The cutest little hikers ever.

April 2014

Wanted to go for a little hike with these two awesome kids.  

We decided to hike to the waterfall by our house.  

Giant bag of snacks!  Awesome waterfall + cute fun kid= so so much fun.

Now, my dad (62) hikes this every morning.  He generally takes 20 or so minutes to do it, so I thought we'd take about an hour....Now it's important to know that I had nothing to do that day for hours. So I was letting them pick up every rock, throw stuff in "Tarzan's Bathtub" and climb every rock they wanted on the way up.  Max wanted to walk instead of be carried so we went the speed of a very very small persons leg span.  On the way up I felt like the best mom ever, exercising such patience and enjoying every moment that they gave me----

But I have to laugh now thinking about how that feeling left me on the way back; about the time I realized that we'd been out for 2 hours and that was just getting up the mountain.  On the way down I definitely had a one rock and one stick limit.  And I had a lot of races to entice Max to care about moving faster.  And my insides were just in such a hurry.  So so weird.

I don't know why I cared.  That's just it. Why? I had nothing to do.  They were good and happy.

 So here's my goal by next year. 

I hope to be a round trip patient parent.

Hooray for goals!

But as an ending note--I LOVED doing it, and the kids were so so much fun.  And I love their faces off.  The end.

Easter Sunday

The Simple EASTER of 2014

Saturdays' Easter Egg Hunt.  

Always a good time.

Decorating Easter eggs...

Church was lovely as always.  I love my Savior.

After church our backyard friends were checking out their bees and invited Jess to come and see.  He was kind of giddy as he ran over there.  Plus how cute does he look in his little hat. So cute.

Kade climbing the fence to get over...then Luke..we really should just get a zip line over there.

Rhett and Max with the new bubble gun.

Luke...just Luke :)

After dinner we walked down to the church park to throw the ball around.

(Ahh, see Rhett's stitched lip...)

I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ.  That because He lived a perfect life and was resurrected, I have the chance to live with this family forever!

Itty Bitty Ball Favorite

Rhett's second round of Itty Bitty Ball! He was a pro!  The kids meet once a week for 5 weeks. Each time they learn one sport and do little stations to get the concepts.  My FAVORITE, HANDS DOWN this year was the football day.  Here's why:

This happened each time he was given the ball, and as a mom I felt like I should tell him to turn around and give it to those boys who were chasing him...but didn't cause...well..that's the opposite of the right thing in this case right?  Also I was dying of laughter each time.  HA!

Spy Party for the 8 year old!

April 13, 2014

Luke never has a list of things he wants for his birthday. He's pretty easy going like that, and doesn't really care.  This year was the exception and we were lucky to get a few things on his list that he really would like. 
He wanted Legos, Art Supplies, and Skates.  Boom!

Julie got him the Art Kit. He LOVES it!  We got him some art lessons to go along with it that he got to take with one of his best friends.

Even though it was a rainy afternoon, right after church he was

 outside practicing with his new skates!

Jess bought him a pocket knife at "This is the Point" Monument with his name in the side.  They were whittling a stick and learning the right way to use it :)

He was soooooo excited to go to scouts! And who wouldn't be? It's awesome.

Here he is getting his Bobcat on his first pack meeting with his friend Jo :)

Spy Party 2014

When Luke wrote out his guest list and only had 4 boys on it, I knew we could possibly do something awesome.  And it was....it was.

The boys all met, received SSIA (Secret Service Intelligence Agency)  Vests which were made by the Amazing Julie Winn.  They were told that today they would be training to see if they could become an agent. There would be some stations set up to see if they could cut it.  They first had to decode some very tricky codes.  Then there was the laser station, seen below, that hey needed to complete in a timely manner.  Then a disguise mission where they'd have to change their clothes and complete a very fast paced mission--incognito.

And lastly: Target Practice (thrown onto targets, drawn with sidewalk chalk by Luke.)

Hooray! They all succeeded!  BUT---when they went inside to have graduation donuts--dun dun dun!  They had been stolen. But!  The perpetrator had left clues and supplies for them... (on each note there was also this picture---notice Kade's profile :)  I thought it was pretty rad.)

all the supplies they would need if they were to have a chance at catching him and their donuts.

