Joshua turns 1!

Joshua checking out-- and eagerly reaching for-- his first cake

Marshmallows, chocolate chips, cake...Joshua's first sweet tooth indulgence!

Matthew, Rachel, Emily Jo, and Elizabeth think this party is pretty sweet!

Joshua's main gift was a new walker, since ours broke just a few months ago (after 4 kids used it).

A new camera introduces him to the tech world at a young age. Watch for his own blog soon...

Not a baa-aad cake! Removing the cake pieces from the pans and fitting them together was the hardest part. It turned out really cute!

Matthew

A Lego viking dragon ship inspired by the movie, "How to Train your Dragon". Matthew astounds me with his imagination and Lego-building creativity. I could never design something like this!

Explanation necessary for this one: Matthew is the chicken in "Hoboken Chicken Emergency", his fourth grade class play. He made very realistic chicken squawks!

The Utah "County Parade" the fourth graders put on at school. Each kid in his class was assigned a county to do a large project about. This was definitely the most extensive project Matthew's ever undertaken, and it was certainly one that required help from his parents! He had to prepare a 7-10 minute oral presentation, write a written report, and create his own "mini float" for the school parade. Since his county was Duschesne, he made a paper-mache model of King's Peak, the tallest mountain in Utah, and mounted it on our wagon for mobility.

Matthew giving his oral report

King's Peak, along with lots of other information about Duchesne county

More Fall 2010

Joshua, our little monkey, enjoyed Halloween as long as he could take off the hood of his costume. He did great out trick-or-treating in the cold and rain. The only rain we had all weekend was a huge downpour right in the middle of trick-or-treating! We braved the rain for a few houses, came home and watched classic Halloween cartoons while we dried off, then tried again once the rain had let up. Poor Rachel spilled hot chocolate down her neck that was really hot! She was okay after a few bites of a donut. By then, it was getting pretty cold, so the girls returned home after about 15 houses. Matthew stuck it out for another 15 houses, then gave about two thirds of his candy to the girls when he got home.

Elizabeth in her Pippi Longstocking costume. Her teacher (who also dressed up as Pippi) is reading aloud the book at school, and Elizabeth was so excited when she saw the wig on the cover of Family Fun. It was a little tricky to make, but the hardest part was getting it to fit--and stay--on her head!

Matthew as a knight

Emma as Tinkerbell

Rachel was thrilled to be a princess.

The three school-aged kids before going to the school Halloween parade on Friday.

Matthew spent at least 4 hours on this Utah environment diorama. It was due two days after the pinewood derby and one day before his costume needed to be ready for the Halloween parade at school. Whew! What a week of projects!

Who can resist such adorableness?

Throw the Scout Pinewood Derby into the middle of Halloween preparations and a million other things, and I am relieved to say that the last week is over (successfully). Matthew named his car "The Cyclops" and had fun with it.

I think that Matthew looks so much like his dad as a kid in this picture.

Matthew has amazing creativity when it comes to Legos. Last Sunday, he built a Lego temple, and later a flower garden and fountain to go with it!

Elizabeth and Emma on Spirit Day at school

Utah has incredible sunsets sometimes!

Elizabeth and Emma in their new coats for fall

Cat on a post (Prince Phillip-- probably keeping an eye on the neighbor's cats)

Joshua at Hee Haw's

Emma, Elizabeth, Joshua, Matthew, Rachel

This video is of Joshua rocking to Thriller while the girls dance. It is so cute to watch him get into music and "dance."

Fall 2010

During Fall Break, we took the kids to Hee Haw farms for a day of fall fun. They had so many great activities for them to do: an inflatable haunted maze, cow train ride (below), hay ride, hay jump, big corn maze, petting zoo, pumpkin patch, etc. The weather was beautiful, too.



Joshua's first ride ever (if you don't count car and stroller rides)!

Rachel, Elizabeth, Emma, and Matthew

Elizabeth has always been our thrill-seeker. Here she's waiting to ride on a potato sack down a big vinyl slide.

Rachel on a John Deere

A lot of memories on those wheels

The final photos of our 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan, 4 days before it sold in August. We bought this our first minivan when Elizabeth was 5 months old, in 2003. Until this past year, it was a great car with no major problems. It has taken us on at least a dozen major road trips, plus countless commutes from Spanish Fork up to Provo/Orem. But with 145,000 miles, it was starting to become pretty expensive just to maintain. We replaced the AC compressor right before taking it on its final road trip (to California) in August, then decided to put it up for sale after we got back.



This is probably the cleanest it was since the day we bought it. Brent and I spent a couple of hours detailing every nook and cranny and trying to remove all the evidence of wear and tear from 5 kids!


