Greetings! I soooo love 2 hour church! It puts me in such a good mood!
First off, congratulations to Lauren and Nick for having such a brilliant toddler. I'm so proud of him for getting the hang of the big boy toilet so quickly! What a victory!
As Ruth mentioned, we enjoyed a lovely visit from Joe and co. last weekend. Lori was a wonderful sport traipsing around the homeschool conference which was very informative and inspirational. We all added lots of books to our libraries and I know my kids have been loving them! Joe and Alex did a great job on their phone etiquette presentation. The people that came had lots of nice things to say and Alex and Joe were encouraged to try presenting at a fireside or school assembly. Very cool.
Monday afternoon Jack got to go to a Parkour course with his homeschool group. It's like a massive obstacle course and they teach you basic moves of how to jump over things and climb walls and run on rails and stuff. It looked like a lot of fun! Next time, I'm going to try it.
Ian's performance is getting closer and closer so they're rehearsing every spare minute. It should be really good! We are excited for the final product!
Alex and Ian went snow cave camping on Friday night. There was about 8 feet of snow up in Island Park and the temperatures were hovering around 0. I didn't sleep very well worrying about someone freezing to death, but Ian said it was the warmest he's ever been on a campout, so I guess those worries were unfounded. There were a couple of boys who ended up sleeping in a nearby garage because they didn't come prepared and not everyone slept as well as Ian, but Alex said none of them wanted to leave when it was time to come home, so we'll count it a success!
This week, we took a note from the Nilsson book and finished a project! Our entryway has needed a little something for a while, so we decided to panel the one recessed wall in really thin slats that we sanded and stained to a beautiful luster. I really like it and the finishing touches are on the way in the form of a new bench and some hand-forged hooks. I really like it and whenever anyone is stressing out I send them to the wall and they gaze at it and it seems to make everyone feel better. It is so pretty!
Here is another joke I told the kids in Primary today that they really loved:
Why couldn't the Lamanites have dinner?
Because the Nephites had the plates.
Hope all is well with you. I listened to a really great talk by Lawrence Corbridge that he gave at BYU. A friend had sent me the link and then when Mom and Dad came up they were raving about the same talk so I gave it a listen one morning when I was watering the plants at the mall. It is excellent if anyone wants to check it out paste this in your browser: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-corbridge_stand-for-ever/
Hope to see you soon!
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Manning Moments
Last weekend was very nice because we got to spend it with our mom and dad. It was so nice to have a little bigger space for Wesley to run around in and somebody else to play with for a change. It is always great company there!
Wesley has been a champ with the potty. We got spoiled! Chet is learning the art of screaming. He is a little charmer and has everyone wrapped around his little finger. His first tooth finally came up after about three months of intense teething. He just needs to learn what his teeth are for! (He does not like solid food).
Other than that, we are enjoying the cold as best we can and looking forward to warmer times!
Love you all!
Wesley has been a champ with the potty. We got spoiled! Chet is learning the art of screaming. He is a little charmer and has everyone wrapped around his little finger. His first tooth finally came up after about three months of intense teething. He just needs to learn what his teeth are for! (He does not like solid food).
Other than that, we are enjoying the cold as best we can and looking forward to warmer times!
Love you all!
Nilsson News
I have to say this weather is crazy! It has really decided to be winter and we have gotten snow every day for the past several days. Last week we dipped into the negative temps and this coming week, rain and 40 degree weather is in the forecast. Some decisiveness would be a lovely thing!
Last weekend, we had fun playing with the Belliston cousins along with our Hart cousins. While everyone was playing, the women folk slipped away for an entire day of inspirational classes at the local homeschool conference. It changed my life! Two classes in particular stood out to me. The first was all about the power of words and how the language we use can effect the way we live. The instructor was a gal from Elise's mission and I think we should get her to present at a family gathering. She challenged us to change the negative things we say into something positive. For example, if you find yourself saying, "I'm so bad at remembering things!" change it into, "I'm so glad I can work on remembering things better." It is amazing the difference it makes! The next class was about experiencing calm in a strong willed family. Definitely up my alley! The instructor was a total type 3 and I instantly connected. She talked about having the self control and self government over your actions. Even in the midst of chaos and sibling squabbles, it is possible to have calm. I signed up for her online course. I am going to become a new person! It was absolutely wonderful!
