Forgot to post from October

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I noticed these stories were in my drafts. Forgot to post them even though they were from October!
Stories:

• Caleb gets a ride to and from school by a friend of ours who works at the school (from our current home the school is about a 25 minute drive, so this is a huge blessing). One day she called me about an hour before school got out and told me she had to go to a doctor's appointment and her mom was picking up her kids and that if I was ok with it, her mom could bring Caleb to us as well. I said yes, called the school and asked them to tell him Caleb to find the kids he rides with in the back of the school and that he was riding home with their grandma. After hanging up I prayed that Caleb wouldn't get nervous and would be able to find those kids without any problem. When I picked Caleb up he told me his teacher told him the new pick up plan and as he was walking out of class one of the kids found him right away. I told him my specific prayer then he was excited to tell me that he had the same prayer. I love seeing his faith strengthened.
• Derrick took Caleb and Brynn camping on Friday night. Since we've been living in our new apartment, and the kids are sleeping in the same room, they have been keeping each other up. Before the campout Caleb told me, "Talia's going to sleep well tonight. I mean, she's going to sleep really well because we're not going to be there."
• On Monday for family home evening night we taught the kids about testimonies and we all bore our testimonies, a new thing for the kids. So today in fast and testimony meeting, when the bishopric member turned the time over to the congregation, Brynn stood up in front of me, with tears in her eyes and said, "I'm scared to say my testimony. Sometimes kid's moms go up with them." I told her she could wait until she was older and not as scared to bear her testimony in church. I said that for now she could just tell us her testimony at home. It was so sweet to see that she thought she had to get up and how willing she was to do it even though she was so scared.
• Later in the meeting a young woman got up to bear her testimony. You could tell it was a heart-felt testimony. Brynn said to me, "She didn't cry, she's really strong. Mommy, when you bear your testimony you cry. You're not very strong." It was an interesting thing for me to think about. I thought about how my tears are part of my teaching method. I feel like when I cry, not only is Heavenly Father confirming to me that what I'm feeling and what I've learned is right, but it helps others feel it too. I'm grateful for my tears and the Holy Ghost that accompanies them. I love feeling the Holy Ghost!

Dance Class

Brynn started a dance class this fall. She was nervous at first but she is now comfortable and loves it. She always asks me to put a bow in her hair. I have to say, it's actually one of my favorite times of the week. It is adorable to watch her dance and see how happy she is when she does it.

Here's some videos I have taken.

Bryce Canyon

I forgot to post this earlier but for the 4th of July weekend we took a family trip to Bryce Canyon. It was the perfect trip for a young family. The hikes could be as long or short and you wanted, you could drive to lots of different look outs (that were all amazing), and because of the high elevation it makes for a cooler summer location. The kids loved the hotel (with a pool) and even though they got tired pretty quick on some of the hikes they endured. Brynn would tell me a lot, "My knees really hurt." It was just so funny that she always used her knees as the reason for being tired on a hike.

 On the way home we stopped at Cove Fort and this was the only picture we got but it was a cute one so here you go:

Outdoors, 1st Day of 1st Grade

Derrick took Caleb with him on a scout campout (like he does every so often) but this time it was backpacking. Derrick carried most of Caleb's things but he did give Caleb a little backpack with food and a change of clothes. Derrick said the hardest thing about bringing Caleb wasn't that Caleb got tired but that he wanted to stop and explore everything along the way. Luckily Caleb listened and marched on with the scouts. They had a great time!

 I mentioned last time about how Talia loves bike rides. Well, I caught her once in the garage just sitting in the bike trailer and when I saw her she smiled super big and was happy just to be sitting in it. Also, I think she is getting a taste for wearing dresses. This pic was not taken on a Sunday she handed that dress to me in the morning and when I asked her if she wanted to wear it she gave me her "yeah" sound with a nod.

 I also mentioned last time that Andrew came to visit. I was able to snap this pic of him with the kids on the day he left. Talia is unhappy here but she really did start to love him.

Talia does this funny walk every once in while. It's so funny!

 This last weekend we went camping as a family. Paul, Lynne, Scott, Julianne, Evan and Lisa joined us for dinner. The kids love camping (I'm still trying to understand why) and it was fun to see them so excited and talk about it afterward. Talia slept in a pack and play and she woke us all up bright and early.

