The Weeders Digest

8.01.2013

Happenings Here at Home

So, you might be asking yourself,

what were the kids doing while Leah was in the hospital giving birth to baby Oakley?

Below you will discover the answer . . .

Having a blast!

OK, we didn't have the time or the inclination to go home and get swimming suits for the kids . . .

but we DID have the heat and the desire to go outside and cool off in the sprinklers.

This is how we used to do it . . . let's call it a "poor man's water park".

(Although, I must admit, the best water parks in the world don't come with that kind of a backdrop!)

Harrison didn't seem to notice that he'd left his clothing somewhere else.

Logan was a daredevil

and was completely soaked within 2 minutes.

All too soon the party was over and they had to come out of the water.

But I think they had a great time,

and we made a memory for the day that little Oakley was born.

Why don't the rest of you join us for a sprinkler party one of these days?!

Happy Birthday Oakley!

Looks like it might be a "birth" day for someone!

This is Leah, about 7 a.m. on Friday, July 26.

Her baby, child #3, is due tomorrow.

Yes, she's doing her best to put on that encouraging smile,

but at this point she's been in labor for about 2 1/2 hours.

By 10 a.m. we get a text from Landon, with a photo of baby Oakley

snuggling up to her momma.

What an incredible miracle!

All natural. All painful. All exhausting. And totally awesome!

So this is baby Oakley Fran Putnam.

She was 8 lbs 7 ozs

19 inches long
(However, when she went to the doctor two days later she measured at 20 1/2 inches.

But whose counting?)

and perfectly healthy from top to bottom.

You can see she has beautiful brown hair and dark coloring. Just like her two blondie siblings before her!

Within an hour or two, brother Harrison had the chance to meet her.

Of course, there is always a little bit of trepidation at this first meeting. How will the 1 year old react?

As you can see by the photo, Harrison was completely enchanted by this new little person.

With very little coaxing we caught their first kiss on camera! Sweet!

Logan has longed for this big-sister moment for months! She couldn't wait to meet her new little sister.

So momma and Logan carefully unwrapped this little package,

checking out the hands, fingers, feet and each little toe.

It was like she was opening a treasured Christmas present.

The result?

Sheer delight!

She's a keeper!

All of the family gathered around this tiny little girl to give her an official welcome to this world.

It was such a sweet scene of happiness and contentment. . . .

not to mention shock and amazement at the vigor and vitality of the mom who had just given birth hours before!

Here they are.

A very happy family

ready to open a new chapter in life.

Oh, that every baby could be born to a situation like yours, Oakley.

You will be loved and cared for every single day of your life!

No wonder you look so peaceful!

We love you.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Reunion

Here they are . . .

these two darling sisters:

Donna Madsen Williamson

and

Gloria Joyce Madsen Hulme

This photo was taken at a get-together at my house on July 8.

As far as I can figure, they have not been together for about 20 years.

Gloria lives in Idaho.

Donna lives in Utah.

Their paths have not crossed for quite a long time.

So, this year, due to the scheming of my cousin Deb and I,

we were able to get these two adorable women together.

They are two of the nicest, kindest, sweetest people that I know.

This was a very satisfying reunion.

I love you Mom.

It was so great to see you and to have you visit.

Let's do it again soon!

Can I confess a somewhat embarrassing reality of mine? I kind of hate to admit this because as a child I swore this would never be me. In fact, I went through a stage where this was utterly ridiculous in my mind.

I can't say the Pledge of Allegiance or sing our National Anthem without tears welling up in my eyes.

Ok, its not just tears. It's usually sobbing accompanied by very loud sniffles and snorts. Yeah, it's embarrassing! I try to keep it under control, but I find it very difficult to do. I love this country and am reminded of all the reasons I do when an American Flag passes by.

Here's my tribute to this great country . . . and the way we chose to celebrate on the 4th of July.

This was our view as we drove through Orem on our way to the parade.
What a beautiful sight!
What a perfect way to start the day!
Thanks Macey's for always flying a huge American flag!

Here are Chase and Anna enjoying one of the free give-aways at the parade.
Each of the kids scored a cool fireman's hat!