Our Dodge sold pretty quickly, and the moment it did, we went crazy checking online ads for a newer Toyota Sienna. It took us a couple of weeks to find just what we wanted. What amazed us was how many dealers and private sellers tried to sell cars that had been wrecked and repaired (usually not well repaired at that). We were determined to avoid buying another car that had been in an accident after the dealer who sold us our Dodge minivan in 2003 passed it off as having a "clean Carfax report." That minivan had several problems with the exterior cracking, lights falling off, etc. We didn't realize it was accident damage until we had one of the side windows replaced (due to an ice chunk falling off a truck and hitting it on the highway). The glass company said that that window was after-market, as was that whole left rear section of the van!

Fortunately, we ended up finding the perfect van for our family. It is fairly new (2009), but has about 43,000 miles since it was a rental car in California. It has seating for eight, plus a deep cargo area in the back. An added bonus is that it doesn't creak with every turn of the steering wheel!

Joshua Hawkes' Name

Here is another amazing story that I wanted to share.

For a long time, I had the impression that there was a Joshua who would be born to our family someday. Near the end of this pregnancy as we were discussing different names, none felt right to me besides Joshua. I just wasn't sure what his middle name should be. As we prayed to know which name was right for him, I decided to look over our family history and pedigree charts. I came across a short history of my great-great-grandfather, Joshua Hawkes, and felt very impressed reading about this great man. I wished there was more to the history, especially a photo, but I knew that this was the name our son should have.

Incidentally, the original Joshua Hawkes is the father of my great-grandma Effie, whose piano I inherited (see story that follows).

After Joshua was born, I sent out a quick e-mail to family and friends with some pictures and information about our new baby. One of the friends I e-mailed replied that she, too, was a descendant of Joshua Hawkes! She later sent me an e-mail with a lengthier history as well as this photo attached. I was so touched by the tender mercies of the Lord. He is aware of my family. I am also so thankful for this special baby that was sent to our family. Someday I will learn the reason why he in particular was given this name. Also, someday our Joshua will meet his great-great-great-grandfather.

Joshua Hawkes with his first wife, Mary Williams. We are descendants of his second wife, Sarah Ann Smart.

Joshua Hawkes, born 2009

The Piano

This is the story of a very special piano and bench. Years ago, the piano belonged to my great-grandmother Effie Hawkes Brown. She died three years before I was born. When my parents were married 40 years ago, they aquired the piano, but without the bench. I grew up in a home filled with the sound of music from this piano, and I have always loved it. It is nothing fancy, and was usually out of tune, but its sound has always brought back fond memories for me. I remember dancing in circles while my dad played lively tunes on it, hearing my sister become quite accomplished at it, and hearing it accompanying countless family home evenings and violin lessons. I learned to play on it, and often found solace in playing music in my free time. Soon after moving to our home in Provo, my parents decided to buy a Clavinova keyboard and the old piano was moved to the basement. Soon after Brent and I married in 1998, we lived in my parents' basement apartment and I could play it again.

When we moved to our first house in 2000, my parents said that if we could move the piano (and if it could survive a move!), we could have it. I was thrilled! It was a bit scary getting it moved, but it somehow made it. It never had its own bench to go with it, so we improvised with a garage sale piano bench for a few years before that broke, and then an IKEA stepstool. We had it in our living room in our Spanish Fork house for 9 1/2 years before listing that house for sale. Around that time, my parents were offered another family heirloom piano, my Grandma Jo's. Grandma Jo is Grandma Effie's daughter, and she passed away in 1990. When they moved it to their house, they noticed that the bench that had sat in front of it for so many years actually matched Great-Grandma Effie's piano-- the one that is now in my house! I was so excited to see this bench again, as I remember it fondly from my Grandma Jo's house, but was even more excited to realize that the wordwork on it exactly matches my piano!

So, after several decades, the original bench has been reunited with its piano. Also, the needlework on the bench was done by either Grandma Effie or Grandma Jo-- we aren't sure which-- so it is that much more special. If anyone reading this knows who did the original needlework, would you let me know? I would love to have a more complete history of this piano.

I recently had it tuned, and the tuner explained that although it really isn't worth anything, it is a fine musical instrument and well built. It just needs its key tops replaced and its wood refinished. It does, however, have tremendous intrinsic value as a family heirloom, one that I feel so blessed to have in my home. Now two of my own children are taking piano lessons and playing the very same piano (and sitting on the same bench) that five generations of my family have played. What a gift!

The bench with its original needlework

The bench and piano, together again