The Steele Home

2010-04-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

2010-03-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

We had a short but wonderful trip down to Washington DC /Virginia. By we, I mean Madison, Hunter and I. We left on a Thursday afternoon. Madison was working on her "traveling" merit badge for American Heritage Girls. So, I handed her the map and away we went. I've been there a few times before, and had a general idea of where we were going, besides, we had a gps in the car - not plugged in, but we did have it in the car. She tried her best to figure the map out and tell me where to go. Somehow we ended up on all the right roads - and headed south. I ALWAYS manage to get lost in Williamsport, no matter what - and guess what?? I did it again. Well, not really lost, but after trying to find our way out of the middle of town, and resorting to the gsp which promptly directed us to . . . . head back home - we stopped for dinner, at McDonalds, where Hunter downed an Angus burger and Madi and I ate. Then we loaded back into the car, set the gps for the correct destination - and were on our way. So, approximately 1 hour after I turned left instead of right at the detour, I turned right - and we were on the correct road. Night fell, the kids nodded off, and I had my trusty gsp to get me into the heart of DC to my brothers house. Never would I attempt this without a gps - totally crazy terrible roads down there.

We slept in, and enjoyed Friday at the Smithsonian with Jacob Mender - who turned out to be a fabulous host. He took us on the metro, led us to the right places, was patient with the kids, offered to help pay for lunch, and oohed and aahed in all the right places. He even posed for a photo. When we landed on the "mall" at the Smithsonian, we saw them setting up scaffolding, and getting ready for something that looked rather "big" to us. Little did we know - it was for the protestors for the Health Care Bill. Glad we missed that rally. From the photos, you can see that we raise some very strong children in Upstate NY. Happy ones too.

Saturday we slept in, enjoyed Uncle Drakes Waffles with real Maple Syrup, wandered over to Great Falls state park, only to find out that everyone else was headed there too. You see, it was in the 70's, sunny, and absolutely!!!!!!!!!! gorgeous outside - one of the reasons I headed down there that weekend. I'm no dummy! We waited patiently and finally found a parking spot. Wandered out on the bridges and through the trails. But, alas, due to a very wet and snowy winter - our favorite hike was closed. We settled for walking the canal trail, but it really wasn't the same. Because of the wet weather, there were some awesome falls lots of water going over them. I tried to take photos, but didn't realize I had the camera set to video. Needless to say, we have some very short clips of the falls. Neat. So much better than a photo. Whenever Drake tried to take a picture of us, someone would offer to take a photo of all of us, and Drake would ablige, but explain that I was his "sister" not his wife. And, there were times I'm sure he was deliberately walking a few steps behind us when some cute girls walked by. After the hike he treated us to lunch at Champs, and the kids got ice cream at Maggie Moos. Both are places we have at our local mall. On hindsight, I should have insisted on something they couldn't find at home, but whatever, they had fun, and I think it was the biggest plate of Nachos Madison had ever seen.

Sunday found us in church, listening to stake conference broadcast from SLC, with Boyd K Packer as the keynote speaker. He was amazing, and we were filled spiritually. After letting the kids get some steam out, we headed on the long drive home. Hunter and Madison were perfect travelers, and I'd love to take them on some more adventures.

2009-10-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!! I know, you are SO surprised to see anything new on this site. It's been so long since I've written that you probably gave up reading it months ago. I'm glad you're back, and I'm glad to be back also, though I don't make any promises to you. All I truly know is that my two daughters-in-law update regularly and keep me up to speed with their lives and their kids - aka - my grandkids. And for that I am TRULY grateful. It makes every day that I can't see them more bearable.

Hmm . . . where to start. I'll begin with the kids at home . . .

Jonathan received his mission call to the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission and is due at the Sao Paulo MTC on November 18th, as long as his visa goes through on time. Say a prayer for him. We are busy buying suits, pants that are narrow enough but long enough (he's 6' 3 1/2" and still growing), and all the short sleeve white shirts in his size in two JC Penney stores. He is excited to get a few weeks of bow hunting in before he actually leaves. We will miss him, but are so proud of the choices he is making and totally support him as he prepares to serve the Lord.

Remington made the varsity soccer team and is at a game or practice every day. He comes home exhausted and hungry, . . . and lately frozen too. He is up early every day for seminary, and consequently he enjoys what little sleep he gets and dreams for extra hours in the night so he can catch up on what he needs. Soccer will be over in a few weeks, and hopefully he'll use whatever time he gains from that for homework and rest.

