A MUST SEE!

I have been following the Nielson's Story with so much intensity! I have fallen in love with their sweet family. You must watch this video: click here!

This weekend was our Ward Halloween Party.  Aaron and I weren't planning on dressing up, but were begged to by the ward activities chairperson just a few hours before it started...she didn't want to be the only adult dressed up.  So I dug out Aaron's hockey stuff for him (what else?) and I stood in my closet thinking, "what on earth can I dress up as with such short notice?"  Well, it just happens that I have everything a scarecrow could ever dream of!  So I taped some rafia under my hat, in my sleeves, at the bottom of my shirt and pants and VOILA...I was a scarecrow.  It has been years since I've dressed up so we had to get a picture since it'll probably be years before I do it again :-)

 

What's wrong with this picture?  Well, actually nothing is wrong with it because I live in Utah.  If I lived anywhere else it might seem strange to have snow in mid-October..., but I live in Utah.  

  

Only in UTAH!

GOATS, WITCHES & FRIENDS...Who could ask for more?

Rylie's preschool class went on a field trip this morning to Gardner Village. It was so fun to see all the pumpkins and whimsical witches. After touring the village we had a snack, fed ducks, and visited the petting zoo where we saw goats, sheep, pigs, bunnies, and funny looking chickens (I think they were chickens anyway...)!

Claire, Rylee, and Rylie (believe it or not there are 3 "Rylie's" in the same class. I guess we aren't as original as we thought we were...)

Rylie and her new friend, um...lets call her Hilga.

I've decided that this is Billy. Does he look content or what? He was laying across the foot bridge completely oblivious to the fact that all the kids had to try to figure out how to get past him without stepping or falling on him. He didn't budge. I couldn't help but think of The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. I guess this billy doesn't need to worry about trolls, just excited preschoolers trying to get to the other side.

Rylie being brave!

Sara isn't sure what a goat really is. She's perplexed and monkey just looks concerned about the whole situation.

CREATIVE & COMPASSIONATE

On Saturday I had a really neat opportunity to go to the conference center in SLC and watch the Relief Society General Conference meeting with six other friends. I look forward to this session of conference every year and I always leave with a strong sense of womanhood and a reaffirmation of the value of my role as a woman and as a mother in our Father's great plan of happiness. Elder Utchdorf's talk was empowering. He recognized the pressures and stresses of every day life as mothers and women and the frustration of trying to "stay above water". He said many inspired things to lead us to feel peace in our every days lives, but there were two things that stood out to me. They were to CREATE and to be COMPASSIONATE. I love to be creative and am always happiest when I make something around me more beautiful or create something bran new. Being compassionate takes you away from the "wo is me" stooper, and by helping others around you, you begin to help yourself. My goal every day is to be a better mother. To relate this new advice to motherhood I am going to try to be more creative with my kids and for my kids. Kids naturally love to create and what's better than creating something together! And my bet is that I will be a happier mom when I take time to do the creating that makes me happy. Of course every one needs compassion, but I am also going to focus on being more compassionate with my kids. How are they feeling? What do they need from me? What can I do to make them feel special and loved?

If you would like to learn more about my beliefs go to www.mormon.org
If you would like to watch the Relief Society General Broadcast go here.

My Little Tumblers

I can't believe how much the girls have learned in such a short amount of time. They love tumbling and our living room has become their tumbling grounds. One day our basement will be finished and there will be a better place with more room to practice, but the living room will have to do for now. Here's Kaeli's standing back handspring:

Kaeli's Round-off Back Hand Spring

Here's Kaeli's round-off back handspring. She wants to make sure Aunt Dawn sees this one :-)

Rylie's One-Handed Cartwheel

Here's Rylie's new trick! I love the look of one-handed cartwheels. They look so cool! Who knows, she may be doing ariels before we know it!

Happy Birthday...to me!

Aaron has a habit of spoiling me on my birthday. This year he called me up from work on Friday and told me that Dawn (his awesome sister) was taking the kids for the night and we were going to SLC to hang out. So I packed an overnight bag for the kids and myself and we headed to Dawn's to drop the kids off. We went to SLC and ate sushi (one of those things I swore I would never eat that now I love) and then meandered around downtown. In the morning we went to the Farmer's Market, which I absolutely loved. Aaron was so patient (shopping really isn't his thing) as I looked at almost every booth and told him what I thought was so cute and what I thought wasn't so cute (oh what the hubby endures!). Then we headed to REI to pick out hiking boots, which I have needed for so long. Aaron bought these studly Keens for me (pictured below). After lunch we returned to Dawn's and of course visited for hours and pigged out on pizza. Sunday was my actual birthday which was just nice and relaxing. Any way, THANKS HUBBS for the awesome birthday!

