The Ekker Girls

Disneyland

2011-12-06T19:51:00.008-07:00

Disneyland is so fun, especially when you get to hang out with completely awesome people!! Like these guys-

This little chickie-

These guys-

Ummm... AWESOME HAIR!!! NO?

These guys-

And last but not least, these crazies-

Best trip ever!! Right?? 3 days of fabulous people, in the "happiest" place on earth.

California

2011-12-05T09:30:00.004-07:00

We got to go to California for a week a couple of weeks ago. It was really great trip. I so enjoy hanging out with my little family.

Newport Beach-

still July

2011-08-26T22:32:00.002-06:00

Creature had a wicked expensive surgery. The boy almost left her at the vet. The girls (all) would have died, so being the awesome dad that he is, paid for the dog to have a handful of gravel removed from the dog's bladder. Lesson learned - don't feed the dog human food. Ever!!

Chicky turned 9!!
We got to go swimming with cousins. It was so much fun!

July

2011-08-24T21:09:00.005-06:00

It's a picture fest. Get ready for it. We spent the week in Moab with our awesome possum friends, hiking, rafting, swimming, eating, laughing our heads off.

Summer

2011-08-23T21:40:00.007-06:00

I'm a looser of a blogger! This summer was all too much fun, and now, it's totally over, and I haven't blogged any of it!! I'm going to do a post every day until I catch up this super fun summer.

June:

The Carnival came to town!!

Dance Recital

Backyard guitar recital

All night sewing party with cousins. We made the cutest bags ever!!

Last but not least, ballet intensive.

Summer Reading

2011-06-26T21:33:00.003-06:00

Getting her reading done, AND sunning her feet. The fleece jammies attest to the fact that it's just barely starting to feel like summer here, and it's about time!!

My Favorite!!

2011-05-16T17:13:00.002-06:00

San Juan 2011

2011-04-30T22:27:00.007-06:00

We got on the river early this year, and did an awesome Easter San Juan. The adults were out-numbered on this trip 12 adults, to 13 kids. It was so fun. We had nice weather, great company, and all around good times. The Easter bunny totally showed up. It was awesome, we woke up to Easter baskets right outside out tent,

and easter eggs scattered all over the beach.

We lined up the kids, said ready set go, and off they went.

Chicky found the "golden egg" and scored herself some cash!!

I was trying to tell my friend today, just how amazing the river is. Rafting is without question my favorite thing to do. So, here I give you my top 5 reasons that I love being on the river so much.

#1 Hanging out on the boat all day, with just my 5! No phones, computers, tv, other people, nothing. Just us, talking, laughing, and growing together as a family.

#2 Hanging out with other super cool people! Hearing fabulous stories about other people's lives, and again, no phones, or computers!!

#3 Getting to see the coolest stuff ever!

#4 Eating every meal outside, is the best!

#5 Sleeping in a tent. Telling and listening to stories, whispered conversations among sisters, the sound of the river, all around togetherness.

Spring?

2011-04-30T21:54:00.003-06:00

I have lived in Utah my entire life, and I am sincerely shocked every spring when we have a day like this...

#2 in her "first favorite shirt" and "second favorite pair of pants."

.... Then, we get snow the next day!

Weekend Out

2011-03-27T22:06:00.004-06:00

We took the girls to Moab for the weekend and did some hiking.

I love this place so much. The littles are so fun to hike with. We get funny stories out of them, and great conversations that don't happen in our regular life.

She found "an arch on the ground!" My toothless girl.

It got a little bit windy toward the end. Oh we love this place!

Ice Castles

2011-02-21T19:05:00.005-07:00

We made the trek up to the ice castles again this year. I think it's the coolest thing ever. Massive ice towers made all night every night by sprinklers going on at just the right time, in just the right places. It's so fun!

Ice Princess!!

The kid crew. My girls love these guys as much as they love each other. They've been born and raised together. The girl to boy ratio is off by only about 5:1. The 'other' boy isn't in the photo.

Pointe Shoes

2011-02-20T18:15:00.002-07:00

This little has worked her heart out and finally got pointe shoes! Oh my, she's so excited. She is fortunate enough to get the lovely Phyllis as a private teacher for an hour a week, and is improving almost daily. She loves dance so much, and she's a joy to watch, for her mother anyway. I'll post pictures from her next class.

The Duet

2010-11-12T21:18:00.004-07:00

We have an amazing grandpa who is also our piano teacher. He comes to the house, and teaches my girls. We're so lucky!! We're working on a duet for the big recital with cousins!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T20:34:00.003-06:00

Today Rocked!!! I'm so tired I could die.

Boy surprised us with tickets to Thriller! It was SO COOL! Our seats were fantastic, and the dancing was just amazing!

#3 wasn't into the zombies at all. She was totally in tears when they were trying get her!

Trick or Treating was fun, and cold, and fun and cold! We had, a gypsie, the Red Queen, and a peacock, and a coldy Mom and dad!

We got to meet up with cousins, that makes everything more fun!

Sorting her loot!

We Believe

2010-10-23T21:56:00.003-06:00

Today was cold and wet, so the girls made fairy houses. #3 in particular knows without question that she will have a best friend that is a fairy some day.

She prays for it, googles it (how to find a fairy friend), reads up on it, and lives for it.

