A Work Party

Not Will's work.  They don't really have any family activities.  But my dad has a big work party every year that is for the whole family.  We missed it last year, so we were really excited to go this time.  Everyone had a blast.

We started off with the food.  It was a delicious lunch, with three different kinds of meat, chips, watermelon, macaroni, and different kinds of salad.  So yummy.

There were pony rides for all the kids.  It was just a short ride because the line was long, but that didn't matter.

Rachel loves being on horses.

There also were these fake balloon galloping horse things.  Kids could get on them and race across the field.

Watching a magician perform.  I had already seen his act, so Megan and I left because she was a little grumpy.

At a crafts table for kids.  Whitney and Rachel liked making these sheriffs badges.

I thought this was fun.  You got to be a car driver in a driving simulation.  It was hard to control the vehicle, so that made things more interesting.  I crashed into a lot of fences and buildings, but didn't get pulled over by the fake police.

There were as many sno-cones as you wanted for free.  Our family definitely got its fair share of flavored ice.  

And there was unlimited ice cream popsicles.  I actually took this one out for me, but Megan commandeered it when I tried to let her have a taste.  We should have taken a picture of her at the end because her shirt was very orange.

Anyway, we all ate too much, but it was a fun party.  Thanks for inviting us.

Hein Family Reunion

We had such a fun time in Utah.  Here are some final pictures from our trip.  They come from the actual family reunion that we went to on Saturday.  It was a good reunion.  Whitney was a little sick and didn't want to participate, but everyone else had a good time.

The reunion was held at a church in Salt Lake.  You can tell that Whitney doesn't feel good.

My two uncles on my mom's said presented about my grandpa who died when I was a kid.  It was fun to learn some new things about him.

There were posters and trinkets set up for several different Hein members.  Each table also had treats that could be eaten throughout the reunion.  My children (and myself) especially loved the table with a variety of chocolate bars.  It was neat seeing some pictures of people I didn't know much about.

The adult men gave a little presentation; each was wearing a funny sign.  My dad's sign said We Have Enough Youth, How About a Fountain of Smarts?  

Rachel gave a cute little presentation.  The little kids climbed onto the stage and said their names and something they liked.  I got a video during the presentation, but it wouldn't upload.  Oh well.  Here is Rachel holding up her little card that said her name and thing she liked (a picture of a huge ice cream cone).  She did such a good job up on the stage.  It was a proud mommy moment.

Megan enjoyed the watermelon that was part of the dinner.  For some reason, she likes chewing on the rinds more than the red part.  Silly girl.

This isn't from the reunion, but it was cute to see Megan interact with little baby Tessa.  She looked huge compared to Tessa. Look at how she tried to push her in the swing; nevermind that the swing was actually able to move all by itself.  

We had a big gathering at Erin and David's house after they blessed their baby.  It was so fun to have everyone together.  We have to give Erin and David a lot of thanks for letting us all crowd into their house.  I'm sure that was a bit stressful. It was a great trip and great being able to see our newest little niece.

Children's Science Center

Last April, we went to the farm at Thanksgiving Pointe.  This time, we were told that there was a new science center dedicated to children.  We decided to check it out for a couple of hours one day.  It was really fun and really big.  We didn't even get to see everything.  And the best part was that we didn't have to pay to get in.  My brother-in-law gets free passes from work.  Thanks David!

At the pretend bank where you can put play money into a canister and watch it zoom up to the teller.

I thought this was pretty neat.  You get to "pedal" a train.  It controls an actual train and you can look at the screen and see where the train is in the museum.  

This was one of the favorites - the x-ray machine.  The kids got to pretend to be radiologists and see the bones inside different animals.

There were several spots throughout the museum where kids could dress up and perform.  Whitney wanted to be the clown and Rachel the pirate.  You cannot see the sword she was carrying.

The kids were prepared for the big water exhibit.  Rachel loved getting wet.  Megan wouldn't try the little baby table.  She started teething on our trip and she was a little grumpy.  Maybe next time.

This was the earthquake table.  You make a block house and then push buttons to see what different magnitude of earthquakes would feel like.  There were these boys there that wouldn't leave; they kept pushing the buttons when Whitney wasn't ready.  But oh well.

Whitney and Rachel both liked the vegetable stand.

We only made a quick stop at the motion matters room.  I thought it was a cool room, but the kids were getting a little grumpy by this time.

We did stop and play at the playground outside.  Whitney was brave enough to try the little zipline.  I wouldn't let Rachel try because she tends to still let go of swings still.

Anyway, it was an awesome science center.  I'm sure we will be going back.

A Happy First Birthday!!

Megan had her first birthday while we were down in Utah.  Obviously, we invited all the family to be at Erin and David's house for some cake and ice cream.  I still cannot believe that my little baby is a year old.  Wasn't she just born?  But I think she had a good birthday.