This week we were able to visit with mom and dad when they came up to teach our little geography class about Australia. It was so fun to see pictures of when dad was a bright red haired missionary and when mom and dad were strapping young parents. It was good to see pictures of grandpa Belliston and Jenny.
In all our spare time, Garrett and I worked on our bathroom remodel. It is very slow going. It has turned out to be a typical remodel that has ended up being more involved than we had hoped. We discovered two layers of linolium and under both of those a sub-floor that was in pretty rough shape. We pulled off the tub surround, hoping to salvage the awesome tile that was under it. As we pulled off the plastic surround, the walls came tumbling down! Literally. The tile fell off and exposed some moldy plaster that needed replacing. I think we are finally done with the demo phase of things and now we get to put everything back together! That is the fun part!
I hope all of you are healthy and well and we hope to see you all soon!
Last weekend, we had fun playing with the Belliston cousins along with our Hart cousins. While everyone was playing, the women folk slipped away for an entire day of inspirational classes at the local homeschool conference. It changed my life! Two classes in particular stood out to me. The first was all about the power of words and how the language we use can effect the way we live. The instructor was a gal from Elise's mission and I think we should get her to present at a family gathering. She challenged us to change the negative things we say into something positive. For example, if you find yourself saying, "I'm so bad at remembering things!" change it into, "I'm so glad I can work on remembering things better." It is amazing the difference it makes! The next class was about experiencing calm in a strong willed family. Definitely up my alley! The instructor was a total type 3 and I instantly connected. She talked about having the self control and self government over your actions. Even in the midst of chaos and sibling squabbles, it is possible to have calm. I signed up for her online course. I am going to become a new person! It was absolutely wonderful!
This week we were able to visit with mom and dad when they came up to teach our little geography class about Australia. It was so fun to see pictures of when dad was a bright red haired missionary and when mom and dad were strapping young parents. It was good to see pictures of grandpa Belliston and Jenny.
In all our spare time, Garrett and I worked on our bathroom remodel. It is very slow going. It has turned out to be a typical remodel that has ended up being more involved than we had hoped. We discovered two layers of linolium and under both of those a sub-floor that was in pretty rough shape. We pulled off the tub surround, hoping to salvage the awesome tile that was under it. As we pulled off the plastic surround, the walls came tumbling down! Literally. The tile fell off and exposed some moldy plaster that needed replacing. I think we are finally done with the demo phase of things and now we get to put everything back together! That is the fun part!
I hope all of you are healthy and well and we hope to see you all soon!
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Smithfield Scoop
Two very exciting things happened this week here, too!
#1 - We got our tax paperwork to the accountant, which is a huge relief.
#2 - The Manning family came to visit! They are still here, which is wonderful. We've played racquetball at the rec center, invented marble games with Wesley, baked cookies, facetimed with Thomas while we were tending the boys when Lauren and Nick went shooting, played ping pong, talked and visited and thoroughly enjoyed having company. We hope they will want to come again!
Oh, and #3, we finished our 6 week challenge today. I have been grateful for the family history challenge I made. It has helped me not only print and archive all of Emma's mission letters and go through photos for Dad to scan, but also helped me record in my journal all of the happenings of last year that I didn't make time to write about when we were in the middle of all of the changes. I have wanted to make sure I got it down on paper because it was such a significant year. Thanks to Alex for the challenge. I finished the goal and hope to do better at recording more consistently this year since there are bound to be more changes coming up!
We enjoyed seeing Joe's family on Valentine's Day! The children were so delighted with all of their valentines. It used to be a simple holiday with homemade hearts and cards, but is surely different. I hope everyone felt very loved on Valentine's Day. One of our favorite parts of visiting Joe was seeing some of the projects he's been working on. Very delightful!
After much snow, and wind, and snow, and rain and snow this week, Dad's back is really feeling it! We are looking forward to spring time around here...
