Eliza the Fashionista

Eliza is so much more fashion-conscious than I ever was as a young child.  I don't think I noticed fashion at all until I was in the fifth grade and everything else had an Esprit bag and I didn't have one.  From then on, I became a little more aware, but only somewhat.  I still sported tennis shoes with jeans and wore my backpack with both straps in high school (but only after moving to a place where it seemed that people didn't really care). 

This little girl loves to be fashionable.  She wanted skinny jeans to go with her boots.  She wanted boots!  When I was her age, I think I probably had a pair of tennis shoes and a pair of church shoes.  This is Eliza ready for school.

Partial Temple Tour of Utah

Just before the kids went off track at the end of September, Westley suggested that we do a "temple tour of Utah" while we were off track. Originally, we were going to go to all 13 open temples. Ogden is closed for remodeling the outside (and probably inside, I don't know) and Payson and Provo Center Street are being built. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it to all the temples.  Three of them would have required overnight stays and for some reason, there just wasn't ever a good day to go to Manti.  So, hopefully, during one of our other off-track times, we will be able to make it to the other four.  We also had Margrethe come with us when she could, but we did go during the school day and she was in school while the kids were off track.

Salt Lake Temple

Logan Temple

Brigham City Temple

Bountiful Temple

Timpanogos Temple

Draper Temple

Jordan River Temple

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Provo Temple

We have Vernal, Manti, Monticello, and St. George left to see.

Caleb is NINE!

Caleb turned nine in October. We celebrated his birthday in the usual fashion. He got to pick what he ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the evening, he got his birthday cake and ice cream and his presents. This year, he chose a BOB cake. BOB is a monster on Monsters vs. Aliens, meaning "Blob Of Blue."

Homecoming

Having a teenager around is kind of fun because you get to know about the extra-curricular things like Homecoming. Margrethe was asked to Homecoming pretty quickly. She arrived in one of her classes to find a T-shirt on her desk with a note asking her to the dance. On the T-shirt were the names of all the boys in that class. The instructions were for her to wash the T-shirt and the name remaining was who had asked her. Then she had to wear the T-shirt to school signifying a yes answer. I thought it was pretty clever. She had a good time at the dance. I've been very pleased to see how easily and quickly she makes friends. She is a very easy-going fun girl and we have really enjoyed having her here this year with us.

Pinewood Derby 2013

We had our annual pinewood derby and this year, Corey had to help make TWO cars. I think we may just end up being THAT family that buys a pinewood derby pre-cut car kit because once again, ours came in dead last in every single race. Well, the race where they raced each other, Caleb's came in last. The boys acted like they didn't care, but I know they really did. Maybe by the time Jonah has his last one, we'll have figured out how to make them fast? The good news is that at least they got awards for how their cars looked!

Westley's was a Spider-man theme.

Caleb made a Shell Raiser (Ninja Turtles' vehicle) car.

Corey did the cutting and the sanding.  The boys painted them.  I put the wheels on.  I'm probably the reason they didn't go very fast.  But hey, at least they got to participate and still had fun making the cars!

Cute Annmarie

Annmarie is such a cute baby.  She started out a little difficult--lots of crying and no sleeping.  But by three months, she fell into a good pattern with naps and eating and has, so far (fingers crossed), been my easiest baby.  She sleeps all night (most nights), cries when she's hungry or needs a diaper change or is tired, and easily eats and goes to sleep for regular naps.  She smiles at everyone and has been very quick about learning to roll around, sit up, and eat solids.  She is a very content baby.

Travis Turns SEVEN!

Travis turned seven this year.  He took treats to his class and was excited about that.  Corey and I took Travis to Brick Oven for dinner a few days before his birthday.  We did celebrate his birthday the usual way--meal choices, presents and a fun cake.  He had waffles for breakfast, bought school lunch, and had chicken pasta for dinner.  He got a Ninja Turtles Lego set, a Ninja Turtles pajama set, a Ninja Turtles shell raiser (from Margrethe) and a Ninja Turtles weapon set for Raphael.  Funny enough, his cake wasn't Ninja Turtles, it was a minion from the movie "Despicable Me".  I think for us, the most exciting part of the kids' birthdays are the cake they get.  He was very excited about his cake, and it was a surprise.  I was able to keep it hidden from him until we brought it out after dinner.

Seven things about Travis:

1.  Travis LOVES the Ninja Turtles and spends hours drawing them over and over.

2.  Travis is such a great swimmer.

3.  Travis is very smart and learns quickly.

4.  Travis LOVES his baby sister and always wants to hold her.  She loves him too and always smiles when she sees him.

5.  Travis is such a natural athlete--very coordinated and balanced.

6.  Travis says the funniest things, like asking me "What if we were all born as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?"

7.  Travis loves Calvin and Hobbes and is always quoting the comics he reads.