Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

I spent a couple of minutes trying to think of some other title for my blog and I gave up.

So, here's what we were up to in May.

We started off in utah with the exciting wedding (see below posts) and then we got back from Utah and spent a considerable amount of time jet-lagged. NOT fun. Geneve was especially difficult. She has always been a pill about going to sleep, and international travel magnifies and gives new life to the problem. So things have been rough ever since. Last night she snuk out of her room and we found her asleep and curled up at the foot of Paisley's bed. She really loves her brother and sister. I'm so glad they have each other, they're such sweet friends. It just confirmed what we had recently considered of moving them all into the same room for sleeping and moving all the toys into one room for playing.

Anyway, then we celebrated Mother's day of course. It was nice and relaxing. The family gave me a clean house and Spencer made me a grilled hamburger dinner and we had pot de creme (a store bought treat like creme brulee) for dinner, and my kids made me things at school and church.

I took the kids to a big fun toy store and spent allowance money. Paisley got a Strawberry shortcake car. And Cado got "Gormiti" which I had to that point never heard of, and which since then he's hardly played with. kinda frustrating. I thought he was going to get one of the things he's talked about and wanted forever, but he could not be convinced away from these horrible monster looking toys. It was really an outing too because it's on the other side of town and though that's only a few kilometers in a city it ends up being quite the trip, we drove and driving in the city is a bit stressful and frustrating--one wrong turn and you may have just added a half hour to your drive.

Then there was a day off for "Ascension." That's right-- to mark the day when Christ ascended into heaven after his resurrection. Cado actually said, "Hey I have a day off tomorrow because it's the day when Jesus went back to heaven, my teacher told us." Wow. Does that strike anyone in America as amazing. I'm pretty sure no teacher or anyone for that matter is allowed to say anything anymore about Jesus or God there. We have a minority complex in America which is to say that we honor and value the minorities "rights" and opinions more than the majority, we have minority fear. America is largely Christian, and yet.... yeah, well you know what it's like. Anyway, I thought it was cool that his teacher just said that, and that it's not a problem, and why should it be? If I lived in a majority Muslim country, I would expect there would be a Mohammed day or two, and so what! I don't get it. Anywho...

So for the day off, we went to "L'hoptial des nounours" which is "Stuffed animal hospital". HUG, the Geneva hospital puts on the event by the lake, with a bunch of tents and as far as I could tell actually doctors or nurses who examine the kids stuffed animal. It was so cute. They have a consultation and the kids get to say what's wrong with their animal. Cado's Stripey and Paisley's Rose (a dog she got from Uncle Brian and Aunt Doreen) both had broken legs and Stripey had a fever. They took xrays of the animals and got casts, and then they gave them prescriptions for gummy bear "medicine" that they explained was magic and when consumed by the child would actually help the stuffed animal. Too cute! They even had an ambulance come and out came a large Pooh bear doll all hooked up to stuff, and then later the kids got to go in the ambulance and hear all about it. The whole point is to help kids feel comfortable with hospital and ambulance stuff in case they ever are in a situation to need it.

We also did some family biking. We went to a sports store and got helmets and bells, and a seat and trike for Geneve, and we've been on a couple of rides. Geneve LOVES it. she grabs her helmet all the time and tries to get on a bike and is very dissapointed if we aren't going. Spencer has been doing a TON of road biking. He goes in the morning and has logged a bunch of miles. I'm really impressed and proud of him. This is the first time he's road biked, he always mountain biked before. Cado and Paisley both love biking too. Paisley is still a beginner and pretty cautious, but Cado is like an old pro and I think he's following in Daddy's footsteps, or bike pedals...

