Visit from my parents

My parents were here for a week for Noah's baptism. Way too short of a visit if you ask me. I didn't even get many picture of our adventures. You may think that this doesn't look like December, but I was out there in my coat freezing my booty off. Crazy tough Sugar City folks who don't think they even need coats out here! Anyway, it was relatively nice while they were here, but has cooled down considerably now. Kind of. It's a bit shameful how soft I've gotten and how much I value warmth. I want to move to Alaska someday. How in the world would I survive?!

Buckroe Beach

Great to be 8--My baby has been baptized!

Let Christmas Season begin

Noah started piano lessons in the middle of September. We lucked out to happen upon a really great teacher who goes so well with his personality and he has been very excited. The Christmas season has helped a ton and he spends a lot of time playing. I LOVE hearing the piano being played in the background of my everyday doings. Anyway, this is one of his songs...

Noah's birthday cake

Okay so it really doesn't look that impressive. I am excited enough about this to post it, just because it is so yummy and healthy. And all Noah's idea. He decided months ago that he wanted blackberry pie for his birthday, instead of a cake this year. I don't know if it was because he loves it (which he does) or because his birthday was on Thanksgiving so pie went right along with the theme, or both. Anyway, it is the least time intensive birthday cake I have done for awhile and so yummy.

Gratitude

I keep thinking I should be listing all the things I am grateful for, but it's such an overwhelming task that I never start it. I feel so inadequate to express all the things that burst my heart with gratitude. So I am not going to try and write them all down. In fact I only have a couple of minute so I will pour out what I can in that time... I am so grateful for the tender mercies and blessing that the Lord bestows on me and my family every hour of every day. My beautiful family and each of their spirits and personalities. The best husband in the world, who I marvel over every day and many times wonder what I did to deserve him. I guess we don't deserve really any of the blessings that our Heavenly Father so lovingly gives us each day. I am grateful for Trav's job and that he provides so well for our needs, and brings many wonderful people and examples and experiences into our lives. And I am grateful for the daily heroes in my life that teach me and inspire me to be better and try harder. I am so grateful for my Savior. Grateful that He loves us and cares so much for each of us. I'm grateful for the spirit that He pours upon us daily to strengthen and guide us. And that is the shortest list ever, but it will have to do for now. I must tend to a sickly little boy....

Happy Thanksgiving

On this beautiful glorious Thanksgiving Day, this is what our house looks at this moment. I first noticed something was a little off as Kaden wasn't the first one up this morning and there was no jumping on beds this morning to wake Micah up. Then Kaden just laid on the couch while we were getting ready for breakfast and I asked if he felt sick, and he said his head and chest hurt. Temp 103. Hmmm. So then it was a couple of hours later that Ammon was being clingy (which is not abnormal) and he felt pretty warm while he was hugging me. So I took HIS temp and it was 102.8. So my exciting plans for making this an exciting and fun day, mightnot be how we were supposed to spend it. I should go and take a nap myself, in fact, before it's too late! Micah is sleeping, these two are sleeping, and Travis took Noah to the movies for his birthday. It seemed like the thing to do, since we can't all go and play as a family. Anyway, I will mention that I have been so grateful for every day of good health we have enjoyed so far in the past few months. And they are at that very pleasant and docile stage where it's almost nice and peaceful because of it....but I hope it passes quickly. I don't like to see my kids feeling yucky. Kaden started crying this morning, first saying "I want to go to school tomorrow!" He calmed down when I explained there WAS no school, then started crying because he was afraid he wasn't going to be able to enjoy this big Thanksgiving dinner he has been waiting for for so long. I told him he would feel more like eating by 6:00 tonight. I hope I was right...

This will be the first Thanksgiving we have had by ourselves for a very long time. We lived closer to family for a few years, and last year had just gotten here and were invited to Thanksgiving dinner with a few people from the squadron. We had planned to invited some people, but our ward is doing a "40 day fast" where at least one people sign up for a day from 6pm to 6pm and fast so that there is at least one person fasting from our ward for the full 40 days. We are praying for missionary work and for the gospel to touch people's lives. I guess with Travis being the ward mission leader, he thought it was only fair to sign up for Thanksgiving so no one else would have to =). He is such a good person. But anyway, that's why we decided to just have Thanksgiving by ourselves this year, and it turns out, it's a good thing, because we would have had to cancel with feverish children drooling on the couches...