Rosemary opted not to do a sport this fall and won the job at the library. We thought she was up against some tough competition. We heard that about 30 kids applied, and at least 6 were slated for interviews. I don't know what happened to all the other kids, but Rosie came out on top and now works 10 hours a week. She was delighted!! And she is already bored. It's not an exciting job shelving books all night. I know she'll appreciate the paycheck and the steady hours and getting out early on weekends - but that hardly makes up for the lack of fun in working at a very small town library. Oh, well, at least it's close to home and only for a couple of years.

Hunter joined the bowling team last year, and has signed up again this year. He bowled througout the summer too. He likes individual sports and having a good time with friends, and this seems to fit the bill. Depending on the day, he can do very well, or not so good at all. This summer I went with him on his birthday, and he bowled a 198 game. Pretty good game for him! His team (he and Zac Smith) beat out the undefeated team!! It was a great night for bowling, every time I asked him to get a strike - he did it. If I wasn't watching and he didn't get all the pins down, I'd tell him he needed to pick up the spare, and he would. We had a blast.

Madison is in 4th grade this year. She is busy with American Heritage Girls and also Achievement Days. She lives crafts and is constantly doing something with her hands. Lately it's making hats on a circular loom. We found the rubbermaid carton with tons of yarn and the other 4 looms, so she is in heaven. She's working on a blue scarf at the moment.

I'm tired of paying high prices for school pictures. So, Rosie and I took the camera and shot some photos of Madison and Rosie. Here are a few. Maybe I'll actually get some of these printed out and up on the wall, and a few at dad's office. The ones there haven't been updated in about 3 years.

Wishes and Dreams come true

2009-03-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite people has become what I always wanted to be - a successful person!! Years ago we had a sweet wonderful gal and her husband move into our ward and start a family. They were here only a short time, but we fell in love with their family and have sort-of stayed in touch through the years. Most of the news we have received back and forth has been passed by her mother who still lives in the area. We've both gotten busy with our lives and kids, and more than a few years have passed. I knew she was writing a fun 'parenting' column once in a while for a newspaper and had been a bit successful. I was proud of her, and wondered how she accomplished all that she did with her 4 very busy boys. Little did I know she was well on her was to achieving a dream she had, and one I held at one time too. So, if you'd like to check out my successful friend - and maybe attend a book signing in your area - click on the link below and see how dreams can come true. Way to go Julie, I'm so proud of you.

www.julieberrybooks.com

Am I crazy??

2009-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I signed up for a "contest" and this is how it works.

The first five people...to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations:

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make :)
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done within a year (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be
5. I reserve the right to do something really fun

Here the catch: if you choose to do this, you must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Joel's Disney

2009-02-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

I really don't like my picture taken - so I'm making faces.

Outside the condo - minutes before we left for NY. I look relaxed and refreshed. Nice Vacation!!

Played with my kids.

Still kept in touch with work - or played games. Can't get me away from my i-phone, even at Disney World.

Madi's Disney

2009-02-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

My favorite ride in Magic Kingdom was Space Mountain . . . it's an indoor roller coaster - in the dark. I loved the 2 3-D movies we saw. They really squirted water, air and bubbles at us. My favorite ride at Hollywood Studios was the 5 story Tower of Terror. Hunter and I went on it - everyone else was too scared. The picture shows you how tall the building is.

I also like the brand new American Idol show. The girl dressed up as Minnie won in our show. They do about 8 shows every day with 3 different people competing in each show. One person wins each show, and then at night the winners of the 8 different shows compete and there is 1 winner there - and they get a golden ticket to the front of the line of any next real American Idol Audition.

We spent a day with the Martin family in downtown Disney. We ate at Planet Hollywood, played for a couple of hours in Disney Quest - 5 floors of fun. One of the rides, you got to program your own rollercoaster and then ride on it. Hunter's went upside down 10 times. We all went back to our condo, ate up stuff from the fridge and freezer (we were going home the next day), swam in the pool and chased an armadillo. We had a good time. It was like 80 degrees and so fun.

January 2009

2009-01-07T03:28:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't posted in forever. Life has just been so busy. Umm, it would be too hard to catch you up on all the details - let's just say that the Steele home is on the go all the time.

Matt, Erin and Ella live in town, work with dad, and pop in to bring us treats and chat. We love having them close by and don't play with them often enough.

Zac & Sarah are on the home stretch at BYU - just starting their last semester before graduation. They just moved into a new apartment - and are adding another grandbaby to the Steele family. We are so excited!!

Savannah will be graduating in April also, and has just started student teaching in Spanish Fork. She'll be working with 7th,8th and 9th graders, teaching them math.

