4 Girls and a Dad

I've created a new blog for our family at  http://stohls.blogspot.com/

Please check in there for our family pictures and updates.

Sean ran in the Top of Utah, Logan Marathon today.  He has been training for this for the last 6 months or so and the big day finally came.  He did great!  I can't believe how good he looked each time I saw him; he never looked like he was soar or hurting or even tired...  He is amazing and I'm so proud of him.  I'll write more details tomorrow.  After 4 hours of sleep, I think I'm going to pull Sean away from the post game BYU depression show and go to sleep. 

This year’s family reunion was in Minnesota.  Sean and I decided to fly out early so the girls could have some extra time with their cousins, and I could have some extra sister time.  We flew out on Saturday, August 18.  Our flight was delayed leaving Salt Lake City, and we ended up sitting on the runway for an extra hour.  The girls were fabulous though and survived the long flight.  Once in Minneapolis we had to circle the airport for an extra 40 minutes before we could land.  Ella was so excited thinking we were there and couldn’t wait to get off the plane.  After about 15 minutes of circling she shouts out, “Why is this landing taking so long?!”  We finally landed and found our rental van and made our way to Plymouth.  Cousins were waiting on the driveway in the rain for us to get there.  They were all so excited to see each other.  Lucy loved the attention and all the Minnesota cousins took a turn to hold her and give her special hugs.  That night the adults (Shannon, Dave, Erin, Sean and I) went out for pizza to celebrate Shannon and Dave’s 18 year anniversary.  We offered to baby-sit, but it was fun to all go out together.

On Monday we loaded up the kids into two mini-vans and made our way downtown to go to a cool museum at the University of Minnesota.  Due to bridges being closed because of the bridge collapse, it took a few dead-ends and u-turns to finally find the right place.  We actually had quite a sobering moment when we looked up while stopped at a red light and had a clear close-up view of the collapsed bridge.  What a sight to see and what an amazing blessing that many more lives weren’t lost that day.

We found the University, parked, unloaded all 6 kids and 3 adults and walked to the museum only to find a sign stating that the museum is closed on Mondays.  The kids didn’t care, the had a great time looking for the animal statues and chasing the squirrels all through the campus.  Shannon took us to a great collage hang out for yummy French fries and huge milk shakes.  It turned out to be a great day.

On Tuesday afternoon we went to the Arboretum and the kids loved running along the trails to find the mazes.  Once to the maze they had so much fun racing through it.  Shannon and I kept partnering them up and having them do an “Amazing Race” to the end.  We were laughing so hard listening and watching from above as they made their way through the hedges, doors and tunnels.  It was another great day.

On Wednesday, we again loaded up the two vans and headed to the airport to pick up Marmie and Poppy.  Then we went to the Science Museum and went through an amazing exhibit about Pompeii.  Ella was disappointed to realize there was not in fact a real live volcano inside the museum.   Her disappointment soon turned to joy once Benjamin introduced her to the sneezing girl who sneezed on you when you walked by.

Seven weeks ago, we decided as part of our reunion we would have a challenge to encourage the family to better themselves and loose a few pounds for those of us who have a few extra to loose.  We all set different goals, some weight loss related, others just personal things we wanted to accomplish. I was 2 pounds away from my weight goal, but am proud to have lost 12 lobs.  We had a combined family weight-loss of 96.6 lbs.  I was so proud of each one of us.   One of Sean’s goals was to complete a 20 mile run without stopping.  Thursday morning he got up bright and early and set out to accomplish his goal (The challenge ended the next morning, it was now or never).  I am proud to say he completed it, and he completed it well, but not without blood, sweat and maybe even a few tears.  About mile 16 he looked down to get a drink of water and noticed his shirt was covered in blood.  He was so focused on his run he didn’t even notice that he had rubbed his chest raw and was bleeding everywhere!  I am so excited for him and his upcoming marathon; I think I’m more excited for him to do this than he is.  I am so proud of all his hard work and his dedication to running.  He is going to do great on September 15.

Later that day we headed to the Mall of America.  The kids were so excited to get “all day ride bracelets” Shannon bribed her kids to read this summer by promising ride passes to those who read a certain amount of books.  The cousins had so much fun riding on the rides together.  Highlights were; riding with Shannon and Bryan on the Timberland Twister.  Listening to Shannon scream while Bryan laughed so hard he couldn’t breath was the high-light.  Kathryn had called Kristen, Maureen, Sean and I in advanced and made us promise to go on something called “The Mighty Axe”.  If she had given a better description of the ride I don’t think any of us would have made such a promise (maybe Sean would), but since we did we all climbed aboard and spent the next few minutes hanging on for dear life and screaming while Poppy  laughed  and took pictures from below.

On Friday they girls had a lunch shower for Kristen at an antique tea-house.  It was fun to have all the girls together and hear more about her and Eric and a little of their history and plans for the future.  I am so excited for them and am looking forward to getting to know Eric better and having him officially be apart of our family.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent on Lake Minnetonka.  We had a huge pontoon boat with a BBQ and rented a couple of sea-doos.  It was so fun to all be together on the beautiful lake and spending time in the water together.  Libby loved the sea-doos and wants to get some of our own.  Ella hated all of it, and didn’t even like it one time, except for digging in the sand on the shore and eating a hotdog. 

