Boy Scout Campout

On February 23, Anthony was able to go on his first Boy Scout campout and he was definitely excited.  Grant was able to go with him, which I think made it extra fun for Anthony.  Anthony loves spending time with his dad.  The troop went to a nearby Boy Scout campground.  They got a late start so they didn't get to the campground until after dark.  It happened to be a chilly night so they quickly got a fire going and got busy putting all the tents up.  Anthony knowing it was going to be cold decided to bring his little 2 man tent for him and his dad to get cozy in.  After Anthony sent up his tent he helped the others.  It didn't take long for them all to set up camp and then it was time to sit by the fire and eat s'mores.  Anthony brought supplies to share with others and we introduced the troop to how we do s'mores.  Ours is more like a s'mores buffet.  Not only do we have regular graham crackers but we also do the graham crackers with cinnamon.  We include the regular chocolate bars, but we like to also include Reses Peanut Butter Cups, York Peppermint Patties, Kit-Kat bars, and Grant likes to have flavored dark chocolates.  My favorite is a smore made with York Peppermint Patties.  Our kids aren't really to hip on the different flavores of marshmellows they have out now.  Grant says they sat around the fire for awhile eating lots of goodies until they were all done.  When it was time to hit the hay Anthony still had a little bit in him.  For Anthony you can't go camping without playing games in the tent.  He brought a Battleship card game for him and his dad to play and being the nice daddy that Grant is they stayed up for a bit and played a couple of rounds of Battleship.

The next morning they discovered frost on the tents as well as a frozen water bottle which means one thing all those present earned their polar bear patch.  Anthony actually did well through the night and didn't complain about the cold.  They immediately got a fire going and the boys went to work cooking breakfast for everyone.  Anthony was on pancake duty and he flipped those suckers until his hands were frozen cold and then he passed it off to someone else.  After breakfast they went on a 5 mile hike with each of the younger boys taking a turn navigating the map and learning to work with a compass.  Anthony got pretty tired during the end of the hike, but he stuck it out and didn't complain-that is just how he is.  They also did some knot work as well as each of the scouts taking a turn teaching another scout the square knot.

After lunch they packed up and around 6:00 that evening a tired Grant and a tired Anthony walked through the door.  Overall I think it was a pretty successful campout and Anthony was able to get a lot of things crossed off.  He has a few more requirements and he will get his Tenderfoot.  His goal is to get his First Class before he turns 12, so he is well on his way with accomplishing his goal.

Valentine's Day

Madeline was coming down with cold/respiratory illness, hence why she is not smiling.  She looks how she felt.

I have never been very big on Valentine's Day, but the kids enjoy it so I try to put some effort into it for them.  This year I decided to surprise Grant and actually get him a present.  He has mentioned a few times how he wanted to display his Boy Scout Eagle Award in a shadow box.  He wanted this for two reasons; it doesn't do any good locked up in a box and also to show Anthony want he accomplished and to help Anthony shoot for the same goal.  I decided for Valentine's Day I would do that for him.  He was very happy and surprised, surprised that I remembered and surprised that I actually gave him a gift.  Grant surprised me as well by giving me a gift.  He remembered me mentioning in passing how I like these certain water bottles so for Valentine's Day he bought me one and filled it with paper hearts.  I thought it was the perfect gift.

This year I decided to do a count down to Valentine's Day.  Every morning there would be a heart taped on each of the kid's door with what I love about them.  Some days I would include what I appreciate about them too.  When Valentine's Day came each child had 14 hearts on their door.  I really loved doing this because I was able to focus on them and their divine qualities.  Sometimes it is easy to get hanged up on the day to day grind that we tend to lose focus, but for 14 days my focus was clear and I saw them for the Children of God that they are.  Valentine's Day is long past and the hearts are still on the door, they just don't want to take them down.  I think I have started a new tradition, and it is a pretty good one too!

For our family activity I thought it would be fun to have a nice dinner with candle light.  The kids never have had dinner with candles so at first they thought it was strange, but quickly warmed up to the idea.  They mainly thought it was cool to eat in the dark.  For dessert I made red ice cream floats with red edible sugar sprinkled on top.  It was simple but everyone enjoyed it.  I have learned in recent years that great memories can be created even when you simplify things.  With me homeschooling Madeline I have had to learn to simplify and I have discovered that the kids get just as excited as when I killed myself to put on a production.

I knew the boys would be getting Valentine's from school and with Madeline being homeschool I didn't want her to feel left out.  I had Madeline make a Valentine sack and then I had the boys each make her a Valentine's Day card.  Both sets of Grandparents sent Valentine's Day cards as well so I saved those to include in her sack.  So when the boys came home with all their loot I was able to surprise Madeline with her very own loot as well.  When they were done with exploring all their loot from school, I surprised them with a gift from Mommy and Daddy.\

Even though I think Valentine's Day is a day for the card makers and florist to make lots of money, it is nice to stop remember those you love and to remember why.  Sometimes it is also nice to think outside of the box and give a gift truly from your heart.

Arrow of Light

On February 3, Anthony received his Arrow of Light award and crossed over to Boy Scouts.  They had the ceremony at the Boy Scout Museum and they brought in a local troop to do the Arrow of Light ceremony.  There were 19 boys in Anthony's pack that received their Arrow of Lights that evening, pretty impressive.  Between the 19 boys there were four different troops there to receive their boys.  For cub scouts Anthony went to a community pack, but for Boys Scouts Anthony chose to go with our troop in our ward.  Brother Walker was able to come and receive Anthony which we were grateful for. After the Arrow of Light ceremony the families there were able to explore the museum.  It has been on our bucket list to go to the Boy Scout Museum but we just never have gotten around to it.  The kids really enjoyed all the hands on things to do there.  In addition to the exhibit they also have an art exhibit with lots of Rockwall paintings.  Madeline really enjoyed looking at the paintings, she is starting to get into art.