P.S. We have a new nephew! He was born this morning super early (just missed my b-day by a few hours!) So Congrats to B and Lila on their baby boy Maxton!

What a WEEK!

Well, the weekend started out pretty nice. I went to Super Saturday and made these cute bracelets for the girls. I made a necklace for Sammy too. I love Super Saturdays because I can just go and visit with other mommies. Aaron knew I needed a little break so he and the kids did their Saturday morning chores and then went to the movie theater for a matinee! I think they had just as much fun as I did :-)

Here's Rylie sporting her new bracelet right before preschool! She loves that it matches her butterfly shirt!After Super Saturday we rode our bikes (our new favorite family activity) to a park we had never been to before. The park has steep grassy slopes to create a bowl. The kids had more fun rolling down the hill than playing on the equipment!Saturday afternoon I noticed Sammy's eye was all red in the corner. I didn't think too much of it, but on Sunday morning it was even more noticeable so I pulled his bottom lid down and asked him to look up. Lo and behold his eye was filled with blood within the membrane under his iris. When we got to church I solicited some advice from a friend who happens to be a nurse. She seemed surprised by its appearance and assumed Sammy had bumped or poked his eye. But neither Sammy or I could think of such an incidence. She said not to worry too much about it unless there's a change, like more blood or pain. So we sat down for sacrament meeting and halfway through the meeting Sam mentioned to me that his vision was getting blurry. That kinda concerned me and I mentioned it to Aaron and it concerned him too. I didn't think it was too much of an emergency, but at the same time thought a doctor should look at it sooner than later. I decided to take Sam to the Urgent Care down the road since there are always doctors there and I would be back in time for Relief Society. A doctor could just peak at it, tell us it's all good and we'd be right back in church. When we got to the Urgent Care a nurse came out into the waiting room to look at it. She said that they are supposed to tell us to go to Primary Children's Hospital if there's any changes in vision. I thought that was a bit rash and asked if their doctor could just take a peak at it. She said no because they didn't have the equipment to look at eyes, but I was to take him to Primary Children's . I asked, "Well, this isn't an emergency is it?" The nurse quickly replied, "Oh yes it is! You need to go straight to the Emergency Room at Primary Children's. Don't even stop to go home!" That threw me into a little panic trying to think of what the big problem could be and how the heck do I get to Primary Children's! So off Sam and I went to SLC, reading a map and trying to get a hold of Aaron who was in Sunday School by that time. When we got there we spent SEVERAL hours just simply waiting in our own little room. Sammy had a vision test, and he also had this orange dye put in his eye so the doctor could look at it w/ a black light. They also dilated his eye to see into and the back of his eye. After over 3 hours we were told that Sam was just fine. He has a conjunctal hemmorage, but no scary bleeding back behind his eye...phew! It'll heal like a bruise. So we should see some gnarly colors just in time for Halloween! Right now it's red and yellow. Here are some pictures a few days after the fact. I wish I had taken pictures of his eye on Sunday when it was pure red and covered a much larger area.

Sammy was really cute about going to the hospital. He was way concerned about going on Sunday. He asked me, "Are you sure it's alright to go to the hospital on Sunday?" When we finally got there I was trying to figure out where I was supposed to park. And once we had it figured out Sammy said, "Phew, I'm so glad we didn't have to pay for parking...because it's Sunday!" And of course while we were waiting Sam said, "I hope I'm not missing a good lesson in Primary." He reminded me that the last time he missed church (we went to Uncle Ryan's house and attended church there) he had missed a lesson on the Good Samaritan (who remembers these kinds of things!!!). Because we had left church Sammy was wearing a white shirt and tie and the nurses kept commenting on how handsome he was, and of course each time Sam's cheeks instantly turned bright red. It was so cute! When we were finally leaving the hospital Sam said that it wasn't as scary as he thought it would have been and he actually had fun. I guess sitting in a dark room (had to be dark once his eye was dilated) with only your mom to visit with isn't so bad :-)

PC on the FRITZ!

My computer is broken and hubby is in the process of fixing it.  I am quickly borrowing his laptop to let you know that I won't be able to add posts to the blog until my PC is fixed.  I know just what you're thinking...How will I possibly make it through the week without reading new posts on Maegan's blog?!!!  Well, have courage and know that my superman truly is a SUPER MAN and will have my PC up and running before you know it!

NIE

Tonight I was watching the news and there was a story about a woman named Stephanie (nicknamed Nie) and her husband who were in a terrible plane crash in Arizona in August.  They both survived but are badly burned.  Nie has four kids and her sister has taken them on while Nie and her husband remain in critical condition.  Any way, instead of hitting the sack after watching the news I decided to come read Nie's blog and her sister's blog:

    

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

http://blog.cjanerun.com/

It'll make you cry, but when you get a chance read these blogs.  Nie is a wonderful example of a creative and fabulous mom.  Her sister "C-Jane" and the rest of Nie's family have great faith and hope for Nie and Christian's (her husband) recovery.