Elizabeth is a sophomore at BYU and has become quite the photographer. She is making quite a name for herself and having a good time at it. She is headed to California to take pictures of her roommates wedding reception.

Jonathan survived the first semester at the Y and is back for more. I was surprised to find that he grew another 2 inches during the 4 months he has been gone. Needless to say, we bought him some pants that fit. We enjoyed having he and his sisters home for Christmas. They filled up the house with luggage, chatter, laughter, late nights, movies, games, christmas goodies and plain old fun.

Rosie and Remington stay so busy with their lives that we hardly ever see them. They are busy with soccer, both indoor and out, skiing, school, homework, church activities, jobs, and friends. Their day starts when it is still dark - heading out for seminary. Since we pick up a girl in the ward, we leave the house around 5:40 in the morning. While they are at seminary, I walk with another mom - good days and bad. It's crazy that when we finish our walk and return to the church to pick up the kids, its still dark outside. Something abby-normal about being up THAT early. Then it's off to school and all their activities. If they do have an occasional afternoon free - they are often found passed out on the couch in the living room.
Remington is turning into the typical teenage boy - reminding me how many days it will be before he gets his permit (we're down to 19 now), and eating everything in sight. Which just means he will be another very tall Steele boy.

Hunter is the 'rebel' of the family, as his dad calls him. He is taking spanish at school (the other kids took french- except for Rosie), and if you can believe it, he has taken up snowboarding - instead of the family tradition of skiing. He loves it. It's a completely different sport than skiing - and he's still trying to get the hang of it. He did borrow Rem's skis last week and enjoyed them for an evening. I got the dreaded phone call from Bristol Mountain on monday evening. "Your son has been hurt - you should come down and take a look at him." I hurried down to the ski patrol lodge and found him impatient to get back on the slopes. He had fallen on the hill and continued to snowboard, not realizing that he was dripping blood down his face. They took him into the ski patrol lodge, bandaged up what they could and called me. I drove down, peeled the bandages off, assessed the abrasion, applied antibiotic ointment, patched him up and sent him back out to the hill. There is just no stopping a determined little boy. He really was fine. The next morning his face looked better, but had swollen some - so I think he's working on a bit of a black eye. I took these photos, but he kept closing his eye so that it would look much worse than it actually is (don't say I said that).

Madison had a birthday in late November - and received ski lessons as her present from mom and day. She started them this past Saturday - and can't wait until the next saturday when she can ride the ski lift and go down one of the actual ski trails. She is excited to be doing the same thing as her big brothers and sister. She is very excited for the next week when she can ski with mom and her best friend and cousin Anna.

So long for now, I hope to be better at blogging this year.

Matt and Erin

2008-03-28T19:11:00.001-07:00

Zach & Sarah . . . and Logan

2008-03-28T19:02:00.001-07:00

Late Christmas Photos

2008-03-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

Over Christmas Break, minutes before the kids had to leave for the airport, we ran down to the historical society and snapped as many photos as my camera battery would allow. Unfortunately I didn't think to charge it before we left. That's OK, it was very cold and by the time these shots were taken, we were all fairly chilled to the bone. These are some of the best.

Of course the very best shot of the entire family had me with my eyes closed. Like I sleep through life. HARDLY!! Enjoy!!!

Time Warp

2008-03-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

For any of my kids who may be feeling homesick. Or anyone who might be missing New York at this time of year - EARLY Spring. Or to anyone interested in revisiting OLD B&W movies. This was our world today. Enjoy - - - anything Sunny! Which is obviously not here!!!!!!!

H O T Popcorn Ouch!!

2008-02-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

Joel volunteered to make caramel popcorn balls for the ward Linger Longer last week. Caramel Popcorn is one of Joel's favorite things - and it's been years since I made it. He was so excited to be making popcorn. He had the boys helping him (in the kitchen I had just made spotless - of course!!!).

I had cub scout meeting to attend. So I left the 'boys' in the kitchen with their pots and pots of popped popcorn. They had a large pan of syrup bubbling on the stove on it's way caramel stage.

Though boys can be good cooks - and the caramel popcorn turned out great. I have learned over the years that you can't always trust them in the kitchen. I think I finally have all the popcorn tidbits, kernels and sticky sugar finally cleaned up. But poor Remington, Joel's little helper, got some horrible burns. They are healing up nicely. He said they never even hurt that bad. I hope they fade away and don't scar at all. He keeps them well ointmented and covered. You better have strong stomachs to view these photos.

Belly Laughs . . . New Pajamas . . . Santa . . . & Logan!