She could barely go to bed tonight just knowing that in the morning there would be either a fairy in her house, or traces that they had been there.

Love my girls!

canvas

2010-10-14T23:02:00.004-06:00

I just ordered this photo in a huge canvas. I'm so excited to get it.

first day of school

2010-09-09T22:25:00.002-06:00

3rd grade, 1st grade, 6th grade

Deso Delux

2010-09-09T21:41:00.007-06:00

Summer is over and I've been totally a slacker about this blog. So here you go, our Deso trip from last month. 6 days, 4 awesome families, fabulous trip. Get ready for photo overload.

super fun ladies!

The mom's and dad's

the baby in his spiderman gallibaya.

(totally just googled that. I have no idea what it's called, we called it his hadchi)

The bath

super s'mores!!

the big rapid

slumber party

so many cool hikes!

A little bit of rain

A wise man and his daughter

super cute girls

tons of swimming

The motor rig.

Zoo

2010-06-24T22:08:00.005-06:00

I love summer all too much. We got a zoo pass this year. Our zoo isn't as depressing as it used to be. I actually quite like the zoo. My kids got to go with their favorite ever people on the planet! #1 was at 5th grade camp. More on that later.

There were totally animals too, but who wants to see pictures of animals?

Coppelia

2010-06-24T21:44:00.004-06:00

The Ekker Girls are dancers. We dance at this really amazing studio that I love!! We put on a full production ballet every year, and every year I love my studio more and more. This year, the ballet was Coppelia. I love the ballet, and I really love the music.

This little was a village girl. I didn't get photos of her dancing because she is in my class, so I was dancing at the same time that she was. Bummer, because she was oh-so-adorable.

Little #2 was a Story Teller. Act 1 dance 1. She started the whole show!

#3 was a Russian Doll, and a Baker at the wedding. She's getting so good. She's a full foot shorter than everyone else in her class. Oh well.

Tuacahn

2010-06-11T21:18:00.004-06:00

It was an Ekker girls outing this week. Our boy couldn't come which was a bummer, but still, we had fun with our way awesome neighbors.

Swimming

Hiking

Tuacahn

Going Out ("Could you seat 26? 9 adults.")

More from live wElle

2010-06-11T21:05:00.002-06:00

Crossing the finish line.

I heart my camera

2010-06-11T20:42:00.004-06:00

This camera is the best camera in the WORLD!!! Waterproof, heat and cold-proof, shock-proof, sand-proof, and it takes AMAZING pictures that are clear, and now you should buy this camera. Right now.

Live wElle

2010-05-29T22:17:00.005-06:00

There is this super cool race in our area in honor of a cute little girl that died a few years ago. It's called Live wElle. #1 decided to run the 5k with us, and little ran the fun run in her age group. It's a great cause, and a fun way to spend the morning.

that's some wicked awesome form!

My friend took first place in her age category. I'm pretty sure there was a "1" in my place too. something like 451st. or something like that.

I love a good cause.

San Juan

2010-05-27T23:24:00.011-06:00

We just got back from a lower San Juan trip. It was super fun. It was totally a 4 day celebration!

This chicken graduated from Kindergarten (straight from the river!)

This chick made the 5th grade honor roll!

This guy turned 5!!!!!

These guys celebrated their 10th anniversary!

yes, I totally stole this photo right off their blog.

The river is beautiful! The wild flowers were out in full force, and were so beautiful!

It was a total kid-fest. The best ever! I love kid trips so much, they make everything so much more fun. Here are way too many pictures, but I love them all.

looking for the hugest lizard!
swimming at Slickhorn

looking at tadpoles

climbing at Grand Gulch

Happy Birthday to you!

We got some hideous wind on day 3, and had to pull the boats. Rowing wasn't too effective. It was a looooooong day!

Our camp that night though was beautiful and we had a fabulous night. The last boat came in nearly at dark. I hate upstream wind.... a lot!

It was beautiful canyon, and a fun trip. Thanks everyone for making it go.

learning to slackline

2010-05-02T22:05:00.001-06:00

and getting pretty good at it.

dance recital

2010-04-18T13:38:00.002-06:00

I love dance shows. This is the first year we've sported eyelashes, and I must say we rocked them!!!

4 pink bikes

2010-04-18T13:33:00.002-06:00

Last week, we got out the pink bikes and rode to the grocery store for ice-cream.

It was fun, we'll do it again. I CAN'T WAIT to have my kids home all summer.

Easter Hike

2010-04-06T21:33:00.012-06:00

We woke up this morning to candy and Easter eggs galore! The Easter Bunny really outdid itself this year. We wanted to do a hike before we headed back up North, and boy oh boy did we do it. We rode on this insanely bumpy 4 wheel drive trail for an hour and a half, and by the time we got there, we were all a little rattled. The hike was so worth it though! Amazing! For sure one of the best hikes I've done in Moab. I don't know why it's underlining here. sorry.

The Easter Bunny totally went before us and wouldn't you know it, there were candy eggs all along the trail! The kids were in heaven! Coolest Easter Bunny ever.

We also found wild onions to go with the candy eggs.

It was a beautiful hike. So so so so so beautiful. I took so many pictures. It was steep, and mostly followed cairns on sand stone, and yowza, it was mighty fun.

