Fun with Great Grandmas

I love having Grandparents. With the death of my last grandfather this past summer, between Chris and I, we have 4 grandmothers living. They have so many great stories and experiences and seem so patient and just good people. Their personalities are so well established; its fun to love and know them. I have a lot to learn from those hard working mothers and wish I lived closer to any of them. I want my kids to be around their great-grandmas as much as possible to get the kind of experiences you can only get with interacting with people who have lived for so long. It was great to have some one on one time with my grandma and with Chris' grandma while we were in Utah. I hope I can take advantage/create those opportunities more often.

Digging up potatoes with Grandma Archibald:

Washing them off for our lunch!
Showing off all the raspberries Alec picked! (he did it happily for almost 20 min!)Movie and pictures of the boys (that includes Chris) playing with her awesome old school toys:

Gwendolyn's Blessing

Chris gave Gwendolyn a name and a blessing, with the help of LOTS of family members. Its a first for us to have so much family for a blessing and it was really special and fun. Every sibling was there except one brother on each side (Justin and family on an airplane, and Edward on his mission). We even had two great grandmothers! It was all so wonderful... a beautiful baby, sweet spirit, yummy food, and lots of hugs. Big thanks to my mom who found and bought the dress for little Gweny. She looked like a mini princess. Oh, I love her.

And so it begins...

The catch up, I mean. There is lots to be caught up on because 1- we were on vacation, 2-we recovered from our vacation, 3-we brought home sickness from our vacation, and 4-unrelated to the previous three, I've been trying to get in better habits with using my evening time (= less blogging).

So with a cute picture of our totally comfortable car ride out to Utah, lets begin.
Our tri-annual trip to Utah was super fun and was the vacation aforementioned. The main event was my immediate family's yearly reunion. We played it low-key this year and stayed at each other houses and met up for daily activities and evening fun, including one night of babysitters so the adults could go out to dinner! No one, but a Betteridge would believe all that we packed into those 3+ days. Hiking, backyard play, beach fun, girls/boys nights, eating out etc...Maybe the most memorable activity was our day at a near by church building. We opened the overflow to the gym and brought in couches, tables, chairs, TV etc, and set up camp with crafts, movies, tents and toys. We brought in balls galore and paper airplanes for the gym and finished the day off with a little impromptu play on the stage. There was plenty of small rooms for napping kids, plenty of bathrooms, and plenty of running space. Great Idea, Chris, I think it will become a Betteridge Reunion tradition!

Of course, it wouldn't be a reunion without some family pictures. This year, my mom and dad (THANK YOU!) paid to have someone good take them. It is so awkward for me to try and "act natural" when I know someone is taking pictures, even when it was OK to actually look at the camera and smile. But however weird I was with it, I am glad it happened because I love to have family pictures.

So this everyone. My parents and all my siblings and all their kids, and since no one is expecting its at least going to be current for the next 9 months.Crazy to believe that all those people grew from this, my parents and siblings.

Just the grandkids:

My sisters:My little family:

I love being with my siblings and enjoy any time I can have with them. I love doing things with them and watching our children play together. I can't wait for the next one.

I also love being with Chris' family. It has a whole different, laid back, food-centric, if anything happens its spontaneous kind of feel. Although this trip, we did plan to do stuff together, which I thought was great and worked out nice. We walked to a park and fed ducks, swam at an indoor super fun/loud recreation center, went to the Monte L. Bean museum and out to lunch at the Cougar Eat, adored the newly-born-super-cute-Baby-Mia, celebrated birthdays, and BBQ-ed with the extended Woodward Family. We played games, talked, ran around in the backyard, laughed, and watched the kids play with the same awesome toys Chris and his siblings used as children. Also, it wouldn't be a stay at the Archibald's house without free babysitting so Chris and I can go to the temple, shopping at Down East, and eating out as a family at Bombay House. I love my Archibald family and trips to Utah.

The Archibald grandkids:This is the only picture I took at the Archibald House. Just seconds before this picture, baby Mia and Gweny were looking at each other

We seriously vacationed it up and completely ruined our kids and their schedules for the next month or so. At least it seems that way now that I'm in the midst of Vacation Recovery. But don't worry family, it was totally worth it and I'd do it again in a heart beat, or few months... which ever comes later.

