Time Marches On

It's been a great week at the Hays residence. Here are the things that stick out this week:

- The primary program was today. They looked beautiful in their braided hair and bright faces. Yesterday Liesel told me that her line for the program was too short and not what she wanted to talk about. She wanted to write about how she's preparing to be baptized. She wrote her own talk and asked if she could give that instead. I contacted the primary president who said, "absolutely." She seemed incredibly nervous but did a great job reading what she wrote. Hannah shared three lines about saying prayers in her bed when she feels scared at night and how she knows Heavenly Father loves her. I was fine until the Gethseme song and then cried. Something about little children singing about the Atonement when they are so pure goes right to my heart.

- I taught gospel doctrine today about Family History. It was kind of a boring lesson, so I prepared a little 1st person blurb about the life of Caroline Pickles and Emmy Collette. At the beginning of class I told everyone I was inviting a guest in, ran into the hallway for my costume and came in and read the blurb and then ran to get "guest" number two (also me obv), and came in as Emmy and told a brief story about her. I probably should have been more embarrassed than I was, but it was a great attention grabber for the lesson. I enjoy teaching even though I dread the prep.

- After church today we carved about 8 pumpkins that we grew in our garden. The kids loved it and it was the perfect temp outside, so B and I had a good time too. Then we had Brian's co-worker from ISKY over with his girlfriend and the Allreds (it was Clay's b-day) for tikka masala and naan bread. I ate too much and now feel very fat.

- We had a lot of partying this weekend. The Niessen's (sort of a new friend this year) invited us to an adult-only halloween party. Brian went as the American flag and I went as Betsy Ross. The dinner was fancy, her house immaculately decorated and the games were fun. It was cool to hang out with people we didn't know well and make new friends.

- All day Saturday was kind of a whirlwind. I went running up Negro bill at 7am, got back and left to shoot a wedding (my last one of the year!!!). Following the wedding I photographed 7 families in a row! It was pure insanity. But I did feel like I was doing a good thing. I charged only $150 a family (which I think is cheap) but not sure if I can still count is as service necessarily. I wrapped up at sunset and met Brian and the kids at Clay's birthday party where we all ate Mexican and had a great time.

-While I was busy photographing Brian took the kids to Grand Junction to a pumpkin patch that had awesome redneck style activities. For example, a 50 ft pyramid of hay that you climb to reach giant slides. You grab a burlap sack and slide down that at 30mph.  Brian said even he was a little hesitant to go down at first. There was a huge pit of dry corn you could jump into, zip lines, pony rides, train rides and a petting zoo. The kids told me all about it when I got back-- including the part about Felicity stealing a pumpkin and them giving it to her for free.

-Earlier this week when I arrived at the school to pick up Liesel, she had a huge smile on her face. She said, "MOM! I WON the griffin drawing contest!" Over a month ago she had wanted to enter the contest to draw a griffin. I coached her, but didn't draw a single line and I thought she did a great job. She went over it with a thin sharpie and then watercolored it in. Well, she won it! And she said there were posters all over school and she won a griffin figurine given to her by the principal. Everyone was congratulating her and she was both embarrassed and thrilled.

-Early in the week I felt anxious to get out with the kids and play before the weather turns too cold and daylight savings robs us of our after school light. We went out every afternoon until Thursday (I had a shoot and Hannah a b-day party) to play outside somewhere. I love doing that with them.

- Felicity keeps stealing my stuff and breaking my jewelry. Brian found my wedding band in a potted plant in the front yard today. I knew it was missing but had no idea where it was. She broke my favorite turquoise necklace and told me it was "in the sprinkler" but I still can't find it. She refuses to be reverent in prayers but tells me she loves Jesus. Everything she does is cute-- well almost. Every morning until breakfast she's insufferable begging for cereal constantly and throwing a fit when she gets something else for breakfast. Then she's darling until about 5:30pm and then nothing she does is cute and she follows me around crying.

