Labor Day Weekend/Baby Blessing...FAMILY FUN!

This Labor Day weekend, we packed up and headed down to Utah for the baby blessing of Emily (my sister) and Dave's new baby girl, Maggie.  The trip was SO fun, and relaxing and all those wonderful things...except for the part of Brody having a high fever and being lethargic half the time with no other symptoms.  But I digress.  Any time with family is always wonderful!

Packing for 6 people (I don't pack for Marty) is NOT however wonderful...
This is our luggage for THREE days.  Yes. Only three.

On the road...watching movies.

Brody wasn't so happy with the car ride at first, so we introduced him to M&M's...suddenly he was happy as could be.  Amazing how that works!

 FINALLY he fell asleep in the car...little did we know this was the precursor of what was to come as he was sick the remainder of the weekend with a fever and slept the majority of the time we were in the car.  Which I guess is somewhat of a blessing, but it also meant he was quite grumpy when he wasn't sleeping.

 We just drove to Centerville Friday night and spent the night.  Then we got up Saturday morning to head down to St. George with my parents and Aspen (my other sister) and Steve's family.  We decided after all the years of making this drive, we were going to finally stop in and see Cove Fort.  I had been there as a child, but it had been YEARS.  It was a cool place!

Grandma and Grandpa with most of the grand kids (minus Emily's 3 girls).

Cousins just happy to be together!

Dad's and their boys.

The whole group standing in front, getting ready to go on our tour.

Inside Cove Fort! 

Up on the big balcony - I guess you'd call it.  The sun was right in my eyes, so the pictures were kind of washed out.  But still fun.

Brody hanging out by a door...

Heading out behind the fort to see the farm.

"Elder Crow"

Brody trying to peak over this baby sized fence.

 Fun on the farm! 

The rebellious children touching the "Please Do Not Touch" sign.  The sign was meant for that buggy behind the rope, but they thought they were so hilarious touching the sign.

Changing the sign to say "Please DO touch"

 And a random Taco Bell selfie...

Once in St. George, we were stopped waiting for my parent's to check into their accommodations, and I noticed a little face peaking behind my shoulder and had to snap a picture.

A nice family picture...

We went to this park that was down the street from our old house.  We used to go to this park quite frequently, and it was fun to be back.  Brielle and Claire both ran into old friends while we were there.  It was especially nostalgic as it was almost exactly 1 year before, to the day, that we were packing up and moving to California.  What a year it's been!

In the hotel room, we convinced Molly that having this fun little bed cubby was AWESOME!  

She loved it.

 We had a great Sunday for Maggie's blessing, and got a picture of all the grand kids together!

We then hit the road back to Centerville to spend the night before driving the rest of the way home to Idaho on Monday.  It was a whirlwind few days!

At one of our pit stops on Monday, Molly found a bonnet.  We weren't going to get it...because what's the point...but when she put it on and smiled that DANG CUTE SMILE, I couldn't resist.  So she was our little pioneer girl the rest of the ride home.

Brielle was being anti-picture most of the weekend, so when she let me take this, I was happy.  She's such a pretty girl! 

And that wraps up our fun Utah trip!  We love any time we get to spend with family, and love being a little closer now.  Still 5 hours, but that beats 10-12 or 22 like when we were in Texas!  So we'll take it!

Kid Funnies

*Found this post hanging out in my drafts...they're some good kid funnies from earlier this year!*

Me:  Brielle, will you give Brody some more cheerios when he finishes, I need to hurry and grab something.
*I walk away...Brielle starts drumming on the table*
Claire: She didn't say to do that!
Brielle:  Well, she didn't say NOT to do it.  BOOM!

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Addison seeing the social media pictures on the back of a carton:

"Bird, Camera, F, Nose?  I don't get it!"

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We were telling the kids how when Addison was a baby, she wouldn't sleep in the car and screamed pretty much the whole time we were on road trips unless we got her french fries.  (don't judge)  I said something about "It was delightful."  Addison shrugs her shoulders and said, "Well, I sure liked screaming."

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Claire: "This smoothie is so good. The pineapple awakens my taste buds! My taste buds were still tired, but now they're awake!"

That's a powerful smoothie!

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Molly has discovered the beauty of pausing a show if she needs to go to the bathroom. The problem is it's crossing over into regular life too.

While sitting at dinner: "Hey, pause! Pause! I need to go bathroom!"

While playing with Brody: "Mom, pause! Pause! I need to find something."

