My favorite part is when he finishes a tower/car/whatever and says, "Ta-da!" It's adorable.
this photo is not photo-shopped in any way- how did he do that?!
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Luke is NINE!! The friend party!
Luke woke up to a beautifully decorated house- courtesy of Kelly- she really saved the day- even using stickers because she couldn't find the tape. These traditions are everything to some kids! I had left to go get some cool whip for crepes that Lukey loves. I like to do their favorite breakfast on their birthdays.
Then he opened a quick present before school.
Once school was out, it was time for the big party!
Luke wanted to go to Boondock's arcade for his birthday party. I tried really hard to interest him in something else there, but he was set on the arcade :). It was so cute of him. So Luke. So that's what we did! We drove him and his five little friends (he has a small circle of friends this year) to Boondock's, Nate spoiled them with LOTS of money to play with, thanks to the HUGE discounts. Even with the discounts though, it hurt every time I saw them play a stupid money waster... you know- the ones that don't give out many tickets! Jk. Well. Mostly. It sure was fun to watch them all. Their cute little faces just lit up when they'd get a big string of tickets. That's just too fun. When I was a kid, a lot of tickets was like 3 or 4, on the skeeball at Peter Piper Pizza... but this is just too cool when they get up in the hundreds! Fun stuff. They all seemed to have enough fun. Well, minus Henry. The poor kid wasted most of his money on the claw machine. He only had like 80 tickets. When compared with the 717 that Luke got (or any of the other kids for that matter), it was really sad. Plus he was done WAY before everyone. Just kind of wandered around watching everyone else play. I guess he learned probably. But anyway. It was fun to see them all interact and play.
We came back with our dinky little prizes in tow, had some pizza,opened presents, and then ate ice cream cones.
The candy cake was a big hit. Luke had been wanting one of those since Bradley's party a couple years ago. The boys were totally into it. I only wish I didn't have to send them home with so much candy. I know some parents just don't go for that. Oh well. If you don't want your kid to have candy, don't send them to my house. We don't have it all the time, but for birthdays, it's a must.
This is the big, bouncy baseball Luke got with his tickets. I wish I'd gotten non phone pictures at Boondocks
Present time was a lot of fun for some reason. We did the whole disguising your voice, guessing who it is thing like kids like now (move over heavy heavy hangover :) ), they all got into it :). It took him a few tries to guess Austin.
I've been getting pictures of each of the guests with the birthday kid at their parties with the last few and I like it :). Makes me happy to look back at them later... or it will anyway :). Here he is with his second cousin, Henry Widdison. They are funny friends. Or should I say frenemies. They are off and on so much it's amazing they happened to be on that day!
Trenton was hilarious that night. He was so different than I've seen him before, it was totally cracking me up! When he was doing the disguised voice thing, he got real close to Luke's ears then all of a sudden YELLED, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" in his ear, no disguise :). I know I shouldn't laugh at my son's misfortune, but it was Hil.ar.i.ous!!!!! I've never seen anyone do that. Very creative ;). We all laughed- even Luke- you can see Luke's a little surprised by his crazy behavior too :). Makes me laugh just looking at this picture- he was like that most of the evneing. Funny kid.
Here's the gift we gave him. I was so happy to finally get out of him what he REALLY wanted (since he hadn't said ANYTHING yet and I had no clue- no thought going on in this brain right now), but then he added the "Jazz" part after I'd already bought the orange and white. Rats. Not that it really matters- he just wanted his own basketball and really he's not picky, just me being me of course. I'm sure he loves it.
We were all so happy that Carter could come to the party! We found out kind of later in the game, I wasn't sure if I should text his mom or what- since they're in Bountiful, I wasn't sure they would make the trek anyway though. So we were pleasantly surprised. Luke was relieved too :). He just LOVES Carter. I think he will always be his "best friend" even though they see each other like once a year now.
Such kindred spirits though... how can ya blame him.
I always feel bad forcing the shy kids to be in pictures and stuff, but suck it up and say cheese! This is one of Luke's very favorites too. Not a surprise that he's shy :).
He really likes Austin lately too. I'm glad he's choosing good friends- they all seemed like very nice, polite little boys. Not near as much crudeness as I would expect from 8/9 year olds. Very impressed, though not surprised. Luke is picky :)
And of course we tore apart the "cake" before doing the candles... duh... so we put his nine candles in the bowl of blueberries I'd been pushing on the boys all night. It worked.
I was so glad I was able to text Tara and find out if I'd put on the invite whether we were bringing the boys home or not. My brain is completely dysfunctional now. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do for the next seven months! Or the rest of eternity for that matter. I hope it gets a recharge or a new battery or something when I'm resurrected at least. Assuming I make it that far.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUKE!!!
I loved watching Luke. He's a different kind of birthday kid. Very humble. He doesn't try too hard to please everyone and is okay with not having all of everyone's attention. Makes sense why he only invited 5 friends. They were pretty fun boys. Noisy. But fun. I thought it was a great time.
