The "Whirl-Winns"-

6 more weeks...

2009-02-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

We were seeing shadows all over the place on Groundhog Day. I have to say that the sun felt amazing, and very blinding after the dull gray days we are used to. The kids had the day off of school and we headed up to the Draper Temple Open House. It was so beautiful and the girls were gaga over the Bride's Room and the chandelier of the Celestial Room. Cory loved the font (it appears that to him it looked like a big hot tub)! Richie has been to the Mt. Timp. Temple before to do baptisms for the dead, so things seemed a little less new to him, but he really liked the parallel mirrors in the Sealing Room. It was a great experience for us all.

Do you see what I see?

2009-01-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

I love each of these pictures, when I see them I see an amazing holiday season. A very busy one, but one that created so many memories that will last forever. I am a traditions kind of gal. I love finding new ones and keeping the old ones going strong. I found out about this great "live nativity" early in the month and thought we'd check it out. It turned out to be a new favorite. The people who put it on are incredible. They have everyone dressed in period, they have a live camel, "Roman soldiers" on horseback...everything. It was a great way to bring in the season. We also got to attend 2 very special concerts, one a dance recital for Savannah and Sarah. They were both wonderful, Sarah would even tell you so herself! Richie had a band concert, he plays the trumpet and is quite good for one who does not do much practicing! St. Nicholas came this year, I guess we were good enough. I make pj's for the kids and give them to them on that special day. This year they are sporting "puffy penguins". Paul and I got to help with Savannah and Cory's class parties and then watch them perform at the Christmas show, always a treat! Can we just say SNOW...seriously. I know that I live in Utah, but really there is a point of enough snow. I am not the bravest driver unless I am behind the 4WD, which usually I am not, so it all seems like a hinderance. However, to my kids it is a wonderland. They can stay out and play out for hours, their favorite is having Paul hitch a tow rope to the car and pull a sled behind it while driving around the neighborhood. he delights in going over every possible pile of snow to see if they will stay on. I wasn't going to let the weather ruin it all for me. I even arranged for a horse-drawn carriage ride through the display of lights at Thanksgiving Point. It was freezing, but really fun. We also checked out the live reindeer that night, very cool of them to take time for visitors during their busy season with Santa & all. We had our traditional Christmas Eve at Grandma Winns. We get together for food, gifts, and of course our version of the nativity. There are so many cousins now that we can out together quite a cast. Savannah got her shot at being mary this year, but decided she would be just as happy being a camel with her cousin Cambreigh. Sarah was an angel, Cory a wisemen, and Richie, the good sport that he is was a shepherd. It is always such fun. Then we were off to our home to hopefully have some "visions of sugarplums". It was a good thing we took time to make cookies for Santa, and I guess it paid off because we all seemed pretty happy that morning. We spent the day eating, keeping busy with the gifts, and visiting other grandma, "brownie grandma" as she is called around here. Sarah made the differentiation clear long ago. Grandma who makes brownies is "brownie grandma" the one who has a dog named Sasha is "Sasha grandma"...easy enough. We had a nice dinner and visit with all. They only thing we were missing is you little cuties from VA and NC. Wish we could have been together. Hopefully the pictures will close the distance a bit. Now it is time for the new year, mmmm...I love this time of year. I love wondering what it will bring and writing down those many, many resolutions. My true hope is that I can accomplish at least some of them!

Happy New Year to you all....We love you!

"The Incredible, Edible"....Cell???

2008-12-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

When did science get this fun (or yummy)? Helping kids with homework/projects sure exposes what I have retained from my own school days. I was pretty impressed that I could remember most of the names of the parts of a cell, however the functions of most were a little "blurry". Hopefully, after this nifty little project I will be set to better help the next 3 kids. Richie had loads of fun doing this assignment and was very selective (as you can see) in his candies to represent each part of the cell. Now I am just wondering does it look too good to eat...hmmmm??? No matter it was eaten by many "sugar hungry" 7th graders!

The Winn's Win...

