F.H.E.

Tonight I am grateful for my kids who reminded me that it was Family Home Evening and asked if they could plan the lesson! I will be the first to admit that we haven't been in the habit of having F.H.E. every Mon. night. Zach has had football since August and last week was the first Monday we had all been home together in many months! I actually made a yummy dinner and told everyone that we were celebrating football being over!!! I've never felt that way before when Zach was done playing a sport, but I think Morgan coaching full time this year made a big difference! I was so excited to have my family together again! Every General Conference I always feel so bad and guilty when they talk about how important it is to have your family together for dinner, but during football there really is just nothing we can do about it! I used to beat myself up over it, but now I have learned that for 3 months that is just how it is going to be! I really have to make it a priority the other months though. I can attest to you even in the last week, what a difference it makes!!! I love making a nice meal for my family, but it is something I can't do every night! But I have also learned that it doesn't matter what we are eating, it is the fact that we are sitting around the table together TALKING, SHARING STORIES WITH ONE ANOTHER, LAUGHING, TEACHING, AND JUST BEING A FAMILY TOGETHER! We had one of the most memorable sunday dinners yesterday, one we hadn't had in a long time. Even after we were done eating we all sat there for like an hour, just talking, Halle hadn't slept all day, so she fell asleep around 5, which was while I was making dinner, and we were eating. I'm sure we wouldn't have been able to do that if she would have been awake. It was so nice to sit with the older kids, and TALK with them!

Anyway, back to the subject here, I think I was talking about F.H.E. not family dinners... Ha ha!

When Brinley came up to me this afternoon and was asking what we were doing tonight, if we were going anywhere etc. I told her that we were going to be home, she got so excited and asked if she could plan F.H.E by herself! I told her sure, and was thinking that I would surely have to help her with something. But no, she did it all on her own! She called us all into the living room and was ready to start! She started us on a scavenger hunt and had prepared 4 different envelopes with things in them. After we had found them all, that is how she started her lesson with #1

(I'm going to write down here what she had written, so I don't forget, she was so cute!)

1- Why do you think we have Articles of Faith?

We believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.

2-What do you think the 2nd Article of Faith means?

We Believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

And then we talked about the Atonement and why we have it, and how we can repent.

3-Do we have to believe in Jesus Christ?

No, (this is Brinley talking) But it is better if we do, cuz at church you learn about him, and I Love Jesus Christ!

We Believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgressions.

Then she shared a story with us in the Old Testament that she had learned in class on Sunday (she just loves her primary teachers!)

She had songs picked out, and everything! It was so cute, when we started singing, Halle started leading her arms like she does at church! Brinley and Boston had a fun time leading us too!

This is Boston leading us in Book of Mormon stories. When Zach was little we had to sing this song EVERY time!!! It was his favorite!

Follow the Prophet "He knows the Way"!

We had a little bit of fun too!

My sweet Brinley

The boys looking at something on Zach's iPod afterwards.

We had Oreo ice cream after, and Morgan even took Brinley to the store to pick out a treat. They came home with Cinnamon Rolls!

We ended the night with my 2 littles actually going to bed at a decent time! I love it when they go to sleep at the same time, with me laying by them of course!

Sometimes I feel like I learn more from my kids, than they learn from me. Tonight was definitely one of those times! Thank you Brinley for gathering us together and remembering what is important in life! Hopefully this can be the start to many more Monday nights together!

We love you!

SiLLy LiTTlE GiRl!!!

Halle is getting quite the little personality as she gets older! She is so much fun! We are totally enjoying her, and she still has us all wrapped around her finger, all 5 of us...

One day she was crying while I was in the shower (which happens quite often) and wanted to get in with me, so I let her in, and she stayed in for awhile after and was loving it!

I think this was after her shower... she sees me use a Q-tip and always wants one for herself. I put her in her crib so I could get Boston out of the tub and he busted up laughing when he saw her!!! She had put the Q-tip in her ear and forgot to take it out and went on with life! She had no idea what we were laughing at... it was so funny!

This was the next morning after we got back from Logan and the kids suitcases were sitting on the floor. I had given her a little bowl of cereal to eat and she climbed right inside to have a seat and eat her breakfast! :)

I don't even have the words to explain how cute this picture is...

ChAmPiOnShIp GaMe!

Last Saturday Zach's 6th grade A team played in the Championship game against Lone Peak. This was our first time making it this far, and it was so exciting! The coaches surprised the boys with new jerseys for the play offs, to get them pumped! They were silver with purple numbers outlined in black, totally sweet!

The boys all decided that they were going to have mohawks for the game too, some were more extreme than others, but it was fun! A few even showed their Lehi pride and colored their hawk purple! You should have seen the inside of their helmets after! Ha ha!

