Fall Festival (and a trip to the Kearl's Cabin)

Our new school held a Fall Festival today. It was awesome!!!! We didn't know what to expect, but we bought our wristbands so we could have unlimited rides and games, we paid for our dinner (a hot dog or hamburger, chips and bottled water) and we bought extra tickets for those things the wristband didn't cover. We arrived at the school and it was pretty crowded - well, after all... it is 3 campuses, not just ours. Reagan and Cole immediately began playing on the playground. Cole had brought his football gloves so that he could swing on the mushroom without getting blisters on his hands. All of the activities were in the back of the school, but we couldn't get our kiddos to want to go there at first. 

We met up with the Kearl family and FINALLY we convinced the kiddos to go to the back of the school. Yay!!!! It was awesome!!! They had pony rides, archery contests, bounce houses, treat tables (that's where you use the tickets), those big ball things that you put on yourself and knock each other over, a dunk tank where you could dunk the staff (another great use of the tickets) and this cool, gladiator fight area. Cole jumped in but Ben didn't want to go. Another friend of Cole's jumped in and they battled. (It reminded me of Draper Days one year when Steve and Matt fought on these things.)

Finally, the kiddos realized why we had been pushing them to come to the other side of the school. They ran and hit all the bounce houses and ran to see what else was there. There were even games inside the school - laser tag I think.

Reagan and Madison decided to try the big balls that you put on yourself and then try to knock each other over. Reagan was one of the bigger kiddos, so, she was able to knock other ones over. Madison was skilled at doing full rolls inside her ball - too funny!

Brenda and I tried to keep track of where the kiddos were while the dads stayed put in case the kiddos came back. Eventually, we grabbed a table and caught each of the kiddos to tell them where we were. They could just come back for food, more tickets or to check in. 

I guess the dunk tank was a big hit. Well, who wouldn't want to sink their teacher or director? Apparently, you could buy so many balls for so many tickets and try to hit the lever that would sink the staff member. OR - if you wanted to pay enough tickets, you could just walk up and hit the lever - sinking them immediately. That was Reagan's favored strategy. (I hope none of the staff remembers it was her and holds it against her.) Because it was a fundraiser, Steve told me to buy a whole bunch of tickets. This school is WAY cheaper than our last school and if we can make a donation or support them through tickets..... great. Reagan and Cole were using the tickets, giving them to friends and buying way more treats than anyone needed. Oh well - all for a good cause.... right?

By the time it was dark, we had a hard time finding the kiddos. We thought the events would wrap up and the kiddos would come back to the tables. Nope - they were having so much fun they didn't care. Eventually, each one of them returned to our table and we headed out for a night. What fun!

The next night, the Elder's Quorum was having a BBQ up at the Kearl's cabin. Even though Steve isn't an Elder anymore, they invited our family to join them. We love going up to their cabin. Good thing we went - there were only 4 families who came. Part of it might have been the lack of notice the Elder's Quorum gave their members - part of it might have been that this was the night of the BYU - University of Utah football game. Almost everybody wants to watch or attend that game. We taped it and watched after we returned home that night. We had so much fun with the Kearls and the other families that came up. Thanks Kearl family!!!!

Happy 14th Anniversary!!!

It's our 14th Anniversary!!! We had planned to go and celebrate without Reagan and Cole when we could. With our anniversary being on a weeknight, we had activities and homework and assignments to do. Well, apparently Reagan had other ideas. Apparently, she has planned this for over a month. She told Cole about it and she enlisted his help.

First thing that morning, I woke Reagan and Cole up. Reagan jumped out of bed and grabbed something off of a desk and ran upstairs. By the time I persuaded Cole to get out of bed and get dressed, she had decorated the fridge with sticky notes. They said things like "Love You" and "Happy Anniversary" and "You're a Couple" and "Eternal Love". She is so thoughtful and cute.

That night, after dinner, she and Cole disappeared outside. Steve and I were requested to join them at a certain time.

Reagan (and her helper Cole) had put a white tablecloth on the picnic table and she had little jewels everywhere. She had a bunch of battery operated candles on the table.

She had a pink wreath on one of the rocks and she wanted to take pics of us while we held the wreath.

She made a bead necklace that said "LOVE.....LOVE......LOVE" and she hung it on the frame of the old, broken swing. She wanted us to take pics in front of it. She had everything planned out.

