Luke's Blessing Day

As mentioned, the tail end of our Roger Call Reunion was Luke's blessing.  We were fortunate to not only have our Call family with us, but a lot of our Vigil family, too!  Jeff, Jami, and the kids drove down on Saturday to be there for Luke's special day.  It was so exciting to see them!

Everyone met at our house.  And when I say "our house", I mean it!  We're finally under contract on our first home, and it's a beauty!  Since no one is living in it right now, our wonderful realtor came and opened the house so we could show it off to our family.  We enjoyed having everyone see the house and play in the spectacular yard.  We can't wait until the end of August when we get to move in!

But, this post isn't about the house.  I assure you, there will be plenty on that later!  This post is about our Luke.  Sunday morning came bright and early with 9 o'clock church.  We had originally planned on blessing Luke at Grandma and Papa's house at around 5:00, with a yummy dinner afterwards.  But Robbie and Kris needed to get on the road a bit earlier than originally planned, since being sick, so we decided to change the blessing to the morning during our Sacrament Meeting.  It was no small feat getting all four kids, plus ourselves, ready for church and out the door by 8:30 am!  Especially when we needed some extra time to get Luke looking spiffy. :)

Luke's big brother and sisters were so excited for him!  The girls were especially excited to see Luke in his blessing outfit.  

Here he is!  And might I say, he looks even more handsome in white!  I can't believe how good-lookin' this little guy is.  

Then again, look at his Dad. :)  What a proud Daddy!

We even took a few extra minutes to take some family pictures.  I think that this is the first picture of the six of us together since Luke was born.  We've grown quite a bit in the last six years!  I love it.

Believe it or not, we actually made it to church first.  Which was good, since we had to save some serious seats!  We had so much family there, which was just so awesome.  Everyone from Danny's side was there, including Great Grandma Call.  From my side, we had Grandpa Richard and Grandma Ruth Ann, the Downs family, the Martin family, and of course Grandma Candy.  

Danny did an awesome job giving Luke his name and blessing.  I had a neat experience during the blessing.  As I was listening intently, with my eyes closed, I listened as Luke was blessed to receive first the Aaronic Priesthood, and then the Melchizedek Priesthood.  I had this image run through my mind.  I saw Luke all grown up, handsome and strong.  I saw him as a missionary, and I saw him with a daughter of God at the temple.  It was the briefest of visions, but the feelings that accompanied that vision were immense.  I felt so proud of him.  I thought my heart would burst with the intense love I felt for my little boy, my little man.  And then as quickly as it came, it was gone.  But I will forever remember that moment.  I'm so grateful that I can so clearly see what my boys will be like, because I know what their father is like.  What an incredible example in every way.

There are so many wonderful people that Luke has to look to for an example in his life.  Here are the men that were able to stand in the circle for Luke.  Uncle Robbie wasn't able to be there for the picture, but he was there for the blessing.  Poor Andi just wasn't feeling well, and they needed to get on the road back to Cali.  We were glad they were able to stick around for the blessing.  We're so grateful for everyone that came to support us and Luke on his blessing day.

After Sacrament Meeting, most of us stuck around for the last two hours of church before meeting up again at the school for an awesome lunch.  While Danny was putting the final touches on the meat, the kids enjoyed just hanging at the school.  Megan, Rose, Tali, and Ace were especially excited to see the cows. :)  City slickers!

Claire, Lily, and Isabelle worked on a puppet show.  The show was actually put on after lunch, and it was a hoot.  Something about a bunny eating too much flour and it made her sick, so she had to have surgery from the alligator doctor.  Silly girls...

Like I said, Danny was working on his meat while the kids played.  On the menu for this special occasion was Alton Brown's Pulled Pork.  It was supposed to be smoked, but since we didn't have a smoker we decided to just slow cook it.  The flavor was awesome!  But we also took a shortcut on the cut of pork, and didn't get quite the right cut.  Because of that, we ended up with chopped pork instead of pulled pork.  But it was still delicious!

