The Dads Go Hiking Again

Steve and Vic headed back up to Bells Canyon Reservoir for another hike. However, this time, the view was much different. Instead of the verdant, green view from the reservoir, it is a wintery scene. No matter, it is still beautiful and is still a nice hike for these dads who love to be outside and who get a chance to talk business and life. (No rattlesnakes this time.)

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area. Whether winter, spring, summer or fall, these mountains are beautiful and we love them!

4th - 6th Grade Assembly - Reagan Award

You'll remember that Cole was awarded the "Builder of the Month" award for his class in September. The theme that month was "I am a Builder when I use Enthusiasm". Well, for October, the theme was "I am a Builder when I am Honest". I received an email from Reagan's teacher that she was receiving the award for her class. After my mess up with Cole (spoiling the surprise), I didn't tell Reagan. Steve and I just went to the assembly. Reagan actually saw us and waved and came over for a hug. I'm not sure she connected the dots enough to know that she was getting the award. This time, their assembly was in the gym (now that the high schoolers are in the high school building, they have the gym back). It's a good thing too because it was COLD outside. I had told Cole that Reagan was receiving the award, but I swore him to secrecy - he was so excited for her.

The 4th grade recited a poem for their Show What You Know and then the Builder Awards were handed out. Reagan's teacher said such sweet things about her (as Cole's teacher did about him and all of the teachers did). She whispered to Reagan "I wish I could give this award to you every month." Awww - so sweet! Reagan just beamed as her teacher talked about her - then they finished each award with a cheer. During the time the awards are being read, the students are asked to cheer silently (I learned what this meant at my first assembly here). They do the sign language applause where they open their hands and shake them back and forth, showing support and applause, but making no noise.

We are so proud of Reagan and Cole and all that they are accomplishing at their new school. We are loving the policies, the teachers, the academics, the parental involvement, the attitudes and the activities here.

Reagan adores her teacher Ms. Larsen and since I get to be her AST (room mother), we are in touch a lot and I'm excited to be so involved.

Reagan's teacher was so kind in the nice things she said about Reagan. 

After the award's ceremony, they took the students out into the hallway to take a pic of all of the builders for that month. Interesting, I know that Cole did that last month and yet, up on the bulletin board, there was a picture of the builders for September, with no Cole in the picture. I'm not sure what happened, but he reported taking a picture, but is not IN the picture. Crazy! Oh well - we took lots of pictures of him that day, so, I can remember that day just fine without their picture :)

Way to go Reagan - we are so proud of you!!!!

Nerf Battle

Cole took some of his birthday money and gift cards to Target and wanted to buy a new Nerf gun. Not sure how many of these we need in the house, but it's his birthday money. He bought one that had a heat seeking thingy on it (not sure why you need that, but....) and it had a scope or something on it. Well, he had been tormenting Reagan with it for a while and then Steve grabbed his Mastadon Nerf gun that Cole got for his birthday last year. This one has a motor and a machine gun shooter as well as bomb looking things that shoot along with the Nerf bullets.

They had a battle and it was SO fun to watch. Eventually, Steve had discharged all of his weapons, but Cole was still going strong with a clip full of bullets. Steve dropped the gun and used his own physical advantage over Cole to take him down :)

I just sit and watch, wondering what item of decoration they will break next. Oh well, like Steve said "Those can all be replaced and the children's laughs are well worth anything we break." Alrighty then - SHOOT!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Well, this was a bit of a weird Halloween for us. During all of our eight years at Challenger, the students were allowed to wear their Halloween costumes at school on Halloween. At American Prep, no go. They celebrate Veteran's Day and Memorial Day (they are VERY patriotic) and no other holidays. Ugh! So, it was a bit of a let down when Reagan and Cole had to get up and dress in their regular uniforms. Oh well - we all think that this is an amazing school and the perfect one for us at this time, so, we will adjust.

I know that many of the teachers tried to incorporate Halloween into their teaching. For example, I'm Reagan's class Room Mom and her teacher asked me to send in a few bags of those candy corn pumpkins. They were going to put them in different liquids and see which liquid would dissolve them the fastest - little things like that were enough to at least acknowledge the day.

After school, we finished any homework we had and ate our dinner and then we decided to carve our pumpkins. They have been sitting in our kitchen for days - not sure why we didn't do them before... maybe not enough time. Cole kept joking that he was going to throw up from the smell and the feel of the insides of the pumpkin.