Bike Ride

On Saturday we went on a bike ride.  Rylie has a pretty good set-up with her daddy.  He brings a tow strap that connects to both their bikes.  On the way up steep hills Aaron pulls Rylie behind him. On the way down the steep hills Rylie leads but the tow strap keeps her from flying down too fast.  She wiped out a few times, and the peddle to her bike kept twisting off.  But she's pretty tough and after each crash she got right back on.  Sam and Kaeli are also good riders. They actually love going up the hills because they know on the way back they get to go down them!  Weeeeeee!  

    

Sara has a nice set-up too :-)

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL!

Today is Rylie's first day of preschool! It's her second year of preschool so she wasn't at all nervous, just very excited to see Miss. Lisa and all her friends again. Rylie's new friend is Claire and Rylie gets to ride in her car on the way to school! And of course riding in someone else's car is so much more fun than riding in your own! Here are pictures of the BIG preschooler:

Of course Sara had to be in some of the pictures too :-)

Labor Day Weekend

We had a FUN Labor Day Weekend! Dawn and Alan came up with their girls on Saturday for a BBQ. The cousins love being together. We went to the splash pad but the kids didn't get very wet because it was super windy. So they mostly played in the park. Reese and Sara however proved to be the bravest and got the most wet (Babies RULE)! Then the kids took turns flying kites. Both kites ended up in the tall scrub oak trees and we're sad to say that we lost the Hello Kitty Kite when her string broke. We saw her flying north so she's probably somewhere in Canada by now. (I guess she is only Hello Kitty to Canadians...to us she's Bye-Bye Kitty.) Here are the cousins doing their arch-ups:

On Monday we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We watched a 3D movie about Sea Monsters. So cool! And of course topped the day off with dinner at Cafe Rio...YUM!

Little Day Hike

On Saturday we went on a little hike in the Uintas. We saw 4 different lakes. It is such pretty country and the kids had a blast. On our way home we stopped to look at some water falls on the Provo River. We also went into Park City since I had never been before. We took a tram up the hill to the canyons, wandered around, and took it back down the hill. We also saw some of the 2002 Olympic sites. Very cool. One of the great things about Utah is the beauty of the mountains. Here are some pictures of our hike.

Kids say the FUNNIEST things!

When we got back from our trip to Washington and Idaho we found little tiny ants in our powder room and dining room. So yesterday I put out ant traps. They have poison in them and the ants are supposed to take the poisoned bate home and share it with their relatives and all die (so horrible, I know). So this morning I was shocked to see the ant carcasses laying all over the floor. I thought they were supposed to die in their own home! I was in a big hurry to get to the school to volunteer that I didn't have a chance to sweep them up. When we got home a few hours later Rylie noticed them and said, "Mommy! I can't believe the ants are still sleeping! And it's almost lunch time!"

This morning Rylie was eating Raisin Bran and noticed that her raisins looked more like circles instead of skinny ovals. I never really pay that much attention to my breakfast, but obviously she does. She had a good explanation for her round raisins and said, "I think there's a fairy godmother in our pantry who turns all our raisins into circles!"

First Day of School!

Today is Sam and Kaeli's first day of school. Kaeli is in the 2nd grade and Sam is in the 3rd grade...can you believe it? They were both very excited this morning and were ready to go way too early. Last year I was Kaeli's "room-mom" so this year I'm Sam's "room-mom". It's always fun to be in their classroom and see them in that environment. They're so fun at this age!

Sara and Rylie are making the saddest faces they could muster. This is how they feel about Sammy and Kaeli going back to school. I feel that way too :-(

KENNEWICK

So after our trip to Moscow we went to Kennewick to see Aaron's parents. They have a pool so everyday we were there we took a swim. The kids loved every bit of it and it was always hard to get them out of the pool. We went to the park and played tennis while the kids climbed trees. We got another chance to visit some old friends (a couple I knew from highschool and Aaron knew from college). The next day we went to Howard Amon park and played on their new toys. While we were there we celebrated Grandma Shirley's birthday. It was a fun visit and of course each night we were up way too late watching the Olympics or playing Phase 10 :-) We weren't looking forward to the 11 hour drive home, but we survived and we're glad we made the trip!

