Boys

Jeff had Field Day at school yesterday and Peter and I went to watch. There sure were a lot of fourth graders running around. They ran a 4 x 100 meter relay and had a tug of war. Jeff seemed to enjoy the competition and was thrilled that Peter and I were there to watch.

Last night Ryan and Jeff went to a Coyotes Hockey game, they had lots of fun even though the Coyotes did not win. They were a bit late getting home especially considering that Jeff is a historically "early to bed, early to rise" type of guy. He collapsed right into bed when they got home at nine. However the little darling got up sometime in the middle of the night because when I came out at 5am he was sprawled on the couch with the PS3 controller clutched in his little hand, unconscious. I turned off the TV and left the little monster laying there. If he is going to wake up in the night to play video games he can sleep on the couch and see how good he feels when he wakes up. He woke up as grumpy as a bear and was none too happy to find out that yes he would be going to school no matter how much his eyes hurt. Poor dear. I called his teacher to warn her about the beast. I hope he learns his lesson. He looked exhausted.

And here is our other little man. We recently got a new toilet for the hall bathroom - Can I get a Hallelujah? And for a couple of hours the new toilet sat on the floor in the family room. Peter decided he liked sitting in the bowl. He hasn't sat in it since its been installed though, which is nice.

Teeth

So the kids had dental appointments recently and Jeff and Tessa both had to have baby teeth extracted since the adult teeth were growing in under and around them and yet those silly baby teeth remained firmly in place. Tessa looked like a shark for a while there. Anyways, both were feeling delicate yesterday due to their lack of teeth so we had soup for dinner. But this morning they learned that the tooth fairy had NOT come last night, they weren't especially surprised though. Our tooth fairy is notoriously lax in her duties, it usually takes several days or so for her to come depending on the weather and other reasonable excuses. It's pretty sad. But Tessa is scheduled to go back to the dentist again on Tuesday for yet another tooth extraction, who knows why he didn't just jerk the thing out yesterday when he pulled the other one, maybe he wants to give her a break. When I was a kid Dr Brimley sure didn't feel any such qualms, he yanked out my four bottom teeth roots and all and I'm still alive :)

The tooth fairy will probably wait until Tuesday night to come though so she can get all the teeth in one fell swoop. She doesn't want to have to make more than one trip, eh?

Leah's Poem

Clouds
Such a peaceful thing
floating in the sky so high
just so very white.

Photo courtesy Whitny Shields, photographer extraordinaire.

Happy Day

Yesterday was Leah's 9th birthday and it was such a busy and good day. And today is David's birthday so we celebrated him as well since he has to work all day today. We like Uncle D. So Leah asked for a turtle cake, partly I think because her cake last year that was a "watermelon with ladybugs" looked kind of like a turtle cake and it got her thinking. . .

So I made fondant which was a lot easier and funner than I thought it would be, all it took was marshmallows and powdered sugar and crisco. Super healthy for you. . . Leah helped decorate it, she liked playing with the fondant which is kind of like play-doh and "accidentally" popping it in her mouth which you shouldn't do with real play-doh, but we all did anyway.

We had a turkey dinner with all the family we could muster on kind of short notice. There were nineteen of us, Leah made place cards for everyone and we all managed to fit around two tables. It reminded me of when we were kids and had people over for dinner, we always made place cards and we'd set the table all "fancy". It makes me smile.

The food was yummy.

Thankfully we've got Aunt Jessi to take care of the kids and make sure they are fed.

And that they get birthday presents, Aunt Jessi and Uncle Mitch gave Leah this new fancy bike which she took for a spin in the darkness and came back in one piece. Bonus.

We also got her presents, she got the guitar Jeff is playing in the picture so now we've got a full band - woo hoo. They've had fun playing and, yes, the drumstick Leah is holding has been taped together because Ringo Starr aka Ryan got a little too enthusiastic during one of our jam sessions.