We didn't use stencils this year - I actually didn't even think about it until we were half way through carving. Reagan and Cole simply drew the face they wanted to cut out and we started carving. Steve was a big help. 

Pretty soon, they were finished with their pumpkins. We put battery operated candles inside and put them on the front step.

Then, we got all costumed up and ready to hit the road. We get fewer than 10 trick or treaters each year, so, I always just get a bag of candy and leave it in a basket on the front step. Of course, it is usually gone when we get back - whomever does come realizes that no one is playing "watchdog" and they dump the basket into their bags. No worries - I'd gladly donate a bag of candy so that one of us doesn't have to stay home and miss trick or treating with Reagan and Cole. 

It's funny, we were talking with our friends, the Kearls, and they were asking "Do you seriously only go to houses you know?" Yep - we do. "You don't just run with a pillowcase and hit every house that you can?" Nope - we don't. Truly, trick or treating, for us, is more of a visiting session. We go see Kathy and Dick Bowman (sort of our adopted grandparents in the ward). They always have gifts (not just candy) for Reagan and Cole. We visit with them for a while and then we move up their street. The Neff are on a mission right now, but usually Bill is making peanut brittle and it is awesome. So, he gives us some of that and we chat with him for a while. We go see different friends in our ward and neighborhood and we chat with them. It's not a candy fest - it's a love fest :)

We always have to visit the Steffen house. They decorate only for one day and they do it BIG! They have skeletons playing games in the yard, driving their cars and causing all sorts of trouble. They have a fog machine and sounds. They have projections in each window - my favorite is the huge eye (it reminds me of that movie Monster's Inc.). One Halloween, we got together with a classmate of Reagan's who had just moved into the neighborhood. They had a party and we did some trick or treating, but not our usual route. At 11 that night, Greg Steffen texted me and said "My great, big eye didn't see the Petersen ghouls tonight - everything ok?" We knew then that we had to hit the Steffen house each year or we are missed. Cute Kay Beck waits for Reagan and Cole also. I've posted before about how everybody gives Reagan and Cole extras or bigger things or whatever. They have a blast and it doesn't take much time to get a lot of candy, even though we are more into seeing our friends.

We ran into the Kearls who were running up and down the streets of the Cassowary area and we chatted with them a bit. After we had seen our friends and hit 15 houses or so, Cole said "Mom, I'm ready to go home." So, we did. We have plenty of candy at home too - it's all good. If they have had enough - let's go home. We had a great Halloween, saw our friends and we had a fun night!

Cole's Talk

Cole was assigned to give a talk in Primary. Interestingly, it was the exact same topic as Reagan's talk of last week - The Blessings of the Priesthood are Available to All. (Note - that's not supposed to happen - there is a different theme for each week and so the kiddos should have had different topics ...... oh well.) He couldn't write the entire talk himself, but he sat with me and we looked up scriptures and general conference talks and we discussed the topic and I wrote what he wanted to say and then we cleaned it up a bit to make it into a talk.

When we were starting primary, I looked around and couldn't find Cole. Turns out, he had gone to the  library to get pictures to show as visual aids during his talk - way to go Cole!!!

He did a great job and we were so proud of him!!!!

Ward Halloween Party

We had our Ward Halloween Party on Saturday night. The Primary was in charge of decorating the tables, so, Brenda Kearl (my second counselor and friend and carpool buddy) took some of our decorations from our houses and put them on the tables. Then, we spoke with the person in charge of decorations. He was at a mountain bike race and wouldn't get to the church until 4. Well, the party started at 6, so, we didn't figure he had enough time. Brenda, her hubby and I spent 3 hours putting up decorations while Steve took our kiddos and the Kearl kiddos home to our house to play. 

I must say that the decorations turned out great! Between my extra decorations and Brenda's extra decorations, we had the walls decorated and the stage. Turned out that when the guy in charge came, he didn't really add anything - he just put his stuff on the stage behind the curtain. It looked great!!!

The Young Men and Young Women were in charge of booths and games for the children. The Bishopric had a cotton candy machine and we, as the Primary, had a table with coloring pages and games as well as glow in the dark tattoos.

We had a costume contest - the Walker family won - Meghan was Trump building the wall and her hubby and kiddos (including the baby) were all Mexicans with mustaches and ponchos - so funny! The Kearl family had cute costumes. Brad was Little Red Riding Hood while Brenda was the Wolf. Jackson was Tom Cruise from Top Gun (he actually won the best male costume) and cute Madison wore one of Reagan's old costumes - the Grecian dress. 

