A friend of mine posted about a FHE that she had done about missionaries and it looked like such a great idea so I totally copied it. So, Jana, if you're reading this, thanks for the awesome idea. We pretty much did everything they did, so I guess we're not very original. Either that or the original was just that awesome!
First we looked at Jaaromy's missionary book that I made for him last year. Jaaromy enjoyed talking about his mission and the boys liked looking at the pictures. After that we had them dress up in Jaaromy's suit coats and I gave them name tags that I had made earlier. I don't think I would have thought to do this on my own, but honestly, this is what sold the entire FHE. They thought it was so fun to dress in Dad's suits and ties. Even Nathaniel who doesn't usually get silly like this got into it. Brigham was a little too small for Jaaromy's clothes, so we put him in Nathaniel's and that was big enough.
Jaaromy had them knock on their bedroom door and pretend to be missionaries. They had to say "Buenos Tardes!" since that's what Jaaromy had to say on his mission. And to make sure they got the real missionary experience, he even yelled "No!" and shut the door. The boys thought that was funny. I hope that positive attitude sticks.
Then they told Investigator Jaaromy all about the Gospel and that he should totally get baptized. Investigator Jaaromy totally agreed.
After that we wrote letters to Tim. I'm so glad we have a cousin out on a mission right now, it really helped the lesson. The boys had a lot of fun and I hope they will remember this when they're old enough to go on their missions.
I wasn't very coy about what I wanted Jaaromy to get me for Christmas. I try to be because I want to be surprised, but I also don't want to be disappointed. So I end up saying all but the exact words.
I wanted a camera that fits into the eyepiece of my telescope so I could take pictures. I had a mount for my regular camera but it was just too hard to get it to do what I wanted. So I was pretty sure that was what Jaaromy was getting me. When it came time for the purchase it would have been pretty hard for him to hide the amount spent since I'm the one who does the finances in our house. It was a noticeably larger amount than I had expected.
So, instead of a camera to fit into my telescope, he got me a whole new telescope that comes with a camera!
I feel like I need to explain what I'm wearing. It's cold in our house and I just grabbed a random long-sleeved shirt to cover my arms. Also, I apologize for the background. It's currently being stored in our back room which is unfinished. It makes it the ideal place to put our exercise equipment and my craft table.
Back to the telescope. It's much smaller than our first telescope but it reflects twice(or something) so the image is about the same size. But the real bonus is that it's a motorized equatorial mount so it follows the Earth's rotation which makes it much easier to keep an object in the field of view. Perfect for taking pictures!
Jaaromy is more excited that I am to try it out, so on our first relatively clear night we did just that. Jupiter is the most exciting thing to look at right now and it's in the low Western sky at night. Which means we, and by that I mean Jaaromy, had to shovel our back porch. It was so cold, plus, I had just showered and my hair was wet. I put a hat on to keep warm but my hair outside the hat froze.
In spite of the cold, we managed to get some pictures. The sky was mostly clear. It looked plenty clear with the naked eye, but there was still a lot of atmospheric disturbance. I think that will just be the case during the Winter, unfortunately.
So there you have it, our first picture of Jupiter. I hope the blurriness is because of the atmosphere. We won't know until we get out again when the skies are clearer. I hope we don't have to wait too long since Jupiter is only getting farther away. You can clearly make out the Northern band. The Southern band has mysteriously gone missing over the last several months. Hopefully it will come back. It just wouldn't be Jupiter without the two dark bands.
I'm super excited for my present, and so is Jaaromy. He's actually been the one behind all the set up and picture process. I'll have to give it a try by myself so that it will officially be my present and not Jaaromy's. Think of the episode of the Simpson's when Homer gave Marge a bowling ball for her birthday.
I can't wait to take more pictures. Perhaps when it's warmer.
So Christmas has come and gone. I feel like my brain is still recovering. My December was so busy that I was worried that I wouldn't have much time to pause and reflect on the Nativity. I kept waiting for things to slow down but they didn't. Well, they did eventually. I had just hoped that it would be before Christmas Eve.
