Little Everyday Things

I got to stop for a mother duck and her ducklings to cross the road! That was a lot of fun for me and the kids.

Ronald McDonald in the house. Haha!

The kids made a huge blanket fort in the basement one afternoon out of boredom. I love it when they get creative and play like this. I think Lucas did most of the work.

Lucas finally lost his front tooth. Boy was he excited!

 The kids started school, so now we're back to just me and Grayson at home. Aside from chores I'm not really sure what to do with myself. But once the kids get home it gets busy with sports and activities, so we just go from one thing to the next until it's bedtime. Zander is playing another year of flag football, Hannah is doing her first year of soccer, and Lucas wants to wait until spring to try his hand at baseball. I like being a mom and getting to stay home and be here for my kids. I got myself some books to read in the afternoons during quiet time. I feel like I have it all. Everything I have ever dreamed of as a little girl. I am living that dream right now. I remember imagining what my husband would look like and even what his name would be. As well as my kids. I didn't use any of the names I had picked out as a child. It's probably a good thing, haha. And I'm pretty sure I mostly had girl names anyway. I am grateful for my parents for showing me how to be a successful stay-at-home mom and wife. I may not be perfect or get things right all the time, but I love who I am and I love my family. I think Heavenly Father has blessed me so much in my life. My only hope is that my children will see that and stay on the covenant path themselves so they will always find happiness in their lives even when times get hard. There is so much evidence of a loving God--a creator of all things organized and put together in a way that helps us as humans to find joy and happiness in our lives and help others to find that happiness as well. 

First Day of School!

Zander-4th Lucas-3rd Hannah-1st

 Grayson-3 years old

Popsicles and Ice Cream

 Hannah had her tonsils taken out last weekend. She was really nervous and scared at the surgery center, but she did great until she woke up from anesthesia. She became very combative screaming and flailing and thrashing around with four nurses trying to ease her into her bed. All she wanted was mom. She was just scared and unsure of where she was and what was going on. We had to wait there for two hours to make sure she was ok to go home. Her breathing wasn't so good; it was low hovering around 89-90 so they wanted to give her some albuterol to get her oxygen levels back up before we left. She did NOT like the oxygen mask at all. She kept hiding her face and swatting it away. It took a lot of convincing and tries to get her onboard with it. 

Hannah lost her second tooth the night before, so we were glad they wouldn't have to cancel surgery on us or pull it out. She was fine once we got home and doing really well the next day, but that second night she refused to take any medication and stopped eating and drinking. It's been a battle to get her to do anything to help herself survive. I was hoping she'd be ok to start school this week, but by the looks of how things are going there's no way she's going to make it. She'll miss some school which is too bad. I'd hate to have her miss the beginning of school, but she's left herself no choice. She has been looking forward to getting to eat popsicles and ice cream to her heart's content, and she can't even eat those. She's also missing out of her first 3-4 soccer games this season. 

Bear Lake With The Washburns

 After Hannah's birthday we spent some time with Stephen's family at the cabin in Bear Lake for a weekend. We stopped and did a one mile hike up the Limber Pine Trail. The kids had a lot of fun with that. There were all sorts of cool trees, birds, bugs, and beautiful views. About halfway through the trail Grayson needed to go potty and it wasn't #1. I had to think quickly so I pulled his underwear down and sat him on my arm off the trail and let him go. I wasn't thinking about him having to pee at the same time, so as I had him on my arm while my other hand was holding his pants down and away from his shoes so he wouldn't get them wet. Well, because my arm was in the way he peed on my arm, haha! I had to use some leaves to wipe his bum with and then I used more leaves to hide the evidence so other hikers wouldn't step in it.

Twin trees

This big tree is  one of the oldest limber pine trees at over 560 years old!

Beautiful view of Bear Lake in the background

The kids loved playing on the paddle boats. We got one good afternoon to play in the water and for the kids to go tubing. The other half of the day we took the boys and went shooting. We had to get milkshakes, of course, and had a sibling dinner out. It was cold! I was at the beach with a sweater on the whole time. It rained--we got a really good thunder and lightning storm one night. We enjoyed Raspberry days, and tried to attend church, but got a flat tire that ultimately made it so we didn't get to church on time, and since we weren't on time we were unable to get inside the church because there were so many people visiting. There was a man sitting at the door turning people away. All in all it was a fun little trip but we definitely didn't get to see our family as much as we would have liked. I guess we'll be looking forward to Christmas when we can all be together again.

Hannah Turns 6!

 Happy Birthday to our sweet Hannah Elaine! It has been so fun to watch you grow and bloom into a beautiful big girl all ready for 1st grade to start in a couple of weeks. You are all girl despite having three brothers. You love all things colorful and sparkly. You like the colors pink and purple. You like unicorns, mermaids, kittens, and narwhals. You prefer to wear skirts and dresses, you like princesses, dressing up, and putting on jewelry. You are afraid of the dark and vacuums which I find kind of funny, but love it when you run to my arms after a bad dream in the night. You are the most stubborn person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. You will go far in life if you use that stubbornness to your advantage--you can do anything you put your mind to. We love you so much!