Mike and the Man with One Hand

I love Family Home Evening--my favorite night of the week! It is our night (usually Mondays) where we have a lesson, sing songs, eat treats and love being together. We take turns with the assignments. Jonathan was in charge of the lesson this time. About a week ago he went to a Primary party at church where the theme was "Top Secret". They had learned about service. So his lesson was all about service. The lesson was cute but the best part was the story. At the end of his lesson I said "Is there anything else you want to teach us about service?" He said "Well I can make up a story." Here is the story he made up. I wish I had it recorded it word for word but this is the just of the story. I am grateful for a church that celebrates children and provides a format for them to learn and grow in. (Want to learn more about primary? Click here.)

One day a boy named Mike went for a walk and he saw a man with only one hand and he was carrying all his groceries home. But then all his bags blew away. So Mike and his friends decided to get together and have a meeting about what to do. They decided to help the man with only one hand and no bags because that was better than being bored and it is good to serve.

Hug and Kiss Mom!

Things I love about Jonathan right now....

1. He is a very loving kid. Every day when I drop him off at kindergarten (or when I drop him off anywhere) before he leaves he will say "Hug and kiss Mom!" We then have a routine where he hugs me, kisses my cheek and then I kiss his cheek. So sweet. How lucky am I to get to have my hug and kiss every day before he leaves. He isn't shy to show me affection...yet. But I know soon things might change so I savor every goodbye I get right now with our "hug and kiss" routine. Jonathan is a very snuggly kid and loves to be held and hugged--especially at bedtime there is never enough snuggle time.

2. Jonathan is a very routine based kid. Like the "hug and kiss" routine, every morning with his Dad he will run to the garage door and yell "Start your engines! On your mark, get set, go!" and then wave until the garage door is down. He never misses this routine with his Dad no matter what is going on (unless on the rare occasion he is asleep). He has done this for over a year now. This morning for example Jonny was still asleep and Bruce had to leave earlier than usual. But the moment Jonny heard the garage door going up he ran downstairs to catch his dad and say "On your mark, get set, go!"

3. Brookley is often the last one awake. I love Jonathan's response to her the moment he sees her in the morning. His whole face lights up and Brookley is smothered with affection from him.

The Princess and her Prince

This was a sweet memory that Autumn and her Uncle Lenny had. Lenny isn't a blood relative but he is very much a part of our family. He is a very kind, considerate, generous uncle. The kids adore him (no doubt because he is so good to them). This was written by Lenny in Autumn's birthday card and I thought it would be fun to put with the picture.





Dear "Princess Autumn",

I remember the day, with the tap of your magic wand that you told me I was a prince. I wondered, "What now?" With your cute, little smile you said, "Now we dance!" Of course. One hand on your back, the other holding your hand, we began. You held your dress by the side, up, like a real princess. It was so adorable! We moved side to side. We spun 'round and 'round. Like a fairytale, the prince and princess had danced at the ball. Thank you for that beautiful memory. I will treasure it.

Love, Uncle Lenny

Clone Trooper + Cat + BYU Cheerleader = Happy Halloween

We survived Halloween...with just a few costume changes. Jonny was set on being a Clone Trooper from Star Wars (aka "Commander Cody"), Autumn was going to be a pink poodle, then switched to a princess and ended on a cat, and Brookley was suppose to be a butterfly but the ease of the BYU cheerleader costume won in the end. All holidays are extra, extra fun with kids. I love how excited they get. Trick-or-treating was a hit despite the rain. Carving pumpkins was really fun the night before even though Lenny, Bruce and I were the only ones in the end carving while the kids ran off to play after a short attention span. Jonny was excited about his Clone Trooper pumpkin that Lenny carved for him. I also got to volunteer at Jonny's school party which really fun. We had lots of sugar to keep us going this week. Autumn's favorite candies are the gummy kind. Jonny's favorite is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (just like his mommy).

"For a Service"

The kids have a chart of things they are suppose to do every morning. One of the things is to do service for their brother and sister. I love it when I hear Autumn or Jonny say to the other "What can I do for you today?" So cute! Also they are suppose to say their prayers. Autumn has caught on to this idea of service.

