Happy Birthday John

Happy Birthday to John--the big 35! We pulled out some baby pictures on his birthday and couldn't believe how much he looks like our little Matson, especially since we've always thought Matson looks more like me.

John took the day off and got to go with Kelsie on her fieldtrip to the State Capitol. This was kind of cute. When Kelsie found out her fieldtrip was on her dad's birthday she said, "That would be the best birthday present for dad. He can come on my field trip with me." :) We thought that was pretty cute and John was excited to go with her. They had a good time and learned a lot and John came home very tired from all the walking. One of the boys in John's group told Kelsie, "your dad is really cool". John is pretty cool. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have passed the "cool" test to a 4th grader so I'm glad he got to go. :)

That afternoon we went to the pumpkin patch and to dinner at Cafe Rio to celebrate. Happy Birthday to John!

Catch Up

For Conference we made a tent to listen to the prophets speak to us (like the people who pitched their tents toward the temple to listen to King Benjamin speak). We've done this a few times but this year it worked really well. The kids loved it and they quietly drew pictures,etc.. in the tent.
Carter went on a fieldtrip to the fire station with our preschool. He loved it and still wants to be a fireman when he grows up!!!! He showed his true stubborn streak when he was playing at a friends house. He wanted a snack but refused to say "PLEASE" to get one. He told Talya, "my mom doesn't let me say that word". :) I couldn't have been more proud! So I guess we need to do a little work on his manners. That boy is so stubborn and he sticks to his guns when he decides something. I'm sure that will be a good trait at some point in his life, right?!?

Emily had her last soccer game. She is a talented little player and was completely delighted by her super sized medal! She and Carter have become the best of friends lately and love to play all afternoon together. I love it!

Kelsie is obsessed by Hannah Montana and loves her music. She went garage saling with me on Sat. and was delighted to find Hannah Montana paraphernalia everywhere we went. She got some real bargains and came home happy with a movie, Barbie, and singing stage. I guess it works out to start liking a pop star when everyone else has moved on. Kelsie is starting to have boy problems. It seems a bit early to us (she is only 9 after all), but she's got some boys that tease her and her friends incessantly at school. These particular boys came over to invite her to come out and play "night games" with them on Fri. night which her parents were not keen on at all (luckily either was she). I am really not ready for this next stage of life that is creeping up on us all too quickly.

I sold all the furniture in our living room a few weeks ago on KSL. I love my empty room, but it really bugs John. We are hoping to find a good deal on KSL for a couple of chairs or something to make it a bit more homey. Hanging a picture would be a nice touch too, I guess. Decorating is really not my thing. I wish I was good at it.

Primary Program

The girls had their Primary Program today at church. They did such a great job on their speaking parts. This is the 1st time I've been in Primary for the whole year and have seen the program all come together. The practice yesterday was mass chaos, but today everything came together and the kids did an amazing job. I love being a Primary teacher. I have grown to love these kids and I'm uplifted by their testimonies and faith. I'll admit that I miss Releif Society and having time to connect with other adults. I often don't go to RS activities because I don't even know about them and I feel out of the loop. But I do know this is where I'm suppossed to be right now. One of my favorite songs the kids have learned this year is "If I Listen with My Heart". I love this song that testifies of truth to me. I listened as 150 little Primary children sang the words to this song and I knew that there is nothing more important then helping these children to know and love their Savior. I have also learned that I do not need to be in an adult Sunday School class to learn and grow in the gospel. I have learned greater things about the gospel this year as I sat in a very noisy Primary room surrounded by 6 year olds. Here are the words to this song:

If I had been little child when Jesus lived on earth, I would have liked to walk with Him and listen to His words, But as I search the scriptures I can hear His words of peace, And if I listen with my heart I hear the Savior's voice.

I hear a living prophet speak the things that Christ would say, if He were here upon the earth to talk with me today. The prophet teaches how to live in righteousness and peace, And if I listen with my heart I hear the Savior's voice.

I feel the Holy Spirit as He teaches truth and right. He comforts me in times of need; He testifies of Christ. He speaks to me in quiet way that fill my soul with peace, And if I listen with my heart I feel the Savior's voice.

Big Winner!

Matson won the photo contest! We just refer to him as "big winner" now! As you can tell he's pretty excited about his new status. Thanks to everyone who voted for him! We really had a lot of fun with it. We had completely given up on winning by because we were behind by like 40 votes and it was too far to come back from. But when we checked to see who was going to win, we were surprised to find out that we had a lot more votes! We found out that Michelle and Peter had been drumming up votes for us all day and Jared was helping us out too. I got pretty excited at this point because I realized we could really win this thing! So we called in our final help (Drew and Julie) and Drew made it RAIN just as he promised. Our whole family sat around the computer all night watching the numbers climb and telling Matson how exciting this was that he was going to win!!! We are really excited about our free photo session and for everyone who helped us. Matson won with 124 votes!

Photo Contest

I entered this picture of Matson in a "mug shot" photo contest to win a free photo sitting. Help me win by clicking on this link and liking his picture. The picture with the most likes wins and it looks like I'm going to need all the help I can get! Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=257395730964444&set=a.257387760965241.55778.159567467413938&type=1&theaterhttps://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=257395730964444&set=a.257387760965241.55778.159567467413938&type=1&theater

Twinners

When you are 9 there is nothing better than matching with your best friend!

The twinner girls. They were delighted to find out they had the same shirt and Brianna ran home to put hers on so they could match!

Hogle Zoo

We spent Saturday at the Hogle Zoo. We were all very excited to take Matson to the zoo for the 1st time. We wanted to see what our animal loving little baby would do when he saw the animals up close and personal. He loved it!

This is what he looked like most of the day. He was pointing at everything, wide eyed, and squealing at the animals! It was so cute. He was very serious about his trip to the zoo and just took it all in. He did get a little scared when he saw the elephants. He started whimpering and looked like he was going to burst into tears. He has spent hours studying animals in his board books. I guess he just wasn't expecting to come face to face with them!

Here we are waiting to see the bird show. It was the 1st time any of us had seen it and we loved it!

The giraffes were the kids favorite animal this year. I love this picture of Emily checking out the giraffes.

Carter was delighted by his trip to the zoo. I guess it had been awhile since we'd been because he didn't remember the last trip. He was skipping around just as happy as can be. He was very proud to have his own map of the zoo and never set it down the entire day. He would study it to find where we should head next. (Note: This happy picture is before seeing the carousel).

(This is AFTER seeing the carousel). Our happy, skipping boy turned into sullen, disappointed boy when he found out we weren't going to buy him a ticket to ride the carousel. He let everyone know just how he felt. He walked all the way across the zoo to the exit like this. He had his lip turned out pouting and he had his shoulder hunched forward like he was carrying the weight of the world with him (but he never did let go of his coveted map). I had never seen a 3 year old look so downtrodden in my life. Everyone who walked by noticed our little boy who felt his life was SO unjust and couldn't help but smirk a bit. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as I watched him walk to the car. I felt bad he was so disappointed but it was really so funny to see how he handled it. He wanted to make sure everyone at the zoo knew just how he felt. He is one funny boy. He was completely over it when he got to walk through the cool "gate" to get out of the zoo! He's pretty easy to please.