Chicken starts with CH

This week Kent III's preschool class is learning about words that start with CH.  I offered to bring in a couple of our chickens for the kids to see the day after they learned about chickens.  Most of the 4-5 year olds had never seen a live chicken up close but they all seemed to love it! :)  The chickens stayed in the box but the kids got to pet them and feed them.  Kent III was so proud!  He kept telling everyone they were *his* chickens. :)

Back to Real Life

We had SO MUCH FUN on our vacation!!  And I took so many pictures. :)  And I really want to share a lot of things with you from our vacation, however, I am going to need some time to do it. So, until I can get things organized and some posts made, I will leave you with this: a picture of Kent III after his hair cut. :)

December 9th

Another crazy day for our family... :)

Kent and I went to lunch with Truman and Vanessa today since we wouldn't get to visit with them any other time they were in Utah. It was great to get to see them and meet cute little Brent! My parents even came so they could get to see Truman and meet Vanessa and Brent.

During lunch I got a call from my neighbors that our chickens had gotten out and were wandering around our other neighbors yard. Eep! So I left lunch a little early and ran home to make sure my neighbor had been able to get the chickens back in the yard and to secure them in their pen. Silly chickens! All was well though and I greatly appreciate sweet Sister Dickson looking out for them and us and taking care of the problem.

Around 1:00 all the Hinkson grandbabies born in 2010 met for a few minutes to snap a few pictures together (I was a little late though, thanks to the Houdini chickens). The 2010 babies are all so cute! It is going to be a lot of fun getting pictures of them together through the years as they grow and have fun together! I sure appreciate everyone who was willing to take time out of their day, during a small window of opportunity, so I could get a picture of the kids!

With them all being so young, taking their picture was relatively easy and painless. :)

Left to right, oldest to youngest
Brent (02/17), Dragon (05/03), Ezra (06/02), Constance (07/06), Bruce (07/14)

Brent, Dragon and Ezra

Constance and Bruce

Duuuuude... your cheeks are so cute and chubby!

After getting pictures with all the 2010 grand-babies and visiting with everyone for a few minutes I left to get the girls from school. I also had to be home between 2-5 to get a package UPS was delivering during that time that needed a signature (if I didn't get it today, we wouldn't be able to get it within their time frame for delivery and it would get sent back to the sender). Savannah also had a rehearsal for her concert during that time although she just ended up staying at school to work on homework and I picked her up after the rehearsal.

By 5:30 UPS had not shown up and I had to go to the store for a few minutes so I left the girls at home, working on homework, and hurried to the local grocery store. Wouldn't you know it? The UPS guy came while I was in the checkout line. *sigh* Savannah called and asked what to do. I told her to tell him I would be right back. When I got home she told me he had told her anyone could sign for the package and let her take delivery of it. Oookay... He never asked her age and I think the policy is an 18 yr old must sign (although it might be at least a 14 yr old). Savannah was tickled to think the UPS guy just assumed she was 18. :)

We quickly ate dinner as soon as Kent got home from work and then immediately left to go to Savannah's concert. A few minutes before the concert started Truman, Vanessa and Brent showed up to say hello to the girls since it would be the only time Truman would get to see them while in town.

Savannah's concert went really well. I am so proud of her and how hard she is working!

After the concert we hurried home so I could continue packing and cleaning and the girls could work on homework. :)

Phew! Crazy day! But it wouldn't be our life if we had a simple, calm week... especially before a big vacation. :)

Young Women in Excellence

Tonight was our ward's Young Women in Excellence program. Tonight was also the night Kent's brother Truman and his family flew in to Utah from Texas. Because Kent wanted to be able to visit at least a little bit with Truman and his family before we left for Florida Kent offered to pick them up from the airport. So, as soon as Kent got home from work, he left in the van for the airport. And I got to go with the kids to the Young Women's program.

It was a county fair theme and they decorated everything so cute! They also served extremely tasty scones with divine strawberry jam, corndogs, home made rootbeer, popcorn and licorice. (Score! I didn't have to make dinner! :))  It was very cool to see the diverse talents, interests and abilities the Young Women in our ward have. 

Savannah showcased her viola (Knowledge, Individual Worth) and Virtue (she completed the challenge from the YW leaders to read the Book of Mormon over the summer prior to the Youth Conference in August).