Then Jonathan came down with a fever. Jaaromy's family had planned a get-together for Christmas Eve and we decided that Jonathan shouldn't go. So Jaaromy went by himself. While I wish that Jonathan hadn't been sick and that we had all been able to go, it was the first time in what seemed like weeks that I had been able to relax and not worry about anything. We watched some Christmas shows and read Christmas stories. Jaaromy read the Christmas story from the Book of Mormon and we left all the Christmas lights on that night to remind us of the sign of the birth of Jesus. I think it ended up being one of the best Christmas Eves ever.
Here are the boys in their new pajamas. I went with a Phineas and Ferb theme this year. I think the boys like it. I got Brigham to smile but not sit still.
Just like last year:
And the year before that:
And the year before that:
The year before that he couldn't walk yet, and we hadn't started the pajama tradition so we'll never know. Maybe next year I'll be able to get him to sit still.
Christmas morning was nice. Our boys are late sleepers so I was thinking we'd have a 9:00-9:30 wake up time. Since Jonathan was sick he slept for a long time and Jaaromy and I didn't wake up until after ten. Nice!
Brigham had to go through his usual routine. The older boys probably wouldn't have stood for it but Jonathan still wasn't feeling well.
I told him he looked too happy in the pictures and that he needed to frown to show that he was sick.
That's better!
Finally it was time to go down stairs! Brigham took one look and went back upstairs to finish his breakfast. My boys are really low-key so we don't have a lot of outward displays of excitement.
We had a nice morning of opening presents and trying out new toys. We all went to my parents' house after everyone else had gone home. We didn't want to get anybody else sick. We had cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and egg nog. It's the best meal of the year.
Then we opened presents. Jonathan was really pleased with his present from Grandma.
The cousins at Grandma Patti's house couldn't be avoided so I took Nathaniel and Brigham with me and Jaaromy stayed home with Jonathan. It was fun to visit with everyone. Especially Jimmy and Emily who came up from Vegas. We got to see them again on the 28th for Jim's birthday when all the siblings and Jaaromy's parents went to dinner. Without the kids! It was great.
So, Jonathan getting sick was actually a good thing. It forced us to take the holiday slow. I'm still recovering from December but I'm getting better everyday.
One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the school Christmas concerts. I always worry that Nathaniel will forget to tell me about them and I'll miss them. I was so worried that I would miss it this year that I e-mailed Nathaniel's teacher about it specifically. Luckily, I hadn't missed it.
First was Nathaniel's band concert. This is my favorite one. I love LOVE seeing all the young musicians trying out an instrument for the first time.
I won't upload a video but I did take a few pictures.
I am so impressed with the participation!
Since all the classes came to watch, I got to see Jonathan and give him a quick hug and a kiss as he came in. They let him wear headphones for the noise. I honestly didn't think it was a problem, but I guess given the choice, he took it.
The next day was the Sing-A-Long. Jaaromy was working from home that day because his car was getting fixed and he was able to go with me. Bonus! Since Nathaniel was in the 5th-6th split class, I didn't know which group he would be singing with. I looked all over for him during the 6th grade songs but I never saw him. I assumed that he would be singing later with the 5th graders. But just as they were about to leave the stage I saw him behind a really tall girl.
I managed to get this picture after the first row exited but before his row did. So I wasn't able to record his songs but at least I got a picture of him in his elf hat that he made.
When Jonathan's grade came out, I could hear his ask out loud "Where's my mom?" This was so sad for me to hear because I knew he'd never see me since we were way in the back. He did great though. I loved it.
We thought we were done after Jonathan's class sang. Some parents left after their children sang and we thought we should stay. I'm glad we did because when the 5th grade came out and started singing, Jaaromy noticed that Nathaniel was with them. Since I had missed his first songs, I hurried and started recording. So I got about half of his first song and all of his second. Whew!
Brigham was keeping himself busy with my phone while I was recording.
What a cutie!
