House O' Sullivans

Yes, that is my son, applying a thick coat of pink lip-gloss!  What is he to do?  His sisters do it.  Right?  And of course, he MUST do what THEY are doing. The girl's decked themselves out to go play in the backyard this afteroon.  They were so cute I had to take some glamour shots before they headed into the flurries.

 Casey's Grandma Tiede made a quick visit to Salt Lake this week.  She was only here for a couple of days, but we spent time with her yesterday, then had breakfast with her out at the Sullivan Homestead this morning before she flew back to New Mexico.  What a hard-working, serving, thoughtful, loving lady she is!  After breakfast with Great Grandma Tiede, the girls donned "hand-me-over" (Sophie's term for "hand-me-down") boots from Lucas and Emory and headed out to clean horse stalls with Doug, Ilean, and Casey.  Doug and Casey sawed off the handle of a biscuit scooper, adapting it to Hallee's size.  (According to Casey, before the down-sizing, Hal was wreaking havoc with that long handle).  The reward for the labor?  Some time on Grandma Sullivan's horse, Izzy. Although Zeke did no labor to speak of, he's cute, so he got a ride too! When Hallee first went out to clean stalls, she was only wearing a fleece jacket, so I layered her in ...

Our friends, Todd and Cody Miller, turned us on to this three years ago.  For one night--the first Wednesday in December--Bonneville Glen (a little gully with a stream running through it) BECOMES Bethlehem.  Centurions guard the entrance.  Everyone is dressed in period costume.  As you enter the city, there are street vendors selling chickens, vegetables, and fruits.  Townsfolk offer samples of flatbreads and dates (and hot chocolate).  There are fires burning everywhere for light and a bit of warmth.  Literally, sheep and shepherds cover the hillside.  The manger is complete with a donkey and a REAL baby Jesus.  A camel and several goats are on the scene.  The path leading through the glen follows a little stream and is lit with luminaries.  Really, it's quite the amazing production.  When the girls talk about it, they talk about GOING to Bethlehem.  They think this is the real deal.  It was COLD this year, but...

Hallee is known for her silliness.  She has an amazingly witty sense of humor for her young age (3).  She also doesn't know when to stop.  I find myself (especially during meals) telling her to calm down (repeatedly).  I've broken out the classic lectures that MY mom used on me--specifically the one about how we can't have the Spirit with us when we have the spirit of CRAZY.  That there is a type of incessant silliness that moves into the forbidden light-mindedness zone . . . blah . . . blah . . . blah.   Of course, I got those lectures ALL the time.  I was labelled "the agitator" growing up.  Of the six kids in our family, I was the one literally bouncing off the walls, doing handstands in the living room, jumping on the couch, and generally "working others up" as my dad described it.  So I have to give this girl a break, knowing that I (according to the oral traditions in my family) presented sim...

 The weekend before last, Newel and Karen were in Texas living it up and Arden and Maya stayed with us (and WE lived it up).  After an afternoon of carefully calculated manual labor (that is CHILD labor) in my backyard, I rewarded the kids with an all-expense paid trip up Millcreek Canyon.  The girls decked out in fashionable hats and we bundled everyone up (except for Zeke, who stayed with Casey Bert) and headed for the hills.  We trekked up the canyon and tried out several different sledding areas.  The ride back down the snow-packed road is always my favorite, since I can run down and pull the sleds with virtually no effort (except the effort it takes to stay out of the path of the sleds and avoid being run-over.)

Sophie's cousin Arden got a hold of her camera and took a few photos of his OWN this weekend.  Here they are for your enjoyment: (Father of the photographer.) (The man HIMSELF!) (Mother of the man himself.)

She's been at it again!