When we arrived, the arch was equally amazing.

We stayed for quite a while and enjoyed the warm sun. The kids ate, and played on the rocks, then we headed back.

An hour and a half, and 5 rattled kids later, we were back at the Moab house. I don't know if my neck can take that drive again, but wow, it was awesome, and I'm so happy to have spent Easter morning there.

loved this tree below the arch

Easter in Moab with the little paynes is my favorite tradition. We don't have enough traditions in our family, but this is a good one.

Easter Eggs!

2010-04-06T21:06:00.001-06:00

Hiking in Moab

2010-04-03T17:57:00.004-06:00

We're spending the weekend in Moab for Easter! It's our favorite thing, and our favorite place. We have these super great friends that let us stay with them, and play with them.

We've done this hike to Reel Creek several times, and I cannot say how much I love it.
The girls love it as well, and it's just their size.

Easter Dresses

2010-03-28T21:12:00.003-06:00

I LOVE Easter dresses! More than Christmas dresses for sure.

K, don't knock the flower!! I know it's bigger than her head, but dang!! I think it's so cute!

Make-Over Saturday

2010-03-24T21:34:00.003-06:00

Every Saturday morning, our oldest girl does make-overs for her little sisters. It is the most exciting thing ever! She gets out the make-up, polish, every hair appliance (ok, both hair appliances) we own, gel, hairspray, and OUTFITS!! She transforms her sisters, and then herself into pure beauty queens.

one of many new rooms

2010-03-24T20:57:00.003-06:00

I have this little girl affectionately known in our house as Pie. For quite some time, she has wanted an orange room. I couldn't wrap my head around what an orange room would look like, for the life of me, so I put it off. Then, I saw this blog. This chick is amazing, and totally inspired me get the orange room done.

So, the boy went to Taiwan, and the girls went to work. Pie brought me three crayons one day and said it has to be one of these colors! My choices were red/orange, orange, and yellow/orange. We chose red/orange and wowee, it was bright. Here is the room before . . .

. . . and here it is now.

Boy called from Taiwan one night while my mom and I were measuring the wall slats and whatever he heard totally concerned him. He said "What are you doing? Are you measuring??? What are you doing that requires measuring???" He's a good sport about my projects when he's away.

I made the quilt on the end of her bed with the help of my awesome neighbor. The canvas above her bed is my version of this, my new totally favorite artist. I've re-done 4 rooms in the house, I'll get them up soon-ish. It's my goal.

Florida Part 2

2010-01-03T21:41:00.005-07:00

We drove down to Key West for the day. It is the most charming place ever. We went on a tour of one of Ernest Hemingway's homes while we were there. Our tour guide was this guy-
-who I am quite certain was a game show host in a former life. The house is quite cool, and I would totally visit it again if I should find myself in Key West. Here are some photos that we took there. Notice in the photo of his studio the 17th century Spanish Birthing Chair. Hemingway's favorite. Who knew?

We also went out on the reef in a glass bottom boat. We came in from the reef just as the sun was setting and got some magnificent sunset shots. The girls LOVED this excursion. So did we.

Key West was fantastic and lively and beautiful!!

Florida: part 1

2009-12-23T10:30:00.006-07:00

It's been so hectic that I haven't been able to blog our trip! I have a few moments this morning, so I'll get started. We went to Florida with some of our favorite friends a couple of weeks ago, and MAN it was so fun!!! We went because the boys ran a half marathon in West Palm Beach. I would totally post photos of that, but I was still in bed when he got home, so pretty much missed the race. They loved it though. We left West Palm Beach, and our super duper deluxe hotel, and headed down to the Keys to camp for the next several days.

Bahia Honda Key

The water was clean and clear and warm, and the sun was heaven sent. We had the best time ever! Almost everyone that we told that we were flying across the country to go camping thought we were nuts, but it was so fabulous, we'll for sure do it again.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-03T13:09:00.001-07:00

bike ride in the canyon

2009-10-18T21:17:00.011-06:00

We have a trail by our house that goes all the way up the canyon. The fall leaves are amazing right now, so we decided to take a ride up the canyon and take it all in.

As a matter of fact, you can fit 4 bikes into a minivan. You just have to make sure the kids are buckled really well, and drive with all the doors open.

Why yes, that is a snowboard helmet she is wearing, she was WAY to embarrassed to wear her bike helmet because it has stars on it! There you go.

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-18T21:05:00.002-06:00

My neighbor planned a trip to a local pumpkin patch and invited us along. It was such a fun night. We got to take a wagon ride out to the pumpkins, then grab some up and take the wagon back. It was a great time. We have the best neighbors ever. I love where I live so much.

Labyrinth with the Little Paynes

2009-10-04T20:56:00.003-06:00

It is my favorite thing in the world to be on the river with all of my family. I think we've decided not to do any more multi-days without all the girls. It's just too perfect. We had intended to do the San Juan, but there wasn't enough water and as none of us had done Labyrinth Canyon on the Green River, we decided to do that. Fabulous choice! It is among the most beautiful places I have ever seen. "No Rapids" was a bit of an understatement, I think we may have been rowing upstream for all the current we had, but the scenery!!!!! Oh my, I can't wait to go back. The Paynes as always, were perfect company, can't wait until next year!

cousins

2009-09-25T21:54:00.002-06:00

These little cousins were born all in the same summer. They have another cousin who was born with them that lives toooooo far away. These girls love each other so much, and we feel so thankful that they have one another. I wish all 4 of them could be together more often. I took a some pictures of them for #1's new room. Oh, I still need to post that don't I? Tomorrow, or next week sometime.