It was a great evening and we are so proud of Anthony and all the hard work he has done.  Anthony is enjoying Boy Scouts and has the fire and desire to get his eagle, he is so excited for what lies ahead for him.

January

January has been a non eventful month for the Cooper household.  We have been plenty busy, but just not with anything blog worthy.  The sickness has come through our household, but only to the parents. The kids have surprisingly not gotten sick which is a nice bonus, so we will count our blessings.  Life pretty much went back to normal busy routine for us after the holidays.  Anthony finished off cub scouts and is now a boy scout, Grant received a new calling as second counselor in the Elder Quorum and is getting adjusted to life with church meetings.  There is still piano, homework, therapy, and homeschooling.  Life for us is pretty much rolling on, but there were a few highlights that are worth mentioning.

For one week Spencer brought home kinderbear.  It was his assignment to do different activities with kinderbear and take pictures of them for the class scrapbook.  I have never seen a kid so excited about a homework assignment.  Kinderbear went everywhere and for one week they even slept together.  For our week, kinderbear went on a Spencer date with Mommy and Daddy to the grocery store and to McDonalds.  Kinderbear played at the park and even was able to go for a scooter ride.  Of course Spencer showed kinderbear the art of Wii and dinosaur playing, and to end the week kinderbear helped make ice cream sandwich cookies for FHE.  During Spencer's week with kinderbear, Spencer was also student of the week.  He was able to share his favorite toy, favorite book, and even some baby pictures.  The kids were able to ask questions and get to know Spencer.  Knowing Spencer I am sure his answers were very entertaining, sometimes you just never know what he is going to say.

For Christmas my sister made the kids a fort building kit and since then they have enjoyed building forts of all kinds of creations and then watching a movie inside.  I saw this idea on pinterest of putting Christmas lights on top of your fort for some extra fun.  We bought a few boxes of Christmas lights during the after Christmas sales and so we used those.  The kids really enjoyed building their fort with Christmas lights and they enjoyed having a movie and popcorn night as well.  This time they were able to sleep in their fort with the Christmas lights on all night long, they were over the moon with that one.  So now we have added Christmas lights to our fort building kit.  The kids are still not keen on cleaning it up though.

Last year for FHE we used the conference talks from the General Authorities as our FHE lessons and this year we are using Preach my Gospel, more specifically the chapter about developing Christ's attributes.  Grant was in charged of the lesson and he talked about the different armor we can put on to help us resist temptations.  He gathered some things around the house and dressed Spencer up.  We then took turns shooting the nerf gun (temptations that we might face) at Spencer and see which attribute he used to block the temptation; for example:  sword=scriptures.  jacket=faith.  helmet=prayer. shoes=helpfulness and kindness, etc.  For our activity we played a game that Grant did for FHE growing up.  We all had a turn with a stick and we each pretended to be an old man/woman and the object of the game was to get someone to laugh.  To start each turn the person would recite this poem:  "Here comes an old man with a stick and a staff and you must neither smile nor laugh."  It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed being silly and getting us all to laugh, I have to admit it wasn't hard.

Anthony participated in his last Battle of the Books competition.  Since last Summer Anthony has been reading and re-reading 10 chapter books.  In October he took a test and made it on the team, only 6 people can make the team.  Since the test they have practice twice a week leading up until competition. I have lost count of how many times he read the books.  Anthony loves Battle of the Books and really enjoys the competition, it is highlight for school.  Out of 21 schools, Anthony's team came 4th place!  The team consists of 6 primary team members and 6 intermediate.  There are three levels of competition, Primary, Intermediate, and mixed.  After the competition everyone gets a medal and a trip to CiCi's pizza place for lunch.  This was my first year to go to the competition, usually Grant goes.  Madeline really wanted to go and cheer her brother on, she was so excited for him.  Later on we all went out for ice cream to celebrate as a family.  We try to go out for ice cream each time someone in our family accomplishes something great!  Anthony has expressed an interest in band, so now that we are headed off to middle school we will trade Battle of the Books for a trumpet and band practice.  Fun times!

That wraps up January.  Madeline is doing great in school, her stress level is done and with that we no longer have fevers or sickness.  In fact Madeline is the only one that has not gotten sick (knock on wood).  Madeline has now been able to get off one of her heart meds and one of her asthma meds.  Her asthma is now considered mild which is huge accomplishment from the severe level we started with.  Spencer is loving school and is making great progress in learning how to read and be independent.  Grant is getting ready to transfer jobs within Bell and move into a department that he has always wanted to explore.  Life is really good for us!

New Years' Eve

This year for New Years we decided to start a new tradition.  New Years Day happens to be Grant's Dad (Larry) birthday.  Larry died when Grant was young and as a result Grant doesn't have really any memories of him.  Fortunately for us a lot was kept and preserved of his life which included two scrapbooks Grant's mom put together.  The evening started out with Grant and I looking over the scrapbooks, reading the letters, and looking at the pictures.  The kids were happily entertained in the office.  It was really neat to look over the stuff, to read about Larry and to learn who is was.  I really enjoyed reading about his character, the things Larry enjoyed doing, and the funny things he said.

