Ethan's first talk.

I just thought that I would report that Ethan gave his first talk ever in sacrament meeting this last Sunday.

He woke up Sunday morning and all of a sudden realized that he was suppose to give a talk. Who forgets they are giving a talk... in sacrament meeting? We quickly headed into the office and typed one up. He chose to speak on honesty.

He did a good job! Before going to church I made him read it several times, critiquing him every time he read it. Speak louder, speak slower, pronounce your words clearly, and if you can, look up at the audience every now and then. He was pretty sick of me within no time!

We were very proud of him. He spoke up. He didn't read it too fast. He spoke pretty clear. And at the end of every paragraph he pause to look up at the audience. It was so cute! David and I just looked at each other and smiled.

Our boy is growing up!

Look what I got!

NEW CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS!

Aren't they adorably cute?

My friend Michelle Rich designed and made them.

For years now David and I have been wanting to get new stockings but I have never found any that I LOVED! And I didn't want to spend money on something I didn't love. When Michelle was making these she brought them over to see what I thought of them. I instantly loved them! She is one talented lady! She has been selling these stockings in Dear Lizzy and Finders Keepers. And they mean that much more to me because I know who made them. Thanks Michelle!

And Merry Christmas to me!

Now I just need a tree skirt to match! Maybe that will have to be my christmas present to myself next year.

I live amongst an artist!

I don't know what it is with Talan and writing utensils, but he has a strong attraction to them! He always finds something to write with, and something (walls and furniture) to write on! This may sound like an over exaggeration on my part, but really this is an understatement!

And I have the walls to prove it!

His #1 most favorite writing utensil just happens to be the PERMANENT marker. Fine choice I know! It's bold and LONG LASTING! I think he's trying to make a statement! Time and time again we have found him walking around the house with a PERMANENT marker in hand. I don't know where he's finding them. When I need a permanent marker I can't seem to EVER find one. But leave it to Talan who's not even 2 years old to know exactly where they all are! It's gotten so bad that now whenever we see a permanent marker, we just throw it away!

I was at my friend Michelle's house getting my hair done. I brought Reagan and Talan along with me. While I was getting my hair done they were in the other room playing. With foils in my hair Talan came in to show me that he was holding a PERMANENT marker in his hand. Oh my gosh! Michelle went running into the other room to see if he had written on anything. And of course he had. He wrote all over her piano bench, white table, and dry erase board. Are you kidding me? Not at my friends house, all over everything! I was mortified! I couldn't believe that he had found a marker, a PERMANENT marker! Michelle quickly ran up stairs and came back down with Clorox clean-up and soft scrub. Luckily we caught it quick enough and it did the trick. She got it all out.

We were at my Aunt and Uncles house for Thanksgiving dinner a few weeks later. After dinner we were all sitting around chit chatting and my Aunt commented on how good Talan had been. Not even 5 minutes later we discovered he had found a PERMANENT marker and had drawn all over her fridge and wood chest. I swear! (Well I didn't really swear but I sure wanted to!) Seriously Talan, lay off the markers! We got the good old Clorox out and it came off once again. I'm telling you Clorox really works on permanent markers.

So now I'm on a quest. A quest to get the markings off my walls. The pencil, the pen, the crayon, and the Permanent marker! I went out and bought an 8 pack of magic erasers, and my first eraser went from this... to this, in no time!

Here is a nice little sampling of some of his best work. We call this little masterpiece, "Reflections." Actually I just made that up, we don't really call it anything. But maybe we should call it, "I need a swift kick in the pants!"

As I was scrubbing away at the walls I thought of this cute little quote.

"It will be gone before you know it. The fingerprints on the walls appear higher and higher, then suddenly they disappear." Dorothy Evslin

I really should just relax and enjoy the journey. Before I know it my house will be quite and all my walls will be clean.

Big Brother & Little Sister

Yesterday I got a phone call from my friend Shari, "Stephanie I'm looking at the cutest picture ever! Go outside with your camera and take a picture of Ethan and Reagan walking home from the bus stop together! It is so cute! They are walking side by side. It would make the cutest picture! Okay, call me back when you're done taking the picture."

So I grabbed my camera (Because I do everything I'm told!) and run outside. They weren't side by side anymore but it was still pretty cute! My 6th grader and my kindergartner walking home together.

And of course I had to stop them and take a cute side by side shot too! They didn't even ask any questions, they just posed for the picture and continued on their way. Do you think this is a sign that I take way too many pictures of my kids?

