The Harts have purchased a house. To live in. Themselves.
Yippee!!! More details to follow. But let the celebrations begin!
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Hyde Park Happiness
Well, I had intended to post on the blog last week, but ended up at an all day, into the night, birth. I got home at 1:30 a.m. and got up early to get breakfast ready before Emma left for school, which left me sleep deprived for a few days, so I forgot to get on the blog.
Anyway, we've had a couple of good weeks. I've canned lots of spaghetti sauce and some tomato soup - thanks to Scott's Aunt Karen for the delicious recipe! I'm still hoping for enough tomatoes to make a batch or two of salsa, but we'll see how they hold out. The rain has been wonderful and we're glad the tornadoes didn't come this far north! Hopefully it will dry out enough this week for us to dig up all the potatoes we have left in the garden.
Emma attended the homecoming dance last night and had a lovely time. She went with a very nice boy who asked her to Junior Prom last year after she'd been asked by someone else, so she promised him another dance date and finally made good on it! They had a ping pong day date the day before, which was a lot of fun. She has started the marching band competition season and have a very fun show this year. I hope some of you get to see them march. It's weird to think it's her last year.
Lauren has come a time or two to help with the canning. It's nice for us to keep each other company while everyone else is gone. It's especially nice to play with baby Wesley, who is learning to roll over, spit, play with toys and laugh. He's so cute and fun to have close by. I'm glad to get to stay with him while Lauren goes to the temple now and then.
Dad and I are officially a year older now. Surprising how birthdays are not very important when you get our age, except that we are now being bombarded with invitations to learn about social security, hearing aids, AARP, funeral plans, and assisted living centers. We're not really interested in those things yet, so we'd rather not have any more birthdays for a while :) We are planning to serve a mission or two before investing in those other things...
We are delighted with happy news from Idaho and hope to get up there soon to see all of the new acquirements! Hope all is well with our wonderful family in all different places! We can't wait for General Conference next weekend!!!!
Anyway, we've had a couple of good weeks. I've canned lots of spaghetti sauce and some tomato soup - thanks to Scott's Aunt Karen for the delicious recipe! I'm still hoping for enough tomatoes to make a batch or two of salsa, but we'll see how they hold out. The rain has been wonderful and we're glad the tornadoes didn't come this far north! Hopefully it will dry out enough this week for us to dig up all the potatoes we have left in the garden.
Emma attended the homecoming dance last night and had a lovely time. She went with a very nice boy who asked her to Junior Prom last year after she'd been asked by someone else, so she promised him another dance date and finally made good on it! They had a ping pong day date the day before, which was a lot of fun. She has started the marching band competition season and have a very fun show this year. I hope some of you get to see them march. It's weird to think it's her last year.
Lauren has come a time or two to help with the canning. It's nice for us to keep each other company while everyone else is gone. It's especially nice to play with baby Wesley, who is learning to roll over, spit, play with toys and laugh. He's so cute and fun to have close by. I'm glad to get to stay with him while Lauren goes to the temple now and then.
Dad and I are officially a year older now. Surprising how birthdays are not very important when you get our age, except that we are now being bombarded with invitations to learn about social security, hearing aids, AARP, funeral plans, and assisted living centers. We're not really interested in those things yet, so we'd rather not have any more birthdays for a while :) We are planning to serve a mission or two before investing in those other things...
We are delighted with happy news from Idaho and hope to get up there soon to see all of the new acquirements! Hope all is well with our wonderful family in all different places! We can't wait for General Conference next weekend!!!!
Flake Fun
25 September 2016 - Sorry we didn't write late week. It was fair week and both of us were basically comatose by the time the week was over! There is A LOT of behind the scenes things at the fair that I never knew about.
This week was a fairly blustery one. (No tornadoes though!) I spent the first half of the week in Phoenix at a couple of conferences with my coworkers. The second one was more interesting to me than the first one. One of the speakers was talking about getting through to people in messaging. He went through each generation and talked about why they do what they do. For example: the baby boomers showed affection by working to provide. Their children, generation X show their love by experiences and time. Baby boomers are annoyed that Gen X won't stay late and be "dedicated to the job" but would rather go to soccer practice or football practice with their children. Very interesting. That might be something for Garrett to look into when thinking about his young men and their technology. Speaking of generations, do you know what they are considering calling the new generation? The snowflake generation because they are all so delicate and unique!
