Just Because

Sometimes there are picture that I just take..for no reason.  Just because the kids look cute and I want to be able to flash back to that moment someday.

 Artic Circle night. Sometimes we take the kids to artic circle for a treat.  They have a play land and it's usually not busy at the hours we choose to go so it is a fun place to escape to for our kids.  You can see how Dave is loving his ice cream cone.  Yummy!  The static hair just gives it some extra flair.

 Sarah has loved preschool this year.  And who wouldn't with projects like this Thanksgiving Turkey hat she made. 

 It stayed warm outside well into November this year.  So, in the spririt of milking the weather for everything it was going to give us, we visited a park and played.  Sand is just a joy. :)

Mowin' the Lawn with Dad

Dad's and their sons.  Who can say how they build their relationship.  David loves to rid the lawn mower with Nate.  His ears are fine tuned to the special roar of the driving lawn mower.  As soon as it comes on he is out the door to locate the source.   Those boys are just so darn cute. 

Hmmmm.

Emily ran  upstairs around 11:30pm in a panic.  She said she couldn't breathe.  She was crying and coughing...and well...Nate and I were worried.  So, off to the emergency room we went.  By the time we arrived she was much calmer.  In the end...after an hour of sitting in the room and going through the steps of seeing the doctor...all was well.  Perhaps we all panicked a little bit.  I think we will try to keep our heads next time.  Weeks later we received our bill from the emergency room.  $500 after insurance.  ;(  boohoo.  But glad Emily just had a bad cold.  Sweet girl. 

BYU Scout Pow Wow and Prayer

Ben had the opportunity to attend the BYU Scout Pow Wow for a couple of Saturdays.  First off, he loved BYU campus and it stoked his fire about going to college.  I loved that.  :)  He loved being independent, attending his classes and grabbing a Subway sandwich on his own.  He is a good kid.  I just love Ben's pure heart and the way that he is honest with how he feels, whatever it is. 

Anyway, I was reminded of an experience he had this morning as I read over some past blogs.  On the second week, at the end of the day, he had to run to the other side of campus to finish his merit badge.  He became a bit disoriented and lost.  We got a call from the car pool to tell us he hadn't shown up for pick up. They waited about 45 minutes but in the end we told them to head on home and we would drive over to BYU.  

Well, in the mean time, Ben found his was back to the pick up spot.  He arrived to no one there.  A little time passed and he wondered what he should do.  He said he sat down on a little hill to think about it.  Then he said he realized he should pray.  He sat on that little hill and prayed that we would come get him.  That was right as I was sitting in the parking lot praying that I would be able to find Ben.  I started walking toward the pick up spot and Ben got up from his spot on the hill.  Really, just seconds later, I saw him and yelled his name.  :)  We both had our prayers answered.  And with such sweet timing.  I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Prayers are powerful.  Sometimes I let that slip from my mind but little events like this remind me that our loving Heavenly Father is constantly watchful and waiting to answer our prayers. 

Little Buddies

This picture is so sweet and reminds me that Sarah is not always a bully.  :)  She has actually gotten much better lately and her and Dave and starting to develop a fun relationship.  Sarah still likes her space and struggles to share but Dave doesn't even know what sharing is so I guess they are even.  :)  I am just grateful for moments like this when Sarah is loving Dave.  Moments when they chase each other around the house.  And for the other day when Dave was whining at my leg and Sarah came up and said "Dave, do you want to have fun with me?"  To which he immediately ran off after her. 

This Is Halloween!

The much anticipated night of Halloween has come and gone.  The kids had a great year trick or treating with friends.  Parents are no longer invited for the older kids.  That's just not cool.  :)

 Dave was our cutey pie "swashbuckler"  probably stuck swabbing the deck. 

 Rachel and Emily were the first to decide that they wanted to be pirates.  Apparently I live with a family of thieves.  LOL.  They went trick or treating with Taylee and Sophie and friends. 

 Ben took the original route with the Pirate Ship costume.  Yes, this took many hours of combined effort to create but it was a fun and unique costume.  And, it bounced when he walked like it was hitting waves. Surprisingly, it took quite a bit of ingenuity to make it balance properly after it was finished.

 Then there was Sarah.  We bought this fairy princess costume at Costco at the beginning of October.  She wore it every day for a couple weeks...then suddenly, she informed me she no longer wanted to be a fairy princess.  She wanted to be a skater and I needed to buy her some rollerskates.  HAHA.  She had a tough lesson in, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  In the end, she chose to be the fairy princess.  She loves Halloween.  She and David went trick or treating with DAD and had a great time.

So, another Halloween has come and gone.   Sarah has thought of 10 costumes that she needs for next year.  The older kids have almost exhausted their candy supply after a week+.  On to Thanksgiving...

Fall Leaves Falling All Around

We had such a lovely fall this year.  After a very wet August we had a very warm September and October.  As we tried to enjoy the last of the good weather we took a couple of Fieldtrips as a family. 

 This was Silver Lake up big cottonwood canyon.  Unfortunately, we left a little late in the day and the sun was own by the time we arrived.  This made it fairly chilly.  Not ideal conditions for a fun time with kids.  But, we did do a little walking around until we all decided we were too cold.

 It's quite a trick to get five kids to pose for a picture.  Oh well, a good one of the big kids.  :) They had to be coaxed to sit for 4 or 5 pictures and I still couldn't get the perfect one. 

 Yep, we are all cold, as you can see. 

 Next event, I took the kids to Corn Belly's because I had a work activity there.  The big kids did a little babysitting until I rescued them.  Funny thing, they did a good job keeping track of the babies.  Once they left, I lost Sarah.  She wasn't far but had just located an adult who was helping her find her mommy. 

 Dave and Sarah loved playing in the giant corn sand box.  Me, not so much.  Allergies and corn dust are not friendly to eachother. 

 We also went and enjoyed the Thanksgiving point Gardens.  This is a giant hill that the kids loved rolling down.  Yehaa!

 Dave managed to face plant in this tall grass.  I'm not sure how...but it was kind of funny.  Flop. 

 And these are just a couple cute pictures of the babies because I love to take pictures of their cute faces. 

For some reason we have been really busy this year.  We haven't done any hiking which is pitiful.  We will have to change that when spring comes.  At least we go to enjoy a couple outdoor activities.  Loved this fall.