Spring Blessings 2018

I shouldn't be surprised, when I look back on my pictures from the last few months, at how much has happened. And yet -- here I am, feeling kinda surprised at how much has happened! And I am reminded at how truly blessed I am. Which is why I name these posts my Blessings posts -- that's how I feel about it. Let's get started!!

The elementary school had still more spirit days in the spring semester, and while I'm up for crazy hair day just as much as the next person is, I wasn't doing so well in the creativity department ...

That was an octopus.

Sort of.

She liked it, though, and it was way crazier than many other kids. Pretty sure other parents weren't a big fan of the extra crazy hair day, either.

Also for Spirit Days, ..... Tie Dye/70's Day:

I tried to get her to tell her dad, "Peace, man!", when she showed him her look, but she wouldn't do it.

Apparently she thinks I don't know anything about the 70's .

But I remember having a brown suede purse with fringe on it, which I'm fairly sure was a hand-me-down from my sister, Karen. So we grabbed this current-year's-accessory purse to go with the outfit. What goes around, comes around, eh?

In other activities .......

Emma still loves doing the city's Parks & Rec Drill Team program:

It's especially fun when your friend does it with you (Emma's good friend, Alia, is center in the above picture.).

She was especially excited about winning this year's Drill Down in her age category!

It really just comes down to listening carefully, and not making any mistakes. And practice doesn't hurt one little bit, either! Ten-hut!!

I discovered that when you sit in the bleachers at drill team practices (working on hand lettering projects), you get recruited to be one of the dancing moms:

And THAT'S how this picture came to be.

(Well, if you're going to rock it, rock hard!)

Todd and Emma also danced the night away at the annual Daddy Daughter Dance, which always hits right around Valentine's Day:

She's growing so much!!! Emma thinks she's growing out of this activity -- although there are also girls older than she, that go every year, too. We'll see what she thinks next year.

Todd always takes her out to dinner before the dance -- lucky girl!!

Quick shot of a birthday celebration with this handsome guy, too:

This spring was also the moment that a little girl's bedroom grew up.

Truthfully, it's been evolving .... with Disney's "Sophia The First" curtains, "Frozen" Wall decor, and "Trolls" bedding, this momma decided it was time to step away from the logos & characters, and go completely classic & amp it up to a bedroom fit for a "tween". When I showed Emma my idea for the room, she was totally in favor.

So, here's a "before" shot:

Messy? Yes, absolutely. In desperate need of a makeover? You bet!!

Here's our dramatic "after" shot --- remember, no actual paint or carpet was changed. Just decor.

We did a little bit more after this photo was taken, including turning her storage bin case sideways, getting a few new bins, & adding another one for a bedside table + more storage. We also hung many of her Build-a-Bear collection of MLP Ponies. If storage seems like a theme here, .... well it was. Is there enough storage now? Nope -- we need to either do more, or have less stuff. I know what my vote is!!

Completely changing topics ...

I know I'm weird, but I unapologetically am not a fan of gift bags, in general. In a case of desperation, sure. Put your birthday/shower/wedding gift in a gift sack, shove in some tissue, and call it good. For myself, I much prefer a wrapped box.

Make that, ... a beautifully wrapped box. Here's one I did for a baby shower:

Whenever I can, my favorite go-to wrapping ideas include:

- solid or geometric non-themed paper

- wide wired ribbon

- metallic curling ribbon also

- a small hint of what's inside (here, it's baby socks), or a "bonus" small toy/accessory

- a small enclosure card, instead of a large themed one

I know. I may or may not admit to having a problem here. No one I know is as hung up on this as I am. Too old school? For sure. I just think that presentation matters.

So, so, weird.

 * * * * * *  

In other news, my sweetheart, who usually gets me fresh Valentine flowers to put on my table, ... this year, he got me a fresh table to put my Valentine flowers on!! Oh, and he bought my chairs, too. Literally.

Here's a side-by-side of the two tables, the old one on the right, and the new one on the left:

I'm REALLY loving the update!!

* * * * *

For Spring Break, we took a trip to parts south, visiting kids and grandkids -- so much fun to see them again!! Brandon & Cecilia's family are growing so quickly while we're not looking ... any time we can do a getaway to visit, we're all for it!

Oh my goodness!! Those sweet faces!!

Being grandma, doing fingerplays with the littles -- I'm all over that! 

We saw our beautiful Darcie, too --- and had a few softball lesson moments:

(wrist flicks)

Sometimes softball takes some explaining.

Sometimes, "explaining" fills some time while we're getting over hurt fingers.