Leah, who is 8 1/2 months pregnant at this point, was the designated squatter among the adults.
We figured she could use a few deep knee bends to help her get into shape.
Harrison was delighted with his fire hat.
The boy is obsessed with firetrucks at the moment.
He literally squealed with delight as the parade showcased about 10 different firetrucks . . .
big ones, small ones, red ones, yellow ones, ladder trucks, etc.
Some of them were even "advertising" with lights flashing and sirens blaring.
A few of them were even shooting water while they drove down the parade route.
The kid was mesmerized!

These two were much more interested in the Princesses than the fire trucks. Though they were willing to don the fire hats for a few minutes, before long they were sitting on the front row
analyzing the princesses and their long, beautiful dresses!
We haven't been to a parade for a LONG TIME.
This was a great one!
We all had a really fun time together.

After the parade, we drove to a little outdoor mall in Provo
where we knew there was a splash pad.
We were afraid that it would be totally packed.
Much to our delight, Logan and Harrison were the only ones there.
Check out that darling face.
He's going to be very impressed with his tough looking octopus swim shirt someday!

These two had a great time splashing away!
If you look very closely you will notice that Logan's 4th of July hair-do
includes a star made out of braids!
Bet you couldn't do that! Yeah, me either!
We found a fun pizza place that wasn't too crowded just down the street from the splash pad
and enjoyed a quiet and satisfying lunch.
And, as it turns out, we supported underprivileged kids in Malawi at the same time!

Next item on the agenda was a long van ride home to Salt Lake.
No one was really surprised by this sight in the back of our van.
Sometimes holidays are just a little too fun.

After naps, there was more fun planned.

As the sun went down the lights came up!

Yeah, it was crazy from up here on the ridge.

We set our chairs out in the cool evening breeze and watched hundreds of fireworks displays

all across the valley.

It really is difficult to describe.

It's sensory overload as you see, hear and smell fireworks exploding in every direction.

And, to capture the whole spirit of the day

Logan fizzled her way through about 3 boxes of sparklers.

She was a little timid at first, but overcame that in just a few seconds.

Before long she was dancing and prancing all over the backyard.

Every so often the light would go out and she'd be left standing in the dark!

We all had a great time!

We had a perfect day!

Thanks USA!

A Day of Celebration

What could be more fitting than a day of celebration at the beach to celebrate Trevor's graduation from UCLA?

Trevor and Ben celebrated with a crazy, dangerous sword fight, in the spirit of
Jake the Neverland Pirate.
I think Ben's blue plastic trowel got the best of Trevor with his yellow plastic spoon!

Grandma Thomasson, the darling gal with the cute hat,
was smart enough to bring a kite.
You can see Ben and Trevor trying to get the kite going.

Grandma Thomasson, Karen, was the one with the magic touch!
She stepped in to help Ben

And before you know it
the Kite is airborn!
Awesome!

We had a perfect day on the beach
and before you ask where were Clara and Liz
and Grandpa Thomasson . . .
let me explain that they were all there
and I even got some cute pictures of them
but being the technological genius that I am,
I was not able to get any of them to load onto the blog.
So, sorry,
you'll just have to use your imagination!

Thanks for sharing a great day with me, all of you. I had a wonderful time!

Congrats Grad!

June 14, 2013 was a RED LETTER DAY in our family.

This is the plaza on UCLA's beautiful campus.

This is one of several photos I took to give you a feel for the beautiful setting Trevor has enjoyed the past 3 years.

As you can see, the campus is all set up for the graduation ceremony
on a gorgeous, sunshiny afternoon.
This particular ceremony is for the students graduating
from the EMBA program
and the FEMBA program (Fully-employed MBA)

After sitting through some pretty good speeches and enjoying the cool breeze
we were finally able to greet our graduate!
Here he is, with his two favorite little people!

Of course, I had to get one picture that proves I was really there!

Liz certainly deserves a large portion of the credit for this celebration!
This little family has been amazing in all they have accomplished in the past 3 years!

This is what Ben and Clara did most of the day. They were both so well-behaved and willing
to just hang out while the adults talked
and talked
and talked.
You'll notice that Ben is entertaining himself with Pirate Jake and the alligator from Neverland.
Yeah, it was the favorite toy of the week and we got LOTS of mileage out of that one!

Here are a couple of friends of Trevor's who have gone on this journey with him
and their beautiful and dedicated wives
who made their dreams possible.
These are great young people who deserve a big celebration for
accomplishing an amazing feat!

Steve and I are so proud of Trevor.
He and Liz have made it all look so easy
but we know they've worked very hard.

Congratulations!