Gateway Children's Museum

We have an annual pass to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. No matter how many times we go, the kids always have a great time. Here's some pictures of a few of the times we went last year.

Emma is Eight!

WARNING: THIS POST HAS AN OVERLOAD OF PICTURES. READ AT OWN RISK.

We let the kids have friend parties every other year. This year, Emma wanted to go to Classic Skating, but a few weeks before her birthday, she broke her hand, and was instructed to stay away from any physical activity for 6 weeks. That seriously limited our party choices.

We ended up at a really great place called "Young Chef's Academy". She still had to use only one hand, but it was a fun activity for all her friends, and something she could still participate in.

Getting ready for the party...

First they got instruction in how to make pizza...

Then it was time to start the cookin'...

 

Then things got a little messy...

Present Time!

And the cake...

On her actual birthday, she opened up presents from our families...

                            

                            

And apparently, she got everything she wanted and was super excited.

                                                                                                             

I just love this kid. She is so helpful and such a good friend to her brother and sister. At this party I could see how well-liked she is among her friends, and I can see why...she's so nice to everyone. She is an amazing girl who is growing up to be an amazing young woman!

Family Letters

As long as I can remember, my Dad's side of the family has always written letters at the end of the year, recapping the events that went on with each family member. We only see one another once a year, if that, so those letters were the only way to keep in touch with all the family (this of course being before Blogs and Facebook). I didn't really appreciate these letters, and even thought it was somewhat cheesy. Now that I'm a grownup (sorta), I've gained a real appreciation for these letters, and see them as valuable family history. I've kept them all for the last 15 years, and recently read through my Grandparents' letters. My Grandpa died nine years ago, and he was my only living Grandpa. It was nice to go back and read the letters they wrote together and remember him, even if just for a moment. My Grandma has always hand-written her letters, and as I read through them, I noticed her handwriting progressively deteriorate from year-to-year. This year, she turned 87, and it was the first year she's had to type her letter. Sad. Even though she is technically my 'Step-Grandmother', she has been the only Grandma in my life (both of my parents' Mothers died before I was born). As she, and all of my Aunts and Uncles age, I'm especially grateful for this tradition...even though they are still pretty cheesy ;)

So anyhoo, I brought this up because I thought I would post some of my letters from the past. I missed a year here and there...mostly when I was single, and really had nothing to write about. So without further ado, here is my letter for 2010:

Another year has quickly passed and we have no idea where it went! The kids get even busier with each passing year, which we didn’t think was possible! They are growing up so fast, and we are very proud of each of them.

Landon is ten years old and in the fourth grade. He loves school and does particularly well in math and science. He recently opened a store for his Economics Unit, and decided to sell origami; he now considers himself an origami expert. He also joined the Chess Club at school and recently competed in his first tournament. Additionally, this year he started taking piano lessons and is progressing really quickly. He still loves scouts and is currently a Webelos. He got to march in our city’s parade, and hold the flag to celebrate the 100^th year of scouts. He took first place in the Pinewood Derby this year and said it was “the best thing that’s ever happened to him in his ENTIRE life”.

Emma is seven years old and in the second grade. She loves school and excels at reading and spelling. She is also in the Chess Club and takes piano lessons. Her true passion is dancing. She is currently in ballet, hip-hop, and jazz. She has such a natural talent for dance, which she certainly did not inherit from her parents. After only a few months, she was moved up from the Junior Team to the Senior Team, with girls that are 2-3 years older than her.

Olivia is three years old. Over the summer, we enrolled her in gymnastics, and she was very excited to start her class. Unfortunately, just a week before class started, she broke her collarbone, and was unable to attend. In September, she started preschool and absolutely loves it. She comes home and sings all of the songs she learned that day…over and over and over. She is now able to read and spell most three-letter words, and can write her name really well. She is our constant entertainment and is so much fun!

Ruger is the latest addition to our family. He is a 6-year old Chocolate Lab. We were fortunate to have inherited him from a family member that had him professionally trained, and raised him with twin girls, so he’s great with kids. Our family is over the moon to finally have a dog.

