December Family Fun

Our whole family in front of the lights and the Salt Lake Temple on Sunday night.

We got to go into the Tabernacle for the first time since they renovated it. The building was beautiful inside and out, especially with the Christmas decorations. The acoustics in this building are incredible. You can hear a pin drop and a someone talking at the front, even if you are all the way in the back of the building.

The kids up at Temple Square in front of some of the lights. Evan has a snowball ready for fun.

Here are the kids with the Salt Lake Temple behind them. It was extremely cold outside, but Evan kept picking up the snow to play with it. The problem was he only had cloth mittens on, burrr! He also was picking up the snow to eat it. We had to explain that it wasn't clean enough anymore and you only eat white snow, not brown or any other color.

While we were waiting for the lights to come on, we went on a Temple Square tour. The kids love to go to Temple Square to see the statue of Jesus. We started a tradition of going to Temple Square at Christmas time to help the kids remember why Christmas is so special.

Saturday night was the ward Christmas party. The primary kids sang "When Joseph Went To Bethlehem" and some of the kids dressed up in costumes. Evan is a wise man and Jonathan is the donkey. Originally Evan was supposed to be the donkey, but he didn't want to do it, so we asked Jonathan and he agreed. The whole theme of the Christmas party was A Night in Bethlehem. While we were walking around to the little booths displaying parts of Bethlehem life, Jonathan kept getting down on all fours to be a "donkey." He was really getting into character.

Jonathan is about to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas when Lindsay pops up to help him with what to say.

Decorating For Christmas

I guess I might be called a humbug, but I like to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start Christmas decorating. I love Thanksgiving. The air has a different feel, the sunlight slants differently, and I love to cook a delicious meal and enjoy it with the people that I love. So on Sunday night we started decorating with the help of Uncle Ryan. The kids absolutely love to decorate for any holiday, but especially Christmas. I am so glad Michael was willing to put the lights on the tree. It is definitely not my favorite part.

Evan, Lindsay, Jonathan, and Laurel pose in front of the tree they decorated. They were so excited to decorate, so chaos was everywhere.

Lindsay helped to decorate the stairs. She loves to help out. What a sweet face. She could be the angel for our tree!

Visit From Auntie

We just finished a fantastic week with Auntie Lindsay. The kids went to the extra room this morning hoping to find her. I think we all missed her a lot. Last Monday we went to a corn maze and picked out pumpkins. We made caramel apples. We carved pumpkins. We ate at IHOP. Uncle Ryan even dressed up as a Gecko. What a great time we had. We can hardly wait to spend more time with Auntie at Christmas!

A Halloween Tale

Handsome Evan makes a great Peter Pan. After the trunk or treat and some reall trick or treating he said, "My bag is overflowing." He definitely had a lot of candy.

What a smiley Tigger! Evan wore this costume as well, but he never really liked it. Jonathan really liked it. This is a great costume. This was the fourth year it was worn and it still looks great! Jonathan loves to eat the treats. We will have to put them up higher because he keeps getting into them without asking.

What a beautiful Belle. This is the third year that Lindsay has been Belle. It fit her perfectly this year. She wore it to a clogging Halloween party, to school for the Halloween parade, and to the trunk or treat and trick or treating in the neighborhood.

This is the first year in 3 that Laurel could not be Princess Aurora. She finally grew out of that costume, so this year she is Giselle from the movie Enchanted. Isn't she lovely? She looked beautiful in her costume. The crown and shoes were the perfect touch for such a beautiful gown.

Sword Fighting

The boys have such a good time playing swords together. They are on a Star Wars kick right now and love to say "Are you on the dark side?" Sometimes I worry about all this battling, but so far my experience has been that they will make weapons and battle with whatever is available. I guess this is one of those issues where I teach them correct principles and hope their pretend battles remain just for fun. Overall, I believe this is true because my boys are very sweet and loving, despite their many "battles."

Scarecrow Festival Clogging Performance

The girls had a clogging performance at the Scarecrow Festival up at Thanksgiving Point. They both did a good job in front of a lot of strangers. Don't they look cute in their little costumes.

Here is a little video of the girls. It is hard to see lil' Lindsay until the very end. They are still learning, but working hard and doing very well.

Provo City Services Fair

Last Monday we went down to the Provo Mall where they were having a fair demonstrating the different services available in the Provo City. So they had the Provo Police, Fire and Rescue, UTA public transportation, Provo, City Utilities, the library, Parks and Recreation. We did it last year and it was a ton of fun, so we decided to go again this year. The kids got lots of free coloring books, candy, pencils, water bottles, T-shirts etc. Even Michael and I entered a drawing for a free tree from the City and we won!

Evan tries out the driver's seat of a huge fire engine. He has the best grin!