Samantha's showcase was a 'work in progress'. She is going to learn to sew a shoulder bag. (We are going to learn together with my awesome new sewing machine so I am very excited!)

I am so proud of my girls and the women they are becoming! They are truly amazing and I thank my Heavenly Father multiple times a day I get to be a part of their lives!

Sadly Kent got home kind of late because Delta didn't send Truman's luggage with Truman's flight so they had to wait for the next flight from Vegas to bring it in and there was pretty bad traffic on the freeway. Kent wanted to get to spend a lot of time with his brother... guess he got what he asked for. :)

If you look closely at the picture below you can see the cop and the construction truck the cop asked to block the freeway. Kent was stuck behind this accident for awhile because they had to lifeflight someone to the hospital. Sad! On the plus side, the time stuck in traffic when this picture was taken was while they were on their way to Salt Lake to eat dinner while waiting for the luggage to fly in so it wasn't like it was time wasted on the way home or anything.

And, of course, before leaving for the church, I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera and left the camera bag at home. Not a huge tragedy since we only lived 2 minutes away from the church. However, I didn't notice I didn't have a memory card until the night was almost over. So, I snapped a bunch of way cute pictures all night that were never recorded (my camera would show me a copy of the picture before a message would flash saying no memory card but I only looked at the screen long enough to see the picture and not the message). *sigh* Is it time to leave for Florida yet?

Recital

Tonight Savannah's viola teacher held a recital for all of her students. This is the first recital Savannah has ever been a part of since she only started taking private lessons in August. She was very nervous. :) (Once we got to the house, she refused to speak because she thought she would throw up.) She did a wonderful job though and was one of the best musicians of the night (and I am trying to be as objective as possible :)). The recital included music for piano, viola and violin (Savannah's teacher is quite talented).

Savannah's teacher accompanied Savannah on the piano, which was a new experience for Savannah as well.  We were supposed to get to the recital 1/2 hr early so Sandy and Savannah could play together at least once. We were a few minutes late, however, they still had plenty of time to run through the piece together once.

I thought it as a lot of fun to see Savannah completely in the spotlight for once. Kent III, didn't share the same enthusiasm though... he was so wiggly and kept asking when we were going to get to eat a cookie. The concert lasted only about an hour, but to him I am sure it was an eternity. :)

Sandy and Savannah after the recital.

The recital was in a town at least 1/2 hr away from ours so we jumped in the van and were on our way as soon as Kent got home from work... but of course I forgot the cookies I was asked to bring so we had to turn around. Luckily we had only gotten about 4 blocks from our house before I realized it. And while I brought my camera to the recital, I left the memory card at home in the computer. I am making rookie mistake after rookie mistake! And I keep making the same ones and then stacking more on top of them! No memory card and I left the camera bag at home. *sigh* Where is my brain?! I think it left for Florida already... Thank heavens for camera phones. :) And we did at least remember the camcorder. :)

And once we got home, Savannah had to finish her science project, which took quite a long time. Sadly she didn't go to bed until after (way after) what would be considered a decent bedtime but was able to complete her project.

Pictures with Santa

Trying to plan a visit to Santa with all the kids that would coincide with our visitation with the girls for the month of December, our trip to Florida and our everyday life schedule became next to impossible. We did find one night though, with about an hour, that would allow us time to get pictures with Santa. That night was tonight. So, we got all the kids ready and after dinner ran down to see Santa during our available window.

A picture of Kent and Drae checking out one of the many little 'fires' at the outdoor mall as we walked to Santa's house.

Yeah... Rudolph was sick so Santa was off tending to him and wasn't around for pictures. Hahaha! Of course Santa wasn't there. :) Oh well, we took a few pictures of the kids in Santa's little house anyway. And maybe there will be a Santa at Disney World we can ask the kids to pose with. :) Plus, this helps me with my 'try to do everything and completely rearrange your schedule and drive yourself and those you love crazy' syndrome. :) I had to just be happy with what we got and laugh it off. :)

We only got a few pictures as I made the rookie mistake of not bringing the camera bag so when the battery pack needed to be changed I didn't have anything to change it with. (Which also helped with my syndrome as I wasn't tempted to run to another mall looking for a Santa. :))

No Santa did make Savannah happy as she confided to us that she did not like taking pictures with Santa and wanted this to be the last year she was asked to do it. :) Telling her she didn't have to sit on his lap, that she could stand next to him might have bought us a few more years of pictures though. :)

When we came home Kent had a dog training meeting and I got to help Savannah with her science project. While we were working I snapped a picture of cute Drae I had to share. He is getting so old and learning so many new things every day!