After Grant and I poured over the scrapbooks we marked a few pages that we wanted to share with the kids.  We started out by explaining who Larry was and the relationship he has to them.  We talked about Eternal Families and the blessings of being sealed in the Temple.  We showed the kids pictures of him and we recounted stories from his life.  It was a special night for our family.  After the scrapbook presentation we decorated the cupcakes we made in honor of Larry's birthday.  We enjoyed our cupcakes with sparkling apple juice and we each said something that we wanted to accomplish in 2013.

I learned somethings that I didn't expect to learn.  As we read about Larry I realized I was reading about Grant.  The values, goals, desires, and ambitions that Larry held dear are the very things I see in Grant.  With this realization I learned although Larry may be gone from us physically he is still with us in his children.  I also learned of the great importance it is for me to teach our children the same values and character traits Larry possessed so his legacy and life will continue on for many generations.  I guess that is the whole meaning behind Family History.  I was not blessed with meeting Larry in this life and although I don't know much about him, in the end I do because I know Grant.

I think I can confidently say Larry was present during our celebration and I am sure he got a kick out of us celebrating his birthday.

Christmas Part Two

We enjoyed our yearly tradition of Hot Chocolate and smores on Christmas Eve.  This year "It's a Wonderful Life" was a TV and so we ate our smores and drank our hot chocolate while watching the movie.  I was surprised to see that the kids really enjoyed watching the movie.

Grant and I were up late on Christmas Eve again, but this year we weren't busy wrapping presents.  Instead Grant was busily finishing up my present this year and I was struggling to stay awake waiting for him.  While he busily worked away in the garage I played Santa Clause and laid out the treasures to be found by the kids in the morning.  We were finally able to go to bed about 1:00 in the morning.  I am so glad that our kids slept in.  Once we heard the patter of little feet we dragged our tired selves out of bed to partake of their excitement.  Santa delivered this year by bringing everyone their desired Lego set, this alone brought lots of cheers.  We dont' have a real order to opening presents, except for one at a time.  It is always fun watching the kids tear through the paper and to see their excitement in seeing what they got.  All in all it was a successful Christmas.  After all the presents were opened it was time to assemble those Lego sets from Santa.  Anthony can build those things on his own, but Madeline and Spencer still need help.  Grant helped Spencer and I helped Madeline.  Their attention span only last so long, so in the end it was Grant and I finishing up with the building.  Madeline must have charmed Santa into bringing her the Lego friends Dollhouse.  Santa was so charmed by her beauty that he didn't think about how many pieces or steps there were to building the dollhouse.  That is okay because I found it rather enjoyable putting the dollhouse and the camper together.  Luckily for me, Madeline doesn't like to take her things apart and if it does Anthony can put it back together.

After our Lego creations were put together we decided it was a good time to eat.  Since it was too late to call it breakfast we decided to call our meal brunch.  We made green pancakes and cut them into Christmas trees.  We then used Hershey chocolate squares for the trunks of the trees and then had various sprinkles, candies, and whip cream for the kids to decorate their tree.  It went great with eggs and sausage.

Sometime in the afternoon it started to snow and the kids were excited to go out and enjoy it.  So we scrounged around the house for winter gear that would work and where there wasn't any we improvised and out the kids went with Grant to play in the wintry wonderland.  I stayed inside and took pictures.  With snow and a gusty north wind blowing it was little too cold for this Texas girl.  After the kids were frozen over they came in and warmed up with hot chocolate.

The rest of Christmas was spent playing with our toys and enjoying for once a simple and slow paced day.  It was nice not have to be anywhere or to have to get ready for company coming over.  It was nice to spend the day together.  I enjoyed relaxing in my new pajama pants from the kids as well as playing with them.  Occasionally we would pick up some trash in between our playing.  That night some of us enjoyed a hot bowl of chili while others thought chili was not appetizing.  We ended the day watching a couple of Mormon Tabernacle Christmas programs on PBS.  Christmas this year as it is every year was simply GREAT!

Christmas Part One

It is tradition in my family to have our family Christmas celebration at our house and we usually have it in conjuction with making the wreath to place of Fred's (my stepdad) grave as our Christmas present to him.

The kids worked hard before and after church getting everything ready.  We all pitched in to decorate and to cook our feast as well.  It was magical because there was no complaining everyone work hard and worked well together.

This year I decided to make a Christmas dinner and to put on a Christmas program too.  I believe if the wheel isn't broke don't fix it and I used this belief in putting together our Christmas program.  I knew there were lots of programs out there on the internet and found one that would work for our family and printed it out.  Presto!  Done!  My mom has always wanted to have the nativity acted out with the Grandchildren and I figured this year we could make it work.  Anthony was Joseph, Madeline was Marry, a teddy bear was baby Jesus (We don't own any dolls), Spencer was a bored wiseman, Grant was an awesome and animated shepherd, Emily was our star or should we say wondering and falling star, Jonathan was the spotlight, and I was the narrator.  I loaded up the songs on Grant's I-pod to make it easier to play for our sing-a-long and off we went.  I didn't have time to rehearse with the kids which I think made it even more enjoyable.  It was nice to be singing and celebrating the Birth of our Savior as a family.  After our nativity program we opened presents which everyone enjoyed.  After all the excitement over our knew treasures we enjoyed our yummy treats and chatting as a family.  It was a great evening.

Raking Leaves

This is an annual tradition for our family.  When we got back from Utah for Thanksgiving our front yard was covered with leaves and our backyard the same.  Sometimes it is a challenge fitting it in, but the kids love to pile the leaves us and play in them.  There is something about playing in the leaves that brings the kid out in you.  We usually bring the leaves from the front yard to the back yard and add it to the pile there.  Grant then takes some of the leaves and uses it for his garden.  The kids love to pile the leaves in front of the slide and slide down into it.  We were blessed this year with Spring like weather which made it a fun afternoon.

