The Fab Five

I found a box of old pictures at my mom's house. Before she puts them into the old photo albums, I decided to scan a few. I am the oldest of five kids, and I am so lucky to have such great siblings and parents. I have done a post of my favorite pictures and memories on each of the fab five.

This is my family back in 1990 when we lived in Heidelberg, Germany. From left to right, Tiffany, Annika, Peggy, Emilie, Hal, Kimberly, and David.

Easter Sunday, March 31, 1991 in New Baltimore, Michigan. Emilie, Kimberly, Tiffany, and Annika

December 2001 in Oviedo, Florida. Annika, Tiffany, and Kimberly

Some people think that we look so much alike, and they get us confused. We don't get it.

Emilie, Kimberly, Annika, & Tiffany

February 2008

This picture was taken right before David left for Poland in September 2006.

Annika, Tiffany, David, & Kimberly

Annika

I am the first of the fab five. I was born in Maine. My mom wanted to name me Gretchen. Thankfully, my dad spoke up before I was born and said he didn't like the name. I am named after the oldest daughter of the man that introduced my dad to the church. They met in Vietnam.
One of the most unique things about me is my hair color. I inherited the strawberry blonde hair from my great-grandfather Lester Smith. There aren't any color photos of him before he turned gray. But, my grandma says that it's the exact same color. When I was a baby, people didn't think I belonged to my parents because they both have dark hair.
I love this picture. I'm ready for a motorcycle ride on my kiddie trike.
I had to put in at least one embarrassing photo of myself. This was Easter Sunday of 1992. The shoes are my favorite, but the puffy sleeves are good too.
This picture was taken on my 29th birthday, May 15, 2008. Aaron secretly made me this awesome garden cake, and then he had friends come over for a surprise party. They helped us get our yard ready for the garden.

Tiffany

There is so much to say about our Tiffy Wiffy. Tiffany is the life of our family. She was always coming up with crazy ideas and adventures. She had this high-pitched pixie voice until high school I think. When Tiffany, Kimberly, and I played dolls, Tiffany was always the mediator between Kimberly and I. Kimmie didn't think I played right, so she would kick me out. Tiffany would convince her to let me come back and play. Then, I would make my barbie doll break her legs again, and I would be kicked out again.
This is my favorite picture of Tiffany. I love that her jeans are too short, on sideways, and dirty. This was our Tiffy. She could care less about her hair or clothes. She was all about having fun.
Here's Tiffany on the first day of 6th grade. Aren't those pants the greatest. If you grew up in the 90's, you know you had a pair of these somewhere in your closet.
Tiffany was in the band all through junior high and high school. I think she did the flag corp when she was playing the oboe in junior high. We had to go to many painful band concerts through the years. It got better as she got older. She plays the flute very well.
Tiffany hasn't changed much. Here she is with her son playing in the snow. She's in her pajamas, my dad's boots and hat, and my mom's coat. She is always ready for an adventure.

Kimberly

Kimberly loved her pacifier. She was unique because she always sucked it up-side-down. If you tried to turn it the right way, she would flip it back around with her tongue. Sometimes she would even have two pacifiers in her mouth; one tucked in on top of the other if you can imagine it.
She was always the peacemaker in our family. She would always try to set things right if there was any tension or fighting in our home. Kimberly is about 7 in this picture; she is holding Emilie, and she was about 16 months.
I just love this denim vest that Kimberly is wearing for her first day of 5th grade. She was always so cute. We had a family tradition to get our picture taken on the first day of school each year.
This picture is so great. Kimberly and Tiffany always came up with clever Halloween costumes. I was always something very lame like a witch or a baby. I love how it says at the top, "We are missing" and then there is an arrow pointing to the word "her".
Kimberly continues to be the peacemaker in our family. She is always concerned about others feelings. She is a great example to us all.

David

David could sleep anywhere. We have several funny pictures of David sleeping in odd places. He still loves to sleep but not in a highchair.

This picture is a classic. David is the only boy in our family. Much to my father's dismay, sometimes David put pink things on. He wanted to go to school so bad when Kimberly started school. He grabbed the nearest pink backpack and was ready. Mom had to lock the door every morning to keep him home.
David loved the bathtub. He often got in clothes and all. He was a very content little kid. The only time he got really frustrated was when his sisters would pester him. Tiffany loved to kiss him and everyone else, and he did not like the excessive show of affection. Here's David doing the dishes, and Emilie is pointing to his super cool Teenage Mutant Nija Turtle shorts. I don't remember exactly what was going on, but I'm sure it was us girls pestering him. He still is such a calm, easy going guy. We tease him a lot when we all get together, and he just takes it all with a smile.
David will be home from Poland on November 7, 2008. We are excited to have him back so that our family will be complete again.

Emilie

Emilie is the baby of our family. She was born in Germany, and she was over 10 pounds when she was born. I love the double chin in this picture. I was 11 years old when she was born, so she was my baby. I inisted that she be in my room, and I couldn't wait to get home from school everyday to play with her.She was always very curious. She had to have things her way. If she didn't get what she wanted, she would let us know. Even though she knew how to talk, she didn't talk until she was older because we all talked for her. She was like our little doll. We put her in our baby strollers and pushed her around the house. It was great; we had a live doll, but if she got fussy we could give her back to mom.
She idolized her big brother David. She wanted to be just like him all of the time. They shared a room until I went to college. They are still very close.
She is as cute as can be, and we sure do love our baby of the family.

Daddy's Blue Stuff; Mommy's Age

Guest writer today (Aaron).

Annika asked me to relay a bit of dialogue from some conversations we've had with Emmy recently. These make the best posts.