I'm so proud of my boys, I really love to hear them play and sing.
As the title of the blog suggests, "Christmas Eve" was at Rachelle's house this year. We usually combine Birthday Sunday with the major holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. So before we did any Christmas-y things, we celebrated December birthdays of Maddy, Jonathan, and Melissa. I took some pictures but they were with my phone and my phone is notoriously bad when taking pictures inside. Oh well, you get the idea.
After the birthday celebrations(I don't remember if the kids blew out candles) we moved on to the Christmas portion. We opened presents from the siblings and did our Nativity. Not necessarily in that order.
Since we have three little baby boys and ample cousins, we decided to have three Marys and three Baby Jesus'. Nathaniel might have been the only Joseph though. Hmmm.
I took a lot of pictures, but this one is my favorite. I love how Maddy is magnifying her calling as an Angel. I love that Dallin is giving two big thumbs up. I love that Brynna is a blur as she runs as fast as she can to no one in particular. I love that Nathaniel is giving the role of Joseph the quiet dignity that it requires. Maybe that's why Jonathan was very adamant that Nathaniel be Joseph. He looks up to him more than Nathaniel knows.
It's always so chaotic and noisy but I love that my boys know this very special story.
I can't believe how behind I am in posting. I thought I just had Christmas to do but I was wrong. Time to play catch up!
Jonathan had been looking forward to his birthday since the summer when all the rest of us had our birthdays. Poor Jonathan has to wait until December for his. He was so excited when we went from November to December because that is the month his birthday is in. Of course we had to go to the Planetarium. We didn't see a show or anything so it was nice to just look around. As soon as we got there Jonathan went right to the store because he already knew what he wanted for his birthday: a planet game for the computer. I tried to tell him that we already had his birthday presents at home and that we'd open them when we got home. He wouldn't let go of the box and he started to leave the store so I had Jaaromy, who was in the lobby keeping an eye on Brigham, use a little more force to get it back. Well, that didn't make Jonathan very happy and so he curled into a ball and cried. I took the game back and was wondering if I should switch it for what we had already gotten him since he was so excited about it. I went back to see what Jaaromy thought and found him in an argument with random strangers about his fitness to be a parent. Apparently they had seen Jonathan crying and assumed bad parenting to be the culprit. They also strangely thought that confronting Jaaromy about it would somehow be the best thing to do. They got the security guard and the planetarium management involved to let them know exactly how disappointed they were. Luckily, the security guard and the planetarium management were normal human beings and let it go. After they had left, Jaaromy apologized for his behavior and they told him that she, the random stranger, has come in before to complain about exhibits and such saying that she's "with the University". Upon further questioning, they found that "with the University" means she's a student. So she must really know what she's talking about.
Despite this diversion, Jonathan had a great time at the planetarium. Being his parents, we knew he'd stop crying in a minute or two and have fun.
After that we went to Arctic Circle for dinner and came home to open presents.
Hey, planet software! "Mom, how did you know?!"
Then we had birthday cupcakes that look curiously like Christmas cupcakes, but don't tell Jonathan that.
We will always remember this birthday, but Jonathan will probably only remember it as just another fun birthday. That's why I love Jonathan.
A few weeks ago I was looking through some of my old blog posts and I came across a post that mentioned that we had tried putting Brigham in his toddler bed but it didn't work out. I looked at the date and realized that it had been more than a year since that day. Brigham was still in his crib, and I was a terrible mother. We kept putting it off and I realized that there was no reason to. There were no upcoming events that might make the transition easier or harder. So we decided to just do it. Do you know what? He handled it like a pro! He stayed in bed and everything. It made me feel bad that I had put it off for so long.
Another indication that Brigham is getting older is that he has started going to Primary. He was supposed to be a Sunbeam this year but he just wasn't ready. Well, a couple of weeks ago when I was walking him towards the nursery, he walked right into the Primary room(which was on the way). He didn't even pause. So I went with it and sat him down with his class.
