Relief Society Wedding Dress Fashion Show

One night for a Relief Society activity they hosted a fashion show of wedding dresses.  A bunch of us modeled our dresses, other people hung theirs around the room for display, or had wedding pictures displayed.  The bishop MCed and read our wedding story as we walked down a red carpet runway for all to "oooo" and "ahhh" at our dresses.  I hadn't pulled out my wedding dressing since our wedding reception.  Luckily, I was barely able to still fit in the thing (although breathing was a little tough once zipped).

I brought Liv with me because I was sure she would love seeing this.  She helped me with my zipper and held my train while I walked the isle. Then, when I was done I let her try it on, she was beyond thrilled.

How We Survive the Winter Time

My latest blogging focus has been more on the food blog Derek created as a Christmas present for me than this one.  So I'm catching up.  My food blog is chelseasfoodcreations.wordpress.org and I've been slowly adding one recipe at a time as I cook them in hopes to one day have all my recipes digitized.

I do appreciate the winter for all the creativity it inspires in my kids while they are stuck indoors.  Liv is constantly playing princess and lines of princesses like so can often be found in various corners around the room.

She also enjoys her princess palace pets and has taken a real interest in her baby dolls.  She very realistically pretends that she is them mother and give them naps and loads them up in carseats everywhere we go.  She gets them all dressed every morning and changes them into pajamas at night.  It makes getting out of the house take so much longer though because she not only has to get herself ready but all 3 of her babies as well (that is something that I understand all too well).

Camden is still in love with the Jake and the Neverland Pirates ship Babi and Papou gave him for his birthday.  He is constantly monopolizing it and rarely includes Carter and Liv in his play.  He also loves watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates episodes on tv and playing with his ship at the same time.

Carter has been enthralled with the magnets that Nay and Benazir gave the boys for Christmas.  He carries them all around the house and seems to be able to play for hours and days on end without tiring of them.

We've had the pleasure of having my friend Julie's little Martha over quite a bit this winter to play.  The boys just love her.  This day Carter decided to brush her hair.  With beautiful blond curls like she has I totally understand why he felt the need.

Liv and Camden keep clinking their glasses to give each other cheers one day at lunch.  Wonder where they picked that up from.

Carter and Liv snuggling on the coach together:

The two boys fell asleep all cuddled like so one afternoon:

I worked on Martin Luther King Day, but Derek and my babysitter had the day off.  He filled the day by taking the kids to payless to buy them all sneakers.  Then, we borrowed the church key from a friend and took them to the church gym and made them run basketball drills.  The kids all loved it.  Then, I met them at the Carls Jr Playplace for lunch.  Then, I went back to work and they kids and Derek all took a nap on the downstairs couch.  Derek says all 3 kids fells asleep on top of him.

Lily had us over for dinner one evening and Liv wanted me to take a picture of her holding their baby Ammon.

I took the boys with me to jiffy lube to get the oil changed.  They really enjoyed that the movie Cars was playing and that they had popcorn they could eat.

We had Derek's family over for dinner one night after they had spent the day helping Steven and Diane move into their new house.  Uncle Jon wrapped the 3 Marshall kids into a Marshall burrito and gave them to Derek to eat for dinner.

The kids all decided they wanted to switch from gymnastics to ice skating.  Liv is doing amazing.  She whips around the ice so fast all by herself.
The boys, while so excited to take lessons and be allowed on the ice, last just a few minutes out there falling before they are crawling off the ice trying to find me and refusing to go back out.  If I go out with them they do quite well, but I don't think they both anticipated how much falling is involved in learning to ice skate.

They had a fun ward dinner night where they broke people into groups of about 8.  We hosted 8 people at our house and then afterwards everyone went over to the church for dessert.  A good way to get to know people.

Since our kids diet seems at times to entirely consist of quesadillas, chicken nuggets and ramen noodle soup and they all seem to not be getting enough sleep lately, and spend way too much time watching movies or playing on tablets I decided to do a FHE lesson on how to take care of our bodies.  We talked about the food plate and the need to eat lots of fruits and veggies and get enough sleep and exercise.  Then afterwards we all made rainbow fruit kabobs together.  The kids loved it and maybe seem to be making a more valiant effort to live healthier lives.

Derek heard about the Midway rotarty club hosting a reduced price night at the solders hollow tubing facility.  So, we took advantage and we all bundled up to enjoy a night of tubing.  It was fun, but they kids got cold quick.  On the way down the hills we'd get this ice spray in our face and none of them liked that very much.  Their favorite part was actually riding the tubes up the hill and then the hot chocolate at the end.