We've spent a lot more time lingering outdoors and at playgrounds which is just lovely! When we were rushing to and from because of cold I longed for these days! When I drop the kids off I often play with Geneve at a playground for awhile and she obviously loves this. She adores playing at the park. And when I pick the kids up from school we often linger awhile and play there too. On one such occasion Cado and Paisley were able to try jumproping for the first time and they did really well! I was proud of Cado because he has a really hard time if he doesn't succeed...sound famililiar Mom and Dad? Yeah, it comes from me. He says, "I can't do it!" if he doesn't get it right the first time and he beats himself up or he says he doesn't care and never wanted to do it or liked it anyway! So I've been trying to help him and I feel like I'm my parents parenting myself! But there are these awesome moments where it clicks for him and he remembers the things I've tried to teach him and this day was one of those. He said, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it, and I said, You probably won't be able to at first, but if you keep trying I know you can. And he chose to be positive and he said, Yeah! I'm just going to keep trying until I get it Mom! And he did! It took him a few times, but he got it! It's so obvious that our minds have so much to do with how we fail or succeed in life or how happy or miserable we are. 

We had another day off in May, this one was for Pentecost. The ward had a picnic and it turned out really well. We grilled, we ate, talked, played some games and Cado had a ton of fun with his friend Mathias. Cado and Daddy biked to the park and all the home again, don't know how long exactly, but a pretty long bike ride for a 5 year old anyway.

To finish off May Paisley had THREE dance recitals! It was so fun. But I'm going to post that seperately...stay tuned!

I guess I'll accompany the album with a quick blog.

We made our way back to Utah, eating at In-n-out on the way of course, and the trip went well, though we were all pretty sick of traveling!

Then I think the next day was my  cousin Ariel's wedding. her and Sean got married in the Bountiful temple on Tuesday January 5th. the temple ceremony was beautiful, always a good reminder of what's most important and to cherish the one you've got! She looked amazing of course! Then we went to Ikea to grab a gift, with Jason & Kathryn and Grama and Grampa Grotegut. That was fun. Jason even treated us to Ikea breakfast, which was kind of funny because it was followed shortly after by the luncheon. They had a delicious luncheon and it was fun to hang out with all the family, and get a glimpse into the future, as another Roundy was there amongst the Groteguts, Spencer's brother Darrell, soon to wed Ariel's sister Marissa. confused? perhaps, but it's pretty cool and we're excited about it.  Grama Roundy watched the kids that morning and then we returned and jason and Kathryn came over and played some games with us. We ate dinner and then we all went to the reception at the Provo Library.

The next day I think we went to play at the Cowan's home, or maybe that was actually the day before, yes, I think it was Monday. We had such a nice time being with our good friends again!

Then Grama and Grampa Grotegut said we could use their timeshare at Snowbird so we did! It was so nice to have a little getaway just us. I forgot our snow clothes, but we managed to play in the snow anyway and it wasn't too bad. The kids loved playing in the hot tub on the balcony and eating icicles that I broke off from the eave. Then we took Spencer to the airport to fly BACK to California to check in at his office and for some event or meeting they were having. And we headed down to play with the Cowans again. This time at Arctic circle indoor playground.

I think Friday is when I got my hair done and then hung out with Marissa and did some shopping. My haircolor turned out fabulous! Love it!! But I made the mistake of trusting the stylist to trim it up and "clean it up" and apparently to her that meant chop it off. I of course didn't say anything and even gave her 20 bucks for it. so dumb. I started off trying to tell myself it was okay, and it was cute and it's not a big deal, etc. but then got progressively more irritated because I've been trying to grow it for so long and she didn't do at all what I said or she said she was going to do! frustrating. It was fun to hang out with Marissa who has always been my cousin but will soon be my sister in law! 

Saturday we went to the dinosour museum at Thanksgiving point with Grandma and Grandpa Roundy. That was really fun, what a cool place! Then they kept our kids while we ran off to meet Brent and Jennie (Cowan) at the theater for Avatar. What fun! We realized we had never gone on a double date the whole 2 1/2 years we lived here in Geneva together. too expensive! We had such a great time. We went to Cafe Rio afterwards and it's just as good as ever.

Sunday was Micah Grotegut's (Marissa and Ariel's brother) homecoming. So once again we found ourselves surrounded by extended family and Groteguts and that's always fun. The meal by Jan was delicious. And that brother of Spencer's was there again of course. Funny that he has the same relation to my extended family now as Spencer does, and that he'll be calling my granparents grandparents, and my parents uncle and aunt, etc. etc.

