Reunion week

The family reunion wasn't suppose to start until Tues. but since most people got there during the weekend, we kind of started Sunday afternoon. Let me back up, on Sat. I picked up Will from the airport and we went to see Lauren and her family. We spent the night there and I totally rocked that dance game on the wii (if Lauren tells you differently, she is lying). He little girls are so cute. It was fun to hang out with them for a while.

Cole, as always, loved hanging out with Uncle Nick. They played the Wii and watched some awesome movie. He can't wait to see him again. Well, none of us can wait to see them again. They are tons of fun. Sun. we headed back to Marc's house and began the family reunion. On Mon. we went on a hike. Getting there was kind of a pain but when we finally started, it was fun. Will, who wasn't originally planning on hiking, decided to come (peer pressure always works whether said or just felt). I was mixed on that because I wanted to do the whole hike and I knew the kids would only do part of it. So I had my mind set on just hiking to the resavoir and then bringing the kids back. When we got there, Cole was going on (I told him to stick with Uncle Robert) and Sage wanted to keep going. Will had decided he was going and McKelle just wanted to be with her Daddy. I was a little nervous about this. I knew I was going to be carrying Sage most of the way (I had already been switching between McKelle and Sage) and I wasn't sure how much water I had left. We all got separated and I ended up with Victoria, Dempsey, James, and Sage. About 45 minutes or so later, (Sage on and off of my shoulders) some people were coming down and they said that we were not even half way up to the waterfalls. I was sick of carrying Sage and we were out of water. I decided that I would take the girls back down the mountain so that Victoria and James could go on up. about 20 yards back, Victoria calls us back and shows us a creek and we let the kids play there for awhile. At that time, Will, McKelle and Bill meet up with us. Will, the kids (except James) and I say we will take the kids down and Bill and Victoria are going to go finish the hike. As we are heading back down, I am kind of nervous because I know I am dehydrated and I am just worried about Cole. We in no way planned this hike with all the kids very well. Mostly in terms of water. About halfway down, York calls Will to tell him where we are and learns that York and Dawn have already taken all the 5 year olds back down the mtn. they were at Bec's house. I didn't even know that Cole left the hike, I thought he was up with Bob. I was very relieved and the rest of the hike was very pleasant.

The end of the hike was beautiful I heard and Ammon saw a couple get engaged up there. That is pretty sweet. I was bummed I didn't get to finish but I am also glad I went back when I did. Tues. was a tennis tournament and softball game. Yes I think the teams were very evenly distributed. It was perfect that Mckell (Bill's daughter) and I were on a team and it was evenly matched with Will who had Dyson on his team. No, in all seriousness, the teams were as fair as you could make them and it was a ton of fun. Grayson and Robert won the tournament with an impressive game. The softball game was also fun and I am glad that I never struck out and I always made it on base. That is always a concern for me. I think my team won but I am not exactly sure. I was proud of Sage for playing and she even got to make it to home plate. Wed. we went up Provo canyon for a day camp. The plan was for everyone who wanted to, to float down the river. I had to take Will back to the airport so I missed that trip. I was kind of bummed because that would have been so much fun. Then when Dawn, myself (and kids), Darien, Jamie and her son went up to the waterfall to play around I was really glad I missed the floating trip, the water was FREEZING! Then when everyone got back, I was sad I missed it because they all had so much fun. Except for Alex who told me that he hated it and he almost died. Alex is so funny to me. I love to talk to him. He really did have some problems on the river though so although a bit dramatic, also a bit justified.

A lot of people left on Thurs. morning so we ended the reunion a day early. I guess it all works out because we started early. Over all, it was a huge success. We all got up really early, stayed up really late, played really hard and were exhausted by the end. I guess when you only get one time a year (if that for some of us) to see everyone, you have to cram in as much as you can. It wears you out but you have a year to recover. As Will says, "hanging out with the Winsor's is like running a marathon." I am just glad we all get a long so well so that it is an enjoyable marathon.

I love this picture. Skyler is so tired that he crashed right on the bench. Here are a few misc. pictures of the reunion.