On Saturday we had our annual Amazing Race Scavenger hunt throughout down-town Minneapolis.  We started at the Farmer’s Market by the Guthrie Theater and had to make our way to famous spots around town.  Libby and Ella both thought it was great taking the taxi’s (they didn’t even have car seats mom!) and loved racing around the city.  It was a great way to see some of the sights and having a little friendly competition.

On Sunday, we had a great meeting in the Plymouth 1^st ward and then had a yummy Sunday dinner, family meeting and talent show.  We were supposed to fly home that night, but after waiting at the airport for 3 hours and finding out we would probably have to wait 3 more we decided to stay one more day and fly home on Monday night.

It was a fantastic trip and a wonderful reunion.  I am so grateful for my heritage and my family, and for the love that we all share and the support that we all give to each other.  I’m so grateful to Sean for not only putting up with this crazy lot, but also at least pretending he likes it.

 

  

 

 

 

 Before we moved to Utah, Kristen, GJ, and Amelia and sometimes Scott and Maureen, went on an after church hike.  We decided it was time to reinstate the tradition.  Libby and Ella were so excited!   WE had signed them up for REI's Outdoor adventure program, where they are supposed to go on 3 hikes by Labor Day and write about them in a hiking passport.  Their passports had a list of "safe hiking rules" and then lists of things to look for on the hike.  Of course LIbby was worried about making sure we followed all the rules and made sure everyone followed them.  When we got to the lake she was so mad because there was a group of people out wading in it.  There was a posted no swimming sign since the lake is part of Utah's drinking water supply.  She couldn't believe people would just break the rules like that.As we kept driving higher and higher up the mountain Ella started crying that she was going to fall off the mountain and didn't want to get out.  Once of the car, and after she saw there was a creak that we could walk through she got over her fear of falling off the mountin.

The air was clear and cool, no smokey fire smell!  We hiked one mile up to Cecret Lake.  Towards the end it got a little steep and rocky, but the girls trooped on.  This was really their first hiking experience.  Ella rode in the back pack on the way down but Libby did the whole thing.  Lucy loved being outside and was really content the whole time.  Libby is already talking about what we might see on the next hike.

 

Tonight we had our annual neighborhood pioneer/patriotic parade.  THis is one of Libby and Ella's favorite events.  All day long they were pestering me about decorating bikes and wagons.  We finally got it done, got everyone dressed and outfitted in bonnets and we were off.  We started off at the front of the parade line-up but quickly fell behind.  Ella was determined to pull her covered wagon by herself!  She loaded it with a poodle, elephant, monkey and a cheatah.  Libby rode her bike along with us, carefull not to get too far ahead of us.  They had a blast in the parade and especially enjoying the icecream afterward.

We have had a fun past few weeks.  The last week of June, my mom and I and LIbby, Ella and Lucy flew down to California.  All three girls did great on the plane, Ella thought it was better than Disneyland.  Lucy and I flew home 2 days later.  Sean picked us up from the airport and we drove to Idaho Falls.  We spent the night at Robert and Leslie's and then went to Tanner's baptism the next day.  Saturday was a special day, so neat to be their for Tanner's day.  We spent a nice day at Nathan and Krista's house and then Sean, Lucy and I headed to the Ranch.  We drove home to Utah on Sunday night.

Monday, I didn't know what to do with myself with only Lucy around.  She ended up being fussy all day, so we stayed in bed in our pj's all day long.  It was actually kind of nice.  THe next day Mom and Dad drove back to Utah with Libby, Ella and Erin in tow.  We had a fun week with everyone (except Shannon and crew :( .  On the 4th we went to the Murray parade and cheered Amelia's brother and the Bingham High marching band on.  We had a yummy dinner and then headed to the park for fireworks.  It was so fun to all be together and celebrate the day with each other.

On Sunday, July 8, we had Lucy's blessing.  What a special day it was.  All the family (Both Sean's and Mine) were able to be there (minus Shannon and crew:(.  Sean gave a beautiful blessing and Lucy was an absolute angel.  Libby gave a great talk in Primary about her ancester, Benjamin F. Johnson and an experience she had when she prayed for help and Heavenly Father answered her prayer.  She had all her cousins and Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents there to hear her talk.  After church everyone headed back to the house for lunch and visiting.  It was a perfect day.

On Monday the family all left, and they left me alone with 3 little girls!  It's pretty much the first time I haven't add any extra helping hands around since Lucy's birth.  I miss the help!  We are slowing adjusting to life and hopefully getting Lucy's schedule turned around.

We only have about 3 more weeks before Libby starts Kindergarten, so we are going to try to cram the rest of our summer adventures into the next few weeks.  We are looking ahead to a weekend in West Yellowstone with Sean's family and a week in Minnesota with Shannon and crew. 

Libby can't wait for school to start and then she has soccer starting soon after that.  Ella will also be starting a ballet class in a few weeks, she's more excited for that than she is for preschool.  I feel like summer has just begun, but it will be gone before we know it.