The Question at the End of the Year

How Did We Do on Our 2010 New Year's Resolutions?

Not only did Son #2 "Write a song", he wrote 3!
Our favorite is often sung to his little sister in the car to make her happy. The title of the song is "Bee'z Business". When this song is performed, there is often more than just 2 people singing.

"Read the Old Testament" was Very-Involved Mom's goal. Let's just say ... she's reading the Old Testament and currently in 2nd Samuel.

Lovely Daughter's goal was "Go to potty". We're happy to say that she learned in about 2 weeks in August and has been very successful ever since!

Son #1's priorities changed over the year and "the fridge and microwave" goal just wasn't as important as other goals. He is beginning to save and is learning how to wisely spend the money which he works so hard to earn.

"Publish Numbers" took on a different meaning throughout the year for Son #3. Instead of inventing his own number system, he has been enjoying math work involving comparing fractions, lattice multiplication, and long division.

"Hang up 3 pictures in our house": Hard Working Dad's goal. He hung up 5! (see picture below) Okay this was not his intention to hang up photos, but to actually hang 3 pieces of his own artwork. However, we love this family tree artwork that HE created from a fallen branch of our curly willow tree in our front yard.

~See you in 2011~

December Reflections

A wonderful and amazingly patient man offered to teach basic drumming to the children in our area in his garage. Eighteen children performed on December 16th for their families and friends in the "T.N.T.: Tap N' Trap" Bucket Band. We're happy that our children were able to participate in such a fun experience!

The boys from the Byrd Flock got to see Santa at our annual ward party, however our lovely daughter got freaked out about seeing him that evening. She waited to see him at her weekly music time preschool called Cherubs. She was super excited and very willing to sit on this sweet Santa's lap.

We had a very relaxing Christmas this year. We just stayed home and enjoyed being together as a family and trying out all our new gifts.

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Lunar Eclipse with the Winter Solstice

10:20 PM

"Ghostly shading of the moon, marking the arrival of Earth's faint out shadow, or penumbra"
(Quotes are coming from descriptions from National Geographic.)

10:35 PM
"Dim 'bite"=Earth's shadow advancing across the moon"

11:05 PM
Bigger "bite"

11:45 PM
"Total Eclipse-when the entire moon is dimmed by Earth's shadow"
(Blurry photo because I could not keep the camera still above my head and there was a constant cloud cover during this time! This was the best photo shot of the 10 that I took.)

12:00 AM
(Blurry photo, again)

12:15 AM
"Moon plunges into the Earth's umbra-the dark center of our planet's shadow."

12:30 AM
The glow of orange.

For Family Home Evening last night, we went about 30 minutes away to walk down 2 streets that had Christmas lights and a ton of cartoon wood cutouts! Most of the cutouts were Disney, but we saw Calvin and Hobbes, Nightmare Before Christmas, Wallace and Gromit, etc. too.

We got home around 9:30 PM, started to get ready for bed and then we saw that a friend on Facebook posted about the lunar eclipse and saw that it would begin at around 10 PM our time. All of us except for Hard-working Dad were able to see this spectacular view of the moon until 12:30 AM when the moon's color appeared orange. AMAZING!!!!

Christmas Read Aloud

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Thanks to these most creative people for helping me with the mantle decor: the banner & the scripture turkey!!
And thanks to Son #3 for the homemade leaves, pilgrim tent and lego turkey!)

Our little flock of Byrds hosted 24 people (adults & children) at our nest this year! We are so very grateful for family and great friends to share this holiday. I only wish there were more time to sit and chat with our loved ones... there never seems to be enough time for us to visit. We also really missed other family members that were unable to make the trip. They were in our thoughts, though!

Son #3 and Auntie #1 did a lovely job working as a team to decorate for our yummy Thanksgiving Dinner!

Auntie #1 and her family always shares their Canadian traditions with the rest of the extended family. "Crackers" are one of those traditions! Though these are often used at Christmas as a British tradition, our family celebrates with them during Thanksgiving! It's always fun to find the fun toy or trinket and silly jokes that come inside each of them.

It appears that the most wanted Cracker item this year was the measuring spoons!

And the joke with the most laughs:
Q: What do you call a seagull when it flies over the bay? A: A bagel.

In preparation, our Byrd family planned various activities that other family members could participate. We walked to the nearby playground after dinner. We were hoping to play a game of Bocce Ball but the sun was setting faster than time permitted. The above marshmallow and toothpick structure was another great activity that Son #2 organized. The older teen boys enjoyed playing Risk.

We are grateful for our loving Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. We are grateful for family and friends, shelter over our heads, food to eat, our health, clothes to keep us warm and for Hard working Dad's employment.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!!

Carlsbad & San Diego Trip

Hard Working Dad has been working TOO hard lately.
We decided it was time to get away from the computer for a weekend.

On Thursday, October 7, we began our journey 3 hours behind schedule, HW Dad getting only 3 hours of sleep in the previous 48 hours, lost mapquest printouts & eating our dinner in our vehicle through rush hour traffic. At about 12:30 AM, we hit a MAJOR Highway 5 detour that led us through an industrial-looking area of Los Angeles. When we arrived at our hotel in Carlsbad at about 1:30 AM, the entire area was in a blackout. We were given a flashlight to help us get to our rooms and told that around 4:00 AM the lights should be back on. Well... if you know children... they had wanted to make sure that the lights really WOULD NOT turn on BEFORE we went to bed. Soooo at 4:00 AM, ALL of the lights illuminated. Dad slept through the bright lights.