Babi and Papou came in to watch the kids while we went on our Barbados trip and we all went on an open house tour of the new Provo City Center Temple.
 The building was beautiful probably my favorite part was this huge reclaimed stained glass image of Jesus Christ holding sheep that dates back to the early 1900s that came from a Presbyterian church in New York that was demolished. 

 This weekend, Liv got invited to a little girls movie night at the Oler house.  They watched My Little Pony and apparently had a blast.  Love this picture of all these girls crowded in together.  Such a fun group.

Last night, the Thorsteds invited us to join their family for a Chinese New Year celebration dinner.  Actually Chinese New Year fell on the same Sunday as super bowl Sunday.  We had the Thorsteds and Mayletts over for too much foot (and too much football in my opinion), so the Chinese New Year Celebration was post poned.  It was fun, we ate Chinese food and then I brought sparklers for all the kids to light in a fantastic bon fire Tyler's step dad through together in the back yard.  Carter was in heaven in fact that is a direct quote from his mouth, "I in heaven," as he stood for a good hour holding a stick in the fire.

I occasionally work all day Monday.  And, when I do, I drop the boys off at Carolyn's, then Liv at school, then go to work for a few hours, then pick Liv up on my lunch break, drop her back at Carolyn's and then finish my afternoon work shift before picking all the kids up.  Lately, Liv has convinced me that on those days we should have a girl lunch date just the two of us.  Today, she specifically requested miso soup for lunch which meant sushi!  I was overjoyed to see that she loved the sushi rolls just as much as me.  She would peel the sashimi right off the top, dip it in soy sauce and take bite.  Sushi is my absolute favorite thing to eat, so this give me all kinds of bright hope for the future and many more years of mother/daughter sushi dates to come.

While we were away

Mom and George seemed to handle the week with the kids like pros.  They were so busy that they kids hardly had time to miss us.  And, I think it was some great bonding time for the kids with their Babi and Papou.  Mom made the kids favorite pigs n blankets snack and even let the boys help.

They navigated Camden with a stomach bug throwing up a bunch of times including once at the library story time they took all the kids too including Camden because they thought he was feeling better.
They also took all the kids down to the Provo Rec center to climb around.

The walked to the park near our neighborhood one day proving they are more energetic than me.  I haven't ventured to do that once this winter.   George took London for a walk every day.  Pretty sure she is going through George withdraws now.

At the beginning of the school year I signed up to help with the Valentine's party at Liv's school per Liv's request and then realized I would be out of town.  Luckily, my Mom just happened to have 16 Valentine bingo cards and gladly offered to take that over for me.  Sounds like all the kids really enjoyed it and I'm sure Liv loved having her grandma with her in class.

The boys went to Carolyn's while Mom and Liv were at school so they could exchange valentines with the daycare buddies.

Papou did his fair share of wrestling with the kids.

Babi made a bunch of Valentines with the kids that they gave to Aunt Stephanie and Derek and I when we go home.

Tablet time:
Babi and Papou also braved the children's museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Geroge even climbed through the climbing structure with all the kids.  That makes him cooler than Derek and I for sure.


Babi probably earned huge points for letting Liv sit in this water table.  She always wants to, but there is a sign posted near by that states it's for kids 3 and under so I never let her.

Saturday night the kids slept at Aunt Stephanie's and went to church with them Sunday.  Mom and George were able to have a little rest and recoup.  Steph and Jon took the kids geocaching.  The geo they found had a my little pony and some cars inside for the boys, so the kids were all thrilled about that.  Then, Mom and George brought up heart shaped Papa Murphy's pizzas for them all to share.  The kids were kind to them that night (either that or Steph and Jon wore them clear out) because all 3 kids fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Made for a easier bedtime I'm sure.

Liv confronted Mom and George with tough questions like:  Why does George drink coffee?  and Why did Mom and Poppi get divorced?  I think they handled it well.  She's asked me those same questions I guess she wanted to see what they would say.  Why not go straight to the source right?  And Carter proved his usual mischievous self by climbing on top of the fridge.


I bought tickets for all of them to tour the Midway Ice Castles.  I think they all enjoyed it, but the warm weather meant that it was melting and wet.  I know first hand how upset Carter can get when he gets cold and wet.  It sounds like it was a little crazy with the kids running in all different directions, but the kids really liked it.