Sweet baby Gracie

We had never been to The Festival of Trees before,

I guess we had no real reason to go.

We had heard about it on the television and radio ....

but exactly what it was, we did not know.

But this year was different, not only did we know,

this year we had all the reason in the world to go.

Sweet baby Gracie had her very own tree in the show!

Gracie Jean Gledhill

had a tree in her honor at the Festival of Trees.

Her mother Michele along with some family and friends put together and decorated the most beautiful representation of Gracie.

All the money spent on the tree was donated by those who loved sweet Gracie. The tree was then donated to The Festival of Trees and auctioned off. All the money from the auction went directly to Primary Children's hospital. There were 800 trees in the festival, all representing someone who had passed on. All very unique and special in their own way.

3 months ago Tom and Michele's good friends decided together as a family that they were going to go to the Festival of Trees and buy Gracie's tree and then give it back to Tom and Michele as a Christmas gift. Tom and Michele had no idea that they were going to do this until it was a done deal. Now they will have Gracie's tree in their home, in Gracie's room to look at and enjoy! I can't think of a more selfless act of kindness. There truly are some wonderful people in this world!

Our kids were so thrilled to be able to go to the festival to see Gracie's tree. As soon as we walked in the doors we headed straight to Gracie's Tree. We then walked through the whole festival seeing her tree again. And then before leaving it was important that we go see it one last time! It was fun to listen to other people as they walked by her tree. By far Gracie's tree was one of the most beautiful trees of the festival.

For Christmas this year I told Tom and Michele that I knew exactly what I wanted them to get me! I wanted my very own ornament of Sweet baby Gracie girl for my tree. Michele acted excited and surprised that that's what I wanted. She ran in the other room and out she came with this special ornament just for me!

We couldn't be happier with this special gift.

We will treasure it always!

I came home and placed it on my tree. The next morning Reagan came down the stairs and the first thing she noticed was the new Gracie ornament. She said, "Look! It's Gracie next to Jesus! Because that's were she is, she really is next to Jesus huh mom?"

I said, "Yes Reagan, she is!"

Advancements in Scouts.

Ethan went to his first Court of Honor and received his tenderfoot, 2nd class and 1st class. I had the honor of having the mothers pin pinned on me. I'm assuming this was for giving birth to him because I sure didn't help him with anything scouts related aside from driving him there!

This is all of us with Ethan's scout leader Brent Best.

Good job Ethan! They tell us that if Ethan stays on this same pace he should have his Eagle in 2 years. We hope he can pass his dad up and join that Eagle's nest.

Carsten is loving Cub Scouts! I am his den leader and it's a lot of fun being in there with him. At our last pack meeting he received his bobcat along with 2 yellow beads. He is half way to receiving his wolf and he's only been in cub scouts for 2 months. He is so cute! At home he'll go put his scout uniform on, get his book and come tell me, "I'm ready to work on scouts!" He's one kid on a mission, driven to succeed!

When the boys advance in cub scouts their parents paint their faces as part of the advancement ceremony. This is a picture right before I started painting Carsten's face. We didn't get a picture of the finished look.

Bradon received his bear along with a bunch of other things (it was too much to keep track of). During football season the boys aren't able to go to any pack meetings because it conflicts with practice. So when football season is over they always seem to rack in a whole bunch of awards all at once. This is a picture of Bradon with his bear painted face.

We are so proud of all our boys and their accomplishments in scouts!

A proud moment!

I know, I know , I know!

We shouldn't be taking pictures of our kid passing the sacrament at church. Well actually, truth be told, it wasn't me who took the picture. David snapped it with his iphone very discreetly as Ethan passed by. But look at him! Isn't he so cute? I can't believe that he's old enough to be passing the sacrament!

So I have to share the cutes moment of his first Sunday passing the sacrament... After passing the bread they all walked back up to the table to give their trays to the priests. Ethan gave his tray and then the priest held it out to Ethan so that he could partake of the sacrament. Ethan wasn't so sure why the priest was handing the tray out to him. So Ethan reached back up and tried to take the tray back. The priest sorta shook his head no and dipped the tray at Ethan again. Finally Ethan caught on and took a piece of bread. My heart melted! I thought that this was the cutest little moment. So innocent and pure and adorably cute! I'm pretty sure that nobody else in the room noticed this but me, but it touched and melted my heart! We are so proud of Ethan. He is such a good kid! We couldn't be more happy with the choices he's made and the fine young man he's becoming.

We love you son!