Blessing in Disguise?

Instead of going to school today poor Savannah was dropped off at our house because she has strep and won't stop being contagious until noon. :/ Not really what I wanted to hear 5 days before we leave for Florida. However, I am grateful she was diagnosed and received medicine before we left for our trip. And I am hoping that because Samantha and I had it a month ago we won't get it again.  And the Angels that hung around on Kent III and Drae's shoulders will come back for a small visit so they don't get strep this time either.

Here's to hoping. :) Don't worry, I will be praying, disinfecting everything and keeping my fingers crossed too. :)

Santa

As a comparison shot for before and after Kent III gets a haircut we decided to take the boys to see Santa and snap a few pictures. (We hope to get pictures with all the kids and Santa on Monday when the girls come home.) A friend blogged about a Santa in an outdoor mall close to our house so we decided to give him a try. There was hardly any line and Santa was very cute (because no one was behind us in line he listened to Kent III jabber on for several minutes :)). The cherry on top? Mrs. Claus was there and I thought she was super cute!

There was even some free cookies set out for any one to enjoy.  Kent III especially liked this aspect of going to see Santa. :)

Unfortunately, when we came home Bruiser had busted out of his kennel and was running around loose in the house. 20 minutes was all it took for him to break through the side of his kennel and pee all over the house. *sigh* At least most of our upstairs is tile and we got home quickly... I would have hated to see what he could have done with 30 or 60 minutes . :)

Don't Give Up on Me!

I have so many things that have happened in the last 6 months that I would love to share with you! I am really going to try and update my blog with all the things our family has been up to though, so check in now and then and see what I have added. :)

Kent III

I found this great step-ladder at D.I. a few weeks ago and immediately thought of how I would use it to take pictures of Kent III. Well, today I finally took the pictures. :) I am pleased with how the pictures turned out and am really loving the umbrella lights Kent bought me. :)





Can't be smiley all the time... :)

















Had to take a couple pictures with one of our chickens. :)

The Theater

Tonight the girls and I went to see 'The Foreigner' at the local high school. 'The Foreigner' is one of my favorite comedic plays and I really wanted to share it with the girls. Kent was kind enough to stay home with the boys while us girls had a night out.

Going to the play actually fulfilled a requirement Savannah has for Orchestra and Samantha has for Choir, which is to see at least one production of a performing art each quarter and then fill out a form answering questions about the performance they saw. But fulfilling the requirement was just an added bonus, even if they hadn't needed to see something this quarter I would have still wanted to take them to see the play.

The girls really enjoyed the play! And we quoted lines all the way home. :) Which to me is the earmark of a great production. :) The actors did a wonderful job and I was especially impressed with Froggy's accent. The girls' favorite character was Betty Meeks, they loved how she yelled at Charlie and 'had a connection' with him. :)

It was fun to chat with the girls during intermission, explaining points of the plot they didn't quite get and getting their thoughts on the characters, acting, scenes and overall play.

I love the theater and I loved getting to share it with my girls. It was truly a wonderful evening for me!

Utah State Fair

Today we continued our annual tradition and went to the Utah State Fair!

Since today was 9/11 it was Patriot Day at the fair and all military, law enforcement, and emergency services personnel got in free with proper I.D., so that was rather nice. Plus, children 5 and under get in free, so we only had to buy tickets for the girls of the family. :)

We had to start the day at 'Little Hands on the Farm' one of the children's favorite things to do. Alas, while Savannah was allowed to go in, at the end they told her she was too old so she didn't earn her dollar to get a treat. :/ A tradition died today... Samantha and Kent III were kind enough to share their strawberry milk with her though. :)











I didn't get a picture of the kids in front of the 'how many hands high are you?' display like I usually get each year. Bummer!

After 'Little Hands' the kids took a ride on the Big Yellow Slide.







One of the many free shows was called 'The Amazing Rainforest Experience'. Before and after their show they had some of the animals on display. Here Kent 'talks' to some Sun Conures.



A very interesting Ring Tail Lemur.



Waiting for the show to begin.



A cute monkey!





Seeing this Green Wing Macaw and the Sun Conures made Kent miss our birds.



A Serval.