Westwater

2009-09-12T21:44:00.003-06:00

We had a great time on Westwater as always. I was so excited that my brother came with us and brought two of his kids. I love the river so much, and I loved being able to share it with them. A baffle on our boat blew out at the put in. Thank goodness for fabulous friends who can bring you a boat in the morning, all decked out to go for the day. Great day, river, and company. My synchronizing swimming partner was totally missing. Thought about you all day Megs. Didn't even get in the water. Oh well, good times ahead.

Caving

2009-09-12T21:37:00.002-06:00

We did this beautiful hike up to a cave in our area. The hike is super steep, but not to long, the girls did great. The cave is a little bit claustrophobic for my taste, but I'm glad we did it. We were all limping for a few days afterward, but it was fun to go.

First day of Kindergarten

2009-09-12T21:26:00.004-06:00

So excited and nervous at the same time! I miss my girls so much when they are at school, it hurts, and now my tiny has joined the big girls.

Soccer Rocker!

2009-09-12T21:07:00.003-06:00

This tiny so loves soccer. She tries her little heart out, and just melts mine all over the place. She wants to make a goal more than anything, but the child does not have an ounce of aggression in her. Oh well, she sparkles anyway.

And seriously, when you get a treat at the end of the game, it makes it all worth it in the end.

First Day of School

2009-08-22T19:38:00.001-06:00

I hate the first day of school. End of summer, end of hanging out, end of free time in general. I miss my kids like crazy, and while most moms skip home from the bus stop, I bawl, and continue bawling for about a week. Oh well, I'm un-healthily attached to my offspring. I'm glad that preschool starts in a week and I'll have a dozen kids here that I can love up.

Cupcake party

2009-08-22T19:31:00.002-06:00

I found these cutest ever cupcake charms online and decided that they had to be the theme for my little's 10th birthday! They turned out to be as cute as I hoped, but an honest PAIN in the neck to put on. Everyone left with quite sore fingers, but a fab charm bracelet. We also decorated cupcakes. The girls got to mix their own frosting colors and we got some good ones! Happy Birthday Girlie!

the days of 47

2009-07-25T14:56:00.001-06:00

We had a really fun Pioneer day with our neighbors that we love so much! Parade, bbq, fireworks, sparklers and all the fixins. It was a fun day.

Ladybug Ball

2009-07-25T14:50:00.004-06:00

Our darling daughter is 7!!!! Wow, too darn fast. She wanted a ladybug ball for her birthday party.

I made ladybug tutus for each of the girls and my neicey made the darlingest antenna for them. We had a scavenger hunt, a little ball, face painting, cupcakes, and played ladybug games. It was so fun. Happy happy my little pretty!!!

Uintas

2009-07-25T14:25:00.004-06:00

We spent the best week in the Uintas with our river friends. We really have the best friends ever and we had so much fun telling river stories, and laughing until we couldn't breath. The cabin was one of those that's twice as big and three times as nice as our house. The kids had a total blast and were sad to leave.

We went on the most beautiful hike in the Uintas. We hiked in to a little lake and ate and fished and played some more. The barbie fishing poles did not serve us as well here as they have in the past. Didn't stop the men from trying though.
This little turned 7 on the trip. What a fun place for a birthday. Thank you everyone for making this happen. We absolutely loved it.

For the Love of $$$$$

2009-07-25T14:01:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure where it comes from, but this little is a little bit obsessed with money! She is constantly trying to earn money, or otherwise come by it (like, say, tearing her teeth out??). When her older sister pulled a tooth, she prayed in her prayers that night "that the tooth fairy will find us and bring lots of money so we can have everything we've ever wanted, and both have DS's." There you go. Any way for a couple of days, this is what she came up with.
Gymnastics classes:
She came in the house and asked "Are people still driving home from work?" I told her they were and she all of the sudden got sad and asked "Then why aren't they stopping to sign up?" I went out to investigate and found this sign on the door, and there she was sitting pretty with a registration sheet and pen in hand, just waiting for people to come.

The next day she came in the house all sorts of sad. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "I'm trying to sell gravel for only a dollar a piece, and no one will buy it!" I told her that people wouldn't pay that much for a piece of gravel, and that maybe gravel wasn't the best thing to sell because there was SOOOO much of it in the side yard. Then, positively fighting back tears she said "but I picked out the pretty ones." Oh, how I adore this little thing.
Her little friend was getting all that she could and shoving it down her jammies just as fast as she could. She knows a good deal when she sees one and man, if this stuff is worth a dollar a piece she wasn't about to miss out on that. She went home about 10 lb's heavier.