Monday or Tuesday I took Darrell and Marissa's engagement pictures. They are too cute together and fun! and it got me even more excited about the whole deal. Then we spent the last few days on errands, and having friends visit and being with the family. VeeAnn and her kids came over, Amber and her kids came over, and Jourdan&Rod and their kids came over! We even managed to squeeze in a visit to the Great Groteguts the afternoon before we left, amidst errands and packing. oh packing! It was even more difficult than usual with all the Christmas gifts but we really did pretty well getting most of it in and managed to get to the airport on time and everything!

Of course in all of this there were lots of stories read by Grandma and playing with toys and costumes, and eating and visiting and watching things and playing things, and Lauren and Jennifer came over quite a few times and their kids Addy and Coleman. Our kids played marvelously together and had such a good time. They just love each other!

It was really a busy time and Virginia remarked that we don't really relax on vacation! But we sure do have fun! Thanks for the great stay and for everyone who made time for us!

I'm gonna make this quick and hope that the pictures tell most of the story. We had a great Christmas! It was worth the long flight. The flight went pretty well I think, though it was a bit stressful getting on it. We thought we barely made it, but then actually ended up sitting in the plane for awhile while they de-iced it. And we were also mistakenly charged 300 francs for extra baggage.

We were picked up at the airport by brother-in-law Darrell, and his girlfriend, MY cousin Marissa Grotegut (Mom's older brother, Tim's daughter). They are very cute together (find their roundeo page to the right under Grotegut, or click here.) WE loved playing with Adalyne and Coleman (Lauren, Spencer's brother, and Jennifer's kids). Paisley said several times how she just Loves Addy. We had a relaxing couple of days, very needed, at Grandma and Grandpa Roundy's house, and then headed down to California on Tuesday, stopping at Grandpa Roundy's parents' home in St. George and staying the night with Aunt Maren (mom's sister) and Uncle Kevin.

By the time we got to Cali we were already quite sick of traveling! Then we had to get all of our Christmas shopping and wrapping done, which now that I think about it, is pretty impressive in 2days. We also went to the mall and saw Santa. Geneve said, "ho ho ho!" but wasn't interested in getting too close of course.

Christmas eve day was spent in preparation, including Paisley helping with Mom's famous Christmas braided breads. Which turned out as yummy as ever. We had a simple Mary and Joseph dinner where we ate foods they might have eaten, and we sang some songs and read the Christmas story. We let the kids open a present with pajamas and a book. Then the parents stayed up all night being Santa....oh wait, not this time. It was really quite simple so when I saw that spencer had konked out putting Geneve to sleep, I just put the gifts out and joined him before too long. 

Morning of, kids woke early of course, but had to wait because we thought Brian and Doreen might get there in time, and for grandparents and everyone else to be ready. They watched TV to bide the time. Then they paraded in and we were happy they were all excited about their gifts. Then to the pile of presents under the tree which took us a few hours. Then we ate our yummy breakfast and enjoyed a relaxing day filled with new toys and family. Miriam's family came over too (from Mexico) and we enjoyed their company and their tamales (which I think is what we ate for dinner?).

Geneve was cute opening presents. She got very excited about every present whether hers or not, liked unwrapping, and was especially beside herself with excitement about the new baby doll she got from Grami. She was in rapture!

Other stuff we did in California, we went to the hotel pool of Miriam's family, with Josh and Miriam and Miriam's mom and brothers (outdoor pool, love California!), had some friends over, went to the zoo, and relaxed. We met the mother of Jeff's child, Lauren, which was nice (she was very pregnant at the time). No Disneyland this year, and no beach. We kept it simple and close to home. And we had a really great visit. We really enjoyed each other and being with the family. The kids all enjoy their uncles and Aunts and Grandparents and the other way around!

Oh, we also saw a couple of movies in the states and recently. We saw The Princess and the Frog while in California and loved it! I have been saying for many years that Disney needs to go back to traditional animation and retelling classic stories, that they were overdue for a princess fairy tale, and that it's about time they have a black hero or heroine or story. And Voila! My wish fulfilled. We also saw (whether in the states or here) Avatar, Holmes, and 500 days of Summer. I liked all of these movies quite a lot for different reasons. And I recommend them.

