Family Pictures 2016

This year's family pictures were brought to you by Camera Shy.  I'd prefer to have family pictures outside, but this has worked so well for our family's schedule and ages.  They have two rooms with multiple backgrounds and props.  We are able to get a few family pictures and individual shots (including a wardrobe change, if they want) all in 45 minutes.  Then an hour later we can view our pictures and pick up the thumb drive to take home.  Boom!  

We headed over to a burger place to wait for the pictures when I snapped this picture.  Life is crazy and complicated at times and pretty exhausting, but we love it.  We love each one of those kids (including Amy, who had to leave after the photo shoot for volleyball practice).  Funny how that works.  

Ty and Oliver hung out.  That's what brothers do.

Em and Daniel having a staring contest.  It was close - Daniel held it together for a good 2-3 seconds before he lost it.  Emily is always finding ways to help and keep the Littles entertained.

Tyler Jared (17) 

Emily Rebecca (19)

Daniel Oden (3)

Amy Elizabeth (15)

Kathryn Elaine (4)

Oliver Macdonald (1)

  

Vicki & Matt

The Cornish Clan 2016

General Conference

October 2016

We (Emily, Amy, Mom, and myself) went to the Women's Session.  It was wonderful.  I do love sitting in our home and watching conference, but there is a special something about joining with thousands of other girls and women to sing and listen and learn.

This was the first time we got to go through the tunnel.  It wasn't very long (we thought this was "THE" tunnel... turns out there are lots of them) but it was windy.  We all felt like we were in a Star Wars movie.  I think Mom was entertained that we were so entertained.

There we are!  Sister Oscarson gave a remarkable talk about needing to be and raise a "sin-resistant" generation because conditions are not going to improve.  She quoted Pres. Nelson as saying that attacks against the church and the way we live are only going to increase.  It was kind of scary to think of the world we're sending our children into.  But then I looked at Amy and Emily and felt reassured.  They are strong and capable.  We need to teach the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ with sensitivity and common sense, otherwise the world will teach our youth Satan's lies.  That is not acceptable.  Another quote by Sister Oscarson was that young women need to see themselves as essential to this work.  I think that goes for all of us women.  We are needed and we need to be ready.  It was a sobering, empowering reminder of the reality we face. 

General Conference

October 1

Traditions.  I love them.  General Conference traditions have grown since April 2011 Conference when Dad (Devn Cornish) was called as a General Authority.  I still remember that he got tickets for that session, and we were running late.  He was in the aisle waiting and ushered us into our seats just a few minutes before the session began.  I thought he seemed extra anxious about us being on time and then realized why when his name was read from the pulpit.  That was an especially memorable moment when we sustained him - Dad/Grandpa/Father-in-law.  

The following October he spoke in General Conference about prayer.  Again, we got to be there.  It was a wonderful talk that I still remember well.  After he spoke in that Sunday afternoon session, the extended family wanted to gather to talk about conference and hear more about Dad's experience of speaking.  And thus started the tradition of a Cornish/Simmons potluck Sunday afternoon after General Conference at our house.  It's been several years now, so we don't even send out reminders because they all know the drill.  Come, bring a side or dessert, eat, chat, and then gather to share thoughts and questions about the gospel and conference.  It's a delight.

We are often able to get to one session with the big kids, Matt, and I, and then eat a quick lunch at mom and dad's hotel room/apartment between sessions.  Another part of the tradition is that the Kotters come out whenever they can.  It's always a good time.  Here we are all snuggled (aka squished) into the the elevator at Mom and Dad's apartment building.  Everyone smile!

Em (only the Littles can call her that)

June 29

Em - she has a natural ability to work with children, especially these little ones.  One of my favorite things about watching her with Kate or Daniel is how she always is asking them questions.  She tries to stay up on what they are doing and will often ask them about specific things that have happened or are coming up.  She also plays with them... she'll thrown them on the couch pillows, think of fun ways to get them to eat dinner, let them roll her up like a taco, dance with them around the front room, and read books to them on the couch.  Kate and Daniel are at a tough age, where they don't know when to stop or when they have crossed a line from fun to frustrating.  But Emily is patient (we give each other grumbling looks at times) and is firm with them and once she's had a little break is ready to try a new activity with them.  She's a remarkable you woman with a great many talents.  I'm so grateful that we have her!

Preschool graduation

May 19

Here we are at Kate's preschool "graduation" (she's going to preschool again in the fall, so I'm not sure what she's graduating from... but lets not get sidetracked).  What a fun morning.  I had mentioned that she would be having a little program to the Big kids and Amy and Emily both wanted to come.  Matt started his morning a little late so he could be there for most of it.  It was so fun.  This Little Lady of ours has loved preschool, as predicted, and was excited that we were there for her program. 

Emily met us at the preschool house and Matt picked up Amy at Oakridge Jr. High.  What a great picture this is of these sisters.  I love, and am so grateful, for Amy and Emily's interest and involvement in the lives of the Littles. 

