Collard Family Film 2019

As you might be able to tell, I've been on a major video kick as we practice this whole social distancing thing because of the coronavirus. I've had lots of time on my hands, except for the million hours it feels like we spend doing homeschool and trying to figure out how to make every day not feel like Groundhogs day and spice things up around here. Robert and I also recently got new phones, and although our photos and videos are all saved on the cloud, it still got me thinking about how all of my videos will just sit unseen and I'm going to be so sad if I never put them somewhere where my kids will be able to look back on them. I put together clips from all the videos I have from 2019 to cover the entire year. It was a good one and I can't believe how much Hannah changed! Watching this makes me anxious for the days that we can spend lots of time hugging and being with all those that we love, travel again and get back to a normal routine. As for now, we are hunkered down in this little home of ours, soaking up our time together. 

spring break 2019

We are STILL alive! And I miss writing about my family and and posting pictures of their sweet faces. I am just barely putting these clips from a YEAR ago together in a video and my kids have already watched it three times today. They love it so much, and it has me feeling like documenting our life here is going to have to be more of a priority for me, especially since I'm not great at documenting it elsewhere. So take this as my unofficial declaration that I am back and will be posting here more than once a year.

Last year for spring break, the Adseros decided on a whim to take a trip back to Utah. We were nothing short of elated, and quickly made some last minute family travel plans with them. Most of the Mecham side spent a few days down at a little ranch in Southern Utah, hiking and relaxing and...throwing up. Oy! Pretty much all of the kids took turns tossing, but we pressed on and managed to have a good bit of fun in spite of the mess.

After Southern Utah, the Adseros and our little family continued on down to Southern California where we stayed together in a beach house in Mission Beach. We were just about a block from the beach and it was so fun. My kids loved being with their cousins so much and the beach felt so good as we were coming out of a long, cold winter in Utah. We decided to surprise the kids with two days at Disneyland. They were delighted! Although it was fun surprising them, Charlotte and I both agreed sometimes the anticipation of and the thinking about the trip can almost be as fun as the trip itself. So it has been noted that we will likely not keep it a surprise next time because I think they would have been even more revved up had they known about it ahead of time.

After another round of barfs at the end of Disneyland we decided to just start heading home that night. Unfortunately, both our cars had multiple rounds of throw up and our night at Whiskey Pete's in Primm, Nevada, will forever go down as one of the most revolting nights of my life. The place was nasty to start (should have guessed it would be), and then three sick children messing the place up about did me in. I have never been so grateful to finally be home in my life after that night. Thankfully most of the sickness held out throughout the trip so we were able to really have fun on the most fun days. Unfortunately the sickness continued for both families for days, and perhaps weeks beyond the trip. It was a real doozy.

Anyhow, it was all worth it, gosh darn it. Look how happy these babies are in this video. Now I'm counting down the days until we can all do this again, sans tossing.

end of summer and early fall {and a video dump}

I swear life is going at time warp speed. It's like I blinked and three months went by. Our calendar in the kitchen hasn't been updated since July so that gives you an idea of how scatterbrained and behind I am. My phone and computer have been at max capacity as far as space for pictures goes so I feel like I am missing a lot of things I might otherwise include in this monster of an update, but these will have to do for now. 

Look at those three cuties up there that I get to spend every single day with! I love looking at this picture because I feel like it gives me a chance to see my every day life from an outside perspective. I love these babies of mine and although they tire me to no end, it is the exact life I've always wanted and I will forever be grateful for these years when my kids are young and I was their world and they were mine. We have had a really good last few months together.

Minnie turned FIVE in August! We celebrated she and Nick's birthday together at my parent's house the Sunday following their birthdays. She loves sharing her birthday party every year with him.

On Min's actual birthday, which was a Saturday, we had a little combined birthday party for her and Louisa. All of the pictures I took from their birthday are on my external hard drive except for this one of these cuties and their cupcakes. We did a little water-themed birthday party and had our own little splash pad of sorts set up in the backyard. It ended up working out great and Minnie and Louie had a great day.

We spent the evening of Minnie's birthday at Lagoon and it was the perfect end to a really great day. This girl is just fun. She is dramatic, and wild and sometimes quite naughty, but it all generally boils down to the fact that she was trying to have fun. I love her so much and am so proud of the way she cares about and loves people.

My mom got the girls surprise tickets to a production of The Little Mermaid and as a gift for Louisa's birthday she gave them a countdown chain and a little present for each day until the performance. Here they are drinking chocolate milk with the straws they got one of the days. My mom is so creative.