And lastly: "Mom, pause! Addison is in the bathroom!"

Our life is a constant game of freeze dance now.

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Addison: [very sad whining voice] Oh man, I'm not very stretchy today. And I have a lump in my chest.
Me: I'm sorry. That doesn't sound good. How do you know you have a lump in your chest?
A: Because I can feel it!
Me: How does it feel?
A: It feels like snakes with clappers pinching me and biting me and like a bunch of rattlesnakes rattling inside of me!

That's a pretty specific feeling. I hope she survives!

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Me: What's wrong Molly?
Molly: My back, right here.
Me: Does it hurt or is it itchy?
Me: It's hurtchy!

Well that clears things up. Not sure how to fix "hurtchy".

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Claire: "Ahhh, my feet are not letting me do what I want! They're doing the exact opposite of what I'm trying to do!

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Addison: [very concerned] "Mom, I don't want ogre hands. Can you show me what ogre hands look like so I know mine aren't that way?"

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While watching the Super Bowl:
Addison: "I like watching this, it's funny to watch. Some people get head butted in the belly."
Marty - after all the questions from the girls:  "You guys, I'm not going to explain the whole game of football right this minute to you." 

Marty: "That should have been a flag!"
Claire: "Only if it was flag football."

Marty:  "So many questions and so much talking! It's like an episode of The Gilmore Girls in here!" - Marty

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I was working at the computer, and Addison walked up and started blowing on me.  I said, "Please don't, I don't want you blowing on me."  With a sassy attitude, she notices a pencil on my desk and says, "Well...I don't want YOU to have my purple pencil!"  Picked it up and walked away.  I didn't realize the pencil was so important.

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Brielle:  Brody is so cute, and he's eating really fast.  Faster than you can say sabotage.
Me:  Why would I say sabotage about him eating?
Brielle:  I don't know.
Claire:  Saaaaaaa-boooooooo-taaaaaaaa-gggggggeeee.
Brielle:  Yeah, he already ate like three cheerios.
Claire:  Wow.  Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-booooooooooooo-taaaaaaaaaaa-ggggggggeeeeeee.
Brielle:  Yep. He ate that fast.

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The kids were cleaning, and Addison said, "Ugh...I'm SO tired!"  Marty told her she could go to bed if she was so tired.  She quickly added, "I'm not THAT kind of tired, I'm cleaning tired!"  Thanks for clarifying.

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Talking to Molly in church one Sunday:
Me:  Are you my favorite little Molly?
Molly:  Nope.
Me:  You're not?
Molly:  Nope, I not.
Me:  Then who is my favorite Molly?
Molly:  Daddy.

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Marty and I were saying a quick prayer one afternoon and Marty had just prayed for patience with our children.  Right at that moment, we heard little footsteps walk up and then someone loudly chewing on some food, smacking it right in our ears.  Marty quickly finished the prayer before we both burst out laughing, and looked up to see Molly standing by us munching on a hamburger bun.  Perfect timing kid.

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Claire:  I have a friend at school that was born in England and lived there for a few years.
Me:  And then they ended up in Victorville?  Interesting.
Claire:  Well, she lives in Hesperia, but yeah.  Weird.
Me:  Well, some people think that California is just beaches and sunshine.
Claire:  And it's not.  It's just a big dumpster!!
Me:  Uh....
Claire:  I mean, I see garbage on the ground everywhere I go.
I guess she was being literal....and she apparently doesn't like California.

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Doing Addison's hair one morning, I was combing through it...apparently taking too long.
Addison:  [annoyed] You know I just want a back piggy tail.
Me:  I do know that, I'm just combing through it, you don't need to be sassy.
Addison:  Some girls are just born sassy.
Me:  No, sassy is a choice.
Addison:  Some girls choose to be sassy, others are just born that way.  It's true.  It's in my book of true but weird facts.
Me:  And where is this book?
Addison:  In my head.
Me:  Oh yeah?
Addison:  Yep...IN MY BRAIN!

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The girls have all decided that holding the sacrament tray when it comes to them at church is a big deal, and they no longer want anyone else passing it for them.  This has caused a few embarrassing fights in the bench while people are trying to hold it themselves.  One Sunday in particular, we couldn't get Molly to pass the tray because I was also holding it.  In this growling demon voice (we think it's her "Batman whisper" voice) she says "Let me!"  The whole row busted up, the kid passing the sacrament busted up.  It's our big inside joke now, when we want to do something, we growl "Let me!"