We started off the game on the right foot and scored a touchdown, but that was the last for Lehi! It was a sad ending, the boys were really upset, but we were just proud of them for making it that far! Both teams showed really great sportsmanship, and that's what really matters! After the game they had both teams go out and line up on the field for awards, which was really awesome! Morgan handed out the medals to the boys, and the picture above is him giving Zach his medal, I thought it was so cute!

This was when we were walking off the field, Zach was having a hard time, and Morgan just went and walked beside him and put his arm around him, didn't say anything, just walked beside him. It melted my heart. Sometimes you just can't say anything to make it feel better, this was one of those times.

Some of the parents wanted a team picture after the game.

I have learned that you don't ask to take pictures after you loose a game. You just don't.

But I didn't say anything.

So, while we were at it...

I took a couple more...

Zach and his number 1 fan!

Don't they look happy?

I guess I really didn't learn. But I had a picture of Boston with his dad after their last game, so I HAD to get one of him and Zach too!

Morgan spent many hours on the football field this season, he LOVES this game!

After the game I was planning on driving to Logan. My nephew Nate got baptized that morning. It was at 10:00 right during the game, but I wanted to go up for the day still. My sister went up Friday night and took Brinley and Boston with her so they could be there for Nate'dog's baptism. They just love him, he really is like a brother to them! We were so sad that Zach's game ended up being at the same time. But I'm glad that they at least still got to go up for it.

Zach decided that he wanted to come with me after they lost, he wanted to get his mind off of things, and we left Morgan home cuz he had to teach Elders Quorum the next day. It was my brother Mike's birthday the next day, so we stayed for dinner and went to church with Rhett and his family. It was such a fun weekend, it was short, but I'm so glad we went, that's when the memories are made!

I didn't get any pictures of the kids, they are on my sister's camera. Dang.

ReFlEcTiOnS WiNNeR!

A Few months ago my kids came home with a Reflections paper telling what the theme was and when the projects were due. I've never had anyone be interested in doing it, and I have never encouraged it, because really, who has time for another "project" if we don't HAVE to do it? But Brinley really wanted to enter, and I wasn't going to tell her no! She did everything herself, I really was amazed at what she came up with!

The theme this year was

"Together We Can..."

She entered the 3D art and used modeling clay to make little people.

She chose the theme

Together We Can Make a FAMILY!

She had a family sitting around the table together eating dinner! I wish you could see it up close, she really put a lot of detail into each little thing! She had so much fun doing it, and just did it at home on a Saturday.

Well, they just had the awards ceremony last week and they announced the winners at school, she came home and told us that she took 2nd place in the whole 3rd grade!

We were thrilled for her!

Way to go Brin!

These were taken at the awards ceremony at the school.

WINNERS!

HaLlOwEeN 2010

Halloween was pretty low key for us this year. I just never really had it in me. I think the toll of having sick kids all month really wore on me. I didn't have the energy to do anything. It took all that was left in me to carve pumpkins Friday night. And I actually didn't even help, Morgan did it all cuz I was in the kitchen making carmel popcorn balls for Zach's football team the next day. It was still fun to be in the kitchen with everyone and take pictures of course! And I would have gotten away without carving or even touching the inside of a pumpkin if I wouldn't have had to gut the one for our pumpkin dinner!

The kids love to come home and dump out their candy and sort everything into groups!

This is about all the pictures I took on Sat.

Zach had a football game that day at 2. So I let the kids wear their costumes, that way I thought they would already be ready to go trick or treating when we got home. About half way through the game a big storm came through and the wind started blowing and it started raining like crazy! My sister ran my kids to the van to keep dry/warm and I stood there in the rain watching the game. It was a good one, they WON which means they go on to play in the CHAMPIONSHIP the next week!!! I handed the boys their popcorn balls when the game was over and ran to my car. I felt like I had just got out of the shower, I was soppin wet!

So, that kinda put a damper on going trick or treating... the weather was poopy!

Boston never wavered, he still wanted to go, on the other hand Brinley was not about to walk around out in the rain and get all wet! Zach went with his friends for the night, so that left someone home to give out candy and hang out with Halle, there was NO WAY I was taking her out in the cold! Since football happened to be on my hubby quickly offered to stay home and give out candy, I mean watch football.

My sister came over (dressed up of course) to go with me to take the kids. We had fun walking around, but they didn't last very long. They were cold, wet, and tired, and wanted to go home.

At the end of the night I realized I hadn't even gotten Halle in her costume that day! Whoops! I dressed her up to go to the school on Friday, and she looked so cute! All three of the littles were pirates! And Zach opted not to dress up this year, although he did wear his football jersey to school and I sprayed his hair black and purple (GO PIONEERS). I never even got a picture with them all together... not even of the 3 pirates. So not like me. I told you I was not in the Halloween spirit this year. I'll do better next year. Maybe. I just don't really love Halloween, it's not my favorite holiday. Maybe I'll dress Halle back up in her costume and take a picture... or maybe not.

