FIVE!

Well, this week, my four year old turned five. Yes, she did. Where does the time go, I ask you? They grow up too fast, I tell you. But, in spite of her unwillingness to obey my Stop Growing Up! order, we celebrated the day. First, she opened some presents. She opened them strip of tape by strip of tape. Very carefully...

Among her presents, she got a scooter. She has been wanting one for years. Look at her happy face.

Ashton and Christian bought her a cute froggy travel pillow and gave her some money in a sweet card. Precious kids.

Later, we met my sister and her darling girlies at a, well, I don't know what to call it. A fun fall festivalish thing? There were corn mazes (which I sadly had to say no to - I have a broken toe!), pig and goat races, tractor-trike courses,

hayrides,

and all sorts of fun activities. What a fun time!

Later, grandparents and aunts and uncles and a couple close friends came over for pumpkin cake and ice cream (both deliciously homemade).

A very fun evening, too!

Now, in honor of Roxie's FIFTH birthday, I will tell you FIVE things I love about her:

1. She is good. Really, really good. She wants so badly to do what is right and to follow Christ. She recently burst into tears because one of her siblings wouldn't let her do something for them. She cried, "But I want the blessings!"

2. She is HILARIOUS. Really. I'm not sure she means to be funny. She just is. Really funny.

3. She is enthusiastic. Everything is the most fun, exciting thing EVER. She makes everything better for everyone else by her enthusiasm!

4. She is a singer. She always has been. Before she could talk, she would sing - on key, so I knew what she was singing. She has never stopped. I have been told by a few Primary leaders that her enthusiastic singing is one of their favorite parts of Primary.

5. She brings us such joy. She has a happy spirit. She lifts those around her. I can not imagine our family without her. She is such a special girl.

I love her so much. I am so grateful for Roxie. I feel humbled that I was entrusted to raise such a girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROXIE! WE LOVE YOU!

My Zoo

So, my in-laws took the big kids to the zoo. But I never made it this year. No worries. Sophie is all I need. I thought I would share in case you missed the zoo, too.

Slacker Blogger

I've been a slacker blogger. Sorry. Here's what happened this summer that I didn't post that I should have:

The kids went to an art studio with cousins and friends. They painted some wonderful coasters. So fun!

The tiny girls wanted to participate, too! Alas, they had to paint with water on paper towels. Meanie mom/aunt.

Doug with the little girls at the Fourth of July Parade.

To be completely honest, if I were to give an accurate representation of our summer, most of the pictures would involve dress-ups in one form or another. They are a state of being at our house.

This year, there was a Darth Vader hot air balloon at the hot air balloon festival. What is cooler than that? 

Coolest float ever. Well, according to Christian, anyway.

Fireworks are mesmerizing.

They are loud, too. Good thing there are lots of cousins to make it even better!

All of the girls wanted curly hair for church. Christian wanted no hair.

We took a hike in the canyon. Check out Sophie's face. Priceless.

Apparently, rolling down hills does not come naturally. It must be learned. But, oh, what fun!

A little horseback riding. Sort of...

We met this guy at the Llama Fest. I love him.

Sophie wasn't quite sure about the llamas.

Christian earned his Wolf badge and like  a bazillion arrow points and a belt loop! What a scout!

Namma and Papa took the big kids to the zoo. Good times!

My sister sang the National Anthem at the minors!

Well, that's our summer in a nutshell. Lots of adventures!

NINE!

I don't know how he manages it, but Christian somehow seems to make his birthday last several days. Seriously. This year it started on Saturday with a big fat birthday bash! We colored awesome Star Wars pictures.

Then, we had a scavenger hunt where we collected ship-building supplies and came home to make our space ships. Did I mention that this was a Star Wars party? Seriously. Was there any question? After that, we played Pin-the-Mask-on-Storm-Trooper-Lego-Christian. Genius, right?

Roxie got confused and pinned the mask on actual Christian!

We had chocolate cake decorated with Darth Vader and Mace Windu (I know they never fought each other. Mace Windu died before Anakin Skywalker became D.V. But they are the coolest toys, so there. And possibly I know too much about Star Wars...)

Christian got some very cool presents. He has some great friends. Plus, all of his local grandparents came for cake. That was fun, too! He's a lucky boy.

My sister Panda gives fantastic presents. This year, she gave Christian Star Wars pancake molds. Oh, yes, she did. So, pancakes we had!

Storm Trooper, Yoda, and Darth Vader pumpkin pancakes!

Christian said Darth Vader tastes the best. Then, he tattled, "Dad, Sophie won't eat her Storm Trooper!" Doug burst out laughing and said, "Well, that's not something you hear everyday!"

Today is his actual birthday. He got some rollerblades. He has been wanting some FOREVER!

Now, in honor of Christian's ninth birthday, I will list nine things I love about him.

1. He has the best laugh in the world.

2. He is himself. He stands up for what he knows is right. He has integrity.

3. He is has a strong testimony. He is a spiritual boy. He amazes me.

4. He is affectionate. He is always ready to hug me and tell me he loves me.

5. He is willing to be friends with everyone. He doesn't care how old they are or if they are girls or boys. He just wants to be friends.