Things to Remember 2-8-15
YW
Today was ward conference so we had the Stake YW leaders come meet with the advisers and presidency beforehand and then they also taught our YW for the first hour. It was a nice meeting, nice lesson although, I felt a little confused on what a discussion is. It didn't feel like their lesson was a discussion but they had made such a big deal about how they would be demonstrating how the Come Follow Me lessons should be taught. So I guess on the one hand I feel a little more confident because I feel like I am doing at least what they did. But on the other hand, I feel a little confused because of what Brother Jacox has been teaching us. So weird. Not that I am judging them, I'm sure it's nerve-racking to teach a bunch of young women who don't know you. You can feel their love so strongly though, I do like that. It's nice to have their support. 2-8-15
O YE THAT EMBARK
So excuse me while I relate our YW lesson to myself for a minute. This just stood out to me today and kind of gave me a little boost. The Stake YW President, Sis. Lancaster brought up what embark means. She wanted us to realize that to embark doesn't just mean coming aboard, it means you're making a commitment to stay aboard. She used the example that when you go on a cruise you can't board the ship, ride off on the ocean and then change your mind out there on the ocean and climb off. It's something that you have to commit to and endure to the end. I liked this, NOT because I was relating it to the Gospel, but because it reminded me of this pregnancy. I know- it's on the brain- 24/7- sorry. I prayed long and hard to be able to have this baby that I knew was waiting to come to our family. It was a lot of work emotionally. I wanted it SO BAD. Now that it's here, there are a lot of other emotions mixed in. Of course I still want this baby to come to our family, with ALL my heart. There are so many other things pulling me in this negative direction though. The pregnancy symptoms pull me down so much. I feel like I won't make it sometimes. But I need to remember that I chose to embark on this journey. And wanted to more than I ever had. When I made the choice to embark though, I made the decision to stick it out til the end. I can't jump ship in the middle of it- it is going to go the whole 9 months. Not that I want to- but just as in life, it's not just the end that matters. I need to make the most of the whole journey. I've spent a lot of pregnancies in what I've affectionately named the pit of despair. Am I proud to admit that? of course not. But I will admit, I was there. I lost touch with my Heavenly Father. I know he was there for me, don't get me wrong, he carried me through all seven pregnancies, but as I've said before- I was not aware of it at the time. It makes it so hard! I am trying so hard (especially since this could possibly be my last pregnancy) to stay close to Him. To keep Him so close to my heart I will not lose track of His help, His blessings, and most importantly right now, His love. I need it!! I need Him! I cannot do this on my own and I don't want another pregnancy where I pretend like I'm doing it on my own. It's miserable. So anyway. I've embarked. I need to endure. But I don't want to just endure, I want to grow. (not just bigger :) ha!) I want this pregnancy to be a turning point for me spiritually. Or at least a huge step up. I want it to be something that brings me closer to the person Heavenly Father wants me to become. That's what trials are for. And this is the ultimate good trial. I need to make it work for me this time ;). There. That's all I have to say :). Thanks for reading. 2-8-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!
I wonder if Nana still thinks I'm crazy for wanting more kids. She told me to stop after six. I hope she's rethinking that now :). I hope my new little baby, waiting to come to their new family, has been able to meet my Nana. 2-8-15
FHE
For Kelly's lesson last night she had us pull out an object out of a bag. Each object represented someone's favorite scripture story and then she had us talk about why it's our favorite. I thought it was a great idea! She's totally all set to teach a lesson from Come Follow Me! I was proud of her. For Erika's activity she wanted to play sardines. Kelly hid first and found the most amazing spot in the house apparently (which unfortunately is in my closet....), but it took EVERYONE about 10 minutes to find her! And that wasn't until she started saying "Marco"! Kinda funny once Kelly told us how many times they came in there and came really close to finding her. Charity had even touched her toe! We played one more round and then it was SO time for bed- we got off to a late start thanks to the Jazz game. 2-9-15
TUESDAY TEMPLE DAY
So it happened! We got the Young Women to go to the temple at 5:00 in the morning!! Took a little work coordinating, but I was so pleased with our turn out! I was so surprised when all eight of them texted me before 5:00, saying, "I'm up!", "I'm coming", "Come get me now!".... just awesome! What a great way to start the day really. I mean minus the horrible night's sleep because I was so worried I'd oversleep and the midnight texts that I'd forgotten to remind Aubrey, and having it take FOREVER to get BACK to sleep- dang nausea- Oh, and let's not forget my stupid idea to set an alarm for every 5 minutes from 4;00-4:30 so I would for sure wake up :). But really, other than that!! I loved it! I was so glad Jami came, we were able to do some family names of a lady in our ward. We had such a great time. I love doing baptisms! I feel just like Tiffani who goes weekly, "like it's my second home". And don't get me wrong, I love the rest of the temple too, but there is really a special place in my heart for the Bountiful temple baptistry. So many memories. As I was sitting there near the font, moving one seat over as each youth took their turn, I was trying to think of what it is that gave me my testimony and my love for temple baptisms. This is what came to me. So when I was younger, my Dad actually worked at