Much more to come, stay tuned! ....Love, Harmony

This is our Halloween day. I started with a 9 am photo shoot, then Spencer and the kids joined me afterwards at the park nearby my shoot as well as our friends the Gillespies. We took pictures for each other, played at the park and then went driving through the beautiful fall colors to find some pumpkins. The patch was pretty funny, a tarp thrown on the ground on an obscure farm, with a can to put your money in, honor system style. We got tiny pumpkins for a large price. Then we carved them and got ready for the Halloween event at the church. Cado was Optimus Prime, Paisley was BArbie Rapunzel, and Geneve Penelope the purple dragon ( friend of Barbie Rapunzel).

We had a fun time at the party. The kids got to walk out on a catwalk to show off their costumes, play some games, do some activities and of course trick or treating at the doors of the church. It was a very full day. We miss Halloween in the States and with family, but until we can do that again, we're glad we at least have the church party and some good friends.  Despite some early costume preparation, I still stayed up super late the night before finishing Cado's costume and prepping for all the photos the next day. But it turned out to be a really nice, fun day despite the tiredness and busyness! Hope you had a nice Halloween too!

It's my big bro Brian's birthday today.

  Brian, I'm glad you have always been a part of my life. I hope you have a good one and feel loved. You are so talented and have such a big heart.  You will always have a special place in my heart and life. We had such a fun childhood together. I can't imagine life without you. I am a lucky girl to have had such a great, fun, creative, supportive friend for a big brother then, and now. We love you lots! 

 recent photos of the man, the myth, the legend (as our Father might say)

Here I would have added a nice little 311 playlist for you with grooveshark only for some annoying reason that proved impossible. So go listen to some good old 311 for me. Here are the songs I was going to throw in: use of time, do you right, bomb the town, I can't remember the rest. It was going to be a sweet little list though. What we should be doing today is going to a  311 concert together, that would be sicktight. When I hear "Do you right" I always think of cruisin around with you in your truck listening to that song and rockin out. good times. miss you! Do yourself right today and enjoy it!

California!

So we were able to spend almost 3 weeks in Corona at my parents' house. It was pretty chill. We did Disneyland 3 days, 2 Beach days, lots of play time at Grami's house, ate lots of yummy food, saw a couple friends, went on a date and saw Monsters and Aliens (loved it), shopped a bit, hung out with the fam lots, including all the siblings Brian and Doreen, Josh and Miriam, and Jeffrey, played some tennis with Dad (for the first time in years) and played at the park, and did some art with the kids. We enjoyed all of it. I did not get my fill of In N Out or Miguels, but I don't know if thats even possible.We got picked up at the airport by Grampi/Pop-Pop and Miriam. What a happy reunion. And then the kids were super excited to run in the house and see Grami. It was a joyful moment. And then they were thrilled to see more Easter baskets! One with a huge Transformer for the transformer obsessed Cado, and one with an Ariel doll for Princess Paisley. They couldn't have been happier to be at Grami's and have such desired new toys! I'm sorry to say I've already forgotten many details, but the photos will remind me. In any case,

Thanks for the really great time! We love California!

We started our trip to the States with a short visit to Utah! It was so much fun, but 4 days was definitely too rushed especially when you factor in jet lag. I think the pictures pretty well tell the story, but here is a quick recap. Left here on Wednesday 8th, arrived Wednesday afternoon. The kids did so well on the airplane. Lots of people commented on it, so that was really nice. They were so jazzed up to be picked up at the airport by Grama Roundy. I don't necessarily remember the sequence of events, but I did some shopping, we did Easter Activities, ate good food at Grama's house, hung out with Darrell who cleared his busy schedule for us, and Lauren and Jennifer and Mom and Dad, and played games, went on a fun date, dealt with sick kids. Paisley started the sickness here in Geneva, and it wouldn't budge for at least a week. Then Geneve got it, or vice versa actually, and then in California Cado got it. We had a great time. We also got to spend a few hours on Saturday with Grandma Maris and Great Grampa for a big Grotegut Family Easter egg hunt and lunch. 

I invite the Grandparents (and others) to share any memories, or impressions of the kids' personalities, or whatever!

Thanks for a great visit! We love Utah!