So since today is Noah's EIGHTH birthday, I am especially grateful for him today. Eight years ago this little boy came into our lives and has been such a blessing every since. He was such a good baby, which is a good thing, because he was a difficult nurser, (or non nurser) and I fought with him on that for months while I pumped and gave him bottles and felt like a bad mom. His tongue was short and he had a "bifed uvula" (it's shaped like a W instead of a U), and he had reflux and spit up a lot, only it hardly ever came out his mouth, mostly just his nose. It scared people =). He also started choking pretty regularly, well, at least a couple of times a day, and that especially scared people, but we got so we would reassure them and calmed turned him upside down and pat his back. Then one day he started nursing, at like 5 months old, but I had already started to dry up and by 6 months had to wean to formula. At that point, he started to get constant ear infections. Constant. Now that I am remembering all of this, I am SOOO glad he was my first and I didn't know the different and didn't have other kids to demand my attention. He also had an incredibly soft skull and we could feel our fingers mold into it when he was first born. He ended up wearing a helmet to round out the back of his head for 2-3 months (I think from the time he was 7 months to 9 or 10 months. Anyway, that's not what I meant to start babbling about. I get so distracted.

This handsome boy has loved books since he was a tiny baby. I am pretty sure it was inborn and not anything I did. He taught himself to read during his rest times at the age of 4, and has such a unique way of thinking and figuring things out. He has always been very naturally obedient. That makes it hard for him when he seen other people not following rules or doing things the way he thinks they should be done. I guess I can only describe that as being a first child, too, where he has the desire to be the parent instead of the sibling much of the time. We are working on that. I am so proud of Noah and the young man he is becoming. There have been times I have stewed and worried about him, and seen myself in him in ways that I don't want him to be. He has a timid nature, but it was much stronger when he was 4 and 5 and I worried and cried and felt sad about it when he wouldn't talk to kids in preschool and exiled himself to the corner at birthday parties. But as I think about it now, he is actually pretty bold most of the time. Like the fact that he keeps hounding the Bishop to come to our house so that he can play his piano songs for him. And lots of other examples that help me to see more confidence and it makes me happy to see. He has a kind heart and a good sense of humor. He started piano lessons in September and it has been so fun to watch him catch on and learn so quickly. He is doing so great! We loved his teacher! Every night we read scriptures together and he plays with my hair while I read. I love those moments. He is a good helper when he wants to be. He is so excited to be baptized--I can't believe he can be this old already!

Noah's Birthday Party

Another moment of needing the mother of the year award. How hard can it be to plan a fun birthday party and carry through with it? Moms do it swimmingly every day around me. But one day I suddenly realized that it was actually the middle of November and that I didn't have any plans for this boy's birthday party and the invitations should probably be out already! And we don't do full up parties every year, so that should actually help me step up when the time comes, right? Well, due to lots of reasons and excuses, I didn't even get the invitations made until 3 days before the supposed party.... and then Noah's teacher said she would let him slip them into the folders at school, but he came home not having done it because there was a substitute that day and she wouldn't let him. So then I had finally gotten the directory from the school and emailed out and emergency evite and started getting lots of "no" replies pretty quick. I was feeling horrible about it, but in the end I didn't need to stress. We had the perfect size group and everyone really seemed to have a fun time at the party. Phew...Noah's actual birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year, which he is very excited about...."Now I have even more reasons to be thankful!" ....."A feast on my birthday!" etc. So he naturally wanted a Thanksgiving birthday party, and I loved that idea. They came in and made Indian vests and headbands and necklaces made from colored pasta.

And Noah had to show off is Christmas songs on the piano (I love how excited he is about the piano right now)--He has been asking the bishop at church if he could show him his songs. So the Bishop took us into the chapel after meeting with him yesterday, and listened to all of his songs. Then he said that if we got to church early next Sunday, and the organ player is not there yet, that Noah can sit up there and play his songs for the prelude music....Here's all of our little Indian braves (and a squaw).

Then we played a few games that represented the different skills that the Indians taught the pilgrims to help them survive. And for each game they earned a feather for their headbands.

And after they had learned the necessary skills we celebrated with a Thanksgiving feast of popcorn, pretzels, goldfish, apples, and oranges.

And cupcakes...

I can't believe my little boys is almost 8 years old! Holy smokes where has all of that time gone? I will have to do a "Noah reflection" sometime soon. ...

Ooops this picture is out of order...

After the party we went out as a family to try to clean the mounds and mounds of leaves and piled after the storms and were finally starting to dry enough to clean. It is so amazing how much more effective you can be working together. Ammon was a bum and stayed inside, but everyone else was excited and cheerful about helping. Even Micah was surprisingly helpful, putting huge armfuls of leaves into the bags. And he stayed focused ALMOST the entire time! I love moments like these.