He's still getting used to it, but he definitely does not want to go to nursery. I think he can tell that he's too old. I'm so proud of him for deciding to go to Primary. It makes my job as secretary a little harder though, since I have to sit with him to make sure he stays in his seat and doesn't jump from chair to chair on the Sr. Primary side.
It happens every year. Since Halloween is on the last day of October, my Halloween post tends to be the newest post for most, if not all, of November. So I'm happy to have an excuse to post about something that is more appropriate for the season: Death and Destruction!
Well, actually, there most likely will not be any death in this case. But there is definitely a fair amount of destruction. The Saturday night snow storm claimed several large branches of two of our trees. I know we are not the only ones. There are several houses in my neighborhood who lost a lot of branches. I don't know if I saw a branch as large as the one we lost though.
This is the least of our losses. It came down right across our driveway. We would have had to move it Sunday morning to go to church but a guy came to our door and offered to shovel our driveway since he'd been out of work for a while. So he took care of it for us.
Here's the worst. Here is the break. We figure the larger branch on top fell and broke the smaller one underneath. That's not a small branch!
As you can see, it fell into the road. We didn't notice it until Sunday morning so there was little we could do about it. But after church Jaaromy clipped all the branches off that he could with our clippers. You can see how far into the road it was by all the leaves on the ground.
Jaaromy said it felt good to do that kind of work. It brought to mind a couple of images for me: President Bush working on his ranch
Harry Connick, Jr. I had to scan this from his Christmas cd since I couldn't find it online and, based on some of the pictures that came up, I didn't dare search any deeper.
I'm thinking that this is the last year that I can get away with reusing Halloween costumes. I asked the boys what they wanted to be at the beginning of the month. Nathaniel said he wanted to be Mario again and Jonathan said he wanted to be Link again. And with Brigham big enough to wear the astronaut costume, I was totally on track to having a sewing-free October.
As you can see, Nathaniel is not Mario and Jonathan is not Link. A few days before Halloween I asked them again about their costumes and Nathaniel decided that he wants to be a skeleton and Jonathan wants to be Luigi. I don't think they understand that they have to have their costumes decisions made in stone the first week of October. There is not a lot I can do when Halloween is two days away.
The skeleton costume was a bit of a stretch. The shirt fit fine but the pants were about four inches too short. I kept telling Nathaniel to wear the pants as low as possible. I didn't realize how old this costume was until I was scrapbooking Halloween 2007. That was the year he first wore it. Three years ago! At least this time he had some skeleton gloves that I found after Halloween the last time he wore it.
Jonathan lucked out too. The Luigi shirt still fit okay, but he had to wear the overalls that Nathaniel wore for Mario. I lucked out and found the buttons and gloves. Since the original plan was for Nathaniel to be Mario, I really should have had those ready anyway. So I guess I just slacked off on that one.
Isn't he the cutest! I was really excited that he would fit this costume this year, and probably next year too. He really was cute and he even kept the helmet on, I was really surprised by that one. I couldn't get him to stand still so he's mid-stride in this picture.
This year we decided to shake things up and Jaaromy stayed home and handed out candy while I took the boys Trick-or-Treating. I think it worked out well. If you remember my post from last year, handing out candy stresses me out. So much so that I wasn't even looking forward to Halloween this year. So this switch-up was a welcome change. It was a little wet, but it was fun to take the boys around. Brigham didn't really get it. I had to hold his bucket out for him, but he went along with us happily. He got a lot of comments about his costume which made me super happy. I had plans on where to go in our neighborhood but the boys got tired before I did. Brigham just stopped using his legs and I knew that wasn't going to fly, so after picking up a couple of houses that we knew from church, we went home. It was great, the boys had fun.
There was one dark spot on our Halloween festivities this year. Monday morning as I was sending the boys off to school I noticed that my Halloween witch had been stolen off my porch. I can only assume it was teenagers. I used to love Halloween but over the years my enthusiasm for the holiday have diminished significantly and it is mostly due to teenagers. I know a lot of good teenagers, but there are enough not-so-good teenagers that it really ruins it for me.