 Here's the pic from first day of first grade:

Stories:

• Derrick was drinking Fresca. Talia wanted some. I told Derrick to let her have a sip just so we could see her reaction. She took a sip, had a confused look on her face, put her arms up and hesitantly said, "hot" in a confused voice. I couldn't even talk I was laughing so hard seeing her loss of expression for the carbonation she just experienced.
• I signed Brynn up for a dance class. It doesn't start for another week and a half. So far she has told me she wants to practice and has asked me what to do. I told her I don't know. She was also washing her hair in the bath and told me she was scrubbing extra well so she could look good for dance class.
• Caleb says that his first day of school was boring because there was a lot of talking and not a lot of working.
• At stake conference they were doing the sustaining votes (you raise your hand in the air if you support what was proposed). Talia saw everyone raise their hand and put both of her arms in the air, looking around at everyone else. It was so adorable.
• Brynn was talking about how we need water. Then she said, and I quote exactly, "Pee is our water. Poop is our food. I learned that at church." Now, I know there are sunbeam lessons about water and food but I highly doubt that's exactly what she was taught :)

I thought this was so cute. Brynn had Elsa playing the guitar and singing.

  We went to a man-made beach in Herriman. The kids had a blast.

 Brynn tried to take the ride-on scooter down the stairs. I just see in her mind thinking it would be fun. We were lucky that she only got a small bruise on the side of her cheek:

 We've been riding our bikes to get shaved ice this summer. We all love this new tradition!

 Andrew has been visiting us. One time we went to Scheels, rode the ferris wheel, played the shooting game and walked all around the store.

 We also went to temple square with Andrew and Jenna. We had fun

Stories:

• Brynn has been getting a lot of mosquito bites. During sacrament meeting she told me her shoe hurt. She had a huge welt around her ankle. I took off her shoes and she went barefoot for the next 2 hours at church.
•  Talia's favorite word is "hot". She definitely knows the meaning of it. She knows the stove and oven are hot, that smoke is hot and that food and water can be hot. Once she saw someone smoking and when they let out a puff she said, "hot". Luckily they didn't hear but it was still funny.
• Talia loves riding in the bike trailer. When she sees us getting ready to go, she goes over to the trailer, sits in it and stays put until we leave. It is sweet how much she loves it.

Month of May

Pearl, Julie and Luke visited for the month of May. The cousins loved seeing each other.

 This pic was so cute:

Brynn wanted in on that pic:

 We build lots of Legos

 Brynn and Talia at Caleb's soccer game:

 After Caleb's last game:

This happens pretty often:

 Brynn on her Daddy, Daughter date to the Dinosaur Museum

 Caleb on his Father, Son date to the rock climbing gym:

 Isn't she cute?

 We love our field this time of year...it's so green!

 

Stories:

• I've said before Brynn always tells me she wants to be a mom like me when she grows up. Recently I've notices she says it mostly when she's watching me put on my makeup and doing my hair. When I told Derrick about my observation, he said she just needs to wait until she's 14 to get what she actually wants :)
• I heard Brynn whisper to Caleb, "Let's sneak and watch something." Caleb told her no (my obedient child). Then I told her we don't sneak things. She responded with, "Yes we do. I like to sneak things. I like chocolate chips, watching something, eating snacks." We have caught her doing all those things. The crazy one was when she got my phone from downstairs, took it upstairs and hid in the back of my closet behind some clothes to watch Netflix.
• Caleb said to me, "I wish Talia would stay a baby until you and Daddy died then she would just turn 18." He's told me before how he thinks she's so cute and wants her to stay little but what he said was extra funny.
• We were putting our life insurance bill in the mail. When Caleb asked what it was, I explained life insurance, using Daddy dying as the example. Caleb is always inquisitive and thinks about how things work. He then asked me, "How would they know Daddy died." What he said there wasn't funny but it shows how his mind works. I think most kids would have just thought it was cool when I explained that if Daddy died we would get a lot of money. Caleb's mind works differently.  
• On a car ride Brynn started saying "words of wisdom." Or at least it sounded like she was imparting her knowledge to us. She said things like, "The whole world is different. Different ways have different paths," and "Some stores are closed and some are opened."

Easter

 The kids had an Easter egg hunt and Grandma and Grandpa's on Saturday.

On Sunday we just snapped a few pics before church. And of course the kids hunted for the eggs that the Easter bunny left.

Family Pics from April

 

 

 

 

 

Birthdays

 Because this was so long ago, I'll make this a short post. On April 7th Brynn turned 4. She had a Frozen birthday party. We had a scavenger hunt where I gave the girls clues and they had to find the Frozen characters hidden around the house. At each character was a prize for each girl. The cutest part was when I turned on the "Let it Go" video, gave each of the girls ribbon wands and let them sing and dance. Brynn loved dressing up as Elsa.

On April 11, Caleb turned 6. He was excited for his Ninjago (Lego Ninjas) birthday party. I had made origami throwing stars for the kids to decorate when they were done eating lunch. Then they threw the stars through hoops. We played Sensei Says (Simon Says). I made them balloon swords then then used those in spinjitzu training (put their heads on a bat to spin, then use their sword to knock over a cup on a chair). All the kids had fun and Caleb was happy to have a party for him. He felt special.