Christmas Advent

Our kids look forward to Christmas Countdown.  Some years it is a challenge to get everything in, but the excitement on the kids' face when they see the red box come out is worth any challenge.  I didn't get pictures of everything and there have been some weeks that feel like a whirlwind, but I will do my best to capture how we counted down to Christmas in 2012.

1.  Decorate the tree.  The kids look forward to this every year.  Grant and I assemble the tree, flock it, and put the lights on.  We do this the day before the kids decorate the tree.  I hand over the ornament box over to the kids and they go to to town decorating the tree and they even re-decorate it through the month.  Each year one of the kids gets the privilege of putting the star on and turning on the lights.  It is a big celebration in the Cooper house.

2.  We always look forward to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  We gather around our computer and this year we enjoyed watching it with Pumpkin Pie.  For me Christmas doesn't start until we hear from the First Presidency.

3.  We enjoyed a run to sonic for yummy shakes.
4.  Played an exciting and fast pace game of Monopoly
5.  Enjoyed making our own Ice Cream Sundays
6.  Rake and play in the leaves
7.  Snow Cones

8.  This year we celebrated Dec 12, 2012.  I bought a dozen donuts and while we enjoyed our yummy treat we sang "12 Days of Christmas."

9.  Sleep under the tree with Christmas lights on.  The kids jump for joy when this one is pulled out of the advent box.  They absolutely love this little tradition of ours.  Personally it is way too much light to be able to sleep.

10.  Watched "Home Alone."  Grant thought the kids would enjoy watching the robbers go through the fun maze.  Unfortunately we forgot about the little bits of language.  The kids enjoyed watching the robbers get attacked, but we probably won't get it again because of the language.

11.  Gingerbread Houses.  This is another favorite tradition in the Cooper Household.  We save all the unwanted Halloween candy for this occasion.  Our gingerbread houses might be unique with all the Halloween style candy on it, but the kids have fun.

12.  "Charlie Brown Christmas" with a treat!  This is another Cooper tradition along with....
13.   " How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with a Grinch treat.
14.  Make snowflake cookies out of tortillas
15.  Watch "Polar Express" with popcorn
16.  Make the annual wreath for Papa Bear's Grave
17.  Ward Christmas Party
18.  Sing Noel concert
19.  Eating out at I-hop

I know there were more, but the list is gone and so is my memory.  Anyway you get a glimpse of how we counted down to Christmas this year.

Thanksgiving

During our week in Utah we went up to the Dinosaur Quarry with our family, Wayne's family, Ginger's family, Hunter and Rachael, and Grant's mother.  We were able to see Dinosaur bones still in the side of the mountain.  They built the Quarry over the mountain to preserve the bones.  They have several dinosaur skeletons too looks at as well as dinosaur facts.  The kids had fun looking around and exploring.  Afterwards we went on a hike outside of the Quarry.  Grant and Madeline went up high enough to see some more dinosaur bones and the rest of us tried to keep up with Anthony.  The kids enjoyed running and burning off some energy.  I never saw Anthony or the rest of the gang as they were way ahead.  It was nice to be outside and away from the city.  After our hike, our family went off to the dinosaur museum that they had in Vernal.  It was fun to see all the dinosaur and to learn more about the history of the dinosaurs in that area; most of all it was just nice to be spending time as a family.

Thanksgiving was spent in Utah with Grant's family.  This year all but one of the siblings and grandchild were able to make it to Utah.  With mostly everyone there we were able to get a family picture, which was nice.  While everything was cooking on Thanksgiving, Grant took the kids to a local park and I stayed behind to repack and to do a little reading.  It was nice to have some quiet time.  After the park, Madeline got on her chef hat and apron and helped out a little in the kitchen making deviled eggs and gravy for the potatoes.  Madeline loves to cook and help out in the kitchen, so she was excited when an opportunity presented itself for her to play chef.  Dinner was great and the company was great too.  All the cousins played really well together and for the most part we didn't see much of them, we heard them but didn't really see them.  Our room turned into the playroom and the kitchen table turned into the art studio for the girls.  It was nice to see all the cousins playing together.  After things digested, Grant and I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  The weather was pleasant and it was nice to get out for a bit.  I have to say that my lungs were sure not use to the elevation, walking up the hills was sometimes a challenge.  I was able to close off Thanksgiving day with a little football, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without watching the Dallas Cowboys.   Grant's parents recorded the game for me to watch later.  Since I already knew the Cowboys lost, I didn't watch the whole thing but it was nice to watch some football.

On Friday we packed things up and headed over to to Salt Lake.  Prior to arriving in Salt Lake we made a stop in Bountiful to take the kids to the Bountiful Temple.  Grant and I were married there 12 years ago and we wanted to bring the kids to where our Eternal Family started.  I also wanted to get a picture of our kids in front of the temple.  It was nice to walk around and to reminisce with Grant about our day 12 years ago.  The temple is gorgeous and the view is breathtaking.  I am so glad that I followed my dream and was able to be sealed to Grant in the Bountiful Temple and it was neat to bring our kids back to the very Temple where it all started.  We were able to talk about Eternal Families and blessings of being an Eternal Family as well as the blessings that come from being able to attend the temple.