the Jordan River Temple in the baptistry, and I got to hear about a lot of the cool experiences he had even before I ever went. I remember that being something that stood out to me and felt like it was already part of me because it was part of my dad. I remember being SO excited to turn 12 and go to the temple. In fact from the age of 8 on "!2" was my favorite number for that one and only reason. I counted down the days til I could go. I think things were a little different back then because I don't remember going RIGHT AWAY. Or maybe it was just harder to get a recommend- not sure, but I do remember my first time being with my Mom and Brent. It was SO SPECIAL!!! I was so pleased with everything about the temple. No unmet expectations and no real surprises. It surprises me now to think that it didn't surprise me more back then. It's different. But anyway. I loved going with our Young Women in the Sandy ward. I think I got to go a few times with my ward in Bountiful, but I'm pretty sure that the real testimony and love came from my Seminary make up. Missing early morning seminary 26 times (over a two year period mind you) sounds like it would be a bad thing, but honestly, I think it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I was given the choice to clear my absences by going to the temple once per absence, so with very little time left, I ended up going almost everyday for a good month or two. If I remember correctly I even went twice in one day a few times. I LOVED IT!!! It was the best thing I could have done at that time. I took friends with me after school, even before school sometimes, then I went a lot in the morning too- which just blows my mind to think about since it was difficult to get up for 6:30 seminary much less the temple too. I know I went more than the 26 times before school got out. I believe it was that experience that made my leaders want to ask me to speak at my seminary graduation (kinda strange, but I thought it back then and still believe it). So once I started on that track, I just had to keep it up! I went almost everyday that summer, which worked great since I was a swim teacher/lifeguard- I just went straight to work after- wet hair and all. I went almost everyday. It was amazing. That is where my testimony grew. I wish I'd been able to keep it up that first year of college, but with no car and little time, it wasn't possible. I believe my Spirit would have taken a bit of a dive had it not been for my 5 institute classes. So anyway. NOT to toot my own horn in any way, just so grateful that I had that time to serve in the temple. It was a blessing. And now a great strength to my testimony. I hope to help instill a little of that love into some of the young women in the Shadowbrook ward.
So back to our trip- We got there around 5:30 and everything went smoothly, we got home by 7:20. So it worked out great! It was Chloe's first time!! I love being there with Charity too! Can't wait to have Kelly come :) 2-10-15
SWIM LESSONS!!
Erika has been counting down the days for the past week til her first SWIM LESSON! It was a BIG DEAL! She had her back packed the night before so it was really funny when she forgot it :). No towel, no change of clothes, no shampoo/conditioner... but we made it work :). She was SO EXCITED!! Her teacher's name is Megan, she did great on her first day! Her teacher said to practice putting her bumb up in the air when she swims with her feet... not sure when she'll practice that between today and Thursday, but whatever ;) 2-10-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVE!
We took Steve, Jauslin and my Dad to dinner for Stevie-poo's birthday tonight. I just love spending time with them. It's just nice. Laughing, reminiscing, hearing about all of Steve's successes :). I really do love it. The food wasn't too bad either- Kung Fu Gourmet was all that Steve said and more :). I can't believe he is 27!! We couldn't help but talk about the 63 cents (or however much it was), that Smith's robbed me of- and that fun evening. Also, Nana's, "You're not going to let a girl pick on you are ya?"- Nana, that's a boy!- "Shhhh, I know- I'm trying to embarrass him!". Good times. I love my little brother. 2-10-15
TOTALLY USELESS
Well, I was a complete waste of space today after getting up early for the temple. I'm thinking once a month might be enough for me.... it sure took a toll on my body. And my house for that matter. Thankfully the kids all did their jobs today.... 2-10-15
MEET THE MORMONS
The Beehives had a few issues this week with planning and carrying out their activity. Not sure I like how it went, but I think it was a good learning experience. In the end, we ended up going to Meet the Mormons at the JSMB. I like that movie. The girls seemed to like it as well. 2-11-15
FULL DAY
We had a very full day on Thursday. Started with reading with Noah's class, then swim lessons, lunch at Bajio (favorite part), Sprint store for Nate's new phone, Park with Becky, Pick up the kids, Scouts, finding pictures for Noah's poster, finishing Valentine boxes, then a mad dash to go practice Charity's solo for Solo and Ensemble, then to the school for that, then home to change, then up to the Stake Center for YW basketball (which we had an amazing turn out for! 8 girls!!! We totally killed them 24-6... in a nice churchy way...), then back home to finish Noah's poster (thanks to my mom for picking up the pictures!). It was nuts!! I was exhausted by the time it was over! Nate was even exhausted! Crazy how my life just feels like it's totally picked up some steam and each day is just full! Might be in my head.... not sure. 2-12-15
AT THE SCHOOL
We spent a good three hours at the school on Friday. First in Luke's class party. That was a lot of fun. We brought our heart bean bags for a bean bag toss- prizes a must- seemed like the kids loved it. Mrs. Beckstead was adorable the whole time. She is THE funnest teacher on the planet!! She went around taking pictures of the kids, laughing at all the fun stuff, praising the moms... I just love her. I just hope and pray Noah can get her.
