The other day I was getting into my cedar chest for something and I noticed my porcelain dolls from when I was a little girl.  Santa Clause used to bring us one every Christmas.  I looked at them sitting there getting dusty and called Laura and Eden in.  For Laura it was love at first sight.  They both loved taking off their little shoes and stockings and feeling their smooth porcelain faces.  Laura slept with my favorite, the one that has a yellow dress and ringlets that I tried to comb out as a little girl.  She named her Theresa and she is now sitting happily on their book shelf.  The others went back into my cedar chest for another day.

"RETREAT 2009"

I love our annual retreat.  This year was wonderful too, even though it almost didn't happen!  About an hour after Maren and my Mom left Rexburg to meet Sarah and I up at Wolf Creek Maren's kids got the stomach flu.  They almost turned around halfway.  I'm so glad they didn't!

It seems like each year we spend a little less time scrapbooking and being productive and more time just relaxing.  Pride and Prejudice, the 6 hr. A&E version, Sarah's first time watching it, Nerts, exercising at the gym, hot tubbing, eating delicious food, laughing so hard we couldn't stop, and listening to great music about sums it up.

Even though Sarah slept half the time to catch up from her overworked schedule, Maren was wishing she was helping poor Mike with the kids, we missed Ellen not being with us, and Mom got hurt in an ill-advised game of racketball, it was still a blast. 

 

November 11th, 2009

A Day in our Life:

*Woke up late, we're getting sick again

*Ryan has another cough-we just got better and here we go again

*Cleaned and did laundry

*Forgot to have Morning Devotional, rats

*Got L off to school after doing homework

*Showered and played with R and E

*Lunch-doing great eating healthy today:)

*Picked up L from school and went and bought a rake

*Came home and the kids and I played in the leaves and

put them on the garden in the back

*Preschool Music Class- L tried to take over the class and E spent

most of the time in timeout on the stairs, but oh well. You win some, you loose some.

*Girls watched Tinkerbell while I taught Jennifer violin.  She's such a great girl, we talked

about college and music majors.

*Everyone cried and fussed while I made dinner.

*Ryan has diaper rash and is getting into everything.  Good thing he's so cute.

*Brent did the dishes while I played piano. What a sweetie

*Laura and Brent went on a date to the movie theater because L filled up her entire

bedtime chart.  They saw UP and got popcorn.

*While they were gone I folded 6 loads of laundry while E and R played on the bunkbeds.

*Read stories to just Eden.  She needs to go to bed earlier if she's not going to

take naps anymore.

*Ryan kept coming up to me during prayers to give me hugs.  Melted my heart.

 Last Saturday Lanna and Scott and co. met us at the Treehouse Childrens' Museum. We went to their annual Enchanted Woods event.  Basically the kids got to walk around in a group and listen to a story from fairy tale characters.  There was Puss in Boots, Belle, the Lion from Aesop's Fable, the Pied Piper, and many others.  My favorite was the last stop: the little pig and the big bad wolf.  It was in the theater and the kids got to help the little pig 'build' a house to withstand the wolf.  Happily the wolf ended up sharing a rice crispy treat instead of pork chops, and all was well.  The kids also got a little toy or treat at each stop.  Ryan ran all over the place, but the girls sat and listened very intently to each story.  They loved it, and afterward the Whetsels came over for donuts and hot chocolate.

We spent most of October sick.  The first year that we moved here to Utah we spent the whole month of October sick inside.  We thought maybe it had to do with the apartment we were staying in, but this year the same thing happened.  It wasn't the H1N1 thank goodness, maybe that's still coming, but rather an upper respiratory cold and cough combo.  Laura got it first and it spread to Eden then to Brent and I and finally Ryan is just getting over it.  Today, Nov. 1, is the first day we've been to church together as a family in about a month and a half!  I'm starting to crack down on hand washing and sanitizing and we've also decided to not take the kids to any unnecessary public places, like the grocery store or the library.  My labors might be in vain, but I'm hoping we can stay healthy for a little while longer!

We've also been enjoying the last few days of beautiful weather.  After the snow from the last weekend we're back up into the 60's.  Love it! 