I think this was literally the best day of their lives! They had no idea where we were going but we told them we were meeting my parents for their birthday surprise. When the play started I think Minnie's jaw dropped to the ground. She is a MAJOR Ariel fan and therefore Louisa is a MAJOR Ariel fan. They were glued! Minnie said it was the best birthday present she'd ever had. Bravo, Mom! She sat on my Mom's lap the entire time and every time I looked over at her she was beaming. Except at the kissing parts. She'd cover her eyes during the kissing parts. Ha! I love Minnie snuggling Lou in this picture. Min is my brave little one for the most part and I love how she's taking on the big sister role because Lou was nervous. So cute!

Hikes up Mueller Park Canyon with this baby boy strapped to me. He slept all the way up on this hike and was as happy as a clam on the way down. There are some tee pees made out of logs in a clearing about a mile up so my friend Sara and I dragged our five kids up there one Saturday when both our husbands were out of town, and although we had some rough points, all in all it was a great morning and the kids had a good time.

I've mentioned this before, but our next door neighbors have a big pool in their yard and offer swimming lessons every summer. Minnie did a few group sessions last summer but I didn't feel like she made much progress. She did one group session earlier this summer and I felt like we were spinning our wheels all over again. I asked them about private lessons and I was informed that they were only $10 more per session. You better believe I was all over that! Within about a day Minnie was already starting to swim on her own. That said, it had to be on her terms but once she finally realized that she could do it and overcame her fear of allowing her teacher to let go, we had a little fish on our hands. She was so proud of herself and I was so proud of her.

I think one reason we all love the summer so much is because we get to go to the cabin. I think we went up there three or four times this year which is a pretty good amount for us, but I feel like there is never enough time to get up there as often as we would like. Julia, Colin and Vicky all came with us the last time we went, and as usual, it was wonderful. Unfortunately on Sunday morning I woke up feeling SUPER sick and we ended up leaving earlier than we had intended. The car ride home was miserable and the rest of Sunday was pretty miserable too, but by Monday morning I was feeling much better so we headed to Lagoon and then grabbed Cafe Rio with my parents later that evening.

I just think this picture is hilarious. Minnie helping Robert clean his car one summer night.

These two are constantly all over William. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes it's too much. I love them.

A girls date with my mom, Julia and Megan. Always wishing Charlotte was here to come with us, but especially on outings like these.

First day of kindergarten for Minnie and first day of preschool for Lou. Minnie was so excited to go to school and it was fun to see her off on her first day. I was a baby and got a little teary eyed, but she loves it so all in all it was a really great day. Lou was a bit of a mama's girl this summer so I wasn't sure how she would do with preschool, but she hopped right out of the car on the first day without a care. I was so happy. Minnie had also been going to school for a few weeks by then so I think she was ready for it to be her turn. I still can't believe Lou is in preschool. She will have another year of it next year, but it is wild to me how quickly they up and out of the house. Minnie only has half day kindergarten, but next year she will be gone most of the day when she starts first grade. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes with these three at home, but realizing that soon they won't be with me most of the day makes me so sad.

My cousin Greg got married in September and this is the only picture I have to show for it. I did take a Snapchat video which I included below.

My cute friend, Laurel, who now lives in London, came into town for her parents surprise party for their 40th wedding anniversary. It was so fun to spend some time with her. The party was up at Snowbird and my girls had the time of their lives dancing with lots of new "friends" (most of whom were adults) to the live band. Robert and I are trying to figure out a way to get to London someday soon. Laurel's husband owns and amazing restaurant in Chelsea and I am dying to go there.

A fun jaunt around Silver lake with Julia one afternoon.

The frost killed all but three apples on our apple tree last year, but this year we had ALL the apples! I invited lots of our neighbors to come take some too because there was plenty to go around.

Our neighbor's pear tree, which hangs over our fence a ways, always produces the best pears. We didn't get any last year, but again, this year they were back in full force. Our neighbors also have an enormous apricot tree which we enjoyed earlier in the summer and I made a bunch of jam which lasts us all year long.

This cute big sister who loves to hold her little brother, who ain't so little anymore.

The fair with Nick, Megan, Jeremiah, Julia and Colin. A little Snapchat video I saved is at the end of this post!

Sweet bubba fresh out of the bath. He used to hate baths but now he can't get enough.

These two spend hours outside together in the summer. They are the best of friends and the worst of enemies, but I think the friend part is starting to take over a bit more.

A mini hike to see some changing leaves one afternoon.