Then we ran over to Noah's class for his "Show and Tell" of his poster. He did such a great job, talking in the microphone, telling everyone about the pictures. It was fun to watch him. I loved the question time. I'm gathering that he's embarrassed by his ol' superhero obsession... might be moving out of that phase, not sure, but this was the convo:
Cute girl: Do you like Spiderman?
Noah: No!
Cute girl: Then why do you have him on your shirt?
Noah: [silence].... [looking around for the next question]....
It was funny. Someone asked him his favorite superhero and he said, "None of them!" really quickly. Interesting. Not that it matters, just an observation.
Then we hurried off to Arby's for Luke's lunch, got back just in time for birthday tables with him. That was a nice time. He was in a good mood and talked a lot. I loved that he loved our game at his party. We waited quite a while even after Luke left (course he left 5 minutes before he usually does because he wanted "extra recess time!" funny kid), we had to wait for Jack to snail his way through his lunch. He is a SLOW eater!! Especially with all the distractions :).2-13-15
VALENTINES
The kids sure loved and looked forward to Valentine's Day this year. They all were anxiously engaged in making their own boxes way before the day. They all filled out their Valentine candies way early in the week as well. It was cute. I love that they are so self motivated on those things. Makes my job easy. Brad made a three box tall Robot for his box. Kelly did a purple minion out of a oatmeal box. Luke had wanted to make his own basketball hoop one like Bradley's last year, but waited so long (not the most motivated :) ), so he just fixed up Brad's... one good thing about keeping that thing all year. Noah made his bag at school. Erika was totally jealous and can't wait til next year!
FIRST DOCTOR VISIT
So we went in for my first prenatal visit on Friday. That was a relief. It always is... I don't know why, but I build up so many worries in that first month. It's silly. But my lungs were fine, everything was looking really great. We got to have an ultrasound and saw our baby's heartbeat! That's priceless. I loved that we got to see him/her moving around!! So cute! Dr. Thackeray decided to go with the due date from my ultrasound again (surprise, surprise), so my new due date is September 5th. Five days sooner than I thought, kinda cool. But that would put us delivering in August which isn't okay.... We already have an August birthday! We're (Nate and I- yes, I got him on board my crazy train- we want to deliver on September 1st :)). Thackeray said that as long as I'm not in labor before that, we can choose whatever we want, but mentioned that by then I might feel differently. Agreed. We'll see how it goes. Who knows what Heavenly Father or this new little Spirit has in mind... we don't have total control! It will be within a week of Jack's birthday either way... I'm not sure why I have the lame everyone-needs- their-own-birth-month obsession in the first place. Oh well. So yeah, all was well. Erica the nurse asked about Erika this time :). That was cute. I like that they know me there :). Erika has been our nurse for the last probably 4 kids! Kinda cool. I can stop being superstitious now that we had nothing go wrong on our Friday the 13th doctor visit. That was a relief :). 2-13-15
DISPOSAL, FISHING, VALENTINE'S DAY, ENGAGEMENTS, and BIG HERO 6
So, kind of a busy/lazy day at our house this 14th! Nate spent most of the morning installing the new disposal. That was a lot of work. I wish I hadn't had to, but I kind of saved the day with a lucky move helping Nate with the piece he'd been trying for an hour and a half. Cool for me, not for him, but at least it was done! Then he and Brad went on their much anticipated fishing trip to the ponds. Have I mentioned their "fishing bug"? Bradley announced to me earlier this week that he and Dad have a fishing bug. They've gone over to the ponds a few times this week, had a few bites, but nothing real big. It's been really cute because Bradley has just been reading and studying the subject all week! He has a book that Nate stole from his Dad and he's quickly becoming a fishing expert! He knows just what to do! He needs to learn how to tie on his own bait, but that will come. Nate says he's doing really great! He had two rainbow trout to show for it on Saturday. So fun for him! We got a video of the fish still moving after it's been gutted... gross. I love that Bradley has an interest and is digging in so deep! This is kind of how he is. He's done that with the basketball lately too. It's great. So anyway. They hurried back so that Nate could get ready for our date. The lazy part of our day was me- I pretty much lazied around (minus 3 or 4 loads of laundry and some indexing) until our date. It was my turn to plan though, so I took Nate to Sushi Monster. I knew he would love it :). Wasn't sure if I would be able to eat anything, but sure enough it all went down happily and stayed down! Lucky me :). I gave Nate his new Jazz jacket and t-shirt, plus some caramels before lunch. He spoiled me with the world's softest blanket! I can't keep it out of the kids hands. It really is soft. I love it! Lunch was great, I love being alone with Nate in the middle of the day. One of the great things about his schedule is the time we get to spend together when we're not dead tired. It's nice. We had a lot of fun. I only wish it could have lasted longer. We got back just in time to go take Dan and Adele's pictures. That was a lot of fun. I hope they end up liking them. We did a few in our backyard, then down to the ponds for some more. They look so cute together, I'm just so happy for Dan. It's cool to think that Jen and Adele will eventually meet in heaven, I just think Jen will love her so much!! They're actually a lot alike :). I was glad Nate was there to help with the poses. After that, Nate hurried off to work and the kids and I lazied around some more. After a while though, I started feeling like a total slacker. I usually do something valentines-y with/for my kids, heart pancakes or something, but I'd done NOTHING! So I texted Nate asking him what I should do that would be fun and he always comes up with way funner ideas than I do, he suggested Big Hero 6 at the Kaysville Theater. The kids were in! We totally scrambled to eat dinner and go, but it turned out to be the perfect ending of our day. What a cute movie!! I guess some people didn't think it was for little kids, but that's the first movie I've taken Jack to that he's been completely engrossed in the ENTIRE TIME. He didn't want to get to comfortable for fear he'd fall asleep so he sat on the edge of my lap the whole time, with his eyes glued. It was perfect for me I was able to just relax. I know he has an unhealthy addiction to screens, so I shouldn't be so happy, but this was a good thing :). I loved hearing him giggle at all the slapstick humor though. That was my favorite part. He gets it :). The boys had to witness a little fight over saved seats next to them. That was a bummer. They were cute about it though. Feeling bad for the poor kid who was left to save the seats and then had to move. Some people are so weird. I kind of wish I'd known what was going on- I would have pounded them- I hate that stuff! Happy Valentine's Day!
