A Trip to the Park

There's nothing like an afternoon trip to the park. It was a little cold (freezing actually), but it didn't stop them from having fun.

Aaron wanted me to take and action shot of him jumping off the swing.

Lily, Ellie, Ada, Cami.

Poor, cold Talmage.

Justin, Braden, Dallin, Ben, Emi, and Taylor. They were playing some sort of strange game of Baseball/football which unfortunately included the use of an old baby doll. I just decided to walk away instead of asking for a full explanation. Notice that Dallin is wearing no coat. Apparently 14 is the age where you are sometimes too cool for a coat if your mom wants you to wear one.

There's a great climbing tree at this park. Cami loves it.

Ada and Ellie ready to ride home.

Thanksgiving Day

We were able to have Thanksgiving Dinner at Janeen's new house in Columbus. They moved in only a matter of days before and did a great job hosting. Jason's family came too and it was great to see all the cousins blending into one big happy mob:) The food was great and the company was even better. I absolutely love their new house and think they will be able to settle in and enjoy raising their 6 beautiful children there.

Thanks for having us and we can't wait for many more visits in the future!

Me and my sister.

My cute niece Emi.

I love this picture of Dallin with Talmage on his lap and Aaron on his shoulders. All the little boys just love him.

The girls spent a lot of time upside down on the bar gymnastics bar in the basement. Lily is in the back with her mouth open (?) and Ada, Ellie, and Cami are in the front.

Emi and Taylor

Braden, Dallin, Emi, Justin, and Ben. They graduated to one of the grown-up tables this year;)

The little ones eating in the basement.

Aaron, Dallin, and Talmage in the lego room.

Ada, Cami, and Lily.

Aaron and Grandma Hammond.

Talmage, Ben, and Justin.

Hanging Out With Cousins

We drove to Indiana over the Thanksgiving break to spend some much needed time with my side of the family. Janeen and Jason's family was finally all together in one place and we wanted to meet our new nephew Aaron. Things are always a little crazy when we travel that far and try to spend time with everyone, but we have a great time. Here are some random pictures at Grammy's house:

Family picture before we let Ed open his birthday presents.

The girls gave him some new ties.

His big present from all of us is actually a trip to California to go to the Audi Driving School. Yes, we nailed it. He was thrilled. He has to plan a time to go, but you can be sure we'll blog about it later this spring.

Cami and Lily created a huge barbie town in the bedroom. They just disappear and enjoy being together when we visit. In this picture Lily looks a little funny because she and Cami did makeovers on each other and she hadn't washed her face yet:) I think the same is true in the next picture with Grammy.

These four kids are so funny together. They laugh until the early hours of the morning and never tire of playing board games or cards together. Cousins are great.

Dusty

I spent some time going through old pictures at my mom's house over Thanksgiving. I found this picture of our dog Dusty. She is why I love dogs. She was the most gentle, loving, loyal dog you could have ever had. She actually belonged to my brother - he got her for doing so well in Kindergarten:) When she was a puppy, she would sit under the warm dryer vent and get lint all over her black fur. In this picture she looks dusty from gray hair. I think she was about 15 or 16 here.

She would walk us to the bus every day and wait with us. When we got off in the afternoon, she was waiting to walk us home. There is no way anyone would have dared break into our house as she sounded fierce when she didn't know you and looked a little like a wolf in the dark. She had many litters of puppies and was a great mom. She was just a great member of the family and I didn't ever know life without her as a kid. I'm thankful that she helped me understand how great a dog can be.

Basketball in Indiana

Basketball and Indiana just go together. It's hard to understand unless you have lived it. Everyone in Indiana loves basketball. Not just because they love the sport, but because it is such a part of the identity of a community, school, or neighborhood. People start following teams and individual players at the grade school level. Every home has a basketball goal and one of my favorite sites is an old barn with a hoop bolted to the side. I've been away from Indiana for a lot of my adult life and I'd forgotten just how important basketball was until we went to a game at my niece and nephew's elementary school over Thanksgiving break.

This game was to be the biggest of the season - the big rivalry. Yes... in Indiana you have rival schools even in elementary. We arrived to a full parking lot, we had to pay to get in, and the gym was filled with 200-300 people. The 4th-6th graders all stayed after school to paint their faces and get ready to cheer in the student section. My niece, Emi, is on the cheer squad and was leading the crowd. Ed was completely speechless and just kept looking at me like, "Is this for real?" Why yes Ed, yes it is.