This little guy is becoming a little tornado.  Into everything and running around. His absolute favorite thing is to be outside.  He'll stay content in the stroller for hours as long as he's out of doors.  Just like his daddy.  Except the stroller bit:)

On Saturday, the 17th, we headed up the Fernwood Trails above Layton with our friends the Kings and took family pictures.
This is the trail Brent goes mountain biking, and where he saw 3 rattlesnakes a few weeks ago. Thankfully there weren't any around while we there, although we did see about 5 other families out taking pictures as well.
The fall colors were gorgeous and the kids did fairly well considering all the dirt, rocks and other neat things distracting them. The one that turned out the best is, of course, the very first picture we took!
These are a few of my favorites, I got some prints on 'professional paper' for free from a Kodak promotion. We'll see how they turn out.

Me and my little ladies.

I think this one looks like an engagement picture:)

October 9th
Blessings from this week...

*Brent's doing well at work
*That I could be here this morning when the kids woke up.
*Personal revelation to teach myself, my kids and my students
to enjoy music, not just how.
*Getting a good price on pants and shoes.
*My homemade bread actually turned out and was delicious.
*A wonderful date with Brent paid for my Boeing.


October 11th
Today was awesome. I went with Rosemary, Lexi, Lesha, Lanna, Aunt Janice and friends Alyssa and Cary to the Witchapalooza festival at Gardner Village. Before hand we all got dressed up like witches and took pictures around the shops. We had little kids staring and people asking to take pictures with us. It was a lot of fun.

October 12th,

Little Cameron Jesse Whetsel was blessed today. We went down to Sandy and Brent stood in the circle while this sweet little baby was blessed by his father Scott. I love baby blessings. So much love and hope wrapped up in this special prayer. Afterward we had yummy food and visited with Brent's family at the Whetsels. I am so grateful for the wonderful women that helped raise my husband. I was thinking today about how lucky I am to have been accepted and loved by them.

The Annual Zoo Trip

October 7th, 2009
Perfect fall weather
Sarah, Allie and Kylie Schwartz
Abby, Laura, Eden and Ryan
Baby Elephant and the Baby Giraffe
The little birdies eating crumbs at the lunch table
Big statues to climb all over
Watching the giraffes get fed
Being roared at by the huge tiger
No tantrums, accidents or bolting
Exciting carousel rides and Eden tears when the ride was over
Treats, treats, treats

October 1st
For Conference Week we headed to Idaho to enjoy the fall weather. It was brisk, but on Saturday we took Rosemary and took a mini trip to Mesa Falls. It was a great weekend, except I'm getting sick with Laura's cold and cough. Ryan keeps getting into everything. All of my Moms cabinets are tied shut with ribbon and all the doors have to stay shut. He did manage to visit the litter box a few times though. The girls loved playing with their cousins and getting to help Brent trim the trees at his Mom's house. It was nice to have a break from the craziness of the last month.

Last half of September... Excerpts from my journal...


September 17th,
*Laura's been in school for about two weeks and loves it. She loves the rules, the pukters (computers) and the friends. The first few days she was a little nervous and stayed pretty close to the 'safeties' (teachers who patrol the playground) but now she and a few other girls like to play pioneer girls. We went over to her new friend Lanna's this morning. Hopefully we'll be starting a car pool soon.
*Eden loves to go shopping with me while L's in school, loves her music class, and learning letters with me. She hasn't been taking as many naps and is super tired.
*Ryan got his third tooth (1st on top) and is practicing walking, but is still mostly crawling. Also he's getting into everything! But he's still such a sweetie.
*Brent's back in classes, but is already ahead. We went to the temple yesterday and did the baptisms and confirmations for Star Hammerton Morris and his wife Lucille. I helped my Mom find these names over the summer in Idaho. It was a wonderful experience.