Today was ward conference so we had the Stake YW leaders come meet with the advisers and presidency beforehand and then they also taught our YW for the first hour. It was a nice meeting, nice lesson although, I felt a little confused on what a discussion is. It didn't feel like their lesson was a discussion but they had made such a big deal about how they would be demonstrating how the Come Follow Me lessons should be taught. So I guess on the one hand I feel a little more confident because I feel like I am doing at least what they did. But on the other hand, I feel a little confused because of what Brother Jacox has been teaching us. So weird. Not that I am judging them, I'm sure it's nerve-racking to teach a bunch of young women who don't know you. You can feel their love so strongly though, I do like that. It's nice to have their support. 2-8-15
O YE THAT EMBARK
So excuse me while I relate our YW lesson to myself for a minute. This just stood out to me today and kind of gave me a little boost. The Stake YW President, Sis. Lancaster brought up what embark means. She wanted us to realize that to embark doesn't just mean coming aboard, it means you're making a commitment to stay aboard. She used the example that when you go on a cruise you can't board the ship, ride off on the ocean and then change your mind out there on the ocean and climb off. It's something that you have to commit to and endure to the end. I liked this, NOT because I was relating it to the Gospel, but because it reminded me of this pregnancy. I know- it's on the brain- 24/7- sorry. I prayed long and hard to be able to have this baby that I knew was waiting to come to our family. It was a lot of work emotionally. I wanted it SO BAD. Now that it's here, there are a lot of other emotions mixed in. Of course I still want this baby to come to our family, with ALL my heart. There are so many other things pulling me in this negative direction though. The pregnancy symptoms pull me down so much. I feel like I won't make it sometimes. But I need to remember that I chose to embark on this journey. And wanted to more than I ever had. When I made the choice to embark though, I made the decision to stick it out til the end. I can't jump ship in the middle of it- it is going to go the whole 9 months. Not that I want to- but just as in life, it's not just the end that matters. I need to make the most of the whole journey. I've spent a lot of pregnancies in what I've affectionately named the pit of despair. Am I proud to admit that? of course not. But I will admit, I was there. I lost touch with my Heavenly Father. I know he was there for me, don't get me wrong, he carried me through all seven pregnancies, but as I've said before- I was not aware of it at the time. It makes it so hard! I am trying so hard (especially since this could possibly be my last pregnancy) to stay close to Him. To keep Him so close to my heart I will not lose track of His help, His blessings, and most importantly right now, His love. I need it!! I need Him! I cannot do this on my own and I don't want another pregnancy where I pretend like I'm doing it on my own. It's miserable. So anyway. I've embarked. I need to endure. But I don't want to just endure, I want to grow. (not just bigger :) ha!) I want this pregnancy to be a turning point for me spiritually. Or at least a huge step up. I want it to be something that brings me closer to the person Heavenly Father wants me to become. That's what trials are for. And this is the ultimate good trial. I need to make it work for me this time ;). There. That's all I have to say :). Thanks for reading. 2-8-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA!