One last shot with the grands before we say goodbye:

Onward ....

* * * * *

Being almost-like-an-only-child means that good friends are extra important.

We love that Emma has good friends to lean on.

To play with ....

... and to be silly with!

Springtime and forsythia ---- just gorgeous!

This is our view from the back of our house. I don't ever get tired of this:

With spring softball, came Todd's involvement with Little League .... this time, instead of just coaching, he's on the board. Again. Vice president over softball.

When it came time for the ceremonial first pitch, the person slated to catch it wasn't there .... so he put Emma's [little!] glove on and took up the spot behind the dish:

Emma was in her first year of Minors this spring. At this level, the girls now pitch to each other -- but if they start walking batters, the coaches take over pitching, to keep the game moving along. Todd and I still feel that the skill level in general has dropped from the time when Alyssa and Darcie came through this level. But we also think we have a lot to offer the girls at this age, so we're coaching again.

Our official photographer graciously offers this free shot to the player with the parent coach. Since we both are on the coaching side of things -- we're both in the photo:

It's been an eventful spring.

In a good way!!

We feel very, very blessed.

2017 Huffaker Family Reunion. Part 1

Family pretty much rocks!!

We always look forward to our reunions, and love seeing each other again. And, it's always an added bonus to do fun things together at the same time!

You might remember our Oregon Coast Huffaker Reunion from two years ago: Starting HERE, here (part 2), here (part 3), here (part 4), here (part 5), and finally, HERE. (Hopefully I won't be as long-winded this time. You also might remember the reunion that we hosted for my side of the family: Part 1, and Part 2.  But ... destinations are always fun!!

So for this year's Huffaker reunion, we "let" Kerry plan it again. (Poor girl! She works so hard to find a location, with things to do, and that everyone will [hopefully] enjoy. She does a great job, but I think she's also ready to hand off that job to someone else!!)

This year's reunion was a week-long camping trip at Lolo Hot Springs, located on Highway 12, near the Idaho-Montana border. Almost all of Todd's siblings were there for at least part of the reunion. We were missing some of the next generation from the different family groups -- well, they're not Pokemon: you can't get em' all, right? (I was recently informed that that game does still exist, and people still play it. Whatever!)

My story, actually begins a little before the reunion. We knew that to get the most fun out of camping, we'd want to take our four-wheelers (ATV's) to the reunion. But that would mean taking two trailers there -- the camp trailer, and the four-wheeler trailer. We didn't really want to do that, but couldn't see a good way around it either.

So we bit the bullet, and said goodbye to our old Espré camp trailer:

She's seen a lot of years with us, and she was in GREAT condition. (That photo's taken alongside the four-wheeler trailer, back in 2005.) But really --- we look like our own caravan when we drive down the highway together:

(2008)

And we welcome to the family, The Shockwave:

(Yes, Cameron's standing on the roof. Checking things out!)

This new camper is designed as a "toy hauler". It has a drop-down ramp on the back, and the interior has movable or removable furnishings, that allow the four-wheelers to be driven in, and tied down to secure them for transport.

In effect, it combines the functions of both trailers for us, and when we load 1 ATV in the bed of the pickup, with 2 in the toy hauler, we can bring three of the four ATV's camping with us, and only need to pull one trailer. IT'S A WIN!!!

It's listed as shorter than the Espré, but actual length (with tongue) is slightly longer. We really didn't want anything huge, and we didn't want anything extravagant. We did want a walk-around bed, which this gave us,. So, it suits our criteria, and we look forward to a lot of years of play with this new camper.

We had a week to prep everything, and then load up for the drive to the reunion. And wow, it's been a long time since we've really gone camping. And we had to figure out how to pack this new trailer, and how everything fits. Interesting process!

It's a beautiful drive!!

And being with family is the best!

More coming soon on our reunion adventures.

P.S. It should also be noted that on the very day that we signed papers on the new camper ..... the air conditioner at the Haven gave up the ghost.
Well, THAT was an unexpected jab in the pocketbook!

READ MORE:
2017 Family Reunion. Part 2
2017 Family Reunion, Part 3

2016 spring break, part 1

I really need to stop having these gigantic blog posts. It would make posting so much easier and faster!!

But, she said, this was our SPRING BREAK trip!! And there were a ton of photos in just a few days!! I couldn't help myself!!

Other people go on wildly exciting trips to faraway places, with stunning beaches, gorgeous scenery, and exotic restaurants.
But this is just us. And we're not that flashy. Or exotic. So, when down-to-earth people (like us) go on a "vacation" ---- it's to visit the family. And in particular -- our faraway college-and beyond kids and grandbabies. It's what we do!

