Tangled Sleepover Part Deux

After returning from Rupes, we set up sleeping bags in the family room downstairs and prepared to watch my personal favorite animated movie of all time ("Tangled", of course) from start to finish! Grandpa and I laughed so hard at Rupe's because the girls were quoting lines from it with accents and all, especially Chloe, who brought back memories of her Mom doing the same! I'm sure all that knew her in high school and beyond remember that she was a master at popping off movie lines one after another and with the most perfect accents and inflections! Anyway, it was hilarious listening to Chloe do it with the same polish! It was a fun moment with the girls which made it obvious that this movie holds a special place in all of their hearts! Grandpa had meetings so the girls and I enjoyed every minute of the movie with only 1 break in the middle to put together our traditional "fruit kabobs" for snack time! We also finished tying the quilt we started last Thanksgiving to take to the Bingham Crisis Center (Women's Shelter in Blackfoot) See pics below! All five girls were amazing little square knot tie-ers and all stuck with it until it was finished!

After the movie we came upstairs and watched videos from China because the girls were missing their Rose cousins who live in Shenzen, China right now! Their favorite is of Luke, Emma, and Gavin riding these motorized animals around a big plaza area! I am not kidding, we all laughed so hard we about fell on the floor! Grandpa had returned about then and had to come and see what all the commotion was about! And he, too, joined in the raucousness! Want to join in the laughter...see the following link: You'll wonder for awhile what is so funny, but don't give up! Keep watching! Listening to Matt and Sara is half the fun but then watch Gavin as he really gets confident! Yes, yes, you have to watch to the end! http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=ed0d98044a5952a03121e9. The girls wanted to watch it over and over...I am serious! Then they requested to watch all of the Allen Family Christmas Videos of the last three years which we also LOVED and watched twice each! Here is the link to those:  http://allenfamilyupdate.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Movie.  I predict all of the Allen kids will have many acting opportunities in this life...what do you think?  Anyway, just a fun and laughter-filled time with our little girls staying up waaaayyyyyyy late!  However, once it was time for bed, we read scriptures with Grandpa and had family prayer and hit the hay! All were asleep within about 1/2 hour which I thought was pretty miraculous!

The next morning we awakened and while I fixed breakfast Kate and Morgan played Legos completing their work of art shown below, while Jordyn, Chloe, and Lily danced and played the piano. Chloe turned on the Demo on my electronic piano and proceeded to look like she was playing every note while the other two showed their stuff! Then they all helped to set the table for our traditional manners breakfast at which time we use the chargers, china, cloth napkins, napkin rings, etc. and TRY to use our best table manners. It doesn't always work, (you know, the occasional toots and burps followed by laughter and then, the "okay, that wasn't mannerly...excuse me!") but we have a good time trying! We had crepes this year with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, syrup, jam, powdered sugar, etc. as well as sausage, bacon, juice and chocolate milk. Yum, yum!!!! 

Later that morning after cleaning up and getting ready for the day, they all wanted to play outside! They asked me for rakes and told me not to look outside while they did something! Jordyn wanted her own separate projects to do as there were not enough rakes and she proceeded to clean out our outdoor toybox (no minor feat!), clean up the sandpile and sweep the porch. I was in the house doing a few things when I heard singing from the back yard and just couldn't help myself! I had to videotape out the window of my bedroom and out the backdoor. I'll include a video if I can make One True Media work. It was too cute not to share, so wish me luck! They all "surprised" me with raking and filling two boxes which they decorated themselves with raked-up blossoms that have fallen from our Little Leaf Linden tree...the favorite climbing tree in the back-yard! Such sweet little people...they never cease to amaze me with their goodness!  Thanks girls for doing such sweet and helpful things for Grandma! We then had lunch and took the finished quilt down to the women's shelter where they welcomed us with open arms and thanked the girls for all their hard work! You will make a sad child's day much happier through your unselfishness! Thanks, Julie, for driving all the way to Blackfoot to pick up your girls, and to Cindy and Lori for the driving they did as well to allow this to happen. You are all great parents and can know that you are raising very find young ladies! Thanks again for sharing them with us!

 Forgot to mention a little "makeover" party...just these two!

 Lovin' the movie!

 Use your creativity!

 Yummy fruit kabobs!

 You can't not dance to the music at the end of Tangled!

 boogyin' to the music!

 My princesses at our manners breakfast!

 A lego house with huge add-on garage, etc.! This photo does not do justice!

 It will never look this neat again! Thanks, Jords

 Love you, Grandma! Love you, too, girls!

 Picking vegetables from the garden

 A little swim fun

With the staff at the Women's Shelter who were so thrilled with their sweet donation!

A "Tangled" Sleepover with Grandma Aug 17th - Aug 18th

How I adore these 5 precious little granddaughters!

I planned for months to have a sleepover with my little darlin's sometime this summer. It was planned for the first week of June, but my Mom (Grandma J) became very ill. (Another post is in process on that.) I rescheduled it for the end of July and then found out my nephew, Troy, was being married that same time so we re-re-scheduled it for Aug. 17th and 18th! Finally it happened and was a highlight of Greg's and my summer! We were missing 4 of our 9 wonderful granddaughters, but we had a ball with the 5 that were there. And believe me, we missed those 4 who were not! (See below). 

