Temple Square

Kamryn had soccer games in Ogden and Salt Lake last weekend. We had a little time between games so we decided to take the kids to Temple Square.  We had told the kids that we were going to do something fun between games, but we didn't tell them what we were going to do. When we passed Lagoon the kids of course wanted to go there. When we first got to Temple Square they were so excited and even said that it was as fun as Lagoon, just in a different way. I think it was the first time that my girls had been there. How sad! We live 3 hours away and we are in Salt Lake quite frequently but we don't make it to Temple Square. We had such a great time, we are going to plan to go more often. 

We first went to the Lion House for lunch. It was delicious and the kids thought it was great to be able to pick out there own food. The only problem is they thought they needed everything.  After lunch we walked around the temple grounds.  They all loved the reflection pool. Aubrey couldn't get enough of the water.

Then they wanted to touch the temple, so we let them touch the temple. Wyatt told them they would get special powers if they touched the temple. He got in trouble with one of the missionaries for fibbing on temple grounds.

Next we went to the Tabernacle, and then to the North Visitor Center.  I think seeing the statue of Christ was everyone's favorite part (I know it was mine). It was so neat to see how excited my kids were, especially my little kids. When we walked up to where the statue is Sadie just stopped and said "That is awesome!" Aubrey saw the statue of Christ and ran to it pointing and saying "Jesus!, Jesus!" She didn't use a quiet, reverent voice, but it was so neat to see how she recognized Christ and wanted to go to him. She really couldn't get close enough.  She stepped on the platform and reached up to Christ. We took pictures of the kids by the statue and then we sat down with them to just admire it.

 Aubrey would not just sit. She kept running up to the statue of Christ. The spirit was strong, and I could tell that all of my kids felt it. What an awesome experience!

Then we went downstairs in the visitor center and saw all the other displays. There was a display about all the prophets from Bible times to Book of Mormon times, to our modern prophet. As I looked at this display the spirit testified to me that our modern prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, is a prophet of God just like the prophets of old.  Another great experience. 

After this we went to the Conference Center. We were running out of time, so we just took a short tour of the roof. What an amazing building. Then our time was up and we had to go to Kamryn's second soccer game.  I am so glad that we took our kids to Temple Square. It was a great experience for everyone. Brynli said the other day that she wants to marry someone who will marry her in the Salt Lake Temple.  That is a great goal she has set. We will definitely plan more visits to Temple Square.

Ready or Not

I am so not ready for school to start. I feel like summer was not long enough and I still want to play. I guess because of that I have put off school shopping. I finally ordered some clothes online, but I still haven't seen any packages. Well, Wednesday school started even though I didn't want it to. I have been so irresponsible about school. Tuesday we missed Back to School Night because we were at the lake. That also meant that we were all up late. We have gone swimming every night this week and my kids have gone to bed late every night this week. Maybe I'll do better next week, but I'm not going to make any promises. Well even though I wasn't ready for school to start I still took the traditional first day of school pictures. Thanks to Grandma Kathy my kids had at least one new thing to wear on the first day of school.

Kamryn is in middle school (6th grade) this year. I can't believe it. I have really been feeling old having a child in middle school. He is really liking school and the idea that he is a little bit older with a little more responsibility. He also really likes that they have more choices at lunch. That means there is a better chance that he might actually like something at lunch.

I took a picture of Kamryn and Jacob waiting for the bus. They thought they were way to big for this picture, and were a little embarrassed. I thought it was better than walking them to their first class and taking a picture.

Derek is in the 2nd grade this year. He is growing up a lot. He is excited about his teacher. He came home from the first day of school and said "2nd grade is way better than 1st grade". I didn't get a picture of him at his desk. After I took a picture of Brynli I went in his classroom to get a picture of him and they had all gone outside.

Brynli is in the 1st grade this year and gets to go to school all day. She thinks it is great to eat lunch at school. Everyday when I ask her what her favorite part of school was, she answers "lunch". She is such a girl. Today she didn't want to go to school because she didn't have anything new to wear. Where are those packages anyway?
Here is Brynli at her desk. She also has grown up a lot lately.
Even though my 2 youngest kids aren't in school yet I still like to get pictures of them on the first day of school. Sadie is going to do a Joy School type preschool this year, but we haven't started it yet. Sadie had to wear a backpack for her pictures, and when we took the kids to school. She was excited for them in the morning, but by afternoon she was really missing her siblings. She kept asking when they were coming home, and if we could go pick them up.
She had to have me take her picture at the school when we dropped the kids off. She's growing up too, but I'm glad that she isn't big enough for kindergarten yet.
And here is little Aubrey. She is just getting so big and doing such big things. I wish she would slow down a little. We are having a lot of fun with her, and hopefully she will keep us young.