We're not sure what the new missionary changes will bring for us. It will be interesting tomorrow to hear from Emma and see how she feels about it and what her thoughts are. We'll let you know if we get a phone call or some other communication besides email.
Have a great week everyone! We hope to be in touch with all of you very soon!
#1 - We got our tax paperwork to the accountant, which is a huge relief.
#2 - The Manning family came to visit! They are still here, which is wonderful. We've played racquetball at the rec center, invented marble games with Wesley, baked cookies, facetimed with Thomas while we were tending the boys when Lauren and Nick went shooting, played ping pong, talked and visited and thoroughly enjoyed having company. We hope they will want to come again!
Oh, and #3, we finished our 6 week challenge today. I have been grateful for the family history challenge I made. It has helped me not only print and archive all of Emma's mission letters and go through photos for Dad to scan, but also helped me record in my journal all of the happenings of last year that I didn't make time to write about when we were in the middle of all of the changes. I have wanted to make sure I got it down on paper because it was such a significant year. Thanks to Alex for the challenge. I finished the goal and hope to do better at recording more consistently this year since there are bound to be more changes coming up!
We enjoyed seeing Joe's family on Valentine's Day! The children were so delighted with all of their valentines. It used to be a simple holiday with homemade hearts and cards, but is surely different. I hope everyone felt very loved on Valentine's Day. One of our favorite parts of visiting Joe was seeing some of the projects he's been working on. Very delightful!
After much snow, and wind, and snow, and rain and snow this week, Dad's back is really feeling it! We are looking forward to spring time around here...
We're not sure what the new missionary changes will bring for us. It will be interesting tomorrow to hear from Emma and see how she feels about it and what her thoughts are. We'll let you know if we get a phone call or some other communication besides email.
Have a great week everyone! We hope to be in touch with all of you very soon!
Flake Fun
Two very exciting things happened this week:
#1 - Scott got his IRS number on Friday so he can now file taxes. We are hoping to get his sign hung up tomorrow and get this ball rolling!
#2 - I popped! I now have a bit of a belly and luckily we were able to locate some maternity clothes. The only place here that seems to sell any sort of maternity clothes is Wal-Mart. They have a 4 foot section and we bought 2 pairs of pants and a dress (that was everything they had!) But it will last me a while I think.
Other than that, the weather has been crazy! Windy, snowy, sunny, repeat.
Love you all and hope that you all have a great holiday!
#1 - Scott got his IRS number on Friday so he can now file taxes. We are hoping to get his sign hung up tomorrow and get this ball rolling!
#2 - I popped! I now have a bit of a belly and luckily we were able to locate some maternity clothes. The only place here that seems to sell any sort of maternity clothes is Wal-Mart. They have a 4 foot section and we bought 2 pairs of pants and a dress (that was everything they had!) But it will last me a while I think.
Other than that, the weather has been crazy! Windy, snowy, sunny, repeat.
Love you all and hope that you all have a great holiday!
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Smithfield Scoop
I'm so happy that our family is being reactivated! How nice to know that you love each other enough to sit together at church! Actually, we do hope everyone is feeling better and glad to be back on your feet. This season has been terrible for sickness. The other day I had to call the mortgage company, on a Wednesday, and got a recording that the office was closed "due to circumstances beyond our control." When I got in touch with them a few days later, I was told they had been closed due to severe weather (60 below 0!) and rampant sickness. So, I guess it's not just in Idaho and Utah that people are getting sick... We have been praying for all of you and hope you're on the up and up.
Since we last posted, Dad finished painting the basement. The bathroom is a lovely new color (same as the bedrooms) and the whole basement ceiling has a new, fresh coat of paint that probably no one will ever notice. But it's nice to have that done. We also cleaned out the storage closet behind the fireplace and found some things we had been missing. We now know what is there and it's all organized. So pleasant. We also hung some pictures on the walls - Brother Brigham is above the fireplace, the Salt Lake Temple is in the living/dining area, and the painting that Kirk Jorgensen did is in the bedroom downstairs. Dad also hung his missionary map in the office, which looks quite nice. Don't laugh - that's real progress for us! We do have lots more decorating that should be done, but we are waiting for the experts to come help us with that! We've put a few things on hold, like upstairs carpet, but it will all get done in due time.
