The Sandstrom Five

Gracies 8th Birthday

2011-05-03T09:47:00.001-07:00

Gracie is now 8 and is she great! She is growing up to be such a sweet and beautiful young lady. We are so happy to have her in our family.

Easter

2011-05-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a great Easter weekend at home. We colored eggs for the first time and enjoyed an easter egg hunt after church on Sunday.

I"m Back!

2011-05-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Boy do we love to travel. The Sandstrom Family started out 2011 with a Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We had a great time exploring different parts of the world, eating wonderful food and making great memories with family.

snorkeling with dad.

enjoying the water taxi.

Gracie loved the ocean.

Lucas is 5

2010-10-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

On September 28 Lucas turned 5 years old. He had such a good day. He got to choose what he wanted to eat and do all day. Here is Lucas with his big gift from mom and dad. He is pretty proud of his new bike. Thanks to all those that gave gifts or sent money.

Gracie is in second grade!

2010-08-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yep school has now started and Gracie is in second grade. She is really excited to be back in school.

SUMMER IN REVIEW 2010

2010-08-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well we had a really great summer. Here are a few highlights of our summer 2010.

LAKE POWELL!

Rory surfing.

Rory sinking the canoe.

Tammy and Jesson.

Lucas and Auggie.

Quinn and Gracie.

Lake Powell during sunset and a rain storm.

SPENDING TIME WITH COUSINS.

Kids eating their candy stick at This is the Place Monument.

Lucas and Cole just hanging out.

PINTO REUNION

Parker, Gracie and Lucas playing in pinto.

OUR GARDEN

Children of the corn.

VIDEOS OF LAKE POWELL AND IDAHO

On the ski boat and Rory surfing.

Working on the barn in Idaho.

Yellowstones Bear World

2010-06-17T07:43:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we went up to Idaho to visit my parents where they took us to Yellowstones Bear World. It was so much fun. We stayed in our car and drove around to see at least 30+ bears playing, sleeping and roaming. It was fun to see bears so close. We had one that actually walked right along our car with us. When you go inside the fenced in area they have baby bears that are so cute and fun to watch. You can even feed them their bottles. Along with bears we saw elk, deer, buffalo and moose. The kids loved the petting zoo with all different farm animals in it, Jesson really loved the goats. Of course to finish the day we had to enjoy the homemade huckleberry ice cream. What a great trip.

Entrance to Bear World, Pucker up Gracie!!!, Jesson loving the goats

Loving the homemade ice cream.

Gracies' a 2nd Grader

2010-06-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Well Gracie is officially a 2nd grader now. For their last expedition they learned all about bugs. We actually got to go to BYU's insect museum where they got to see all the insects they had been studying. There is nothing like being on a school bus with 40 something screaming 1st graders with 10 adults to try to wrangle all the chaos. Now that is an experience. At Gracies celebration of learning she got to show us her ladybug that she made out of clay and also her class mates and her got to perform songs and poems about insects for all their family members.

Gracie and her lady bug and her class mates.

This is Gracie with her teacher Mr. Dalton and her friends Miranda and Olyvia.

Rory's 32n'd Birthday!

2010-06-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Well yes it has come around again. Rory is 32! This year Rory chose to have a quiet birthday at home with the family. Instead of a cake we made cinnimon rolls. This was great. We all loved them, some more then others.

7th Birthday & 9th Anniversary & Mothers Day

2010-05-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

On May 3rd Gracie turned 17 years old, oh I mean 7 years old. She is growing so big way to fast. For her birthday she was able to pick out her own outfit instead of mom doing it and surprising her. She also got to choose where she wanted to eat for her birthday dinner and of course Gracie loves steak so Sizzler was her place. She wanted to invite her best friend from school to come and enjoy her birthday dinner, cake and ice cream. She is definitely our little princes and we love her so much.
Gracie and her best friend Olyvia

On May 4th Rory and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. It has been a wonderful nine years to a great man. I'm glad the lord knew what he was doing when he put us together. I have been blessed to be his wife and best friend. I have been told so many times how lucky I am to be married to him and I fully agree with all my heart I got the better part of this deal :). Rory surprised me with roses and we got to enjoy a quiet dinner together (this means no kids) it was so nice. Thanks to the Brown family for watching our kids.

My anniversary flowers.