And now to make this post extra long I will share some thoughts. Yesterday was a big growing day for not just our Leah Bug, I had an assignment to speak in Sacrament Meeting about "Being Temperate in All Things". Speaking in church terrifies me, seriously. But I knew it would be "good for me" so I wrote my little talk and I practiced and I prayed and my stomach turned over and over just thinking about it. Sunday morning I practiced and prayed more and my stomach turned, it even did it just now thinking about it and it is all over - yikes. But I stood up there shaking knees and all and I made it thru and only got a little bit choked up once or twice. I did it. And doggone it, I did kind of a good job. President Miller spoke after me and he was fantastic as always but when he sat back down his hands were shaking too which made me feel better but also a little trepidatious because he's been doing it for like thirty years and if he still gets nervous. . .

But anyways, I did it. And then I went home and fixed a turkey dinner and homemade rolls for many people and everything turned out nicely. Even though I'm 32 and should be a grown-up and be used to days like this and take it all in stride, it still kind of surprises me that I can do this stuff, I feel like I'm still 15 and awkward. But I've watched my Mom do that kind of stuff my whole life and her example gives me confidence to try things that I'm not completely comfy with. And that makes it a Happy frightening Day.

Sight Words

Every week Alana comes home from school with sight words on little flash cards to practice at home and this week one of her words is "what". You can see where I'm going with this already, can't you?

A- What does this say?
M- What
A- This
M- What
A- *slightly exasperated* What does this say?
M- What
A- This
M- What

It went on for probably three or four minutes and I was laughing most of the time and she got to giggling too. I love kindergarten. I invited Leah over to help us after a while and she very helpfully said, "That is the word WHAT."

Killjoy.

Goodbye Dad and Mom

My parents are on their way to their third mission for the Church. This time they get to go to Montreal, Canada. They will be gone for one year and they get to learn a little bit of French which they are excited and a little bit nervous about.

Of course they wouldn't be my parents unless they traveled about and visited all their loved ones on the way there so even though they don't report to the MTC for a week and won't be to Montreal until February 15, they are already on their way. They will see some friends in Utah, my Aunt and Uncle in Idaho, my sister and her family in Washington state, and my brother and his family in Michigan. They are looking forward to about 4,000 miles of driving, but that's all in a day's work for them - they could do it in their sleep - but we hope they won't.

Ryan and I went up to see them at their first stop along the way in Sedona on Monday. I brought four kids up and Ryan came up a little while later with the other kid. We all stayed over night with Mom and Dad and played and had fun, then Ryan and the four school age kids left super early in the morning to get the kids to school and Ryan to work, and Peter and I stayed and played with Mom and Dad then we leisurely drove home in time to meet the kids when they came home from school. We all enjoyed spending special time with Grandma and Grandpa before they were really gone.

I am really proud of my dear parents for all the wonderful service they give and for all the love they share with everyone they meet. I hope I am like them when I grow up.

Peter and Flagstaff

Peter and I went to the park last week and here is his latest trick captured on video. He is dang cute.



This weekend we took the kids to Flagstaff to play with the Emmons' and their snow. Here's Gaby and Tierney's wild ride. I think she was aiming for me actually.



We had way too much fun and got not enough sleep but honestly, the best time to play Twister, Super Mario Brothers and watch movies is AFTER the kids go to bed. Ooh, I just realized something cool, we watched the movie Twister on Friday night and on Saturday night we played Twister, spooky. P.S. I am horrible at playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii, it took me a long time to figure out which one I was, then I just kept walking off cliffs for no good reason. It was sad. But Ryan, Carson, and Gaby were good at it and we laughed a lot so that is good.



We had lots of yummy food thanks to Gaby and her mad cooking skills. The kids had a blast in the snow, Jefferson spent hours on the back porch chipping away at snow and ice because he is a ten year old boy. Peter is in love with baby Coco, I think it's partly because he can say her name but he asks for her even when we are at home and he hasn't seen her in a while. The girls love playing with Tierney and Avery and shaking up their peaceful existence :) It was a great success and we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends that make us laugh and help us to be happy.