Week One

3:00 a.m. Monday morning, Michelle, takes the kids and I to the Denver airport. It it HUGE. We left in plenty of time because we knew it was a large airport. I was informed that there were 80 seats open so it was not even a concern. I was very relieved and glad to be in SLC by 7:30. The check in was fast and the security was much more efficient than the Nashville airport. We go in and we have to take a train to our terminal and then walk forever to our gate. We were the last stop on the train so that was really fun for the kids. I go and check in at the service counter at my gate (I was an hour and some early) and she says, "Mam, I am sorry to tell you but the plane is having some mechanical problems and I have no idea when or if it is going to be taking off. So you can either wait and see if this flight will take off or there is a plane that is about to leave to Phoenix and they are boarding. There are some seats open for you in Phoenix to SLC." I just look at her and then the kids and I am trying to decide whether to wait or not. She interrupts my thought process and says, "This plane is not going to take off you you had better run to the other gate." Okay, this other gate is the clear across the airport and back on the train at the first stop. So I get the kids, "hurry get your bags, we have to run back to the train and get on another flight." The kids do great and we run as fast as we can to get to the train. It seems to take forever to get off but then I rush them off and we take off to our gate. Sage decides that she is sick of running and she stops, sits down, and starts to cry. I am telling her she has to hurry or we won't make the plane. Some lady is watching us and she comes to my rescue. She takes my bags and Sage's and so I can carry Sage and Scott and we run to the next plane. The staff had already moved everyone so that we could sit together and we make the hour and a half flight to Phoenix. Not too bad after the rush and I guess in hind sight, it is nice that we didn't have to sit and wait at the airport. When we get to Phoenix, I check in there and it turns out, They didn't give me my tickets and the flight they had booked me for was full. They were very helpful though and they printed me some new tickets. They then rebooked me on another flight and told me that they were just about to board so we would have to hurry to get on. Turns out, the gate was not too far so we had about 5 minutes before we had to board. It also put us in SLC earlier than the original flight had so that is a plus. We got there early and Ammon picked us up at the airport. This experience was so stressful for me that I swore I would never do standby again! I was going to buy tickets for our return trip and think if it as a learning experience that I never wanted to go through again. It is amazing what a little time away from a situation will do for your attitude. Now, I would do standby again in a heart beat and I even rode home standby (without any problems). We stayed at Ammon's for the first week. It was so great. Cole was buddied up with Orion and Sage and McKelle were all about Adam. Of course Henry and Atlas were amazing also. It was nice to spend some time with families before everyone came. That way when there was a crowd, my kids already knew some of their cousins and they wouldn't be so overwhelmed. My plan worked out perfectly too.

We went to Saltaire with Victoria and Ammon's family. It was filled with little knats but it was so fun. The kids climbed up on the rocks and we all skipped rocks. Scott tried to throw everyone's shoes in the water but was caught just in time every time.

Rebecca and Victoria came over for diner one night and we went to Marc's one afternoon. Cole was really sad to find out that they no longer belonged to their goat co-op but was thrilled when they told him they had chickens in their back yard. His favorite was, Uncle John, (yes named after John) who was a banty chicken. I thought that was really funny. The first week went by so fast and it was so fun.

The First Leg

Saturday Morning at 3:00 a.m. Will takes us the airport. He says he will wait to make sure we make our plane before he takes off. I tell him not to worry about it because we will make it. We have to check in because I have a lap child. The line is not too long and then we have to go through security. We get to the front where they are checking I.D. and they tell me that the front counter people did not give me my lap child paper. I ask them if I can come right back to the front when I get done with that. They say "No, but the line shouldn't be too bad". Seriously, what is that. The later it gets, the longer the line is. Anyway, we go back to the baggage check in and the line is 3 times as long as it was the first time around. I wait for a few minutes and then I just grab one of the attendants walking by (they must have just got on shift) and told her what had happened. She takes me up front and looks at my tickets. Guess what, they didn't forget, the security person just didn't look close enough. So we go back through security. I had planned plenty of time to get to the gate and check in but I don't think I added enough time for two check ins. We get to the customer service desk at our gate at about 5:40. By 6:00, we are not so sure that we will make our plane. The standby list is very full and we are not the priority on the list. At 6:20, we are informed that we will not make the list. Will calls to see if we are boarded and I tell him what is going on. I tell him to wait a few minutes where he is and I will call him back. The kids are getting groggy (I guess grouchy would be more accurate and I guess saying Mckelle would be most accurate). I ask the person at the service counter what I should do. They look up the flights and they tell me that if I run, I can make a plane headed to Denver (I was originally headed to Phoenix) and that I should be able to make the plane after that to UT. Good plan. I tell the kids to grab their bags and start to go as fast as we can to the other gate. McKelle decides that she is not going to go. She sits down and starts to wail. I am grab her bag (I have Scott in my front carrier, a back pack on and also carrying a back pack) and try to pull her along. She gets more hysterical. Some guy is watching and he comes running to my rescue. He takes the 2 bags I am carrying plus the one Sage is pulling so that I can hold McKelle and we run to the gate. The other plane is waiting for us and they have to move a bunch of people to get us together. One of the workers says, "Mam, I would suggest that next time, try to make it at least an hour early so we don't have to hold the plane like this for you. Especially when you are taking 4 kids." (He is not rude but I know what he is really thinking.) I tell him that this was not even my flight and how much I appreciate them waiting and letting me on. He apologizes for his previous statement and we finally get our seats and take off. I think that the plane was about 15 minutes late (because of us) to take off but they still made it to Denver 10 minutes before they were scheduled to land. When we get there, we check in at the next customer service counter where they tell me we might not make the next flight. It just so happens that the flight is very full but who knows, sometimes people don't show up. I take the kids to eat and then we mess around until time to board. It has been about a 2 hour wait. The plane boards and then I get called to board. Hurray!...oh wait, they don't have quite enough seats for all of us. The next flight out is not for 5 more hours and they all have at least 1 layover in which I might make it but it will be close. 2 of my kids are screaming and all of them are exhausted. I am stressed out but trying to pull it together. Will calls his sister (she is an hour and a half away) and she says she will love to come and pick us up. So an hour and a half later, we are climbing in and headed to her home. So glad she was willing to come get us. The kids are super excited because they love these cousins. It was stressful but I am glad it worked out this way. The next morning, the plane is very open for the 6:30 flight but we decided to stay an extra day to enjoy and I don't know if I can handle another 3 a.m. wake up just yet. Michelle has the most adorable new born. She should seriously be put in commercials and she is so calm...until Scott comes around. He is loving not being the youngest and he really wants to touch (hit) her all the time. So other than keeping him away from the baby, the stay was great. We went to the "Garden of the Gods" it was so beautiful. It was also so fun to watch the kids climb up the boulders. I loved it so much. The kids all played so well together and it was nice to see Ryan and Michelle in their own element and just enjoy their family's company.