Speaking of finding things, we are finding that we don't need all of the pictures that we have. Dad got Grandpa Belliston's framed picture of Brigham Young and, since he prefers that one, our picture of Brother Brigham is no longer needed. Here are a couple of others we are parting with - so if you would like these, or any others, let me know.
We have had some company in the past couple of weeks. I hosted a meeting of Cache Valley birth workers and enjoyed visiting with them and watching a film called "What Babies Want." I think you should all watch it. Very good parenting movie. The Elder's Quorum presidency visited us, also. Not that night, but another night. They seem like very nice fellows and were delighted that Dad was willing to take on a ministering opportunity even before he is released. Then Anne and Wes called to see if they could come visit. We met them, and their granddaughter, MacKaylie, at Fredrico's for lunch, then came here to spend a few hours visiting. That was fun and we hope they find time to come back when it warms up and we can sit on the deck.
When Dad traveled to Provo last week to spend some time with Carl, I couldn't go because it was too far away from moms who were due any time. So, I had to stay home. By myself. In this big house. I hadn't done that before and I really wasn't very excited about it. Not to worry - I got called to a birth in Arimo, Idaho and it was a long labor (probably could have gone to Provo!), so I was there all night - and all the next day. I didn't get home until after Dad returned, but at least I didn't have to stay here all alone :)
Presently, we are in the middle of a blizzard - lots of wind and snow. It appears to be coming from Idaho. That is really nice of you guys to share, but could you slow down the wind just a little bit?!
The Logan Temple is now closed for a couple of weeks, so if we can get another baby here, we may have to travel to a temple near one of you. We'll let you know if we're in the territory...
Have a wonderful, happy week! We'd love to see anyone who wants to brave coming to this snowy valley ;)
Since we last posted, Dad finished painting the basement. The bathroom is a lovely new color (same as the bedrooms) and the whole basement ceiling has a new, fresh coat of paint that probably no one will ever notice. But it's nice to have that done. We also cleaned out the storage closet behind the fireplace and found some things we had been missing. We now know what is there and it's all organized. So pleasant. We also hung some pictures on the walls - Brother Brigham is above the fireplace, the Salt Lake Temple is in the living/dining area, and the painting that Kirk Jorgensen did is in the bedroom downstairs. Dad also hung his missionary map in the office, which looks quite nice. Don't laugh - that's real progress for us! We do have lots more decorating that should be done, but we are waiting for the experts to come help us with that! We've put a few things on hold, like upstairs carpet, but it will all get done in due time.
Speaking of finding things, we are finding that we don't need all of the pictures that we have. Dad got Grandpa Belliston's framed picture of Brigham Young and, since he prefers that one, our picture of Brother Brigham is no longer needed. Here are a couple of others we are parting with - so if you would like these, or any others, let me know.
We have had some company in the past couple of weeks. I hosted a meeting of Cache Valley birth workers and enjoyed visiting with them and watching a film called "What Babies Want." I think you should all watch it. Very good parenting movie. The Elder's Quorum presidency visited us, also. Not that night, but another night. They seem like very nice fellows and were delighted that Dad was willing to take on a ministering opportunity even before he is released. Then Anne and Wes called to see if they could come visit. We met them, and their granddaughter, MacKaylie, at Fredrico's for lunch, then came here to spend a few hours visiting. That was fun and we hope they find time to come back when it warms up and we can sit on the deck.
When Dad traveled to Provo last week to spend some time with Carl, I couldn't go because it was too far away from moms who were due any time. So, I had to stay home. By myself. In this big house. I hadn't done that before and I really wasn't very excited about it. Not to worry - I got called to a birth in Arimo, Idaho and it was a long labor (probably could have gone to Provo!), so I was there all night - and all the next day. I didn't get home until after Dad returned, but at least I didn't have to stay here all alone :)
Presently, we are in the middle of a blizzard - lots of wind and snow. It appears to be coming from Idaho. That is really nice of you guys to share, but could you slow down the wind just a little bit?!