I canned a batch and a half of tomatoes on Friday to add to the batch we did last week. Scott split and I stacked nearly 2 cords of wood on Friday night (until about 11:00PM) which was exhausting but nice to have checked off the to do list.
The house is coming along. We made our last big purchase for the house (tile and accoutrements) and we'll hopefully be back to normal enough schedule wise to really get on the stick.
Last week's Primary funny:
I was sitting with the sunbeam class until their teacher arrived.
Sunbeam one: My birthday is in 2 minutes
Sunbeam two: (with a VERY concerned look on his face) I don't have a birthday...
Today was the last day for our junior primary chorister. Their family moved across town to another ward. She was telling the kids that she wasn't going to be in the ward but they were still in town so we'd still see them at school.
Sunbeam one (same one from last week): Um, I'm too young for school so I won't see her.
Hope that everyone has a great week!
This week was a fairly blustery one. (No tornadoes though!) I spent the first half of the week in Phoenix at a couple of conferences with my coworkers. The second one was more interesting to me than the first one. One of the speakers was talking about getting through to people in messaging. He went through each generation and talked about why they do what they do. For example: the baby boomers showed affection by working to provide. Their children, generation X show their love by experiences and time. Baby boomers are annoyed that Gen X won't stay late and be "dedicated to the job" but would rather go to soccer practice or football practice with their children. Very interesting. That might be something for Garrett to look into when thinking about his young men and their technology. Speaking of generations, do you know what they are considering calling the new generation? The snowflake generation because they are all so delicate and unique!
I canned a batch and a half of tomatoes on Friday to add to the batch we did last week. Scott split and I stacked nearly 2 cords of wood on Friday night (until about 11:00PM) which was exhausting but nice to have checked off the to do list.
The house is coming along. We made our last big purchase for the house (tile and accoutrements) and we'll hopefully be back to normal enough schedule wise to really get on the stick.
Last week's Primary funny:
I was sitting with the sunbeam class until their teacher arrived.
Sunbeam one: My birthday is in 2 minutes
Sunbeam two: (with a VERY concerned look on his face) I don't have a birthday...
Today was the last day for our junior primary chorister. Their family moved across town to another ward. She was telling the kids that she wasn't going to be in the ward but they were still in town so we'd still see them at school.
Sunbeam one (same one from last week): Um, I'm too young for school so I won't see her.
Hope that everyone has a great week!
Nilsson News
My mind has been every which way it seems and I'm trying to figure out what I've told you already and what may be new. We have had a couple of encounters with skunks in our garden. Luckily they weren't close encounters and nobody came back smelling real smelly. We think this skunk lives in our neighbor's yard and efforts are going to be made to trap him. I saw what happened when you trap raccoons but I don't want to think of what a skunk could do if it got trapped.
Our family enjoyed a quick mini vacation down to Layton this past weekend. We went to our former ward's harvest dinner and it was so fun to visit with friends and neighbors. It was a little saddening when we drove past our house and noticed that trees and flower beds had been removed. I guess there aren't very many people who enjoy yard work like I do. Well, we miss our friends but we do not miss the crazy-busy, traffic filled madness of that Wasatch Front location. I don't know if you heard about the tornado that went through there just a few days ago? We only saw a few areas that were affected with trees that were completed uprooted but I guess the golf course lost around 100 trees and Gentile street was out of power for three days because all the phone poles toppled over. And people told us that Idaho was a windy place. We haven't seen wind here like we saw while living in Layton!