- Pregnancy is going well. I have gotten back into running this past month and can still mountain bike. I'm afraid that as soon as I stop, I won't be able to anymore so I keep trying to go a few times a week. I'm slower than normal, but not too much slower. Baby is moving all over the place and I had an apt. this week and everything looks perfect. I can't believe it's almost november! We need to come up with some names!

How on earth do I always write so much from a normal week? Sheesh. 

I love you all. 

xoxo,

Angela 

Picking up Liesel from school the day she won

I volunteered in her class Thurs and took this pic after helping out. 

American flag and betsy ross

L's talk for the primary program

on a hike with my babes

Hannah's birthday pictures that didn't make it last week! This little cutie: 

Dear Family

It's been two weeks since I last wrote and they have been such a busy two weeks. I have been at the computer for hours this week-- editing session after session, then writing my talk for church this Sunday and then the Gospel Doctrine lesson. I shot a wedding yesterday (and last saturday) and did 6 other family sessions since Sunday. I am tired of being at the computer, but it is such a nightly habit that it feels normal at least. October is a crazy month for my business with multiple sessions every week, but I have been so grateful for Brian's help. He has stepped up in playing with the kids, watching them for hours, making dinners and cleaning the house. . . doing what he calls "setting up the Dominos"so the kids can then knock them all down again. haha!

But as much as I've been working hard, I've also been playing hard. Managed to still mountain bike a few times, do several trail runs, go canyoneering with clay and leslie and do a few hikes. This time of year is too beautiful to stay inside all the time!

 A magician (David DaVinci Thrillusionist) has been in town all summer doing shows at a popular venue and put on a community fundraiser show at the high school this past week. Brian and I decided to take Liesel and Hannah. Felicity was SO MAD when we left her with Aunt Sarah, but I promised her ice cream. After Sarah put her to bed, she said, "WAIT! MY ICE CREAM!" Sarah said that while they ate, Felicity told her she was her friend. Awww.  The girls LOVED the magic show and I have to admit, it was pretty amazing. He was pulling doves out of thin air and then made them all disappear and they were replaced by a macaw... and several other tricks.

 Brian ordered our new flock online and they shipped out the day they hatched and arrived the next morning. It was pretty exciting to pick up a cheeping package from the post office and Felicity was SO excited to open it when we got home (she was the only one home). They are the cutest and the kids have named every single one and played with them for hours. We have Braver, Bun-Bun, Rusty, Checker, Oreo, Blastit, Star and Fluffy. One of the chicks has broken a leg after getting accidentally jumped on by Liesel while an 11-year-old was babysitting (she was traumatized) but it seems to be doing ok.

We are looking forward to celebrating Hannah's friend birthday this week and her real 5-year-old birthday on Friday. I can't wait! I love celebrating their birthdays with them so much.

PHOTOS:

I let them pick out their own outfits (with a few edits). Can you tell?

Hannah at Preschool (sam, her BFF in the pic too). She tells me every day what she ate for snack and who she played with a recess as well as what centers she played at, which are always "home and family and the art center" 

I love that her self portrait has brown hair... and the nose is too cute! 

Felicity and Hannah helping me get the garden ready before the first freeze. 

Felicity on a hike with mama one morning for exercise. I can still carry her, thank goodness! 

At the Thrillusionist show-- Hannah is checking to make sure Liesel's cookie isn't bigger. And she is wearing that shirt in every photo... must be a fav. 

The day the new chicks arrived! Endless hours of entertainment and once they get bored, I get eggs. 

Taken today on our Sunday stroll. I'm passing all of my youth and beauty to these kids (dannnng I look OLD!) and I'm six months pregnant now. Three more left until we get to meet baby! 

Hays Update! + photos

Hello Family,

We had a great week. The kids had Thurs-Sun off this week. Initially, Brian didn't ask for the time off but decided Wednesday to request and got it off! So we found out that afternoon and we were like, "let's go somewhere!" 

Unfortunately (or I guess, fortunately?) I had organized a send-off party for my friend Kerri Fief (who is going on an epic journey for 4 months) which turned into a ward party at my house. No joke, probably like 40 people and half were kids. I made some gross pasta dishes which the kids devoured and two different kinds of chili and some nasty box cornbread that I let the kids mix up and turned to cornbread jello (that I let people eat anyway). It was a lot of fun to chat with friends. 

