Very Blessed

It has now been four months since Trent was laid off at Flying J. It has been an experience that I have never had before. Hopefully we are learning a lot from it all. Trials are never fun and this certainly is one. But, there has been a lot of wonderful things that have happened during the last four months. I have been keeping a list of all the blessings I have seen happen in the last four months and it just keeps growing. A lot of them are sweet things other people have done for us. Some of them we know who to thank and others have been done anonymously and we don't know who to thank. It has been an incredible Christmas season for us and we have been extremely touched at the generous things people have done for us. We hope to be able to return the favor. Thank you for the prayers and support, it has meant more than you can imagine.

1st Grade Winter Program

Last week Connor had his program at school. It was really cute and they sang lots of fun songs that he has been singing around the house.

Where's Connor?

Leah enjoyed watching her brother and coming to his school

Owen and my nephew Matix were really good hanging out in the stroller

(Well Matix was. Owen got sick of being in there and he wanted to get out and wander around.)

Ogden Christmas Village

This year we went to the Ogden Christmas Village for the first time. It was so fun! We all loved it. There was so much to see and it was all free! What could be better? The village is a bunch of mini houses (sheds) decorated for Christmas. You walk around and look in each window. It is really cute, except for maybe the Hansel and Gretel one which had a little boy doll locked up in a cage. Creepy. There were a lot of people there, but it didn't feel too crowded. I think we will make it a yearly tradition.

Owen not too thrilled with sitting on Santa's lap

Connor had no problem

Leah froze up and wouldn't say a word. Even though she promised if we waited in the long line in the rain she would talk to Santa. Later she asked me if Santa puts seeds on his face to grow his beard :).

Our little carolers

*If you have a free night before Christmas you should head up there and check it out. It's worth the drive with kids.

Temple Square

Every year we brave the crowds and go to Temple Square to see the lights. This year Trent's mom joined us. It was fun and beautiful and very COLD. I think one of my favorite parts of the evening was when we went in one of the visitor centers there. The kids were able to see a model of the Temple and how it looks inside. The funniest part of the evening was when Connor saw a statue of Brigham Young in the visitor center. He asked me if he was real but dead. He thought he was a taxidermed Brigham Young! His hands did look real :). I think he thought that because we took the kids to Cabela's a few weeks ago to see the animals there.

Owie was so good even though it was cold. We tried bundling them up as good as we could.

Connor the Elf

One of Connor's favorite things about Christmas is giving people things he makes. He loves to draw pictures and wrap them up and give them to his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles. I can't wrap a gift without him wanting to help do it. It makes him so happy!

"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells..."

(He is just learning how to spell :) )

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few weeks ago as a family we sat down and listed the things we are grateful for.
The kids had some funny ones, especially Leah. We noticed she was telling us things she saw around the room like "blinds" and "windows". We even asked Owen what he was grateful for and he said "woof woof woof" (doggies). I loved some of the things Connor told us like his "transformer backpack" :). It was fun to think about how many blessings we have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Flag Football

This Fall instead of doing soccer we decided to try out flag football for Connor. It was a new league that just started and we thought it would be great for him to learn a new sport and it was half the cost of soccer :). We were happy he could learn the basics of football without the injuries tackling causes. The dad that started it did such a great job of having the parents get involved and help at the practices. Connor and Trent both enjoyed it.

Connor excited to be there.

Trent instructing the team.

Good game!

Halloween

We love Halloween at our house. We love the decorations, the candy, the parties and most of all the costumes.

Our little Star Wars Nerds

Princess "Leah" :)

Chewbacca enjoying our ward Halloween carnival

At Mother Goose Time the kids all got to trick or treat to each other

Leah and her Mother Goose friends

Connor and his friend Nathan at his class' Halloween party

Trent and I as Thing 1 and Thing 2 at a Halloween party

It was a very fun Halloween (even though it rained really hard). The kids were so hyper on sugar. On the way home from seeing family that night in Salt Lake they were being so wild. I offered them 5 dollars to anyone that would fall asleep on the car ride home thinking I would never have to pay that out. Well, Leah fell asleep. Connor was so bugged he didn't earn 5 dollars. I told him if he cleaned the bathrooms he could earn money. He was thrilled and so am I that My 6 year old is going to learn to clean bathrooms :).

Good News!

This past week Trent and I celebrated two months of unemployment :)! But that isn't the happy news.

Connor learned to ride a bike!

He has always been a little nervous to ride his bike. Then for a couple of weeks he wanted to ride it everyday after school. One day he said, "Tomorrow can you take my training wheels off?". When he got home that is the first thing he wanted to do. We headed over to the nearby school and Trent helped teach him to ride his bike. It was so fun to watch and I am so proud of him!

Random Pictures

This is our cute nephew that we have been watching 2 days a week.

Connor laid out his clothes for the next day. Silly bands and all. :)
Owen "hanging out" at the park.

Superman.

The boys.

The girls.

Star of The Week

This week at school Connor was the star of the week. His teacher displayed a poster of him with pictures on it all week. Today Trent and I went in to talk about Connor to the class. We were told to fill a bag of things that describe Connor and things he likes.

We brought:
A pumpkin- because he loves Halloween and dressing up in costumes.
Star Wars toy- because he loves Star Wars.
A knight action figure and a toy snake- because he wanted to show them to his class :).
A picture of his family- To show how many kids are in his family.
Pickles- because he loves them and has loved them since he was a baby.
A football- because he is on a flag football team and he enjoys it.
Zelda video game- he likes to play video games after he has done his homework and chores.

(Pictures are from a field trip to the fire station I went with Connor on a couple weeks ago)

The Dog

When Trent and I were first married he bought me a dog statue for Christmas. I had seen it in a window of an antique store and liked it. It reminded me of the RCA dog. Connor was never allowed to touch it. When he was about Owen's age he was playing with it and knocked it over. The dogs ear broke and I was really sad about it. Dumb. The other day Owen was playing with the dog and I got out the camera. Who cares if the dog breaks? I guess it is true when people say parents lighten up with their younger kids. I hope so.

Fall

Since it is mid-September I spent the morning putting Halloween decorations up (even though Trent thinks it is way too early). With school back in session and the weather cooling down, it really is beginning to feel like Fall. We had a fun Summer with a lot of different activities going on. Here are a few things we did during the Summer that I never blogged about :) :

Liberty Park

Camping at Strawberry Reservoir. Trent and the boys are cleaning the crawdads they caught.

Connor, Leah and their friend Tyler selling otter pops to make some money :).

They didn't last long. They were happy to get a dollar a piece :).

Mother Goose Time

A group of moms and I are doing a little co-op Preschool together called Mother Goose Time. Leah's first day was a couple of weeks ago. She is loving it and so am I (because it isn't my turn yet :) ).

Happy for her first day

Just arrived at Mother Goose

1st Grade

Connor started first grade this week! Yesterday was his first full day of school. He seemed pretty tired and grumpy when he got home. He says he likes it and he was really excited about his teacher and some of the things she does in their class. Connor told me that she hands out pennies when they are working quietly. Sounds like my child, always wanting to earn money :).

Yesterday when I walked him to school he held my hand. It was sad to think he is soon going to grow out of that. He is growing up and it is a little sad for me.

At his desk