Mothers day was awesome. I got to spend the weekend with my family and my parents. Dad and mom came on Friday and spent the afternoon with the kids and I. We went to the local Nursery and got plants for our garden. After we got home Dad and I decided to go get some "good dirt" to put in our garden area. Saturday Rory, Lucas and I started working on our garden area and got it all ready for planting. While Jane, Mom and I went out to lunch and shopping Rory and the kids planted the tomatoes and peppers. Thank you mom and dad for taking good care of us and loving us so much. Mothers day was a little bit more stressful for me because it is on Sunday but it was still great. Rory made dinner, took care of the kids and cleaned everything up so that I could take a great nap. If you know me at all naps are what I look forward to on Sunday but these really don't happen any more since I've become Primary President, but that's just the way it goes. Over all it was a busy week but a great week.

Its about "time" Lucas

2010-04-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

When Gracie slept in her room for a month Lucas also wanted to do something to earn a watch so he had to make his bed for a whole month without being told or without any complaints. Well he did it. Here is Lucas with his new watch. Of course as you can see Lucas loves the color orange. To bad he has had a hard time making his bed since. I guess it takes longer then a month to form a "good" habit.

Nauvoo or Bust

2010-04-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Rory's parents John and Judy Sandstrom are on their mission in Nauvoo, Illinois. We were able to go over Gracie's spring break to visit them. We left the morning of Saturday, April 3 and came home Sunday, April 11. We had such a great time visiting with John and Jude. We really missed them and enjoyed spending the week with them. We left Saturday at about 3:30 a.m. to avoid a bad winter storm but ended up being in the middle of it. We never went faster then 30 mph all the way to Evanston, Wyoming. When we finally got there they closed the road (because of the storm) and had a good 3 hour wait until we could continue with our journey. We made it as far as Big Springs, Nebraska the first night. We woke to good weather Easter morning. This is a picture of the kids at a rest stop in Nebraska enjoying the sun.

We ended up in Nauvoo at about 10:00 that night. We were really excited to see John and Jude. They live in such a great place right next to the temple. We ended up staying with the Dickson's who are also serving a mission in Nauvoo. They are really great people. Our first day there we visited the areas around the temple and the visitors center. We found out we couldn't go anywhere without talking to every missionary after they found out we were Sandstroms coming to visit John and Jude. Here we are in front of the temple well at least the bottom part of the temple.The kids enjoyed all the area to run especially being cooped up in a car for two days. We just let them run and run. We had really good weather all week and visited all the sights around Nauvoo. It only rained on us on Wednesday which was our day for Rory and I to go to the temple and on the wagon ride with Judy narrating. Lucas just couldn't stay awake, thank goodness for big sister to help him stay in the wagon.Thursday was John and Jude's PDay and so we went to visit the Amish. We watched them make cheese and also got to get Amish hats thanks, John. The kids loved it. We also went to a big Amish store called the Dutchman that had so many fun things we looked like kids in a candy store, which we ended coming out with too. What a cute family in their Amish attire.Notice the shawl Gracie is wearing, John made it. I also got one. Gracie wears hers to school and is very proud of her grandpas talents. It was finally time to leave and can I say the week went by way to fast. We ended up getting up at 4:30 on Saturday to make it back to Big Springs, Nebraska and lets say we made it back in plenty of time. We ended up stopping at a big park there and just letting the kids play all they wanted. These are our little monkeys just having fun and again enjoying the sun.It was such a good week of warm weather, spending time with John and Jude, going to the temple and feeling the spirit everywhere you go and some how feeling like you were leaving home. It is definitely a special place to visit. Thank you John and Jude for making our week so fun. We are so blessed to have you serving your mission in such a great place. We love you!!!

April Fools

2010-04-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature really knows how to play a great April Fools joke. We woke this morning to a lot of snow. Here we thought spring was on its way and boy were we fooled. Lucas, Jesson and I had to go and enjoy by having a snow ball fight with Sadie (the dog) and making a snow man. This was Jessons first experience with playing in the snow. As you can see in the picture by the time the snow man was done he also was done.

Sleeping with Poka Dots

2010-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of our big projects this month was paining Gracie's room. She had to sleep down in her room for a whole month to get it painted in the colors she wanted and also in the way she wanted. She chose to have one wall painted bright pink and to add orange poka dots. She came up with the idea herself but of course mom and dad had to agree. It took a while to get he room done because of illness and lack of time but now that it is done we think it turned out really cute. She is now working on getting a manicure. She has to not bite her fingernails for a whole month and then she will get to have a mani with mom. This one has been a tad bit harder for her. It is really hard to break habits but this one we thought really needed some help. Nothing like a little incentive.