After that ended, the internet in all of Moab was down due to a storm and so we really didn't have any way to plan our trip. Luckily Brian had done a little research a few days prior and so we had a few ideas. We left the next morning after hastily packing and decided to just eat out for dinners and most lunches. Something we've never done, but I have to say was amazing. The food prep takes forever and is my least favorite part of travel. One place we ate in Boulder, UT is all farm to table and was kind of an incredible restaurant. Apparently it's been featured in the NYtimes and Oprah. When we asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was, they said playing hide-n-go-seek as a family at our last campsite (with lots of hoodoos to hide in and behind) and the shakes and hamburgers (which felicity calls "handgurbers"). They also said eating pizza by Lake Powell and picking 80lbs of apples in Capital Reef. They didn't mention the 6 mile hike or the 1mile hike... haha! 

We were able to tune into conference on the drive home and hit Moab in another massive downpour (we've had such a stormy/wet fall!)... we tuned into the rest of conference, then I took a shower and headed to a wedding I had to shoot. Lucky for me, the downpour passed and the evening was so beautiful for photos. Phew! That is always stressful. 

Today we were fed both spiritually and physically (I'm still sooooo full!!). I loved conference and definitely felt a desire to repent, have more faith in Christ and serve my family, community and friends. I was proud of the kids for watching as much as they did. I taught Liesel how to play "mary had a little lamb" using the correct fingering and notes on the piano. She practiced for an hour straight and was so pleased with herself. Hannah was a trooper on our 6 mile hike this week and surprised me by wanting to pick up the tarantula we found. She has been praying for me not for forget that she wants a piñata and cupcakes for her birthday party in a few weeks. Felicity mostly wanted to dig in the sand and not hike, but I made a game of hunting dragons in the slot canyon and she was a willing hiker at that point. 

A beautiful morning somewhere on the Burr Trail, UT (paved and dirt rd that connects Bullfrog, UT on lake powell to Boulder, UT and crosses through Capital Reef Nat'l Park). We left a lot of cherrios and spilled milk around this camp. The kids are getting sooooo good at using the bathroom outside and the older two can go by themselves with no help. They even bury it. ;) 

Hiking in Maidenwater Canyon-- it is virtually unknown and obviously hardly hiked. We saw no one, but found several frogs, tadpoles, a tarantula and lots of cattails that the kids loved splitting open. It was a stunning spot! 

What being a dad is all about right here... protecting the little from wet, cold clothes and a cold swim. 

Watching the sunrise at our Burr Trail camp. 

A happy little Lissie in the morning. She sleeps great camping! She has her own sleeping bag, tiny pillow and little tent (that we put in our tent-- see green thing in the photo below). She sleeps like a champ. 

Liesel in a sea of colorful sleeping bags. 

Our second hike: Headquarters Canyon. Very very cool. Also no signs of people anywhere and we found tons of Moki marbles! They were absolutely perfect circles of stone. 

Felicity's stink face

Felicity's happy face. She said so many funny things this weekend! Having a 2-year-old around makes everything so cute. 

The last stretch of Headquarters Canyon

Dishing out the fruit leather. 

Hannah with her collection of Moki marbles that she then buried in the sand so she could come back and find them again someday. 

A view of our truck and the Burr Trail// Felicity at camp #2 playing on the hoodoos

Liesel ready for more playtime on those rocks in the morning!

Felicity waiting her her cereal. When we were hiking in the canyon I was joking with her about bears eating rocks and I said, "well, what do bears eat then?" And she said, "noooooo dey don't eat rocks!  dey eat cereal!" Which is probably her favorite food, too. 

The troops in bedhead mode. 

Our campsite. We were also the only people here! I was shocked, honestly. It was like our own private Goblin Valley. 

Liesel hiked to the top of this little hill with me to watch the sunrise in the morning. I ran down to snap this. Then we played on the rocks one more time before jumping in the car right as it started to sprinkle.