While in Salt Lake we wanted to show the kids Temple Square and to see the Christmas Lights on Temple Square.  Grant's brother and his family were going to meet us there too and spend the afternoon/evening with us.  I think every plan has good intentions and this is one of them. waiting for Wayne we decided to walk in the Family History Library and see if Grant's Aunt who is serving a mission there was available.  We figured if she wasn't at the front desk then we wouldn't hunt her down.  Well she was at the front desk and so it was nice to have a visit with her.  After her shift she joined us at the Church History Museum.  The kids enjoyed playing around in the children's Book of Mormon exhibit and then we all enjoyed looking around at the different Church History stuff, especially Anthony.  After our time at the Museum, we headed over the conference center.  I was really looking forward to going to the roof, but we missed it by five minutes.  We enjoyed walking through the place anyway and seeing where Conference is held and looking at all the the pictures.  There is one room that has pictures of the past Apostles on the walls.  One of them was Parely P. Pratt who we are related to on Grant's Maternal side.  I took a picture of the kids with their fourth great grandfather.  After our walk around the Conference Center we saw that the lights were on and off we were to see them.  This is where every plan has good intentions.  Friday happened to be the day they turned on the lights coupled with Black Friday shopping at the nearby mall, made it impossible to see anything.  There were so many people there and keeping a group of ten or more together was challenging.  It was hard to walk around and enjoy the lights because you felt like you were being herded like cows.  I thought about going inside the Visitor Center but that looked like Walmart during early morning hours of Black Friday shopping.  Instead I just showed the kids the Christus statue from outside.  After we were herded around the lights we were hungry, but finding a place to eat was a challenge.  The mall was impossible and we didn't want to leave our hotel and lose our parking spot in the crowds of people.  We decided at this time we would split up and each family would go their own separate way for dinner.  I was glad when the evening was over and my back especially was glad when it hit the bed for a good nights rest.  I am glad that we were able to go and see the lights, but a lesson was learned...never go on the day after Thanksgiving.

Saturday morning we were up and out for the drive home.  We stopped in Provo to get BYU shirts and to refill Anthony's book collection, three books was not enough for Anthony.  Because we had to be home by Sunday night so Grant and the kids could return to work/school we just had to drive and not really stop and do things on the way home.  We tried to make it to four corners, but we were 30 minutes late.   The kids did well on our trip home which is pretty good when all you have time to do is drive.  We wished we had time to explore southern Utah, but instead we made plans for when we go up for Christmas next year.  

We were so glad that we made the impromptu trip to Utah and that we were able to spend Thanksgiving with Grant's family.  It was nice to take a break from our busy lives and to have some time with our little family.  However, it did take me a week to unpack and it is now after Christmas and the car has yet to be washed and cleaned out from our Thanksgiving trip.  Yeah life has been really busy for us, but we are floating along.

Utah Part One

A few months ago Grant was talking to his mother during their weekly Sunday chats and we learned that his sister, Virginia who lives in Texas, was coming up to Utah for Thanksgiving.  Grant and I started talking about it and we decided it would be neat if we went to Utah for Thanksgiving as well.  We looked over our finances and saw that it was possible, Grant checked on his vacation from work to make sure he could take the time off; when all of those were good we began to plan our trip to Utah.  We knew it would be a lot of driving, but we knew it would be worth it to spend Thanksgiving with the whole family.

The first thing we did was go and visit with one of Grant's Aunts and Uncles.  We always enjoy visiting with Aunt Irene and Uncle Karl, Grant is practically one of their kids so for him it is like coming home.  It was at this visit that Grant had an amazingly crazy idea to take us down to the seep to throw rocks in the water.  What is the seep you ask?  Well if you ask me it is a grueling hour hike through sage brush and thick sand to the river.  Lets just say I was not skipping along excited to go for a hike.  You know I grew up in the city and the only hiking we did was hiking around the mall or walmart during the holiday shopping season; and the only tricky part was navigating ourselves around huge throngs of people all trying to cram in the coveted toy or electronic section.  I enjoy going for walks on firm cement, but hiking through sage brush, thick sand, and over boulders was not something I was too excited about.  Don't get me wrong the view was pretty and I was content to enjoy the view from my car; but knowing how important this place was to Grant I knew it was best for me to hike.  I knew for it to be a successful family adventure that I needed to be totally on board and excited, or else the kids wouldn't want to go.  So I put a smile on my face and off we went.  Grant, the great man that he is, carried Madeline the whole way down and especially the whole way up.  He wants her to be able to enjoy everything we do and if that means he needs to carry her, he will.  Anthony was in his element and it soon became apparent that as a family we would not be able to keep up with him.  I figured he was safe, I mean we are in the middle of no where, and when I saw NO WHERE that is what I mean.  I knew there wouldn't be any predators looking to scoop up an innocent boy and if he got lost he could just yell; because after all we were in the middle of nowhere and would be able to hear him.  Anthony climbed up some pretty high cliffs and for this scared of heights mother I did everything I could not to fall over from a heart attack.  Just like his father I knew he was having the time of his life and if his Dad wasn't running after him then he must be okay.  I decided to busy myself with taking pictures or focusing on the scenery and not how high up Anthony was.  Spencer on the other hand hiked like a good trooper but he was good at pointing out how tired he was and when we could go back to the car.  I was not surprised to hear how tired Spencer was because he insisted on carrying this big rock all the way from the top of our hike down to the bottom.  You see this rock was special and it needed to be thrown in the water.  Grant and I were not about to carry this "special" rock for him.  We thought after he got tired he would see that the rock wasn't so "special" and just leave it, but no stubborn and insisting Spencer carried his "special" rock while voicing his feelings all the way down to the water.  Once we got to the water, Madeline and Spencer enjoyed throwing rocks in the water.  Anthony enjoyed the view from a high above cliff, and well me I handed over the camera to Grant and had him take pictures of the kids throwing rocks in the water.  You see I was over the hiking through sage brush and just didn't have it in me to hike through the last bit of sage brush to get to shores to see my kids throw rocks in the water.  It took us an hour to hike down and an hour to hike up.  Let just say hiking up in thick sand is a better work then any treadmill can do.  Anthony and I hiked a head of the group, my pace was pretty good for I knew the destination was the car.  Grant stayed behind carrying Madeline and listening to Spencer voice his feelings.  Though he was tired and done with hiking he walked the whole way, he just wanted to make sure his Dad knew how tired he was.  In the end I am glad Grant took us on this hike, it was nice to be together as a family in the middle of nowhere-ville.  There weren't any distractions, nor was there anything trying to steal our time from each other.  It was nice to be surrounded by God's creations spending time as a family and making memories with each other.