4th of July

2009-07-25T13:45:00.003-06:00

I realize I'm going backwards, but I have so much to put in. We've had such a super fun and all sorts of busy summer. I am uploading 450 pictures from the last two weeks alone!!! So we'll start with the fourth. We went with the Little Paynes down to their Moab house. It as always is so fun to hang out with them. We all went together to Blanding for the best ever fourth of July Parade (more candy than Halloween), and my SIL's Cabin for fun on the lake, escape from the heat and a fabulouse bbq. Always great! Then, back to Moab for fireworks, swimming, and bed. It was a marvelous weekend.

MBA - muy bueuno amigo!!

2009-07-10T21:30:00.003-06:00

Our boy just finished his MBA from BYU. He did an executive program at night so that he could still work during the day. He works so hard for our family and we love him so much and are all sorts of proud of him. Now we will have a dad at night and on the weekends; something we haven't had for a while, and we're quite excited about it!

beautiful night

2009-07-03T21:06:00.005-06:00

We are all together with family and friends this weekend for the

4th of July!

So far we've had a tooth pulling, and watermelon, and presently are watching swarms of dragon flies. Life is so good!

The Wedding

2009-07-02T14:39:00.002-06:00

My niece got married over the weekend to a really fabulous guy. It was such fun day! So great to be with all of our family and extended family, and cousins. I took a billion pictures, these are some of my favorites.

The Cabin

2009-07-02T14:17:00.002-06:00

Our SIL's family has a cabin on a lake, in the most beautiful mountains ever. They were kind to invite us to spend father's day weekend there with them. We had so much fun. The place is incredibly beautiful, the lake was lovely, and the fish were abundant. The kids got Barbie fishing poles, and seriously caught a ton of fish! They loved fishing, and hanging out with cousins, the whole weekend was all too much fun.

goblin valley

2009-07-02T14:07:00.003-06:00

I'm pretty sure this is one of my favorite new places. We've never taken the girls here, and so on our way home from visiting relatives, we took the long way and did some fun hikes and saw some way super cool stuff.

lots of inches!

2009-06-16T21:58:00.003-06:00

My little has been wanting to cut her hair off so that she can match her cousins that both have shorter hair. I told her she had to wait until she didn't need it in a bun anymore, and so yesterday she followed me room to room with the hair scissors until I finally hacked it off. Not too bad. I think I'm getting better.

Our dad is HOME!!

2009-06-14T10:17:00.003-06:00

The boy of our house went on a trip with school for 2 weeks!! He went to China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand. We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to have him back! He brought the girls these gorgeous silk pajamas, and silk elephants.

Cinderella

2009-06-14T10:12:00.002-06:00

Our dance recital this year was Cinderella. It is such a beautiful ballet. The girls have progressed so much this year, it has been fun to watch. So, #1 was a clock, #2 a cat, and #3 was a palace maid. It was a marvelous show.

Ducks: take II

2009-05-30T22:15:00.003-06:00

So, my parents got rid of the land ducks, and bought some for sure water ducks. Well, ducklings. So we had to have a welcoming party and bring all the kids over to play with the ducklings. They are so stinking cute. The kids were going down to the pond and bringing up handful after handful of delicious bugs, and those teensy little ducks were inhaling them. We will for sure have an introduction to the water party. I'll let you know. So the ducks have been named, Paloma, Lela, and Blue, and interesting duckling facts that we found with all these little kids "loving" up the ducks: 1. ducklings bounce better than you might have thought, 2. if you "love" a duckling a little tooooooooooo hard, it squirts what-not out of it's bottom and 3. giant poodles can get jealous of ducklings, and try to snack them down.

last day of school

2009-05-30T22:08:00.002-06:00

Our last day of school. We had a neighborhood party, said goodbye to teachers, and welcomed in freedom and togetherness for the next three months! Halleluja!! I love having my girls home!

like a professional

2009-05-30T22:01:00.002-06:00

My cute little girl had to teach herself to ride a bike because her mother never really got around to it! She was so determined, and so she practiced and practiced, and I would run with her until I was too tired, then she'd go by herself again. Bless her heart, she is so focused. She also gave courage to her older sister who hasn't cared one way or the other to ride a bike. That one just jumped on and went like she'd been doing it for years. All sorts of good times. Summer is for sure off to a fabulous start.

Beauty

2009-05-23T19:54:00.003-06:00

"Mom, let's beauty me up today. I'll go get my make-up and some jewels."
Oh how I love this little girl

Live wElle

2009-05-23T18:56:00.003-06:00

There is a super fun 5k in our neighborhood every May. It is a scholarship run in memory of a cute little girl called Elle, that was killed in an auto accident a few years back. Her incredible family started this scholarship program in her memory. It is well attended, and all sorts of cool. This year, my oldest and I ran in it. She did the 1 mile race in her age group and rocked it I must say. I ran the 5k with my great friend. It was cool morning. After the race, and awards and everything, they handed out pink and white balloons to all the kids and we let them go all at once. It was very cool. This family has turned their own personal tragedy into something amazing. It was fun to be a part of it, and we look forward to next year.