Oops I did it again!

Yesterday morning I told Reagan to go get in the car because we were leaving on our morning drink run. Not that kind of drink... Caffeine Free Diet Coke topped with a little Cherry, It's my breakfast soda! Reagan said okay and ran out the door. A few minutes later I went out too. The weird thing was that she wasn't in the garage when I went out there. I lifted the garage door and her and Talan were running around on the driveway. I questioned her as to why she was out in the front of the house. She said she went out the front door instead of the garage door. I didn't think much about it other than it was weird that she went that way when she NEVER goes that way!

We had a busy day as usual. After the kids got home from school I took them to The Festival of Trees. We didn't get home until really late at night. When we got home we had the kids get ready for bed, we had family prayer and then all the kids headed to bed. Ethan headed to the basement. When he got to the bottom of the stairs he stepped into an inch of standing water! He ran upstairs to tell us and then we all ran down. David went out front and found the garden hose to be on. Who in the heck would have turned the hose on? And left it on? We all quickly started moving everything from the wet side of the basement to the dry side. The water was freezing cold and we were all barefooted. Once we got it all moved we went back upstairs to question the children. They all swore they hadn't turned the water on. I couldn't think of a time any of the kids had been outside to have turned the water on. Except for when Reagan went out for those few short minutes 12 hours ago! "Reagan, did you turn the water on today?" She looked down and shook her head no. "Reagan when we went on our drink run this morning you went out the front door. Did you turn the water on then?" She looked up and shook her head yes. "Why did you turn the water on?" She shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't know why. Oh my heck! Why???

We sent the kids to bed and called a neighbor to see if we could borrow his shop vac. He brought it over and David and I got to work. The shop vac holds 15 gallons of water. We filled it 7 times! Thats 105 gallons of water! This morning it was all pretty much dry. The house smells a little wet but it could have been worst. We could have had a finished basement! I never thought I would be grateful for an UNFINISHED basement.... but I am!

Oops I did it again! I don't know if you remember me posting about a similar experience we faced about a year and a half ago. Reagan turned the hose on in the back yard and left it running for I don't know how long. My sister Staci was here visiting and her baby was in the basement taking a nap. She went down to check on him and found water pouring into the basement from the window. That flood wasn't nearly as bad as this one but still just as equally annoying! I hope that Reagan has learned her lesson and PLEASE DONT TELL ME that this is one of those 3 times a charm things!

Add to cart.

This morning as I was ironing the kids clothes for school, Carsten was telling me about pillow pets and how he really would like one for Christmas. I asked him what pillow pets were. Ethan helped him pull up www.pillowpets.com He told me which one he wanted. I asked him where I could buy one. He said in a real matter of fact kind of way, "You just click, ADD TO CART!" I had to laugh. Ethan then said, "Wow, THAT'S MODERN! Before add to cart was invented you had to actually GO TO THE STORE!"

Rivalry Week 2009!

In Utah, college football is EVERYTHING!

Now I realize that college football is everything to a lot of people all over the United States but our experience is limited to Arizona and Utah. David and I had only lived in Arizona up until moving here, and college football is everything here in comparison to what it was in Arizona.

Our kids started school (elementary school) just a few short months after we moved here. Within the first few weeks of going to school they were coming home chanting, "BYU rocks! Utah Sucks!" David and I were floored! We were surprised that at such a young age they were already picking their allegiance!

David and I bought BYU season tickets and that's when our RIVALRY began!

The Gledhill's are our neighbors. Michele is a BYU graduate and Tom is a U of U graduate. They are a house divided. Tom thinks that UTAH is all that and a bag of chips. He likes to shout, "Go Utes!" in a deep voice whenever HE deems it appropriate. Michele has gone as far as saying that he is brainwashing their children into being U of U fans. I think that Michele is very WISE in her assumption!

Last year we decide to rival with the Gledhills. It was a good time! We got em good!

This year we were at it again, but this year Michele was on our team!

We started off rivalry week with some BYU car magnets. We placed them on Tom's truck on the passenger side doors late at night. The next day Michele kept Tom from driving the kids to school so they wouldn't find them. Then Tom drove clear across town strutting his BYU spirit!

Go Cougars!

We went to Lowes and got a refrigerator box. I drew a Y and cut it out with a box cutter. We spray painted it white, blow dried it dry, taped blue christmas lights around the trim of it,

wrote them this sweet little note....

And mounted the Y to their house!

It looked AWESOME!!!

All I had to say at this point in time was, "GAME ON!"

