Sunday, December 30, 2018

wheelers, 2018


well. here we all are. moving on and growing up. 

posing for family pictures in the gorgeous fall colors of the pacific northwest and smiling real big like mom has promised us the rest of the day full of candy and minecraft if we do. (hint: she totally did.)































Thursday, December 27, 2018

chicago air and water show

ending our summer vacation with a bang! or more accurately, with the sweet, sweet booming sound of thunderous jet engines dancing (in formation!) through the sky at the chicago air and water show.

music to bryan's ears.















emily emerges--fully clothed and albeit, briefly--from her portable, uv-shielding vampire cave to mingle amongst the sunshine-dwelling masses.




 you know, just another day at the beach with one million of our closest friends.



THE END!


Tuesday, December 25, 2018

all is bright



"Even when the world may appear quite dark—when things aren’t going right, when our hearts are overflowing with disappointment and worry, even in the midst of sadness and sorrow—we sing about 'joy to the world' and 'good will toward men' because of Christ, who came 'to give light to them that sit in darkness.'"
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Merry Christmas.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

christmas wheelers

may my children never stop caring so little about what they wear that they no longer allow me to dress them. 


and may dallin hurry up and grow a few more inches so that caleb's grasp no longer immediately gravitates to squeezing his neck. 

but mostly, 

"May the beautiful light of every Christmas season remind us of Him who is the source of all light." 
--David A. Bednar

amen.

museum madness

guys, i'm going to finish the last two posts of our summer vacation before this year ends if it kills me.

(and the holiday season is in full swing so, you know, it actually might.)

anyway.

one down!

to the museums!

warning: prepare to be utterly underwhelmed by the number, scope, and style of our museum photos. my amateur photography skills are no match for museum lighting.

so FIRST: the field museum.

this natural history museum is huge. and amazing.

we had just finished reading a book, the someday birds, which includes the characters stopping at this museum on a cross-country road trip. summer and afton were especially excited to visit the hall of birds at the field museum and find the feathered creatures featured in the book. 


but really, nothing beats the dinosaurs.





SECOND: the museum of science and industry.

chicago doesn't really know how to make their museums digest-able in one day. this one is also huge. and amazing.

we went to the special pixar exhibit, which was a favorite, of course. 


other favorites included the tornado.


and the mirror maze. the kids were ready to set up shop and live here for the rest of their lives:



THIRD: the harley-davidson museum.

this one is in milwaukee (duh). 

i have never seen so many motorcylces in my life as i did the few days we were in milwaukee. so. many. motorcycles. (also, to be noted, so many motorcyclists without helmets!)

this was definitely a cool museum. a lot of information, a lot of cool displays, and a lot of hands-on exhibits. 


the oldest known harley-davidson motorcycle, serial number one:


there is a small children's room with a child-size motorcycle in the museum that our kids could have spent hours in just pretending to ride the open road.

the lighting was great there, so we took a bunch of pics :)









Thursday, December 20, 2018

the lion is king

last saturday, the wheeler kids saw their first broadway play!

uncharacteristically, emily had a total brain cramp when booking and procured tickets to the evening, eight o'clock show.

spoiler alert: dallin did not make it to the end.

ps: neither did bryan.


Thursday, December 06, 2018

the noble fir

for the uninitiated, this is actually not a noble fir:


it is a fraser fir. our fraser fir, i should say.

the pacific northwest christmas tree that made it home with the wheelers on saturday.

after much hunting and searching and cutting and carrying and tying and carrying and (more) cutting and carrying and sap getting all over bryan's hands, which he hates. 
















but which tree sap loves him anyway.