Melanie keeps super busy as a stay-at-home Mom (see all of the above).  In addition to being a professional chauffer, she is currently the Webelos Leader for Landon’s scout pack. Also, in September, she went on her yearly ‘Girls Cruise’ to the Bahamas, expecting some well-deserved relaxation time.  However, the next day, the mountain behind our home caught on fire and Jeremy and the kids were unexpectedly evacuated. After 48 hours, they returned to find out the fire was a mere 20 yards from our property line. It was such an emotional time, and although several of our neighbors lost their homes, we were so grateful that our family was safe.

Jeremy continues to work hard, although he loves what he does so much, it’s hard to tell if it’s his job or his hobby. He still travels a lot for his business, but manages to fit in the occasional baseball game or Broadway play in between meetings. When he’s not working or spending time with his family, you will find him at a Utah football game.

                   We hope each of you had a great year, and wish you a Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2011!

             

                                                                                                      Love,  The Palmers

Landon's Letter Jan 3rd

My winter break was CRAZY! It seemed like I had to go somewhere every day. I had 3 Christmas parties, a whole week in St. George, skating, fun at Incredible Pizza, My dad and I saw the movie, Gulliver’s Travels, and I got the Super Mario Bros. video game, and an iPod! If you’re wondering what I did in St. George, well… here it is. The first day, we basically drove there and settled in. The second day we had fun indoors, since it was really cold outside. The third day we went to a really fun place called Pirate Island. It had an all-you-can-eat buffet, an arcade, and a really cool environment! On the fourth day my grandma thought I would be interested in Yoga. I tried it and I loved how it sooths the body and stretches the body’s muscles. On the fifth day I said goodbye to my grandma and grandpa and we left. I hope you had a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

  Sincerely,

            Landon

Landon's Letter-Thanksgiving Week

             My Thanksgiving weekend was 5 days long! The only reason it was one extra day, Was because of the HUGE blizzard! Scientists agree it will be the BIGGEST blizzard in five years! So I went to bed with like five sweaters. When I woke up, I went downstairs and put on some snow clothes and jumped out the door, prepared for an avalanche of snow.

            “I landed on the cement, how odd.” I thought. When I looked up I saw nothing. Not even ONE drop of snow. However, I did find only about an inch of snow. It was devastating because it was only an inch of snow, when I expected FIVE FEET of it.  

      Okay, now the reason I stayed home from school, my mom thought the same as me, when I hoped for five or six feet of snow on the ground. She told us that since it was a half-day anyway, school would probably be canceled.

            The next day at about three in the afternoon, we were going to go to a Thanksgiving party. The party was held at my uncle’s house. The thing I like most of his house, was that he has a tennis court, trampoline, pool table, ping-pong table and fuse ball!

            We left, and arrived at about four o’ clock. I ran right past everyone and played ping-pong until the feast. Finally, the feast came. The varieties of food included corn, rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and turkey. After we ate, everyone went downstairs. I came too, and everyone was all crowded by a table. I went to see what all he hubbub was.

            It turns out it was a ping-pong tournament! I was so excited I signed up. My dad played, and he was first on the loser list. I was scared, because my dad is WAY better at me at ping-pong than me. Finally, they called my name and my competitor. I got lucky, because it was just some girl.

            You’ll never believe me, but guess what? I won 21 to 8! I cheered for myself, and strutted to the name matcher for my next DOOMED competitor in the tournament.

            I looked and blinked three times, hoping it was a dream, but alas, it was real. It was my cousin, Ryan, who beat my dad, and was the best player. In about two games it was just my cousin, Ryan and I to a match. The whole game I drowned in my own sweat hoping for the best. The score was Ryan, 21, me, 19. I was SSSSSOOOOO close!!! I NEVER EVER, EVER thought I would even get that close. My hypothesis was about 19 points off. I shook hands with Ryan, and left. I think that if we stayed, Ryan definitely won. I played and goofed off for two more days, and went to school, and here I am now.

