June Elizabeth Danielson

Definitely some days in this life are sweeter than others. This past Sunday will go down as one of the sweeter days in my life. I can not even express how wonderful and sweet the feelings were when I think about what our little June-bug has been through and then see her so strong and healthy looking like a beautiful normal little girl. We are so very grateful and blessed to have these little ones in our family and have them be healthy. Can you even believe how funny some things are...well I don't exactly know what but apparently something is funny and Lyvi always covers her mouth when she laughs. It's so cute. She recently got some new pets, two little chicks which she named Eight and Blondie. Yup, Justin and Sarah have chickens. They are hoping that they will eat the bugs that live in their back yard! Lyvi just loves to hold them.
I have often wondered what it would be like to know someone who looked a lot like you. Well these two little girls sure do look a lot alike. I remember Lyvi with a very similar look at June's age. What cute, sweet and fun little girls they are.

Adorable little family. This is the fence on the side of their new house. Too bad I don't have a picture of their house for you. Well maybe next time.

Almost evened UP!

Here is a picture of my first girl with my last (hopefully not final) girl. OK, I realize you can't see June-Bug very well but can you even believe how gorgeous Nikki looks? Yes we have some amazingly beautiful girls in our family and they are as good as they are beautiful which undoubtedly adds to their beauty. (If you don't believe me you may also want to refer to Lauren sitting on the couch.) We also have some pretty doggone cute little boys...so glad he uses the safety glasses with that scary chain saw!

Miss A, kind of silly in this picture with the end of an ice cream cone sticking out of her mouth. She is going through a funny stage where she looks away when I try to take her picture. We had to just be happy with this one. Yes that girl loves her ice cream and her snacks, and her cookies, and well she loves food.

Here is Luke getting ready to play with some fun toys.

It was the boys turn to do dishes and let me tell you Jacob took that very seriously. He helped until every single dish was done. He's just good that way. Not too sure what Lyvi was doing?

At the beginning of this year our family had Eight Boys and Five Girls BUT thanks to this beautuiful sweet girl

...and this sweet little thing we are up to 7 girls. I feel the winds shifting! The female vote is getting stronger and stronger around here. We are so very glad to have both of these girls in our family.

Cupcakes!

Every September since Dennis has been the Stake President of our Stake instead of meeting with the Bishops for Personal Priesthood Interviews he meets with their wife's. He has always invited me and the wife's of his counselors. The first year he met with them individually and that was awesome but he felt like they might actually need to meet with each other even more than they need to meet with him. It is always a very sweet and spiritual meeting. I love those women. They are all amazing in their own ways. They all have hard things but handle them with so much grace. They are grand examples to me. I love to make them a little something to let them know how much I (we) love and appreciate them. This year they got cupcake oven mitts. Darlene sent me the pattern and I had a fun time making a whole bunch of different ones.I also made cupcakes for a treat. I know that sounds like a really easy thing to make and it should have been but four batches of cupcakes later here is what we ended up with, and yes they were good, red velvet cream filled cream cheese frosting cupcakes, but the others were really bad. It made Dennis so sad to think of throwing all of those cupcakes away. He kept saying things like, "this just isn't like you to not have things turn out." I KNOW!!! (It may be more like me than he knows...he should stick around more.) You are probably wondering what is in the cute little boxes which I also made...
One for the road...or for the Bishop...their choice.

Here is how it looked in the High Council Room before we got started. Now on to next year...got any good ideas? Let me know.

A Very Good Labor Day

I got up this morning thinking I was going to go on a nice little walk around the neighborhood and ended up HERE! This is Camelback Mountain in AZ...not much of a mountain if you are from Utah but no matter where you are from it is a steep and challenging hike. I only made it about one third of the way! Don't know why Tyler closed his eyes! These two guys kept on going and Dennis made it most of the way, Tyler went all the way. Dennis is sure we could have done it if we would have had more time to spend there but we were on somewhat of a schedule. Yup, I'm pretty sure he is right. We totally could have done it with more time. There was a 74 year old man on the trail that walks it THREE times every day. It takes a good hiker at least an hour and a half or two to do that hike. That old guy is amazing!
Below is the view as we were walking up to get on the trail head. And since I got back WAY before Dennis and Tyler I walked up and down this road to make myself feel better about coming back and pooping out. (it has a good incline) Tyler asked me if it was embarrassing walking in front of all those cars (who by the way are waiting for a parking spot so they can go hike, yup they just sit there and wait until someone leaves so they can park and then go up that torturous mountain and have all their limbs burn and feel like you can't breath and they think it's worth waiting for, I digress) anyway, yes it was somewhat humiliating to keep walking up and down the road where those cars could see me. I'm sure I helped amuse them as they were waiting for a spot to park in.

That was fun but the way our day ended was more my style. We got to go to the hospital and hold our little June Bug. Oh it feels so nice to hold a little baby that we have only been able to look at for the past eight days. She is absolutely adorable. As you can see I got to feed her. Justin gave me some great tips on how to feed her and how to burp her. They worked very nicely. Look how great I am suppporting her neck!