Jami, Megan, Rose, and Tali helped me make the table beautiful.  They know how much presentation means to me!

And where was the man of the hour, you ask?  Sleeping, of course! :) 

After lunch, everyone went their separate ways.  We went back to Grandma Candy's, since that's where we were staying during the Call Reunion, and got out of our Sunday clothes and enjoyed a couple of quiet hours.  The Downs family also went back to their hotel to change, and then met us back at Grandma Candy's for the evening.  Jenny and her family, as well as Jessie and Devin, ended up coming to the house and we all ate and visited.  It was a blast!

This little guy has grown up so much since we saw him last Thanksgiving!  Chance enjoyed the simple things. You know, crawling around naked with the remote control. :)

We had a dance party, too.  Ace showed up how to get our groove on.  He's sexy and he knows it!

And the cousins enjoyed some extra time together.  

It really was so much fun to spend an evening just chillin' together.  It's so rare that we get to be together anymore.  Here's the Vigil Fam! 

And here's what the Vigil Fam is really like! :)

Again, we were so grateful to each and every person that came to support our family, and celebrate Luke's birth.  I am so grateful for a husband who is unquestionably worthy of his Priesthood, and knows how to use it to lead his family back to our Heavenly Father.  We're grateful for the eternal bonds we have with our family, and look forward to literally an eternity together.  

And of course, we are so grateful to our amazing son Luke, for choosing to come to our crazy family.  He is such a sweet spirit, and I know he will fill a very special place in our home.  We love you, Luke-son!

Roger Call Reunion 2012

Summertime always brings family together.  So it's only natural that Robbie, Kris, and Andi would come to Grandma and Papa's house to visit for a while.  And since Kenny and Susie hadn't moved to Texas yet, it just so happened that the whole Call Clan was together in one place.  Reunion time!!

We started things out on Wednesday, July 18th.  Since Danny and David still had to work, we kicked things off at dinnertime with a pool party and cookout.  It was so fun to have all the cousins together, and enjoy the beautiful summer weather in the pool.

Andi was especially excited to meet Luke.  She's getting ready to be a big sister once Liam gets here, and I think she's going to be great.  Luke agrees... :)

After we were all water-logged and full of yummy food, we called it a night.  We picked things up again the next evening for some wild fun at the Air Play Trampoline Park.  Unfortunately, Andi wasn't feeling very well, so they weren't able to make it.  We sure missed them! 

What family reunion would be complete without a rousing game of dodge ball? :)

Seriously, every single one of us had a blast!  I think I can easily say it was the highlight of the reunion.   Which, unfortunately, kind of petered out after this.  Friday was the Rulon Call Reunion for those that could make it.  We weren't able to go with Danny's work schedule, and I'm pretty sure David and Camillia weren't able to make it either.  Originally, we were all supposed to meet at the school on Saturday morning for the conclusion of our Roger Call Reunion.  We were supposed to do a work project in the barn together and finish up with swimming.  But due to illness, it was cancelled.  Those of us that were feeling well did get together in the evening to swim and visit, which was nice. The last event of the reunion was planned for Sunday, since that was when we were planning on blessing Luke.  That will be covered in a forthcoming post. :)  But for all intents and purposes, our reunion was over at this point.  

We learned some things, too.  Our family is very much in the growing/baby phase, and that phase makes it hard to party!  With both Millie and Kris very pregnant, and with Luke still being so little, it inhibited the three of us quite a bit.  Plus there are nap times to work around, and all the kids are still 5 and under.  While we didn't get to do everything we wanted to do, I'm impressed that we did as much as we did.  And I know we all enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. 

We're very much looking forward to next year's reunion, where all the babies will be about a year old and no one should be pregnant!  Disneyland, here we come!!!

