Happy Halloween! 

Trunk or Treating tonight so we can collect enough to hand out to trick or treaters tomorrow...cackle cackle...

Wes the Pirate...not interested in the earring...earrings are for girls.   Serra lamented that the clip on earring for Westons costume didn't come in a pair so she could clip them on herself. 

Charlottes Web...also not overly amused by the costume.

Weston thought picture taking time was fun...kept running in the shot and posing and grinning...until it was his turn.

And last but not least...Rosie our resident princess, as Cinderella.

Un-uttered Prayers

While I was serving in the Relief Society Presidency in our last ward the other councilor was taken into a Stake calling, leaving an opening in the presidency.  As Dalea Ellis, the President was going back and forth over names to submit for a new councilor she was impressed to call Debbie Sutton.  Debbie has had quite a story.  Although most recently her husband joined the church.  She has always been fearful of "pushing" the temple on him because her mother warned her that's when her own father left the church and the family.  Dalea had the distinct impression that if Debbie accepted this calling it would be the means by which her family would go to the temple.  She told her as much after Debbie accepted.  Debbie fulfilled her calling faithfully until her family moved out of the ward a few years later.  They still hadn't gone to the temple. 

On Monday the 12th Debbie called me to invite me to the temple the following Saturday.  They were finally going.  Her husband, who is career navy, is getting deployed next month to fight pirates in Africa.  He is the one who got the ball rolling...as soon as he said the word Debbie went to work.  In just over a week they got everything in order...you see, sometimes it isn't a matter of worthiness.  They have both been worthy for years.  Sometimes it's about being prepared in every way.  They were finally prepared and knew they needed to get this done.

Minutes after getting off the phone with Debbie my mind started rolling.  What am I going to do with my kids for 6 hours on Saturday.  Brian would be out of town and I have a nursing baby.  I called Dalea and she arranged to have her 12 year old Brailey at the temple with the baby.  A few minutes later I received a phone call.  It was Coral Briscoe.  She is a woman in our ward who is Weston's nursery leader.  I don't know her well.  I have talked to her a few times and she loves loves loves Weston.  She took out her own endowments just a few months ago.  She is single with 2 great teenage kids.  Anyway,  after the initial pleasantries she came right out with it.  "I just had a feeling I needed to call you and ask if there was anything I could do to help you...can I ever watch your kids or anything?"  I paused,"Seriously?"  I told her my situation and clarified that we were talking about 5-6 hours with 3 kids (one of them being Weston...who is like 3 kids alone ).  She declared she would LOVE to as her kids were with their dad that day and she had nothing else going on.  Have you ever had an answer to an un-uttered prayer?  I have. 

Saturday came.  Jeff and Maren had the 2 older girls overnight and brought them back about noon.  I picked up Coral at about 1pm, brought her home, and gave a few instructions.  I was off.  I had Charlie with me.  Upon arriving at the temple a few minutes early, I fed the baby and handed her off to Brailey who arrived just at that moment.  I was in the temple....it's been awhile since I have been able to go with the new baby and pregnancy making it a difficult thing to do. 

We went through the endowment session and then straight on over to the sealing.  After sealing Debbie and John the sealer had John stand in front of the mirrors alone.  He asked him what he saw.  "Myself forever"  The sealer then hammered home that had he not come to be sealed to his wife, that would be his future...a lone man for eternity.  I have never seen that done in all the sealings I have been too.  He then had Debbie come stand with him.  "Now what do you see?"  It was quite a moment.  And then they brought in the three children...

Not a dry eye...

Especially Jordann, their 14 year old daughter who really understands what is happening here...

After sealing the family the sealer had them stand together in front of the mirrors to see what they had for eternity.  It was one of the most moving experiences of my life.  I have difficulty putting in words how beautiful and TRUE it was.  How anyone, who has been through something like this, could doubt the truth and power that is the gospel of Jesus Christ is beyond me. 