Gramps got to hold her for a bit as well. She is all swaddled up and doing so great. You would not even believe all the trauma she has been through in the past week when you look at her now. What a difference a week makes. Look at her perfect little head and her dark hair and her olive'ish skin and her super cute nose and her little mouth is so sweet and her long fingers and toes and her beautiful eyes! She is perfect. Oh we do love our little June Bug. Night Night baby girl, COME HOME SOON!

Name Tags and Swedish Pancakes

Yesterday Morning we got up VERY early (like 4:30) and started to make Swedish pancakes. You might ask yourself, who in the world would you want to get up that early to make breakfast for? Well, not just anybody, of course, a few folks come to mind, but the answer yesterday was these eight missionaries who are currently serving in our Stake. They were awesome, polite and totally engaging. Not to mention that they really like Swedes, (as all true Danielson's call them) and hashbrowns and fruit but only sort of like sausage. Maybe they were watching their fat content, I don't know but either way it was fun. Even after that huge breakfast they still all fit onto our sofa so I took their picture. We try to have the missionaries in out stake over for breakfast once a quarter. It only took 18 eggs to 6 x my Swedish pancake recipe!

Can't wait for next quarter!

Not Awesome, HARD!

They say a picture paints a thousand words and if that is true this video takes care of at least that many times one hundred. Luke is so cute and wants to do whatever Jacob does. Jacob said the flippers were awesome! Well, Luke tried them on and obviously was not impressed. If you listen carefully you will hear him say, "Not awesome, HARD!"

Also in this little video is Jacob the fish swimming like crazy. What a relief it is to have some of the kids, ok only Jacob but at least he can swim really great and he knows his limitations! Love having the kids over and watching them swim!

I Know You...

If you are not familiar with Sleeping Beauty you may want to refresh your memory with the following video. Lyvi LOVES Sleeping Beauty. She loves to sing and dance the songs reinacting scenes from the video. Justin loves to torture her by singing them wrong. In this video, (another Justin classic) you will hear her telling Justin, "No Da Da" because he is singing the WRONG version of the song. Their Dance is AWESOME! :)

A Busy and Crazy Week

First of All...lookwho graduated from Pre-school! Thats right, Jacob Todd Danielson! He will be attending Kindergarten next year and he will also be about 6 inches taller than anyone else attending. The boy is so BIG! And Smart and adorable. The High Schools could so take a page from the Pre-schools graduation ceremony. Pre-school inside 10 minutes cookies after. High School Graduation 2 hours outside, 98 degrees, no refreshments! Friday Nikki and the boys came over so we could do a little CRAFTING. Poor Nikki got sick shortly after she got here. The boys played and after work their dad came over and they swam, they loved it and swam until their lips turned purple as you can see here with Luke!

Jacob may be a little more purple as he stayed in a little longer and is a little "whiter" to begin with. I know he does't look reallly happy but he is...he just forgot to tell his face. He was laughing and jumping and running around until I said, let me take you picture! Then this:

Here is a cute video of the boys in the pool and Jacob jumping off the waterfall!

Poor Nikki was so sick and so was Nathan...he's just chillin' with his Mama!

Get better you guys so we can have fun next week!

Growing

I love watching things grow...here is my basil, did you know that the B in a BLT sandwich also stands for Basil? Try it. It's delicious This is our pathetic pepper. It came out at the beginning of the season and it was growing like a..a..well a pepper plant, and then the tomatoes and the zucchini started to get big and they edged it out and now, it's weak. We have gotten one pepper off of this plant. Next time, it needs a little pot of its own.
These are our amazing tomaotoes. They have gone CRAZY this year. We have eaten the big ones every day for a week at least and the grapes longer than that. They are delicious and very conveniently located right outside our back door.

Close up of tomorrows lunch!

The number of Temples in Arizona is also growing! Monday Dennis and I drove to the great city of Thatcher and toured the Gila Valley Temple. To say that it is beautiful does not do it justice. It was amazing and wonderful. We were so impressed with the number of volunteers that helped all of us. They were so organized and effecient. Dennis' grandma, Emma Carpenter Naillon grew up in Thatcher Arizona and she knew Spencer W. Kimball who also lived there. Dennis said he feels a kinship to that area because his grandma used to live there. He also says his grandma Naillon was the sweetest woman he ever knew. We had a wonderful day. (The Burrito in Safford was also great...It certainly helped me to grow!)

Here are a few pictures of our growing family. Luke and his brother Jacob were playing kick ball. Boy oh boy can those boys kick a ball.

Little Nathan wanted to golf, whatever he wants to do is fine with me. You may notice the broom on the ground there. There were a few little games of "curling" (remember from the olympics?) taking place as well. Just without the ice and without the disc, mostly with a golf ball on the grass. It was a fun day. I love watching these beautiful little children grow.

Saturday Swimming

Justin and Lyvi jumping, Sarah's picture turned out better than mine but if you look at the water you can tell he is jumping and Lyvi LOVED it!

Yesterday Justin, Sarah and Lyvi stopped by for a swim. I was hoping the little boys would make it as well but they had a pretty busy day. One of the things I love about our pool is how much the little kids love it...that is also one of the things that makes me the most nervous about our pool. Here are a few pictures of Lyvi swimming with her daddy yesterday.