Princess & Cheer Camp

2010-02-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

Gracie has had a very busy month. She was able to be part of Princess Camp and also Cheer Camp. At Princess Camp she learned all about princesses and how they have etiquette and use their manners. They also learned a dance and performed it at a recital. This is a picture of Gracie and her best friend Olyvia in their princess dresses and tiaras that they made. Cheer camp was also fun. She got to cheer at a West Jordan High basketball game along with being part of the half time entertainment where she was able to dance with all the "big cheerleaders." She also did this with her best friend Olyvia. She is also taking piano now and loving it. The new year has definitely kept her busy. What have my boys been doing during all of this. Well they are trying their hand at being "Kiss" impersonaters or if you like they just got into moms makeup. Never a dull moment in the Sandstrom house.

Keeping up with the Sandstroms

2010-02-25T20:44:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time since my last blog (November) but who is counting. I thought I would do a quick update so here goes. Pictures do all the talking. We were busy with being sick, loosing teeth, putting up a Christmas tree, enjoying a new piano, making Christmas cookies with cousins, sleepover with cousins, Christmas pajamas with the Sandstrom side, sleeping and bathing. I'm really glad that we could fit in those last two!

Where's Lucas

2009-11-19T15:22:00.000-08:00

Do you remember those books called "Where's Waldo?" Well today Lucas and I were raking leaves and he kept saying "mom come find me" and I would go over to see him covered in leaves. He absolutely loved doing this. Isn't it so nice to see such little things keep kids happy.

Family Prayer

2009-11-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

I usually don't blog so close but I thought this was definitely blog worthy. Last night after family home evening we all knelt down for family prayer. Jesson usually sits on one of our laps or just roams the room until we are done, but last night was definitely something new. After Lucas was done saying the prayer we looked over to see Jesson laying by us. So I had everybody stay in their spots so I could take a picture but by the time I got back Jesson had moved, so I said " lets have prayer" and immediately he went back to his spot and laid down. It was so cute to see him actually trying to be part of us during prayer and not squirming and fighting us when we try to make him sit and be still. As you can see in the picture he has two older siblings and a dad who are great examples for him.... At least in kneeling during family prayer:)

Our little Gobblins

2009-11-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Okay so we had no little goblins this year for Halloween but we did have a Sports Dude (Jake Roberts) Pig (Parker Sandstrom) Witch (Gracie) Devil (Jesson) and Alligator (Lucas.) We had a great time this year with the Sandstrom family for Halloween. We spent Halloween with them last year also, during a very sad time with the funeral of our 16 year old niece Lindsay Sandstrom the day before Halloween in 2008. The kids remembered Halloween as a good memory during that hard time so we decided it was good to keep that happy memory going. So we ate soup and made homemade spudnuts (doughnuts) and watched a great video of John and Jude Sandstrom (who are in Nauvoo on their mission) singing and dancing. The kids stayed warm and came home with buckets full of candy. What else could you ask for?

The Newest West Jordan High Cheerleader

2009-10-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

This last week Gracie was able to participate in a cheer leading camp at West Jordan High. On Thursday we went to the High School for Gracie to learn cheers and a dance, which they would perform the next night at half time during the football game. From the moment we got to the school Gracie was in tears scared. She did not want to go with the "big girls" she said they scared her and made her nervous. So, she cried for the first half hour attached to my arm until a friend from the ward came. Then she popped up ready to go out with not a single tear. Funny how that happens. When game time came she was pretty excited to go out onto the field to perform her cheers and dance. It was great to see her out there strutting her stuff and acting like a real cheerleader, with her jumps and rallying. The next day she asked when the next game was so she knew when she would need to be ready to cheer West Jordan High on again. Thank goodness we have until basketball season to do it again.

2009-10-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since our last post, I've just been to lazy to post. In August Gracie started school again. She is now officially a first grader. Going to school all day was really hard, but now she really enjoys it. On September 28 Lucas turned four. Yes we have a 4 year old. He was so excited to get his Bumble Bee Transformer, money from both sets of grandparent and a sword and gun from our friends the Browns. Yes, I attempted to make a transformer cake it looks more like a weird guy with sunglasses but Lucas figured it out right off so I guess it was okay. Life is good and we are all healthy and happy. What more can you ask for?