The Logan Temple is now closed for a couple of weeks, so if we can get another baby here, we may have to travel to a temple near one of you. We'll let you know if we're in the territory...
Have a wonderful, happy week! We'd love to see anyone who wants to brave coming to this snowy valley ;)
Manning Moments
Today in church, Nick's counselor came up to me and "Congratulations!" I said "Thank you. For what?" He said, "Your whole family is here." We have been like the Nilssons and have been to church as a partial family since the beginning of the year. I don't think it's been five weeks in a row however!
We are just getting over a cold and cough that has gone through us except Nick. Then we will be done for the year. Yay!
The adventure of the last two weeks has been potty training! There are perks of having a child who is smarter than you and potty training is one of them. At first Wesley didn't want to get on his potty (even though he had enjoyed sitting on it with his pants on and it was a great treasure chest for a while). But after a couple of accidents he decided he did and by the end of the first day he was telling us when he needed to go. A couple more minor accidents he is good to go. He didn't want a timer after a while because he knew when to go so I just had to let go of that control and he hasn't disappointed!
Chet has been sick but cheerful and super cute. He has a lot of energy and I am trying to learn what to do to keep him entertained. Nick called Wesley a slug because he could just sit for hours and look at books or hold toys but Chet is not that way.
Nick's semester is going better than the last and he is staying busy with work and his calling. I am trying to not go crazy being shut up in the house. I think I am a plant because I shrivel up without sun, dirt and fresh air.
Have a great week and we hope to see you sometime soon!
We are just getting over a cold and cough that has gone through us except Nick. Then we will be done for the year. Yay!
The adventure of the last two weeks has been potty training! There are perks of having a child who is smarter than you and potty training is one of them. At first Wesley didn't want to get on his potty (even though he had enjoyed sitting on it with his pants on and it was a great treasure chest for a while). But after a couple of accidents he decided he did and by the end of the first day he was telling us when he needed to go. A couple more minor accidents he is good to go. He didn't want a timer after a while because he knew when to go so I just had to let go of that control and he hasn't disappointed!
Chet has been sick but cheerful and super cute. He has a lot of energy and I am trying to learn what to do to keep him entertained. Nick called Wesley a slug because he could just sit for hours and look at books or hold toys but Chet is not that way.
Nick's semester is going better than the last and he is staying busy with work and his calling. I am trying to not go crazy being shut up in the house. I think I am a plant because I shrivel up without sun, dirt and fresh air.
Have a great week and we hope to see you sometime soon!
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Nilsson News
Oh me oh my! For the fifth Sunday in a row, someone has had to stay home from church because they were sick. Garrett and I are getting pretty good at rotating who stays home with whom. This time it was Addy. She started not feeling well on Wednesday and has not improved much at all. I think we got 4 hours of restless sleep last night. The flu germs right now are insane! Everyone seems to be sick and they are closing schools all over in our area. Take your vitamins folks and maybe invest in some face masks!
Eliza's birthday was definitely the highlight and fun event for the week. Eliza requested donuts for breakfast which we had and nobody ate because they weren't feeling well. After a very fun geography class with the Harts and eating requested hot-dogs, we went to iJump trampoline park. Mom and Dad met us there but we couldn't convince them to jump with us. I even jumped! Addy and Garrett sat it out since they weren't feeling well. In the evening, the Harts joined us and Mom and Dad for the birthday cake, ice cream tradition. It was a fun evening and I hope Eliza had a great time!
For the majority of this week, we have seen very cold, single digit temps until yesterday - we hit the forties. Some people might think "Yay! It's warming up!" Don't get too excited. It rained all. night. long. Rain is good in the summer, not good in the winter when the ground is still frozen solid. When I went to feed our animals this morning, I found them wading in about 3 inches of standing water in the barn. The barn yard is a solid pack of ice so with the rain, the water drained right into the barn. Let's just say, I spent three hours this morning bailing water and carrying it out bucket by bucket. I guess that's one way to train for the Spartan but not exactly what I had in mind. Still trying to figure out how to divert the water. Maybe we need to build a new barn on higher ground...
