Mason's Birthday

Mason is now 11. No more Cub Scouts... sigh. He worked really hard and earned his Arrow of Light and Religious knot. Cub Scouts holds a special place in my heart. While I don't agree with how pricey it is I love that it teaches little boys honor and respect for our country and others. It gives these young men a good start at becoming honest and valuable citizens in a world filled with questionable standards and hate. 

I love this kid to the moon and back! He is energetic, kind (except when it comes to his 6yr. old sister insert eye roll), he's out going, friendly, daring, confident, loves music and singing, LOVES books, does NOT get stage fright, not a shy bone in his body, and HILARIOUS! He cracks me up constantly. I’m loving the young man he is becoming. 

I don't know where he gets his love of books (Ron and I both aren't very avid readers). I also don't know where his confidence comes from. He will try anything (except healthy food) and he is so fun to talk to. The other day he asked me if I worked on Tuesdays, I answered no and he was really excited to then let me know about his field trip that was on a Tuesday and how I can finally go! (I'm not usually ever able to go on the field trips because they are always on my work days) He makes me feel so good about being his mom. He recently participated in Battle of the Books with one of his best friends Xavier. That was really fun to watch. They did great! Only missed 2 questions!

His wit catches me off guard and cracks me up. We were playing a game at my moms house a few weeks ago. The question was "Write down something you would NEVER find in a ballroom" Everyone writes their answer down and they are then read a loud. Mason's answer was "Ron" I am seriously still dying laughing and I can't believe I didn't think of that one.

He can be really sweet (even to Callie on the rare occasion). LOL The other night she asked him if he would lay by her at bedtime because I was busy and Ron was out of town. I was pleasantly surprised when he quickly replied "sure!" Such a sweet big brother. 

I've been told by his Primary teachers that he is going to be an excellent missionary. They call him a missionary zone leader. He does give pretty good primary talks and it makes me really sad to think he's only going to be in primary for one more year. It's so much fun for me to watch and work with my kids on Sundays. I really do have the best calling being in the Primary Presidency. 

Lorna

We lost a dear friend today, Lorna Thormaelon passed away peacefully in her sleep. This woman has been Ron's next door neighbor his entire life and a Grandma next door to my kids. We just love our "Grandma Yorna". I am so lucky to have had such a kind neighbor and friend. This God fearing woman had a heart of gold, a witty tongue, was a card playing queen and could make you bust a gut laughing. My 10 yr. old took the news a little hard and was quiet and teary eyed most of the evening. We had a wonderful Family Home Evening lesson on the Plan of Salvation and the next life. It felt good to talk about where we knew Lorna was and how happy she is now with her sweetheart. 

I want to freeze time

My kids are starting to get older and I'm not sure I like it. A few weeks ago I took the kids to a movie and after it was over we decided it would be fun to ride the carousel at the mall. As we climbed the escalator and walked closer to the carousel Mason let me know he wasn't going to ride it. My heart sank, and I thought to myself "It's happening. My sweet fun filled Mason is getting too cool to do the little kid things." I bought the tickets and we started walking up, I was so relieved when he changed his mind. I've decided I'm not ready for my kids to grow up. Not yet. 

Back to School

6:30am this morning I woke up and walked out to the kitchen to find both boys all dressed and working on their chores. Actually that's a lie. I woke up to Mason telling me "Mom. April's awake and she wants you, she won't let me get her out of the crib." LOL 

We started school off right this year with Father's blessings for each kid Tuesday night. I'm so grateful and lucky to have a worthy priesthood holder in my home able and willing to do this. Last night laying by Callie in her bed we had today all planned out. She confided in me that she was a little scared to go to school tomorrow (couldn't clarify why but she just that she felt scared). So we took "the brothers" to the bus stop and I drove her separately to school and walked her to her class. So glad I was there to watch her nervously walk around the playground looking for friends and familiar faces. One by one a few of her kindergarten classmates ran up to her and gave hugs. I'm really glad I was wearing sunglasses because it made my mom-heart really happy observing these sweet reunions I even got a little teary-eyed. At lunch April and I surprised Callie (and the boys) with a visit and treat. I really enjoyed my mid-day chat with them all. Callie asked me a few more times how much longer school was. LOL Poor girl. I think this all-day school thing is going to be an adjustment.

