Mom never raised her voice to any of her 11 children!! (Written Susan Style)

Kait: Ha ha ha ha I have more grapes than Hyrum.

Mom, trying to teach her daughter not to say things that could hurt other people's feelings says: Kait, is that a nice thing to say? Would you like it if someone had more than you and laughed at you?

Kait: But Hyrum doesn't really know what I'm even saying.

Mom:
"He understands a lot and Hyrum is just learning to talk and when you talk like that you will teach him to talk like that."

Kait: Why does Hyrum always do what I do?

Mom: Because he spends most of his time with you me and Dad. So he does what we do.

Kait: Just like I do what you do?

Mom: Yep, that's why I need to try and always be nice.

Kait: Who do you act like?

Mom trying to follow her line of reasoning: I try to act like my mom. Is Grandma James nice?

Kait: Oh yeah! She is so so OLD, she could never say anything mean.

Mom thinks but doesn't say: "Kait, would you like it if someone said you were so so YOUNG?"

FAMILY REUNION 2008

If you want a better look at the pictures than click on the "view all images" tab.

St. George Trip

My cousin Matt was blessing his baby last weekend so we took Mom and headed south. Here are my favorite moments.

Kait, who swims pretty well but gets tired quickly, swimming up to complete strangers in the pool and grabbing on to their shoulders and then giggling and laughing as they pushed her over to the side of the pool.

Dad falling asleep with the lights still on and then after I have tucked the kids in and turned out the lights he rolls over and talks in his sleep. Kait says, "Dad, it is still the middle of the night, go back to sleep, you can't get up now." I whisper, "he is not really awake" but she can't tell it is me so she says,"I can hear you whispering now go to sleep."

Hyrum walking up the 3 stairs, like an adult not crawling, and back down the stairs at Brigham Young's house. Mom was not allowed to help. It was worth the chance of him nosediving and a favorite moment because he wasn't running wild trying to get into every expensive irreplaceable relic he could for a few minutes.

Mom in the back seat reading books with Kait and feeding Hyrum cookies for the entire drive. Kait finished all of her reading for the library reading program and she now knows most of her parts of speach, ;) and Hyrum had minimal crying. (I might always take Mom on our road trips.)

Finally realizing, with help from Rob, that Elder Eubank, the guide at Jacob Hamlin's house was Mark Eubank the former channel 5 weather man of 40 years. He predicted our drive home would be hot and dry, it was cloudy with showers.

Listening to Garrison Keeler, Prairie Home Companion, up and back.

Kait telling Mom that she loved the color of her hair and wanted to be just like her when she grew up, well she didn't know if she would be able to dress exactly like her but....

The chicken salad croissant sandwiches at Matt's luncheon. I love those.

Being with family, at least when the kids were asleep, which wasn't much.