I wonder if Nana still thinks I'm crazy for wanting more kids. She told me to stop after six. I hope she's rethinking that now :). I hope my new little baby, waiting to come to their new family, has been able to meet my Nana. 2-8-15
FHE
For Kelly's lesson last night she had us pull out an object out of a bag. Each object represented someone's favorite scripture story and then she had us talk about why it's our favorite. I thought it was a great idea! She's totally all set to teach a lesson from Come Follow Me! I was proud of her. For Erika's activity she wanted to play sardines. Kelly hid first and found the most amazing spot in the house apparently (which unfortunately is in my closet....), but it took EVERYONE about 10 minutes to find her! And that wasn't until she started saying "Marco"! Kinda funny once Kelly told us how many times they came in there and came really close to finding her. Charity had even touched her toe! We played one more round and then it was SO time for bed- we got off to a late start thanks to the Jazz game. 2-9-15
TUESDAY TEMPLE DAY
So it happened! We got the Young Women to go to the temple at 5:00 in the morning!! Took a little work coordinating, but I was so pleased with our turn out! I was so surprised when all eight of them texted me before 5:00, saying, "I'm up!", "I'm coming", "Come get me now!".... just awesome! What a great way to start the day really. I mean minus the horrible night's sleep because I was so worried I'd oversleep and the midnight texts that I'd forgotten to remind Aubrey, and having it take FOREVER to get BACK to sleep- dang nausea- Oh, and let's not forget my stupid idea to set an alarm for every 5 minutes from 4;00-4:30 so I would for sure wake up :). But really, other than that!! I loved it! I was so glad Jami came, we were able to do some family names of a lady in our ward. We had such a great time. I love doing baptisms! I feel just like Tiffani who goes weekly, "like it's my second home". And don't get me wrong, I love the rest of the temple too, but there is really a special place in my heart for the Bountiful temple baptistry. So many memories. As I was sitting there near the font, moving one seat over as each youth took their turn, I was trying to think of what it is that gave me my testimony and my love for temple baptisms. This is what came to me. So when I was younger, my Dad actually worked at the Jordan River Temple in the baptistry, and I got to hear about a lot of the cool experiences he had even before I ever went. I remember that being something that stood out to me and felt like it was already part of me because it was part of my dad. I remember being SO excited to turn 12 and go to the temple. In fact from the age of 8 on "!2" was my favorite number for that one and only reason. I counted down the days til I could go. I think things were a little different back then because I don't remember going RIGHT AWAY. Or maybe it was just harder to get a recommend- not sure, but I do remember my first time being with my Mom and Brent. It was SO SPECIAL!!! I was so pleased with everything about the temple. No unmet expectations and no real surprises. It surprises me now to think that it didn't surprise me more back then. It's different. But anyway. I loved going with our Young Women in the Sandy ward. I think I got to go a few times with my ward in Bountiful, but I'm pretty sure that the real testimony and love came from my Seminary make up. Missing early morning seminary 26 times (over a two year period mind you) sounds like it would be a bad thing, but honestly, I think it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I was given the choice to clear my absences by going to the temple once per absence, so with very little time left, I ended up going almost everyday for a good month or two. If I remember correctly I even went twice in one day a few times. I LOVED IT!!! It was the best thing I could have done at that time. I took friends with me after school, even before school sometimes, then I went a lot in the morning too- which just blows my mind to think about since it was difficult to get up for 6:30 seminary much less the temple too. I know I went more than the 26 times before school got out. I believe it was that experience that made my leaders want to ask me to speak at my seminary graduation (kinda strange, but I thought it back then and still believe it). So once I started on that track, I just had to keep it up! I went almost everyday that summer, which worked great since I was a swim teacher/lifeguard- I just went straight to work after- wet hair and all. I went almost everyday. It was amazing. That is where my testimony grew. I wish I'd been able to keep it up that first year of college, but with no car and little time, it wasn't possible. I believe my Spirit would have taken a bit of a dive had it not been for my 5 institute classes. So anyway. NOT to toot my own horn in any way, just so grateful that I had that time to serve in the temple. It was a blessing. And now a great strength to my testimony. I hope to help instill a little of that love into some of the young women in the Shadowbrook ward.
So back to our trip- We got there around 5:30 and everything went smoothly, we got home by 7:20. So it worked out great! It was Chloe's first time!! I love being there with Charity too! Can't wait to have Kelly come :) 2-10-15
SWIM LESSONS!!
Erika has been counting down the days for the past week til her first SWIM LESSON! It was a BIG DEAL! She had her back packed the night before so it was really funny when she forgot it :). No towel, no change of clothes, no shampoo/conditioner... but we made it work :). She was SO EXCITED!! Her teacher's name is Megan, she did great on her first day! Her teacher said to practice putting her bumb up in the air when she swims with her feet... not sure when she'll practice that between today and Thursday, but whatever ;) 2-10-15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVE!