I was a little worried about Mom and George having to take the kids to ice skating because that's quite overwhelming for me, but they managed and George even went out on the ice with the boys for their whole lesson.  They seemed to do better and staying on the ice with him out there.

Mom and George even took my car to get washed with the kids before I got home.

All in all, good times seemed to be had by all.  They probably shouldn't have done tremendous job because now we are likely to plan a trip away for two weeks the next time!

Barbados Trip

Ever since some of our dearest friends (Dave and Cathy Carr) from our Oregon law school days moved to Barbados, Derek and I have planning a trip out to see them.  Our kids finally seem slightly manageable enough that we didn't feel too bad asking to leave them for most of a week with my Mom and George.  And we decided the best time to go to the Caribbean would be smack dab in the middle of February when it's awfully cold and snowy in Utah and we were starting to grow tired of winter.

We flew out Wednesday morning bright and early.  It was a long day of flying with us not arriving in Barbados until about 10 pm.  However, I honestly enjoyed the opportunity to sit and read a book uninterrupted by my kids for hours on end.

Thursday morning, our first day in Barbados, Dave and Cathy took us to their favorite beach near by and Cathy showed me how to work our Barbados style.  It consisted of alternations between running barefoot on the soft sand with waves crashing over your feet occasionally and some swimming in the ocean.  

I could get used to that.  Then, Dave gave us a tour of the embassy building.  Derek and I were so fascinated with his consulate job.  We could have listened to Dave talk about his job for hours.  Next, we had a small lunch at the George Washington House and then toured the George Washington House and some underground tunnels near there.
 We all got a kick out of the slight stretch the Bajans have adopted by feeling that his short stay of a few months in his youth played a critical role in him going on to successfully win the Revolutionary War for us.  While George was in Barbados, he contracted small pox and developed immunity sparing him for certain death of small pox that took the lives of so many Revolutionary war soldiers.  I honestly can somewhat side with the Bajans, and agree that it indeed may  have been the hand of God helping him to develop that immunity while he was young and strong and not starving and freezing and physically fatigued during the Revolutionary War.    Later that afternoon, I convinced the group that they all needed to indulge in afternoon tea at the Sandy Lane resort.  What a beautiful location!  You may think it weird to be sipping tea on Caribbean beach front, but it was actually quite lovely and I think everyone enjoyed it.


Friday morning we drove out to Welschman Hole Gully.  On the way, Dave stopped and let Derek and I illegal pick some sugar cane to chew on.
Welschman Hole Gully was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  Barbados is obviously a beachy island in the Caribbean, but it also has all these jungly gully portions.  Welschman Hole is the longest gully.  The guide who took us through was fantastic.   The gully was full of these trees with loads of vines hanging down from them.  She claims that Barbados got it's name from these trees that look like bearded men.

 When we came across a bunch of monkeys swinging in the trees overhead they cut up a whole bunch of bananas and they all came out of the woods to feast right in front of our faces on bananas.  I could have watched them all day; it was so intriguing.

All along our walk through the gully the guide would stop and tell us about the vegetation.  They had noni fruit, bay leaves, nutmeg, bamboo, palm tree, all sorts of tropical flowers, and African snails.  I was in awe to see all this stuff just growing naturally.  I took a million pictures.

This is fresh nutmeg still inside it's fruit.  The bright red stuff is the stuff that pepper spray mace is made from and it smells totally like it.

After that we headed to St. Nicholas Abbey which was a gorgeous sugar plantation at the top of Cherry Tree Hill.

We had lunch there.  I ordered a local favorite of fish cakes which were good.  They had this lovely outdoor patio that backed up to a gully type area.  It was such a pleasant place to eat lunch.

Then, we took a little tour of the plantation house which consisted of three rooms.  We all felt it a slight disappointment especially since the rum distillery and sugar processing mill was closed that day.  However, I still felt it was worth the drive up for the beautiful views and lovely location to eat lunch.

Then we drove down the East Coast which has bigger waves, and more rocky shores.  Not exactly the calm, lay out and swim beaches on the other side of the island has to offer, but still beautiful to walk along.

That night we hit up the famous Oistin's Fish Fry.  I ordered flying fish because I've never had the opportunity to order that anywhere else.  It was good, flavored with a spicy Cajan type spice and served on top of a mound of macaroni pie.

Then, I alone made a fool of myself dancing and we checked out some local craft type stands.

