Pierced Ears for Emily!

 

Emily has been begging to get her ears pierced ears forever. Finally, the big day came and she was delighted! Aunt Michelle was in town and arranged to be able to pierce her ears at the Claire's boutique here. She was so excited to have Aunt Michelle do hers, just like she did Kelsie. Her cousin Kylie also wanted them pierced so we all went to the mall together and had quite an audience for their ear piercing!

 

 

 Here she is right after seeing her ears for the first time.  She was so happy and she looked so darling!  She was really brave and didn't even flinch when they pierced them.  Now we just have to wait a few more weeks until we can start wearing new earrings.  Fun!

Aunt Michelle with the happy girls with their new EARRINGS! 

Pajama Day

Here are the girls headed to school on Pajama Day!  It cracks me up that they wear their ropes too.  I was in charge of the Readathon again this year and love going in and seeing all the kids relaxing and reading.  I keep telling myself that I am NOT doing PTA next year, but I hope it is a tradition that continues.  I know my kids look forward to it!

Bus Accident

This is the bus we took on our way to Clear Creek Camp.  We were coming to a stoplight in Spanish Fork when we ran into the back of one of the parent chaperones at full speed.  I still am not really sure what happened.  But, the driver didn't see the car stopped at the light in front of us and was going full speed towards the car that was stopped at the light.  At the last minute he swerved to the side and hit the bus on the door side, rather than head on.  We all lurched forward, hitting our heads on the seats in front of us. The glass on the door and the front windows completely shattered (as you can see in the picture) and flew into the bus all over the kids in the front rows.  Needless to say, it was very traumatic and the kids were pretty shaken up but no one was seriously hurt.  The worst injury was the kids in the front seats who were covered in glass and had imbeded glass shards that caused some problems later. 

 

 

Here are Kelsie and Holly after the bus accident.  They both hit their heads on the seat and were a bit sore.  I hit my neck because I was turned around talking to the crazy neighbor boys when it happened.  Kelsie had been really worried about the bus ride and I was SO glad I was there with her.  Earlier that morning some other parents had offered to let me ride in their cars and I really wanted to, but Kelsie was in tears because she didn't want to go without me on the bus.  I begrudgingly went on the loud bus after all and was so grateful I was there with her!  I would have been so upset if I wasn't there and didn't know if she was okay!

The bus was freezing with all the glass blown out and the paramedics brought blankets on to keep us warm.  It was like a few degrees that day.  They came around and took down all of our names and the wrote down where we hit, etc..  so they could document our injuries.  I was pretty shaken up because my anxiety immediately kicked in and I was shaking.  I thought I was faking it good and being strong for all the kids, but apparently I wasn't!  Two of the dads came to the window and handed blankets to me and kept asking me is I was okay.  Kinda embarrasing!  The kids were doing better than me!  It didn't help that for days I'd been nervous about the trip for days because I kept having these dreams that I was going to die on the way to Clear Creek.  Seriously!  I think I was kind of in shock.  Even when we got off the bus, I was the first person these dads came up to and checked to see if I was really doing okay.  I felt dumb realizing how bad I must have looked but it was really nice of them.  All in all we survived our adventure.  Nebo School District sent a bus to pick us up so only had to wait about 30 minutes.  That was a huge blessing in those cold temperatures.  Then we waved good-bye to the nice paramedics and headed the rest of the way.  The bus was extremely quiet the rest of the trip.  No one said a word.  We were all pretty shaken up but we eventually arrived at Clear Creek about an hour or so later than the other groups and were so happy to be there safe. 

 

Clear Creek

In December, Kelsie and I headed to Clear Creek with all the other 5th graders.  Clear Creek is an out outdoor education camp located near Scofield.  We spent three days (and 2 nights) there.  Some of the fun things we did were:  A GPS hike, ropes course, made a music video, performed skits, had a dance party, learned to knit, developed photography skills, listened to ghost stories, and slept in a cabin with 25 fifth grade girls!  Our experience was definitely an adventure.  It started out with a bus crash.  Then we arrived they told us their were cougar tracks and sightings within the camp.  That was a little unerving since we had to walk in the dark through the camp to take showers and go the the restroom.  It was scary and it was freezing cold (like -10 degrees), but all in all we had a blast and I'm so glad I was able to go with Kelsie as a chaperone.  And even more happy that we both made it out ALIVE!  WE are not campers!  Here is a picture of all of the kids on their last day at Clear Creek!  Fun times!