We took Steve, Jauslin and my Dad to dinner for Stevie-poo's birthday tonight. I just love spending time with them. It's just nice. Laughing, reminiscing, hearing about all of Steve's successes :). I really do love it. The food wasn't too bad either- Kung Fu Gourmet was all that Steve said and more :). I can't believe he is 27!! We couldn't help but talk about the 63 cents (or however much it was), that Smith's robbed me of- and that fun evening. Also, Nana's, "You're not going to let a girl pick on you are ya?"- Nana, that's a boy!- "Shhhh, I know- I'm trying to embarrass him!". Good times. I love my little brother. 2-10-15
TOTALLY USELESS
Well, I was a complete waste of space today after getting up early for the temple. I'm thinking once a month might be enough for me.... it sure took a toll on my body. And my house for that matter. Thankfully the kids all did their jobs today.... 2-10-15
MEET THE MORMONS
The Beehives had a few issues this week with planning and carrying out their activity. Not sure I like how it went, but I think it was a good learning experience. In the end, we ended up going to Meet the Mormons at the JSMB. I like that movie. The girls seemed to like it as well. 2-11-15
FULL DAY
We had a very full day on Thursday. Started with reading with Noah's class, then swim lessons, lunch at Bajio (favorite part), Sprint store for Nate's new phone, Park with Becky, Pick up the kids, Scouts, finding pictures for Noah's poster, finishing Valentine boxes, then a mad dash to go practice Charity's solo for Solo and Ensemble, then to the school for that, then home to change, then up to the Stake Center for YW basketball (which we had an amazing turn out for! 8 girls!!! We totally killed them 24-6... in a nice churchy way...), then back home to finish Noah's poster (thanks to my mom for picking up the pictures!). It was nuts!! I was exhausted by the time it was over! Nate was even exhausted! Crazy how my life just feels like it's totally picked up some steam and each day is just full! Might be in my head.... not sure. 2-12-15
AT THE SCHOOL
We spent a good three hours at the school on Friday. First in Luke's class party. That was a lot of fun. We brought our heart bean bags for a bean bag toss- prizes a must- seemed like the kids loved it. Mrs. Beckstead was adorable the whole time. She is THE funnest teacher on the planet!! She went around taking pictures of the kids, laughing at all the fun stuff, praising the moms... I just love her. I just hope and pray Noah can get her.
Then we ran over to Noah's class for his "Show and Tell" of his poster. He did such a great job, talking in the microphone, telling everyone about the pictures. It was fun to watch him. I loved the question time. I'm gathering that he's embarrassed by his ol' superhero obsession... might be moving out of that phase, not sure, but this was the convo:
Cute girl: Do you like Spiderman?
Noah: No!
Cute girl: Then why do you have him on your shirt?
Noah: [silence].... [looking around for the next question]....
It was funny. Someone asked him his favorite superhero and he said, "None of them!" really quickly. Interesting. Not that it matters, just an observation.
Then we hurried off to Arby's for Luke's lunch, got back just in time for birthday tables with him. That was a nice time. He was in a good mood and talked a lot. I loved that he loved our game at his party. We waited quite a while even after Luke left (course he left 5 minutes before he usually does because he wanted "extra recess time!" funny kid), we had to wait for Jack to snail his way through his lunch. He is a SLOW eater!! Especially with all the distractions :).2-13-15
VALENTINES
The kids sure loved and looked forward to Valentine's Day this year. They all were anxiously engaged in making their own boxes way before the day. They all filled out their Valentine candies way early in the week as well. It was cute. I love that they are so self motivated on those things. Makes my job easy. Brad made a three box tall Robot for his box. Kelly did a purple minion out of a oatmeal box. Luke had wanted to make his own basketball hoop one like Bradley's last year, but waited so long (not the most motivated :) ), so he just fixed up Brad's... one good thing about keeping that thing all year. Noah made his bag at school. Erika was totally jealous and can't wait til next year!
FIRST DOCTOR VISIT
So we went in for my first prenatal visit on Friday. That was a relief. It always is... I don't know why, but I build up so many worries in that first month. It's silly. But my lungs were fine, everything was looking really great. We got to have an ultrasound and saw our baby's heartbeat! That's priceless. I loved that we got to see him/her moving around!! So cute! Dr. Thackeray decided to go with the due date from my ultrasound again (surprise, surprise), so my new due date is September 5th. Five days sooner than I thought, kinda cool. But that would put us delivering in August which isn't okay.... We already have an August birthday! We're (Nate and I- yes, I got him on board my crazy train- we want to deliver on September 1st :)). Thackeray said that as long as I'm not in labor before that, we can choose whatever we want, but mentioned that by then I might feel differently. Agreed. We'll see how it goes. Who knows what Heavenly Father or this new little Spirit has in mind... we don't have total control! It will be within a week of Jack's birthday either way... I'm not sure why I have the lame everyone-needs- their-own-birth-month obsession in the first place. Oh well. So yeah, all was well. Erica the nurse asked about Erika this time :). That was cute. I like that they know me there :). Erika has been our nurse for the last probably 4 kids! Kinda cool. I can stop being superstitious now that we had nothing go wrong on our Friday the 13th doctor visit. That was a relief :). 2-13-15
DISPOSAL, FISHING, VALENTINE'S DAY, ENGAGEMENTS, and BIG HERO 6