David picked up this cute little gnome and Michele helped us out by putting it under Tom's pillow. Funny thing is that he laid on it for the longest time not noticing a thing. Finally Michele had to ask him if he felt something hard under his head. I guess that's how those Utah fans are... feeling-less and hardheaded!

Feeling-less is right!!!

The Gleds strike back!

They U'ed our dog!

And then they U'ed our yard (both front and back)!

Our kids were home and caught them in the act! They ran outside, Carsten grabbed a broom and started whacking Tom with it, then they got our own paint and started painting "SUCKS" after U of U! From what we hear, it got a little crazy!

That night we had a little discussion with our kids about

"good rivalry etiquette!"

NO WHACKING THE NEIGHBOR WITH A BROOM!

Tom decorated his Y on his house and then brought over this metal U lined with red christmas lights and hung it on our front door. Due to the fact we have a window for a front door, we all saw the red lights shinning through the window. The U was so big that it blocked us from opening the door. We all walked around and went outside to have a good laugh with Tom. While we were standing there Ethan cracked the front door open and Talan grabbed it and pulled it all the way open. The U fell down in S L O W M O T I O N,

hitting the ground, bulbs popping, sparks flying,

Ethan yelling (also in slow motion)... T A L A N!

It was all in dramatic like fashion! We just stood there in shock watching as it all played out. What in the heck!

Note to all Utah fans trying to prank the Adair's... Your window of opportunity only lasts a few minutes before the Adair's come crashing in, destroying all that is good!

Tom went home with his U,

strung a new set of lights on it and rehung it!

Go Utes!

David and I felt terribly bad for all the drama our kids had caused that day. We put together a little pre game party pack, we RANG & we RAN!

Go Cougs!

At the game BYU came out in their old retro BYU colors.

It was a close exciting game and BYU won it in overtime!

The crowed rushed the field. It was awesome!

Tom took it like a man. Smiles after the game and everything!

So until next year... we have all the bragging rights!

Isn't that how it works?

BYU ROCKS!!!

Carsten's Thanksgiving play.

Carsten's 2nd grade class performed a little Thanksgiving play. All the kids had speaking parts and Carsten played the part of an indian.

He said, "It was winter, the ground was white with snow, the men cut down trees building houses with tools that they brought from their trunks from England."

And then his other part was, "They had plenty to eat!"

Carsten did such a good job!

After the play was over he told me, "I was nervous!"

Way to go Carsten, you make a cute indian!

The Family Zoo Party!

Ethan didn't want to have a party this year for his birthday but decided that he wanted to go to the zoo as a family. So the day after his birthday we went to the Hogle Zoo.

The first thing we went to see was the new baby elephant.

So cute!

I love elephants! I don't know what it is about them but I love them! And now I am pretty sure that a baby elephant is about as cute as it gets!

We found a peacock walking around and found the need to follow it around for awhile. I'm pretty sure it was thinking, "What's with you people? Leave me alone!" but we didn't care.

Ethan had a great time at the zoo!

We got to see the a new baby giraffe too!

Isn't it cute how they don't bend there legs to reach the ground?

Going to the zoo was a nice family outing.

We look forward to going back again and again

throughout this upcoming year!

Ethan turned 12!

On November 12th Ethan turned 12 years old!

I woke him up early and told him to get dressed.

At 7:00 I took him to Denny's for a special birthday breakfast.

He went to school and then at lunch time I checked him out and took him to Wingers for his free Wingers birthday meal. He thought he had died and gone to heaven. 2 restaurants in 1 day!

After school he went to his normal karate lesson.

He did his normal karate thing...

And then at the end of his lesson he got an honorary birthday kick!

I guess that this is something that that Mr. Young does with all the kids on their birthday. Ethan thought it was so cool!

We sang Happy Birthday and had some birthday cupcakes.

That night David and I took Ethan to Chili's for the "traditional birthday dinner with your parents" thing. He had a free meal coupon he received at school for participating in the reflections contest this year.

3 restaurants in 1 day... NO WAY!

Ethan was all grins!

When we got home we celebrated once again with all the kids. Ethan blew his candles out one at a time.

Don't ask... It's a 12 year old thing I guess!

So I think all in all it was a wonderful day!

Ethan is one kid that doesn't ask for too much. He is very conscious of how much things cost and tries hard not to burden us. I'm not sure where he inherited this trait from but I always worry he isn't getting what he would really like. He had made a comment a month or so ago about how cool it would be to go out to eat for every meal of the day. So when he couldn't come up with anything he wanted to do for his special day I thought "Ah ha!"