2008-02-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more photos.

Belly laughs - you can tell how much fun the Christmas carols were at our house that Christmas eve.

A few years ago, I made brand new pajama pants for everyone at Christmas time. Now it's become a Christmas tradition. Some of the kids have every pair and as they wore them throughout the week, we heard - these are from last christmas when . . ., and these were the first pair I got . . ., and, I stole these from Mathieu so I could have a pair. . . . and now Erin has her own, and I promised to teach her how to make some more if she wants to learn.

Joel has a Santa suit that he wears at various times of the year. He has a ball at the Holloway house restaurant during a special Christmas brunch they hold. He refuses to get paid, but asks for a box of their delicious orange rolls instead. He wears it during the yearly memorial day parade and throws blow pops to the kids. He also wears it while the rotary hosts the salvation army red kettle campaign every christmas eve. They get quite a few donations. But here, I don't think Logan was enjoying any of it at all; he did make out quite well on Christmas morning though. . . Logan that is.

Our first Christmas as grandparents. What a wonderful experience. We are truly blessed with the best kids, the best daughters-in-law, and the world's best grandson. Probably the best memory of all of Christmas was when 11 of us attended the temple - as a family!! We did baptisms so all the kids could join us. What an awesome night. Next year Hunter will be old enough to go with us. We should make it a yearly tradition.

Christmas Eve . . . and the gangs all here.

2008-02-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was fantastic. We had 7 kids fly home on one airplane - it took 2 cars to get everyone back to the house. It was so nice to have everyone 'home' again. We didn't all fit into the house anymore - a few stayed with Grandma and Grandpa - thanks! So, we had Bert & Anna, Alex & Stephanie, Grandma & Grandpa, and all the rest of us under one big roof. We had a simple dinner and really enjoyed each others company. Matt & Erin planned a little program to get us into the 'Christ'mas mood. It was excellent. Joel has to add his own flavor to everything - you can see how his singing had the kids doing belly laughs. Here's a little taste of our Christmas Eve at Home.

Procrastinat. . i . . . o . . . n!!

2008-02-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

So, I had this fabulous idea to make a cute little homemade book for my adorable grandson for Christmas. I was going take pictures of all the kids, laminate them and bind them into a small book. One that a 6 month old could manipulate and chew on; one that would be about indestructible; one that he could get to know his aunts and uncles, grandma (that still sounds weird) and grandpa. And like some of my great ideas, the better they get, the less likely they are to get done.

I did get some last minute photos and thought I'd share them with you. I WAS going to include all kinds of ideas into the book. Each child was going to feature a certain color, so that Logan could learn colors. Each page was going to have a little 'toy' hidden somewhere in it so Logan could play 'eye-spy' and identify things - hats, balls, 4 wheelers, monkey, shirts, socks, etc. Hunter was going to be the 'brown' page and we did get some pictures of him with our brown dog, Jessie. Madison of course is our little pink princess, with her pink webkinz horses. Hunter and Madison had fun posing, and these are a few photos from a last minute attempt to still make the book happen.

2007-12-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

I decided to take Jonathan's senior pictures this year. Over the years, we have had 4 sets of senior pictures done with some awesome results. The photos are really nice, but the prices kept creeping up every year, and the expectations from the photographer were humbling. They all acted like I should be buying great big wall portraits for my home, and spending lots of muulah on the senior photos, cuz, like, it's the only time they will be a senior in HS, and well, most of my kids didn't really care. I guess the last straw was when Liz's photographer charged $40 to send a photo of her to the school, by e-mail no less. I knew at the very least I could do that.

So Jon and I went out one day, months ago and we had fun taking some shots. Jon is a typical boy and thought going out in whatever he had on was just fine by him, thank you very much. It took some talking to get him to change in to ONE other outfit. I'm glad, because those photos turned out the best. I still haven't had time to photoshop them and take out the blemishes on his face, but I did e-mail one to the school, and have about 90 others saved on the computer. They aren't photographer quality, but I think they will do just fine. I wish I could have had more time with him, more outfit changes, and time to go to a park, or a different setting other than just around the house, and I still want to get another zoom lens and some filters for my camera, but all in all we didn't do too bad. You can see his personality in his smile, and that is what matters most.

