Fasting

This last fast Sunday, Erin was mad about having to fast.  She was pretty upset, so we were trying to explain about fasting.  We said you need to fast with a purpose and asked her "What do you want to fast for, Erin?" Without missing a beat, she stood up, pointed her finger in the air and angrily yelled "How about for 40 days and 40 nights?" Then stomped off to her bedroom.  Cameron and I laughed so much for a couple of minutes we couldn't go after her and explain anything.  Silly girl!

Funeral

Cameron's dad passed away on Oct. 22.  How do you sum up what a person meant to you and your family in one blog post?  You can't, so I won't.  Lee has been on my mind quite a bit lately.  We sure will miss him.  I loved how he would tease and he was totally fine with being teased back.  When I first married into Cameron's family, I wasn't sure how to take his Dad's sense of humor.  He kidded me a lot about being from Vernal and for reading Harry Potter.  He told me it was a kids' book and asked why in the world would I read it?  I had Cameron get the books on tape for him to listen to in his truck and he became as much a fan as anyone.  Cameron is sad his Dad is gone because he can't talk with him anymore.  Even though it is such a happy thing for Lee, the rest of us are left without him.

It was so nice to get everyone together.  It was fun to see cousins from far away.  Erin and Reagan were especially sad to see them go home when it was over. 

I love this one because it's fun, but I LOVE Laney in this one.  It makes me laugh every time. 

The grandchildren sang Families Can Be Together Forever and I am a Child of God.  They did super.  The siblings all talked and gave nice memories of their Dad and Greg gave a spiritual thought, which turned out so nice.  Lee's sisters also spoke about their memories of their brother.  

This is at the viewing.  I was so exhausted and I didn't even do anything.  I felt for Cameron and his siblings and April who had to stand and do the comforting of others.   

The boys (and girls) got to go through Grandpa's ties.  They each chose at least one and most got a tie clip to go with it.  They all wore their ties to the funeral the next day.  It was fun to see that little touch that no one really knew about, but the family. 

This is one of my favorite pictures.  It shows my Owen being so reverent, putting his boutonniere on Grandpa's casket.  He's not much of a thinker, he's more of a doer, so to see him like this is touching for me. 

This is also a favorite.  I can see him thinking about the day, putting it together in his mind.  The other grandchildren have turned away, but he took just a minute more and thought about it.  That's a special moment for Owen. 

 This is such a pretty picture of the grave site.

It was pretty chilly, so the kids wrapped up in blankets provided by the mortuary.  

 We went up afterward and the kids got to pick some flowers to remember Grandpa. 

Liam had the hardest time of all my kids I think.  I am so very, very grateful I have the gospel in my life so I have the answers to the questions my kids have asked.  This was a hard time for Cameron and the family, but we are so happy for Lee.  We're happy he is happy again and whole again.  We love you Lee!!

Halloween

Halloween came and went.  I have a couple of pictures on my phone that I forgot to download onto the computer of Owen and Reagan's programs.  I'll get those on later.  We didn't get to carve our pumpkins this year until the day before Halloween.

We got pumpkins from our garden this year and Reagan really wanted to go to the pumpkin patch, so we ended up with nine pumpkins.  I told them they could carve one each.  I didn't want to carve nine. 

Love that my kids love each other... 

The obligatory silly picture. 

This is Liam's.  His was a cool dude this year. 

Erin liked Owen's so much she came up with a variation on his. 

Owen wanted 3 eyes and sharp teeth.  I thought his design was fun. 

Reagan wanted a mad pumpkin.  I carved hers and I feel it came out more scared than mad, but she liked it, so we're good. 

Liam was a ghillie sniper this year.  He has wanted to be this for about three years and I finally broke down and bought the costume.  He got lots of comments on it, so he felt pretty cool.  After we came home from trick or treating, he laid in the grass and waited for people to come to our door.  I think he scared a few. 

He did get hot in his costume, and the gun he carried was pretty heavy, so he scrapped it before we even got started, but it turned out okay. 