Garrett was recently called as the new Young Men's president for our ward. So far he is enjoying the calling but he is struggling to find the answer to approaching the technology issue (cell phone use) effectively. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
The biggest news for the week is that we are getting five new little additions to the family! Okay, I am not have quintuplets (phew!) and I hope I didn't give you a heart attack by saying that. Tomorrow we are getting five miniature donkeys to add to our mini farm. Three of them are pregnant and our plan is to start a breeding business with them. There is not a single mini donkey breeder in Idaho or Utah so we are treading new ground. They are mostly pets but have proven to be extremely friendly, lovable and good with kids. They can be trained to pull a cart or carry a pack and are often times used as therapy animals. We are excited about it. If you are intrigued you should come visit or at least look them up online. Hopefully will have some pictures next week!
Our family enjoyed a quick mini vacation down to Layton this past weekend. We went to our former ward's harvest dinner and it was so fun to visit with friends and neighbors. It was a little saddening when we drove past our house and noticed that trees and flower beds had been removed. I guess there aren't very many people who enjoy yard work like I do. Well, we miss our friends but we do not miss the crazy-busy, traffic filled madness of that Wasatch Front location. I don't know if you heard about the tornado that went through there just a few days ago? We only saw a few areas that were affected with trees that were completed uprooted but I guess the golf course lost around 100 trees and Gentile street was out of power for three days because all the phone poles toppled over. And people told us that Idaho was a windy place. We haven't seen wind here like we saw while living in Layton!
Garrett was recently called as the new Young Men's president for our ward. So far he is enjoying the calling but he is struggling to find the answer to approaching the technology issue (cell phone use) effectively. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
The biggest news for the week is that we are getting five new little additions to the family! Okay, I am not have quintuplets (phew!) and I hope I didn't give you a heart attack by saying that. Tomorrow we are getting five miniature donkeys to add to our mini farm. Three of them are pregnant and our plan is to start a breeding business with them. There is not a single mini donkey breeder in Idaho or Utah so we are treading new ground. They are mostly pets but have proven to be extremely friendly, lovable and good with kids. They can be trained to pull a cart or carry a pack and are often times used as therapy animals. We are excited about it. If you are intrigued you should come visit or at least look them up online. Hopefully will have some pictures next week!
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Hart Happenings
We have really been enjoying some good family time recently. We have wrapped up a couple of time consuming commitments here and have felt a little more available to travel, so we have!
We enjoyed the Parade of Homes here and then couldn't get enough so hit the one in Logan too. While there Jack and Nick went fishing and Jack was actually present to see a fish caught. First time in his young life. Very exciting. It was really fun to hang out with Emma and go drool over beautiful homes with Mom. I was also thoroughly inspired by long talks with dad while picking berries and sitting on the back porch.
We dashed home so Jack could experience a demolition derby with Garrett and Emerson. It was a hit! A huge shout out to excellent uncles who really showed up for their nephew this week! Nick, Garrett, you are super! And Nick, the boys are still talking about your dance moves.
While the rest of us were hanging out in Logan, Alex was running in dirty dash and watching a football game down in Provo with some of his siblings.
School starts at the Hart house tomorrow which is always very exciting. We are resurrecting Great Brains up here and are looking forward to that.
Thanks to everyone for making theFamily Gathering so lovely. I know we had an excellent time and hope it was worth the drive for everyone who traveled so far!
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Hyde Park Happiness
I can't tell you how delightful it is when we are all together! A huge Shout Out to the Harts for making the gathering so wonderful!!! What a lot of work they went to in order for us to be together and have a great time. There were some very memorable moments - like Alex's magic tricks with Joy and Jake!, and some sweet moments for me - like discussions with each of you and watching the children seek comfort and get help from any available aunt or uncle.
Jack turned 8 on Sunday and the Harts traveled to Hyde Park to have dinner with Thomas and Victoria and the Mannings and us. It was so fun to have them come. I was thinking how nice it would be if we were all within an hour's drive and could have birthday parties and Sunday dinners frequently... Ah, well, we'll take them when we can get them! Jack was thrilled with the gift from the Mannings - a fishing date with Uncle Nick!
The Relief Society lesson on Sunday was about preserving and protecting the family. President Hunter said, "The family is the most important unit in time and in eternity and as such, transcends every other interest in life." Being with our family recently made me aware that you are all focused on just that - making family of utmost importance. Thank you for your efforts! We are so grateful to belong to all of you and to learn from your examples. You are the best!!