Coming up next...a blogging special: Gwen's Blessing! and then a blip about Great Grandmas. (this is mainly a reminder for me)

Another addition to the family

We'd like to announce another member of our family: Honda Odyssey. She's a beauty at 202.1 inches long and 4587 lbs. We broke it in with its first 13 hour drive to Utah a few weeks ago and absolutely love it, especially the DVD, extra seat to make it an optional 8 seater (six kids??) automatic doors, hatch and windows. We're even enjoying free XM radio for the first few months. The buying process was a bit stressful but Chris managed it quite well. And now, some pictures.


The boys loved helping Chris vacuum it out after our trip. We are totally committed to cleaning it often. Its so nice to have it brand-new clean.

Charlie

Alec couldn't ask for a better younger brother. Charlie pays him the best compliment by always trying to copy him. If Alec screams something, so will Charlie. If Alec goes outside without shoes on, so will Charlie. If Alec is content to sit and read books by himself, so is Charlie. If Alec wears his basketball shorts, Charlie wants to wear his too.

Recently Charlie has exploded in his language development. He's trying to say most everything and gets really close a lot of the times. Even without all the words, he's very efficient at getting what he wants with his body language or his own efforts. He's figured out how to climb out of his crib very safely without any supporting furniture. He does the best car, plane and horse sounds. He dribbles a soccer ball extremely well. He loves to wear jackets, hats and pajamas. Far longer than the norm for children his age, he'll be content to sit with a pile of books and go through them. Although, he's also a bit destructive and loves to tear off any bits of the book that will come off, especially the spines. He is so helpful and happily hands me diapers, puts his dishes in the sink, turns off fans and finds our shoes simply if I ask him.

Charlie loves his independence and likes to wipe up his own spills, pour/dish out his own food, sing songs all by himself (even though he usually only knows the last word in each phrase), and do whatever Alec does on the playground by himself. He's very proficient at figuring out a way to do that at his own level (so if Alec climbs on the outside of the playground, Charlie will follow on the inside). After most feats, he'll happily exclaim with his arm held out wide in Ta-Da fashion, "Did it! self!"

Here is the promised video of Charlie's pedaling abilities. Super cute.

Oh and one of the things I love about Chris is how excited he gets about each of our kids' milestones. He whoops and hollers and yells for me to watch as he runs for the camera. These kids have one proud daddy.

She smiles!

Two days ago, right before bed time, we were all crowding around Gwen trying to see her smile. She looked like she's been trying to for a while, you could see it in her eyes. Right on cue (we used her as a distraction for Alec's impending tantrum) she gave us all a smile! And then another one just for Alec since he actually missed her first. It was a fun family moment and I can tell it is one of many more to come.

In that picture she's sleeping, but you get the general idea. It looks even more stunning when her eyes are open and in on the action. Also, she loves to have her hands tucked up under chin whenever she's feeding or sleeping. It just looks so peaceful. I can hardly believe how big she's getting, 6 weeks tomorrow!

For an exciting little preview, Charlie has mastered pedaling! He's been close for a while, but now he can start and pedal on by himself. Video, pictures and more details coming.

Homecoming surprise

Gwen and I had a wonderful time up in WA for one cousin's mission farewell and another cousin's wedding. Chris expertly managed the boys at home for the second weekend in a row.

My mom and sisters and I were in charge of the flower centerpieces for the wedding reception. We had so much fun putting together 21 bouquets of flowers! None of us knew much about what we were doing, but we cut, de-leafed, tied, drooped, arranged and trimmed with the best of them. If I can manage to grab some pictures of the final product from either my mom or Sarah, I will. Here is one of Gwen surrounded by the flowers after we cut and sorted the initial bouquets.

Upon coming home, I was told there were some surprises for me, "one outside and one inside" according to Alec. I smiled in anticipation of something like: the patio being swept and the house cleaned up, or cookies on the table or some equally wonderful, cute, small surprise. What I did NOT expect in the least, was Chris to accomplish two big wood projects!

I found this outside:

and this inside:
I am in love with my new space-saving shelves and our "home" for our stroller and my sweet little helper boys and my amazing Chris. I loved being there for my Grandpa's funeral last weekend and Emily's farewell and Bethany's marriage, but most of all I LOVE being home with my family.