Bear Lake 2009

2009-07-14T09:27:00.001-07:00

The Miles clan all together

Jesson and Alec playing in the sand

Lucas trying to surf

Leslie enjoying sun

Jakob and Alec

Hallie and Crystal

Jakob and Anglee

Jesson loving the sand

Looking for more sand to eat

Looking for tadpoles and fish (Lucas, Lilly, Gracie)

The week after Lake Powell we went to Bear Lake with the Miles Family. We had a great time playing in the sand and spending time together as a family. The kids really enjoyed finding tadpoles and little fish in the marsh area. We also enjoyed going to get the famous raspberry shakes every night. Thanks to Dustin and Lauren for helping us get the cabin. It makes Bear Lake so much more enjoyable. Thanks to all the family who came and helped with meals and stayed to help clean up the cabin. To those who were not able to come, you were greatly missed.

Lake Powell 2009

2009-07-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Uncle Mike with Jesson

Best Cousins!!! Parker and Gracie

Lucas climbing the rocks

Gracie Bobbing in the water

Lucas and Ciel playing in sand

The Sandstrom clan in their Ti Died shirts

Just a family bobbing around in Lake Powell

The Month of July has been really busy for us. We started out the month with the Sandstrom family to Lake Powell. Though a few members were missing this year we had a great time. Lots of fun in the sun, food and ti died shirts. That makes any trip wonderful. Thank you John and Jude for giving us such a great way to spend time as a family. You were really missed.

Kindergarten Graduate

2009-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since my last post, so I need to make up for lost time. Gracie is now done with school. Her last day was June 10th. This is a picture of Gracie and her teachers Mrs. Emily Pehrson and Mrs. Maria Garcia. She really enjoyed kindergarten but is also excited for first grade. Being a good mom (in my eyes) and a mean mom (in Gracie's eyes) I signed Gracie up for summer Spanish classes with Mrs. Maria. She has been going for a week now and has one more week to go. She tells me she really likes it and brags how much more Spanish she knows then I do. I'm glad to see someone in this family excited to know Spanish. To hear Gracie say it "Mom I'm a lot Mexican." We will work on the proper use of "Hispanic" further down the road.

I'm A Big Kid Now!!!!!

2009-06-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well it has finally happened. "Jesser John" (Jesson) is walking. He was taking little steps at 10 months but now that he has hit 11 months he has taken off. He loves walking and finding out where and what he can get into. Its hard to think that he is almost a year. Time goes by so fast.

Cereal and Sesame Street

2009-05-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

As everybody knows my children wake up way, way, way to early in the morning. I woke up this morning not hearing any children playing or fighting, so naturally I thought they were still sleeping and I would get a few extra moments in bed. To my surprise no they were in front of the T.V. Gracie who is now six is our little mother hen. This is what happened (as told to me by Lucas) "Mom we didn't want to wake you so sissy turned on the T.V. and got Jesson out of bed and put him in his walker so he wouldn't crawl away then she got me cereal and mom I ate it in the front room." As you can see in the picture Gracie took care of everything. She put Jesson in the walker and kept him quiet by giving him cereal, but Lucas of course also needed food so they all sat and watched Elmo while eating dry cereal in the front room. So no worries at my house Gracie has it all under control.

8th Wedding Anniversary

2009-05-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today is our (Rory & Karen's) eighth wedding anniversary. I was so surprised to see him walk in the door tonight carrying a dozen red roses. I must say I am very lucky and blessed to have married such a great guy.

Yeah I'm Six!!!!!!!

2009-05-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Gracie's birthday and we have had a lot of fun. She opened her gift from both sets of grandparents on Friday and had a party on Saturday. Lucas also gave his present to her on Saturday because he just couldn't hold in the excitement of giving her a gift. Our family friends the Browns also gave her, her gift on Saturday. As always we woke up early and sang happy birthday to her in bed and she opened her presents from mom and dad. The rest of the day was quiet until dinner where she ate her favorite meal, homemade Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, steamed broccoli and salad. We then had cake and ice cream. Luckily Gracie had her brother next to her or else I don't think she could have blown out her candles. We love our "Maisey Daisy" and are so glad that she is our daughter.

Gracies' Spa Birthday Party

2009-05-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

Birthday Party Time!!!!! I decided on a Spa birthday party for Gracie because she loves having her finger and toenails painted and had been begging me to paint them for a few weeks. Every girl got their own birthday bag with polish, flip flops, flower hair clip and ring pop inside. The girls all had their feet in tubs of water and soap, while being waited on by family and friends, who fed them lunch and while they ate and watched a movie we painted and decorated their toe nails. When their nails dried they each were able to decorate their own flip flops with jewels shaped like hearts, diamonds, flowers and butterflies. Gracie then opened her gifts and they all ate piggy cup cakes. Of course the festivities had to end but it was a lot of fun. Thanks to all my helpers, Aunt Jane, Cousins Tiffany and Crystal, family friends Tricia and Jessica. We all had a great time.