This is Clara.  She and Kate became friends early on.  She is a little more quiet and shy than Kate, very sweet and polite. She invited Happy (all the kids at preschool, including the teacher, called Kate "Happy" since that is what she called herself) over for a play date after a a month or two.  I ended up really enjoying talking to her mom, Amy.  We got together several times throughout the year.  It was great to see them playing together.  Clara's family has chickens and Kate LOVED going over there to watch and hold them.  I'd sure love them to stay friends!

Here she is with her teacher, Miss Julia. 

This is  most of her class (a few kids weren't there quite yet). 

 

They sang a lot of songs, such as the Alphabet song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and If You're Happy and You Know It.  There was one song that they sang that used the word "peep" in it and Kate had the funniest smirk on her face and looked around at the other kids to see if they noticed as well.  Amy, Emily, and I all laughed because we knew just what she was thinking.

 

 

Grant Dahmer and Naomi Barrington were two other kids from our ward that went to the preschool, too.  We three moms had been asking each other what they were going to do for preschool and Whitney Barrington found this one, so we all signed up.  It's been fun to see Whitney and Mindy frequently, even if it's just a hello as we are dropping off/picking up kids.  We did go to breakfast twice because we all had babies (I also had Daniel, but he would hang out with Grandma Kay) so we could enjoy an extra chance to chat and laugh.

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It was a good experience to have Kate in preschool.  I'm sure she'll want to go to preschool in the fall so I've started looking into different options.  She is a good girl and I love her little being.  So enjoyed watching her sing today. 

Christmas Morning

Christmas.  There are a lot of things that are tied up in this holiday.  Memories.  Traditions.  New experiences.  A spirit.  Remembering.  Hoping.  It's been a good season.  In some ways very good.  In other ways wonderfully good.  I love that a little family is the center of the this holiday, a wee baby and his mother and a father.  I personally have struggled with Christmas at different times and for different reasons.  But I have felt the warmth of peace that comes from remembering that little family that changed the world.  For that I will always love Christmas.

So, after we got home from the Christmas Eve party at Caroline's we got the Littles ready for bed before Amy and Emily came over to give them a little gift.  Kate and Daniel were super excited to be able to open a present!  It was a book of Disney Christmas stories.  It was so sweet of them to be thinking of the Littles and wanting to spend some time with them on Christmas Eve.  It brought in the wonderful Christmas spirit and what a fun way to end the evening.  Now we had some wrapping and organizing to get to!

  

 Matt and I weren't up as late as we were last year (whoo-hoo!).  I'd tried to wrap some of the gifts in the previous weeks.  We also had some gifts that just required envelopes, so that cut down on prep work.  We chatted as I wrapped and Matt cleaned up the kitchen.  I just love times like this with Matt that seem dream-like... working with my wonderful husband (who was doing the dishes, nonetheless), creating some magic for our children, with Christmas music playing quietly.  We were both pretty tired so we turned off the lights (took some pretty pictures) and headed to bed.

On Christmas Morning we had arranged to let the big kids know when the Littles woke up and they would head over to our house.  They wanted to be home when Kate and Daniel came downstairs on Christmas morning.  So we stalled by hanging out in the kids' room upstairs while I fed Oliver.  We hadn't had any snow in a while, but during the night it had really piled up!  Kate and Daniel were super excited to see it.  Matt sat with them at the window and chatted, telling me (sitting on the couch with Oliver) all that they saw.  Sister Himes and her daughter Rachel came out of their home all bundled up with snow shovels and started clearing sidewalks and driveways - on Christmas Morning!  Matt opened the window and thanked them.  They were surprised they were seen, and Matt explained why they were watching out the window.  The Himes then cut a little pathway that the older kids could follow when they arrived instead of tromping through the snow.  It wasn't long before the older kids arrived, much to the excitement of Kate and Daniel (and Matt and I).  Amy and Emily came upstairs and took Kate and Daniel downstairs. 

 "Wwwwoooowwww!" said Kate in a quiet, drawn out voice, as she looked through the banister on the landing.  There is something so delightful about watching kids on Christmas morning. 

"

Let the good times roll :)  Here are pictures from the morning, with some captions...

Kate came across some of Matt's binoculars a few months ago and has asked to use them dozens of times since.  At one point Amy was interviewing Kate about what she wanted for  Christmas and she said "Beenoclears."  So I found these little butterfly ones for her and a dragonfly set for Daniel.  They were both delighted.  She also got a some bath toys (she especially loved a little penguin that has goggles on and windup wings so it can swim around the bathtub), and some playdough with some tools to use with it.  She was thrilled!












For Daniel, who loves taking things apart (or breaking things apart) we found this darling model airplane that is made to be put together and taken apart.  Perfect for this little boy.  Hewas especially excited about the drill that was required for assembly.  He also got some cool bath toys - little pipes that suction to the wall and then have spinners and holes that the water runs through.  We got him and Kate "Marble Works" that is a cool marble maze that can be put together in lots of ways.