We also had a dinner and games. It was super fun. So many people helped put it together and, at the end of the night, the cultural hall looked SO great!!!! People kept asking who had brought all of these items. We would tell them and they would ask "This is your EXTRA decorations?????" Yep - gotta love it!

Reagan was a "dark bride" and Cole was Michael Jackson. Steve was a vampire and I was a witch. We had such a fun time!

Gratitudes

For Sacrament Meeting this Sunday, our Bishopric had 5 people talk about what they are grateful for and why. I was one of them. I was the concluding speaker, which means I could have had 5 minutes or 20. Turned out that I had about 3. I talked about how, last year, we made a list of 1000 things we were grateful for and how it was a great exercise to literally count our blessings, naming them one by one. I then talked about what I was grateful for and why.

The Bishopric wanted to continue the theme of gratitude in the 5th Sunday combined meeting (which I never get to go to since I am in Primary). On the 5th Sunday (if there is one that month), our Bishopric has the men and women stay together for the 3rd hour of church. They usually have a special topic they focus on. As I said, they focussed on gratitude. They wanted to encourage people to focus on having gratitude all year, but especially during November.

In preparation for this meeting, one of the Bishop's counselors put together a video of various people in our ward saying what they were thankful for and why. He asked me to film Reagan and Cole saying what they were thankful for and to send it over.

Here's what they said:






They did a great job. Later that night (way after we had gone to bed), I received an email from the Bishop's counselor. His email subject line was "Amazing" and the email said:

I'm working on the Gratitude video.  This will shock you, but it's true.  Your kids are amazing. 

I can only have a few seconds per person for their gratitude bits on the video, but yours are so amazing!!!  I really don't know what to pull out?!!  And none of it is forced.  They just started going!

Wow.

:-)

He was so sweet to send that email. I love it! Reagan and Cole really are pretty good at just saying what they think or feel. When we saw the Bishop's counselor at the Ward Halloween Party, he came and sat at our table and started talking to Reagan and Cole, insisting that they were reading their gratitudes from posters or notes they had written. Theykept insisting to him that they were just making it up as they went. That they were just saying their feelings. He said he couldn't believe it because they did such a great job. He said the teenagers he filmed couldn't express their gratitudes anywhere near as well as Reagan and Cole did. Yay - way to go you two!

We do have so much to be thankful for and I'm glad that Reagan and Cole could express a few of theirs. Love them!!!!!!

It's Time for Pack Meeting

Once again, it's time for a Pack Meeting. This is a big one since Cole is receiving his Bear award. He has passed off all of his requirements and has graduated up to the Weeblo den. He was excited to move dens even though he loved his leaders in the Bear den.

They always have an activity and this one was crazy. They boys had to put coins in a spoon and carry the spoon in their mouth and relay race them to the other side of the room. Cole was a bit late (from guitar lessons) and didn't hear all of the instructions, so, when he dropped his pennies, he didn't know what he was supposed to do. It's all good - he figured it out.

We sat with the Kearl family and Reagan was glad to have a friend to chat with. After the activity and the lesson, they gave out the awards.

We are so proud of Cole - it isn't easy to complete all of these requirements. He worked hard and had fun! He's now with the "big" 10 year olds in Weeblos. We are excited for his advancement and his accomplishment. Way to go Cole!!!

Playing in the Leaves

Fall is definitely here - the leaves are changing and they are falling off of the trees. Reagan and Cole love to make piles of leaves and play in them. 

They raked up the leaves into a huge pile and then they jumped in them.

Reagan went first. Cole then re-shaped the pile and he jumped in. 

It wasn't long until Steve was out there with them - they were throwing leaves in the air, throwing leaves on each other.... crazy!

The next day, the kiddos were playing in the yard and Reagan asked if I would come and take a picture of their leaf pile. I agreed. As I was approaching the leaf pile, Reagan said "I wonder where Cole went - maybe to get more leaves." That was a red flag to me.... more leaves? Why would he need MORE leaves? So, I started the camera recording. Sure enough..... SURPRISE!!!!!

Cole was insistent that Reagan had "blown his cover" so he grabbed her and threw her to the ground in the leaf pile and then he jumped on top of her. Poor thing, she was covered in leaves and said she couldn't breathe at the bottom of the leaf pile. Oh well - brothers..... right?