While in Utah I was also able to go a do session in the Vernal Temple with Grant's Mom and Sister-in-law.  Grant's Mom and I have a tradition that whenever we visit each other we go and do a session in the temple.  Usually it is when she comes and visit us here, but this time we were able to do it on her home turf.  I love going to the Temple and with how crazy busy life has been it was really nice to stop and be reminded of what life is all about.  The Vernal Temple is beautiful, as all the Temples are.  After our session I treated everyone to lunch before heading back home.  Grant stayed back and watched the kids so that we could have ladies day at the Temple.  I really enjoyed my time at the Temple and as always I walked away with a little more understanding.

Longhorn Scout Camporee

Grant was able to take Anthony to his first Scout Camporee.  It was put on by the Longhorn Council and was held at the Texas Motor Speedway.  They were able to camp on the Speedway as well as watch some of the actual race cars drive around the track.  They spent all day Saturday participating in different activities as well as fighting the wind.  Apparently the wind was pretty relentless and made for an interesting night of camping when your dad forgot the stakes to the tent.  I think after fighting the wind for the day Anthony was worn out and the thrill of going to a Camporee was lost.  Lucky for him they only put this on every four years, so when it comes around again hopefully he would have forgotten about the wind and how hard it was to fight it, and will want to go to it again and experience the fun with lots of other scouts.  Spencer will get to go the next time it rolls around, that should be pretty interesting-at least for Grant.

Anthony is 11

Anthony turned eleven on November 4.  I have a hard time believing that Anthony is eleven.  Being Anthony's mother has been a huge blessing.  Anthony made me a mother, and in these eleven years Anthony continues to teach me everyday and everyday I get to unwrap the gift and blessing it is to be his mother.  Anthony amazes me in lots of ways.  I am amazed by his smile and how his face lights up. I love to witness his enthusiasm for life and his positive outlook.  Anthony exudes excitement everyday and is a great example of being happy each and everyday.  Anthony is a good example of diligence, hard working, and fulfilling your responsibilities.  Anthony consistently does what is asked of him the first time with no questions asked.  I love to hear Anthony bare his testimony during Family Home Evening, to hear his knowledge of the scriptures, and to hear him expound to us his knowledge of the gospel.  I love looking over at Anthony during sacrament meeting and seeing him diligently reading his scriptures.  Anthony has a goal of reading all the standard works.  He has finished the Book of Mormon and is now reading the Old Testament.  I suggested that he start with the New Testament, but he was insistent on reading the Old Testament first.  When I told him I could give him the seminary schedule, he declined.  He wants to read the Old Testament word for word, page by page.  Now if that doesn't show diligence I don't know what does.  Anthony has discovered mystery books and boy does he power through them.  Thank goodness for libraries that provide lots of books for him to explore.  Anthony also has a deep love for history, he loves anything about the Civil War and this year has discovered the Revolutionary War.  He has a memory that cannot be matched and has a real knack for remembering dates and details about each war.  He loves to check out books from the library about the different wars and past U.S. Presidents and he reads them like novels.  Anthony is excelling on the piano and I enjoy when it is practice time as he fills our home with wonderful music.  Anthony has aspirations of playing the trumpet in middle school and I know that when he sets his heart on something he will achieve his goal.  Anthony is a great brother and great example, and overall a real blessing and joy to have.  I love how when you ask him how he is doing, he always responds with "great."  I know with that attitude he will go far and will be a blessing and joy to those he meets.  Sometimes as I quietly watch him in action, I wonder what the Lord has in store for him-I am sure it is something great.  I am continuously grateful that my Heavenly Father sent Anthony to our home and has entrusted me with taking care of him.  It isn't work taking care of Anthony, it is a joy and blessing one that I look forward to every minute of everyday.