We talked and took pictures (Reagan told us where to stand, what to do and acted as the photographer). We expressed our love for each other and each of our family members. Reagan had us each hold a candle and say something and then put all of our candles together - as a family. How blessed we are to have the wonderful life that we do. I adore Steve and I love how Reagan and Cole have just exponentially added to that joy. Yep - it's been a pretty great 14 years and here's hoping that the next 14 will be just as great.... or even better :)

Yes, This Document is True.

One day, Reagan was all sneaky and laughing. I asked what was going on. She said that she had four notes for Cole. One for his bag, one for his locker, one for his docket (a folder that they take back and forth from school each day) and one for his room. She was going to hide all of these sweet notes to Cole and let him find them throughout the day.

The next day, Cole came upstairs in the morning and said "I had to sign a contract yesterday." What? I asked what he was talking about. He said "Reagan wants to see in my locker and we aren't allowed to be in anyone else's locker, so, she made me sign a contract that she could look in my locker."

Later, I found the contract. She cracks me up. My favorite part is "Yes, this document is true." Could we possibly have a future lawyer on our hands? Maybe. Anyway, she left Cole his four notes in his four different places and he found them later and knew why she needed the contract :)

She does little, thoughtful things like this all the time. She is so considerate and really tries to make everyone feel good. Don't get me wrong - they fight as well, but usually she is a sweet, kind sister to him (and daughter to us). I'll have to try to track down the other 2 notes, but these two are pretty neat!

Thanks Reagan - for being so kind and thoughtful. We love you!!!!!

Casual Friday

I know I posted pics of the kiddos in their daily uniforms. However, I love their Friday (casual) uniforms as well. Cole switches to a navy polo and Reagan wears a navy polo and she can wear tan pants or a tan skort. She loves the skort because it has the shorts built in and she doesn't have to wear a separate pair of shorts like she does every other day under her uniform skirt.

I asked to take a pic of each of them. Gotta love Cole's "model pose".  That boy cracks me up.

Anyway, I love their new, Friday uniforms. 

A Get Together for Mark

I've posted before about our BIL Mark and his struggle with Plasma Cell Lukemia. He has been fighting it for over 2 years. He has been through two stem cell transplants and more procedures and tests than I can count. He has been a pillar of strength and faithfulness through it all. His cancer continues to return and his doctors are almost out of options to try. They decided to try one more treatment that hasn't been used on PCL before. They told him that the treatment may help, may do nothing or it could actually make things worse for him. Going into this, we wanted to see him before his treatment. (He hasn't been seeing most people for fear of getting an infection. Our kiddos haven't seen him for months and months.)

Steve figured everyone else in our family wanted to see him and everyone in his family would want to. So, Steve reserved the pavilion at the park right by our church (the one where we had Cole's baptism). He sent out an email to everyone in the family and invited them to come and hang out with and give support and love to Mark and Robyn. We love them so much. He didn't want it to be a burden for anyone, so he just suggested everyone bring their own lunch.

We got there around 11:30 and Mark's dad and stepmom were there as well as some of their family. Soon, people starting showing up. We had a great time! There were over 100 people there although some came and left sooner than others. Rachel and her family came as did Shannon. I think all but one of Steve's sibs was there. It was fun to see everyone.

I always love to see Steve and his brothers. They get talking and are oblivious to everyone and everything around them. They are reminiscing, giving each other a hard time and joking around. It is fun to watch.

One of our nieces brought a hoverboard that has a seat on it. The kiddos were in awe. Mark jumped on it and almost ran into a cement bench and some kiddos. I expressed my concern to Robyn who replied "Let him do whatever he wants". Yep - whatever he wants :)

Cole brought his skateboard and Reagan brought her bike. There were kiddos on the playground and everywhere.

I'm glad that we were able to support Mark and Robyn and, hopefully, give them strength for their next challenge. We love them!

A Science Experiment

In Primary on Sunday, our chorister played "science experiment" with the children and had some children stir in a substance to a liquid. Some of the combinations exploded and ran over the edge of the cup, but others just turned the liquid a different color. So fun!!!

Reagan and Cole loved watching it and then, during the week, Reagan wanted to recreate this experiment. She texted our music leader and asked what the substances were so that she could do it herself.

She put a drop of food coloring into a spoon of baking soda. If you mix that into water, the water turns the color of the food coloring.