Allison and I blew up some balloons so all the kids could play with them.  The ceiling fan kept moving the balloons around, which made it all the more entertaining.  I had Megan laughing while I was bouncing balloons off her tummy.

We put up a big Happy Birthday sign.

Aunt Erin was really nice and made a double layer chocolate cake - she's got skills.  Megan seemed a little shy while we were singing to her.  And the picture looks a little unsure of what is happening.  She tried grabbing the flame so Will just blew it out.

Getting first tastes of chocolate cake - a still relatively clean baby.

It is hard to tell, but it didn't take long for Megan to be covered in chocolate.  I think she liked Erin's cake.

We put Megan next to all the presents and she just stared at them for the first minute.

Until Whitney and Rachel jumped in and showed Megan how the unwrapping is done.  Aren't they so helpful?

Megan got the hang of it and started opening presents with finesse.

This book was a hit.  Megan has really been into books lately.  She is not happy when books get taken from her.

Anyway, Megan had a fun birthday.  Thanks everyone who was involved.  Happy Birthday my sweet angel girl.

The Museums

I get nostalgic whenever I am in Utah and I just have to go to the museums in Provo.  BYU has such great museums and they are all free.  We had some free hours one day and decided to go check out the Bean Museum and the Museum of Art.  The kids thought the museums were pretty cool.  I think us adults liked them better, but it was still fun.

The Beane Museum has been renovated for the last year, so we were excited to see it open and updated.  Here Rachel has a wide mouth, like the hippo behind her.

One of the workers was bringing around some stuffed animals for the kids to touch.  Megan wasn't sure about this turtle.

Whitney wanted a turn taking a picture.  So she got one of me pretending to have my arm in the alligator's (maybe a crocodile) mouth.

Megan is still working on walking.  She tried to walk around the big elephant exhibit, but it was too big.

The kids' favorite part of the whole museum was this little slide that was shaped like a tree.  We spent probably thirty minutes there.

Then we went to the Museum of Art.  Its big display for right now was a costume exhibit.  There were real costumes from movies, like the dress from Ever After and the pirate costume from Pirates of the Caribbean.  We couldn't take any pictures inside the exhibit, but it was cool to see.

Megan sitting next to a big blanket tower.  Each blanket had a little note attached to it that explained some of the history behind the blanket.

There were quilts from India and Pakistan that were beautiful and colorful.  Then I got in trouble for taking pictures, so there aren't any more pictures of the exhibits.

I did snap a picture of the kids using colored blocks to make their own quilts.  They did a good job.  It was fun to be back on BYU grounds.

Visiting Temple Square

I didn't want to waste any of our precious time in Utah.  So we decided to go visit Temple Square on our first day.  It was the place I really wanted to take the kids.  I think they really enjoyed it.

The Church History Museum was our first destination.  It is a really big building and has tons of fun historical things.  I am a big history fan, so this was a great place for me.

The kids liked watching the short film about the hardships that the pioneers faced.  I couldn't imagine the faith and perseverance they must have had.

There was a bunk bed that was the size of the beds in the boats that the saints used to cross the Atlantic in the beginning of their journey.  It fit Megan just fine, but us adults would have been really cramped.

I loved the story behind this baby blessing dress.  It was sewn by a woman while she was on the boat and crossing the plains to get to Utah where her betrothed was.  This dress was worn by over eighty of her descendants.  Isn't that amazing? You just never know what one little thing could mean for your family down the generations.  It was neat.

There was a kids section that was really loved by our children.  Here Whitney and Rachel got to pretend to be on Nephi's boat, going fishing to help provide for the family.

I am not sure how some of the activities relate to church history, but they were still fun.  There was a dancing corner where you could dress up and mimic the dancers on the screen.  Whitney wasn't keen on actually dancing, but Rachel and I swished our skirts a bit.

This was the missionary room.  You could pretend to be a missionary or to feed a missionary.  Megan thought pulling the plants out of the garden was really amazing.  She did it over and over.  Whitney and Rachel took turns making me "the missionary" some dinner.

After spending a couple of hours at the history center, we checked out the beautiful temple.  Will and I have been inside the Salt Lake Temple and it is just as gorgeous on the inside.

We were lucky and made it to the tabernacle right when someone was performing a piano recital.  He only had about fifteen minutes left of playing, which was just right for my kids.

Then we stopped at the temple visitors centers.  This was a big model of Jerusalem.  You could push different buttons and different parts would light up.  I tried telling the kids that this was where Jesus spent a lot of time, but they just liked the lights.  Oh well.

We got to see the "inside" of the temple and there was a little video that gave a little tour.  I thought that was interesting.

And, finally, our family in front of the Christus statue.  I hope my kids felt the spirit while we were on Temple Square.  It really is quite a special place.