I'm not sure what happened but between piano practicing, teeth brushing, chores and hair dos we ran out of time! I didn't get any pictures! This one by the tree is at the bus stop literally as the bus was pulling up so I plan on re-take pics on Monday morning.

Callie's teacher Mrs. Weitzman was so sweet at meet-the-teacher she let the kids know she would be holding this large flower so they could find her easily and know where to go.

She didn't even look back. Go get em Callie!

Primary Missionary Activity

I LOVE my church calling. I am the first counselor in the primary presidency which means I get to work with the kids and help teach them about the Savior. We planned a primary activity this weekend on Missionary work. The children 7 years and older all received official mission calls the Sunday prior to the activity. I really wish I would have recorded my boys opening their "mission calls" they were so excited. Mason was called to the Philippines and Noah to Paraguay. When the kids arrived Saturday morning we gave them their name tags and met in the Primary room aka MTC. We had our ward missionaries talk to the kids briefly about missionary work and they sang "Called to Serve". Then we dismissed them into their individual missions. We had a "mission president" assigned to each group where they learned about that mission/country and had snacks from that country. It was a really fun activity and I loved seeing all the excited looks on the children's faces. I hope it instilled in them excitement for when they serve their real missions.

Utah Trip

   

3 years ago we visited Utah around the Fourth of July. And every year since our kids ask us If we are going to Utah for the Fourth. They act Like it's a tradition which is funny to me. We asked Leslie about 5 days prior if we could come (yes we roll last minute). Leslie is an incredibly special person I really enjoy watching her as a mother. She is so selfless, humble and kind plus she has raised 6 INCREDIBLE kids. She makes mothering look so easy and that's something I struggle with a lot. I stress over if I'm doing the whole motherhood thing right or if I'm just messing my kids up. I do try really hard so I hope that counts for something.

We drove to Park City to check out the Alpine slides. You get to ride the ski lift up to the top of the mountain then hop on this sled thing that slides down. It goes pretty fast and is really fun. I wasn't sure how April would handle it. She loves slides at home but isn't my dare devil child... that would be Mason. So I was really surprised when she seemed to LOVE it. I recorded her the whole way down and loved how she would talk to me and say "Wee ha!" At the top of the slide she had to patiently wait for everyone else to go down and kept yelling "GO! GO!" It was really cute.

Most of our trip we enjoyed hanging out and playing games til 2am, sleeping around (kids slept EVERYWHERE), fireworks, and some swimming. Our kids were in heaven and very sad when it came time to go.

Eaglewood fireworks show was AMAZING. Seriously the best fireworks show I've ever seen. They always hold it on July 3rd at a golf course. There was food trucks, parachuters, and music. The weather was fabulous (probably why I enjoyed it so much. I'm used to 110 degree fireworks weather YUCK.) We laid on blankets on the side of a hill  and enjoyed the show. April was hilarious she held her hand over her eyes the entire time and even fell asleep "watching" the fireworks.

Driving home we had some unexpected adventures. We were about 2 hours on our way home when the engine started overheating. We pulled off the freeway in the middle of nowhere. After investigating Ron thought it was the Radiator hose. (Also kind of hoped that's all it was) after quite a few phone calls and a couple hours waiting we had the jeep towed to Nephi, Utah. All 6 of us crammed into the Tow truck for the 30min drive back to town it was quite comical. We lost about 6 hours of road time waiting for the car to be fixed. Kids handled it well and the rest of our trip went fairly smooth. I know I am blessed and I grateful we made it safely home.

... Now to get rid of this thing I think it's time I join the minivan mom club.