6. He LOVES babies. He is going to be a wonderful father.

7. He is an excellent baker. He loves to bake and share his talents. He is baking as I type.

8. He is handsome. Seriously. I love that face.

9. He is mine. Even if he wasn't any of the things I mentioned previously, I would love him because he is mine. And I will NEVER stop being so totally and completely grateful that he is.

Happy Birthday, Christian! We love you!

Doug

Doug's birthday was a few days ago. I threw him a surprise party and forgot to take any pictures. I know. What was I thinking? I think I was thinking something like I hope this works. I hope everyone is on time. I hope he doesn't figure it out. I hope one of the kids doesn't accidentally tell him. I hope he is pleased. And then I am so glad this worked. I am so glad almost everyone was on time and those who weren't were too late to ruin the surprise. I am so glad he didn't figure it out until there was a crowd yelling "SURPRISE!" I am so glad the kids didn't tell him. I am so glad he is pleased. There was a whole lotta thinking going on, I tell you. Unfortunately, just not I should take some pictures of this happy thing. Seriously. I should be kicked.

Anyway, let me tell you about it. I started thinking (I do that a lot, apparently) that Doug has had a rough year. Last August, he went to Haiti to do some humanitarian work. On his first full day there, he slipped on some wet-with-rain ceramic tiled outside stairs. He broke his arm. In three places. They knew he needed to see a doctor, so they took him to the closest hospital. It was closed. Yep, you read that right. The second one was open. They normally wouldn't have seen him (he being not-so-very Haitian and all), but because it was an emergency, they did. The IV stands he saw were made of 2x4s nailed together. Most of the hospital was in tents. True story. Luckily, one of the doctors there was from Austria, where he set the bones of skiers in the Alps. He set Doug's arm, but told him he needed an x-ray. That's right. They don't have x-ray machines in tents, apparently. But they did have spiders. Big ones. They (the doctors, not the spiders) wrapped his arm up and sent him on his way with a strip of fabric as a sling.

Here he is at a field tent orphanage with some sweet babies, workers, and some diapers my mother in law and her friends sent along.

 Later, he made it to yet another hospital where there was not an x-ray machine, but something close enough. That doctor said it looked OK, but said Doug needed to see a specialist the minute he got home. So, he did.

Here Doug is with a baby who is not an orphan (he got to know her parents very well), but he wanted a picture with her specifically because he knew I would think she was gorgeous. And I do. If she was an orphan, I might walk/swim back there to get her.

The doctor here said it wasn't quite right so, eight days after the original break, he reset it. Yep. Ouch. So, after six weeks in a cast, he began physical therapy. And he couldn't really hold Sophie during most of this time. It was very sad for them both. After quite a while with no improvement, he was finally sent to a surgeon. He had surgery in December. Pretty major surgery. Then, six more weeks in a cast. More physical therapy. No improvement. More tests. Probably more surgery. Don't you think he needed a party? I do.

So, I told him I was taking him to dinner on his birthday. My sister in law Suzi said she would watch the kids. Really she was here to do all the hard work. You know, organizing people, getting the food set out, hiding the people, all while watching the kids. Anyway, we went to dinner, which was lovely except for the fact that I had a cold and temporary anosmia and couldn't taste a single stinking thing. I even had a big old bite of wasabi trying to clear up my sinuses so I could taste, but to no avail. But that's another story. When we came home from dinner, my mother in law was sitting in our front yard pulling weeds. When we got out of the car, she told Doug that she had stopped by to say happy birthday and just decided to wait for us to get home. She couldn't stay long, but wondered if he would show her our newly finished basement (to be featured in an upcoming post!) first. So, he did. Unbeknownst to him, there were lots of people in our basement! He was pleased and it was lovely. I was so glad that he had a wonderful time. He has some great friends, as do I. We are so blessed to have them, and each other.

Happy Birthday, Doug!

Sophie Movies

For some reason, the videos stopped working after they had been on my blog for a few days. I am hoping that by reposting them in smaller posts, they will start working. Bear with me. :)

Sophie Movies

OK. I know I have FOUR beautiful and wonderful children. I also know that the vast majority of my blog posts this past year or so are about only one of those beautiful and wonderful children. Please do not think I have forgotten the others. I love them with my whole heart, too! That having been said, babies are just so stinking fun. I love watching them grow (though I think they do it too quickly) and learn new things. Plus, they are just little balls of unconditional love and adventure. So, if you will indulge me a while longer, I have taken some movies of Miss Sophie that I wanted to share. They are not a few. I won't feel badly if you don't want to watch them, but they make me smile!

I think the two greatest sounds on earth are (in no particular order) 1. babies talking and 2. babies laughing.

Remember my other favorite sound? (Hint: it's not the noise I'm making in the video!)

BABY LAUGHS!

Have I mentioned that she loves dogs? So, when she's grumpy or I need a little help, Doug looks up dogs on his phone and they snuggle and look at dogs. In this video, she is pretty excited about the dogs. Ashton is the videographer and she is laughing, so it's a little shaky. :)