Here is our Zombie Soccer Player.  I thought about cutting a soccer ball in half and putting it like it was coming out of her head, but couldn't figure out the logistics soon enough.

Here's Erin being scary.  Her eyes look a little crazy to me. 

This is our Zombie Rock Star.  I couldn't find a rock star-y shirt, so I made this one.  It turned out pretty cute. 

His blood didn't dry all the way, so he was a little sticky all night.  He looks different with black hair huh? 

And now our Regular Zombie.  I think she wanted to be a zombie because her best buddy Owen was being a zombie. 

It was such a beautiful night for trick or treating.  It was 60 something degrees.  They didn't even need jackets.  It was magical weather. 

I even got in on the action with my wig.  People would say they liked my wig and Cameron would say "What wig, what are you talking about?"  He thought he was pretty funny. 

It was a fun time.  We started at 5:30, were home by 7:30, took baths and were in bed by 9:00.  That's my kind of Halloween!!

Erin

So cute Erin had a birthday.  She turned eight years old.  A couple of posts ago, I posted about her birthday party with her friends.  Now here's her parties with just our family, and all the aunts, uncles and cousins who came to see her be baptized.

She got lots of fun presents for getting baptized.  I think a few of her favorites were a scripture bag she takes to church with her every week, a couple BYU themed items because she loves the Y, candy and a picture of the temple she keeps on her dresser in her room.  She was so excited for everyone to be here, though you couldn't tell.  She doesn't like to be the center of the attention, but she loves having everyone around her.

Why didn't we get a pic of her in her baptism suit?  Because I was running around trying to find Cameron's bag and it started without me, so we didn't get to take pictures before.  The baptism was nice.  We had a party beforehand and had tacos with everyone and then did the baptism and conformation and were done.  So much quicker than the three hours it took with Liam.  She got to go with Grandma April and buy a new outfit for the day and that made her feel pretty special too.  She really wanted Grandpa Lee to be a witness at her baptism, but he was unable to do it because of his Alzheimer's.  One tender moment that will stick with me though, is after she was confirmed, I turned around to look at the people behind me and I caught sight of Lee.  He was sitting and smiling so wide.  He was just so happy!  I knew his spirit knew what was going on even though his mind didn't.  It was a very spiritual and tender moment for me to witness. 

Here is her cake she designed.  She picked colors and where everything would go and the whole bit.   

Erin loves to draw and color and create.  I forgot to mention she got a lot of markers and paper for her birthday too.  These were also some of her favorite gifts.  She has been writing a story and illustrating it and has done a really nice job.  She's really good at drawing and coloring and the like. 

Happy Birthday cute girl! 

This picture is one I just didn't know where to put.  This is Liam's hat that he bought at his class store.  He thought it was pretty fun. 

This is Liam and Ethan his cousin.  They climbed up the tree and wanted their picture taken.  Then they couldn't get down.  It was a bit of an ordeal to get Liam out.  Ethan just decided to jump.

New Pictures

It's picture taking time again.  I took the kids' pictures at a park this year.  I think they turned out cute.

Liam, 10 years old

 



Erin, 7 years old 

Owen, 6 years old

 

Reagan, 3 years old.

 

 

 

Our cute kids.

 

The rest of these are just some silly pictures we took, or candid ones I got of the kids. 

Back to School

Back to school time again.  This year we have three going all day.  Poor Reagan has been a little bored these last couple of days with just me to hang out with.

Liam is in fifth grade.  He was pretty excited for school.  It helps that his best buddy is in his class this year. 

Erin is in third grade.  She was a little excited, a little nervous.  She came home and said "Mom, I don't like my teacher...I love her!"  So that is a good thing. 

Owen is in first grade.  All day school for him.  It will be a test for him I think.  He did have his good buddy in his class, but at the last minute, they added another first grade teacher, and his friend got moved to the new class.  It will be good for Owen to make new friends.   

Reagan will start preschool in a couple of weeks.  She wanted her picture taken too, so here it is. 

They are getting bigger every year.  It's true that the days are long, but the years are short. 

Here's hoping for a good year with good friends and good teachers.