The girls are escaping from the smoke in a trailer that teaches children how to get out if there is a fire. The man in this picture is the paramedic who came to the house this summer when Laurel hit her windpipe on the edge of the counter and couldn't breathe. Of course she was fine, but it is an experience I will not forget anytime soon. I could remember him because he seemed so young to be saving people.
The kids got to go on a UTA bus. They are such happy kids! Can you believe how big they are getting? Where does the time go? I am glad for moments like this to cherish their cute faces.
While the girls went in the fire escape trailer, the boys went with Michael to some other spots. They got a picture with this squirrel. I have no idea what he was a mascot for, but it is a cute picture anyway. The kids also got to squirt fire hoses to push down a bucket. We went into fire engines and ambulances, and we also saw the firefighters in full gear fight a propane-fueled fire in the middle of the big parking lot.

Sick! " I cannot got to school today said..."

We are now in the 7th week of the school year. I am always expecting a sick session once school starts. We got all the way to the 4th week and I started feeling a little smug, like maybe the Airborne Power Pixies full of antioxidants created a shield of protection for my children. That's what I get for thinkin! It has been over 2 weeks of sickness. I am pretty sure we got 2 viruses in rapid succession. Laurel is in the best shape now after 2 weeks, a trip to the doctor's, steroids, and antibiotics. Jonathan still has a bad cough, but no fever, and his nose is getting better. Evan had horrible croup and a fever last week, now he only has a bad cough but no fever. Lindsay is struggling. She got sick on Wednesday. She has had a horrible fever, sore throat, and cough. We took her to InstaCare thinking she had Strep, but no dice, so basically there is not much I can do to ease her suffering. At least today she could eat something and her fever is on its way out. So all is well. Michael and I "might" sleep all night soon. I know part of having children is to become more charitable and taking care of sick kids 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for over 2 weeks just might make me a better person!

*So I don't get in trouble with copyrights, the above title is taken from Shel Silverstein's poem.

Thank you for the Love!

This is a picture of some of the flowers I got while I was recovering from my gallbladder surgery. I think we finally threw the last of them away last week. I was thinking about the flowers and phone calls I received while I was getting better and I felt very loved. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who called, sent, flowers, helped with the kids, etc. Most people who know me, know that I am extremely hard on myself to the point of forgetting all of the good things I can do. My surgery was a good chance for me to realize that I am loved, needed, and worthwhile. I will just have to remember this more often because I am not signing up for more surgery in order to feel loved!

Sunday At Home With Laurel

I did not make it to church today. I wasn't teaching today and Laurel has her first cold of the school year, so I stayed home with her. Of course that means we will not be sharing with the entire primary (Don't you wish everyone would do this?). The saddest part of her cold is that she has asthma. She is such a sweet girl and it is hard to watch her having a hard time sleeping because of a cough that just won't quit. Nighttime is always the worst. It is now 10:20 and she just fell asleep, soundly! It took major prescription cough medicine to quiet her cough and Benadryl for her runny nose.

We had a great time together this morning. On many nights in the past, as I put Laurel to bed, she said, "Sleep you Mommy." The translation is I want to sleep with you mommy! Well today she finally got her chance. She read a new book (She just finished Harry Potter 7 last night) and I read conference talks. After about an hour we decided for sleep. She cuddled up right next to me and fell into a deep sleep. It was just what Dr. Mom ordered for her. We both slept for 3 glorious hours. I am not sure why, but I am still worn out from my gallbladder surgery, darn it! It is nice to get a quiet time with just 1 child to just soak up and enjoy. I love my sweet baby girl Laurel!

Time Goes So Quickly

I was in the grocery store this morning and an older man was talking to to the boys and I. After a very long wait in line the man said, "I'm glad they aren't mine." My first thought was I'm glad they aren't because your are not a very nice old man!! My response was much kinder. I told him, "I am just trying to enjoy how cute and sweet they are each day."

It got me thinking about how fast the kids are growing up. On a day-to-day basis my job as a mother can be very challening. When I look at the past I am amazed by how fast my children are growing and changing. I thought I would put on some cute pictures of the kids from their earlier days.

It is hard to believe that now Laurel and Lindsay spend all day away from me when I used to wonder if I would ever make it out of the house again. This was when we only had 1 car and the girls and I spent everyday together in our small apartment in Hurricane. Sometimes it is even hard for me to remember what they were like when they were so little, which makes me a little sad, but it also helps me pay better attention to them in the here and now. So even though I feel like my house is never clean, it is all worth it because 4 sweet little people love me and say (most of the time) "You're the best!"

Siblings

Sometimes (well a lot of times) the kids are fighting. It is the usual struggle for supremacy in the hierarchy of siblings. However, the flip side is that although siblings tease, taunt, and beat each other up, no one else is allowed to give their brother/sister any grief. Evan said to me tonight, "Laurel is a good big sister. She always takes good care of Jonnie." One of my favorite things to watch is the love the kids give each other. They are all so precious. I now understand why it drove my mom crazy when we quarreled. It drives me crazy too! Everyone needs love and encouragement, and families should always be a safe place to just be who you are. Now the trick is to get my kids to learn this lesson while I am still trying to learn it myself.

