House O' Sullivans

I took these pictures of my front-yard gardens last week.  The best thing about them is that they all come up from seed (or root) for the people every year.  I occasionally throw a packet of wildflower seeds into the mix, but I do nothing but weed these patches of earth and they display mightily in their colorful glory. Last Thursday I took the kids (plus Zeke's friend Issac) to a homeschool field day and picnic at Canyon Rim Park.  One of the many blessings of choosing the homeschool path is the chance to meet dozens of incredible families and making lots of new friends.  The homeschool community is an intelligent, mindful, fun, free-thinking community of awesomeness and I feel so at home there.  Kindred spirits they are. Hallee and Issac working the parachute Sophie and her friend Liesel (who is in our Liberty Girls group) Issac and Zeke doing some water races with their little team So much fun.  While ...

I just realized this week that I have not posted on our family blog for at least a month.  I think what happened was I started to feel better and got distracted by food.  I literally gained ten pounds in the last month.  Seriously.  That is usually how my pregnancies go though.  I gain half of the pregnancy weight in a month--when I start to eat again.   I haven't documented much during the past weeks, but two Saturdays ago we went on a little adventure with the Goebels and my mom. We'd planned on hiking Ferguson Canyon in Salt Lake, but we woke up to a steady rain.  Mary said that Kaysville was dry, so north we headed to the Wetlands Preserve to walk the boardwalks and have a picnic lunch with the cousins.  Although most of the marsh grasses haven't greened up yet, the marsh was full of life.  We found ducks, red-winged blackbirds, snakes, ermin, and various other creatures. Grandma with Hallee, Adam, Sophie, and Phoebe. Zeke and ...

Once or twice a year, I take the kids on the UTA and we ride downtown for an adventure.  Finally feeling up for it, and wanting to see the flowers in their full spring glory on temple square, I surprised the kids with an all-day outing last Wednesday.  We started with a self-tour of the Cathedral of the Madeline, rode the elevator in the church office building up to the observation deck and did some classic elevator jumping on our descent, marvelled at the amazing gardens everywhere, touched the Salt lake Temple (another tradition), played in the children's exhibit in the Church Museum of History and Art, and then met Casey for lunch at Brigham Young Park.  It was a lovely day.  A bit chilly in the morning, but gorgeous.  After lunch, Casey took us to the Heber C. Kimball Cemetery, tucked up between apartment buildings just north of the Conference Center and then to see the Kensington Apartments where his company is working on a big project.  After Casey w...

Yesterday was a work day at the Sullivan house.  Casey cleaned off the patio and then moved onto the garage--two absolute disaster zones.  I was cleaning up the house and making food--we'd invited some friends over for dinner--something that hasn't happened in a couple of months.  Thankfully I am feeling lots better (although I still throw up often), hence the advent of dinner guests.  While Casey and I were consumed in our labors, the kids spent much of the day watching the spectacle that is Best Avenue when the Colors Festival is on at the Krishna Temple a couple of blocks from our house.  People come and park on our street, leave looking fairly normal to the festival, then return to their cars covered in colored chalk.  The chalk chucking is a tradition in India to welcome spring.  The kids were fascinated.  I promised to take them next year when I had more time.  Around 4:30, Karen showed up with her kids and her friend, Lydia and asked...

Saturday night marked a significant advance is the continuing saga of the Sullivan family fireplace.  Casey actually finished bricking up the gaping hole in the living room wall, rendering his masterpiece functional (though still far from finished).  He'd been worrying these four years (since he ripped out our old fireplace and started constructing this one) if his fireplace would draft correctly.  When he saw the smoke rise deftly up toward the damper and out through the chimney, he smiled, satisfied and relieved.  His latest promise was to have this thing finished by June.  One month left.   The mason with his evolving masterpiece. 

I took this picture of Zeke a couple of weeks ago while his sisters were at their Liberty Girls meeting.  We walked to the park for a special mom-Zeke date and he looked so cute in his self-selected ensemble. I gave the kids part of their Easter present before we left to Goblin Valley (two weekends ago)--new Keen sandals.  Their summer footwear was either too small or so junky that I had to do something. Zeke, Sophie, and Hal, sporting their new sandals . . . just in time for our spring adventure. We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Easter weekend in our beloved Valley of the Goblins.  Mike and Angie had reserved the giant group site for two nights and we were lucky to get a piece of the action.  We packed the group site with nearly 50 people--all friends and family. Upon arrival, I love watching the kids--and all kids do this instinctively--disperse into the surrounding hoo-doos and features that surround the group area.  This place is m...