For Tyler we got him things to do - GoPro mounts, rock climbing, and a dart board.  He's a tricky one, just like his dad.  The things they want, they also want to pick out.  When I talked with Shanine about it she said the same thing.  We took a gamble on getting him a wood burning kit because he's liked to work with wood in the past.  It seemed to go over well (and I, personally, am looking forward to some commissioned work from him:).  

We mostly focused on housewares for Emily this year.  We found a cute crockpot for her and an even cuter set of knives (who knew knives could be cute - but the set we found was bright colors with designs on them).  She is so gracefully moving into this new phase of life.  It's super fun to support her in it.

Amy mostly wanted clothes and accessories.  She told us about some cute boots she wanted, we got her a nail care kit with a bunch of fingernail polish (she's been doing her own and Kate's recently, so Kate was also excited), and a pedicure gift certificate.  

The main gift we got for the big kids was signing up to get scuba certified!  I'm kinda nervous, to be honest, but really looking forward to doing it with Matt and the big kids.  Matt had found an instructor that would be so flexible with our schedule.  In order to get certified we had to first watch several hours worth of instructional videos.  We jumped right in watching our first two videos Christmas afternoon when the Littles were  napping.

My big surprise was a special gift from Matt.  He had smiled in previous weeks, tickled that he actually had a surprise that he knew I'd like.  He was oh, so right.  He had Terence (his cousin, Rebecca's husband) design and make a ring for me with "JR" - Jusum Raet (Choose the Right in Bislama) and tree branches.  They don't make CTR rings in Bislama.  It made me cry.  

I think my favorite part of Christmas is the homemade gifts that we do each year.  It can be a challenge getting them done, but I love it.  We save them for the end.  I already posted about some of the gifts, but here are the final products.  

Matt had Emily and he got her some wooden spoons that he burned designs onto.  They turned out darling.  I should have gotten a close up.

Tyler had Kate and Amy had Daniel.  T & A made little tents for K & D.  We set them up in the great room with their pillow, blanket, and a book.  They were both delighted to have their own little space.  At bedtime they were even more excited when Matt set their tents up over their beds!

I had Tyler and I tried to make him a GoPro mount with a goose neck and clamp.  We weren't able to quite figure out how to connect the mount to the GoPro in time, but we'll figure it out.  Matthew Jared gets the credit for getting it this far along in the process.

Emily had Amy.  She made a darling warm, fuzzy quilt for her to have at our house that matched the nautical decor.  She actually forgot to bring it from her mom's house, but we all went to drop them off so Amy could open it in the car for us to see :)  It was darling.

Daniel had me.  He helped Matt make me a wall ruler (which I've wanted for years), so we could measure kids against the wall.  It turned out perfect.  Perfect!

Kate had Matt.  I showed her a few different ideas of things she could make for him.  She chose the clock made out of bike parts.  I got the parts from a bike shop for free.  We went to Uncle Doug's house so he could help us put the center piece together and drill a hold for the clock works to fit into.  Kate painted the numbers and helped glue them onto the wheel.  I'm not sure the clock will actually work, but it was fun.

Well, after the presents came Christmas Breakfast, which is always delish.  While we were cooking and afterwards it was fun to watch everyone playing with some of their new toys.  Here are some other pictures from the day.

We got Daniel this book called, "1,000 Things That Go."  He's been noticing different types of trucks and machines in the last few months so we thought he might like this.  It is literally 1,000 little pictures of things that go.  So far, it's a win!  Another win were the yogurt covered raisins from his stocking.  He sat himself down and ate the whole box in one sitting.

         

All of the kids got a book.  For the older kids we got them each a different version of "A Christmas Carol."  I might have been more excited about the books than they were, but that's ok.  The Littles each got a personalized book with their name in it.  Here's Amy reading one of the books to Kate.

We got all the parts for an underwater dive camera for Tyler.  Here he is putting it together. 

 Daniel and Kate were super excited to try out their new bath toys, so after breakfast that's where they headed!  Bless Amy and Emily's hearts.  They could not be better, kinder big sisters.  They are helpful and enjoy the little pleasures of watching kids experience life.  How grateful I am that these little ones have the big ones to look up to.

 I was putting some things away and heard Oliver laughing.  Daniel was playing Peek-a-Boo with him.  It's music to the ears to hear kids laughing.

I got Matt a DIY hot sauce making kit.  I won't be partaking of any hot sauce, but he and Tyler both looked interested in trying it out.  Daniel O was thrilled with the drill that came with his model airplane.  It really is a cute little plane that was put together and taken apart several times.

    

  

The Marble Works for Daniel and Kate were so fun.  Emily and Dad got it set it up the first time and Daniel and Kate ran their marbles I don't know how many times.  I'll admit it, I was excited for this one, too.

Well, it was a very merry Christmas.  I'm grateful for our family every day.