Oh well, I won't let a couple of bad apples ruin it for me completely. I'll be back next year with a new witch, newly-made costumes and a big bowl of good candy, not the crappy kind.
I know Halloween is over, but as usual, I'm behind. I hope you'll cut me some slack. Shutterfly was having a sale on photobooks and I've been working hard to get our 2007 yearbook finished in time. Mission accomplished. Now on to blogging.
As usual we had the choice of painting or carving. I was planning on carving but everyone else wanted to paint so I caved in to peer pressure. That and carving takes longer and I didn't want to still be carving long after everyone was done painting.
Poor Brigham. As I mentioned in my previous post, he wasn't feeling well that day. But he tried for a little while.
I love Jonathan's simplicity. That and his awesome planets!
I love how Nathaniel used a triangle shaped blemish as a nose and worked around it.
Jaaromy was excited that he didn't have to gut any pumpkins this year.
While I'm sad that we didn't have any glowing pumpkins this year, I'm pleased with how my pumpkin turned out. Especially when I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I was forced into painting at the last minute, remember?
I love Pumpkin Day, and I love it even more since we started calling it Pumpkin Day. We even have a song for it. Although Jaaromy and I are usually the only ones singing it.
On Monday my poor 3rd child got a stomach bug. He couldn't keep anything down all day. At first I tried a little Sprite, and then later I tried some Gatorade. By the way, the Gatorade was blue. Think about that for a minute.
See how sad!?
Anyway, so I couldn't give him anything and it wasn't until the next morning that I dared give him something to eat. So he hadn't had anything since lunch on Saturday. He didn't eat dinner the night before, foreshadowing perhaps? So I was getting a little worried. He was so weak Tuesday morning, I decided to wait a little bit longer before I tried to give him anything. Apparently, he was ready to eat because he got off my lap and pulled me upstairs and climbed into his booster seat. He must have been really hungry since I know he was really weak. So I dared to give him some Cheerios and water and a little bit more Gatorade. After waiting anxiously I decided he wasn't going to loose it. What a huge relief!
This event and the emotions surrounding it were made more intense because I started bleeding Friday night.(Sorry, no pictures) By Saturday night it was pretty clear that things were not okay. By Tuesday night I had officially had my 4th miscarriage. Knowing this made me hug Brigham longer. He is so precious to me. All my boys are. Brigham especially reminds me of this since he was my last successful attempt at bringing children into our family. The whole time he was sick I was reminded of how fragile life can be, how things don't always go as planned, and how sometimes we are left wondering if our prayers will be answered. I read a blog the other day of another mother who was going through some tough trials. While at the gym she noticed a bird outside trying desperately to fly forward in the face of some powerful wind. The bird was flying as fast as she could but was making no progress. When I read that I wanted to shout "YES!" That is exactly how I feel about the last three years of my life. If I'm honest with myself, I'd have to say that I have felt that Heavenly Father knows my trials and I can imagine him saying softly to me to just be patient. At the same time He has definitely let go of the bike, so to speak. I'm doing my best to keep moving on my own, but I can hear Him from behind telling me to keep going, just a little farther, you're almost there.
I'm handling this all pretty well actually. I really should be devastated, but after a day or two I'm ready to get on with it. This is not to say that it wasn't extremely painful, emotionally, even now. I guess I'm just not the type to stay down for very long. As long as I've got a uterus, I'm going to keep trying. What can I say, I'm an optimist. So if you're wondering what to say next time you see me, you don't need to say much. Just give me a hug so I know you're thinking of me. And if you want to bring me a plate of cookies to cheer me up when it's hard to be optimistic, that would be okay too.
For Fall break we decided to take a trip to Boise. We had so much fun last year with our little trip to Logan and Franklin, Idaho that we thought we'd take another trip. This time it was to Boise. Our Clark Planetarium membership gives us discounts to other science centers around the world. We chose the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise because it was the closest. It was still a five hour drive though, but the kids did great.