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As we were getting ready to move, I said something to Addison about how we were going to be leaving in the morning.
Addison:  Oh good, then I can finally get away from all the kids that are mean to me!
Me:  What kids are mean to you? (she's never mentioned anything before)
Addison:  The ones that hit and kick me.
Me:  Who is hitting and kicking you?!
Addison:  Well....nobody....
Me:  So then nobody is mean to you?
Addison:  No.  But I can finally get away from the people I don't really like!

Back to SCHOOL!!

The kids went back to school a few weeks ago (because of the modified schedule/year-round type deal) and are LOVING it.  We absolutely love their school and are so impressed with the teachers and staff.  We feel so blessed to be here!

Brielle - is in 5th grade this year.  FIFTH GRADE!  In Idaho, middle school starts in 6th grade, which means this is her last year of elementary.  How in the world are we old enough to be saying such things?!  Brielle is thriving here!  I have to brag a little about her.  She tried out for a bell choir and honor choir and made both - which means 2 mornings a week before school and 2 afternoons a week after school she will have practices...for the whole year...plus a winter and spring concert.  But she's excited!  She also decided to try for student council.  For that, they had to write an essay on why they would be good for it, then the teachers would choose who won.  In Brielle's class, the teacher decided to read the essays out loud anonymously (so there was no popularity contest) and have the class vote for the two they liked the best, which would be the two kids from their class to be on student council.  And Brielle made it!  She is beyond thrilled.  The responsibilities of student council members is morning announcements, recycling (going and collecting recycling items from the teachers lounge and around the school and putting them in their large collection bins) and running a school store.  They rotate jobs around among all the members of student council so they get turns doing each job, as well as weeks where they don't have any job (since recycling and the school store are during last recess).  She is doing really well with making friends and being involved.  We're very proud of her!

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Claire - is in 3rd grade this year.  It seems crazy that she's getting up to the end of elementary soon too!  WHY?!  Claire is LOVING her class and teacher.  I am super impressed with the teacher and am excited for this school year.  Claire loves riding her bike to school and having that freedom back!  (In St. George and California they rode a bus...and in California I took them to and from the bus stop, they couldn't even walk that little bit for safety reasons)  She seems to be doing really well and making a lot of friends, but she tends to be less vocal about things unless something is going wrong.  So with her, no news is good news typically. :)  At back to school night (which was about a week after school started) her teacher told me how much she already loves Claire.  She said she participates and is sweet and thoughtful and just an absolute delight.  It's always wonderful to hear praise about your kids!

Some pictures of Brielle and Claire together for the first day of school: 

Off they go on their bikes!  They didn't even want me to go with them the first day. :(

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Addison - is in Kindergarten this year.  She is LOVING IT!  She was in transitional kindergarten in California and is used to going every day, but for some reason she had a hard time going in California and if I took her she cried when I dropped her off, and she would come home from school saying how "terrible" it was sometimes.  But this year, every day is "THE BEST DAY EVER!!!" and she loves it.  There are 2 little girls in our ward that are also in afternoon kindergarten with her, so we carpool and she is just over the moon excited about that.  She gets to take her bike or scooter with her to school and put it in the bike rack and then ride home after school with her sisters.  It is working out GREAT!  She is starting to read (come to find out, Claire has been reading little phonics books with her in bed at night....LOVE HER!) and has learned to tie her shoes.  She is just a wonderful girl!

I rode bikes with her to school on the first day...she thought that was AWESOME.  Here she is parking her bike by her sister's bikes for after school.

Lining up by the door!

Looking a little unsure...but she walked right in and had a great day.  The teacher made it pretty clear that parents weren't to come in with them, she came out, said "Say bye!" to the kids and took them inside.  Sweet, quick and painless.

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 Molly - just started preschool this week!  I can't believe she is big enough for that!  Molly has always been my sweet little buddy, so it'll be weird not having her around.  But she is SO excited for this.  One of my friends in the ward is her preschool teacher, so it's nice that she's just around the corner from us and knows us.  Molly is constantly amazing me with the things she knows.  She knows her letters, numbers and colors, she can write her own name and is starting to draw really well too.  She is going to do GREAT in preschool!

Dancing around a little...

 

 Being her cute, silly self.

So that means Brody and I are going to be on our own for approximately 1.5 hours, two times a week, which happens to be during his naptime.  So yeah...3 whole hours a week to myself!  What will I even do?!  Honestly...I'll probably work.  But in my head I'll be sipping a drink on a beach somewhere.