Dance Camp

During the middle of July, Claire and Sophie had the opportunity to be in a dance camp!  A young woman in my Mom's ward does a ballet and cheer camp for girls 4-10 that lasts 4 days, with a performance for the parents on the 5th day.  She does this to earn money for her own dance camps.  And her prices were incredibly affordable!  Danny and I jumped at the chance to get the girls into some sort of dance class, especially since we've promised Claire for over a year that we'd get her into ballet.  This seemed like a happy middle ground. :)

The girls were waiting and waiting and waiting for dance camp to begin!  We bought them each a leotard and skirt, and they were beside themselves with joy!  Finally, Monday morning dawned...the first day of dance camp!

The girls were at dance camp Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am-11:10 am.  We got up early and got the everyone fed, packed their dance bag with their shoes and shorts for cheer class, got them dressed in their leotards, and headed out the door.  Since we were all the way up by my Mom's house, the boys and I hung out there during the girls' class.  We had fun just playing at Grandma Candy's, and having some time to visit with her.  I'm pretty sure we ended up eating lunch there every day, once the girls got done, and spent some extra time in the afternoon there as well.  

The days went by too quickly for Claire and Sophie!  Before they knew it, they were done with classes and the only thing left was to perform.  Luckily, Daddy didn't have to work that day and was able to come to the 9:00 am performance.  He wasn't the only one!  Grandma and Papa and Braxton and Tavin were able to come as well.  Even Uncle Matt and Aunt Jenny were there...though they might have come to see Isabelle, who was also performing. :) 

The girls were awesome!  I was really surprised by how much they learned in four short days.  The ballet performance was first.  Prior to performing, the girls warmed up and practiced each of their moves.

This was one of the rare occurrences when we had to choose between video and still shots.  We went with stills for the warm up, but then switched to video for the performance.  So no pictures of that.  The girls did a little choreographed number to an Angelina Ballerina song...their favorite!  They did awesome!

Cheer was next.  As with the ballet performance, the girls warmed up and performed each of their moves.  Let's just say our girls were more proficient at ballet!  Summersaults and cart wheels are not their thing!  It was quite hilarious...and endearing...to watch them attempt any sort of tumbling. :)  But when it came time to perform their cheer, which had no tumbling, they were great!  Especially Sophie.  It wasn't a big surprise that cheering would be right up her sassy alley. :)

Then it was done.  And it was decided that our girls love dance class!  Their teacher had a little refreshment for the dancers and their audience.  We shooed the kids outside to enjoy their treats.

We're excited to see what else our kids do, and find out more about the things they love and are good at doing.  I'm sure there will be much more of this type of thing in our future!

Fourth of July

I can hardly believe it, but this blog post is going up in the same month that it took place in!  I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel... :)

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year!  To kick things off right, Luke slept a solid 8 hours during the night, and we all enjoyed sleeping in.  We had made plans for a morning hike with Grandma Candy, but because we slept later than expected, we decided to modify that plan.  Instead of hiking when it was too hot, I thought it would be fun to visit a place I used to go with my family when I was young.  So we packed a lunch, loaded the kids, picked up Grandma Candy, and headed to Mueller Park!  We found a nice table in the shade, and the kids got right to exploring the same little creek with Grandma Candy that I used to when I was a kid.  There is something so cool about that.

Speaking of cool, look how adorable my little patriots were in their 4th of July duds!  This is our first year actually dressing patriotic on purpose, and I really loved seeing the kids in red, white, and blue.

While the girls were looking at pretty rocks with Grandma Candy, Danny and Johnny enjoyed some good old father-son outdoorsy time.  Luke would have loved to join in, but he was enjoying some good old mother-son nursing time. :)

Once Luke and I were ready to join in the fun, we decided to go on a little walk.  Grandma Candy and I remembered a relatively easy walk that looped around the park.  We thought it would be the perfect mini-version of our previously planned hike, so we set out to find it.

But for some reason, we couldn't find it!  Turns out, that was okay.  It was a bit warmer than we had anticipated, and the kids were hungry.  So we started making our way back to camp.  But Claire was too exhausted to carry on without some help.  Grandma Candy found her the perfect walking stick!  What would we do without Grandmas?