D.C. Zoo

2007-11-25T12:57:00.000-08:00

While we were in Washington, Drake took us to the DC Zoo. It's a great zoo. Just the right size for a couple of hours of walking and seeing the animals. And it's free!!! Nice!, only parking was $16, and the snacks were so overpriced. But we had a wonderful time. The animals were fairly active, and kids had a good time watching them. We saw lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! A building with aquarium animals, and my favorite, the komodo dragon. The dragon was great. The kids on one side of the glass, and the dragon on the other. Unfortunately there is some glare from the glass on the pictures, but it was still fun to see the kids nose to nose with a real dragon. We even saw some pandas. They had cows and horses too. Weird.

At one point in the zoo we were wandering around outside looking at the animals, and I came around a corner and they had a big computer monitor there, separated into 6 sections. They had different cameras around the zoo and were capturing pictures of animals and 'things'. I took and look at the monitors and saw . . . myself! I was in the zoo. I was laughing and called Rem over to see, the monitors changed, and then Rem was in the zoo too, Drake came around the corner, the monitors changed, and there were Rem, Drake and I all on the screen. It was quite funny. Rem grabbed the camera and took this shot. So, I guess what my mom said years ago is true, I am a monkey in the zoo.

We had fun, and have hopes of traveling down again soon. Now that I have made the trip on my own, it should be easy to do again.

Great Falls, VA

2007-11-16T06:10:00.000-08:00

On Veteran's Day weekend, the 4 youngest and I escaped to Washington DC to visit Drake, see old friends, and have some fun time together. This is us at a state park called Great Falls, in Virginia. Just behind the kids you can see the Potomac river. We arrived at the park and we were amazed at the number of folks out enjoying the beautiful fall day. Though it seems we are in the wilds, we were surrounded at all times by tons of people. Think Boughton Park with everyone in Bloomfield there at the same time, and you may have an idea of what it was like. We had a ball though. It was quite the hike.

Our journey began on a nice, flat trail, an easy walk with a canal on one side of us, and the Potomac on the other. We took a side trail to the real 'hike' and we had a ball. It started out nice and easy, pretty soon we were stepping over rocks, then stepping on rocks, and in the photo of the kids climbing the boulders, that is the trail. Oh, and to the right of Rem and Madi, well, it's a drop a couple of hundred feet into the rapids of the Potomac. Just below Madi's elbow, you can see the rock wall on the other side of the river.

Photo #1, me hiking the hard part of the trail, Rem was on the trail below me and took this shot.

Photo #2, the easy part of the trail and the beautiful fall day it was.

Photo #3, the kids on an overlook of some of the rapids. We saw kayakers there. Fun.

Photo #4, some of the local wildlife, a monkey in a tree.

Photo #5, me and the handsome guide.

Photo #6, hikers on the medium part of the trail.

A Day At the Park

2007-11-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago it was a gorgeous fall day, and toward evening with nothing to do, Madison and I decided to go for a walk in Boughton Park. I grabbed the camera and we headed out the door. The sun was in the west, the leaves were just starting to change color, the day was perfect for some 'Mom and Me' time, and I had fun experimenting with lots of shots.

Funny how the setting sun with its play of light and shadow looks so different on the actual picture than through the lens of the camera. Because of that, some photos that I thought would be really sweet, turned out kinda lame, and others surprised me with what they did capture. Here are a few of our favorites.

Steele Momma Breaks Out

2007-11-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

So, I love reading The Sweet Life of Zac and Sarah so much I decided to start a Blog for the Steele Family, so you all can stay updated, in-tuned, and informed. Besides, I know that you miss us all and wish you could see us more often. Now you can. Just put us in your Links page and click to see us anytime you wish. How fun is that??

Halloween was a blast. Hunter was the "Angel of Freddie Krueger". How creative is that. Hunter and Maddie went through the halloween costume box, and created their own versions of a halloween costume. Hunter was unique. That kid just has an imagination. I tried to get a photo, but he ran off too fast to start collecting that candy. I will try to get him to put his get-up on again so I can get a photo - it is precious. . . long black tunic, fairy angel wings, krueger mask, and 'beautiful' hair. Half-way through trick-or-treating he took off the krueger face and just called himself 'beautiful'. That kid has no hangups, loves the color pink, and is definitely all boy.

Maddie pulled on a shiny silver tunic, wrapped a purple belt around her waist, and a mideavel crown around her hair, and called herself 'tinfoil' girl. Something like that. Had a friend who took a photo, will try and get a copy later. We had fun walking the town on that balmy halloween evening. I dressed up too. Had a ball greeting people who had no idea who I was. Everyone tried to give me candy when all I wanted to do was shake their hand and say hello.

All-in-all, I'd say Halloween was a big success. Now that it's November, wish ELIZABETH a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Congrats! on your special day. 19! Woo Hoo !!

Love to all, Momma Steele