Provo River Fun

A week and a half ago we went to wade in the Provo River. Earlier in the week I had my appointment with the surgeon, whose office was by the Provo River. Michael had the boys and it took over an hour to even see the guy. While I was tied up, Michael showed the boys the Provo River and then promised we would all go back on Saturday. Evan was so excited all week to go to the Provo River. Michael had a campout the night before and Evan asked every 1/2 and hour or so when it ws time to go to the river. Finally, Michael got home and we headed to the river. It was extremely slippery and most of the kids fell in at some point. They loved it. Just in case you wondered if I was brave enough to trek into the disgustingly slippery, mossy water I put a picture of me with the kids in the river, to prove my bravery and willingness to do yucky things for my wonderful children.

Back To School

Laurel and Lindsay went back to school on Monday. Laurel is in the second grade and Lindsay is in the first grade. They are such great daughters. I can't believe how much I miss having them around. I am looking forward to doing lots of learning with them this year.

California Dreamin'

Jonathan in line for Toy Story Mania ride. He loved looking at everything.

It was pretty hot that day at California Adventure. We took the kids over to Bug's Land where they had a place to get wet. They were totally soaked, but happy and much cooler. They even enjoyed soaking their mom with help from Uncle Brandon. It was sooo much fun!

We lucked out and got the kids in line fast enough to get a picture with Minnie Mouse. Some adults are shameless in their attempts to take a picture with a character and cut, push, and shove their way in front of small children!

We had to get a picture of the kids with WALL-E. They love this movie. This wasn't too long after getting soaked and they are already getting pretty dry. It was fun to watch the kids enjoy California Adventure. They are getting older and can ride more rides and do more things. Michael said he didn't go to Disneyland for the first time until he was 13. My kids are definitely spoiled! This was a great memory for them. I hope the pictures will always remind them of the people who love them and spent so much time making such a wonderful trip possible for them.

Fun at Grams and Grampa's House

Well we just got back from an amazing trip to California last night. We traveled down for one more week of fun, sun, and swimming before the kids start school tomorrow. The kids swam like crazy while we were there. They loved every minute of being in the water.

Laurel loved diving for the sinking torpedos at the bottom of the pool. Lindsay improved her swimming skills and was even getting her arm strokes up out of the water with her head down. Evan had a blast jumping into the pool, sliding down the slide, and laughing when people couldn't stay on the rafts. Jonathan was terrified at the beginning of the week, but by the end of the week he could swim around the pool with his life jacket on all by himself. The kids are so blessed to have so many wonderful people to love them. Thanks to Mom, Dad, Auntie Lindsay, Aunt Chelsea, Uncle Brandon, and Uncle Ryan for everything they do for us. You are the best!

Clogging Performance

The girls had a clogging performance on Saturday August 9th. They did a really great job.

This is a video of the kids doing the Cha Cha slide, it is a dance they do at the end of their classes for fun!

Happy Birthday Lil' Lindsay

My lil' Lindsay turned 6 yesterday. It is hard to believe how fast she has grown from a tiny baby to such a sweet, kind little girl who loves to help, share, and care for others. She had a really fun day with donuts for breakfast, opening presents, and then a Barbie Island Princess party with about 8 girls. She was even nice enough to invite her little brothers. Aunt Catherine and Grams were so helpful getting the party set up as well as the details during the party. Lindsay played hard and had a great day. Lots of family called her to wish her a Happy Birthday and she received many beautiful and fun gifts. Thanks to all of you for helping to make her birthday so wonderful.

New Job

As most of you already know, I am a medical transcriptionist. Recently, I switched to a different transcription company. This of course meant lots of new procedures, programs, etc. It has been a challenge. I have only actually been transcribing for them for a little over a week. I love medical transcription. The chance to learn so many new things each day is wonderful, but...the amount of detail sometimes is frustrating and difficult to keep up with. I know I need to be patient with myself but I want to be able to do it perfectly right now. Sometimes I just don't seem to be patient enough. Most likely some of my impatience comes from my limited time. I am attempting to do a lot right now and just don't have time to struggle, right? Well it is definitely another learning opportunity, especially learning how to take deep breaths and just relax because it will all work out!

Photo journal of Jamestown and Yorktown

I didn't get a chance to upload all of our pictures until tonight and I wanted to share a few of my favorites from our trips to Jamestown and Yorktown. This was a great trip for all of us. It was hot but the kids seemed to really enjoy the history, especially the hands on parts and demonstrations.

On the ship Discovery that came to Jamestown with the first settlers.
Evan and Jonathan pose in a tobacco field just outside the Jamestown fort.

Lindsay in the General's tent at Yorktown. This was luxury compared to the soldiers' tents.

The kids pose with a minuteman who shot his musket for the kids.

Laurel got to help out with the firing of the cannon. She said she was afraid of the sound and didn't want to watch, but then she volunteered!

I put this picture in because while in the fort of Jamestown we happened upon another member of the church visiting the site. Maybe we just stick out as an LDS family, but I think that's a good thing! It is also a good shot of the inner fort area.