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We had planned on taking Mariska out to dinner after the temple but she was a bit overwhelmed from the experience and asked if we could pick dinner up and go home. It was a good plan and we enjoyed the time we got to spend together the 3 of us.
I really look forward to going to the temple with Mariska again!
My mom and dad celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this year! I feel so fortunate to have such long standing marriages in my family. Both sets of Grandparents have been married for 50 years and then my parents with 30. John and I are working up on 9. I sincerely hope that 20 years from now I love him as much or more than I do today.
To celebrate mom and dads anniversary we all went to Brian head Utah and stayed in what has to be the most beautiful cabin I have ever seen. This place had everything from a kitchenaid standmixer to central heating.We arrived at the cabin to a lot of snow!! Had to shovel the driveway for us to even get into the house. It was such a great weekend. All the kids sans Jack had a blast with me and my dad out in the snow. Well they had a blast with dad, I was taking pictures.
Grandpa pushing Mariska down a little hill
AVALANCHE!!!!!
"Mariska, it would be easier to make a snow angel if you were laying down."
Mariska and Matthew
Dad throwing himself down the hill.
The aftermath.
The driveway was not that steep so the kids didn't go very fast but they usually made all the way across the street before they came to a stop.
I went too!
Mom brought some craft projects for me and my sisters to do. The kids had fun playing with all the toys that the cabin had including the Foosball and pool tables. On Saturday night we had a family home evening. Each individual family had to prepare a little presentation to share. It was so nice to be in such a beautiful place with the people I love, and to feel the spirit as strongly as I did. I tried to make waffle from a brownie mix that night. I didn't like them that much, they were just really hard cookies. On Sunday Dad offered a devotional and that afternoon we came home.
I sure do love my family! Thanks mom and dad for bringing me into it, and thanks for letting us celebrate your big day with you! Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary!!!!
Yes Jack is in a pink stroller. We ran over the gender neutral one with the car... by accident.
Riska was a lot of help. She couldn't get the grapes herself so she went from me to mom and then to Aurie asking us to give her grapes to put in the boxes.
I think Aurie was a bit disgusted. :)
Riska had her first Primary program. At our church, once a year, the children (3-12) put on a program during the first hour of church. All the kids are assigned a small speaking part. The program is a summation of what they learned over the year. I was so proud of Mariska! She ran right up to the stand and said her little speaking part. My favorite part was when she was walking back to her seat. She looked at me and I gave her a thumbs up. She gave me one right back. I was glad mom was there for that.
I was so glad she came with mom. Riska was too. Dad would talk to her and ask if he could come see her. she would tell him that Aurie was. Sorry Dad. I wish you could have been here too.
We had a fun time at Lowe's building a fun house mirror. Mom helped me sew on the patches Riska has received hopefully I will remember how to do it with the new ones. We went again this saturday and saw two kids with at least 100 patches on their aprons. We are building a shelf in Riska's room to display all her projects.
Jack isn't much of a cuddler unless he is sleepy then he gives all the cuddles a mom could want!
I have no idea where this year went but Jack turned one on the 23rd of October.
I can't take credit for the cake but it was really tasty!
When we gave Jack his cake we expected him to dive right in but he didn't he picked at it at first.
It didn't take him long to figure it out. :)
This is about where I pulled the plug on the cake eating festivities. He was a mess and there was cake everywhere. He got more cake on the floor and down his shorts than he did in his mouth.
Mom and Aurie were here for the party. John's mom and dad were able to come for the day. It was so fun to have all of them here to celebrate!
I love watching a baby figure out the whole present thing. Jack was of course more interested in the packaging than they toys and I don't think I have ever seen a kid get so excited about clothes.
Jack is already learning to share. Most of the time it is by force, but he really loves to play with his big sister.
Love you Mom!
I have to say that I am so proud of Mariska! She had a couple of moments on Jacks birthday but for the most part handled it very well. She is a really great big sister and we are lucky to have her.
Happy Birthday Jack!!!!!!! We love you!
To help encourage good behavior at home I had to come up with something a little different for Mariska. Very few things phase her. Timeouts do not work and taking toys away doesn't seem to work either. One of the only things that really works is to take away books we read and songs we sing during our bedtime routine. She loves to read books and sing songs. So to help track it I made this poster.
There is a piece of Velcro on each book and on each music note. The red packets at the bottom store the books and notes when they are not being used. I am working on her name to go in the blank spot at the bottom of the poster.
Riska starts with two books and two songs everyday with plenty of opportunities to earn more but when bad decisions are made we also take them away. So far it has been doing wonders for her.
Thank you Gail for letting me use your awesome Cricket. Made this so much easier than it would have been. You are the best.
I have been looking for a button up shirt for Jack to wear on Sundays and cannot find one that is his size. I was complaining to my mom about this and she found these onsies at her work. They are so stinking cute. The tie is embroidered right on the shirt. He looks like a baby missionary. Just got to get him a name tag.