Each afternoon the kids went around to different rotations.  Mindi and I were in charge of "chess and cocoa".  It was the best!  Mindi taught the kids to pay chess, I made hot cocoa, and then they played and drank cocoa and Mindi and I had lots of down time to chat!  :)  Okay, making hot chocolate in the bathroom of the boys cabin did TOTALLY gross me out, but I survived!

Good Morning!  They woke up bright and early and were excited for another fun day at Clear Creek! 

Kelsie and Holly in front of our cabin, "The Pot Gut Hut"!

On the 2nd night we gathered and did marshmellow/toothpick structures, put on skits, and then the kids hunkered down with pillows and blankets for a movie and the leaders made smachos.

Here are the SMACHOS!  They are a Clear Creek tradition and are a mix between nachos and smores that you bake in the oven.  We made tons and it was really yummy...but way sweet!

Some of the leaders got a little out of control while making smachos!  We had a ball chatting and goofing around.  Thanks to Mindi for LOTS of entertainment.  :)

On the last day it warmed up a bit (to like 3 degrees) and teh kids were able to go out one their GPS course.  This is Kelsie's group headed out...

 Mindi and Me.  I was so grateful that we both got to go to Clear Creek and we got to spend so much fun time together before she moved.

Kelsie and I packing up our stuff to go HOME.  We had a great time but we were SO ready to go home!  We were ready to get home to a warm house, NO cougars, and lots of food.   (I about starved to death up there on school lunch meals and everyone was joking around with me about it).  It was great to be headed home but I am so glad I got to go and experience all the fun and adventure of Clear Creek with Kelsie!  We had a great time.

Tidbits from Carter

Tonight we were learning about Abraham Lincoln for FHE.

Halfway through the discussion Carter piped up and said, "I want to be the prophet when I grow up." 

Kelsie turned to him and said, "Do you mean President of the United States?"

Carter's response:  "NO WAY.  I don't want to get shot in the back of the head!" 

Well, at least he was listening!  :)

Christmas Parties

  I love being at the school on the last day before Christmas Break! You can't leave there without feeling excited about Christmas. I helped with Kelsie's class party. We made ornament wreathes, watched a movie, and had treats. Here she is with her 2 friends, Holly and Sydney. They were in the same class this year and last year and I always find those 3 together at school!

I stopped by Emily's class to check in on her! I love her 2nd grade class. The kids are so cute! They were playing Bingo and making really cool Penguin Snow Globes. The little boy to the left of her is one of my favorite preschool kids ever from my first year of teaching preschool. They are cute little buddies at school which I think is just adorable!

Emily's Baptism

Emily was baptized on November 17, 2012.  It was a very special day.  She had been looking forward to this day with anticipation for a very long time!  She was baptized and confirmed by her dad.  She shared her baptism day with a little girl from our ward, Chloe.  Afterwards, Emily, Chloe, Kelsie, and Brianna sang "When I am Baptized".  It was very special to see the way they just glowed as they sang the words to that song with such conviction.  It was a really neat day and we are so proud of Emily.  We are grateful for all of our family and dear friends that came to support us on this special day.

Emily, mom, dad before the baptism

our family...it's impossible to get carter and matson to both look at the camera at the same time...

Emily and John before the baptism

Emily and Chloe shared their baptism day.

We had a fun family gathering at our house afterwards.  Grandpa Durrant brought a special gift from Great Grandma Durrant because she was not well enough to join us.  It is very special to Emily.

After the luncheon we didn't see anymore of Emily, her cousins, and friends.  They went right to her room to play dolls.  That is what Emily loves most!  She loved having all her cousins and her friend Lizzie there at the same time to play dolls with her!