The handler showed us how high the Serval can jump. It was quite impressive, especially since the Serval was stationary before it jumped.



White-nosed Coati Mundi.



A Bengal Tiger.



You could just see the muscles ripple as he jumped and could tell what an amazing and powerful animal it really is.



Cougar/Puma/Mountain Lion/Catamount/Panther just waiting to get out and strut her stuff.



Even though I snapped this picture at just the right time to make the Mountain Lion look like she is playfully sticking out her tongue at the audience, her eyes still say "Don't mess with me, kid."



White Bengal Tiger.





There were lots of 'acts' walking around, one of them was Farmer Bob and Johnny, the World's Funniest Tractor. :) Some of Johnny's features include a skunk that sprays water, a big sound system, all sorts of sirens, horns, bells, and whistles, and some surprising remote controls. Johnny even blows up balloons, which Farmer Bob twists into all sorts of creations. Farmer Bob whose real name is Bob Hill, comes from Northeastern Iowa, where he and his family have farmed for 157 years on the same homestead. Bob has traveled to 41 states and Canada making folks laugh for the past 17 years.





One of our favorite exhibits is 'Home Arts'. Here are a few of the 'Best in Show' winners. Stunning!





Another walk around act that didn't really walk around was Tiny the Clown who made balloon animals.



Kent III got a Brontosaurus.



Samantha got a poodle.



Another free show was Jerry Frasier, Comic Magician. I didn't get to see most of his show as I was nursing the baby in the very nice Mother's Lounge. However, he must have been pretty good because he even made Savannah laugh. :)





The main attraction free show seemed to be the Sea Lions, people were getting seats for that show an hour before it started. So Kent, Samantha and Dragon went to save seats for that show while Kent III, Savannah and I went to check out the Ham Bone Express Racing Pigs show.

Lots of people waiting to watch pigs run! :) The winner of each race got an oreo cookie as the prize. :)





I did not take this picture but it gives you an idea of how cute racing pigs are. :)



As were walking over to where the pigs were, Kent III asked me if I remembered how we saw alligators there before. (Last year, in the space where the pigs were, they had alligators and a guy wrestled one.) I was shocked he remembered something he only saw once, a year ago and when he was only 2 1/2. I really don't give him as much credit as I should when it comes to how much his brain takes in.

The Sea Lion show was very fun. I especially enjoyed what one of the handlers said before the show started. "Sea Lions are a lot like toddlers, the don't always do what we would like them to. So, if they do what we ask and perform accordingly, *we'll* have a great show. If they don't do what we ask, then *they'll* have a great show and hopefully we'll get a good laugh." :)





This sea lion caught the ball while in the tank of water and balanced it while she got out of the tank, walked across the stage and got up on her seat. Impressive!





Our other favorite exhibits include Photography, Creative Arts and Fine Arts. Don't ask me why I didn't get any pictures of those exhibits though because I don't have an answer. :)

Each year there is a Butter Sculpture on display. Below is a picture of this year's sculpture.



A few fun facts that were posted next to the sculpture:

The sculpture is made from 700 pounds of low-moisture, pure cream butter and will not be wasted. It will be put into buckets and stored in a freezer awaiting next year's creation.

It takes 29 cups of milk to make one pound of butter. And the average Utah cow could produce enough butter in one year to make the butter sculpture.

Checking out the bunnies.



This pigeon was just super cool!



By mid-afternoon both boys were zonked out. :) Maybe next year we will need to borrow a double stroller for the day. Holding Dragon while we walked around was not good for my back. :)



I got a big kick out of the name of this food vendor...



"It was Colonel Mustard, with the corn dog, in the kitchen..." Ha! :)

By about 7:00 we had seen and done all that we wanted so the kids took another ride on the Big Yellow Slide and we left the park.

On the way home we stopped and picked up our chickens, something I will blog about in another post as this one is long enough already. :)

After getting the chickens in their new home in our backyard we went to Red Lobster for all you can eat shrimp. Yum!

While wandering around at the fair, Kent asked the girls where they would like to eat dinner. Savannah mentioned that one of the best things she remembers from a few years ago was going for all you can eat shrimp after the fair. So, Kent looked up Red Lobster on his Blackberry and found out that Endless Shrimp had started the day before. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new tradition for our family... State Fair and Shrimp. :)

It may have been kind of a long day, but it was a very fun one spent with some of my most favorite people!