Everyone worried about how John might take this new experience, as he is the lone member in his extended family, need not worry.  The smile he had on his face the whole time and the look of understanding and light in his eyes was enough to know that he gets it and was more than ready to take these steps. 

The baby was fine, although completely unwilling to take a bottle, so a bit hungary.  The other children had a great time with Coral who did not let them watch TV (bless her) and played games, played princess, and read books all afternoon. 

How grateful I am for an answer to my un-uttered prayer so that I might participate in such a spiritual,  uplifting, and faith promoting day.

  Ok so maybe I never did get back to subtitling the last pictures...sorry.  I plead super busy-ness.  Quick up-date on the kids. 

Charlotte...the dream baby.  Her only fault is she refuses to take a bottle even if it's expressed milk.  I was hoping to get a little freedom from the 3 hour feeding demand but she throws major fits when we have tried.  In fact...since I have tried coaxing her over the past few weeks she has decided she won't even take a pacifier.  None of the fake stuff for her.  Luckily she is so good I guess we'll just wait this one out.  Like I said she is on a 3 hour feeding schedule.  During the day that is pretty much like clockwork...at night she will stretch 7-8 hours.  I have been able to put her down at about 8:30-9:00 which is better than any of the other kids at this age.  She is extremely smiley and talkative.  She goos and squeaks and will have a regular conversation with us.  Cuteness in abundance.  She is sooo pretty with dark hair and dark but still undetermined eye color.  She has really fattened up and is in 6-9 month clothes already...she skipped the 3-6 month.  She has developed rolls on top of rolls.  I just want to eat her up.  She loves to be held sitting up so she can converse and giggle but she loves her swing as well and is content to sit there.  Sometimes her sister Rosie likes to love her a bit too much and a howl ensues but mostly she is just content and sweet.

Wwwweston...it seems this last week his vocabulary has grown ten fold.  I think he has figured out that he gets further if he uses words.  I thought it was so cute that he actually used the word "cookie" that I gave him a cupcake he was pointing to.  WHAT was I thinking...minutes later cupcake crumbs were spread all over the house.  A momentary lapse.  Won't happen again.  He says "tub" when he wants to get in the bath.  " Done, cookie, more cookie, daddEEE, momEEE, babEEE or bubba for Charlotte, nack for snack, stuck, I stuck (it happens a lot), dypee for diaper, owwie (which he presents for a kiss) are a few of the ones he uses most.  Of course, he understands everything pretty much.  He continues to try my patience with menacing behavior like pulling the ovens open and using them to stand on to get to the stove and microwave...and yes he has turned the microwave on until it overheated.  The stove he just dismantles.  He uses chairs from anywhere he can find to climb on counters.  He is usually after the sink which he likes to turn on and play in.  Unfortunately we have the kind that the faucet comes off to spray...all the more fun.  We go through a lot of towels.  He likes to push buttons on the washer and dryer as well so sometimes laundry day turns into days because he either starts loads over or turns them off.  So most of our chairs are on tables and counters.  It slows him down only slightly as he still manages to find a way most of the time.  It takes me forever to get anything accomplished because I am following him around undoing the tornado in his wake.  He can open the dishwasher and has recently learned to open the cupboards with handles that are beyond his reach.  This means the canned food and jars are in danger.  I have been using socks to tie the cupboards shut.  I'm running out of mismatched socks.  He is a problem solver and has figured it all out which creates loads of new problems for me. Brian thinks it's child abuse when I put him in his high chair for the hour (or so) before dinner but I say it keeps me from child abuse to confine him for a period of time so I can finish something  like feeding the rest of the family.  He still takes a nap in his high chair as well...its the only place I can get him to take one outside of the car.  He has to be bored and when there is so much to get into he doesn't take a nap unless he is confined.  So at noon he goes into his chair...falls asleep within 10 minutes, sleeps for 45 minutes, wakes up and eats lunch.  By then I have usually gotten my bearings back.  He still has trouble sleeping through the night and usually ends up cuddled up to me.  Lucky for us Charlotte is a good sleeper.