So, kind of a busy/lazy day at our house this 14th! Nate spent most of the morning installing the new disposal. That was a lot of work. I wish I hadn't had to, but I kind of saved the day with a lucky move helping Nate with the piece he'd been trying for an hour and a half. Cool for me, not for him, but at least it was done! Then he and Brad went on their much anticipated fishing trip to the ponds. Have I mentioned their "fishing bug"? Bradley announced to me earlier this week that he and Dad have a fishing bug. They've gone over to the ponds a few times this week, had a few bites, but nothing real big. It's been really cute because Bradley has just been reading and studying the subject all week! He has a book that Nate stole from his Dad and he's quickly becoming a fishing expert! He knows just what to do! He needs to learn how to tie on his own bait, but that will come. Nate says he's doing really great! He had two rainbow trout to show for it on Saturday. So fun for him! We got a video of the fish still moving after it's been gutted... gross. I love that Bradley has an interest and is digging in so deep! This is kind of how he is. He's done that with the basketball lately too. It's great. So anyway. They hurried back so that Nate could get ready for our date. The lazy part of our day was me- I pretty much lazied around (minus 3 or 4 loads of laundry and some indexing) until our date. It was my turn to plan though, so I took Nate to Sushi Monster. I knew he would love it :). Wasn't sure if I would be able to eat anything, but sure enough it all went down happily and stayed down! Lucky me :). I gave Nate his new Jazz jacket and t-shirt, plus some caramels before lunch. He spoiled me with the world's softest blanket! I can't keep it out of the kids hands. It really is soft. I love it! Lunch was great, I love being alone with Nate in the middle of the day. One of the great things about his schedule is the time we get to spend together when we're not dead tired. It's nice. We had a lot of fun. I only wish it could have lasted longer. We got back just in time to go take Dan and Adele's pictures. That was a lot of fun. I hope they end up liking them. We did a few in our backyard, then down to the ponds for some more. They look so cute together, I'm just so happy for Dan. It's cool to think that Jen and Adele will eventually meet in heaven, I just think Jen will love her so much!! They're actually a lot alike :). I was glad Nate was there to help with the poses. After that, Nate hurried off to work and the kids and I lazied around some more. After a while though, I started feeling like a total slacker. I usually do something valentines-y with/for my kids, heart pancakes or something, but I'd done NOTHING! So I texted Nate asking him what I should do that would be fun and he always comes up with way funner ideas than I do, he suggested Big Hero 6 at the Kaysville Theater. The kids were in! We totally scrambled to eat dinner and go, but it turned out to be the perfect ending of our day. What a cute movie!! I guess some people didn't think it was for little kids, but that's the first movie I've taken Jack to that he's been completely engrossed in the ENTIRE TIME. He didn't want to get to comfortable for fear he'd fall asleep so he sat on the edge of my lap the whole time, with his eyes glued. It was perfect for me I was able to just relax. I know he has an unhealthy addiction to screens, so I shouldn't be so happy, but this was a good thing :). I loved hearing him giggle at all the slapstick humor though. That was my favorite part. He gets it :). The boys had to witness a little fight over saved seats next to them. That was a bummer. They were cute about it though. Feeling bad for the poor kid who was left to save the seats and then had to move. Some people are so weird. I kind of wish I'd known what was going on- I would have pounded them- I hate that stuff! Happy Valentine's Day!
Luke's Family Party pictures courtesy of Erika
So, Erika discovered that she enjoys taking pictures! And after finally uploading my camera, I discovered that she's pretty good at it! So, here are a whole bunch of pictures from Luke's party that have very little to do with Luke and his birthday :), great pictures nonetheless.
I think I took these of Lukey opening his presents
Kelly made him these really cute cards, this particular one was a pop-up one. Way cute. She's very thoughtful.
I think this is Grandpa Russ trying to convince Luke that he needs his birthday spankings.
Erika's got the camera again :)
Look, she does exist! (meaning me. very few pictures of myself these days.... possibly a good thing, but I like having one or two here and there for posterity's sake)
The great thing about having short people take pictures are the flattering angles of course.
We served lasagna for dinner, minus the lasagna noodles.... with spiral pastas instead.
I'm just impressed someone got a picture of grandma with both eyes open... Erika, you win!
I think I already documented the story about me wimping out of making his cake. It was going to be a really cool basketball one... such a pity that this ice cream cake was missing the delicious cookie inside. I think everyone was slightly disappointed, though no one as much as me. I had to get orange writing so that the girliness of the pink didn't take over. Luke does love strawberry cheesecake though :)
We had a little karaoke night, the girls sang a song from Rigoletto for Grandma Ruthie.
What a handsome little guy. I love my Lukey.
Luke and Brad did a little number as well... it's the parody version of "Ready to Wack You" that goes with some video game... no, that's not really what the song is called, that's just what I call it. I'll remember the real words later.
I think Luke had a good enough time.
One of the things I love most about Luke is that he is himself. He rarely does things just to please others. He only does what he feels like doing. I love his cuddly nature even though he turns it into obnoxiousness sometimes :). But I love that he knows how to have fun too. He is a goof ball. Always has been. We love his sense of humor and his easiness to it. He is usually happy. It's not always visible, but all it takes is a little tickle and he's there :), laughing his head off. He's a great student, his teachers always talk about how they love him and think he's good at everything. He kind of is. One of his talents. He is growing up to be such a cool kid. I'm really proud of him. I can't believe he's nine!!
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