When I grow up, I want to be just like my children

Any outside reader will have to forgive me when I share something a little more personal than the normal "what we've been up to" post. I don't really have individual journals that I keep for my kids, other than this blog. This is, in a sense, our family history.

I just wanted to share a conversation that I overheard today between Tanner and Mickell. They had no idea that I was eves-dropping but the conversation brought tears to my eyes.

I guess I'd better give a little background. The past week has been very emotional for our family. Last week Emily and Dave's precious little baby passed away. Two days ago an amazing family in our ward had a tragic accident in which the dad died and the mom is still in critical condition. We've been pretty close to this family. Sasha (the daughter) was one of my laurels and Baylen was able to work with the dad in scouts. We have truly been heart broken for Emily and Dave and the Seegmillers.

Last Sunday we participated in a family fast for my uncle (who is going through a huge trial right now with his health) and Emily and Dave. Today our ward fasted for the Seegmiller family.

I know how hard it is for my kids to fast and so I decided to leave it up to them whether they did or not. I told them about the invitation to do so each week and then didn't say anything else to them. Today after church Tanner and Mickell were deciding if they wanted to keep fasting through lunch or not. Mickell mentioned that she thought she would break her fast and eat lunch. Tanner then said,"I was going to break my fast, too. But, then I thought about how hard it would be if I lost a member of my family. I also thought about how sad Emily looked when Macie died and I want to keep fasting to help them."

I was truly touched by his faith and love for these people we love that are suffering so much right now. Both Tanner and Mickell decided to keep fasting... even though being hungry is a really hard thing for them. My children are such an example to me and I learn from them everyday.

The Perfect Example

So, a while back I posted about what a kind, sensitive kid Tanner is. I mentioned that Tanner thanks me for everything (which seriously makes me so happy). Well, I have the perfect example now of the fact that "everything" does in fact mean "everything..."

While driving home from the doctor's office yesterday, Tanner very sincerely says to me, "Hey mom, thanks for taking me to get a flu shot!"

It was all I could do to focus enough not to drive right into the median when I heard that.

Mind you, all of my kids did fantastic. Not one of them complained or cried once. In fact, when I picked them up at school, Hailey hopped in the car saying, "I'm so excited to get my shot."

I'm pretty sure this isn't normal. But I'll take it any day!!! I sure love my kids!

Fall Break

This year for UEA we had originally planned to go to the cabin. When we found out that my cousin asked to use it, we considered St. George. However, we decided that we didn't want to spend the money in gas to go down there to swim at the hotel (which is what my kids like spending the majority of their time doing on "hotel trips." So, we decided to make the long journey (one hour) and do a little vacation down in Utah County. We actually spent one of the days at home doing fun stuff around Kaysville. We saw Smurfs at the dollar theater and got our favorite gelato at Harmons. Thursday night the kids requested that we do a fondue night. We had a great time and ate way too many sweets!

On Friday we headed down to Utah County. Our first stop was Trafalga. Our Pass of all Passes includes a season pass to Trafalga. So, we spent the entire day there for free. There is so much to do and we took full advantage of the fact that we could do it all. Here are pictures of a few of the things we did.

When we were completely exhausted, we headed down to Orem. We drove around showing the kids our old apartment and different places that we loved when we were down there. It brought back so many amazing memories. Baylen and I both decided that we would live those years of our life again in a heartbeat. We miss happy valley!

We then headed to our hotel where we spent the night swimming. I forgot the life jackets. So, Hailey had lots of practice swimming. I guess I've never really given her the chance to practice because the life jackets are my security when I take the kids swimming by myself. I was really impressed at how good she is. She could swim around the whole pool with no problem.

That night we also played a few card games and ate popcorn. As the kids were going to bed, we told them that they could ask us any questions that they wanted. They asked us a lot about when we were kids. It was fun to just lay there and talk and laugh together.
In the morning we went swimming again for a few hours. The pool was a perfect temperature! Then we packed up and headed to Provo Canyon. We went to Bridal Veil falls and then Vivian Park.
We spent a lot of time at Vivian Park when we lived in Orem. It was fun to take the kids back. While we were there the girls played on the playground and Tanner and Baylen hiked to the top of the mountain. Literally. It was a super fun weekend!

Fall Fun

We have had some absolutely beautiful days this fall. We have been trying to take advantage of those days by spending as much time as possible outside! We were lucky to have an almost hot October day one Saturday. So, we decided to head to J&J's. J&J nursery does a free hayride out to their pumpkin patch each year. Everyone that donates a can of food, also gets to choose a pumpkin for free. We had a lot of fun despite the fact that by the time we got there, most of the pumpkins were pretty picked over. We had to hike quite a ways out to find some good ones. Then, since Baylen wasn't able to come, we struggled to get all the pumpkins back to the hayride. It was quite the ordeal but we made it! Here is a pic at the patch. I didn't take very many pictures for obvious reasons (I was attempting to carry up to three pumpkins at a time :)

Ashlyn and I were also able to go on her preschool field trip to Black Island farm. We love that place!!! Ashlyn was in heaven because of all the animals. When I was able to pry her away from the goats and turkeys, she also had fun on the slides, bounce house, train, corn maze, hayride and swings. It was fun spending the afternoon with her.

Ashlyn and her friend Landon
Ashlyn and Hope
Her favorite part...

You Can Find ANYTHING On the Internet!

The other night the kids and I were all hanging out in the loft. I was on the floor folding laundry and the kids were playing computer games. Ashlyn was watching Hailey as she played. At one point I guess Hailey was getting frustrated that she couldn't figure out how to open the door in the game. Ashlyn responsed by saying, "Hailey, just go to www.how-do-you-open-the-door?.com." I had to laugh at how far technology has come since Tanner and Mickell were Ashlyn's age. They had no idea what the internet was and now Ashlyn is convinced there is a web site for EVERYTHING!!!

This picture is of Ashlyn and her preschool pet Peanuts. She loved bringing it home for her turn and especially had fun dressing it up in a little pumpkin costume that she wore when she was a baby.