REBECCA MICHELLE WILKINS IS BORN!
Our fourth child and second daughter was born in Great Falls, Montana on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 10:13 PM. She weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long. We got to the hospital early Friday morning and I was induced around 6:30 AM. So yes, it was a 2 labor, but really not too bad all things considered. We had decided to drive 90 miles to Great Falls from Helena so I could avoid another c-section. The Helena hospital changed its policy on prior c-sections since Luke was born, but thankfully everything went fine and no repeat c-sections required! Besides, Logan (who was the c-section baby) was born 90 miles from where we lived too, so we're old pros at this traveling to have a baby thing.
Rebecca was born at the height of a horrible spring blizzard, so we couldn't get her siblings up to see her in the hospital the next day. They were thrilled to see her when we got home on Monday though. She's been such an easy baby. I so often forget she's even in the room with me and taking her places has been no problem! One of my favorite memories, and I hope it will be Samantha's, is the day Rebecca ended up being Samantha's show and tell in Kindergarten. Rebecca was only about 2 weeks old at the time and I took Samantha to school after lunch because I'd kept her home sick that morning. Samantha ran ahead of me into her classroom and announced, "Everybody! This is my new baby sister!" So I walked Rebecca around the room and showed her to the class. It was fun because I took my baby sister Wendy for show and tell when I was in Kindergarten too.
We have also had fun watching her eyes change. Her siblings all have beautiful brown eyes, but hers look navy blue to me a lot and sometimes gray. Maybe they'll be more hazel than blue, but it's a kick that she's doing her own thing instead of following the pack.
THE LAY FAP
On July 4th through the 7th we had the Dennis and JeNae Lay 40th anniversary party and family reunion, or for short, the Family Anniversary Party, or FAP. (Their anniversary was actually June 7th, but we waited for a while.) It was a fun, memorable, very happy experience. All 7 kids were there. Seven, you wonder? Yes! Because even though you think there's only 6 kids in my family, we have had a French "brother" for 24 years! Cyril Bez came from Bordeaux, France to stay with my family for the month of July in 1984 when I was 7 years old. We lived in Kalispell, Montana at the time. Obviously we've stayed in touch with him ever since and he and his two children, Benjamin and Melodie, came to Montana to see us! It was so great.
Cyril's 15th birthday with us in Kalispell
Cyril's 39th Birthday with us at Gates of the Mountains
On the 4th of July, while most of the family floated the Missouri River, my little family stayed home and got ready to have everyone over to our house for a barbeque in our backyard. (Too bad it was so rainy!) After that, we went out to my parents new home and set off our own little fireworks. Lots of fun.
The next morning Ross took Samantha, Logan, and Luke to ride horses with their cousins at the home of some of my parents' oldest friends, the Lythgoes. My parents set this up because our little French cousin Melodie really loves horses! The kids got to ride a girl horse named Elvis and one named Sassy and they had tons of fun. Don't we live in beautiful country?
That night we had a talent show at my parents' home. It was a kick to see all the fun little things every family did. My mom helped me make puppy dog ears and tails for my kids and we danced to a song called "The Shaggy Dog Cha-Cha-Cha" off an old album Ross and his siblings grew up with. Ross was silly enough to write a haiku about hoping he wouldn't have to move stuff into my parents' new home again. Cyril played drums for almost everyone, including his kids singing the theme song to a show called "The Saddle Club" which is one of Melodie's favorites. I also sang "New Soul" with my sister Wendy, while Cyril and my sister-in-law Celina played the drums and piano for us. My brothers all sang "Hey Jude" at my mom's request and the finale was the six of us singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
(This is a picture of Samantha and Melodie watching "The Saddle Club" with French dubbing. I guess Samantha didn't mind not being able to understand it.)
On Sunday, we went to church in Boulder, Montana to the branch where my parents had just started attending since their move. We went back to their home afterward for a "luau" of sorts and had lots of yummy food and pineapple and all the Lays wore leis! We gave my parents their anniversary gift of a wooden rocker bench from all of us and then my sister Wendy took a HUGE (30 people plus 3 on the way plus Cyril and his kids) family picture of us all with her new camera. It was nuts trying to get all the kids to sit still, but worth it. (Just an FYI, Wendy set up the shot and ran to get in it while Chris, a teenager from Holland visiting with my brother Jeff took the picture.)