He left this bowl on the table where the donuts had been....they tried to use their magnifying glasses first on this--with no success. So they next put on their gloves and dug in to find laminated clues (it was cornstarch and green water)
"Today is a wonderful day
For I am going away
Not to the circus, not to the pool
Can't you guess I'm going to _______"

It led them to the elementary school where they searched and found some bombs (black balloons filled with confetti and clues) that they needed to detonate in a safe area (using their pins). Their clues:

'Volcano', 'Xylophone', 'Beehive', 'T-Rex', 

 That led them to DISCOVERY PARK.  Such a great park.  Love. It.

They boys were strapped in. I promise. This is after we stopped :)  But they were so fun and listened to mission impossible music--then "What Does the Fox Say?" and shouted each word.  It was awesome.

Here they looked in all those places and found codes they each needed to decode separately.

YOU MUST BE GETTING FAINT FROM GOING ON ALL THESE MARCHES 

NEXT STOP FOR YOU IS LUNCH AT THE GOLDEN ARCHES

They ate, played, then found a clue hidden at McDonalds.

I loved this one.  I printed teeny tiny writing in the center of the page that they all missed at first.   All of the boys wanted to use their magnifying glasses and didn't  So they all stayed in the car and one by one they would come out and read the paper with me using their magnifying glasses.

Teeny tiny writing in the center of the page said,

 YOU ARE SO CLOSE.

YOU’VE DONE QUITE WELL.

ONE LAST STOP:

THE PLACE LUKE DWELLS

(Once there, Kade jumped out of the car as fast as he could and went and hid in the pit in the back yard. Then the kids, equipped with their silly string attacked and he revealed that he was a spy for the SSIA and had to insure that this group could use their skills in the field as well as during testing! Horray! Everyone passed and then we all had amazing Boston Cream Donuts!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE!!!

"I'm not even scared of the dark."

So Monday morning, cute Rhett comes into my room and snuggles with me on the bed.  When he decides he's ready for breakfast he starts getting out of said bed.  He stumbles as he's a little too wound up in the covers and bangs his lip on the night stand splitting his lip in the process.  We called the nurses to see if we needed stitches for something like that.  Since it had cut not only his lip but across the lip line onto the skin area they wanted us to go to the ER.

I love love love American Fork Hospital.  We didn't need to wait hardly at all and the nurses were doing such a great job at keep Rhett calm and happy.  The doctor came in and had a look at the lip, let us know when the anesthesiologist would be in and said he'd be using the papoose.  (YIKES--that's a board that they strap kids too so that they can't move their arms, legs or head...that sounds so scary)  When the nurse came in with the anesthesiologist she told Rhett he looked pretty brave and maybe they wouldn't have to use that thing.  He replied by saying,

"I'm not even scared of the dark." 

Just so matter-of-factly in a 'you better believe it' sort of way. HA! She said, 'well well, then we'll be just fine'. 

And he was AMAZING!  The worst part was the shot of anesthetic.  They had to go in the cut and fill the whole thing up with a numbing agent.  I was holding Rhett's hand and he didn't cry at all--or even whimper. He teared up and you could tell he was nervous, but honestly I wanted to bawl just from watching his brave little face.  (It was incredible the size of his lip after this. It was just like they had pumped up a balloon.)

The stitching was no problem for Rhett. His lip was (GIANT) all the way numb and he had Curious George to watch (T.V. above the doctors head.)

Right!  Huge right?!  He got 3 stitches in it.

I texted both Grandma's to tell them how brave Rhett was.  Both were adorable and bought him cute get well soon gifts.  My mom brought home soft goodies to snack on, and Jess' mom had this balloon bouquet sent to our door.  

Adorable!

A week later he had the stitches removed and was equally as brave.  Tough kid that one.

April 2014

Hot Pads: The Answer to all General Conference Quandaries

April 2014

A little partying to celebrate Conference and George's birthday!  Huzzah!

There was a quick snowfall on Saturday.  Luke was adorable and jumped outside so quickly. After 5 minutes we looked out back to see him done with the first layer of a snowman already (Best. Snow. Ever--the kind that picks up every bit of snow as your roll.)  He was so awesome to get started on his own. We promptly ushered all the kids out and in a matter of 10 minutes we had this!  (Complete with random antlers that Uncle Riley found in the field and chased the kids with earlier that day.)

I kind of feel like I hit on something AMAZING this year.  The age-old question of

  'What's the right way to do conference with kids?' 

is always a baffling one.  