Spring Break

2009-04-25T12:32:00.002-06:00

We had the best spring break this year. We went hiking down south with some great friends. Beautiful!! It made us all the more excited for summer.

the ducks

2009-04-25T11:50:00.005-06:00

My parents have a spring fed pond in their back yard. To keep the algae down, they have ducks. Two years ago, they had three ducks that before long turned into around 30 ducks. The pond can feed about 2. So, we got a gargantuan dog kennel, and my nephews, armed with sheets, nets, and all manner of duck-intimidating what-not, gathered the ducks and took them to a local business that has a huge pond and other ducks.
The next year they got two more ducks that got into the adjoining creek and now live down stream a bit. This year, they have the yard fenced so there can be no escaping ducks, they bought two ducklings, raised them in the greenhouse for a while, and finally were ready to introduce the ducks to the pond. This is always quite funny as the ducks go sort of crazy when they get in the water for the first time. So, I went overboard as I usually do and called a bunch of my friends and neighbors to come to the duck party.
They all showed up with cameras, and lots of anticipation that it was going to be an AMAZING event. My parents got the ducks herded in their cage, caught them, put them in the pond, and . . . .
they swam around lamely for a little bit then got out. My dad called the place where he got them and found out that they are not water ducks?!? They live on dirt and bugs, and don't spend time, or feed in the water. Who would have guessed? So, we'll try again, I'll for sure let you know.

Easter

2009-04-14T21:34:00.004-06:00

We had a super fun Easter this year. Our amazing neighbors did their annual Easter Egg Hunt, complete with Easter Bunny. A little bit of rain didn't stop anyone, it was a great time as usual. We got to have a sleep over with cousins which is always the best, and see my sister and her husband and another cousin who were driving through town, sadly moving waaaaaaaaaay far away. It was a very fun weekend, I can't wait to have my kids home for a week! Spring break coming up. Yahoo!!

Late Night

2009-04-14T21:29:00.002-06:00

We have the coolest neighbors EVER!! To kick off spring break, we had a late night, complete with dancing, movies, popcorn, brownies, pillow fights, and an awesome hut! YAY!!!! no school for the rest of the week!! Bummer that it's going to snow on us, but all is well, we'll play hard inside.

haircuts

2009-04-08T14:09:00.001-06:00

This is for my darling sister who does not think
1: I update my blog frequently enough
and
2: I'm ultra super mega cheap because I cut my kids hair

Both are true. I love you.

Broken

2009-03-11T14:11:00.002-06:00

So, we weren't able to get through childhood with no broken bones. Little chicken got her hand shut in the truck door, and it's broken. She is so "put out" at having to have a pink cast and all. Our little middle girl is doing everything she can come up with to break something, and finally resorted to asking "When they cut your cast off, do you think I could wear it for a few days?"

Let's play Star Wars!

2009-03-08T10:30:00.003-06:00

So, this is how little girls that don't have brothers play Star Wars. They know about Star Wars, sort of, not really, but they know some of the names. So here is how it went, more or less.

#1 Hey do you guys want to play star wars?

#2 I get to be the girl Yoda

#3 I wanted to be the girl Yoda

#2 You can be my little girl Yoda

#1 ok, and I'll be Princess Leah

#2 Princess Leah, will you tend my little girl Yoda?

#1 Sure, how old is she?

#2 I don't really know because it's hard to tell when she's kind of a monster, but she's probable 3 or something. She doesn't have her own life saver yet.

#1 I have to go in my spaceship to a party, do you care if she comes?

#2 No, I'm going to girls night out with my friends, so just bring her back when your party is over.

#3 Hey, I don't want to be little, let's say that I'm a Preschool Teacher Yoda, and you guys can bring your pretend kids to me for preschool.

Later in the game

#3 Princess Jedi, (in her best British accent) the Dark Lord is here, what do I do??!!??

#2 Just punch him in the face, that's what I always do, and it works pretty well.

and so it goes. I adore my little girls.

Disneyland 2009

2009-02-24T13:39:00.003-07:00

With our dad's crazy work and school schedule, getting time in for a family vacation has been difficult. We finally threw together a whirlwind 3 day Disney trip. It was so fun! Our aunt and uncle came, and a couple of cousins, and we had a great time. It rained every day, and it was cold enough to see your breath, but we were prepared for it, we had the place to ourselves, and we ran like crazy for three days. Here are a few highlights. Not to be too vain or anything, but MY HAIR!!! Do I need to say again, IT RAINED EVERY DAY!!!! Short curly hair and rain are just a bad combination, especially when you only have about 6 peices to work with. Enough said.

Winter Dance Show

2009-01-16T08:54:00.004-07:00

Our dance studio does a winter show for the families, at the studio. It's a chance for parents to come and see what we do during class, then we do a Nutcracker dance that we've practiced. Our dad came and took the best photos. Here are the littles classes.

martha's snowman

2009-01-01T22:38:00.003-07:00

Tell me that this snowman would not make Martha Stewart proud. I had nothing to do with making it, I was pulling the kids on the sled, but is totally deserves to be published. I love white winters.

Let it Snow!

2008-12-18T16:29:00.004-07:00

Playing in the snow, and eating it are definitely the top two activities of winter in this house. Today, Ruby came in the house, mostly a snowball, and I was picking chunks of snow off of her fur and tossing it in the sink. My tiniest came in and saw was I was doing and said "Mom! Don't do that! I like to EAT that snow!!!" Oh my. . . that is just about all I can think of to say.

