2013 A Synopsis, A Summary, A I failed at blogging Post!

The Patterson Family: A Year in Pictures

First of all don't judge me too much for this type of post. I mean 2013 was jam packed and when you add a new baby, traveling, hauling wood, hauling hay, summer birthdays, sports, back to school, holidays and every day living it is just crazy. Some days I feel like I need more than the given 24 hours in a day; that or just stop sleeping :)

Disney Junior did Pirates and Princess this summer. The idea was to dress up like a pirate, take a picture, and post it to their site and they would show it on tv all summer long. This was our pirate day Ahoy Mateys!

 These are our wonderful family pictures taken by my good friend Carli. She does such an amazing job and really captures the impish personalities of our boys. Did you see Conner? Yep that is totally him and I'm glad that our photographer doens't mind snapping those shining moments.

 I could be a bit biased but I do believe the best moment of 2013 is right here. Eli James Patterson was born July 9 and has been an additional joy to our already crazy mess. He is such a watcher and just can't wait to get down on that floor and wrestle with the boys and his dad. I keep asking him to slow down and enjoy being my baby for just a little bit but he says no, he must grow fast.

We took three trips to Blanding this year. Once in August to visit, show off new baby, and see Michael and Diane (Brad's brother and his family). We hadn't seen their daughter since she was 9 months old and it was so fun to watch her play with the boys and get to know her. We made two trips in October: one was to go hunting but we ended up helping with wood cutting and various other pre-winter activities; the second was to attend Grandpa Pattersons funeral. So glad that we have had the past five years to take the boys often to visit Blanding and spend time with Brad's grandparents. We miss Grandpa very much but we have memories and pictures of him with our family and our boys and they will remember him. We spent time with Grandma Z (above holding Eli) who turned 91 in October; Grandpa and Grandma Patterson; Aunt Jeroldine, and managed to visit a few other family members while there. We took a day trip to Arches National Park and the boys took a moment from the hot outing to pose - what a handsome lot they are.

 On one of the many pit stops to potty, refuel, feed baby etc. the boys spotted Lightening McQueen and we took a minute for a photo op.

 In August Wyatt started 1st grade in Mrs. Prathers class. Way too soon for this momma!

 Conner started preschool in September. What a kid he is and he does such a good job learning and getting ready for kindergarten.

 September found me brave and I packed up all four boys for a road trip to Clearfield and Logan. I dropped Wyatt, Conner and Lane off at Uncle Jonathon and Aunt Sarahs for a fun filled few days and Eli and I headed to Logan to spend time with Mauria, Kammi, and Rebecca and attend Time Out For Women. Love when I can spend quality time with my sisters!

 And while it was fun being with the girls, I was ever so ready to pick these little munchkins up on Sunday. Even treated them to hot dogs and root beer before hitting the road back to Vernal.

 Wyatt and Conner took swimming lessons in September and did an awesome job. Conner had never taken a lesson before but he was amazing in learning all he needed to pass his class. Good job Wyatt and Conner!

 In October Aunt Mauria journeyed to Vernal to visit. We entertained her with all our wit, charm, and outlandish personalities. We dragged her to the park and had Harry Potter marathons. What a great time. The boys truly love Aunt Mauria!

 With two trips to Blanding in October Halloween really snuck up on us. Luckily our dear neighbors were selling pumpkins so the boys and I popped over to pick some out and then we painted them.

 This is out of order a bit but back in July, after she finally got over her nasty cold Grandma Teuscher came to meet Eli and we took the boys to the Splash Park for the afternoon. So much fun!

 On the train at the fair.

 At Grandpa Patterson's funeral

Halloween time we had a skeleton, Iron Man, Spiderman and a cow

Merry Christmas!

July birthdays

Teuscher Family Reunion

This year the Gary H & Sylvia Teuscher Reunion was held in Geneva, Idaho and the theme was Olympics. Each family had to pick a country and learn something about that country for the big event. As I was working on one of my history courses at the time, Wyatt & I decided we wanted to by the Mayans and we did a little bit of learning about the Mayan Empire. Wyatt watched a video about the Mayan people and culture and was so enthralled with his learning. It was kind of fun to teach him a bit about that region and time period. Saturday morning we headed down to the church to utilize the parking lot for the frisbee throw and the batton race; the lawn for the hurdles and play time. After the events we went back to mom & dad's for lunch. Each family brought a pot luck dish that represented their country. We had egg rolls, pot stickers (China), Swedish meatballs (Sweden), French bread (France - hee hee), pork barbacoa (Yucatan Pennisular), a dish from Peru, a dish from Argentina, Fries & Gravy (Canada), Polish sausages (Poland) and a yummy dessert from Australia. Quite a spread and it really filled us up. After lunch and clean up we did a team race - everyone tied together and then running a certain distance. Then it was time for the awards ceremony. First Uncle James talked about the flag and what it symbolizes. He talked about how important it is to respect the flag and then he led Uncle Jared, Uncle David, Owen, Ethan & Trevor in retiring a few flags. It was so neat to see my brothers, my dad, my brother-in-laws, my husband and my nephews honoring their scouting heritage and the symbol of our country. Very moving. The award ceremony followed and then we managed to wrangle all the grouchy grandkids into a photo op with Grandpa & Grandma. It was such a fun weekend and to top it off Father's day the next day. So fun to spend time with family. There are a lot of us now (33 and if you add Eli that makes 34) so we are loud and obnoxious but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Camping 2013

Our summers are usually filled with the annual trek to the mountains to get wood for the winter. The last time we combined wood gathering and camping Conner was just 1 years old so we thought perhaps this would be a good time to take the boys camping.  We planned it in conjunction with our ward's annual campout and Brad, bless his ever loving heart, let us camp by a real toilet facility (well as real as one gets when out in the mountains - a hole in the ground with a little roof over it) but this 8 months pregnant lady was relieved to not have to find her own outdoor toilet, especially at night!  I wasn't so sure how Lane would do sleeping at night in the tent but he really got into the whole camping thing and sleeping in a sleeping bag - the first night. The next night I crawled out of bed at 5 and went and sat outside in a camp chair as our bed had not only Brad and me but three little boys as well. We were all pretty dang warm that's for sure!