Doesn't my mom look cute in her hat? ;o)
Not sure, but I think Ross is actually trying to turn Luke's head, not keep him quiet!
Our grand finale was a trip out to The Gates of the Mountains for a ride on the tour boat. I love going there. It was named by Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark expedition and it's gorgeous. We stopped and had a picnic and a birthday party for my French brother Cyril who was celebrating his 39th birthday with us. It was so fun because he also celebrated his fifteenth birthday with our family. It was so fun to see him and his children. Melodie even started to cry when they went to get on the plane to fly home. What a wonderful bond to have!
It was really fabulous to spend that time together and celebrate 40 happy years for my folks.
THE WILKINS FAMILY REUNION
We also got to celebrate Ernie and Ruth Ann Wilkins' 50th anniversary this year! Even though their actual anniversary date is August 22nd, we celebrated a little early. We left on July 24th for a loooong drive down to Garden Grove, California with the 4 kids in tow. We were so grateful to have loved ones along the way so we didn't have to make the 18+ hour trip all at once or have to pay for hotels. We stayed with my brother Jeff's family on the first night and then traveled to Las Vegas to stay with my sister Wendy. My cousin Michelle and her family were driving up from Cali to Utah and we managed to meet them in Beaver, Utah for all of an hour. Quick, but fun!
Michelle meeting Rebecca Michelle!
Samantha and Logan playing at a splash park in the ever hot Las Vegas.
While we were in Vegas, we decided to go see a couple of movies with Wendy and Mike. So Wendy and I went to "Mamma Mia" while the guys babysat and then went to "The Dark Knight" when we got home. I think that arrangement worked out great for all of us! :o) After a couple days there, we drove to California on Monday and got there around the same time that Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins got back from Grandpa's family reunion in St. Johns, Arizona. We spent a day or so with just them.
My nephew Tyler was visiting ahead of his family's arrival and he was out with Grandpa on Tuesday, July 29th when the Chino Hills 5.4 earthquake happened. He gave the best almost-11-year-old reaction to it when they got back. No worries for him. Just, "Did you guys feel that? That was AWESOME!" I was feeding the baby when it happened and at first I thought that the kids had gotten upstairs and we jumping around up there. Then I realized what was happening and I dashed out of the bedroom to ask Ross what to do. Ross had been watching cartoons with the kids and they had gotten up to find a safe spot the same time I came out, but by that time it was pretty much over. We didn't really even feel aftershocks. That's the only kind of earthquake I want to experience!
Ross and Samantha dancing in the waves
Samantha and Sara
As more family started getting there, the fun cranked up. We went to the beach with Ross's sister Brenda's family on Wednesday. Then on Thursday we were so excited to take the kids to Disneyland for the first time! We expected excitement and running from ride to ride, but when we first got there the kids were just so in awe of it all they just walked around with a mesmerized look on their faces. We kept Luke and Rebecca with us until about 4:00 and then drove back to the grandparents' house and dropped them off. When we got back we rode a few more rides, had dinner, and decided to go on "The Pirates of the Carribean" ride. We were so excited to run into Brenda and her family while we were in line! We knew they were there somewhere, but hadn't seen them yet that day. (They can squish more people into that park than live in all of Helena, after all!) We were so happy to spend the rest of the evening with them since they live in New York state and we hadn't seen them in 3 years. Samantha and Logan were troopers and did well despite how late we were there. They loved watching the "Fantasmic" water and laser show (or as they call it "Mickey's Dream" because they still talk about it ALL the time). Our final fun for the day was waiting in line after 11:00 at night to ride on the "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage" that the kids had been asking us to take them on all day. Ross's good friend works for Disney Imagineering and helped with the design of that ride, so we didn't want to miss that one no matter how late it was! The park closed and we still took the time to shop on Main Street. I was thrilled to find out that getting the kids' names embroidered on their Mickey and Minnie hats was free because not a lot at Disneyland is! Ross was willing to pay the money for the hats because he said for as many times as he went to Disneyland growing up he always wanted a mouse ears hat and never got one. We also bought our Christmas ornaments for this year at about 12:30 in the morning. So many hours, rides and dollars spent later we went back to Grandma's and Grandpa's and crashed into bed!!!
Giggling with Mickey!