Christmas Dresses

2008-11-30T20:57:00.003-07:00

Today the girls got to wear new dresses to church. I am a total nerd about matching, but I love it. As we were getting dressed this morning my oldest came in a said "Mom, these tights are as tall as me!!" Sure enough, she held them up and they went straight to her chin. Who are these people making clothes for? Oh well, they did the job, now, I can have them and I'll buy her some much smaller ones. I so love having girls. I adore my darling daughters.

fall sprinkler party

2008-11-06T15:18:00.002-07:00

This was just 5 days ago!! Can you believe that it is snowing now? I love fall for this very reason.

Halloween

2008-11-01T16:35:00.001-06:00

We love Halloween at our house, and this year was fabulous!

fall photos

2008-10-17T10:33:00.003-06:00

Finally!!!

2008-10-15T21:03:00.004-06:00

This little chicken has been waiting to lose a tooth for a very long time!!! She was the only one in her Kindergarten that hadn't lost a tooth yet by the end of the school year, and man it has weighed on her. So, at school the other day, she was drinking her milk and out it came! My cute little toothless. Not the best picture of her teeth. They aren't gray I promise.

hot as what?

2008-10-07T22:52:00.003-06:00

Me: Girls get you coats on, it's cold outside.
#2: But it's not cold at gymnastics.
Me: But it will be cold before and after.
#2: It's not cold at gymnastics, it's as hot as a red-headed chicken boiling in a hot spring. . . .or whatever.
Me: What was that again?
#2: You know that river that you went on this summer, and me and (#3) stayed home, and it had hot springs?
Me: The Middle Fork?
#2: Yea, it's as hot as like a chicken in THAT!!!

There you go, my darling daughter. She is so wonderful, I can't even believe she's mine.

Ear Piercage

2008-09-23T14:58:00.003-06:00

My tiniest has been begging for a really long time to get her ears pierced. I took her once, but the lady had a few too many piercings herself, and was a little bit scary to my little. We tried another time, but again, it was a bit too frightening, and she decided at that point to wait until she was as old as Addy (her 15 year old cousin) or married to get them done. Finally, it was just way to much, she HAD to have them pierced. So, I told her this was the last time I was taking her in. I didn't care if she did it or not, but this was it. Ironically, the girl working this time was the scariest of the three (unfortunately, I am WAY too big a cheapskate to go to the cute little girly place to get them pierced. We went for cheap, aaaaand a little scary.). Any-who, I was shocked that she jumped right up and did it, and even more shocked when her older sister did it too. My cute middle girl hasn't really been interested at all, but she did it. The oldest has had hers pierced for a while. So, all is well here, bejeweled ears are the BEST!!!

Middle Fork

2008-09-19T10:36:00.004-06:00

The Middle Fork is such a cool river. We had such a great trip. For a fabulous recap on the trip, click here.

San Juan

2008-09-17T21:08:00.004-06:00

Ok, I've given up entirely on trying to catch up from last summer. It's not going to happen, maybe if I start now, I can stay caught up. Life is so insane lately, I love it. We just spent the best weekend on the San Juan. It was the little girls first multi-day, as our oldest did the Middle Fork with us a few weeks back. I will post photos from that. The weather was beautiful, and of course the river was amazing and the company fabulous. It was a great way for our family to end the river season. My tiniest said the funniest thing as we were visiting Rock House, a Native American Indian ruin on the river. She said "Indians are the smartest people; Indians and Chinese people I mean." She's so cute. What a little thinker. Here are a few photos from the trip.

Breakfast

2008-07-10T13:07:00.006-06:00

Not being a real eater myself, meals are always somewhat interesting at our house. I have two kids that are as indifferent to food as I am, and one child that very much needs a proper meal three times a day. It just goes to show that they come with their own personality. After nearly 9 years of me trying to get out of every meal of the day, my oldest still wants food! And like her father, she's somewhat offended at being offered a bowl of cereal three times a day; unlike the rest of us. So this morning (and pretty much every morning), this is how our conversation went:

Me: What do you want for breakfast girls?

#2: Oatmeal (every day, every meal, just like her mother(:)

#3: Hot cocoa (also like her mother(:)

#1: Do we have any roast beef?

Me: No

#1: Can you make me a burrito with chicken?

Me: No, seriously can't you just have cereal?

#1: I don't want cereal! Will you make me some rice and gravy?

Me: No, I'm not making you dinner for breakfast, lets keep it simple

#1: Fine, can I have Alfredo and a can of corn?

So seriously, my little chicken ate left over alfredo, and a can of corn for breakfast, and had a corn dog chaser about an hour later. I don't know where this child came from.

The Waterslide

2008-07-10T13:06:00.001-06:00

Xanadu

2008-07-03T11:53:00.003-06:00

Need I say more? Summer is just the BEST!

Outdoor Summer Theater

2008-06-25T10:34:00.003-06:00

We are privileged to have such talented children around us that delight us with amazing theatrical productions. Who needs Broadway when with only two hours of rehearsal, some Barbie make-up, and a few garage sale dress-ups we can have fabulous out door theater in our very own yard!?