Just a comment about Jenn's post. I distinctly remember the morning of Sept 11, 2001. I was in the basement and turned the news on to see what was going on. It was devastating and quite frightening. I felt very vulnerable and violated. I was frightened for our children and our country. It was such an unknown experience to be attacked on our own soil that it was a little hard to believe at first. I had a hard time pulling myself away from the news. Most of you probably remember it clearly, but Thomas was only Addy's age and Emma was only Joy and Jake's age at the time. Emma was trying to understand all the fuss on Sunday... Perspective. I am truly grateful for where we live and for this country, with all of its struggles. Elder Cook gave a World Wide Devotional from Washington, D.C. on Sunday and talked a bit about 9-11. It's worth looking up.
Hey, if anyone has pictures from the gathering, it would be fun to see them here on the blog :)
Jack turned 8 on Sunday and the Harts traveled to Hyde Park to have dinner with Thomas and Victoria and the Mannings and us. It was so fun to have them come. I was thinking how nice it would be if we were all within an hour's drive and could have birthday parties and Sunday dinners frequently... Ah, well, we'll take them when we can get them! Jack was thrilled with the gift from the Mannings - a fishing date with Uncle Nick!
The Relief Society lesson on Sunday was about preserving and protecting the family. President Hunter said, "The family is the most important unit in time and in eternity and as such, transcends every other interest in life." Being with our family recently made me aware that you are all focused on just that - making family of utmost importance. Thank you for your efforts! We are so grateful to belong to all of you and to learn from your examples. You are the best!!
Just a comment about Jenn's post. I distinctly remember the morning of Sept 11, 2001. I was in the basement and turned the news on to see what was going on. It was devastating and quite frightening. I felt very vulnerable and violated. I was frightened for our children and our country. It was such an unknown experience to be attacked on our own soil that it was a little hard to believe at first. I had a hard time pulling myself away from the news. Most of you probably remember it clearly, but Thomas was only Addy's age and Emma was only Joy and Jake's age at the time. Emma was trying to understand all the fuss on Sunday... Perspective. I am truly grateful for where we live and for this country, with all of its struggles. Elder Cook gave a World Wide Devotional from Washington, D.C. on Sunday and talked a bit about 9-11. It's worth looking up.
Hey, if anyone has pictures from the gathering, it would be fun to see them here on the blog :)
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Flake Fun
11 September 2016 - Not much has happened since we last saw all of you so this will be short. Having a short work week was really quite nice. The only thing out of the ordinary that we did since arriving back home was that we spent all day yesterday cutting firewood. It hasn't been split yet but we have a large pile of logs in our backyard. And that's it! Oh, and we saw a deer while we were there. It wandered up to us (about 100 yards away) while Scott was sharpening the chainsaw and just stared at us for a minute or two before scampering off.
It was interesting today to think back to 9/11. Scott reported to the MTC on September 12, 2001 which put a unique perspective on his memories of that day. As many of you might remember, I was in Ecuador getting ready to come back. Also a unique perspective. I'm sure that we all have unique memories of where we were and what we were doing. I am grateful for the blessings of liberty and safety that we enjoy.
It was so fun to see everyone for the gathering. Thanks to Joe and Lori and their kids for letting us "have a sleepover". And for Grant saying that we could have 10 sleepovers if we wanted to! Can't wait to see you all at Christmas time!
It was interesting today to think back to 9/11. Scott reported to the MTC on September 12, 2001 which put a unique perspective on his memories of that day. As many of you might remember, I was in Ecuador getting ready to come back. Also a unique perspective. I'm sure that we all have unique memories of where we were and what we were doing. I am grateful for the blessings of liberty and safety that we enjoy.
It was so fun to see everyone for the gathering. Thanks to Joe and Lori and their kids for letting us "have a sleepover". And for Grant saying that we could have 10 sleepovers if we wanted to! Can't wait to see you all at Christmas time!
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