Stay tuned for the rest of my trip.

April Showers Bring...

April is the birth month of my two adorable children. We will start with Scott because his is the first one. Scott's birthday was celebrated a little unusual. We went to the hospital to celebrate with Billy, Will's Dad. This will have been the second birthday party in a hospital. (Cole's 2nd birthday was there too). It was a little cramped in the room. I would suggest using the waiting room for the party for any of you thinking this location maybe ideal for one of your children. No candles also makes some a little sad. It was okay though because Scott didn't care at all and the other three were just happy to finally be getting some cake.

I will tell you a little about my baby. He is the biggest child I have. He is taller and heavier than the other three were. Also, he is fearless. My children are not really fly by the seat of your pants kind of kids. They are not pansies but not wild. Scott, he thinks he can keep up with the others and he does a pretty good job at it. He was crawling by 7 months and walking by 11 months. He loves to laugh. He laughs all the time. He loves to bounce and talk (baby noises). He is intolerant of others talking over him. He will get louder and louder if you are not paying attention to him. Did I mention he laughs a lot? He is a great sleeper now and has a mouth full of teeth. He loves to eat salad, spaghetti, stroganoff, soup, and pretty much casserole kind of meals. He loves slides and swings (in short time periods). He will try to work out with me and run in place. He will get his little legs moving as fast as he can and it is so cute. Scott loves his siblings. Because it is so easy to make him laugh and get him excited, the kids love to pay attention to him. Scott is also a tease. He loves to pretend to give you stuff and then at the last second, he will take it away and run with a big grin on his face. He will cover his head with his blanket all the time and then pull it off to scare you. He is LOUD. He and Sage are scream buddies (this can be kind of annoying). Scott loves to put on hats and lately, shoes. I love this little guy so much. Sage's birthday was 9 days later. She decided this year that she wanted a friend party. So we invited a few girls and had a rainbow party. When the guests arrived we painted their faces and let them put glitter in their hair (we also had colors for their hair but they all wanted glitter. We did sand art, decorated our own little cakes, jumped on the trampoline and had a rainbow lunch. It was fun. Aunt Kim and Aunt Megan came over that evening and ate dinner with us. Then Sage opened more presents. Sage was a little crabby though. She was crabby the whole day until that night when her brothers and sister went to bed. (We let our kids stay up as late as they want on their birthday). She was so pleasant that night. She took all of her toys and placed them beside her then she spent 20 minutes or so on each item. It was so cute. Her grandparents gave her a Hello Kitty scrapbook kit. She "wrote notes" to Granddad for about a half an hour. It was so cute. As she was "writing" (which looked like she was drawing mountains) she would say out loud what she was writing. I had to record it on my camera because it was so sweet. I would upload but blogger won't let me. Sorry you have to miss out on such a precious moment. At 11:00, Will and I were so tired. Will made Sage go to bed (and they call me the party pooper). Oh yeah, the cake, I was going to do something kind of involved and was not looking forward to decorating it at all. Well, Sage and Cole decided that they wanted to help and it made cake decorating so much easier! Sage told me exactly what to do and I let them put on the skittles. I think this is the way I am decorating for now on. Their ideas are so much easier than mine and they enjoy the process.

A funny story about her friend party: Sage wanted to open her presents first thing. I wouldn't let her because I was kind of afraid that there would be the whole not sharing thing. Just before lunch, we were all outside on/around the trampoline. She finally convinced me to let her open the presents. She took off into the house and we all headed up. By the time I had gotten into the living room (about 3 minutes later) she already had all her presents opened and she and one of her friends were coloring in one of her new coloring books. I was so surprised and all I could do was laugh. A little bit about Sage: First off, her first name is Brooke. She is such a sweet person. She loves her siblings and will show it with hugs and kisses (most of the time they don't want them). She is my favorite person to get excited. Her enthusiasm is overwhelming. A compliment goes a long way with her. When someone prays for her, she is so grateful and will them thank you and that they are her best friend. She is loud...very loud. Sage has a soft heart but a big mouth. She is easy to make cry but she doesn't just boo hoo and go away, she cries and then lets the perpetrator know exactly what they did wrong. (Yes, sometimes uncalled for.) She loves to be held and cuddled. She is pretty good at obeying and loves to please me. I love her so much and she is such a good kid.