Carnie

2008-06-11T22:13:00.006-06:00

We met up with some friends at the city carnival tonight. It was of course a crowded disaster. My friend Katie put it best in her blog, and I quote "...you know the crowds, the scary looking people you try hard not to judge but can't, the expensive food and kids whining." I saw more shoe-less children, painful looking piercings, very large tattoos, very VERY large hair, belly fat that really should have been covered, and just plain crack tonight, than I have seen the rest of the year combined. It's a must-not-miss event!

canyon trail

2008-06-09T22:11:00.006-06:00

For FHE tonight, we took our girls up the canyon to walk along the trail. Everything was so green, and so beautiful!!! I wish our weather could keep it that way, unfortunately, we only have a few more weeks of it, then everything will be brown again. Just for the record, I do, do my children's hair, just not every day!

dance recitals

2008-06-09T21:43:00.004-06:00

We spent the day Saturday at dress rehearsal for the big ballet and jazz recital coming up in a couple of weeks. The ballet we're doing this year is "Sleeping Beauty" with the Tchaikovsky score. It is so beautiful, and I love that the girls are part of such a cool performance. The next day, at the Jazz show, the younger two are tapping to some Broadway themed piece, and our oldest is performing with her Irish class. It was a long day of waiting to go on stage, adjusting lights, music, costumes, make-up, buns, head pieces and everything else. I'm a nerd I know, but it was such a fun day, and brought back such great memories. Sleeping Beauty is the last ballet I did before my mission. It's fun to go through it again with my girls.

I'm a tightwad... I mean, I'm a dog groomer

2008-06-06T18:49:00.007-06:00

So there are totally things that I'm willing to spend money on. My dog getting groomed really isn't one of them. I could buy a fabulous chair for my living room in what I would pay to have the fluff ball groomed every year. So, I've decided to become a dog groomer once a month.

Above is the before shot. She's soooo cute isn't she? This was taken after I cut in between and underneath her eyes (which weren't really visible before). She gets so hot, so the girls and I decided that it wasn't so bad doing her face, we'd just do the rest of her.

This is after we cut about 2 inches off her whole body. It's a little choppy, I couldn't really quit laughing, and my neighbor gave me a stern scolding, but seriously, it's a dog.

As soon as I get a little bit better, this is what I'm hoping to achieve ..., then I'm going to buy some sassy black support shoes, and a khaki skirt, and practice running with my arms straight down, and get Ruby into some contests!

Until that time though, my dog is going to be the result of my secret desire to cut hair.

St. George

2008-05-13T11:04:00.005-06:00

We got to go to St. George this weekend for our nephew's wedding. It was so fun for the girls to spend time with their cousins, swimming, playing, and dancing at the wedding. Our oldest chicken got to be the flower girl which was so fun for her, and then, she caught the bouquet at the end of the reception. On our way back home, we stopped in at Zions for a quick drive and a short hike. It was so beautiful and green from all the rain. We loved it. We had such a fun time with all of our family, thanks for a great weekend.

neighbor kids

2008-05-08T09:46:00.004-06:00

Our neighborhood is a total kid-fest. There are so many great families here, and super fun, really good kids. We had an impromptu sprinkler party the other day when it was so beautiful outside. I am so excited to be doing this for the next few months.

Warning

2008-04-23T22:05:00.003-06:00

Let this be a warning to you all. This is what happens to naughty children at our house!

Spring Break

2008-04-23T21:32:00.008-06:00

I love any break from school. I'm the mom with the self-imposed "early out Thursday", where I pick my girls up early. Not the most responsible thing, I realize; I just want to hang out with my kids all of the time! So a week off of school was a lot of fun. We had a couple of days of warm weather, the littles got to ride bikes, and play out side all day and get filthy. My favorite thing is mud covered princesses that smell of a mixture of sweat and sunshine. Even Ruby got muddy, and had to have a bath. She's not nearly as cute when she's wet. I came in one day to a surprise tea party, complete with strawberry tea, a little bowl of torn up bread, and a little bowl of tortilla chips (since we didn't have any small cakes on hand, they had to do, and did so beautifully). We felt bad for our dad who had to do homework non-stop as usual. No spring break for him. We are all the more excited for summer now, especially July when our dad gets the month off!

2008-04-05T22:36:00.005-06:00

I love these pictures, and decided to post them. I don't know how I got black eyes and transparent green eyes from the same gene pool, but I love it all the same. I don't have new photos of Ruby on the computer yet, but I have to say, thanks to a great book (that I didn't actually read, someone just told me the basics), she is doing marvelously at her crate training. It's all quite good now, and we are again happy that we have a dog.

HELP!!!

2008-03-30T21:46:00.002-06:00

It's official, I have a newborn. If I'm not holding the creature, she pees on my floor, and chews on things she really shouldn't, if I lock her up she bawls, and she does not get the leash, at all!!!! It's snowing outside, and too cold for her to be out for any length of time. How am I supposed to clean bathrooms, and mop my floors? There is only so much you can do one-handed, and like a newborn, she bawls after a while of that too. I think I'm re-thinking the dog purchase, just 5 days too late! Ruby is wonderful, just not on cleaning days!! My oldest child's idea? "let's get another one, so she'll have someone to play with." Brilliant.

Ruby Delilah

2008-03-26T12:45:00.003-06:00

Welcome the newest Ekker girl to the family! We finally have a baby girl in the house! She's a Shih-Tzu, she's covered in dark fur, she demands attention, and she responds well to baby talk! The girls are in heaven, and the boy is coming around to her.