Do you fill the whole day with games and so they like it but you get nothing out of it? 

Do you make them sit and watch all 4 sessions with nothing to do so that you can maybe get something out of it?  

Nope--the answer is 2 words:

HOT PADS

Honestly this is the best idea ever guys.  The kids (and all the adults--these things are awesome) were able to sit still, keep their hands busy--but STILL have the brain power to pay attention to the speakers and the stillness to feel the spirit!!!

(Not to mention that when they were all done with their hot pads they gave them away as gifts!  

We'll be making many a hot pads over the years! YAY!)  

(okay so Max totally didn't make one, I just wanted him in the picture.  But Rhett was able to do a LARGE portion of his hot pads without help.  A.MAZE.ING.  Just say'n)

Ahhhh.  Cute.

Melodie was in town so we all congregated at Emily's house to hang out.

This is a very very very special picture.  Just really really special.

I wish I could explain how hilarious this moment was...We were all laughing so so so hard. I love this family so so much.  HA!

Luke 2014

April 13, 2014

Luke turns 8!!!!

Favorite Food: "Pizza. No wait- ice cream"

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Time Spenders: Mindcraft, and Steal the  Flag

Teacher-School/Church: Mrs. Mendez/ Walter Adamson and Bro. Johnson

Food Expertise: Fried Eggs and Mac and Cheese

Closest Friends: Owen, Ian, Jo, Bridger

Jess and I love watching the transformation that happens around 8 years old. When they truly are understanding more of what is happening around them and becoming accountable for their actions.  Luke has been so beautiful to watch.  He plays so much more with his little brothers, is so sad when he makes mistakes, and just has had more heart for life.  WE LOVE HIM SOOO MUCH!

What can I say about that little guy...for starters:

HE LOVE'S:(it's not that he's just loving....he naturally just really loves people):  

Luke is the first in all our family to do a secret service.  He'll help grandma pick the raspberries or weed the garden, He makes me breakfast in bed all the time. The other morning Rhett had been having a hard time being happy in the morning for some reason.  Luke bounded upstairs and I saw him a few minutes later handing me a plate of breakfast and bringing me back to my bed.  (It had two different types of toast with jam on it, and a thermos with Carnation Instant Breakfast.)  He said "I knew you were having a hard time with Garrett. And I just wanted to help." Then Rhett asked for breakfast right after that, and Luke said 'I'll get it'.  In fact he volunteers to cook the family meals a ton.  And he probably wraps up and gives Jess gifts and trinkets at least once a month.  He LOVES his aunts and uncles and cousins and wants to be with them always.  He's such a good friend and has strong loyalties.  

HE'S CREATIVE:Just the other day he made the coolest thing by just exploring ideas.  He used a magnet on the bottom of a paper plate to move a paper clip on the top. Then he drew a road to drive it on, and taped down tin foil in arches to create tunnels or bridges and a garage to send his paper clip through.  He just LOVES digging into our craft supplies and making ANYTHING. I generally find out he's been 'exploring ideas' afterwards as I look at a counter full of puff balls, scrap paper, glue, tape, staples, markers....I guess the cleaning up comes later?

HE'S PASSIONATE: He wears his emotions on his sleeve--good and bad. He's quick to say "Thanks so much mom!" when he's happy about something, and he's also quick to scream out at a brother that's hurt him.  (His voice is very very present in letting us know how he's feeling :)  When he gets in trouble, his heart breaks and there is genuine sorrow.  He makes mistakes, and he explores agency on an 8 year old level, and I love it.  I'm soooo glad he's exploring now, and learning those valuable lessons now, so he won't have to later (that's the idea anyway :).  His heart is pure, genuine, and powerful.

When Luke faces challenges or let downs, his natural reaction is to get right back up.  When gymnastics is hard for him, he keeps going and tries harder.  When I watch him learn something new, or fall down skating, or after a fight with a brother or friend---he naturally gets up to try again with a smile; but I love watching his EFFORT AFTER that.  It's like the getting up is right in his blood--but after that, when it's hard--HE TRIES SO HARD without being told.  I don't know how to say this right--but he just has so much heart. 

He loves getting the chance to bare his testimony every fast Sunday at church.  He's not afraid of crowds or giving talks and usually jumps at the chance.  He likes performing and being in the spot light.  He's funny and kind and just freaken awesome.  Love you little man!