Rosie....hit a growth spurt recently and looks 6 instead of the nearly 4 she is.  Her hair is finally growing back after the incident earlier this summer.  She loves to tell us stories about anything and has quite the imagination.  She really can be delightful and has a smile with giggles that warm my heart.  There is the inner monster though that she struggles with...it screams really loudly and throws fits when it doesn't get it's way.  She is learning to get it under control though.  Her older and mostly sweet older sister and little brother like to push the monsters buttons to see it come out on occasion though.  She has become much more helpful to me the last few months.  She like to take on new responsibilities that she sees Serra doing.  She likes to set the table, change the laundry out, make the baby or Weston happy, or help me with anything in the kitchen that will allow her to sit on the counter.  She is the consummate question asker and even after you give her an answer she will ask it again...I think she just like to have conversation.  She loves her daddy and sometimes cries when he goes to work.  She has started getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure she doesn't miss him.  For some reason she doesn't require sleep like most children.  Even when she gets up at 6:30 or 7 she has trouble going to sleep by 9pm...and comes out of her room for every reason in the book.  Brian usually spends 30 minutes or so in a bedtime routine with back scratches, back draws, stories, questions, etc...and that helps to settle her down.  There have been a few times that Brian falls asleep on the couch watching TV late at night.  At about 2am the DVR switches channels to Disney to record Little Einsteins for Rosie.  She hears it and wakes up and comes in and climbs on Brians lap to watch.  He wakes up and asks what she is doing and tells her to go back to bed..."Not yet Daddy...It's not over yet."   She loves a handful of shows and I can get her to do all her little tasks with the reward of getting to watch them.  Mommy's mood is very important to Rosie and she chastises her when she loses patience.  She has started writing some letters and "wumbers"  and loves to draw pictures.  She tells and talks out stories as she draws.  Most of the stories involve her cousin "Ebawin" or Evelyn.  We sure love our little Rosie.

Serra...our second grader...is doing fantastic in school.  She really loves it and is taking responsibility to a new level.  She has taken the challenge of becoming responsible to a very mature level, so she can get her ears pierced.  She does her homework on her own and has a slew of morning chores she takes care of.  She also is so much help with the baby.  Sometimes I forget she is only 7...she seems so much older to me.   She is even receiving the responsible citizen award at school next week...quite an honor.  She lost another tooth 2 days ago making the gap in her face substantial.  She is missing the top four front teeth and only one is starting to peek through.  Poor kid can't eat apples, corn on the cob, hamburgers or anything that requires a good set of teeth to bite with.  She is delightful and oh so beautiful.  I wonder if she will ever go through an awkward stage?  She loves to tell jokes (still learning there) and loves to play games.  The other night after she lost her tooth she was asking about the tooth fairy and said, "sometimes I wonder if the toothfairy is parents."  Brian balked and declared he looked nothing like a fairy and that he was far too noisy to ever pull off that kind of stealth.  That night the toothfairy fell asleep on the couch and forgot to replace the lost tooth with monetary compensation.  When she disappointedly came to us the next morning to let us know the toothfairy hadn't shown up we told her that maybe the fairy had felt bad she had questioned her existence and so didn't come.  Her eyes got wide and she declared she was a believer.  The toothfairy came last night. 

I stole my sister Serra's idea on selling recycled flowers on Etsy and business is booming.  I have about 6 Goodwills, 2 DI's and a few Salvation Army's to keep me supplied and I hit the motherload last week.  So I spend a few hours a week keeping that endeavor going on top of all the rest. 

Charlie at 3 months

Serra and the gap

Serra and her second grade teacher Mr. Avellino

Charlie a few weeks ago and Rosie and Wes just messing around.

Rosie found a hat and accessorized with a flower.  And the rest are some of Rosie's awesome art work.

The last one is a haunted house in case you couldn't tell.

