Recess!

When you ask Brie what her favorite part of school is she says, "Recess!" Last week was "Fall Recess" around here (Wed. - Fri.). This was one good recess. Even though Brie only goes to school for 3 hours a day anyway, we took full advantage of this big break and tried to make sure each day was fun. Lucky for us, every day was GORGEOUS, I mean absolutely gorgeous, fall weather. Sunny and beautiful.

Wednesday

We used our annual pass and went to the zoo for the day.

 

Thursday

Ava still had preschool and Zachary still had Kindermusik. Brie got to join all the 2 year olds at Kindermusik. You better believe she taught them a few new dance moves. After classes we went to the park for a picnic lunch and played on the toys.

Friday

Scott had work off also, so we took ourselves up to a hike in the mountains. Now, this was our first time on this hike. It's not marked and is not well known. It is my new favorite! I loved it. I must take you all there. You would love it too. We were the only ones on top of this mountian. It was breathtaking on such a sunny, clear, crisp fall day. The kids did quite well with it (2 miles round trip). When we finished, we went to lunch at Silver Fork Lodge - another favorite.

 

 

Hiking Sticks!!!

 Zachary's hiking stick was used more as a gun!

 

Saturday

We tried out a pumpkin patch. It was cool to see where the pumpkins grew and stuff, but it wasn't all that impressive and the pumpkins were pricey. We bought one there and then headed to Winco for the rest. We carved all those pumpkins with Grandma and Papa at their house and toasted some delicious pumpkin seeds.

 

Ta ...da! The most perfect round pumpkin. (Notice the temple in the background.)

 

 And a not so perfect, but still quite round belly!

 In this picture, take a look at Ava's hair. She and Zachary had been in an altercation (which happens about every 5 minutes), he grabbed hold of her hair and swung her around until she ran away crying. The boy is  learning.

Sunday

We joined Landon and Sarah (and kids) at Tawna and Kory's house for a family dinner. Really good food and great to be with them all.


We had a fun recess and then hit it all (school, cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc.) again on Monday.

A girl.

I always wanted four children. I started having babies at 30 years old. I tried to plan it out just right - I'd have one at 30, 32, 34 and 36. The first three happened just that way. We planned this past year to try to get pregnant with the fourth in June. That happened just as we hoped also. Amazing. I do know what a blessing and miracle this is. I know so many women who really struggle to have children or to have them come when they hope for them. We were excited. I am so happy to have another baby. The day I took a pregnancy test I waited to tell Scott until he came home from work and found this surprise over his side of the bed - a Red Sox green monster mobile playing the tune "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". There was a positive pregnancy test dangling from the middle. 

We wanted this baby to be a boy so bad. Scott kept saying from the beginning that it was a girl and really was quite happy with that. I was FOR SURE that it was a boy. I wanted Zachary to have a brother. I wanted the two boys to share a room. I wanted to use Zachary's cute clothes again. I wanted someone for Zachary to wrestle with and play ball with. I desperately wanted to name a little boy "Luke".

My doctor has done a couple of ultrasounds and said the baby looked like a girl. The OFFICIAL 20 week ultrasound was this week. It was so cool. I had never seen images so clear. She went through every part of the body and everything looked just perfect - the brain, the spine, the face, the heart, the stomach, the kidneys. Yahoo! A healthy, growing baby.

She also determined, with no question, that this baby IS A GIRL!!! I was just fine in the ultrasound room because I was happy and excited to see a healthy baby moving around on the screen, but on the drive home and for most of the day, I cried. I really thought it was a boy. I felt so selfish being disappointed when so many people dream of having a healthy baby and can't, but I just was.

Thankfully, the Lord changed my heart and mind. Everyone had gone to bed, including Scott, and I was sitting on the couch by myself. It was quiet. I started to feel this baby kick and move around inside me and I was absolutely overwhelmed with love for this baby girl. I cried again, but because I felt so happy to have her. I was humbled. I knew that creating these lives is not up to me and my plans, but I am in this with God. He is sending me the child that is supposed to come to our family and I couldn't be more pleased.

Can't wait to meet baby Kate (or now Scott wants her to be "Molly"). Just look at that little face.

Zachary: 2 Years Old

Zachary at 2 years old.

Weight: 23 lbs. 3 oz. (1st percentile)
Height: 32.5 inches (15th percentile)
Head: 48.4 cm (40th percentile)

Took his shots at the doctor like a champ. Loved smiling for the camera as long as there was a ball or mitt in sight or in hand.

A Rocky Start

As you know, Brielle started kindergarten this year. She was very ready and very excited to start school. She fell in love with her new teacher, Mrs. Warr. Mrs. Warr was a grandma and had been teaching school for over 20 years. She was fun, sang lots of songs and definitely knew how to handle all those new little school kids.

We had heard that Mrs. Warr got liver cancer at the end of last year and missed the last two months of school for chemo. She was back though and seemed quite ready to take on a new year of school. Brielle was with Mrs. Warr for the first two weeks, but then in week three she started having substitutes. The school sent a letter home telling us that Mrs. Warr's cancer had come back suddenly and she was starting chemo again. So sad. That Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Warr passed away.

It was so quick that all of this happened. Brie was very sad. They sent all the kindergartners home with a framed picture of Mrs. Warr and she slept with it every night. She also prayed for Mrs. Warr and her family in every prayer. It really affected her even though she was only with her teacher for a couple of weeks.

There has been a substitute teacher since the third week of school while they searched for a new kindergarten teacher to take their class. A new teacher started this week. I was helping in the classroom yesterday and the teacher seems young and new, but full of energy and happy to be there. We really hope she is a great new kindergarten teacher for Brielle this year. It's been a rough start.

A Quick Look At Fall

Fall made it to Utah for a short time before those beautiful colors were covered in snow. I kept eyeing all the yellows, oranges and reds on the mountains and was quite anxious to get up there. So, we went.

A couple of weekends ago our friend Clair invited us up to her cabin in the mountains. It was me, two friends and each of us have 3 kids. So, it got kinda crazy, but it was definitely pretty. I headed up to the cabin to join them on Sunday afternoon just after finishing our Primary Sacrament Program, then a hyper, wild 2 hours of Primary, then Ward Council and then a Scouting meeting. I started out tired, so it was fun to just sit and talk with friends while our kids ran wild.

Movie and pajama party at night. They were SO EXCITED!

The sun came up the next day and they were everywhere. 

We went for a "hike" to see the horses and the river. Oh, and the stinging nettle.

 

Zachary and Joshua throwing rocks in the river or sometimes at the girls. 

Marissa saved the day rescuing Brie's shoe that went floating down the river.

 

 And the moms who braved it all - Jen, Clair and me.

Last week things were really looking colorful and I just had to check it out, especially because I knew it would be snowing the next day. The kids and I drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to walk around Silver Lake. It was spectacular. Really. And cold. Really. Can you see that storm rolling in?

 

Apparently a little too cold or distracted for a picture.Silly me.

 

 

We came right home for warm soup, hot chocolate, cozy pajamas and bedtime. The next day was a snowstorm. So glad we made it just in time.