 When I first mentioned it, the girls said they wanted to watch the movie "Tangled" and thanks to my niece, Amy, who told me of a darling FHE lesson she had seen based around the movie, I was able to pull together an activity that was both fun and enlightening, I hope. (Thanks, Amy! I was able to pull it up on google just with the info you gave me!) It seems there is usually a component of evil against good in most movies these days and, of course, "Tangled" is no exception. We watched the clip where Mother Gothel tells Rapunzel all kinds of lies to keep her from ever finding out that she is a daughter of a king (a princess) and becoming who she is meant to be...exactly what Satan and his minions try to do to us, our children, and grandchildren today...what they have always done! Well we followed Rapunzel's hair (yellow yarn) all around the house and along the path (of life) found truths from Heavenly Father accompanied by lies that Satan tells us today. If they chose the lies they went off to "dead-ends". If they chose truth (which, of course, they always did) they stayed on the path to eternal life and in time found themselves at their ultimate goal...as princesses with "crowns of glory" and the realization that they really are Daughters of the KING! I love the little pictures I found for the girls (look below) that show them looking into the eyes of Heavenly Father (and/or the Savior). That's all Greg and I desire for these wonderful grandchildren is that not one is left behind...not one strays from the path...and that we can all be together FOREVER! We LOVE ALL OUR LITTLE PRINCESSES AND LITTLE PRINCES! 

Kate reading a truth...or a lie...during our "Tangled" (Daughter of a King) activity!

Which will they choose to follow? 

Well, there is no question in my mind!

 More truths and lies! So far, they've made wise choices!

Getting closer to their goal...so far, so good!

 Almost there! The "prize" will be worth it!"

Wow, we made it! We really are daughters of a King...THE KING!

 Princess Kate!

 Princess Jordyn

 Princess Chloe

 Princess Lily

Princess Morgan

Missing Emma, Eva, Regan and Kami who are also precious daughters of "The King" and our little princesses! We LOVE you and missed you so much!

Regan

Kami

 Emma

Eva (with Dad)

When Grandpa came home we went to Rupe's for dinner! All 5 girls were perfectly behaved and ate well which merited ice cream cones for all!

(There will be more pictures, a video, etc of this party on another post. I'm leaving to spend the day with Grandma J! So check back later!

"Hair Spray" Musical Circle Skirts

Lori and Cindy and kids not in school came here yesterday so that we could make circle skirts for all the girls for Music Camp in July in Rupert. The mini-musical they are doing this year is "Hair Spray" so we thought the girls would look adorable up on stage in these cute period skirts! I can safely say we had a ball! They were only here for about 5 1/2 - 6 hours and we chased kids, fed them (and not to be left out...ourselves!)  and had a dozen interruptions, (fun interruptions, however! Whenever our grandkids are around, I'm a happy Grandma!)  We still made at least 7 skirts in that period of time. My camera does not begin to do these skirts justice. They turned out darn cute! Lori did all the cutting and Cindy and I sewed as did Lori. She is so fast...Cindy and I a little slower...but hey, we had a great time! I love to have my girls around. They make me laugh and bring me pure joy!  I went over to Lori's about a month ago and we went to a Mill End Fabric Store in Burley and bought all this brightly colored solid rayon fabric in many different colors and then bought off-white eye-let lace fabric as an underskirt to each one. They all have black 2" fabric waistbands. So adorable and so easy. To be sure we had enough length for Regan and Lindi's skirts, we added even a second underskirt of black or black and white polka dot. We made one for Kami, too, because we couldn't leave her out if all her sisters had one! She loves it and has been wearing it non-stop since she woke up this morning. Here are a few pics of our day. We missed you, Julie! Maybe next year it will work out better. Lori took 3 pieces of the fabric home with her to make up to sell to some of the other mothers who might be looking for costumes! Thanks, girls, for making it happen! I know your schedules are so busy!

My darling niece, Kristen Johnson (Craig's daughter) and her boyfriend, Matthew Johnston

Erika and Chris Stover with Danli, Macy, Avery, and Brinley!

Little Macy Stover, daughter of my niece, Erika Johnson Stover (Mike's daughter)

Erika's daughter, Avery Stover...adorable!

I had such a great visit Saturday with two of my darling nieces, significant other, husband, and family who came up to spend a few days with my Mom. Love these people to death and don't get to see them nearly often enough! We are very much looking forward to our Johnson Family Reunion on August 6th in Salt Lake when we can all get together and catch up! Love you all, and thank you for helping Grandma so much while you were here!

Our Monarch Butterfly, Jordy!

I remember well Morgan's Bugz Play and now it was Jordy's turn. And a more beautiful Monarch Butterfly has never been seen! She was so excited and nervous but did such a great job singing and acting her part. This is a cute play about all the different kinds of insects and bugs in the world. They study them during the year, write reports on their chosen insect, and then put on a play complete with fun costumes and adorable songs! Our camera does not do well with distance shots but she is at the caterpillar stage right now (front row wrapped in yellow/white/black fabric. You can't help but feel sorry for the little stink bug through the play, however. But there is always a "silver lining" to every story and even the stink bug ends up happy! Here they all are at the picnic.  Ever had a picnic like this where every possible bug or insect shows up to join your party?

Jordy front and center in the caterpillar stage!

From a caterpillar to a beautiful monarch butterfly!

Please Remember Us When You're Famous, Kate!

Saturday afternoon, May 7th, we attended an awards ceremony for the PBS Kids Writing/Illustrating Contest for Idaho.  Our little 9-yr-old Kate won 2nd for the 3rd Grade Division. The rules were simply that she had to write a book and illustrate it. I believe her book was about a snail. It was so darling  and she read it so well that I was more captivated watching her than paying attention to the words and pictures. The amazing thing to Greg and me was that she told her Mom she wanted to illustrate it by turning it into a pop-up picture book. NO ONE ELSE that I know of attempted such a thing. Thank goodness for the internet.  She watched the tutorial on-line and then went to work. We just loved it and love these pictures of her very PROUD moment! What a wonderful young woman she is becoming. We are so proud of her! Perhaps she'll grow up to write or illustrate children's books! Love you, Katie Bug!