82 Pictures for your viewing pleasure...check back later for subtitles...gotta go. (PS.Thanks Julie for action aids...I have had fun experimenting...i'm sure you can pick'em out.)

Our two week trip to Utah ended up lasting 3 weeks.  Brian came up in the middle week and we were supposed to drive home together…but as Serra didn’t start school for another few weeks we decided to stick around, enjoy the much cooler temps of northern Utah, participate in more extended family gatherings,  get some canning done with Moms big time help, and play with cousins.  We were able to participate in the Brower Family Reunion, and both a Brower and an Arnell cousin party.  I won’t even begin to list all the family we were able to reconnect with.  It was a real treat to see so much family though.  We spent one day at Bear Lake with Julie, Serra, and Darci and all the kids.  Although the babies didn’t think much of the experience with the wind and sun, the other kids had a blast and still talk about how much fun they had.  That same day we had dinner at Grandma Arnell’s in Bear Lake.  It is a place that has changed little since I was a child.  It is always nostalgic to go there and feel the outside world melt away for a few hours.  There are no traffic sounds, the air is (mostly) fresh, and you can hear farm sounds in the distance…a moo here, a whiney there.   The kids disappear and explore and find treasures like rusty horseshoes…that somehow make it into the car with us.  I hope we have many more visits there ahead of us but I fear they are limited.

We enjoyed a picnic at first dam where the kids picked up leeches from the water, Evelyn got goosed by a goose, and we left a nice film of oil on the water by feeding the ducks leftover scones.  Hee hee.   When we picked up Brian from the airport we took the day and visited Grandpa and Grandma Gee and Aunt Lynette.  We wanted them to be able to meet Charlotte and knew it might be awhile until that happened otherwise.  Michelle Koch also hooked us up with squeaky shoes to last through the next year.

I know the girls both had a fabulous time.  They got to watch movies in the downstairs theatre, play with cousins nearly everyday, and honestly I rarely saw them.  I saw a big change in Weston.  He was happier than I have seen him since CK was born.  He was able to spend a lot of time outside which he loves, and he loved following Grandpa around helping in the garden.  He especially liked picking things which was a bit of a problem but Grandpa and Grandma were pretty nice about it.  He learned to jump on the trampoline which is much easier to get onto than ours is.  And he got a taste of cousin rivalry and had to actually share toys when Ethan and Landon were around.  I think in a few years they will all be the best buddies ever, but right now it’s a bit competitive.   

It was nice having a few extra hands and eyes to help with the kids now and then.  I was able to do some much needed shopping for winter clothes.  Serra and Weston mostly…I rediscovered DI though and my addiction to going treasure hunting there and at the Goodwill Superstore has been fed by the number of such places here in Vegas. 

One of the highlights of the visit was the Wellsville founders day celebrations on Labor Day.  It was our last day there and we took in an awesome parade in the morning, enjoyed the awesomely politically incorrect sham battle (pioneers, cavalry, and Indian battle),  spent the afternoon enjoying the booths and rides, and getting sunburned.  Then in the evening we dutch ovened at Serra and Rich’s place.  They have a fantastic backyard.  Once again I rarely saw the kids as they were off getting rides on Dallas’s four wheeler, and teasing the goats.  I actually sat out on the lawn for nearly an hour at one point completely alone (except for Charlotte) and just basked in the perfection of the weather and the day.  Sitting there in the grass at the base of the Wellsville mountains, in the shade of a tree, I thought that life didn’t get much better.  I knew the following day I was going to have to return to triple digit temps and was soaking in as much of it as I could.  We even had to break out the sweaters that evening.  Ahhhhh!