The rest of Ross's 7 siblings showed up on Friday and we all enjoyed a yummy meal of his mom's delicious enchilada casserole and chile relleno! Yum.
Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins with all 21 grandkids!
We got to get a HUGE (37 people and one on the way) family picture at the Newport Beach Temple grounds with everyone on Ross's side. After that I was so excited to go to a little place in San Clemente that I always hear about when we go to California. It's called Pedro's Taco's and it was yummy! We went with Ross's brother Curtis, his brother Blaine and his wife Charity and their kids. It was great!
Me and my April 28th birthday buddy! This is my niece Natalie. Isn't she beautiful?
Ernie and Ruth Ann's 50th anniversary open house was that night at their home in Garden Grove. It was so nice. We got to see a lot of extended family that we don't often see and Ross made his parents a DVD of their life together from pictures his siblings had sent. We also made a coffee table book for them from the same pictures. They both turned out beautifully. All of his siblings worked so hard to make it a special night and I think his parents enjoyed it a lot.
Samantha decided to play chess with some guy she didn't know at the open house!
Logan bonding over a video game with his cousin Evan
Our nephews Joseph and Tyler goofing around with the skateboards
After church the next morning, everyone piled into cars and we drove about 9 hours to a tiny place called Antimony, Utah and spent the rest of the reunion at the Rockin' R Ranch. We were there until Thursday morning and spent the time riding horses, tubing down the river, taking a hay ride, sitting around a campfire, doing archery, learning to line dance and having our own little family rodeo. I have to admit I didn't participate in everything, but a lot of the activities required the kids to be a least 8, so obviously our four kids ages 6 and under didn't qualify. But we made do and had a fun time anyway. We got celebrate our niece Nicole's 13th birthday and we also had a family talent show on our last night there. We did a repeat performance of the "Shaggy Dog Cha-Cha-Cha" and because it was the Wilkins family that grew up dancing to that song, they got an even bigger kick out of it than mine had.
Doing the Shaggy Dog Cha-Cha-Cha!
Luke and his cutie cousin Della
Ross and his hoss
Samantha roping
Ross roping
Logan and Daddy getting tangled in the rope!
Is Uncle Curtis trying to rope a runaway Tyler? :o)
Scowlin' Luke looking adorable in his hat
How Rebecca spent her summer vacation
Logan is ready to ride the sheep!
Samantha doing some Mutton Bustin'!
The Ol' Cowboy
Ross and Janet back from a trail ride (My horse was named Apache just like my favorite horse that my Grandpa Lay had!)
Baby Becca and Aunt Kim hanging out
The morning when almost everyone else had left we were still there and Samantha lost her first tooth! She was excited and so were we. It was her bottom left front tooth. I was grateful to talk to my sisters-in-law Amy and Charity when we showed them. Samantha's top left tooth had been loose since the prior Halloween, but they said they had had kids with loose teeth for 8 months to a year, so it must be genetic. Good to know!
We drove back to Provo, took the kids to Wall-E that night, and finally went home after a very fun 2 weeks away.
Hooray for moments like this
Samantha loses a tooth!
Logan wanted me to take a picture of him too. Nice teeth, buddy!
LOGAN TURNS 4!
Logan was very excited for his birthday and we've been so happy to see him growing. (Well, at least a little. He's our short guy right now!) I had to take Rebecca for a check-up and when I got back home that morning I found myself putting all the kids in the car and picking Samantha up from school to take them all out for lunch at Applebee's! By myself! I'm not sure why I got so adventurous, but we had a blast! All except for the part when I realized that I'd left my purse in my car! I didn't want to pack the whole brood back outside, so I asked two ladies sitting close by to watch my kids while I dashed outside. They were very nice to help me and then they were SUPER nice when I had to ask them to do it again so I could take Logan to the bathroom! When Samantha later announced she had to go I just sent her on her own. (Is that bad?) Logan loved it when the waiters came and sang to him and he got a free shake of his own.
That night we had a party with some of our family in town. Logan got a Lightning McQueen pinata and we played "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". I improvised on his cake and used the Lightning McQueen toy from his cake last year by putting it on chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and calling him "Dirt Track Lightning". It think it worked and Logan had a very fun day!
Logan thoroughly enjoyed his birthday shake at Applebee's!
