Constitution Fair and whatnot

Disclaimer--these pictures were all taken with a camera phone, so yes, they may be blurry- and no, it is not you or your computer.

Okay, I guess this one classifies in the "whatnot" category. This is Ella's reaction to ice cream for the first time. Or, actually, it was "ice dream" at Chick Fil A, which isn't really the real stuff, but I love it--and, despite this face, she did too! (By the way, I want to endorse Chik Fil A here as a SUPER DUPER company--love their philosophy, service and food--great family fun!)
She's not walking yet, but she sure likes to get around with this thing. Oh, and do you notice the new 'do? Yes, she has two, count them, two ponies! Complete with double bows for church and other important events.
Outta my way mista!
Now we veer away from whatnot and into the Consitution Fair. This was a great community family/patriotic/education thing that the Town of Gilbert puts on every year. For ten bucks your whole family gets in and they have games, rock climbing, shows, patriotic storytellers, these huge blow ups of important Washington buildings, a great show, and a fireworks display at the end. It was really a fun night and I hope it instilled some love of America and the Constitution in our kiddos (and in us!).
Angie brought her friend Gracie along and they had lots of fun together.

Here we all are in front of the giant Consitution because when Mom actually makes us all wear one of our several matching sets of t-shirts, we had better get a picture to prove it! Unfortunately, Ella had to change her shirt a little before this one, but she is sleeping anyway so I don't think she really minded much. This was after the really cool show and FIREWORKS--yeah, it was a great display--almost as nice as a 4th of July show!

We met Ben Franklin on our way in, and we later found out that this guy was a brother of someone we knew.
Here's Ella learning all about the great United States.
Libery Bell and somewhat delirious children who were up way past bedtime but living off sugar and glowsticks and the energy of a very large crowd.
This was a cool ride--a log swing. For some strage reason Logan wouldn't ride it, even when I offered to go with him. Sometimes he gets afraid of large crowd situations and I think he was just a bit scared because of that already. He got a cupcake in the cupcake walk though so he was a happy camper after that!

Well, there's a little update on something fun we did this weekend. Hope everyone out there in the blogosphere is doing well--let's all remember our miraculous Constitution this week, and all those who gave so much for our freedoms. Yeah America!

Check this out--it's VERY fun!

Okay, I am not knowledgable to the link thing, but this will be worth it. Simply click on the link under my friends and family links that says "Angie and Derek" and you will se a HILARIOUS video to lighten our political mood. It's great! Have a great day and go Palin/McCain--uh, I mean McCain/Palin--hee hee.

Happy Moments

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times, and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."
M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve Apostlse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

This was a super moment on Sunday. Angie and Sunny came inside and asked me if they cleaned up the kitchen, could they make some cookies??--ummm....YEAH! So, they did it ALL ALONE. They cleaned up beautifully, then they spent about half an hour looking through cook books and decided on the daring choice of snicker doodles. (Daring because the last time these we made, it was a bit of a disaster--I will not name names, but you know who you are out there!) Anyway, since Ella was snoozing and Logan was in the other room writing a story or something, Mom decided to TAKE A NAP while they mixed all the ingredients. Other than a slight miscalculation of flour, a little spill of ingredients, and some supervision with the oven, they were lone cooks--and the end result was delish!

Later that night...all the big kids decided to engage in a corn husking contest. I thought this was pretty funny. (For the record, Angie won.)
Love the bow, love the baby!
Logan very excited with his new Iron Man PJs--thanks Grandma and Grandpa Nielson!

What a beautiful moment! Here is Logan with my friend Kristen's baby Justin. She came for a visit a few weeks ago--we hadn't seen each other for at least 8 years. I don't have any pics of her because I lost my camera and haven't gotten her email yet with her pics--no pressure Kristen. :) It was a fun day to talk and laugh and enjoy family.
We had a great time with Brynlee and Raelyn spending the night last weekend so Trevor and Jenny could do some packing. What a cute PJ picture!
It was so nice to see my sister Becky last week! She just became a nurse! Yeah Becky--you have worked so hard and will do great things helping others!!
This is a moment that only dads can create--at least usually in our house that is the way it is. I was at the church cleaning out the cubscout closet--oh what joy and rapture--and Jack watched the kids all day. After they had finished chores he let them jump on the tramp with the hose attatched. Obviously it was a great moment!
Okay, now I will be singing Shania Twain's "From This Moment" all day long. Ha ha, and now you will too!