September 21st,
*Tonight during scripture reading Eden said that Nephi was going back to get the 'grass-plates'!
*Laura took her yellow blankie to school for show and tell, but we forgot to have her wear her athletic shoes for PE. She had to sit out while they did the YMCA. So sad.
*The last Saturday we had the dress rehearsal for the general RS choir at the Conference Center. The spirit was amazing while we were singing. I don't usually get emotional while I'm singing or playing, but thinking about the words of the hymns and the testimony and love from all the wonderful women around me truly touched my heart. I have loved being part of this choir. Our director, Sister Jolly, made every rehearsal spiritual and constantly built us up. I will always feel like I have a gift of music because of her words and example. The last few weeks I have really tried to follow the leaders counsel to read my scriptures and pray more. I felt opposition in the form of emotional temptations and time restraints, but I have also felt the spirit helping me overcome things that I have been struggling with for a long time. One thing I did was decide to try harder to have the Spirit to be with me. I felt like I was blessed, when frustrating things happened: water being spilled all over the kitchen, or one of the girls throwing a huge fit, that instead of just reacting there was a split second where I felt the opportunity to choose: anger and frustration, or calmness and the Spirit. What a huge difference this has made to me.

September 25th,

*Laura's been sick with a bad cold and home from school. She's been sad, but not too sick to still play with Eden.
*Ryan is walking all over and his other top tooth is coming in. His little smile is different now.
*Eden is still awake at 10:15 in her bed because she took a nap today. We've got to cut those out I guess. Laura and Eden went on a canoe ride/camping trip in the backyard today.
*Yesterday I made zuchini bread and we made thank you cards in FHE. So today the kids and I took some to the Bishop and his wife and to Nikki Smith who had heart surgery a few days ago. I hope the girls are learning about service.

Ryan saying 'hi' and the girls playing in the backyard. I love how much better it is having the slats up. Our garden flopped, we have a barky dog next door, but hey, there's a slide, water and a little car. perfect.

p.s. Sorry about the sideways movie, I'm still new at putting videos on and I didn't want to change it. Oh well, bend your necks, sorry Mom.

This is the card that Laura and Eden made for my Dad's birthday on the 10th. It says, and I quote: "Grandpa, Happy birthday, I love you. you are the best"
Happy B-Day Grandpa!

September 1st, 2009 Laura's first day at kindergarten... She's in Ms. Tran's afternoon class, so after lunch each day we drive the half-a-mile to the school and walk to the playground where they line up. She was so excited and only a teaspoon nervous. We'd already been to her classroom and she'd already talked to her teacher a few times. When they were walking away she kept turning around to wave and yell goodbye.

Making a new friend in the line.

Ok, I admit it, I walked by her classroom just to make sure. Of what I don't know, but they were all so cute sitting around while Ms. Tran wrote 'Are you excited for school today?' on the board. Laura was right on the front row where she likes best to be.

Eden brushing her snappy dollies' teeth. Good hygene is so important.
With Laura in school we've been spending more time together. Her favorite thing to do after we drop Laura off is to go shopping. This girl loves the stores and is actually very good about not pulling things off the shelves or begging for treats. So we usually do run a few errands together.
Also on Wednesday afternoons we have a few of the other little girls from the neighborhood over for a preschool music class. I'm basing it on the Kodaly method so for the first little while we'll just be discovering the basics of music: fast and slow, loud and soft, the beat, different instruments, etc. After that we'll do basic solfege and rhythms. It's been really fun to see how much of a leader Eden actually is. She loves to show everyone to their cushion and pick the songs. Last week I had to actually put her in time out because she wouldn't sit still to listen! Add music and singing and four other little preschool girls and it gets pretty wild:)

Another afternoon a week we're also doing a little preschool session with the alphabet and numbers and a few joy school lessons thrown into the mix. Maybe next year I'll put her in a preschool but for now we're having a great time at home.

August 26th, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday RyRy!



chcolate cake: check!



toy tractor and tools: check!



happy little guy: check!

We spent Ryan's birthday at home and had our little party as a family. Just the way we like it.

Happy Birthday to me!
I am now older than one box of candles?
Woah
But I love the way the girls put them on my strawberry shortcake.

.
My birthday really was a great day. The kids were wonderful all day. Brent went to work late so he and the girls could make me french toast for breakfast. Then I sat in bed and read a book.
That is my ideal way to spend a day:)
Also my family spoiled me and got me a Women's Camelback for biking and hiking, and my very own little ipod shuffle. You'd think I have an athletically minded husband or something;)
Plus we rounded out the day with pizza. I think I've had the same birthday dinner and cake since I was 4 years old!

Playin' in the backyard. Ryan loves to crawl in and out of our little slide tower. And of course having a ball in your hand makes it even better.

August 3rd, 2009
A rainy Saturday afternoon