 

But, if you stir that into vinegar, you have a chemical reaction that bubbles up and overflows. So cool!!!!

Reagan and Cole did it again and again and again. They used up every drop of vinegar that we had in the house. I love that they are learning and experimenting. I don't mind cleaning up after they learn and grow. Love it!!!!

4th-6th Grade Assembly - Reagan's Grade Show What You Know

At our new school, every Wednesday, the 4th-6th graders have an assembly. I guess every week one of the grades performs. Either they sing a song or recite a poem or act out something. Well, we started out with 6th grade. Reagan's teacher sent an email saying that they were up first and called it a "Show What You Know". The email said parents were invited..... YAY!!!!! 

I drove that morning and dropped all 4 kiddos off and then parked and waited until the time for the assembly. Apparently, they are doing it outside, rather than in the gym, because the high schoolers are in the gym until their building is completed. I was the only parent there - what the what? Reagan's class came out and lined up right under the flagpole and Reagan was right in the front of the row. Then, the other 6th grade classes came out and sat in front of Reagan's class.... Drat!

After everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang both verses of the Star Spangled Banner, the entire 6th grade recited a poem about being a builder and how building up is harder than tearing down and we should decide what kind of person we want to be. We lent them a construction hat from our costume bin for their performance. They did a great job!

The 4th graders were lined up on one side of the 6th graders and the 5th graders were lined up on the other side. Then, Mrs. Chappel (the 4-6th grade director) talked to them about being builders and talked to them about a few things going on at the school. 

Then, they did this cute cheer - like soldiers calling out. 

Not sure why other parents wouldn't want to come and see this, but ... oh well. I certainly didn't mind being the only one there. Reagan ran up and hugged me the moment she saw me. Cole waved and I went over to hug him. I love seeing them with their friends and teachers.

Way to go 6th grade. I understand Cole's Show What You Know will be in two weeks. I'm marking my calendar now! We LOVE our new school!!!!

Recent Happenings

This is such a random post. We have been doing some cool things, but none of them warranted a post of their own. So, as I was going through our photos and seeing what I needed to post about, after skipping 3 or 4 of these types of pics, I thought.. "I'll combine them into one post about random things." Crazy, I know :)

One cool thing that happened (before school started) was that we had Cole's teacher from last year (and her daughter) over for dinner and to play in the yard. Ms. Gray is adorable and was a great teacher for Cole last year. Luckily, we told her about our new school and, during the summer, she applied and was accepted to teach 5th grade at our campus. Fingers crossed that Cole will be in her class next year. Anyway, she had been at a week of training for APA and she kept texting me to tell me of all the cool things she was impressed with at this school. During our dinner, she told us so much information to help us prepare for the school year. Yay!!!

Another fun "happening" was that we joined several of our family members to celebrate my sister Amber's birthday. She chose to go to Texas Roadhouse for her birthday dinner (mostly because it was conveniently located to all of us) and the waitresses and everyone sang to her and had her sit on a sawhorse. She obliged them because "It's been a long time since I have been on a horse."  :) We love Amber and wish her the happiest of birthdays!

We always have deer in our yard, but lately, this one mama and baby have been all over our yard.. front yard, back yard, even up in the waterfalls. I love those white spots on baby's bum. No worries - they are welcome here anytime.

They lounge around all day, eating grass or trees or bushes. Good thing we don't plant flowers in our yard - it would just become a "Deer Buffet".

Cole loves Shannon's dog Jackson. He's been around since before Cole was born. Well, Shannon and Benton were watching Reagan and Cole while we were at the Depeche Mode concert. Cole wanted a pic of himself and Jackson so he could hang it in his locker. So, I asked Shannon to take a few.

She sent me some and I had them printed for Cole to put in his locker. These pics are all the more precious to Cole since Shannon and Benton had to put Jackson down just a few days after this. He is old for a dog and had so many health problems. He would spike in his energy to play ball with Cole for a bit, but then would need to recover by just laying down. Our thoughts and prayers are with Shannon and Benton as they are mourning the loss of Jackson :(

We went to a wedding for the son of one of our neighbors. It was in a beautiful back yard just down in Pepperwood. They had a photo booth and lots of props. Cole grabbed these glasses and I just had to snap a pic of him.... he cracks me up.

