Draper Temple open house

We were all up early one morning in the beginning of March, and were discussing what to have for breakfast. Ben suddenly suggested we keep the kids out of school for a couple of hours, so we could all go to the Draper temple open house.
I showered and got the kids ready, did my makeup in the car on the way (as usual when Ben is driving), and we were in car in less than an hour! I absolutely love that we can be spontaneous, it makes things so fun sometimes!
It had snowed early that morning, so it was chilly, but clear and beautiful and clean looking all around as we drove. We arrived in the church down the hill from the temple and watched a movie about the temple and a little about the history of Draper, then took a quick bus ride up to the temple. Jane was thrilled! She has "always wanted to ride a bus, and it's white too!" I guess yellow is not her favorite color. In my journal, I wrote about a woman who told us how cute our family is and she didn't think I was old enough to have these kids, wow! What a complement! I just thought I'd mention that shallow part too!
Going through the rooms of the temple, I tried to whisper little things to the kids, but I wonder if they'll remember any of what I said. I hope they will at least remember feeling the spirit and the want to come back. In fact, while we were waiting for the bus on the return trip, I asked the kids about their favorite part. Ashlyn said, "the baptismal font" Alex said, "yeah, and just all of it, I want to go again!" and Jane said, "the sparkles!" The chandelier in one of rooms made her so happy, she forgot to whisper when she said, "Oh, Mom! Look!"
When I was a kid, I vividly remember going to the Jordan River Temple open house and thinking, "Wow, this is where my parents go on dates!" Now I get to be the one who goes on dates there, who got married there, and who gets to feel closer to my Heavenly Father there! I know there has been some controversy over the temples and I love what our church has put out concerning them on lds.org. I pray my kids do get to go back many times in the future and they will remember the experience they had at this one!

Alex's birthday party

Alex is such a funny kid, it may be that all 6 and 7 year old boys are like this, but I don't know for sure, so I just chalk it up as "funny". He got so excited about his birthday, as soon as Christmas was over, he started thinking about his birthday party (his birthday is January 15th). Notice I don't say "birthday", because it's not even a birthday unless it comes with a corresponding party, see last year. So from December 26th on, he was planning the upcoming party. He had all sorts of ideas and he told me of his plans constantly. I have admitted in the past that I am not always an exemplary mother and this is one more illustration of why: I finally had to lay down the law and tell him he was not allowed to talk about his birthday until January (that still gave him two weeks to make his plans) and he could write down his ideas until then!

Well, January came quicker than I thought it would, and he had plans for everything! His Gillen grandparents were in town a week before his birthday, and they let him shop with them to pick out his present! He was so excited! More Legos! He spends hours putting them together and then break them apart, so can challenge himself to put them together again without using any instructions.

His plans didn't end there: he has very specific ideas about what the party was going to be like and whom he was inviting, including many of his best girl friends ("they are girls and they are friends, girl-friends")...he even told kids at school about all the things we were going to do, (building forts, making swords, etc, etc) which, by the way, we didn't do, and all the presents he was getting...Funny.

Luckily things still worked out well: the kids made "sweet" paper airplanes and had prizes for various categories during the ultimate match off, Ben and Ashlyn made the cake mostly with candy, he got the coveted Lego Batman game he wanted along with another webkinz, and his friends gave him many great toys including lots of bakugans so he can "battle."
I love having "the boy" in our family. He has to put up with lots of barbies, dolls, strollers, ribbons and bows and he even has to sit through dance recitals! We've gotten to watch him play baseball, soccer, basketball, football, wrestling and know there are more to come! He plays the piano, he roller blades, and still shadow fights on the trampoline, he is wonderful! He is good at figuring out many things on his own yet he is always willing to let us teach him more! Happy (late) Birthday Alex!

Ist birthday PARTY

We had a party to celebrate Sidney's 1st birthday a little late when all the holiday craziness was over. My parents and some of my sisters were able to come over to watch her partake of her first cake! I won't lie and say its the first taste of cake she's ever had (#4 has had many more treats by one year old than #1), so she wasn't too nervous; she pretty much took control of the situation!

My sisters: Cara, Shally, Brittany, my mom, and I were all posing for different pictures.

I have to show off Sidney's belly! She is already thinning out so much, her arm "bands" are gone, and her leg rolls are quickly disapearing, I miss my chubby babies!!!