She asked me one morning "Mom, can you do a service for me?"
"Sure Autumn. What can I do for you?"
"Mom will you say my personal prayers for me?"
"Autumn, I can't say them for you because they are your personal prayers."
"But Mom...for a service!"
"Okay Autumn I will say your personal prayers for you."

BYOB...Bring Your Own Bunny

Happy Birthday Autumn! Our little bunny is 3! She wanted a bunny party so we turned it into a BYOB party (or "Bring Your Own Bunny" party). It was fun/chaotic! We had lots of bunny games including putting all the bunnies on a blanket and yelling "One, two, three, HOP!" as we threw them all in the air. We read bunny stories in the bunny den, had bunny hopping races, ate bunny cupcakes, etc. The best was how Jonny took over and before I was even out there was organizing all the games. It was so cute how he had all the kids hopping across the yard. He was really into it so much that when I tried to help I was just getting in the way.

For her birthday Autumn wanted a princess watch and pink flowers from her Dad. She was set on these things for weeks. (Ironically she hasn't even wore her watch for longer than 30 seconds.) The present that was the biggest hit was a microphone that played songs and records voices that my cousin Jenny and her girls gave to Autumn. My favorite was the picture that Grandma Great painted for Autumn. It is such a neat painting and will be a treasure of ours.

The day consisted of a multitude of bunny party decorations, lots of bunny games, plenty of cake, dinner out with Grandma and Grandpa Thorup, too many presents, and lots of kisses. All in all I hope Autumn knows that she is very, very, very loved because she is! Happy Birthday!!!

Reality Happens

I realize that every day I keep thinking that today is the day I will be able to pull it all together. And then reality happens and again by the end of the day I am thinking "Where did this day go and why is my house still messy and why am I so tired?" So it starts again the next day and again ends with a dose of reality that I still haven't pulled it all together. One day I just know that I will have the time and energy to dust or clean the bathrooms or actually post Autumn's birthday pictures (not to mention halloween pictures). Maybe next week will be my week...ha! But the kids are happy and fed and clothed so I guess that needs to be my measuring stick instead of if the house is clean because I think the dust is here to stay.

Brookley + Mom = Happiness

Every piece of me is so thankful for Brookley. What a complete joy she is! I call her my happiness. All my kids are my happiness and I am thankful for all of them. But right now it is just me and my Brookley--Jonny is at school and Autumn is asleep. We are having so much fun together. I had to stop playing with her for a brief minute to remember this moment of heaven with my baby. I love my Brookley! Words can't even describe how much. Thank you, Ms. Brookley, for letting me be your mom and for being part of our family! What a happy, easy, cute, giggly little girl you are!

Happy Birthday Autumn!

Like Father, Like Son?

Jonny just brought home his kindergarten pictures today. I LOVE them. They captured his cuteness perfectly. I pulled out Bruce's kindergarten picture to compare. What do you think? Do you think they look alike?

The Zookeeper

Jonny is our zookeeper. He has to sleep with at least his frog, lizard, dog and blue blankie. Some nights we find him with more animals than that. He is attached to all of them and worries about any of them that he can't find. That is a lot of animals to keep track of.

Poor Jonny is going through a phase right now where he just can't go to sleep by himself. He wants one of us there to snuggle him until he falls asleep. He gets so scared if he can't see us even if we are in the next room. He gets himself so worked up. I have told him a hundred times "Jonny we won't leave the house. I won't even leave the upstairs." But if he can't see us he gets so worried. It has become quite the ordeal some nights. When he was two years old he went through a similar stage where he would have to yell "Can you hear my voice" if we left his view and we would have to call back from whatever room we were in "Yes, can you hear me too?" Once asleep though he is a good sleeper though occasionally still wakes up in the middle of the night and Bruce has to go and lay by him until he falls asleep again.

A Favorite Tradition

Bruce takes off a day each fall (around my birthday) and we go on a "leaves changing color adventure". The mountains are so pretty this time of year. I LOVE this tradition. This year we hiked to Stewart Falls. It was one of the last things on our "Summer Fun List" that we hadn't done yet. I was glad we waited. Hiking at this time of year is perfect--cooler weather, leaves changing colors, less crowded. The hike was a little longer than we expected but Jonny walked the whole way and entertained us by making us think he was camouflaged in the trees. Autumn was carried 3 out of the 4 miles by her big, strong, burly Dad. Brookley was toted on my back and was a good sport. The falls are fun because you are able to get right up close. Jonny was soaked. The leaves didn't disappoint. They were just spectacular. What a great day (minus the first five minutes in the parking lot where we yelled "We are here to have fun! Don't make us regret taking you!" But let's not remember that part. I only add that to bring the whole truth to the story.)