I think it's wonderful in many ways. What a sense of community and unity. It's a nice way to bring families together and dads home from work in time to cheer together. Kids love to be proud of their school. It does make it hard for some midwesterners to move on in life. I mean if you are a "rock star" in your town from such a young age, why leave and do something scary or hard? People outside of Indiana do not respond appropriately when you say you won regionals in high school.

Anyway, it brought back a lot of memories. Most of you probably don't know that I was a cheerleader from 7th through 12th grade (I'm going to regret this, but I included a picture of me from long ago at the end). I was proud of my school and know a lot about basketball. It was really fun to watch Emi follow in her mom's footsteps (Ha! I just exposed you too Janeen!) She did a great job, the team won by a landslide and we had a fun trip down memory lane. All that's left to say is:

GO HOOSIERS!

This is me before Homecoming my senior year. Nice hair.

Raking Leaves

Cami has been wanting to rake leaves for months now. One problem - we don't really have enough leaves to rake. As soon as we arrived at Grammy's house she spotted her opportunity. She raked a pile and decided it would be funny to hide inside and jump out and scare Zoey the dog. Our poor puppy was not expecting anyone to be inside the pile and gave Cami the reaction she was looking for. We gave our puppy lots of love after allowing her to be scared:)

Temple Trip

We took our youth group to the Washington D.C. Temple. We have quite a large group right now and it is quite an organizational feat to plan a trip like this. The kids were great and we had a wonderful experience. There is no place more peaceful than the temple. It seems that all the cares of the world are left at the door. We were also able to watch the movie Testaments at the visitor's center. This movie makes me emotional every time I see it and the kids all commented about how much they enjoyed it.


I never get over the sight of the temple as it seemingly appears out of nowhere floating over the beltway. I'm glad to be able to share these testimony building experiences with my kids. It will be so special to watch the Philadelphia Temple be built and participate in the open house and celebration. I can't wait!

Birthday Dinner

Ed's 40th Birthday was on Thanksgiving Day, so there wasn't much hope of gathering for a party on his actual birthday. Luckily, some of our friends decided to celebrate with him by eating at his favorite restaurant - The Gypsy Saloon. They have the BEST lobster mac-n-cheese. Yes, I know it doesn't sound that great, but everyone who tasted it agreed that it is AMAZING!


We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends (including many who were not there that night) and family who love us. Several people asked Ed if he had "done everything on his list" now that he has hit 40. He thought about it and said that he really just enjoyed living life everyday with his family. I took that as a compliment:)

I am blessed to get to spend my life with him. He has truly accomplished many great things in his first 40 years. The most important on my list include: serving a mission, marrying me, making me laugh EVERY day, being a great father to our three children and a father-figure to many more, taking risks and finding a way to make them work in his career, and serving diligently in his church callings. The next decade will bring many big changes, but as long as we're together we'll take them on with a smile.

Happy Birthday Ed - We love you!

Our Dear Friend

We lost our dear friend Mark two weeks ago. He was killed in an accident. I've thought a lot about whether or not it was appropriate to blog about this. In the end, I decided that since this blog is our family history, I would have each member of our family write a little something about Mark and how much we loved him and how he impacted our lives.

Mark is Ian's dad. Ian is often referred to as our "other son". We truly feel that way. Ian has lots of brothers, but Dallin doesn't and Ian fills an important role in his life. His wife, Liz, is also our wonderful friend and we have loved getting to know her over the past 2 1/2 years as Mark served as the YSA Branch President and Ian spent a lot of weekend time with us.

I am so grateful for the knowledge we have that Families can be eternal. My greatest desire is to live a life that will allow me to spend eternity with my family. Liz and her family have found great comfort in this knowledge and our love and prayers continue to be with them in this difficult time.

Cami wrote:
"The Forsyth family was and is still a great family and forever will be. It was very sad and unexpected when Bro. Forsyth passed away. He was a VERY FUNNY man. I will never forget him."

Taylor wrote:
"For the past 5 years that I have known the Forsyth family, one of the things that I have come to appreciate about Bro. Forsyth and the rest of the family is their sense of humor. They, especially Mark, were always funny and always have had a way to make you smile or laugh. What I also love about the Forsyths is their genuine compassion and love for both those they knew, and those they didn't. They were always very welcoming and kind and they would never turn you away. Their love and knowledge of the gospel is strong and never ending and since they were married in the temple, and sealed together as an eternal family, I know that they all believe that they will see him again and be together again. Life is short lived, but we can be eternal families. All of the Forsyths have always been so giving, caring, considerate, and concerned for all those they came in contact with. They have always been there for my family and I know it's our turn to be there for them. It was sudden and tragic to find out that he had passed, but I know that we do not know of God's plan for us, but that in the end He knows all. I know, and so do the Forsyths, that everything will be OK and that overall things will be just fine. We LOVE the Forsyth family."

