The Bell Family: June 2009

Wednesday, June 24

Cute sister

I just have to say I have six wonderful sisters. We are all unique in looks and personality. My second to youngest sister Jacque has one of the most sparkling personality I have ever met, especially when she is with children. I took this picture at my sister Celeste's graduation party. I was practicing the sunlight effect. I didn't really get what I wanted, but I did get a darling picture of my sister with her contagious smile!!!! I love you, Jacque.

A Hike to Remember

So, there is this amazing waterfall up Alpine canyon that you have to hit at the right time. If you go too late in the summer the waterfall isn't very big. It is called Horse Tail Falls because when the water hits some rocks it shoots out like a horses tail. Anyway, Brad and I and my sister Allison and her husband Bryce all wanted to hike it before the water "went away." We decided to hike it on Saturday, June 13th. The weather was raining on and off all week long. Actually, it was more like torrential down pour each day. Well, it played it by ear. It rained a bit in the morning so we were unsure. But, early afternoon it was looking good so we decided to just do it.
The hike up went well. We had all forgotten that it was 2 miles STRAIGHT up the mountain, no switch backs, just straight up. It was super hard, but the waterfall and view of Alpine is worth it.

Once we got up we were only able to enjoy the waterfall for a few minutes as we could see the storm clouds moving in. 5 minutes after we started down it began raining.
All of us scrambled to get our rain ponchos on (that Brad didn't think we really needed when I packed them) and I tripled wrapped my camera so it wouldn't get wet. We then ran down the mountain. About 1/4 of a mile down the heavens let loose for the day. We were caught in the middle of a horrific downpour that soaked us to the core. We ran as fast as we could with slipping on our....well, you get the drift. I didn't realize that you could kind of see through my capris when wet, fortunately my sweatshirt was long enough. We made it down the mountain in 30 minutes verses the hour it took to get up. I was not near as muddy as you would imagine since we were literally running through a stream the entire way. There was just so much water that it rinsed off the rain. As fun as all that sounds I realized that I forgot to mention the thunder and lightening. That made things quite interesting. With each lightening we were counting to see how close it was. I think the closest it got was 2 miles away, which was close enough for all of us. We were praying that we wouldn't get struck. Prayers were answered and we made it safely down, soaked to the core, even with ponchos on.
You can kind of tell by looking at my sister how wet we were. Just step into a shower with a poncho on, for 30 minutes, then you will know how wet we were!!!

Thursday, June 18

A message from the Workers Compensation Fund

On TV these days they are many commercials about different precautions men should take in the work place to be safe. They are reminding people to think of those you have left at home and wear their hard hats, safety goggles, etc. I would love to see the commercial warning piano teachers of the dangers that lurk in their home as they are working. My daughter could be a poster child.....

Saturday, June 13

Becca's idiosyncrisies

Becca is the funniest little girl. I am sad to say she is still hooked on her binky. It is really myself that is hooked, but that is another story. I love putting her down for naps and to bed. She is EXTREMELY easy to put down, IF she has her binky. You give it to her and instantly her head drops to your shoulder. Lately the funny thing she has been doing at bed time is REQUIRING me to take out her hair barrets and elastics when she gets in her crib. I wonder why I even do her hair before nap time at all. Becca has always loved to play with her hair when she gets tired. In fact, that is a huge sign that she is ready for bed. I love the routine she has set for herself!!!

Smart Kids

Let me tell you, my son is extremely intelligent when it comes to computers. He can do more than probably both sets of his grandparents (grandfathers included). The other day he asked me if he could build a website. I said he would have to ask his dad since that is Brad's realm, not mine. The next day I went to my computer and saw the most recent search on the google tab bar. It said "How to build a website safely!!" I was so proud that my son knew that there needs to be safety in his internetting!!! Thanks to his computer teacher Susan Richards in our ward, Ryan has learned safety on the computer!!! Ryan now has his own blog which will document his life. The sad thing is, his blog will probably be more up to date and better kept than my own!!!

Tuesday, June 2

Easter

Easter was next. Easter was the next weekend after Ryan's birthday. We started Easter Saturday with decorating eggs. Then we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt with the Sweeney family. It was raining so we actually held it in the church.

Becca thought it was cool to actually get to eat candy off the floor.

Ryan's Birthday

So, April was a very busy month. This is actually why I have yet to post about it. It started with Ryan's birthday at the beginning of the month. He had a birthday party with friends that he planned himself. He wanted an around the world party. He wanted to visit different countries and do fun things with each one. We started by making paper rockets. They then were "stolen" and the boys hopped on a plane in our basement and flew to Easter Island. They went on an Easter Egg hunt looking for clues as to where they had to go next. They found that next they had to go to China. In China they made fortune cookies. In one of the cookies they found a clue that said they had to go to Italy. In Italy they had gelato and found a clue that said the rockets were in Russia. Once in Russia they had water guns and gunned down the rocket robbers. Once they got back the rockets they shot them off. It was a fun party. They had tons of fun....and energy.