A snake! Good Dad to catch it!

Pictures (well at least my pictures) never do justice to how pretty it really was.

The falls are so fun that you can stand right under them. Jonny was soaked.

I love Autumn's funny sense of humor. Here she said "Look at me Mom. I have a funny mustache!"

Brookley is a good, good sport! Doesn't she just radiate happiness?

These were some of my favorite pictures. It is Jonny camouflaging. Since he wore his camo clothes (he even had on camo underwear) he thought it was so cool that he could camouflage and no one could see him. I would whisper to hikers passing to please not notice the boy in the camo because he thinks you can't see him. He made this same exaggerated face every time he camouflaged--wide eyes and perfectly still. Can you spot him in the picture below? Autumn wanted to camouflage too--a little easier to spot in the bright pink sweatshirt.

Three Little Monkeys Jumping on our Bed

General Conference was this weekend. I LOVE General Conference. It is the weekend that church members around the world gather to listen to our prophet and apostles. You know that feeling of relief that Friday brings...the feeling of "Ahhh the weekend is here! I made it." That is how I feel about General Conference. It is a feeling of "Ahhh General Conference is here. I am centered again. The crazy world will be put right and in perspective by listening to what the Lord has to tell us." Which is that there is an eternal purpose to everything and that He loves us and wants us to be happy and return and live with Him again. It is a fun weekend because Bruce doesn't have his early bishopric meetings so we get to have him all day. Also because of lovely technology we can watch General Conference from home. It is just a relaxing Sunday. Wouldn't it be nice to sleep in a bit? That is where the "monkeys jumping on our bed" come in. It is not even 6:30am yet and already all the kids are piled in our bed. Seriously! Come on! Let your mom sleep! But Bruce had a good perspective and set me straight reminding me how lucky we are to have these kids and too soon they won't want to be snuggling up with us. He told me not to be cranky because we are so lucky. I was put in my place and it was a good reminder. We are so lucky to have three little monkeys jumping in our bed! Changing my attitude set a good tone for the rest of the day watching General Conference together--especially because our prophet, Thomas S. Monson's, talk was all about being thankful.

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried?

Bruce and I did the other day. We decided to go on a family walk. Jonny had the awesome idea to put his helmet on over his face because it turned him into a Transformer. He asked his Dad if he looked cool. And Bruce for some reason decided to tell him the truth that he looked funny. You could see the air deflate out of Jonny. He was so disappointed because he really thought he was super cool. So after a little back peddling from his mom he was puffed up again and determined to go on our walk as a Transformer. These are moments as a mom that make it all worth it because of the glimpse into innocence that make the world a fun place to be. We couldn't help but laugh so hard that we had tears because every once in a while Jonny would trip on a crack in the sidewalk or run into the stroller. Even though there were the vent holes to see through evidently it made his distance perception off a bit. But luckily as Jonny put it "It doesn't matter Mom if I fall because I have a helmet on my face so I won't get hurt." The logic of a 5 year old. He did eventually take it off because he said it made his face hot. (: I can't help but laugh looking at these pictures!

Mother Goose Time Preschool

Autumn is in a preschool that I helped start in the neighborhood with a few other moms. We trade weeks teaching. It is so fun and has been super easy to prepare because of a little gem we found called http://www.mothergoosetime.com/. They send you preschool in a box. Complete with music, all the crafts, posters, lesson plans, etc, etc. It is so awesome! You just tell them how many are in your preschool and they send you that many supplies. It is so cute! And really affordable. Less than $10 a month per kid.

Here are Autumn's thoughts on preschool. I love the sentence about some friends that don't let her play. That would be accurate since a majority of preschool (or any play date at this point) is learning to share.

"I have fun. I like to make stuff. I have friends that doesn't let me play. I have that friends that are really nice. My mom was teacher last time. I like school. My favorite part is reading books."