It was a fun day until the wind came and blew most of the leaves away. We're sad, but glad we played in the leaves while we could :)

Reagan Receives her Faith in God Award

In our faith, once children reach the age of 8 and are baptized, they start working on achieving their Faith in God award. Ideally, they receive this award as they turn 12 and leave Primary for Young Men or Young Women. The Faith in God program is a bit different for boys and for girls, but it basically helps them to learn a bit about themselves, about God and to learn to set and achieve goals. There are four parts to the program - Learning and Living the Gospel, Developing Talents, Serving Others and Preparing for Young Women. The girls choose to plan and achieve two activities in each of the first three areas each year. They can select from 8 that are provided or they can design one especially for themselves.

For example, in Developing Talents, one of the possible activities is: Learn how to budget and save money. Discuss why it is important to faithfully pay our tithing and how Heavenly Father blesses us when we do. Pay your tithing and begin saving for an education. Another is: Make an item from wood, metal, fabric or other material or draw, paint, or scalp a piece of art. Display your finished work for others to see. Still another is Plan a physical fitness program for yourself that may include learning to play a sport or game. Participate in the program for one month. 

In Serving Others, one of the possible activities is: Read and discuss the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30-37). Plan and complete a service project that helps a family member or neighbor. After completing the project, discuss how it helped your faith grow stronger. Another is: Make a list of the qualities you like in a person. Choose one quality to develop in yourself. Discuss how showing respect and kindness strengthens you, your family and others. still another is: Entertain young children with songs or games you have learned or made yourself. Show that you know how to care for and nurture a young child. 

One of the possible activities in Learning and Living the Gospel is: Learn to sing "Choose the Right" (Hymns #239). Explain what agency is and what it means to be responsible for your choices. Discuss how making good choices has helped you develop greater faith. Another is: Tell a story from the Book of Mormon that teaches about faith in Jesus Christ. Share your testimony of the Savior. Still another is: Prepare a pedigree chart with your name and your parents' and grandparents' names. Prepare a family group record for your family and share a family story. Discuss how performing temple work blesses families.

Only after the girl reaches age 11 does she start doing the activities for the Preparing for Young Women section of the book. In this section, she must complete all of the activities (rather than choosing some from the list or making her own). One of the activities in this section is: Write in your journal how you can serve the Lord as you stand for truth and righteousness. Another is: Read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". Make a list of things you can do to help strengthen your family and make a happy home. Share the list with your parents or Primary leader. Still another is: After studying the thirteenth Article of Faith, make a list of things that are uplifting and virtuous. Discuss with a parent or leader how you can seek after these things.

In addition to accomplishing these activities, the child must memorize the 13 Articles of Faith, write their testimony and follow the list of My Gospel Standards on the back cover of the book. 

So, as you know, Reagan loves to complete projects and her initiative is great when she is excited about something. She started working on her Faith in God program immediately after being baptized when she turned 8. Each year, she marks off more of the activities as she accomplishes them. She has to memorize the 13 Articles of Faith, but she and Cole do this each year anyway. (You'll remember that they passed them off January 1st before noon this year.) Then, she had pretty much completed all that she could until she turned 11 and could start on that last section. Well, it didn't take long after turning 11 in May that she had everything marked off. Most children finish right about the time they turn 12, but Reagan had completely finished. I asked our Stake Primary President if there was any rule about waiting to receive the award. She said that there wasn't a rule and that if the child had completed the program, they could be given their award. So, Reagan met with the Young Women (to prepare to come to Young Women when she turns 12 next May) and was interviewed by the Bishop. He presented her award to her in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday. She was so excited to receive it and we were so proud of her.

Now, she'll have a bit of a break until May when she goes to Young Women, but then, she'll start a new program - the Personal Progress program. She will basically plan activities and plan to have experiences in 8 different areas: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue. This program must be completed before she turns 18, but I have a feeling she will be ahead of schedule again and earn her Young Womanhood Medallion before she is 18. I love the Personal Progress program. I completed it as a youth and earned my medallion and then completed it again when I was the Young Women's president in our ward. It has changed quite a bit from when I was a youth, but it is still an amazing program that helps our youth learn about themselves, about their Heavenly Father and about life. I don't remember the Faith in God program being around when I was a child. Perhaps it was and I just don't remember, but I'm so grateful for these programs that help our children (and ourselves) learn and grow.