I truly hope you all avoid this awful sick season. I know I'm counting down 'til the spring weather hits and we can open all our windows and air out these premises!
Eliza's birthday was definitely the highlight and fun event for the week. Eliza requested donuts for breakfast which we had and nobody ate because they weren't feeling well. After a very fun geography class with the Harts and eating requested hot-dogs, we went to iJump trampoline park. Mom and Dad met us there but we couldn't convince them to jump with us. I even jumped! Addy and Garrett sat it out since they weren't feeling well. In the evening, the Harts joined us and Mom and Dad for the birthday cake, ice cream tradition. It was a fun evening and I hope Eliza had a great time!
For the majority of this week, we have seen very cold, single digit temps until yesterday - we hit the forties. Some people might think "Yay! It's warming up!" Don't get too excited. It rained all. night. long. Rain is good in the summer, not good in the winter when the ground is still frozen solid. When I went to feed our animals this morning, I found them wading in about 3 inches of standing water in the barn. The barn yard is a solid pack of ice so with the rain, the water drained right into the barn. Let's just say, I spent three hours this morning bailing water and carrying it out bucket by bucket. I guess that's one way to train for the Spartan but not exactly what I had in mind. Still trying to figure out how to divert the water. Maybe we need to build a new barn on higher ground...
I truly hope you all avoid this awful sick season. I know I'm counting down 'til the spring weather hits and we can open all our windows and air out these premises!
Hart Happenings
Happy Super Bowl Sunday to my family who totally doesn't care! It seems like such a lot happened in the last week! Time flies.
The boys were really excited to start their Compass classes again. The Poetry Tea Time hour I was mentoring went really well (much to my relief) and it was fun to meet some new families and renew old acquaintances. It is a really great group.
The biggest news of the week is that Alex at long last sold the big business he has been working on selling for the last 3 years. It was a long time coming and caused much rejoicing in the Hart household. Alex learned a whole bunch and it excited to move on with that experience and gained knowledge under his belt.
Tuesday I took Jack and Peter on a field trip to the Shoshone-Bannock museum down on the local Indian reservation. It was fascinating! The boys really loved the full-sized buffalo they had on display as well as learning how the tribe fished and the bead art they did. They had a big bin of polished rocks there and the boys were excited to dig into those and found a couple to bring home with them.
Wednesday was Eliza's birthday and we celebrated by having our Geography class! I actually had a blast with eh giant South American map we taped out on the floor in the living room (the boys convinced me to leave it up for the rest of the week) and the kids had to run and stand on the countries I mentioned when we talked about the history of the continent. Then we got to have a delicious Bolivian dish called Pique a lo Macho for lunch, along with some Brazilian lemonade (confusingly made with limes, not lemons), and hot dogs per the birthday girl's request. I thought it was a fun day, despite the fact that Garrett and Addy were a little under the weather. I will let Ruth give further details, but we appreciated being invited to join in the festivities of the day and it was great to have Mom and Dad join us as well!
Alex's parents returned from Thailand, not really thrilled to be leaving the 90 degree temps for the frigid ones of Idaho in February, but they were glad to be back in their own home, I think. Alex bough them a lovely new entertainment stand for their TV and it looks really nice. They brought the boys some weird, squishy toys that they boys LOVED and also one of those big styrofoam airplanes. This one lights up and we have had a good time taking it to the church gym to fly it around in the dark.
Ian got a break from his play practice on Friday and it was so fun to have him home. His brothers monopolized his attention the whole day and he was a really good sport about it. He and Alex attended a Vocal Point concert that night which they reported was exceptional. Meanwhile the younger boys and I re-viewed the movie How to Train Your Dragon and recalled that it is one of the best animated films ever made.
The weekend was eaten up running errands, budget sessions, flag football in the church gym, and Jack's soccer game. He scored two goals and assisted another and we all cheered like crazy! It was a really fun game.
Dad and I had a really great conversation when he was up last weekend for the Banff Film Festival that centered around Adam Miller's juicy little booklet entitled: Letters to a Young Mormon. If you would like to have your mind woken up to basic gospel concepts in a new way I can't recommend this book enough. I've been re-reading it since Dad brought it back to me and it is so good! I started underlining the especially thought provoking sentences and realized that I should've actually underlined the ones that weren't quite as scintillating because I've now basically underlined the majority of each chapter.
