Bear Lake--Jaxsons' 6th Birthday!

Saturday, July 30, we spent the day at Bear Lake with Cami, Mark & Kim and Tyler & Ashley and their families. (We missed Brett and Matt & Raquel) The day was kind of cool and overcast, so it turned out to be very pleasant.

 Jaxson with his new goggles and cousin, Makenna.  We gave Jax some Ninjamo Legos for his birthday gift and he said, "Totally thank you!"

Happy boy, Wyatt!

Dan and the dog, Jake!  He had to be on a leash and couldn't run free because of a new policy in the park.  He loves the water, but couldn't play.  (I'm talking about the dog here, not Dan!)

Ashley and Makenna

Wyatt and Grandma. . .a very rare moment that Wyatt would want to be cuddled, but he was cold and he got sand in his eye.  Too bad for Wyatt, but nice for me!

Here is some of the group enjoying the sun, water and each other!

Quilting at the Cabin!

Renee Bronson, Laureen Simper and I were able to spend three glorious days quilting at Renee's cabin!

We saw 2 moose (or is it moosen? as Brian Regan would say!), and a sweet little doe that walked around the cabin daily!  Wish I would have thought to take some pictures of the wildlife, but NO, my first picture is of the good food we ate!  Below are the black bean tacos our family loves!  We each take a couple of turns fixing meals.  It was my night. . .

Here is Renee working on the night sky for her Fall Quilt. . .a delighted face!

Here is Laureen ironing. . .when do you ever smile while ironing except when you are at the cabin quilting??

Laureen is working on a applique' paper doll quilt.  Most of the quilt is the doll clothes, but there are two dolls with lots of work and detail.  Here is the first doll finished!

A closer look. . .

Renee with another quilt she put together while we were there!  I think she finished 3-4 quilt tops!

I neglected to take any pictures of myself, but here is what I was working on. . .The Vignette Stitchery Quilt. So much fun to combine the piecing, applique and stitching together!

One more fun quilt Renee showed us how to do.  When you are done sewing these little 2 1/2 inch pieces on, the quilt is quilted as well!  I will be doing some of these for baby quilts, I think!

What a fun and enriching time we had as we learned and shared our love for quilting and our love for the gospel and each other as sisters.  Thanks to Renee for sharing her sweet, awesome cabin! 

Graduation X TWO!

Monday, July 18, 2011

This past Spring, (before I was a professional blogger :), two of our children, Matt and Alyssa received their bachelors degrees!  So. . since that is such a BIG deal, I wanted to take the time and blog about it.

Here is Alyssa with her old sophomore roommate, Jackie.  Alyssa played background music at the Alumni Dinner.  Jackie was there with her husband.

Me and Alyssa on the BIG day.

Our girl and her daddy!

Check out that excited face!

Alyssa and her beloved teacher, Bro. Stephan Allen

Dan, Alyssa and me

Alyssa received her degree in Piano Performance

with and emphasis (minor) in Child Studies from 

Brigham Young University-Idaho.

Alyssa, and her former Bishop--Bishop & sister Hughes 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Matthew Dan Bell

 Matt graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Economics

Dan, Matt and me

Matt, Raquel and Caroline

Needless to say, we are proud and happy parents.  Way to go you two!

Second Sundays at the Bells

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

On the 2nd Sunday of every month, we try and get the whole family together.  Grandma and Grandpa Harmon come as well as some friends and/or aunts, uncles and cousins!  We have a blast and usually end up having about 20-25 people here.  I have the main dish and everyone who comes brings something to add to it.  We have a great dinner, celebrate any birthdays for the month and then we have a Family Home Evening lesson.  I took a few pictures this time, but most of them did not turn out very well.  If I posted them, I would have to go into the witness protection program because my family would have not been happy!!  Ha!  Here are a few that turned out well:

Caroline on her new "grown-up" toy. ..Raquel steadying her.

Caroline walking with her new toy.  She can't get enough, and she has that great big smile they whole time she is walking!

    

Makenna, Cami and Caroline

 Matt and Cami

McKay, Wyatt, Jaxson and Makenna swinging on the deck!

Good times!

Caroline and the BELL

Lately, whenever Caroline is here, she crawls over to this BIG, HUGE Bell that sits on the floor by the fireplace.

She wrestles around with it for a minute or two. . .

"Oh my, this is heavy!"

And then success. . .I can get some of it in my mouth!!

Yes, highly entertaining!

Grandma/Grandpa day at the Bells'

Last night we had a sleep over with 5 of our 6 grandchildren. . .(Caroline is a little too young to enjoy it just yet).  Connor (11), Makenna and McKay (8), Jaxson (6  on July 29) and Wyatt 3.  We let them stay up late and watch a movie with treats and popcorn.  Then, today we took them to Cabelas, always highly entertaining!  (And the best part is that it was only 3 minutes away.)  Here are a few pictures of the group:

Connor was a great shot!  Look at his  awesome technique!

 Wyatt likes to be like the big kids but couldn't hold the gun up without help. . . Pa to the rescue!

Makenna couldn't get it at first, but she just kept trying and was quite good at the end!

McKay was a natural as well, he really enjoyed it!

Jaxson kept working at it and was able to get some great shots by the end, too.

The clan pretending to drive...glad it's pretend, just look at Wyatts' face!

What a fun group!  We had a blast!  Thanks kids!