2008-12-04T21:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know 2 posts in one day is unheard of for me...but I was so happy for Savannah and Cory tonight. They both took 1st place at the Fine Arts Fair for their fabulous photos of Sarah. Yeah!!! They both felt so pleased or as Cory would say...they felt "successful" :)

Black & Orange...Red & Green...I think there is something in between

2008-12-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving come and gone already...did it really even happen? I guess it did because I have pictures as the evidence, but wow...how fast the time goes. It seems that we get all hyped for Halloween and then immediately jump into Christmas and Thanksgiving is just something we fit in between. However, I do have to say that this has to have been one of my favorite Thanksgivings. I am not sure why except everything fit my ideals for the day :). We got up and had a long, leisurely breakfast while watching the Macy's parade...(my favorite). Then I sat down to browse through the day after sale ads, just for fun. Soon after mom and the kids came over. Mom engaged the kids, well the girls, in a fun turkey craft. While the boys....

Played football, of course. With four players they had to be pretty creative, but in the end they each had some amazing play to brag about!

And the moment we've all been waiting for...Dinner! I think "moment" is the right word because it seems that a moment is all it takes to eat the food we have been so carefully preparing for a few days! Oh well, it was yummy! The company was excellent too. We had Mom, Seth, Morganne and her cute friend, Vanessa, Hollis & Jeremy, Justin and his girl, Tiauna, and Josh.

We were even treated to our own after-dinner show, hosted by Cory and performed by the girls. Cory even guest starred in a few of the performances. We were entertained for sure!After that everyone started to leave, we cleaned up, and decided to end the night "wakefield style"...we snuggled in to watch "Christmas Vacation" (edited of course). Although the holiday seems like a flash, I am grateful for a day to remember all we have to be thankful for. We missed you all and hope that your holiday was just as memorable.

Picture Perfect...

2008-11-25T15:06:00.001-08:00

It's "Fine Arts Fair" time at Cory & Savannah's school. There both were very sure they wanted to enter the photography catagory. They absolutely love to take pictures every time they get the chance (can't imagine where they get that from?). From the looks of their work I may be able to hand the beloved camera off to them a little more! The theme was "At the end of the rainbow..." and here are the fabulous results...

Cory snapped this darling photo of Sarah as she rested, and tagged it, "At the end of the rainbow...there is peace. We are so proud of him, what a great shot!

This is Savannah's amazing entry. She had Sarah doing all kinds of things outside and happened to snap this little gem at the right moment...priceless. She tagged her entry, "At the end of the rainbow...there is happiness".

The weather outside is frightful...but the pool is so delightful

2008-11-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here in Utah we do experience all 4 seasons, but sometimes they get a little mixed up! Last week we woke up to snow, and thoughts of Christmas swirled in the kids minds...
Luckily for us, a lengthy dip in the pool melted those thoughts away (at least for a few weeks). Paul was actually working a seminar in Salt Lake so we took the chance to go hang out together for the night. As you can see from the picture, if dad is around fun times are to be had.

"Too Many Treats, Not Enough Tricks"...

2008-11-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you mix a baby, a nerd, a hobo, and a "medieval princess"??? Over 400 pieces of candy! I think we "hit the pavement" a little too long last night, but the weather was so nice we just couldn't stop. Just to let you know...we are currently looking for "good homes" for our beloved candy... who knows, maybe some will show up on your doorstep!

"Monkey See, Monkey Do..."

2008-10-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...texting and ipods. I think my life may have been a bit different when I was 4. However, in our family it is "monkey see, monkey do". The sad thing is she may know her way around these handy gadgets better than me.

Harmony...

2008-10-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Harmony comes in many forms, but for the Winn boys on Saturdays it is quite dependent on BYU football. If the team does well, we are set for 7 days of peace and true bragging-rights, but if not we must endure 7 days of analyzing what could have been and making sense of it all. The girls and I are so grateful that after Saturday's game against UNLV, we are set for a week of harmony (at least when it comes to football)!

Celebrate...

2008-10-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Celebrate what each day can bring. There's always something new. Sometimes I take the time to notice the changes, sometimes not. That is my hope for this blog, to create a little spot in the world just for us, to notice the many changes of our life and pen a few memories to remind us of all we have to celebrate!