Spring Walk

2009-04-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful world. I am loving every bit of spring this year. Today I woke up and had a sudden thought to go for a walk. Rory was already awake with the three kids and had already had his fill, but when I told him I wanted to go for a walk he said "go and enjoy" what a great guy. It was so nice. It had rained all night and everything was still wet and crisp. I just loved walking and seeing all the nice green grasses,beautiful spring flowers and birds chirping everywhere.

Climbing Mount Everest

2009-04-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

On a daily basis we wait very patiently (ha ha ha) for daddy (Rory) to come home. Today Jesson has found a new way to wait. Yes to us it is just a couch but to him it is Mount Everest. Notice how he doesn't give up and just keeps pushing himself until he reaches the top. Wow what a proud moment for us all.

Jesson showing us his climbing ability.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T08:12:00.001-07:00

Easter Sunday was wonderful. It was a busy morning with kids finding Easter buckets full of fun things and getting ready for church in new Easter cloths. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the kids in their Easter cloths. It was nice to remember that Jesus died for us then was resurrected on the third day, so we may live with our Heavenly Father again. It was special to hear my children tell me about the Easter story after Church and to know that they are understanding the story a little bit more every time it is told to them. Lucas was excited to tell me about the rock being moved from the tomb where Jesus laid and Gracie enjoyed singing Easter songs in sacrament with the primary. Going for a Sunday drive in the new car and then talking to family on the phone completed our day. We hope you all had a great Easter Day.

Easter Egg Coloring

2009-04-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

We loved coloring Easter eggs. I think this is the first time my kids have ever done this. They always received plastic Easter eggs in their basket but this year we thought they would enjoy the coloring process. They absolutely loved it. Jesson just enjoyed his apple while all the festivities were going on.

Our new car

2009-04-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday night after the zoo Rory came home with a new car. Yes a car. We are finally rid of the Ford Expedition. Luckily the car fits all of the car seats really well with leg room, for the kids, to spare. We are ready for a new adventure and going from SUV to a car is definitely and adventure. It is a Chevrolet Malibu Max.

To the Zoo with the Browns

2009-04-13T07:50:00.001-07:00

This weekend was full of fun adventures for us. On Friday we were able to go to the Zoo with the Brown family. It was fun. Lucas really got into all the animals. He loved the monkeys and kept calling the Ring Tail Lemurs "raccoons." As you can see Jesson enjoyed every minute when he wasn't sleeping. Everyone enjoyed the animals and had a great time.

Lucas & President Henry B. Eyring

2009-04-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Well it is conference weekend and we spent half of it in Idaho and the other half at home. Saturday we were in Idaho at my parents house and we were watching conference when my mother walked in to ask who the last speaker was and we told her it was Elder Quentin L. Cook of the twelve. Lucas looked at us funny and said I quote "no it isn't its Henry B. Eyring" since he was the one speaking at the moment. That was a proud moment for me. One week before we had our primary activity which was about hero's. Our hero's were the first presidency and also the twelve apostles. They got to learn something about each one of them and then received flash cards to have when they were watching conference. Well silly mom (me) left them at home and so to my shock but delight Lucas remembered President Henry B. Eyring. So this is a proud day for me but also since I'm in the primary presidency it was good to know that yes the kids were listening and learning about these modern day hero's.

Nap Time At The Sandstroms

2009-03-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Nap time at the Sandstrom house is a "contact sport." Not only does Lucas want to nap with you but he wants to nap on you. Dad (Rory) found this out last Friday when he awoke to Lucas sleeping on his back. I thought it was so cute and funny that I had to film it but also take a photo for future laughing. Nothing like father/son bonding.

2009-03-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

It is spring and we are enjoying the sun as much as we can. The day was warm but the wind still had a bit of a chill to it. It was fun to watch Gracie, Lucas and Jesson enjoy being outside. We definately have spring fever.

2009-01-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

We are excited to finally have a blog. We hope you enjoy spending time with our family. These are our children Gracie, Lucas and Jesson. Gracie is 5 and is in kindergarten. She enjoys writing in her journal and listening to her music (usually at the same time.) Lucas is 3 and enjoys watching Tom & Jerry and tormenting his brother (also, usually at the same time.) Jesson is 6 months and likes to smile and exploring anywhere his little body will take him.