MOSCOW

Last week we made a trip to see our friends and family. The first day we drove to Boise, and visited all our old friends and neighbors and spent the night w/ my aunt. We even attended our old ward the next morning. We left feeling a bit homesick for our old friends and old way of life. We then drove up to Moscow to see my parents and my sister and her two kids. It was so fun just to hang out and visit. We went up Kamiak Butte (for old times sake) and were reminded of the beauty of the palouse. We drove around Pullman where I went to highschool and Aaron and I both attended WSU. It was fun to point out to the kids my old house and where Sam and Kaeli were born. We also got to go see my Dad's new lab and look at spores under the microscope. (Sam wants to be a scientist when he grows up.) We also visited the bears at WSU. The next day we went to Moscow's public pool and swam. They have a fun kiddie pool area and some fun slides. The kids love the water and didn't hesitate to jump right in. On Wednesday we left Moscow and drove up to Liberty Lake to visit some friends from college, and then we drove to Kennewick...

Don't step on a CRACK or you'll break your momma's BACK!

Here's one of the reasons why I love kids: We walk to church every Sunday and a few weeks ago I noticed Kaeli was avoiding all the cracks in the sidewalk the entire way to church. She turned around and let me know she was being super careful so she wouldn't break my back!

More FUN in the SUN

What a look!

Is it just me or is Sammy looking more grown up?

Sisters!

Time to go home!

Little Fishies

The kids have swim lessons this week and next. They love being in the water and they're getting to be better swimmers every day! My challenge is keeping Sara from joining her siblings in the pool! She's fearless and would love to jump right in!

Kaeli
lovin' the water!

Rylie and Sam
waiting their turn...

Sara
I think she thinks her hand is in her pocket! I had to laugh (and of course take a picture)!

Pioneer Day!

The kids and I had a fun Pioneer Day. We started the morning off watching the "Days of 47" parade on TV. During lunch I read some "Little House on the Prairie" and afterwards the kids played in the sprinkler in the front yard. After dinner we made smores on the front porch. Yes, that truly is a smore maker and those of you who know me well shouldn't be surprised :-) Once it got dark the kids and I lit sparklers. I really wanted a picture with all the kids holding the sparklers, but I could never get them all lit at one time, and take a picture! I was surprised Sara was so fearless about holding the sparklers...she loved them and it was so cute to see her amazement. In case you're wondering where Aaron is during all our festivities he's in Idaho rafting the Salmon with the scouts. I hope he's roasting some of his own marshmallows right now!

Splash Pad Fun!

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is go to the splash pad. It's FREE and WET, and that's all we need to keep cool :-) Even Sara gets soaked from head to toe!

Sam's Basement Bedroom

I'm catching up on all the picture taking now that we have a camera again. This is Sammy's NEW room! It still needs carpet and a windowsill, but he's moved in and loves having his own space.

A little more than a hike!

Yesterday we had a fun hike planned, but once again rain was in the forecast so we decided to do a simple and easy hike that Aaron had done once before, and wait to do the more extensive hike another time. We set off toward donut falls and right before we got there we came to a stream that had grown much wider than it had been before. It took a few trips, but Aaron and I were able to get all the kids across the stream, hopping from rock to rock and slippery log to slippery log. It wasn't too bad, we've crossed several streams before and we always look forward to a little challenge. It looked like the trail ended at the foot of the falls, but we were hoping for a little longer hike. There seemed to be a faint trail that went up along the side of a drop off parallel to the falls so we decided to go up. Sam and Kaeli took off and were excited to climb to the top so we all scrambled up the hill. At first it wasn't too bad, but before long we were rock climbing up a face that made me very nervous. One little misstep could send you sliding down the cliff toward the stream below. I stayed as close as possible to Sam and Kaeli, but they didn't seem to notice the danger. Aaron had Sara in the baby pack and was slowly helping Rylie up the hill. As we were making our way up Kaeli came to a wasp nest sitting among the rocks. I told her to go around and we all made the same detour. We finally made our way to the top. I was so grateful that we made it safely. There was a trail that looked like it hadn't been kept up, but we decided to follow it any way. It was overgrown and the further we went the less it looked like a trail. Knowing that we needed plenty of time to get down the hill we decided to turn around. When we got back to the top of the cliff that we had climbed up we decided it wouldn't be very safe to go back down the same way we came up. So we followed a trail that looked more like a game trail than like a hiking trail. We bush-wacked our way down knowing the general direction we needed to go in. Of course it was slippery and steep, but it was safer! When we got to the bottom of the hill we followed a ravine toward the sound of the stream. When we got there it didn't look like a place where we could cross. So we kept walking down stream. The bushes and branches were so thick that we could barely see the ground, and we tried not to flick each other in the face with the branches. We got to a place were it was just too thick to continue, so Aaron went back and scouted out an area to cross. He came back for us and one at a time he helped the kids across the stream. We eventually made it back to the trail. Before we got to the car we stopped for lunch and a game of tag at a clearing. For some reason the kids and Aaron are always trying to catch ME! (It still was one of the highlights of the day). So our little hike turned out to be a little more of an adventure than we thought it would've been, but that wasn't too surprising! Our kids are great little hikers, and we had a lot of fun!