Great Grandparents

The very next day after our planetarium visit we decided to visit Wes' grandparents (on both sides) to deliver their belated Christmas presents. I had just made a New Year's resolution to take at least once picture every day, which by the way I have already not kept up with. I was starting to take pretty boring pictures. I appear to have gone completely backwards though and have not been taking many pictures again. I guess it is time to dust off the camera again. Anyway, I digress...this particular day I brought my camera.

We first stopped at Grandpa and Grandma Oates's house. The older girls were very respectful and behaved wonderfully. Violet enjoyed crawling around on the ultra plush carpet. Lydia was kind enough to help keep an eye with her while we chatted. Douglas (Wes' Grandpa) is an amazing man. He served in the Navy during World War II. He suffers from Parkinson's disease, but he still can get around pretty well. He will still work around the yard when he can. Wes' dad is wonderful to come help his parents with whatever they need.

We learned during our visit that Wes' Great Grandfather came from the Isle of Mann, which he hadn't been aware of. He also learned that his Great, Great Grandfather was a postman in Bingham Canyon.

Lois (Wes' Grandmother) is absolutely AMAZING. She is my role model for how I want to be when I am much older. She made Violet a beautiful quilt when she was born and she is always so positive and upbeat. She has such a strong love for her family. She is so sweet and kind. Both Wes' grandparents are so strong in the gospel. They enjoyed telling us about their mission they served as a retired couple in Chicago.

Before too long we headed out to Grandma Christensen's.

I just love her as well! I love that Wes has such a large, loving, extended family :) Ruth had just gotten home from a cruise. She loved giving the girls hugs. Unfortunately Violet got pretty crabby just a few minutes after we arrived and our visit was cut very short. I felt bad that we hadn't spent much time with her. Hopefully we will be able to spend more time with her in the near future!

Out of World Start to 2011

On New Year's Day we decided to have a small family adventure. Adelle had gotten a few free tickets for a planetarium show that were due to expire the next day, so we decided to head to the planetarium downtown. First we watched a movie about black holes in the star theater. Lydia and Adelle seemed to enjoy it. Violet got restless near the end so we walked around the halls of the dark theater. After that we walked around and looked at the exhibits.

Lydia has really taken an interest to doing her hair and make up just so, especially when we are going out. She has a very light touch to her make up though so I have allowed her to wear it. Lydia and Violet are looking here at the large group of kids crowding around the ball contraption.

Adelle was right in the heart of the crowd. As we were driving to the planetarium she mentioned that she remembered a vacation where they had a wonderful, ball thing. To her astonishment she then realized that it wasn't a grand vacation we had taken in the past, but just a little, local stop in the Salt Lake Valley. She absolutely had to have a turn pulling the levers and making the balls go.

She also couldn't resist exploring the mars and moonscapes. I love this picture of her on Mars. She looks like she is straight out of an original Star Trek episode. At least she isn't wearing a red uniform.

Perhaps a future career choice for Violet, if there is a space program still someday. She enjoyed looking around and watching all the kids scurrying everywhere.

Lydia is now too cool to climb around the moon and mars, but she did let me take a picture of her lifting up a heavy rock.

Violet was quite fascinated with the neat rocks as well.

In fact she was so taken with them that she managed to wriggle her way out of her buckle and stand up in her stroller to grab this, heavy beauty.

We really did enjoy the planetarium. It is fun to see the girls get excited and learn about new things. We even strolled the narrow gift shop which for some reason also has a very large amount of Harry Potter items. I was tempted to buy a thing or two, but we were sensible and walked away empty handed.

Sorry for the Delays

I am so sorry for the delays on posting nowadays. I really want to keep up with the blog. I NEVER want to have my blog become a forgotten site, where old pictures fill the pages. Oh..no..I will carry on. Down below you will see the main reason for my blog delays.

That's right folks. Can you say "Gateway computers are awful". I keep debating whether to buy a new one or get the old one repaired. Looking through my past posts you will see that this computer started me giving problems 6 months after I purchased it. It can be so expensive to get a new computer that is decent though. Also each machine is so new on the market it is hard to find any sort of reliable reviews. I'm not even sure where I will get the computer repaired at. Anyone have any ideas? It is bold of me to post a question here since I probably don't even have much of a reader base left anyway. **sigh** Well the ones who matter are still reading right?

Anyway, I will do my best to keep taking pictures, remembering events, and stockpiling posts for when I can get on and update. One of the main reasons I will never give up is I am determined to continue with the blog books every year.