Easter 2010

Coloring Eggs

The Hunt

Grandma's Tree

It has become tradition that each year the grandkids help Grandma Mansfield put up her kid Christmas Tree. Grandma buys each grandkid an ornament each year. The kids put up all their ornaments and then they decorate with all of grandmas other ornaments (which is a lot, if you know grandma). They all have a great time. I always enjoy watching the bigger kids trying to get their ornament the highest on the tree. And the little kids think that all their ornaments need to be hung from the same branch (or light strand). Grandma is in charge of handing out the ornaments, and Grandpa helps the little kids reach high places. The parents even get involved a little, mostly taking pictures. You should see how many flashes go off in that room. Then when the tree is all decorated we all get to enjoy Grandmas delicious homemade eggnog. My favorite part. I was especially grateful for this tradition this year. It's nice that the kids got to help decorate some tree. We haven't put our tree up yet. We thought we would go back to our roots and try out an old German tradition of putting the Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve. Really, we are just waiting for our new house to be finished. We would really like to have Christmas there. The way things look, I think we will get to try out that German tradition after all.

Look Janice, there is actually a picture of me on this post.

Another Halloween

Halloween really isn't my favorite holiday, but when your kids are this happy and cute, I guess it's all worth it.

It's always been a tradition in our family to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Usually we do it for family night sometime in October. This year we decided to carve pumpkins on the Friday before Halloween. When Wyatt got off work, we ate dinner and then went to the store to pick out our pumpkins. Well when you wait until the day before Halloween there are no pumpkins left, (at least not in Vernal). We talked our kids into making carmel apples, and then buying the new Ice Age movie that was out and watching a movie. The kids loved the movie, and so they were happy, and mom and dad were pretty happy not to have the mess of carving pumpkins. I still felt like pretty much a slacker mom for not being more prepared for Halloween. I guess I will have to do better next year.
I'm not exactly sure what Sadie is for Halloween. She found this cute dress in the dress-up dept. and wanted to wear it for Halloween. She calls herself a flower, or a flower princess. Whatever she is, she is pretty cute.
Brynli wanted to be a skeleton this year. I guess she has outgrown the days of princesses and fairies. I was just glad that she found a girly skeleton costume.
Derek originally wanted to be a mummy. We couldn't find a pre-made costume so I figured I could just buy a sheet, rip it up, and make my own costume. I'm not very good at making costumes, so I usually don't even try, but I thought a mummy would be easy enough. The Wednesday before Halloween was the school carnival. The kids got to dress up for that. We made Derek a mummy costume. It wasn't the best mummy ever, but he looked pretty cute. I wish I would have taken a picture of him. On Halloween I planned to wrap him up as a mummy again, but he changed his mind and decided to be a motorcycle rider. It took quite a while to get him into his mummy costume. I think that is why he changed his mind. The motorcycle rider was much easier, and he makes a pretty cute little dirt bike rider.
When we went to the store to buy Halloween costumes Kamryn just had to have this mullet wig and blow up guitar. I told him that he would have to make up a costume using those two props. When Halloween actually came, he decided it would be easier to just wear his motorcycle gear. So Kamryn was also a dirt bike rider. He looks pretty cool!
We all had a good Halloween night. We went to our ward soup dinner, and trunk or treat. Then we went to a little spook alley and Megan and Grandma's house. The kids all got plenty of candy and had a lot of fun.

Halloween 2008

Doesn't my Sadie bug make a cute little ladybug!

Hand-me-down costumes are always a winner.

Brynli went to a Hannah Montana themed birthday party about a month ago, and has known what she wanted to be for Halloween ever since. I think she is much cuter than the real Hannah Montana.

Derek wanted to be Darth Vader this year. He didn't really love the mask, so most of the time he had the mask off. I think he just wanted a new lightsaber. 

Kamryn's costume was all his own idea. I tried to talk him out of it, but he really wanted to wear his wig from last year and be a cheerleader. I tried to tell him that boys don't dress like girls, but he remembered seeing a pictures of his dad many years ago (see previous post). I guess he won. He sure was a hit at the ward party. He talked with a girly voice and even got up on the stage and did a cheer for everyone. What a nut!

Here is a couple of pictures of the whole gang. Everyone had a great Halloween. We went to our ward party, where we ate soup, played a few games, and then did the trunk-or-treat. Kamryn then thought he needed to go with his friends, and the rest of us went to Wyatt's parents house and his grandma's house. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it was a full night.

On Saturday, Sadie decided that she needed to dress up in Brynli's Hannah Montana costume, wig and all. She thought she was pretty cute. I couldn't resist taking pictures of this little rock star.