Way to go Reagan - we are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished and all that you continue to accomplish. Keep it up!!!!! xoxoxoxo

Just as a note: I had to include Reagan's sweet testimony. I would never post it on FB or anything, but very few (and very loved) people read our blog. It's mostly a scrapbook for our family. So, in case I ever lost that little Faith in God book, I'd want to remember her words. Love her so very much!

Halloween Decor

I love, Love, LOVE Halloween. I couldn't wait until October to put up our Halloween decorations, so, I started on September 15th. Half way through September - that's good, right?

We really made some changes this year. I bought many new things and we gave away a whole bunch of Halloween things that we haven't used in a couple of years. Target was a huge score this year. I was able to get these cute paper decorations that I put in the kitchen windows.

I also bought these cream and black pumpkins with gold spikes on them. They seem kind of fragile, so, we will see how they last, but I love them! I also picked up 2 witches hats at Tai Pan. They were perfect for above the cabinets in the kitchen.

I ordered some more Luminara candles so that I would have enough for the haunted house luminaries. You'll remember that Bath & Body Works puts out one of these each year. I think we have 9. I kept looking online and in the stores, but never saw them. Then, when I was in a store and asking about it, they said that they have gotten some in - one at a time - and that they sell out the moment they bring it out onto the floor. I begged and pleaded that I would be able to get one - I even offered to pay for it in advance. The manager wasn't supposed to do this, but she started a list and I was at the top! So, then, when she got one in, she called me and I rushed over to buy it. Yay! They also had cute snow globe type candle sticks. Awesome!

Bath and Body Works also had such cute candles, lotions, soaps, sanitizers, night lights and bath fizzies for Halloween - had to have some of each :)  I picked up some more potions bottles at Michael's and ordered beakers and test tubes from Target. I also ordered a lighted projector that projects skulls and bats on the wall as well as a furry, lighted, spider to put on the wall in our entry way. Love that! 

Oh - and Target had these huge, black and purple skulls. They are super light - probably made of Styrofoam, but they are SO cool looking. Plus, Bath & Body Works came out with the luminaries that were orange in the middle and bronze on the outside and had magnetic spiders that climb them. Love those!

I usually don't do much in our room, but this year I did. Maybe that was because Cole had his Halloween, birthday party at our house. Maybe I was just feeling it.

Reagan and Cole ALWAYS put stuff in their rooms. It looks great!

Disneyland - Day 4

So, boo hoo, it's our last day here. We were at the park right when it opened and we headed straight for Space Mountain. After that, we hit Star Tours and then headed to Pirates.

After that, we took the Monorail over to Downtown Disney. We got off the Monorail and had breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. This is a tradition for us. Of course, Reagan and Cole had to get hot cocoa..... silly kiddos.

The Monorail was fun. Reagan had been asking during our first 3 days to ride it. The one time we decided we had time to do that, we went up and the ride was closed. They said that they have to close it down when it is super hot. I did not know that. So, since Disney was closing early that day for the Mickey party, they estimated that the Monorail wouldn't be open for the rest of the day.

After our breakfast, we did some shopping in Downtown Disney. We HAD to check out the Lego Store. Cole wanted to buy something for his stuffed animal dog, Junior (who was accompanying us today), so, we hit Build A Bear. I actually had a coupon for a free accessory and so Cole decided to pool my coupon with his money and get a pet bed for Junior. 

When we returned, we decided to hit California Adventure. Reagan and Cole wanted to go to the Redwood Challenge Course again. This time, Cole ran into Dale and was able to get his autograph.

Every time Cole went by, he would peek into the Build A Bear bag and check on Junior who was sleeping on the pet bed. Even Dale took a peek in the bag :)

Cole and Reagan raced on the zip lines.

It was time to head out to catch our flight. We returned to the hotel, packed up and checked out. Our shuttle arrived earlier than we expected, which was great and we were at the airport in plenty of time to hear our flight be delayed...... ugh! Eventually, we made it home - around 1 am.

We had a great time Mickey - thanks so much for such a fun trip!!!! See you next time!!!!

As a side note, right before we left on this trip, Steve and I received our new Apple Watches that have cellular capability. It was great. I would put my watch on one of the kiddos each day and we could call them, text them or geolocate them if necessary. Most of the time we were together, but just in case, they had a way to contact us. Also, if they were ever in trouble, they had the capability to call for emergency help. The Watch would send their geolocation to the emergency helpers and send us a text with their location and telling us that they had called for emergency help. So cool!!!!!