitely time to change your sheets, Ethan. I was cracking up. He was complaining that his room stunk so bad. It was his B.O. in the sheets. I made him change his bed himself and he looked like he was going to pass out.
It was my birthday in September. It was on a Monday. It was a long day at work. Yuck. So, I decided to have a Chuckee Cheese birthday party with whoever could come last minute. The only rule (Robinson family tradition) was that everyone had to donate the tickets they win to me so I could get a big prize, like a lunchbox. And I did get a lunchbox. So, thank you family, for working so hard for me.
She's a winner! You just can't help but feel good at Chuckee Cheese. Especially when your dad secretly asks them to announce "Chuckee would like to wish Lisa Hall a happy 33rd birthday!". You're never too old.
Dan has done a fabulous job as the family emergency preparedness coordinator. This was an FHE activity getting our 72 hour kits packed. We made the kids walk around the neighborhood with the packs just for practice. I decided not to post the picture of Summer crying because her pack is waaaay to heavy. That would just make us look mean.
I love my family. Thanks for making my day special. The Saturday before my birthday we ate dinner at my favorite restaraunt, Pizzeria 712. Every time I eat there I feel amazed that someone can prepare food that tastes so heavenly. Everyone should try this place.
Dan is in the Young Men's presidency so he had the opportunity of waking up at 6:15 am to prepare and serve food for the ward breakfast fundraiser! The kids and I rode bikes to the church pavillion and enjoyed pancakes, eggs, hash browns and ham all covered in syrup, whipped cream and ketchup. Yum....
This is the beautiful park we get to ride through to get to our church. Now that Summer can ride a two wheeler, we love going on family bike rides to Nielsen Grove park. There are so many dirt and sidewalk trails to follow. Summer loves to be the leader!
A very stormy day. The air smelled wonderful and the flowers looked so vibrant. While I'm enjoying a rare summer thunderstorm, in my cozy loft wearing fuzzy pajames; I'm watching the weather channel tracking hurricane Gustav and praying for those who have evacuated from New Orleans. How discouraging for all of those who have worked so hard to rebuild their homes and now have to leave it all behind again.
I love this guy! I told him I would pay him $1 if he would let me take his picture. He was excited and told me for $1 I would get some awesome poses from him. He was mad that I didn't like his poses of Power Rangers, New Kids on the Block "the sprinkler" moves or the Incredible Hulk. He said I would have to pay $2 to get a boring pose. I think it was worth it. This is one that I could frame.
These kids don't look nervous at all! Ethan is starting 4th grade and Summer is now a first grader. This feels strange to have both kids gone all day. I'm thinking of the Staples commercial showing a father loading his cart with school supplies to the tune "It's the most wonderful time of the year!". While we have had good times this summer, I'm looking forward to the days having more sense of purpose. I have Thursdays off from work and I was all by myself this week. I read, practiced guitar, exercised and finished up some charts for work. It was nice to have that much uninterrupted time. But I also feel like my kids are growing up so fast. They are at the ages I wish I could freeze in time. I need to make the most of the time that I do have with them after school and on the weekends.
Sweet and wide eyed first grader! She is so excited for school lunch and more recesses!
Moose crossing! What is a Yellowstone trip without a photo of an animal crossing the road?
Dan serves in the Teachers Quorum in our ward. The big camping trip this year was to west Yellowstone. They were able to stay in an old cabin for the week (donated by a kind ward member). They had a refrigerator, stove and beds to sleep in. They planned their meals on the drive up and bought groceries in west Yellowstone. This sounds like the way to do camping! Ethan and Ty ( the 10 year son of another leader) were able to tag along.
I'm so glad Ethan was able to go with Dan for this trip. He saw some amazing sights. They rode bikes on dirt roads and hiked during the day, and played ghost in the graveyard at night. They canoed down a river. They were chased by a coyote. Seriously scary.
This looks like somewhere in a Lord of the Rings movie. Ethan named this "geeser" (geyser): "Daddy Geeser", because it was the biggest one they saw.
Two elk in a meadow off the side of the road in Yellowstone. Thank goodness for telephoto lens! Dan and Ethan were actually across the river from these elk.
Flying four wheelers! Bear World is the best! This is a small amusement park near Rigby, Idaho on the way home from Yellowstone. Driving through the entrance of the park, bear roam free. Keep your windows rolled up. Ethan saw grizzly bears, black bears and 2 cute baby bears. Ethan cooed about those baby bears like women at a baby shower.
Ethan was through with smiling for his over zealous shutterbug dad. However, Ethan reports he only frowned for the camera, when Dan wasn't wanting him to pose, he had a great time.
This is a picture of Sapphire pool, a "geeser", according to Ethan. The water was very hot, but Ethan could still put his hand in the water.
While Ethan and Dan played at Yellowstone, Summer and I spent the day at Heritage Village (located at This is the Place Monument). There are 46 pioneer buildings to tour. In most buildings there were people dressed as pioneers to tell the history of each place. Here we learned how pioneer women wove intricate lace and textiles.
In the hat shop. Coon skin hat worn side pony-tail style, very nice look, Sum Sum.
Brigham Young's Hidden Forest home. I think he had 3-4 wives and their children living here. It looked very comfortable inside, but I guess that depends on how many people actually lived here. I loved the lavender plants and English garden style. This home is surrounded by orchards. It was called Brigham's experimental farm because the pioneer settlers had no idea what would grow well in Utah's soil. So Brigham Young planted a huge variety of fruit and nut trees and vegetable gardens to determine which plants would thrive.
Free pony rides. I think this is the first time Summer has been on a horse.
It felt like we were back in the times of Little House on the Prairie. We had fun riding in this covered wagon, enjoying the slow pace of life. Rare for us. The pioneer village felt so quiet and peaceful. While the work of food preparation, bathing, laundry and all the other "inconveniences" seemed daunting to me, the beauty and serenity of the surroundings was so appealing to me.
