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!

January Highlights

Swimsuit Bath upstairs in Melissa and Steve's bath (we just have a shower, and they are so nice to share when the kids want a bath).  Kinsey, Bracken, Chandra and Zedek. 

Zedek loves to come downstairs and play with us, and we love him!  He and Chandra were so proud of this magformer car they made.  

Bracken and Dallin Mitchell often work out when they get together to play.  Military moves with 22 Minute Hard Corps or P90x are their favorites. These boys are such good friends! Board games, tree climbing, wrestling, spy games, and science experiments abound when they get together.

Sometimes we go over to the church gym to let the kids run like crazy since it's so cold outside. This day Chandra and Ava put on a dance recital for me and they let Zedek join in.

Bracken made a "Queen Bed" for Kinsey and her stuffed animals.  She played in it for a long time. 

 Brian and I went snowshoeing together one Saturday. What a fun day date! It brought back memories of all the snow hikes we went on with college friends before his mission. Good old and new times!

Bracken is turning 8 in one month! We had a special evening with his cute CTR class at our Ward's baptism preview. We missed a couple of friends, but we sure love all these kids!

Caleb, Abbey, Calvin, Bracken, Lydia, and Olivia.

Baby Treyson

Caleb and Linsy's baby boy Treyson was born January 17th, and I got to meet him and take a few pictures before they left my parent's in Richfield to go back to their home in Arizona. We are so grateful for every chance we have to spend time with these guys!  Sisters and cousins are the best.