Pumpkin Carving

Class Parties

Brinley's class~3rd grade

Miss Mitchell

Boston's class~kindergarten

Mrs. Christensen

Boston at the kindergarten costume parade

I zoomed in on Boston and now looking back at it, this was the night he got sick... you can tell by looking at him that he doesn't feel good. In fact, at school I kept asking him if he was o.k. cuz he just didn't seem all too excited for his Halloween party.

Zach...

After 3 weeks of postponing because sick kiddos Zach finally was ordained a Deacon last Sunday! His birthday was Oct. 2 and he ended up getting ordained on Halloween! Kinda funny, at least it was still October! It was a special day. I still can't believe I am old enough to have a 12 year old! We had it done before church so that he would actually be able to pass the sacrament that day. I was the very first person he passed it to, which was pretty cool! And then his dad and our family. He is such a good kid, and was so excited to be passing the sacrament! He is loving being 12 and doing things with the older kids, instead of being in Primary! I don't blame him!

Zach with mom and dad

My mom and my sister were the only ones that were able to be there. My mom drove down from Logan that morning. I'm glad they were there. My sister is really close with Zach. She was going to Dixie when we lived in St. George while Zach was little, so they have some special memories together!

Of course we had to have our traditional dinner in a pumpkin on Halloween!

It is always fun, my mom had never had it before, she thought we were supposed to eat the pumpkin too! Which you can, but I didn't cook mine in the oven long enough, I cooked my rice first so it would be done quicker. It was Sunday, and everyone is always hungry on Sunday!

OcToBeR FeSt!!!

Even though October flew by, with all our sickness (see post below), we still managed to keep plenty busy! Here is a recap of our month...

I was able to go with Boston on his first field trip as a kindergartner! We went to Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove. It was pretty much like Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point, but was fun to go somewhere different.

They let the kids right in with the animals at the petting zoo which I thought was awesome, it's not every day you have ducks, pigs, and goats walking around at your feet! The bad thing is, it had snowed the day before, so the ground was REALLY wet! Everything was MUD, but the kids still had a blast running around!

This is a picture of the little group I was in charge of, minus 2 kids who didn't want to jump up on the haystack! Boston was such a good helper keeping track of everyone for me! He made sure we all stuck together!

Boston played in his last flag football game! Here he is with "coach daddy".

I remember this is first day Brinley got sick, and I had to leave her home in bed so I could go watch Boston play his last game. :(

My mom came down to spend a few days with us because Zach was supposed to get ordained, but that was the weekend he got sick, so we had to post pone it. My mom decided to stay with us anyway, since my dad decided to move to St. George without her.

I just love this picture, she will probably kill me for posting, but it just shows what a fun grandma she is. I was coloring her hair one morning before Boston went to school and he thought it looked fun to mush her hair around like I was doing... so he had to try it out! She is doing horsies with Halle on her leg. My mom is so much more relaxed now that she is retired! It is so nice for her to have extra time now, I always ask her if she remembers what it was like when she worked, personally I don't know how she ever had TIME!!! :)

Look at that smile!!! That isn't something you see all the time with this little girl! She is getting so much more playful now that she is getting older! Halle loves to get on the bed while I am folding laundry and play in the clothes! She loves me to dump the basket of clothes on her and she will play, try to put shirts, underwear, and whatever she can on her head. If she walks in the room and I am folding laundry, she stops what she is doing and climbs right up on the bed! It is so cute!

My brother Rhett and his family stopped on their way home from St. George for Fall Break! The kids had so much fun together, we hadn't seen them since school started!

My sister, my mom and I took the kids to Gardner Village to see the Witches. I had never been before but had heard alot about it! Zach didn't come with us, cuz he was sick, but I'm sure he wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as the little kids. The atmosphere was really fun, and they had lots of cute fun things for the kids, but that place just sucks the money right out of ya! Every time I turned around the kids wanted to do something else that cost money! Grandma was alot more willing to bring out the bills than I was! Thanks mom!

We went and ate at Archibalds after! It was so yummy! Worth the hour long wait that we had to get in!

Morgans brother Jason and his wife Ashlee had their TWINS on the 12th of October! They are truly a blessing, and are both doing good! We were so excited to go see them at the hospital that Morgan skipped football practice and we got a babysitter for the kids and ran out the door! Those are both things that NEVER happen!

But it was good to get out, and go see the sweet little things! I was in HEAVEN holding them!

Luke was 5 lbs 8 oz and 18 inches long.
Aubree was 5 lbs 14 oz and 18.5 inches long.

Our kids were so sad they didn't get to come see them, and they still haven't seen them cuz we have been sick! Sorry kiddos!