We spent an afternoon at the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago with friends. It was pretty much dead so we had it all to ourselves. It was warm and delightful.

We went to This is the Place Heritage Park with my mom and Nick, Megan and Jeremiah last weekend for the beginning of their Halloween festivities and it was so much fun! I took such a fun video on Snapchat and have been kicking myself because I forgot to save it. I have literally been super bummed about it for the last two days. Here we have a little spoiler for our family costume this year...Alice and the Queen of Hearts.

The beginning of the little costume parade at the park. It was so fun!

Sunday night YouTube videos with Grandpa. He always finds the weirdest stuff and the girls eat it up.

So I have been loving Snapchat lately because it makes me take a ton more videos than I normally would, and it saves them all for you! You can go back later and download them to your phone, so I just started uploading all of them to YouTube so I would have them in one place. Anyway, I rarely post videos on my blog but I want to do more of that because I feel like they are more fun than pictures a lot of the time. Here is a boat load of them from the last little while, including some from over the summer. I just want to have these one here for us to watch later, so I won't be offended if you don't watch all of them (or any of them). (:

a video: when the girls met their brother

I have yet to finish the post I've started about William's birth, but I wanted to post this video I took on my phone when the girls first met William because I just love it so much. Since we didn't find out the gender of the baby until the birth, all of us had our bets in as to whether we'd be having a boy or a girl. Minnie was pretty set on the fact that it was a boy from the get go. I was a little nervous it was going to be a girl and kept reminding her that if it was a girl that she'd love the baby anyway. Her response was always pretty reluctant and so in my heart of hearts, I was hoping it was a boy for her. The look on her face in this video when she finds out just makes my heart swell. She loves her brother fiercely and has since the moment I told her I was expecting. Louie, on the other hand, was a little less enamored and was more into the bracelet they gave her at the nurse's station. She is also loud, if you can't tell in this video. They both kill me.

our costa rica video

Are you sick of hearing about Costa Rica yet? Well I promise this will be my last post about the place. We took a few video clips while we were down there because I feel like videos sometimes end up meaning more to me than photos (and I love photos). It's funny how those little clips look so clear and smooth on the tiny camera screen but now that I've seen them on the big screen I'm realizing how incredibly shaky and fuzzy they all look. YouTube also doesn't do much for quality, bless its heart, but I love the video regardless. Pura vida forever!!!

(Music in the video is Everything by Kaptan)

a video: our easter 2015

In the past I have felt like if things weren't just so I couldn't post them, but I think I've missed out on documenting a lot of our life the last year because of it.
I love seeing beautiful things but I have come to realize more and more how the ordinary and the messy is beautiful in its own right.
I decided to take a few video clips of our Easter Sunday and then put them together in a video.
Pictures are fun, but video just has so much life to it.
In this video we've all got major bedhead, the house is a wreck, the girls are in their last-resort-because-we-need-to-do-laundry jammies and our yard is a mess, but hey, we had such a beautiful day with people we love and I'm so grateful I'll have this to remember it by.

a video: our charlie brown christmas tree

I'm not sure I have ever looked forward to Christmas more in my life.
I had no idea being a parent at Christmas is almost as magical as being a kid.
Minnie is excited about it all and it feels like she hardly remembers anything from last year so we get to relive it all over again (and I love it).
I have loved reading her books about baby Jesus (I cry every single time) and talking about how everything we do around Christmas is to remind us of Him.
The whole Santa thing is pretty sweet too.
She doesn't know enough to really ask for much (perfect) but the thought of him gets her so excited.
Min has been talking about getting a Christmas tree for about a month now and on Saturday we finally did.
It took two trips to the store for lights because the brand new ones we bought didn't work, but by 10:30 at night our tree was finally up and glowing in all its glory.
The girls are obsessed with it.
And the way Louie talks to her reflection in the round ornaments kills me.
"Ball! Ball! Ball!" is all I hear from that little lovey as soon as her eyes hit the tree.
Decorating the tree with those two in their jammies just felt like the perfect way to usher in the holiday and although it was messy and we had a few ornament casualties it will be a night I will remember for a long time.

let's brighten your friday with a video, shall we?

Min is really starting to understand feelings and is currently into making facial expressions regarding feelings. When we're watching a movie she'll always turn to me when a character is crying and say, "He's sad."
Or when they're yelling, "She's angry."
Her interpretation of feelings in faces is about the funniest thing in town.
Just watch this. You'll see.
And gosh, she's cute.
Happy Friday!
{and sorry for the bad quality. I didn't have the patience to do an HD upload.}