It seemed more than just a little weird to be traveling with just ONE CHILD along. Although Cameron's been at home for online classes this last semester, he didn't come with us on this trip. He decided to stay home and pack, because he was getting ready to leave for an on-campus semester.

So we packed up Miss Emma, and off we went! First on the trip, we got to see this cute couple:

Emma talked Alyssa into swimming with her at the hotel. 

(Because swimming at the hotel is like an end-goal for seven-year-olds.)

And, our hotel was nice enough to give us a free "upgrade" -- we ended up with an entire other bed that we didn't even need!

(Todd and I had a king bed in another part of the suite -- Em slept like a princess in a queen bed, all to herself!)

We checked in at Alyssa & Andrew's new house -- and took them some starts from one of our peony bushes. Emma got a new pair of rollerblades, and Alyssa took her out in the culdesac to skate together:

The pavement kind of threw her a bit -- she wasn't ready for it to be uneven.

We'd asked each of the older kids if there was anything they wanted us to bring from home to them.

Todd and I smiled more than just a bit, when each of the two older girls [separately] asked us to bring the EXACT same thing:  A bucket of softballs!!

Spring fever must really have hit my softball girls hard: they've missed their sport!

That was perfectly fine with Emma. She wanted to hit balls with Alys while we were there!!

(Handy to have her give Em a little batting lesson!)

Dad is pretty handy with a bat, too!!

And a little soft-toss!! (Alys was hitting consistently to center field!)

The next morning -- a beautiful Boise day -- we headed out on the road again.

It's been some years since we've been to Shoshone Falls. We've taken the older kids there, but Emma had never been. Checking this stop off our list!

The falls were not at peak run-off, but that was ok, too.

Onward, and southward ...

Love that my little big sister (and her awesome husband) came up to Salt Lake and joined us for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory at Trolley Square in downtown Salt Lake:

(Sorry. Phone photos!)

We visited a while longer with Cheryl and Marc, while the girls took a dip in the pool & hot tub. I like the Hampton Inn in downtown Salt Lake a lot -- they've updated it quite nicely.

Someone should forewarn Darcie's future husband ...... this girl is death to electronic devices. No matter what, and without fail -- be SURE to get insurance with whatever electronic thing you buy for her!!

(We brought it home, got it replaced, and shipped it back to her. Only problem: somehow, it's programmed with the wrong phone number. She's still working on getting that part straightened out.)

 

Grabbed a shopping moment with her, too!!

The next morning, we played tourists.

It seems like every time we're in Salt Lake (and other places, too) -- we're there for a reason, an event, a planned-out schedule. We drive past downtown on the freeway, we say, "oh, look -- there's the temple!" -- but we rarely have taken the kids to GO there -- and Emma had certainly never been. So, here are some pictures from Temple Square, when we actually spent some time there:

(Darcie had to leave almost immediately -- and get back to Provo for classes. This was the only photo we could grab with her that day.)

First stop -- The Conference Center:

It was nice to let Emma see it, especially since Conference was only a couple of weeks before, so it was still fresh in her mind.

It's so beautiful -- inside and out!

One of the organists was practicing while we were there -- it was a treat to listen for a few minutes.

You don't really appreciate how absolutely HUGE this room is, until you're there. Just, wow!!

The art hanging in the halls is pretty amazing, too. We loved seeing the original paintings of some of the classic Book of Mormon scenes -- photos in our scriptures, but these were the originals.

Some have more to them than what we're used to seeing. We sometimes get a cropped view.

I never noticed before in this painting, that the writing stylus is clearly, brightly, in view.

I also loved this one, which is a depiction of a sinner, with Justice, and Mercy:

Pretty cool to be behind a waterfall!

We had the sweetest tour guide, who answered all our questions!

When you get all the way up to the nosebleed seats -- it's pretty far down to the pulpit!

Up on the roof ....

(Sometimes, grandbabies don't quite cooperate for photos. That was seriously the best group shot that we were able to get!!)

The view up there is pretty grand, too!

Then we took everyone to the Visitor's Center .... a great experience itself:

(I think Todd told me he watched the same movie with this kiddo about six times!)

When you go into the Tabernacle, after the Conference Center -- it seems SO very small!!

The spring flowers on Temple Square were so beautiful!! And they also hit you with fragrance like no other!! I think it was those hyacinths that smelled so amazing!!

We grabbed a quick lunch before heading out. On our way, we passed this little sandstone pillar:

It marks the center point of the city -- all the streets count away from right here.

Of course, there was more ........ 

in the next post!!