Saturday was a our lay out on the beach day.  And I think we earned it after Dave killed Derek and I with a crossfit workout that am.  We were sore for days after, but I think I enjoyed it...maybe.  Dave and Cathy took us to the Boatyard with their kids.  This beach had the calm turquoise blue Caribbean water that I just couldn't get over the whole time we were there.  
(PS I spent a majority of the time hiding under this big floppy hat, cover-ups, and lots of sunscreen as is evident by all the pictures and the minimal tan I'm sporting now after a week long vacation in the Caribbean).

Additionally, the boat yard had a trampoline out on the water that you could jump on and then off into the ocean, a large inflated iceberg you could climb and then slide down in the water and a rope swing off a boardwalk that you could jump into the ocean.
So fun!  We had lunch at the beach and spent the majority of the day relaxing in the sun.  Then, we went back to Dave and Cathy's where they had arranged for their friend Rita to come over.  She made us homemade Thai food and gave each of us Thai massage.  Thai massage is a deep tissue type massage that also included some assisted stretching.  I loved it.  Dave and Cathy invited some friends from the embassy to join us, and we all had a blast eating and playing games together.

Sunday we went to Cathy's branch.  It was in a teeny building with no air conditioning, but they had fans blowing and all the doors and windows opened.  It was a little cloudy and overcast that day, so it wasn't too hot at all.  In fact, it felt like the perfect quiet little island paradise place to renew the covenants I have made with my Heavenly Father and be spiritually fed.  Derek and I were both impressed with the gospel knowledge of the members, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Cathy serves in her primary and it was fun to hear the kids singing family primary songs and playing bongo type drums to accompany themselves as we attended gospel doctrine and priesthood/RS.  It was so nice to sit through 3 hours of church without any distractions from my children.  I really savored the adult focused lessons since I too am generally in primary and wrestling children on my lap all Sunday.  After church, Cathy took us to walk around the Crane resort, one of the oldest hotel resorts on the island.  The grounds were beautiful.

Then we drove through Bridgetown and snuck into the Hilton grounds to walk around some old cannons they have on the property and then ended the day boggie boarding as the sunset on Miami beach.  Haven't boogie boarded in forever!  It was fun.

Monday was the Catamaran Cruise with a bunch of Embassy people.  It departed from bridgetown and we were able to walk around the boardwalk and across the bridge a little before we left.  The Catamaran was another highlight of the trip.

They kept us pumped full of food and drink the whole time.  They made a number of stops throughout the day and allowed us to jump out and snorkel.
The first place they stopped to let us swim with a bunch of sea turtles.  They would come right up to us so that we could reach out and touch their shells.  
Then, they took us to a place that had 3 ship wrecks all in fairly shallow water and good visibility.   
Then, we stopped in a beautiful secluded spot for lunch where there was a nice coral reef with a bunch of gorgeous tropical fish.
Then, we sailed back.  I got to drive for a bit.

We had a bit of a dance party and sat on the front of the boat dangling our legs and letting the waves splash up on us.  The whole thing was fantastic except for the fact that I was a little sea sick.  It was actually worse after I got off the boat and everything was still rocking, but no longer rocking with the boat.  Then, Dave took us to to a duty free shop to purchase a bunch of souvenirs for people back home.  That night Derek and I had the most lovely dinner at a beautiful restaurant called Cafe Luna.  It was on the roof of this building at the top of a little hill overlooking the ocean with a lovely ocean breeze blowing on you as you ate your dinner.  I ordered the most amazing barracuda fish served with a curry type sauce, and sadly couldn't thoroughly enjoy it because of my sea sick stomach.  (If anything, it was a lessoned learned from now on... any boat I decide to embark on I will prepared myself ahead of time with meds for motion sickness).

Tuesday morning came too fast, and it was time to say goodbye to Dave and Cathy and the most amazing time in Barbados and the Caribbean.  They were honestly the best hosts ever.  Feeding us and driving us everywhere and letting us keep them up way past bed time.  I'm sure it was exhausting for them, but we loved every minute of it and so nice to renew our friendship with them.  Tuesday was another long day of flying that was just as lovely as the first: read for hours on end and Derek and I had enough time to sit down for lunch and dinner during both layovers.  It was wonderful to eat in a restaurant just the two of us without our kids twice in one day!  Now we are back to the grind of life which is tough after a week in the Caribbean, but the time away from our kids did make me realize how much I love them and am so glad to have them as part of my life.