Okay enough about Anthony, lets talk about how his eleventh birthday went down.  His birthday this year fell on a Sunday so his birthday activities were done on Saturday.  This year he chose to go camping with his Dad.  He just wanted it to be him and his dad.  They took the canoe with them and enjoyed paddling on the lake coming up with ways to conquer the bad guys.  After a successful mission it was off to enjoy an epic battle of Star Wars Risk.  Anthony was able to come out on top and not only beat Grant, but wipe him completely out.  They enjoyed packing all the treats and snacks they could fit.  On his actual birthday Anthony woke up to a decorated room with homemade cinnamon rolls waiting for him to devour.  After church we enjoyed Mac n Cheese (his favorite food) along with hamburgers and hot dogs.  It was such nice weather that we were able to take our dinner outside.  It was a lot of fun being outside as a family eating a simple dinner enjoying quality time together.  Later that evening my family came over for cake and ice cream and to witness Anthony fulfill his traditional scavenger hunt to find his presents.  I love that our kids get excited for our traditions that we have.  They know when birthday time rolls around there will always be a scavenger hunt for them to do as well as treats and fun from sun up to sun down.  I really try to go all out to celebrate their special day and to let them know how special they are.  There was a hiccup to his special day, I managed to spell his name wrong on his birthday cake.  I have never spelled his name wrong (it isn't like it is a complicated name), but after eleven years I managed to find a way to spell his name wrong.  We all got a laugh at it, but it didn't stop  us from eating the cake.  I would have to say my favorite part about his birthday was sitting on the couch together looking at all of his scrapbooks and remembering all the things he did as baby, toddler, and as a kid.  It was neat to share all of those memories with him and to see his excitement.  I know Anthony felt special on his day because you couldn't wipe the smile from off his face.  I cannot believe he will be twelve next year, but for now I will enjoy my simply terrific in every way eleven year old.

Halloween

Spencer as Perry the Platypus (aka Agent P).  Madeline as an Owl.  Anthony as a Spy Agent.

Pumpkin Carving

This year I thought it would be fun for the kids to carve their own pumpkins.  I thought with Madeline and Spencer older we might actually be able to handle pumpkin carving.  I knew Anthony doesn't care to touch the insides of a pumpkin, but I was curious what Spencer would do with his no holding back personality.  I heard the pumpkin carving kits were safe for kids and for the most part kids could manage carving their own pumpkin.  With that in mind I decided to buy three kits with visions in my head of all of our kids successfully carving their own pumpkins and making these beyond description designs.  Well the best laid out plans and visions in ones head don't always come to pass.

The pumpkin carving kits are neat in theory, but in practicality don't work.  Sure they are safe for kids and our kids were not cut during the process; but the blade just couldn't hold up to our hearty Texas pumpkins.  They easily bent and after a few attempts to cut through the pumpkin the blade broke.  Grant and I bandage the blade as best as we could so we could salvage our visionary pumpkin carving experience, which meant Grant and I proceeded to carve the pumpkins for Madeline and Spencer.  Luckily Anthony was able to manage himself.  Grant helped Madeline and I helped Spencer.  

This year Anthony enjoyed cleaning out the inside of the pumpkin and my no holding back Spencer did not care to touch the inside of the pumpkin.  In fact anytime his hand would come in contact with the inside of a pumpkin, Spencer would have to run inside as fast as his legs would go to wash his hands.  By the end of the night Spencer had the cleanest hands and our bathroom drain was full of pumpkin seeds.  The cutting process proved to be too tedious for Spencer so he resorted to dancing around the garage.  Since there was no music playing I am sure he was dancing to the music in his head.  I can only imagine the concerts that are played in that precious boys' head.  Madeline also found the carving process to be tedious, but she chose a different art form then dancing.  While her dad was carving his heart out with a bandage saw blade Madeline was adding to her pumpkins design.  She felt the template was not complete and her halloween ghost needed eye brows, ears, and other various parts.  Luckily for us Anthony stuck with his carving and finish designing and carving his Jedi.  After sometime we finally finish and though Spencer gave up dancing and went inside to do who knows what, Madeline stuck out to the very end with her Daddy and her beloved pumpkin.

So the lesson learn this year was that pumpkin carving is wonderful and fun in theory, but painting a pumpkin brings the same amount of joy to children and less headache to parents.  So next year we will paint our designs and save us, the parents, the work of carving.

Runathon

I am a bit behind on documenting our families happenings.  The kids had their fundraiser at the school in October.  Instead of the typical catalog sales full of stuff that no one really needs or can afford, they do a run-a-thon.  The kids run for thirty minutes and either get flat donations from family or friends or they get so much money per lap they run.  The kids enjoy it and I like not having to feel like I need to sell/buy something from a catalog.  In the past when Madeline attended school, I would go and be her legs so she could participate in the run-a-thon (they call it Longhorn Stampede).  Well with Madeline being homeschool I didn't have to and let me tell you it was GREAT!!  It was so nice to be on the other side of the line cheering Spencer along as he tried to navigate running around in the grass.  Spencer did pretty good and with some encouraging he was able to keep going for the thirty minutes.  Afterwards they take pictures as a class and then they get in position to cheer on the next set of kids which in this case was the third graders.

Anthony wasn't able to participate this year as he was home sick, I don't think he was too upset.  Madeline and I had fun cheering for Spencer and I enjoyed not having my legs and whole body remind me that I am terribly out of shape and cannot handle running around a track that is on an empty field with lots of divets and thick grass.