A Day at the Races

The snail races that is. Jonny and his friends were having fun lining up snails and racing them. They even gave the snails names. Eventually Jonny had to come in for dinner. There were a few tears over this because he didn't want to miss the race and just knew they would be gone by the time dinner was over. I tried to be patient but how long can dinner wait for a snail to race?

More info on Digital Scrapbook Classes coming up

Click on this link to see more info about the classes offered by Digital Scrapbook Memories.

Sandy, UT Larry Miller Conference Center (see map below) October 2, 2010

Beginner Class 6:00 to 7:15p.m. Cost $5.00 Digital Scrapbooking can be really fun and easy if you know what to do. Come to this beginner class to learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements. There is no need to bring anything except a notebook and paper. You can bring a computer if you want, but most people will do better simply watching the screen and practicing what they learn after class.

Intermediate Class 7:30 to 8:45 p.m Cost $5.00 or free if you attend the beginner class Come and let us teach you all sorts of fun tips and tricks to make digital scrapbooking easier. If you have something specific you’d like to learn e-mail us and let us know and we’ll consider your suggestions.


Sandy, UT Larry Miller Conference Center (see map below) November 20, 2010

Beginner Class 6:00 to 7:15p.m. Cost $10.00 Digital Scrapbooking can be really fun and easy if you know what to do. Come to this beginner class to learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements. There is no need to bring anything except a notebook and paper. You can bring a computer if you want, but most people will do better simply watching the screen and practicing what they learn after class.

Intermediate Class 7:30 to 8:45 p.m Cost $25.00 Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! Let us help you get some Christmas gifts ready. More details on this to come.

Last Chance! School Rules Kit

Last chance to get the cute, cute "School Rules" kit from Digital Scrapbook Memories. It's free! But needs to be downloaded before the end of September! Digital Scrapbook Memories is awesome! Check it out!! Also on Saturday night is a girls night out with Digital Scrapbook Memories. So if you want to learn to digital scrapbook or polish up more skills come!

Bread Anyone?

Happy birthday to me! I got something I wanted for a long time. A Bosch Universal mixer. I love making bread and cooking. It was a splurge for sure but hopefully will last a very, very long time and it makes me so happy (even though my sister April laughs at the amount of money I will spend on kitchen toys--we are so different that way).

I was so excited to make bread. I tried out several bread recipes using my Kitchen Aid until I found my favorite. When I got my Bosch I was so excited to try making bread in it instead of my smaller Kitchen Aid. But I was so sad and frustrated when my bread was gross in my Bosch. I tried it twice and both times the dough had a weird consistency and taste. Hummmm? I was really puzzled wondering what could be off. But couldn't figure it out for the life of me. Well turns out as I was cleaning up after the second failed attempt that I had ground up brown rice instead of wheat. They look the same and both are stored in 5 gallon buckets in my pantry. I had to laugh! I was making rice bread--no wonder it didn't work. So I finally made yummy, yummy bread in my Bosch using wheat instead of rice and it worked! Go figure! Ha! I was just glad the mystery was figured out.

As for my birthday...it was such a great day. I love birthdays!!!! I pump them for all they are worth. In the morning I went with my Mom to Weight Watchers (and hit my lowest weight since before Jonny was born!) and then to breakfast. My mom spoiled me and took me to Ruth's Diner up Emigration Canyon. So pretty and really good food! When I got back from breakfast with my mom Bruce and the kids had decorated the house and yelled "SURPRISE" as I walked in. They even made a wall with "34 words to describe Angie". I felt loved and so grateful for Bruce going the extra mile to help the kids surprise me. Bruce had taken the kids to the craft store to use the dye cutting machine and pick out the color scheme. I couldn't have loved it more. That night Erin and Matthew (thank you! thank you!) watched the kids while Bruce and I went out. I love being with my Bruce. It was a relaxing night with yummy food at Archibalds. Also earlier in the week I got to go on a girl's night with my friend Judi. She bought me dinner (complete with balloons) and took me shopping. I am spoiled. So many were too nice to me. Debbie, Tia and Carter for instance gave me a gift card to Cafe Rio with a coupon for a night away from the kids (meaning she will let them all sleepover). Wow! I love birthdays!