            Sincerely,

                        Landon 

Landon's Letter- November 8th

Thursday, in Scouts, I got awarded my Bear, and I am now a Weblos. I am really excited, because my next award will be my Weblos award, and after that I will become a Boy Scout! Man, the boy scouts get to do all the good stuff. For an example, just a while ago, the boy scouts hiked up Mount Timpanoges! And they are always camping out in the woods. It’s just no fair that they do so many dangerous things outdoors, while we, the Cub Scouts get stuck with learning how to steer a wheel on a dune buggy.

            On the lighter side, I ran into someone who goes to scouts with me Mitchel. Not the Mitchel in our class, another one. My family happened to be at Butterfield Park playing Frisbee. Then I saw a face. It was a very familiar face, and then it hit me. Not the Frisbee, of course, it was my friend Mitchel from scouts! He was with his two Huskies, Lucky and Pepper. My dog, Ruger played with them in a baseball cage for about an hour. The most fun part was when Mitchel got the idea to come into the baseball cage with them. It was probably the best idea in the world! We watched them play and sniff each other’s butts like a crowd in the zoo. Then I got the idea to have a race with the dogs. It was I and Mitchel vs. Ruger, Lucky, and Pepper. The results were me winning 1^st, Ruger 2^nd, and Lucky 3^rd. We said good-bye to Mitchel, and went home. I went to bed, woke up, went to school, and here I am now!

            Sincerely,

                        Landon

No Longer a Tiny Dancer

I can't believe how this "little girl" of 

mine has turned into such a young lady. 

She's so amazingly talented and beautiful. 

Landon's Letter-November 1st

*Mom's Note: Some have asked me if I edit Landon's letter or if I help him write it. The only thing I do is copy from Word and paste it into this blog. These are his words, and his alone. I love how expressive, descriptive, and dramatic he is. He makes me laugh, which is why I like posting these for others to see. Yes, he is a 10 year old in a 15 year old's brain. This boy amazes me every day. We love him so much!

...and now....Landon's latest letter. (End of Mom's note)

OUR DOG RAN AWAY!!!!!!!!!

Now that I have you’re attention, yes my dog has ran away. It’s really sad since I’ve had him for only 6 months. Not just that, but he’s been gone for 3 whole hours and it’s getting dark. I even remember the first day I got him:

It was a sunny April day, the trees were green, and all the snow had been melted. Then all of a sudden, my mom said to get in the car. I asked why, and she said it was for a surprise. So we went in the car and drove to Sandy where my cousin Daniel lived. And he had a dog named Ruger. I automatically knew that we were getting a new dog. I knew that because my mom was talking about getting a new dog for a long time, and what other good reason for a surprise that’s in Sandy? Anyway, of course we pulled up at Daniel’s house. We all talked about getting Ruger. In about 45 minutes later we were driving home with our new dog named Ruger. (Man, just telling this story makes me sadder and sadder.) We were keeping him in the trunk, but that didn’t last. He jumped three feet high just to get to where we were sitting.

We went home and played with him for the rest of the day. We have kept him warm and safe for 6 months, and he’s gone. I better get used to feeling this way if he gets home and runs away again, or if he’s gone for good.

Sincerely,

Landon

P.S. He just came back now!!!

Preschool Parade

Halloween Costumes

Introducing the 2010 Palmer Kid Halloween Costumes:

Olivia The Beautiful Butterfly

Emma the Hip Hop Skeleton

And Landon as
Death.

Love these three little characters!

Happy Halloween!

Annual Family Halloween Party

Jeremy's family hosts an amazing Halloween party for the kids every year.
They go ALL OUT and the kids absolutely love it!

The food: Complete with brains, guts, fingers and mummies.

The Kids

The Pinata

After several attempts, Landon just ended up using his mad karate skills.

Landon lucks out every year that he can celebrate his birthday at this party. 

It's safe to say we all end up in a sugar coma.

Halloween BINGO

And of course carving pumpkins

(Nerd Humor)

Twins!

Jeremy, his Grandpa and his Brother Max.

Landon and his newest cousin

Such a fun night!
I'm so thankful for this family who does so much work for our kids!