We missed Brian terribly though and were anxious to get home and get back into a routine.  We came home on a Tuesday…the first week in September and spent about a week trying to get the house in order and our schedule figured out.  Then Serra started the second grade on the 14^th.  She has Mr. Avellino this year and after 2 weeks we are quite pleased with how things are going.  He is a great teacher and she is really responding well to him and the way he runs his classroom.  In Serra news:  She has been asking about getting her ears pierced and this last week got pretty serious about wanting it done.  I always thought I would either let my girls do that at 8 or 12 depending on how mature they were or how we felt about it at that time.  We discussed it and decided that she has a few months to show us she can be responsible about taking care of her belongings.  If she succeeds in showing us that she will be able to take care of and keep her things cleaned up and tidy, and that she can do her responsibilities without constant reminding she can have her ears pierced for her 8^th birthday.   We are really milking it too.  All I have to say is “remember your responsibilities” and she is scurrying to do her tasks.  She gets up in the morning and feeds the dog, gets dressed, tidies up the living room if I need her too, gets her school things all ready, and usually doesn’t need prodding.  She reminds me when she has been responsible…just in case I hadn’t noticed.  She is really a big help with CK too.  Sometimes the baby just wants to be held and Serra can put her to sleep while I am getting dinner or something.  It so great to have a Serra!  She asked me about how it felt to get your ears pierced, and I was explaining how there is an earring gun and it shoots the earring right into your ear.  She cringed and said...”Yeah but I don’t want you to do it, I want a professional.” 

While there Charlotte went from 5 weeks old to 8 weeks old and grew out of all her clothes.   We also struggled with her and some extreme fussiness…I thought she might have acid reflux and close to the last day there used some of cousin Landons medication that had helped him when he was struggling with an extreme case of the same.  Well…long story short…CK is a new baby.  She hardly fusses at all now and we have gotten a prescription from her pediatrician in Las Vegas to continue on the treatment for a while.  She is a happy and very smiley baby.  She has started cooing and gooing while smiling.   She had her 2 month check up and weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs and is 22 inches.  The doctor was quite amazed at her weight gain and complemented me on the fat content of my milk.  “Please to don’t talk about my breast milk.”  (The Office)  I will admit though that the demand of an infant along with the responsibilities that already existed with the other 3 and keeping the house going has thrown me for a loop.  Weston is a challenge by himself as he has discovered countertops.  He will take whatever measures he needs to in order to obtain access to higher regions.  The barstools have been put away, the kitchen chairs adorn the tabletop when not being sat upon, and still he has figured out how to open cupboards and scale the shelves to gain access to mostly the sink.  He loves the sink.  I am constantly wiping up water.  I will admit he spends a few hours a day confined to his high chair so I can accomplish something without having to worry about what he is doing.  He usually takes his nap in the highchair as well.  He has to be bored in able to nap so that’s the only place to lessen the stimulation enough to get him to rest for a bit.  He has started talking a little bit more but is mostly a pretty quiet menace.  He does scream loud enough when he is bothered by a sister though.   He too has grown excessively over the summer.  I don’t know if it was the fresh Utah air or what but he is into size 3T and his feet skipped a size.  I think Rosie just grew out of the size 8 he is now in.  He is a thick kid who likes to be lugged around, and sorry!, but Dad’s about the only one who can manage it anymore.  He’s about 35 pounds. 

Rosie has matured a lot over the summer and doesn’t throw fits nearly as much although she has her moments.  She loves to draw and is really quite good.  She pays attention to details like earrings and faces.  If I am at my computer you will find her next to me drawing.  She is usually singing or humming.  She has learned the primary songs really well this year and sings them all the time.   She had a great time in Utah and talks about Evelyn all the time and draws her pictures and notes.  She has also grown very attached to Brian and will cry sometimes when he leaves for work.  Brian has made efforts on several days to be home early to make this little girl happy.  She loves her cuddle and story time with Daddy at night. 

A week after I got home the lady I visit teach (Doris Heaps who just turned 90) got sick and was taken to the hospital.  She had a perforated ulcer and bowel and was in so much pain they put her to sleep.  She died a few days later in that sleep.  Her services were in Utah so we are throwing our own memorial here and I am hosting it on Friday.  With Conference on Saturday and Sunday it looks like it will be a busy weekend. 

Pictures to come: