Rock The Halls!

The kids rocked the halls again for reading this year.  It is Jake's last time.  Last year, they could do it over and over if they got the points, but this year, you can only earn it once.  So, it was fun that he could do it with Allie.

 Nate was a super fan of his brother and sister again.

Good job guys!  Jake has been reading Fablehaven and Land of Stories books this school year (among other things).  Allie has been reading Ramona, and I Survived books.  She also listens to Harry Potter every night as she falls asleep.  She'll have them memorized just like the A to Z Mysteries that were her favorite last year.

I am so glad my kids love to read.  As for me, I just finished The Thirteenth Tale and loved it.  Books are so much fun!

St. George Girls Trip

We went on our annual girls trip to St. George in October.  I haven't posted yet because I don't have all the pictures that I wanted to put in here.  Oh well, maybe I'll add them later when I get them.

Allie and I headed out right after Parent Teacher Conferences and picked up Kim and the girls at the airport in SLC.  The cousins were giggling in the back seat before the doors were closed and we were on the road again.  We slept at Grandma's that night and took off bright and early the next morning.

One year older!

Here they are with the moms too.

We got to our hotel and swam in the pool, did some shopping and then went to Tuachan that night.  We saw Beauty and the Beast and it was really fun.  We had great seats and the girls enjoyed laughing at Gaston and the way he made Aunt Jenny swoon.

We also went to Brigham Young's house.

It was really cool to see some of the things of the era and some of the things that were originally Brigham Young's possessions.  I thought it was really cool to see all the intricate woodwork that was really just pine painted to look like different kinds of wood.

Just pine!

This was his bedroom.  The staircase was really steep and crazy, so he'd just stay up in his room for days at a time.
It was fun to see a bit of our church's history.
We had a fun trip.  We shopped a bit and came home with some stuffed animals for the boys so they wouldn't feel left out.
I am so grateful for my Allie girl.  I have fun with her when we are together.  She is a funny girl who has a lot to offer the world.  She's my little buddy and I'm glad we get to do this each year.  It's hard for me to leave Jake behind because he is the only one of our boys who knows he is missing out on something, but these girl cousins are creating a bond that a stinky boy would just feel left out of.  :)
So, Allie and I go and we have fun without distractions.  We are so lucky to have each other.

Conversation at Sam's Club

Jason and Nate were completely excited to walk down the aisle of Christmas toys at Sam's club.  They both picked out (and begged for) the monster truck that they wanted and then just begged for everything else.  Jason found this cube thing meant for toddlers that had all sorts of buttons to push.  It was 39 dollars and I watched as he pushed buttons and then pulled him away kicking and screaming.
As you may know, we have given up potty training the boy.  I think he'll be going to school in diapers.  So, we had to make a stop for diapers, and that's where I took my kicking and screaming, should be potty trained, 3 year old.  I stood staring at the price of diapers and inwardly groaned at the thought of buying another box.  I just really didn't want to.  When you think you are done buying diapers FOREVER, it is really hard to break down and buy them again.  So, this is the conversation I had with Jason...

Me:  Jason.  Do you really want that toy that you were playing with?

Jason:  Yes!  Less go get it!

Me:  Well, these diapers are the same price as that toy.

Jason:  Oh?

Me:  Yeah.  We could get that toy and not these diapers.

Jason:  Okay!  (running back to the toy)

Me:  But if we get the toy instead of the diapers, that means you have to poop and pee in the toilet.

Jason:  Oh?  Yeah.  The toilet?

Me:  Yep.  If we get the toy instead of the diapers, that means you can't ever poop your pants again.

Jason:  Okay.

Me:  So, are you going to get that cool toy!

Jason:  No.  Get the dappers.  I don't need that toy.

Random Conversation at the Front Door...

...Nate walked in from returning a bowl from the neighbor and said

Nate: Mom.  I have the magic touch.  I am NOT kidding.

Me:  The magic touch?

Nate:  Yes.  The magic touch.  Dad has to take me fishing because I have the magic touch.  I know how to get a fish on the end of the pole and keep it there.  I have the magic touch.
...Jason, not so much, but I have the magic touch.  I have to catch a fish every time because I have the magic touch.

Nate does seem to have good luck with a fishing pole.  He has caught several fish when he's out with Mike.  Mike has called it "the magic touch" but I thought it was funny that he thought of it, today, of all days.  He must have been thinking about fishing as he made the long trek across our yard to the neighbor's and back.

Best Brudders

These guys fight a lot, but they are also the best "brudders" you have ever seen.  I love it when they snuggle up and fall asleep together.  Jason thinks he's helping Nate to fall asleep and Nate thinks he's getting Jason to sleep.  It's a win win for me.  

Lost and Found

I wrote in the last post that our little motorcycle was stolen off our trailer in front of our house.  We were pretty sad about it, especially the kids.  I was freaked out that someone could just take something right in front of our house while we were all still awake.  It makes you lose a sense of security for sure.
Well, we kept in touch with the police and tried to give them any lead we could.  One of our friends said he saw the motorcycle the next morning in the canyon by our house.  We were on our vacation, so we sent another neighbor to look for it and they came home empty handed.  So we just resigned ourselves to the loss.
Some nights, I can hear Jake saying his prayers and one of the nights, I heard him asking for the police to get the motorcycle back.
Cute little Nate had been praying for it too.  I kept telling them not to count on getting it back and I felt bad that they were still hoping and praying.
I think it was like a tv episode for Nate.  He knew the cops were on the case and it was only a matter of time before they caught the bad guys.
I was canning salsa and grape juice and the house was a mess the next Saturday, so Mike took the kids to Wendy's for lunch.  They saw a police officer there and asked if he had any news about our motorcycle.  He hadn't even heard about it, so they all went their separate ways.  Then, the next day, while making his rounds, that police officer saw a little blue motorcycle at the gravel pit in Green Canyon (North Logan).  He checked the vin number and sure enough, it was ours.  He called Mike and he loaded the kids up in the truck and they went to pick it up.  Someone had taken off some of the stickers, but other than that, it was unharmed.  I couldn't believe it.   The smiles on these kids faces were pretty genuine.  They were so happy to get it back.

So, it was a lesson in faith and prayer for my kids and a lesson in faith and prayer for me.  I hadn't even prayed that we could get it back because I thought it was a lost cause.  I guess that shows me.  :)  

Little Sahara

I wanted to get the family out for one last ride in the motorhome for fall break.  I planned a trip along the Oregon Coast and was really excited to see the redwoods.  A few weeks before we'd leave, my brother called and said he was taking his family to the sand dunes and that we should come too.  That sounded more fun to Mike than hours and hours of driving, so we loaded up our motorhome to head to Little Sahara sand dunes.  It was such a great trip.  Things started out a little rocky though.  The night before we were to leave, Mike loaded our wheeler and little dirt bike onto the trailer.  We knew the next day would be crazy, so he wanted to get as much done that night as he could.  Some punk came and stole the little motorcycle off the trailer that night before 8 when Jake came home from scouts.  We were pretty sad about it.  We called the police and they started their investigation and we went to the dunes wishing we had something for the kids to ride around the camp ground.

Luckily, my brother brought enough stuff to share...

Allie spent a lot of time riding Warren's big 4 wheeler around camp and she thought it was really fun to have independence and get to know the area around us.

Our little wheeler bit the dust right before this trip, so Nate was super happy to see that uncle Warren had something for him to ride too...

He got pretty good at going off little jumps, and side hills.  He is really fun to watch because he gets his whole body into it.  He is really a good little rider and he loves it so much that he got lots of practice.

My Mom came down and rented a razor that we could ride for the day.  It was really fun on the dunes and the kids loved it.  Jake came home begging for one because we let him drive that a bit and he thought it was fun.

Mike let Jason try to drive a bit and it was cute to see him.  He listened to instructions and could slow down and turn when Mike told him what to do.  

There were lots of fun trails right by our camp that took us to different places.  The kids liked going to the water tower, a little pond, and the dead and decomposing animal sight.  We saw a herd of antelope and some cute little bunnies on our trail too.

I can't believe I don't have any pictures of the cousins.  I hope the others took pictures too and we can combine them.  Here's one of Jake and Kaylee hanging out.

The boys spent a lot of happy hours driving monster trucks and big dump trucks through the sand.  There were some tussles over who should play with what toys, but for the most part, they had fun together.

We had a lot of fun and were so happy that we went.  It was a new place for us and now that we know more about it, we'd like to go again for sure.
Now the motorhome is winterized and put away for another year.  We made some fun memories in it this year and look forward to more adventures!

Reflections Contest

Allie wanted to enter the reflections contest this year and when she found out she could enter a photograph, she got pretty excited.  The theme was "Let Your imagination Fly".  She decided that she wanted to take pictures of Nate being a lion, so she set up the scene and got him dressed up.  I tried to get her out to take the picture in better light, but she kept forgetting about it till it was pretty dark.  Her pictures turned out okay anyway.

 She spread some leaves out by him and was trying to get him to cooperate by posing like a fierce lion.

 Then, when it got too dark, she set up a scene downstairs...

 Jason wasn't as cooperative as Nate, and they were both done before they started.

She ended up using this picture and she titled it "The King of Robin St."

She did it all by herself while I was cooking dinner.  I thought she did a great job and I hope she does well.

Red Ribbon Week

The kids had red ribbon week the week of Halloween.  They dressed in red, wore p.j.'s one day and had crazy hair.  Then on the last day, they got to wear their costumes.  When things like this happen, it hits me that this is Jake's last year of elementary school.  I'm sad that this is the end of fun things like this for him.  I guess they do all sorts of other things instead, but still...here they are...

 We had an awesome foggy morning on the Friday before Halloween.  Very appropriate for the day :)

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween.  It was another fun day at our house.

Jake was a quidditch player with a black eye.

Allie was Elsa.

Nate was a tiger.

And Jason was a dinosaur.

They were all so cute and they were all quite ready to go get some treats.

I told Jason to show me his tail and he started to wiggle it in such a funny way that I was cracking up.  He showed his little tail waggle to everyone who admired his costume.

It was the 11th annual neighborhood parade.  Jake was there for the first one and we haven't missed one since.

They run down the street and then trick or treat on the way back.  It's pretty fun to see all the cute kids in their costumes.

Jason and Nate made out like bandits.  They were really tired though, so we came back home after circling our neighborhood.  Jason ate two full peanut butter and honey sandwiches (dipped in milk) and then wanted to go back out.  He found his rooster costume and wanted that one on for round 2.

Mike took them out on the wheeler to find Allie and Jake.

Here's Allie's haul.

We don't have a picture of Jake this year.  He hurried off to watch a movie at a friend's house and I forgot to take one when he got back.  He ended up with a huge sack full.  It was a fun night for everyone and the kids all went to bed without any complaints.  I like Halloween on a weekend night instead of trying to rush through things on a school night.  Good times had by all!