Dallin wrote:
"Brother Forsyth is the best example of preparedness ever. He was always a prepared scouter, often times prepared enough to share with us. He would always be ready with a word of advice for how to improve our day. He taught me how to work on my own to gain something that would be valuable to me. Finally and most importantly, I know that Bro. Forsyth was prepared to go to heaven and meet the Savior. He is a true example of how we should live our lives as we strive to exceed our own expectations. I know that he is patiently waiting for the time when he will be together with his family in heaven and I know that time will come. I know that he is continuing to do great works for the Kingdom of God from Heaven. His example shines brightly for all of us to follow, and I pray that we will."

Jen wrote:
"I'll always remember Mark's smile. He liked to have fun and could tell a great story. I loved hearing even more of those "adventures" from his family and friends.
He loved his family. He was so proud of all his sons, but he also made you feel like one of the family. He had a warmth about him that just made you feel welcome. I know that the YSA branch both needed and felt that. He was a great support to his wife. I'm grateful for their example of a loving marriage.
I loved his advice about sending my son on the 20 mile hike I considered excessive. He sat me down on the stairs in our entry and told me that EVERY boy should go on tough hikes and that it wouldn't hurt him, but rather be good for him. He looked at me a little sideways and said, "Do I need to get you on board for scouting, or are you already there?" I quickly assured him that we were diligently working with Dallin and would re-consider long hikes in our future:) I mean, who could argue with the experienced father of 4 boys?
He lived the gospel and loved the Lord. I'm sure he's busy with some important work on the other side of the veil - multitasking in a heavenly way;)

Ed wrote:
"I always enjoyed talking with Mark when he would come to pick Ian up. He always had a story ready to share of some past adventure or of upcoming plans he would soon be pursuing. He had the uncanny ability to remind people that life was a joy. I see that attitude reflected in Ian - a young man who I pray never loses the optimism his father exemplified. Mark LOVED helping others, particularly young people, see and work towards achieving their true potential - a passion that we share. I only hope that my own efforts can be as heartfelt and sincere as his were. His passing, however, is a striking reminder that above all else, I want my family to know that I know we will live together eternally through keeping the gospel covenants that we willingly make with our Heavenly Father and are brought to pass through our Savior Jesus Christ. This week has reminded me, too, of how precious the time we have together is - not just for "fun and games", but for teaching and strengthening one another. Mark knew that and I hope Ian will always remember how much his Dad loves him.

Apple Peels

Taylor and Cami love to make apple crisp. It's one dessert that is easy to make GF. It always amazes me how much the kids love to eat the peelings when we use our handy-dandy apple peeler. They disappear as fast as as we create them. Here are the kids eating their strings of apple peals - YUM.

Birthday Flowers

It's been a rough two weeks. I'll post about that later... but celebrating my birthday just wasn't a priority. I was very grateful to my mom for sending me flowers to not only wish me a happy birthday, but to remind me that I was a good person and friend and that I could be whatever I was needed to be. Thanks mom, I love you.

(Don't forget that Ed turns 40 on Thanksgiving Day! We will take time to celebrate that one:)

Cute Zoey

Have you ever thought about how strange a pogo stick must seem to a toddler when seen for the first time? Zoey was fascinated with Taylor and Dallin jumping up and down on that crazy pogo stick. She laughed and laughed and wanted to try herself. It was very cute.




She also really loves our dog and the neighbor dog. A few weeks ago, they were tired after playing and trying to fall asleep. She took advantage of their stillness to walk back and forth giving them hugs over and over. You would think that the dog would get old after a while, but she is still just as excited to see the "doggie" every day!

Flowers For My Sister

You know I love my flowers. Many of my plants have a story behind them. I have some from my Grandmother, some from friends, some from neighbors, and some from a search on my own. Janeen has a new house in Indiana and I wanted her to have starts from our Grandmother's plants as well as some of my favorites.

I spent a day last week digging up starts for her and sent a big box with enough for about 20-30 plants. It was so fun for me and I hope she will enjoy the stories behind these plants when they bloom each year.

One of the first piles of starts with explanations on the bags.

Ready to be labeled and put into bags.

Here's the pile ready to go in the box.

I even got inspired to dig up all my Iris and untangle them. I didn't do enough research the first time I planted them, and they didn't bloom very well this year. I had to divide them and re-plant in several places. Hopefully I'll get nice healthy blooms next year.