That same week, we were at a wedding reception for the daughter of one of our ward members at a garden center downtown. I looked over and all of these little girls were sitting on this bench, just chatting away. Then, one of them had makeup in her bag, so, when I looked over again, all of the girls were gathered around and they were putting makeup on Madison (the youngest one there). So cute!

Just a bit later, I looked over and there were two other, little girls whom we didn't know. One of them was deaf, so, one of the girls in this group grabbed her 18 year old sister who had taken ASL in high school. They were trying to communicate and put on make up at the same time. It was beautiful!

One day, Cole was walking around in the yard and he found a bug that looked just like a leaf. He ran inside to get my phone so he could take a pic. I half didn't believe him until I saw the 4 or 5 pics he took. Yep - not a leaf... it's a bug. Crazy how Mother Nature helps protect animals and insects and birds by helping them to camouflage themselves.

We went to dinner one evening at Steve's brother's house. Although Steve is the 2nd oldest child, Brett is the youngest. Despite this, we have children close in age and we love to hang with them. Well, Steve's parents joined us this night and the adults were talking and eating inside while the kiddos were outside. Only after we went outside to check on them did we realize what they were doing - Drew was jumping things (like KIDS!) with his scooter. Reagan actually laid down to be jumped over. What?!? I asked what she was thinking when she decided to do that. Reagan had a perfectly logical answer. "I watched him jump several times and I knew that he could jump further than the length of my body, so I thought it would be fine." Gulp! Guess she did more than just take a dare, but ..... don't do that again!!!!

After we left, Brett sent us a text thanking us for coming over and sharing the footage of the jump over Reagan. He also sent this pic of their little Fisher Price toy. Apparently Cole had left a note for Drew... or anyone. Too cute!

So, sorry for the randomness of this post, but sometimes little things happen that I just want to tuck away in my memories. However, it seems I'm remembering less and less of the detail that was so clear when the event actually happened. So, I'll document it here as well and then I know I'll be able to remember it :)

Priesthood Preview

We had our Priesthood Preview a bit ago. It is an evening where all the boys turning 12 this year and leaving Primary come to learn more about the Priesthood and to meet the leaders they will have when they graduate from Primary to Young Men. They also meet the Scoutmaster and the President of the Deacon's Quorum.

I found these cute invitations online. Black and white is a manly decorating color.... right? I loved the different patterns on the ties that were on each of the printables having to do with this event. We had only 2 boys this year. They came with their families.

We decorated with black and white, so, we had to extend that to the refreshments. Black and white mini donuts, black and white pretzels and chocolate and regular milk. Perfect!!!!

Activity Days Stake Activity

I've posted before about Reagan and her Activity Days group. It is girls ages 8-11 in our church and they usually meet twice a month. They learn crafts, socialize and pass off requirements for their Faith in God book. Reagan LOVES to go to these activities.

Well, they decided to have a stake Activity Days get together. All of the girls ages 8-11 in all 7 wards.   Plus, the stake leaders invited any girls that age that live in our area and wanted to come. It was on a Saturday morning and was amazing!!!!

Their theme was "Proud to Bee Me". They had a bee theme and it was adorable - everything was black, white and yellow. The girls had a light breakfast of yogurt, mini donuts, fruit, muffins and bottled water. They ate at tables of 10 and I think we had at least 6 tables.

After they ate, they made these little cardboard signs that said "Proud to bee....." and then they each chose colored, scrapbook paper strips and words or phrases that described who they are or whom they want to be. For example, it may say "kind" or "fearless" or "a future mother" or "a daughter of God". They turned out SO cute. Plus, the sister missionaries came and made a board themselves. It was fun to see them interact with the girls. 

During the activity, each table of girls would get up and go to the side of the room. They would assemble bags of school supplies to give to our local Boys and Girls' Club. They stuffed bags with supplies and then wrote a note to the person receiving their bag of supplies.

They finished their morning by having a speaker. She is a wife and mother from our stake who regularly speaks on women's issues. She spoke to them about not listening to what others say about their worth, about listening to themselves, their parents and the spirit to know what their worth is and whom they can become. She told them that they are never more beautiful than when they are serving their Heavenly Father and that the world says something different about beauty, but they don't need to listen. It was motivating and uplifting and, hopefully, it sank in that these girls are amazing and beautiful and should be proud of who they are now and whom they want to become.

Reagan had a great time and I'm so glad that I could go to help as a leader and watch these beautiful young girls. Thanks to all the leaders who put this together - it was amazing!!!!