I think, as I look around, that the boys have dumped out every Lego we own. Jack has built a helicopter with a motorized propeller on it, Ian has created the coolest cruise ship ever called Treehouse of the Seas, and Peter has created a wall of Lego man heads. All very unique and creative and messy.
And so it goes........
The boys were really excited to start their Compass classes again. The Poetry Tea Time hour I was mentoring went really well (much to my relief) and it was fun to meet some new families and renew old acquaintances. It is a really great group.
The biggest news of the week is that Alex at long last sold the big business he has been working on selling for the last 3 years. It was a long time coming and caused much rejoicing in the Hart household. Alex learned a whole bunch and it excited to move on with that experience and gained knowledge under his belt.
Tuesday I took Jack and Peter on a field trip to the Shoshone-Bannock museum down on the local Indian reservation. It was fascinating! The boys really loved the full-sized buffalo they had on display as well as learning how the tribe fished and the bead art they did. They had a big bin of polished rocks there and the boys were excited to dig into those and found a couple to bring home with them.
Wednesday was Eliza's birthday and we celebrated by having our Geography class! I actually had a blast with eh giant South American map we taped out on the floor in the living room (the boys convinced me to leave it up for the rest of the week) and the kids had to run and stand on the countries I mentioned when we talked about the history of the continent. Then we got to have a delicious Bolivian dish called Pique a lo Macho for lunch, along with some Brazilian lemonade (confusingly made with limes, not lemons), and hot dogs per the birthday girl's request. I thought it was a fun day, despite the fact that Garrett and Addy were a little under the weather. I will let Ruth give further details, but we appreciated being invited to join in the festivities of the day and it was great to have Mom and Dad join us as well!
Alex's parents returned from Thailand, not really thrilled to be leaving the 90 degree temps for the frigid ones of Idaho in February, but they were glad to be back in their own home, I think. Alex bough them a lovely new entertainment stand for their TV and it looks really nice. They brought the boys some weird, squishy toys that they boys LOVED and also one of those big styrofoam airplanes. This one lights up and we have had a good time taking it to the church gym to fly it around in the dark.
Ian got a break from his play practice on Friday and it was so fun to have him home. His brothers monopolized his attention the whole day and he was a really good sport about it. He and Alex attended a Vocal Point concert that night which they reported was exceptional. Meanwhile the younger boys and I re-viewed the movie How to Train Your Dragon and recalled that it is one of the best animated films ever made.
The weekend was eaten up running errands, budget sessions, flag football in the church gym, and Jack's soccer game. He scored two goals and assisted another and we all cheered like crazy! It was a really fun game.
Dad and I had a really great conversation when he was up last weekend for the Banff Film Festival that centered around Adam Miller's juicy little booklet entitled: Letters to a Young Mormon. If you would like to have your mind woken up to basic gospel concepts in a new way I can't recommend this book enough. I've been re-reading it since Dad brought it back to me and it is so good! I started underlining the especially thought provoking sentences and realized that I should've actually underlined the ones that weren't quite as scintillating because I've now basically underlined the majority of each chapter.
I think, as I look around, that the boys have dumped out every Lego we own. Jack has built a helicopter with a motorized propeller on it, Ian has created the coolest cruise ship ever called Treehouse of the Seas, and Peter has created a wall of Lego man heads. All very unique and creative and messy.
And so it goes........
Friday, February 1, 2019
Flake Fun
Well, the word is out and it is kind of a relief to not have to watch the snacking and such! Everyone is really excited for us and have expressed that in every way from crying to screaming. I am feeling quite a bit better but still feel like I am eating constantly!
With the government shut down, the IRS wasn't processing new filer applications (what Scott is) so we don't know when he will get the number that he needs in order to file. We'll keep everyone updated about where this adventure takes us!
With the government shut down, the IRS wasn't processing new filer applications (what Scott is) so we don't know when he will get the number that he needs in order to file. We'll keep everyone updated about where this adventure takes us!
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