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch, and then got started on what has now officially become a 4th of July tradition.  Magic Wands for the fireworks!  The girls had been excited for days about making their wands, and I got caught up in the excitement too.  So much so, that I realized I bought all things that really only I could use.  So the kids ended up with really cool wands...that they got to watch me make. :)  I'll keep their little hands in mind next year!

Once "we" were done making wands, we cleaned up our little camp and made our way back to the car.  Danny and Grandma Candy decided that a long, pretty drive was in order.  It was a way to kill a couple of hours and ensure that the kids got a nap.  And lucky us, we even had some dramamine on hand to ensure a vomit-free experience.  And to ensure at least the girls got a good nap!

Danny decided to take us home by way of Farmington Canyon.  We drove along the very top of the mountains, and the views were incredible!

We were almost to the end of our drive when we came across a "Road Closed" sign.  There had once been caution tape strewn across the road, but it had long since been ripped away.  Since there was only one way off the mountain, Danny figured it must be an old sign since we hadn't seen any earlier indications that the road was closed.  Plus, our only other option would be to turn around and spend another hour and a half backtracking.  As Danny said, he couldn't possibly turn around and waste that much time unless he knew for sure the road was closed.  So on we went!  And the farther we went, the more confident I became that we were going to be just fine.  Until we were almost out of the canyon, and we hit the road closure.  Seriously?! So, we turned around and spent the next 90 minutes going back the way we came.  Good thing we had plenty of time on our hands!  And luckily the kids were still mostly asleep.  We finally made it back to Bountiful, and weren't much worse for the wear.

Our plans for the rest of the day included a cookout and swim party at the school, and meeting up for fireworks that night.  Grandma Candy decided she wanted to rest before the fireworks, so we dropped her off at her house before continuing on to the school.  We got there just in time to swim for a while before dinner...

We love the kids new water wings!  They give the kids the ability and confidence to actually swim, which makes it much more fun for Danny and I.  And more fun for the kids, too!  There's only so much to do on the stairs...

Ok, jumping to Daddy from the stairs is still fun. :)

Ok...it's also still fun to chill with your cousins on the stairs, too.

But nothing on the stairs can possibly compete with the sheer thrill of 8 feet of air beneath you!

We have so much fun swimming at the pool.  We haven't been able to go near as much as we'd like, what with having a baby and all, but we've made some fun memories when we have been able to go.  Thanks, Grandma and Papa for an awesome place to play!

Luke isn't able to swim quite yet, so he found a wonderfully warm and loving place to sit under the shade.  Great Grandma Call still has the magic touch, and she kept Luke quite happy while the rest of us played.

Before we knew it, it was getting late.  So we rushed the kids home for baths before heading off to the fireworks.  Well, that was the plan, anyway.  We got home, got the kids in the bath, and then started to realize what a dumb idea it was to try to make it to the fireworks.  Even though we knew it would disappoint the girls, we decided to stay home.  Turned out to be a good idea!  Because of the fire danger this year, they cancelled some of the fireworks in the area.  Not the Layton City ones, however, which was where we were going to go.  Apparently, it was so busy they eventually had to shut down the roads to and from the park to manage the crowds!  We made the right decision.

But it wasn't all disappointment for the girls.  Apparently, it is no longer illegal to set off your own aerial fireworks, and the neighborhood was ablaze with them!  Claire and Sophie got to see some fun fireworks from the front porch, as well as watch the televised fireworks shows from New York and DC.  Turned out, they still got to use their wands, and they didn't have to get bit by mosquitoes.  Win, win.  Well, except maybe for the mosquitoes. :)

As always, Danny and I were reminded how blessed we are to live in this wonderfully free country, and to raise our precious family here.  We're grateful for the sacrifice of so many men, women, and their families as they have fought and continue to fight to keep us free.  God Bless America!