Fall Campout

Every year we go camping in October for Grant's birthday.  Every year we like to try out a different camp ground.  For a few weeks leading up to our campout, Spencer would ask me everyday if it was time.  Finally when the day arrived he was so excited that he had to share the good news with his teacher.  I am so glad our kids love going camping, it sure makes the experience easier.  This time we went to Cleburne State Park.  We picked it because of the close proximity to our house.  With the kids in school it is hard to go anywhere far.  When we arrived we were shocked to see how small the camp spots were.  It was pretty tricky to get our big tent sent up in our spot, but we managed.  Because the campsite was so small the water to our camp site was inside the porch area to our tent.  We had to keep a close watch on Spencer as he could easily flood our campsite with his love of water.  After we set up camp we went and explored the playground, during our exploration we discovered two black cats that were obviously use to people and not scared one bit to walk into a camp site meowing for food.  We had to leave camp to get ice (there is always something we forget) and while we were out, we decided to rough it by getting some hamburgers to make dinner a little easier.  We brought our DVD player to watch a movie, I know we are sure rough campers.  Our kids are not really into the whole sit by the firer and talk, so instead we gather in the tent cuddle up in our sleeping bags and watch a movie with lots of junk food.  We crashed around 10:00 only to woken up by flashing red lights and lots of vehicles.  We later found out that one of the campers next to us got bitten by insect and had an allergic reaction.  After breakfast the next day we enjoyed a good hike to several scenic overlooks.  The scenic views were pretty, but for someone who is scared of heights the view was great from a distance. I might be scared of heights, but my kids aren't; which makes mom's heart race.  I start to play these silly what if scenarios in my head and then I start to visualize my kids tripping and falling down the cliff.  It is just best that I don't look, sure glad their Dad doesn't have that problem.  Spencer did good for most of the hike, but on our way back he sure let us know how tired he was and how much he wanted to go home.  After our hike we checked out and on our way home we all enjoyed a yummy treat from Dairy Queen.  It was another successful camping experience!

Grant had a very nice birthday, with lots of treats along the way.  Madeline and I took him out for lunch, the kids had fun wrapping his presents, decorating the kitchen, and making a super yummy cake.  Grant asked for a Dark Chocolate Cake and that is what we delivered.  It was a Dark Chocolate cake mix, with Dark Chocolate chunks mixed in.  The frosting was dark chocolate sprinkled with dark chocolate m&m's.  It was rich and Grant was the only one able to eat his whole piece, after one bite the kids and I were out.  It was definitely a rich cake.  A few days before Grant's birthday I took the kids to the store to let them pick out what they wanted to give their Daddy.  Madeline wanted to get him some mechanical pencils for work, Anthony chose jammie pants, and Spencer thought his dad would love every Angry Bird toy they had.  Spencer felt that since he liked Angry Birds, then everyone liked Angry Birds.  I had to keep steering Spencer away from the angry birds with my suggestions of other gifts that Daddy might like.  I won the battle with the angry birds, but finally gave in with Perry the Platypus (Spencer's second great love).  Grant loved all of his gifts and really enjoyed his Perry the Platypus shirt, though I think Spencer was even more excited then his Daddy.  We are sure lucky and blessed to have Grant as a Daddy and Husband.

Back To School

2012-2013 School Year

Anthony:  Fifth Grade.  Mrs. Breunig, same teacher he had in 3rd Grade.

Spencer:  Kindergarten.  Mrs. Briggs, same teacher Anthony had in Kindergarten.

I thought it would be nice while the boys were at school to decorate their room and to leave them a nice note.  The boys loved the decorations and insisted they stay up until the last piece of streamer fell off.  Madeline and I also made some cookies for us all to enjoy while we heard about the exciting things that happened on the first day.  I like being able to do things to let them know they are special and that they are loved at home.

Madeline started school a week after the boys did.  I wanted to do a surprise for her too, but knew that decorating her room was out.  Grant and I decided that he could bring home a treat for Madeline when he came home from work.  Madeline loves Lemonade and pink, so we decided a small bottle of Lemonade tied to a pink balloon would be the perfect Back to School treat!

Back To School Feast

I know Halloween is right around the corner and I am just now getting to Back to School fun, but sometimes life happens.

We have a tradition in our family where we have a Back to School feast Sunday night before school starts.  We decorate our kitchen, make a (semi) fancy dinner, and introduce our theme for the year.  The kids love it and they love the special attention that they receive.  This year we combined another tradition we have and that is using the current General Conference talks for our FHE lessons.  This time we did Elder Perry's talk about the power of Deliverance.  We focused our lesson on the part of where Abraham and the People of King Benjamin had the doors of their tents facing.  From Elder Perry's talk we learned that their doors faced the temple.  We applied this to us that if we have our doors (mind, eyes, and actions) facing towards the temple then we will be able to resist any temptation that might come our way.  Furthermore, we will have the spirit as well as the influence of the Holy Ghost to lead and guide us.  To help illustrate this we made tents (King Benjamin) style and we had the door of the tent facing our Temple picture hanging on the wall.  It was neat to be able to bear testimony to our kids of the importance of the Temple, the blessings that come from the Temple, and joy that comes when we keep our eye on the Temple.  To help them visualize this goal, I displayed pictures of the kids I took of them in front of the Kansas City Temple.  On the picture I printed the words I am going inside someday.  

After our feast and after our Back to School message/FHE it was time for Father's Blessings.  I love this about our tradition.  The mood is already set, the spirit is already felt which leads nicely into their blessings.  After the blessings were given it was time to get ready for bed to rest up for the new school year.

I love that our kids look forward to this every year.  I like that they ask what the message is going to be.  I like that Grant and I are striving to make Back to School not only a fun and exciting experience, but a spiritual one as well.  I know the kids are faced with temptations and decisions to make, and I like to think that we are fortifying them to face the battles that our out there.  I cherish the spiritual moments we have in our home and the testimony building experiences we experience as a family.  I know these moments are building blocks to their own testimony and to their own spiritual foundation.  I love to be able to share with my children those things that I hold true and the things that are of most worth to me.  I am grateful for the blessings of the Temple and for my Eternal Family.  To know the blessings, the joy, and the happiness that we experience here on earth will only continue with us in the next life and the moments that we experience here will only add to what we will experience in Heaven.  I am grateful that the Temple is a bridge between here and our Heavenly Father.  The Temple has been a huge blessing in my life and I hope our children will not only see the blessing but feel the blessings of the Temple in their own life.