Happy Birthday Ethan!

We love you!

One Comedic Kid.

Lately Talan has been one big comic act. He is so funny to watch! He has been entertaining us full time around here!

The other day David and I came home to find Talan wearing nothing but shin guards. A sight I couldn't have ever thought up in my head on my own! In the time it took me to get the camera he had already taken one shin guard off.

Ever since my dad came a few months ago and took Talan to Lowes and let him get out of the cart, Talan thinks that he is big enough that he doesn't need to sit in a cart anymore. (Thanks dad ;-)

We went to Smith's Marketplace the other day and when Talan saw the other kids with little carts he had to have one too. It was so funny watching him maneuver his way through the store. I was sure he was going to crash into something. Much to my surprise though, he didn't! Every now and then he had to stop to chew on the cart handle. Just working on building a better immune system!

This is a display of his latest and greatest trick. He does this all the time on his own. The other day I couldn't find him. I started to panic! I knew that he was with Bradon the last time I had seen him, but Bradon never told me he was going anywhere. I jumped in the truck to drive the neighborhood. I found Talan and Bradon on the front porch of the McKeachnie's. Talan had Qtips sticking out of his ears just like this! He had stuck them in at home and then walked all the way over to their house with Bradon leaving the Qtips in place the whole time. It was as if he knew he was being funny!

Pumpkin Patch

I forgot to post this picture that David took with his iphone. The Monday night before halloween we took the kids to Macy's to pick out their pumpkins for halloween. The kids have so much fun climbing all over the mound of pumpkins in search of the perfect one. We let them pick any pumpkin they wanted as long as they could carry it. Trust me, Ethan and Carsten got the biggest pumpkins they could possibly carry! The beauty of getting your pumpkins at Macy's right before halloween is that all 5 pumpkins only cost us $10.00 total!

2 for 2!

We started Halloween morning off with

Bradon and the Lone Peak Knights

playing The Lehi Pioneers in the 4th grade championship game.

It was played on Lehi High School's artificial turf football field.

The excitement was in the air

along with some championship game jitters!

Bradon had an excellent game!

He had great snaps and good defense.

They were winning until the last few minuets of the game when all the momentum shifted to Lehi. They lost the game 8-13.

It was a tough lose!

This was Bradon's 3rd year in a row going to the championship game and coming home with a 2nd place medal. He felt bad! He thought that for sure this was going to be his year to win it.

He really had a great year though. He absolutely loves playing football, all the guys he plays with and the coaches too. He has had nothing but good experiences with the Lone Peak League.

I told him after the game that he wasn't a loser, he was just 2nd best!

There are plenty of kids out there that wish they could have been in his shoes win or lose.

Making it to the championship game is a big deal, but you don't always win them all. I think that's one of the greatest lessons to be learned playing sports. Play your best, be your best and hold your head up high no matter what!

I think Bradon was holding back tears in this picture.

No better way to do that than to act silly!

Or maybe he's just giving us the 2nd place sign!

We are proud of you Bradon win or lose.

You're a great kid and you have great character!

We love you!

Harvey Unga who plays for BYU came to Bradon's game. After the game we took a picture of him with the boys. It was a good thing that Harvey was there because it sure lightened the mood and lifted the boys up after a hard lose.

After grabbing a little lunch we were back to the field for Carsten and the American Fork Cavemen to battle it out against the Lone Peak Knights in the 1st & 2nd grade championship game.

Carsten played hard and they all did their best

but it just wasn't enough.

They ended up losing 0-16. Those Lone Peak Knights were fast!

It's great getting to play on the big High School field but playing on a field at least 10 yards wider than the boys are use to can make it a little tough against a fast team.

(I love this picture of Carsten taking his helmet off after the game as they walk off the field.)

And he receives his first ever 2nd place medal!

I think Carsten was pretty happy with his medal. They had a great season. They put up a good fight and gave it their all.

I insisted upon getting the team together

for a team picture after the game.

(Something I wish I had done after Bradon's game.

Where was my brain? What was I thinking?)

Congratulations Carsten!

You are one strong powerhouse!

It's been so much fun watching you play, learn and love the game of football!

We love you bud!

So 2 for 2 it was!

2 in the championship game,

and 2 for 2nd place!

Really when I think about it, it's best that they either both win or both lose. I couldn't imagine how much smack talking would have been spoken to one another had it gone any other way!