We left Thursday afternoon and stopped in Twin Falls for dinner.
We stopped to see the Twin Falls temple before we went to dinner. We ate at Golden Corral which was not a pleasant experience. There was nothing that Jonathan would eat, and honestly nothing that I was super excited about either. I don't want to sound snooty but I felt a little out of place. With few exceptions, I think Jaaromy and I might have been one of the skinny ones there. We probably won't be going back.
We got to Boise shortly after ten. We brought our telescope with the expectation of taking it out about a half hour out of the city. The sky is much darker in Idaho and I really wanted to see the Milky Way. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop. We hoped we would get a chance the next night, but by then it was cloudy. I'm so sad that part of the trip didn't work out. I guess we'll have to take out the telescope somewhere around here, but we'll have to drive farther to get away from the lights.
The next morning was the activity that everyone had been waiting for, and the whole reason for our trip. The Discovery Center! So, after a quick breakfast at IHOP(so tasty!)and a short stop to Shopko(Nathaniel forgot to pack shirts and Brigham had already gotten his pants dirty) we were off.
Jonathan got right to work with the remote control robot cars.
Nathaniel told the robot arm to spell his name with blocks.
Brigham loved this exhibit. I'm not sure if it was because it looked like Neptune or because of the cute girls.
Nathaniel and Jonathan were both excited to try the Air Brake Chair. They pulled themselves up with the rope and when they got to the top they let go and the air brakes brought them slowly back down.
They also tried the Centripetal Wheel. We could never get it going fast enough to keep the stuffed animals from falling off though. But I love how it looks like that bear is running up the side of the wheel.
Brigham got a kick out of this magnetic induction exhibit.
And when Brigham saw this computer he got right to work.
Jonathan and Brigham both loved this planet sphere. You can't tell in the picture but there is a projector on the inside that projects the surfaces of planets, their moons and several of Earth. They, especially Brigham, pretty much camped out here for the rest of the visit.
After the Discovery Center we walked across the bridge that's behind the Center to a park.
While we were there we saw this squirrel. It didn't seem to concerned about the people around, but just in case, I didn't get any closer.
Then we went back to the hotel to go swimming. We were the only ones in the pool and it was so cold that Jonathan and Brigham's lips started turning blue. It wasn't too bad as long as you were moving, but Jonathan didn't want to move, but he also didn't want to get out of the pool. In the end I decided to have everyone get in the hot tub. Brigham and I technically shouldn't be getting in but it was so cold, so we sat on the steps. It worked, Brigham warmed right up and even Jonathan said that it felt nice. After everyone warmed up, we went back to our room to get dressed for dinner.
I feel silly mentioning where we went for dinner and such, but planning meals was a big part of the trip. We went to Chuck-A-Rama that night and it was so much better than our experience with Golden Corral. The food was so much better and the people were normal looking. Plus, it cost the same. I love Chuck-A-Rama.
Jonathan and Nathaniel both started getting colds while we gone and Nathaniel even woke up the second night with the croup. I thought he was too old for it, but at least it was easier to talk him through it.
Another small note: In researching our hotel I learned that it had a great breakfast buffet. We never got the chance to find out if that was true since they closed it down at 9:30. That's just too early for us. So, our last morning there we had a quick breakfast at Denny's(didn't go so well) and then we stopped at the Boise Temple before we headed home.
This was so funny to watch. Brigham's backpack was really heavy but everyone's hands were full so he had to carry it. He couldn't walk straight, but if I held his hand, he could do it.
The boys have never seen a temple with this design before so it was kind of a novelty for them. We walked around for a while, it was good to get in some walking before the long drive home.
The kids did great on the drive. Nathaniel got a little onery when he realized that he wouldn't have much time to play on the computer when we got home. Jaaromy and I were getting a little grumpy too. But over all, the trip went well and I can't wait for next year. I think we're going to Flagstaff to see the Lowell Observatory and Meteor Crater. So exciting!