We got some rest, woke up at about 8:30 AM and started reading the newspaper that is delivered to each hotel guest. What should we learn from the front page headline? A main sewage line breaks closing a stretch of the Carlsbad State Beach! Our hotel is a half mile from that beach! We decided to head to Legoland instead of the beach.

Friday, October 8
Legoland

We all enjoyed the amazing Lego Structures!

Splash Battles (shown) and Aquazone Wave Racer were definitely our favorite rides!

We all got drenched from the water rides!

Family Photo with Tourist Lego.

Legoland was very relaxing. In October, there are no crowds and short lines. WE LOVED THAT!

In the evening, we decided to watch a pay per view movie in the hotel. But following the Byrd Luck for this vacation, the screen flickered as if you were watching it on VHS with horrible tracking. We called down to the hotel desk and because of the blackout, all of the internet and cable servers were down until Monday morning. Oh well!

Saturday, October 9
Birch Aquarium

The next morning we decided to head over to the Birch Aquarium which is located near UC San Diego. Lovely Daughter was fascinated with finding any fish that she could identify from the movie "Finding Nemo".

The hands-on water activity "Go with the Flow" was probably the favorite of all the children, though. They were able to change the water currents and the speed by moving or placing panels in various locations in this waterplay station. Very fun and educational!

San Diego Temple

Our family was pleasantly surprised to see the San Diego Temple right across the highway from UC San Diego and the Birch Aquarium. WE just HAD to Stop! Beautiful temple!

Oceanside Beach

The whole afternoon we splashed in the ocean and built sand castles!
(FYI: Beach toys are no longer in regular stores after September.)

Sunday, October 10
Mormon Battalion Visitors' Center

We highly recommend going to this visitors' center! There is a free tour that takes about 40 minutes that is a MUST SEE! Very interactive!

We were amazed at the opportunity to learn more about our Great Great Great Grandmother, Phebe Draper Palmer Brown who went with the Mormon Battalion as a laundress and her son, Zemira Palmer our Great Great Great Uncle. We feel honored to have our ancestors' story told.

Though it began with a rocky start, we were blessed in the end to be able to share some much needed family time. We are also extremely grateful for Grandpa Byrd who gave us a wonderful Christmas gift last year. It's called a GPS! This Global Positioning System got us completely lost in Utah, but here in California... it was a complete lifesaver! It got us through that early morning detour, directed us to our hotel, guided us to various museums, parks and a cleaner beach!

This little video is classic Byrd family. Slide down, trip, get up, slide, trip, fall down, get up, go on another ride. That's life.

All Aboard the Amazing Circus Train!

After completing a Mall Walkathon, we were able to receive 4 tickets to the circus. The Four Byrds in attendance had a BLAST!
It's hard to say which entertainers were our favorites because they were all sooooo fascinating to watch!

Very Involved Mom got lost on the way home and happened to end up right by the railroad tracks where the actual Circus Train is stationed. We all counted a different number of train cars... between 38-49... but nonetheless a large number to be able to transport such a massive group of performers, animals, trainers and other staff/family members.


Here are only 3 of the incredible shows that we saw at the circus!
Sorry no sound on our camera. :(



Barnum Bouncers





Elephants!




Torres Family


We all loved the "The Greatest Show on Earth"!

(The top photo is the page from a boardbook that lovely daughter just happened to find while having a "potty training" moment! )

...You Can Come too.... We're Going to the Zoo!

Decided to visit the zoo for free on August 23.
Target was sponsoring the Free Day by asking for school donations.
We had bought back-to-school supplies, so we thought we'd contribute a few of our own surplus items for the cause. Though it was a scorching HOT day, we had a nice lunch break with Hard Working Dad.

Summertime Activities

Mall Kids Club
(Camp Rock and Disney Walk-got 4 tickets for the Circus)
free & fit!

Chick-Fil-A Customer Appreciation Week
free food!

Go to the California State Fair
fun!

Son #2's first roller coaster ride!
fabulous!

See great movies... like... "Toy Story 3"
fantastic!

Also, went to free movies.

Ride bikes!
freewheelin'!

Hang out at various swimming pools!
freestylin'!

Work on scout requirements!
fire startin'!


oh, and of course, video games galore!
thumb flappin'!

4 Reunions in 10 Days!

July 15-17
Aina Ohana Reunion
(Salem & Centerville, UT)

"I am the weed among the beautiful flowers."-Uncle B in reference to himself and his sisters. (Auntie M is not pictured here, however, she did teach us all how to play the card game Sakura.)

The Making of Ipu (Hawaiian Musical Instruments)

First, saw off the top of the gourd.

Second, clean out the inside of the gourd with anything sharp and safe to use. We used sticks, metal rods, crowbars and finally a paint mixer bit attached to an electric drill. (warning: the residue gets inside your mouth, sinus, etc. Covering your nose and mouth during this part is recommended. Very Involved Mom and many others were sneezing, wheezing and sniffling for 24 hours after making these.)

The finished product after using a clear varnish.
(Tip: Use cooking spray or cooking oil to remove varnish from your hands.)

July 18
Very Involved Mom's Family Reunion
(Santaquin, UT)

After we went to church together, we relaxed at VI Mom's sister's house. We then headed back to the church to have a light dinner and celebrate the baptism of our beautiful niece and cousin, EC. Here's a picture of her the next day playing with her Jessie doll & lovely daughter.

July 19
Hard Working Dad's Family Reunion
(University Mall, Orem, Utah)

"To Infinity and Beyond!"

July 23-25
Munro Family Reunion
(Ophir, UT)

Teaching the Hukilau!

One of five of the "Win It In A Minute" Games

Prize Table if you could "Win It In A Minute"

The Aina Family