HALLOWEEN 2008
This year on October 31st we had a little SuperGirl, Batman, Thomas the Train, and a pink and white bear. All the kids looked adorable! We went to the "Trunk or Treat" at our church and a few other houses and it took until almost Thanksgiving to finish all the candy. Sometimes I'm not sure if I should just let the kids gorge themselves on the candy all at once or continue to drag it out the way I seem to...
THANKSGIVING 2008
We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house this year. We got to enjoy the day with my brother Russell, his wife Carmen and their kids and also Carmen's brother Micah, his wife Nicole and their son. The food was obviously yummy and it was great to see my little brother being weird by putting cranberry sauce on his mashed potatoes as he's done since he was a kid. We were joined for pie by Carmen's parents and her younger brother, Matthew, his wife, Alyssa, and their son. Her mother brought a homemade huckleberry pie and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven eating it!!! I LOVE HUCKLEBERRIES! I had the kids make little pilgrims' hats out of striped shortbread cookies, frosting and Reese's peanut butter cups. So easy and lots of fun for them. All made for a happy and grateful day.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I usually get excited for Christmas in about July, but I did manage to hold back the Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. We started off our Christmas activities by going to the Nativity scene display out at the valley church. The kids loved looking at (but thankfully not touching!) all of the beautiful creches, many from different countries. I do think their favorite one was the Peanuts characters in the shepherds, wise men, and other roles though. :o)
I helped with Samantha's Christmas party at school this year and loved it. I've never done that before and it made me feel like I was checking off one of my "mom duties" or something. The next day our whole family went to see Samantha in her Christmas program at school and it was wonderful for so many reasons. One of the music teachers there is a lady named Mrs. Berg who has been there since I was in third grade. She can be leading the kids in the actions and playing the piano and motioning the next kids out on stage all at the same time. She's so talented, and even though Samantha hasn't been in her class yet, I'm glad she gets to experience that amazing woman somehow. Samantha also made it all the way through the program without going into sensory overload because of the lights and motion and huge audience and noise. It was such a big triumph for her and we were so happy! It may not seem like a big deal, but it really was.
Samantha is on the second row on the end singing WITH the other kids! Hooray!
Samantha and her teacher Mrs. Dundas
That same night (December 19th) we attended our 3rd Ward Christmas party at church. The sister in our ward who is in charge of the activities committee had seen Rebecca and I in the hallway at the beginning of the month and asked if Ross and I would play Mary and Joseph in the little skit to be put on before the dinner at the party. Ross wasn't there to say no, so I said yes! Okay, so there's four babies in the ward and ours in the only girl, but Rebecca was a great baby Jesus. She's so good. I couldn't help myself and I dressed the other three kids up too as soon as the skit was over. Samantha was an angel and the boys were shepherds. It's already a fun memory and I'm glad I did it even if Ross felt a little silly when I made him prance back into the cultural hall still in costume so that we could get the picture!
Rebecca's first visit with Santa Claus
Our Christmas was wonderful. We had our own little Christmas Eve with the kids at our own home for the first time. First we drove out to the live nativity at our stake center and then we drove around looking at the neighborhood lights. When we got home we read the Christmas story from the Bible and let the kids open up new jammies to wear. Ross surprised me with some purple penguin pajamas that light up too. Then it was bedtime. We don't have a chimney, but a few years ago Ross's sister Kim gave us an awesome "magical" Santa key that we hang on the door so Santa Claus can get in. The kids were excited about that. Santa Claus got some peppermint bark and a glass of milk because we forgot to make cookies and the kids went to sleep.
I know this looks like any old meal, but it's actually our "fancy" Christmas Eve Taco Feast!
The best "Family by the Christmas Tree" pictures we could get this year!
We had a fun morning opening presents and the kids didn't even wake us up too early! Fun toys and clothes were opened and we had a yummy waffle breakfast with huckleberry jam that was in my stocking.
Our cute, scrawny, wonderful Montana Christmas tree
My sister flew in with her family to Helena that morning and so we all drove out to my parents house on a very snowy day and had Christmas dinner there with my brothers Ryan and Ken and their families. We had the traditional Martin's Ham and tons of other good food. It was a great day.
SO THAT'S IT FOR NOW! I now vow to myself never to get this behind on things I want to record again. It's a long shot, but I can dream!