Yesterday at lunch:

Emmy: Daddy, I don't like your face.
Aaron: Huh? What do you mean?
E: Well, I guess I like your teeth.
A: So you like my teeth. What is wrong with my face?
E: It's got blue stuff. I don't like the blue stuff.
A: (Puzzled) What blue stuff?
E: The stuff you have to shave off with your razor. Your prickles.

And for that reason, my daughter doesn't like my face. Good thing her mother is not of the same opinion. At least, I don't think she is.

A couple of days ago, Emmy said to her mom, "Mom, you're young and grandma is old. Grandma is our mommy."

Annika replied, "No Emmy, grandma is my mom. I am your mommy."

I imagine conversations like this crop up often with toddlers, and I've wondered at the confusion they must have regarding family relations when they are so young. For little kids, "there's mommy and daddy, and there's grandma and grandpa, and they're mine." The idea that grandma and grandpa can be mommy or daddy's mommy and daddy must be a foreign concept to them. At some point the figure it out, though, and I think Emmy is starting to discover that Grandma and Grandpa are Annika's parents and that Grandma and Papa are mine.

Dinner Talk

I gave Emmy a bowl of apple slices, and this was our conversation at dinner tonight.

E: Mom, now how many?
M: 4 apple slices.
E: No, 1, 2, (pause), 4, 5
M: What about 3?
E: Oh, 1, 2, 3, 4!
Emmy eats another apple slice.
E: Now, how many mom?
M: Well, let's count them.
E: 1, 2, 3.
M: That's right. 4 take away 1 is 3.
E: Mom, are you tutoring me?

I have been doing private tutoring for almost two years now. Emmy sometimes plays games with us or colors on the whiteboard while we practice math. She knows my teacher talk.

Curly Cutie

I convinced Emmy to let me put sponge curlers in her hair last week. She still has a bit of curl in her hair. I have just loved the little curls.

She didn't like it when I took the curlers out because a few of them pulled on her hair. She has the most sensitive head. It seems to always be a battle to do her hair in the morning.

I tried to take a few pictures before she went to school that morning, but she kept running away from me. She even tried to pull her curls out. She is okay with the curls now. She said that we could put the curlers in again for Halloween day.

PIMI

I ran a 5K on Saturday, October 11th. My friend Rachel and I ran the PIMI in Provo Canyon. We finished in 31:46. It was snowing before the race started, but it cleared up in time for race. It was a lot of fun, and I loved having Aaron, the girls, and my mom there to support me.

The girls were all bundled up for the chilly weather.

We are waiting for the race to start and trying to stay warm. The girls were cozy in the trailor.

Here we go. We are in the middle of the picture.

We did it!

The Last Zucchini

We had our first snow and frost this last weekend. So, Aaron and I pulled all of the dying plants out of our garden boxes yesterday. This was my very last zucchini of the season. We grilled some of it for dinner, and I made 10 mini and 3 medium size loaves of bread. This zucchini served us well.

11 months

Alison is 11 months. She will be one on November 8th. We have much to celebrate. My brother, David, will be returning home on November 7th from Poland after serving a 2 year mission for the LDS church. We are very excited to have him home again especially for the holidays. Our entire family will be together this year for Thanksgiving.

Prayer of a 3 year old...

*This post will make more sense if you read the previous post first.

Emmy's prayer for dinner.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please bless mommy and daddy. Bless grandma and papa on their mission. Bless that it will be Halloween day. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

She asked me numerous times if it is Halloween day this evening. I think the prayer says it all. I'm debating if I should put all of the decorations away until October 30th and just tell her that mommy made a mistake and got them out too early.

Conversations with a 3 year old...

I have to take a minute to describe some of the funny converstations I have had with Emmy today.

We are driving home from the store, and we pass the city indoor pool.
E: Mommy can we go swimming again?
A: Yes, we can go swimming again.
E: Let's go today after naps.
A: No, we can go again when daddy or our friends can go with us.
E: Okay, let's go after daddy gets home from work.
A: We can't go today Emmy because daddy and I are going to watch the presidential debate tonight.
E: Can I watch or is it scary?
A: (Giggle) No it's not scary maybe a bit boring for you.
E: Why is it boring?
A: It's just two men talking.
E: I watched that before with Grandman and Papa before they went on their mission.
A: Oh really. Who did you like better Barak Obama or John McCain?
E: Barak Obama. (Pause) That's a funny name mom.

Last night we went to the pumpkin patch, and today I pulled out all of our Halloween decorations. I should have waited until October 30th for the decorations.
E: Mom, I see all of the Halloween. (Emmy should be in her room napping, but she snuck out.)
A: Yes, Emmy I put them up.
E: It's going to be Halloween today!
A: No Halloween is not today.
E: Will it be soon?
A: Yes in a couple of weeks.
E: First it will be Halloween, then it will be Christmas time again.
(I put Emmy back in her room for her nap. She gets up 45 minutes later without sleeping.)
E: Mom! It's Halloween time.
If I make it through the next 3 1/2 weeks, it will be a miracle.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pankratz Pumpkin Patch tonight for Family Home Evening. We had a great time picking out pumpkins and riding in the trailor behind the tractor. Emmy was very picky about her pumpkin; it had to be completely orange like the pumpkins on her shirt. Alison just ooohed and aaahed the entire time.
We picked out a little green pumpkin for Alison.
Here's Emmy and Aaron picking out that perfect orange pumpkin for Emmy. It was really cool to pull the pumpkins off the plants ourselves.
The girls on our porch with the pumpkins. *Don't worry, Emmy's holding on tight to Alison so we don't have another nose into the cement event. Alison's nose still has a hint of red.

On Top of the World

Aaron says that this is as scary as it looks. I make him hike the Stansbury Mountains with a friend so that he doesn't hurt himself. Thanks a lot Mike for allowing him to do this stunt and taking the picture.