I am so blessed

I don't take the time often enough to sing the praises of my wonderful husband...but today I am making sure I do. 

He is such a great dad!! The other day he was reading a Dr. Seuss book for a bedtime story. I loved how all the children gathered around to enjoy the time with dad. I actually videoed part of the story being read but I don't think Neil would want me to post it.

Today Neil took his Saturday and worked on a project I have been wanting to do.  Thank you so much!!!  We turned one wall of MaryAnne's room into an area for clothes for the five youngest children.  It turned out great!!  I am so excited to be able to hang their clothes instead of having them shoved into drawers or baskets.  Thank you, Neil!! I appreciate your talents and efforts to help me have my dream area.  You are the best!!!

Neil, I love you and am grateful for you everyday!!!  Thanks for being my eternal sweetheart!!  Love, Sarah

Week in Review and looking ahead

It has been a busy week around here. It seemed like this week was a challenge to have dinner ready because I was always running in the afternoon.  At least Julia has her drivers license now and can drive herself to piano on Monday afternoon.  Hooray for Julia!!! 

I took David, MaryAnne and Dallin on a field trip with Connections Academy Friday afternoon to the Buffalo Billl Historical Center.  We really enjoyed exploring the Center together.  We picked up pizza on our way home and called it a party.  Everyone was excited to have pizza.  Friday morning when I checked the email there was one with the subject :BYU Parent Newsletter.  I asked Bethany if she had been accepted at BYU. She said she hadn't checked for awhile. Sure enough she had been accepted.  Now the decision time continues. She has been accepted at all the schools she applied to. She is waiting to hear about scholarship offers.

Today is Rebecca's finale of BIG the musical.  I know she will miss performances and being with the cast. Fortunately for her there is an exciting trip in the very near future.  In one week Rebecca, Bethany and Julia will be in Florida together.  They have been saving for several years to go to the Harry Potter Theme Park.  They fly out of Salt Lake on week from today.  They will be there almost a full week.  They are so excited!!! 

Little boys never grow up

Saturday David was working on his craftsman skill award for Webelos.  He needed to make serveral things out of something besides wood. I offered to help him cover a box and make a liner for it. Neil found these really cool plans for marshmallow shooters out of pvc pipe online and offered to help him make a couple.  You can guess who's project was more popular.  I loved how the lined box turned out. He did a great job helping me, but he LOVED making and shooting the marshmallow guns.  He and Neil had a great time shooting marshmallows.  We were all fair game as far as targets went.  It was fun to watch them work together and then enjoy playing together.  I didn't enjoy sitting on a slightly sticky marshmallow afterward.  It was only fair that Neil also sat on one.  We had a good laugh about it and then declared that the marshmallow guns would have to become outside toys.

Road Trip

Friday I had the opportunity to take a road trip with a friend so Emma and I headed to Utah.  I don't like to take these trips and leave Neil and the children at home. It was a hard decision to make, but I really wanted to see Rebecca perform in a lead role.  It meant enough to me that I was willing to drive in the Salt Lake traffic. Thank you Neil for watching the children.  I really enjoyed watching Rebecca shine on the stage. You can just tell she loves being on stage. It has been good to have one on one time with Emma. We played Rummikub last night and enjoyed going to the play today.  I will be glad to get home on Monday.  It breaks my heart when I talk to Lydia on the phone and she just keeps saying "Mama not home."  I miss all of you and can't wait to be with you again.  See you Monday afternoon. Thanks for helping Dad and being good so I could come.  Love, Mom (Sarah)

Exciting news around here

Two weeks in a row with a post!!! That must be the most exciting thing around, right?  Some weeks it might, but not this week.  This week we had two very exciting things happen.  On Thursday my mom and dad called to tell us their mission call had come in the mail. We all gathered around with the phone on speaker to hear them tell us that they were called to serve a leadership support mission is Ireland/Scotland. They leave on July 1, 2013 for 18 months.  We are so excited for them and the blessings their service will bring our family. Every since we heard I have been  singing "Grandma and Grandpa are going away on a mission" in my mind.  I remember singing that song for my own grandparents when they went on their mission to Australia years ago.  Thanks for being willing to serve Mom and Dad. I am going to miss you so much!! But I am glad you are going! You are setting an amazing example for your children and grandchildren to follow.

The other exciting news of the week came on Friday when Bethany casually mentioned to me that she had received an email from BYU-Idaho saying she had been accepted. She still hasn't decided where she wants to go. I am just glad she has the option to choose to go to BYU-I. I loved my time there at good old Ricks College.  It was a good year for me with lots of wonderful memories.  She is an exciting stage of life right now with all kinds of options available to her.  I know she will make the right decision and use her talents, abilities and faith to succeed where ever she chooses to go.

How we spent our week...

I have missed way too much to go back and catch up on.  I am just going to start from now and try to post more often. Weekly is my goal, but we’ll see how I really do.

This week we have had sick children every day. MaryAnne started out with something on Sunday. She just kept falling asleep all day, had a sore throat and high fever. By Monday I decided we better know what we were dealing with so I took her to the Expresscare clinic.  They tested for strep throat and influenza. The doctor was pretty sure she had influenza, but the test came back negative. She has a virus that acts like influenza but can’t be treated with anything but love and time. It has been an interesting week.  Dallin, Lydia, Emma and Joshua all thought it looked like too much fun lying on the couch, drinking juice and watching movies so they have each taken their turn joining her.  Hopefully we are about done with fevers, coughs, and sore throats. I did learn that our children hate to have their temperature taken and will fight tooth and nail to avoid it. I bought a noncontact thermometer. Hopefully it will be accurate and I’ll be able to take their temperature without a fight. It won’t come until next week, and I hope I won’t need to use it for a while by then.  You never know how long things like this will hang on with us sharing germs so well at our house. Matthew stayed home today from the youth temple trip because he didn’t feel well.  The chances of not getting this are dwindling to single digits.  I guess looking at the positive side of things they all got it at once instead of taking turns, and I haven’t had to cook as much this week because we have more leftovers when only half of us eat a meal.  Hopefully next week they’ll be back to feeling good.

We did have fun things happen this week along with everyone being sick.  On Tuesday Matthew had his Eagle Scout board of review.  He was excited to pass!! Our ward is having an Eagle Court of Honor for 4 boys in March.  We are proud of you Matthew!!

David has been busy working on Webelos activity badges.  He really enjoys doing scouts. He and I (Sarah) went out for pizza on Thursday afternoon before clogging class.  He saved his book it coupons and wanted to share with me. It was a fun activity together.

It has been cold and wintery this week.  I think I am ready for spring, but it is still a long way off.  Sometimes we check the temperature in Hawaii and I think we are living in the wrong part of the world. 75 degrees sounds kind of nice this time of year.

Halloween 2012

I am finally back!!  We have been so busy and I haven't done any posting. I hope to get caught up sometime in the next 20 years. Believe me, my blog isn't the only thing I am behind with.  I guess that is how it goes.

We had beautiful weather for Halloween this year. Everyone enjoyed dressing up and carving pumpkins. The pumpkins took over our garden this year. We ended up with about 100. We shared with all the nursery children in our ward and several other families and still have some out there.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. I hope there are more to come soon.

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