Family History I am doing it my family history

That primary song has been stuck in my head all week as I have been working on a family history project.  A while ago I had this idea to make a family history memory game.  I made the memory cards three years ago but ran out of steam to make the photo book that goes along with them.  That steam came back this week. Here are the memory tiles of my Anderson ancestors

I know NO ONE will be as remotely as excited as I am about this project but I'm telling you, it has brought me so. much. joy!

I haven't ordered the photo book yet...my sisters are proofreading since they are much more grammatically skilled than I am.

I have learned so much about my ancestors.  When they joined the church some left for America as soon as possible.  Some waited years.  Some traveled with their families, some went alone.  Axeline Nielsen left her family in Copenhagen when she was only 18 to join the saints in Utah and to marry a man she'd met several months before.  How brave is that?  I also found out that there is a history of twins in my family.  The Cleverly's had several sets of twins.  I don't know if that's too far back to be related to me having twins, but it was fun to see.

 

Lucy's locker and some numbers

I don't know why seeing my kids with a school locker feels like such a big deal...but it does. Maybe it's because I can remember when I had a locker and it felt so cool...and so stressful at first.  I swear they make those things hard to open on purpose. So many numbers and so many rules about the spinning and directions.  Rude.  It's no problem for Lucy though.  In fact at parent teacher conferences (where all her teachers of course raved about her) she showed me not just her locker. . .but two other friends' lockers as well!  Like inside! She knows (and can remember) their codes.  They leave cute notes for each other and they all have their lockers decorated with cute pictures and great quotes.  

One girl even had a locker rug. 

 I'm not joking.

I was thinking to myself that I could never keep track of 3 different locker combinations, when I remembered that I actually keep track of a lot numbers.  Like a lot a lot. 

 I know the birth day, month, and year for all 7 Pughs...and their birth weight to the ounce.  My social, Chad's social, my bank account, my 14-digit library card # and pin (probably most proud of that one). My cell, Chad's cell, Jack's cell (though I always mix up the 5 and the 2) Marian's cell, our home # (which is really is just for telemarketers and for my kids to call and rat on each other while Chad and I are gone for date night). My parent's home phone (which they no longer have).  Chad's parent's home phone (which they also no longer have).  My dad's old work number and the childhood home phones of Lindsay Eldredge, Jenny Osborne, and Kristen Eliason...which their parents probably got rid of too. Rude.  I used to know by heart two different credit card numbers along with their expiration dates and pins till some punk stole my purse out of my locked car.  Still mad.  Mostly at this point because now I have to go get my credit card before I can buy stuff online...unless of course it's Amazon.  Then I'm all set.  Also Paypal face recognition has really simplified my life.  

Wow, that was quite the tangent.  But a tangent that I'm pretty sure most moms can relate to.  There are so many numbers that we are expected to pull out at the drop of a hat and I'm not gonna lie, every time I call the pediatrician about a sick kid it feels like a test of whether or not I am a good mom.

Pediatrician's receptionist: Child's name and date of birth?

Me: so and so, numbers numbers numbers

Pediatrician's receptionist:  That is correct.  You pass.  You are a good mom.

Me:  Nailed it!

As a side note.  The twins birthdate is 12/12/12 and whenever I give that to a receptionist and she doesn't even bat an eye or comment on how cool that is, I assume she either has no personality or is really depressed in her job.  If Anne of Green Gables was the receptionist she would go off on how amazing that birthday is and that they are twins on top of that!

Basically, Lucy is doing awesome in middle school and I am unreasonably proud of all the numbers I keep track of in my head.  The end.

p.s.

 Lucy's 1st locker was on the top row. 

 Had to get that changed right away because no matter how well you know the numbers...if you can't see them, 

it does you no good

 

Back to School 2021

New backpacks-check

new shoes-check

new clothes-check check 

school supplies- check

lunches packed the night before- check (likely the one and only time for the entire school year)

3rd Grade with Miss Johnson

3rd Grade with Mrs. Martinez

We decided to try separate classes for the twins this year.  Not everyone is quite sure how they feel about this but I thought it might be a good idea...we shall see.

6th Grade  MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! 

 Lucy is rocking the get up early, have lots of homework and learn how to use a locker middle school lifestyle!  

8th Grade 

10th grade

Bring it on school year 2021!

 

Lucy Summer Post #3

    This is me at Hoggle Zoo. We went there because there was a work party there for my dad's law firm. We got face paint, saw the elephants, seals, lions, red pandas, howler monkeys, and Meercats. When we got there I thought that the red pandas would be my favorite but they were just being lazy in their den and so I only saw the back of them and so that was kinda boring but other than that everything else was super fun. We got to ride the carousel a billion times which was kinda fun. We also got to see a seal show and the seals did a lot of cool tricks and it was very cool to see. Also, there were very cool chalk art pictures. They were pictures of all the animals there and they were really good.

                                                                                                                                                                

Lucy's Summer Blog Post #2

This is me and my sister Marian when we were in Mexico. Mexico is one of my favorite trips that me and my family have been on. Mexico is the best!! We always stay at this hotel there called Las Palomas. It is a really nice hotel and there is a beach right by the hotel. On the beach, there are people selling things like necklaces, rings, bracelets, hats, pina colada's, mangoes, burritos, and tamales. There are people there that can braid your hair and give you henna tattoos. There is a restaurant on the beach that you can order food from. There is a pool if some people would rather be in a pool then in the ocean. There is a banana boat that you can ride on and it is super fun. The banana boat is attached to a regular small boat and the driver drives you around but sometimes the waves are really bumpy so you might fall off. But it is still so fun. 