Exploring the camp

Dinner time: is there anything better than hotdogs over

an open fire? Only if they're followed by marshmallows!

 Cutting wood the next day. All three boys worked so hard

as mom couldn't really haul any of the rounds or load, or stack.

Conner wearing his light ring he got at the ward campout the night before. They had so much fun playing with friends and staying up until it was dark enough that all we saw were these little lights running all around. I forget how much I enjoy camping and am glad that we have the chance to take the boys and teach them to love it as well.

Wyatt's Kindergarten Program

Wednesday May 22, 2013 Wyatt performed a program all about the 4 seasons with the other afternoon kindergarteners. He was so proud and so excited to sing and say his part. He would come home from school and sing these songs to us and it was so much fun to hear them in sequence and watch these cute little kiddos sing their hearts out. I loved watching the kids from Wyatt's class as I volunteered all year in there with them and got to know them. They are so dang cute and I can't believe they are all ready for first grade; wait I can't believe we have a child who will be a first grader. Where did the year go?

 Wyatt's class is right in front of the red X on the floor. There were two other kindergarten classes who were a part of the program as well.

 Mrs. Farnsworth, Wyatt's principal, used her magic wand and turned each kindergartener into 1st graders. Wyatt was so excited for this event and told me Thursday morning that he didn't need to eat lunch at our house as he was now a 1st grader and would eat at school. I explained that for this last day he was still a kindergartener and needed to eat at home. I think he was a bit bummed by the news. I'm not sure how many kindergarteners the principal knew by name but she and the rest of the office staff and teachers of upper grades all know Wyatt by name. I told Brad I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He is such a social person and remembers anyone he has ever met so I'm sure he went out of his way to say hello each day to these teachers and staff.

 Wyatt has had so much fun in his class this year and really loved Mrs. Breakfield. She was an amazing teacher and we are so lucky that she cares about her students and works hard to create memorable learning experiences for them. Thank you Mrs. Breakfield for such a great year in kindergarten!

For his graduation "gift" dad, mom, Conner & Lane got Wyatt graduation balloons and a package of M&Ms. He was so excited and proud of the fact that he did indeed pass kindergarten. We are excited and proud of him and the many things he has learned. At the end of kindergarten Wyatt can: count past 100, recognize and count change, read books, write words and complete sentences, draw pictures, do simple addition and subtraction and even do a little bit of multiplication. Way to go Super Wy!

An April Visit

There is a huge amount of excitement that wafts through our house when a visit from the grandparents is expected. Second in line and only a bit less exciting is when Aunt Mauria announces an impending visit. And visit she did the last weekend in April and the boys were so happy and excited to have her here. Wyatt eagerly and graciously gave up his bedroom (although he did insist on sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor) so that Aunt Ria and our friend Jenn would have a place to sleep and stash their bags. They were only here for a short time but we managed to cram in a visit to Dinosaur National Monument, Josie's Cabin, Moonlight Arch, a singing debut at stake conference, and a family outing for ice cream. We love when Aunt Ria comes to visit!

Aunt Ria and the boys at the Quarry at Dinosaur National Monument. I think she was as excited as the boys to see and play with the dinosaurs.  They purposely posed here so that it would look like the one behind them on the wall was trying to eat them. Funny group!

 At the Green River by Split Mountain. Love the queenly wave girls!

 Wyatt showing off his climbing abilities as he scales the rocky mountain side by the bank of the Green River. He was a bit nervous but we cheered him on from below and he made it all the way to the top!

 Amazingly enough I made the hike up to Moonlight Arch at 7 months pregnant. Under the arch is a super cool cave area and I sat there while everyone else climbed and investigated. Brad and I managed to get a picture together before he was called away by the boys who are not, I repeat NOT, afraid of any ledge, crevice, hole or otherwise scary and dangerous spot.

 Brad and the boys climbed on top of the arch and on their way back down found this really neat opening. You can barely see that they are sitting on rock on their right and tree roots on the left. Those roots were huge and wound all the way to the bottom under the arch. Pretty cool!

 Taking a water break and enjoying the cool shade.

 Jenn, Brad, Lane, Wyatt, Conner and Aunt Ria taking a break after coming back from the cave at the top.

Our outdoor adventuring family!

Now those of you who hardly visit or have never visited doesn't this look appealing? Aren't you tempted to stop on by and visit us? We are such good tour guides ;)

Celebrating the Arts

The kindergarten from Davis Elementary performed at the district's Celebrating the Arts. Wy was so excited to be a part of this and play the boomwackers (basically a tube with holes and the kids hit them on their hands). The song here is about a dog who turns out to be a hot dog. After the performances we found his artwork hanging in the hall - he made a hamburger. So proud of these kids and so thankful for the great teachers!