Jumping off the waterfall! Yes, it was 98 degrees here yesterday!


Playing on the pad we had poured for the kiddie pool section. I had to talk for about five years to convince Dennis to do that, now he says he wishes it was bigger! Oh boy!




One of the most endearing things about Justin is how protective he is of Lyvi. Oh my goodness, we could write a whole book about that but here is a video that captures it perfect. It's hilarious to me (mainly because Justin told me to support Lyvi's neck until she was about 18 months old)but I love Sarah's little comments of support for Justin. She is such a sweet wife and mother. They are both lucky to have her. So here is Lyvi on the slide going into the pool. Make sure you watch Justin dive OUT of the pool to catch her so she doesn't fall. (was she going to falll?)

Some things come-some things GO!

Once again we were lucky to have Nathan come for a Stay-cation with us while the rest of his family went to Disneyland for another whirl-wind fun-filled trip! They came to dinner and we celebrated Mothers Day, Dennis and Todd's birthdays! It was very fun. Then the Todd Danielson family left and Nathan got to stay and play with Alyvia. They had a blast outside playing in the sand and sweeping and golfing then when they came in they both wanted a bath so, of course, they got one! Do they look related here or what?After bathtime the jammie's came on and there was some quiet playing inside. Nathan was being a little dangerous climbing on the chair but he couldn't help himself. Everytime he went by it he climbed up on it.
Lyvi was having a great time coloring with markers. I thought I had purchased some of the markers that only write on certain paper and not on anything else. I WAS WRONG.

Justin was also enjoying the fun new markers!

Nathan had a lot of fun playing with Gram's toys. He loves the little baseball game. It talks to you and tells you how far you have hit it. It is pretty cute and the funny thing is that it used to belong to his family but no one ever played with it at their house. I guess when you come to Gram's you get desperate? He sure does enjoy it here. He is such a great baseball player.

The kids love our playhouse and Nathan is no exception. He cracks me up because he really enjoys being inside and he wants the door locked! Then he pokes his cute little face out the window...lots of times to make sure we are still watching him. He is so good and fun.

For reasons unknown to me Nathan and Lyvi are both impressed with the kitchen sink in the playhouse. Now Nathan likes to take it out and carry it all over the place. Lyvi likes to fill it full of sand. (I feel sorry for Justin and Sarah when she is tall enough to put sand in one of their sinks...at least mine is easy to empty! I just think it's funny that they are intrigued with the sink.

Here is Nathan with his mama after they got back home from Disneyland. Ido believe he looks a lot like her. No wonder he is so CUTE! (Same dimples and blue eyes! LUCKY) Her hair is a lot more manageable, although, I wouldn't change Nathan's for anything, I LOVE his fly hair!

Bye Bye Nathan, thanks for the fun vacation!

Wedding Day - April 23, 2010

Oh what a beautiful day this turned out to be. The weather was pHeNoMiNaL...we were worried as Arizona had a cold front blow through like we had never seen in April, well that we can remember, which actually isn't saying all that much. The day of the wedding was beautiful. The sky was gorgeous and so was the bride (and the groom for that matter)! We had a fun day, here are a few pictures taken right before the reception. Here are Chase and Lauren with all of the nephews and the niece as well as Lauren's little brother Jeremy and sister Morgan. Aren't those kids adorable?

Two beautiful girls. Are you ready for a long night of dancing?

OK, I know this next picture is a terrible exposure but you can still see the family a little bit. Here we are EVERY SINGLE ONE of us! YIPPEE! It is wonderful to have another daughter-in-law in the family. I honestly don't think of "my girls" as in-laws, they are just my girls and they are all so amazing. I can't say enough about how I feel about them. They have taken some pretty good young men and turned them into fabulous ones. They have definitely influenced them for the better in every single case. Their influence is powerful and every one of them are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. AND THAT IS PRETTY DARN BEAUTIFUL! I am so grateful to have each of them. I knew it was going to be great when Todd married Nikki and right away there was someone who had an opinion similar to mine. Now the playing field has become surprisingly even and equal. It's great having daughters! I LOVE IT! Can you even believe how big Jacob and Luke are getting! They are some handsome little boys!
I know, right? So much cuteness. I think Luke was doing his own little "achy breaky heart" dance right there! Those hips have swagger! Lyvi will only hold hands with Jacob! Thank heavens for him, he was keeping the little kids together long enough for a "shot". (Wait, isn't he one of the little kids? Not any more.)

When Justin and Sarah got there Lyvi had been asleep and she wasn't too excited about the whole picture thing but she did love her dress and she was ok with the flowers. We all totally cracked up though when she popped her hip and put her hand on it. That girl has a lot of attitude...no clue where she got it?

OK...get ready for some amazing beautiful-ness! This face melts my heart EVERY single time. Oh how I love that baby! Stop growing Nathan!

Yup, this is what it's all about! Are those some cute kids or what??? we are so lucky!

After all this fun we went inside and to be honest I didn't get many pictures after that! But I did get this cute short video!

That was one good fun day! Now on with LIFE!!!