Bed Head and Early Mornings

Kinsey wakes up at 5:15 almost every morning.  That puts some serious cramps in my exercise and planning time.  If I'm not already awake when she gets up, she pushes me out of bed saying, "I want to exercise!" That means she climbs all over me while I try to exercise. Then five minutes later she's demanding food. Crazy child!  (And awesome bedhead, right?)

Bracken's Baptism

This morning Bracken grinned as he told me he had butterflies in his stomach because he was so excited to be baptized. His day was so special, filled with love and support from our family and ward family. We love our 8 year old and are so proud of his choice to be baptized!

Bracken let me take a couple of quick photos for his baptism day.  He was hilarious. The outtakes were cracking me up.  I had to be super fast with the shutter to get his happy smiles instead of his crazy faces, and at the end he insisted on getting a picture with these cows. As we drove away, Bracken told me, "I don't think you've laughed that hard in a long time." He loves to make people laugh, and he certainly made me laugh!

Outtake. :)

Such a special day! I love you Bracken and am so proud of your choice to be baptized. 

Bracken asked Shaylee to give a talk on baptism and Grandpa Rob to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. They both did such a great job.  The baptism program was so special, and so many of our family and friends came to support Bracken. Grandpa Rob, Grandma Sue, and Sally and most of their kids flew up from AZ.  My family came from Richfield, and we had so many neighbors and ward members there, including all the YM Bracken has spent so much time with the last two and a half years. He adores the YM and it meant the world to him and me that they all came.

Afterward, we had a luncheon of soup, salad and rolls. Special day!

Sushi Night

Bracken requested sushi as part of his 8th Birthday Celebrations and Aunt Shaylee helped make that happen with style!  (Kinsey, Chandra, Bracken and Shaylee Dawn.) 
Salmon, tuna, shrimp tempura, imitation crab, cream cheese and a large assortment of veggies, toppings, and sauces.  We all got to create and roll our own sushi rolls.  It was a fun and delicious night. 

Kinsey loved making and rolling her own sushi roll.  She ate a decent amount of it too. 

This was right up Chandra's alley.  She got to create and decorate her food.  

Chef Chandra

Chandra loves to cook.  Her favorite "subject" in homeschool is her cooking class, and she often wants to dress up as the "Taste Tester Chef" to cook. She planned and wrote the menu out this night and I helped her make the food. "Warm and cold chicken, homemade rice-a-roni, beets (one of her favorite foods), salad with sunflower seeds, and cucumbers." Then she placed everything on our moving counter to make it pretty and let everyone dish up their food.  Love this girl!

Happy Valentine's Day! Playing Outside!

We celebrated Valentine's Day a couple of days late so Brian could celebrate with us. Brian got all sorts of fun treats and flowers on crazy clearance since Valentine's was over.  The kids were delighted with our regular balloons, streamers, and pink, heart-shaped pancakes, and doubly excited by their own personal heart boxes of chocolates from Daddy. We spent the morning playing games, playing outside in the warm(er) weather, and then had commonwealth school and went to an indoor football game as a family.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Swinging in our neighbor Sister Stapel's yard.  We have spent so much time here the last few years. The kids love climbing her trees, swinging on the swings, sliding on the slide, and creating forts in her bushes.  I gardened here last summer and spent lots of days planting, weeding and harvesting.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors and friends!

Chandra is so proud she can go down the slide backward. 

Seth - Mission to Brazil

Seth reported to the Provo MTC for his mission on February 8th. He was supposed to go to the Brazil MTC, but had been waiting for his visa for months. We had no idea how long he'd have to stay at the Provo MTC or if he'd end up serving somewhere else for a while until his visa went through.  My kids were so faithful over the last month and a half in praying for Seth to get his visa.  They would remind us if we ever forgot while saying a prayer. After being in the Provo MTC for just a couple of days, Seth received his visa, got a plane ticket and flew to the MTC in Brazil.  When we read his email it was such a special answer to prayers!  Now Bracken and Chandra thank Heavenly Father every day that Seth got his visa.  

I'm so proud of Seth.  So glad he's serving a mission and know he will have amazing experiences and bless so many people.  But boy, I'll miss this teaser!