Lucy's Summer Blog Post #1

Hey, it's me Lucy, and one of the mom challenges for this summer is to do three posts on the blog. So here I am. This is me and my mom when we went mountain biking to the three-way. It was super fun. We would go there every Friday. We would go very early at like 6 am. It was very early and I would be soooo tired but when we got going it would be very fun. The first time I went it was kinda hard but we kept practicing and it got easier and one of the times we went my dad came along. When we would finally get to the top the sun would just be rising and it was beautiful. Ever since we got mountain bikes for Christmas ( except jack and my dad because they had already had mountain bikes and they would go mountain biking) me and my family have been going biking a lot lately and it has been super fun. I love mountain biking and I want to be on the middle school team someday. 

Grace's Summer blog post #1

 

This is Grace – 

Today I woke up and I was confused. Half of me said get up your going to be late for school and the other half had something to say too!! Hold on no one told me it was already August it said. I remember clearly it’s summer. The middle of me told me get up!!! So I got up and came down for breakfast. wait a minute something has to be wrong. I looked on the counter and saw cheerios. Is it just me or is that cheerios. This is crazy !!!!! I find my mom and say cheerios?! it's summer! You have time to make good breakfasts yet you put out cheerios?!  And that was the start of my morning. most people are excited for summer. Maybe even you are excited for summer. well you may think I’m crazy for saying this but summer isn’t my favorite. It’s fun but it’s also hot and makes me sweaty. but those aren’t the real reasons. The real reason is the summer chores. I have to do them before I play or watch a show they take for ever!!!!!!! That is the reason why summer isn’t my favorite season.  Now if you see me in that picture your probly thinking grace you look happy. well the truth is don't believe everything you see.i was just acting.i hate that workbook and I'm not happy when it comes out either. so now you know the truth. I don't like jobs. I mean don't get me wrong I like jobs but not those kinds of jobs.

Grace'sperfume.com

Cast: Grace

Director: Lucy

Camera operator: Lucy

Product Development: Grace

Sisters

My sisters are my closest friends. I talk to them pretty much every day.  So it's no surprise that seeing these two sisters bond and have fun with each other brings my heart so much joy.

Marian is really good and doing hair...like really good and she wanted to see how she was at cutting hair too.  Lucy was a willing volunteer and it turned out great!

Do they fight and take each other's stuff....yes, yes they do.  But they also have their "shows" that they watch together, laugh together, hang out with each other and lately have started online shopping together...yay.

I sure love these girls and am so grateful they will have each other to turn to for their whole lives.

 

8 is Great...x's 2!

The second week of December is always full of birthday celebrations.  Grant and Grace's birthday is the day after mine and my mom's is the day right after theirs, so there are always lots of celebrations going on that week.  

This year it was extra special because the twins turned 8!

8 seems so grown up on it's own but it is also the year kids in our church get baptized.  The twins were lucky enough to be baptized on their actual birthday!

The day started off with me driving the icy roads to go pick up Krispy Kreme donuts for the twins to pass out to cousins after their baptism.  I 100% hate driving in the snow and it was super icy...but all's well that ends well.

Chad made Nutella waffles for the birthday twins!

Both grandmas gave amazing talks over ZOOM.  They talked about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and I didn't think it was possible to feel the spirit so strongly and so sweetly over zoom!

I sure love all these people!

There was something so sweet about these two being able to be baptized together.  They were so sweet with each other and I don't think I will ever forget the spirit I felt, listening to their tender little conversations with each other about how they felt and what they were experiencing while they were changing into dry clothes in the dressing room.

It was so fun to have family watch the baptism on zoom.  My sister Anne, the Enghs and Brian and Liz and their kids were able to come in person which was so great.

Normally we would have had a huge family party after the baptism but with all the Covid craziness we opted for donuts in the driveway instead!  No one complained!

Grandma and Grandpa came by for a quick birthday visit!

Grant and Grace were CHOMPING AT THE BIT to open presents after the baptism.

They had saved up their money to buy each other remote control helicopters

Their siblings gave them such thoughtful gifts

Grant finally convinced me to let him have a hamster (so gross) so for his gift Chad and I took him to the pet store to pick out..

Buddy...this is the only picture we have of Buddy because either he was a really old hamster when we got him or he was sickly...because he went to a...better place....hamster heaven after only 6 days.

Grant was sad but was a good sport and is now anxiously awaiting a lightsaber to come from Amazon as his replacement gift!  

Marian made...yes MADE a pinata for the twins birthday present!!!  We borrowed some church keys from a friend, tied it to the basketball hoop...which wasn't easy since they were lifted up to keep kids from playing basketball during COVID...but Jack figured out a way to do it!

Not only had Marian spent HOURS making that incredible pinata...but she had filled it with everyone's favorite...Ferro Roche candy!  

After the pinata it was dinner at 5 Guys where the any flavor soda machine is pretty much my kids favorite thing ever!

With all the celebrations and treats on their actual birthday we ended up doing cake and ice cream the next day...like I said, December birthdays really are birthWEEKS around our house.  

I can't believe my tiny little 4 and 5 pound babies are so grown up.  

Every time their birthday rolls around I can't help but tear up with gratitude for all the people that helped our family EVERY week I was on bed rest for 16 weeks.  Anne, Megan, Grandma Marian, Heather Gagon, Liz, Sonia, Nina, Alicia, Hillary and Evan and Linda and our ward family.  I don't know how we would have survived without them.

I am also especially grateful that those precious babies arrived safe and healthy...

 and that I survived the terrible 2's...and 3's...

and all the times that as toddlers, they ran away from me at the park...in opposite directions.