Tantrum,,, and New Haircut

So I finally gave Broyden his first official haircut! I started out with the scissors, but after cutting his right ear really good, I decided to pull out the buzzers. I tried to take some cute pictures afterwards, but when I put him down, he decided to throw one of his tantrums. So I decided to video it instead. We all need a good laugh every once in awhile, right? I love how he tries so hard not to smile. It looks like he is just too chubby and he is getting upset because he can't sit up, but don't let him fool you. This is actually a tantrum. While you are watching him roll around on the floor, take note of his new haircut. Isn't he adorable????

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Broyden loves to crawl around and is always "woofing" so I thought he would make the perfect little doggy this year.

Preslyn got to be Dorothy this year with her little Toto. She loved the red shoes! Such a cutie!

And Demarie was able to fit in her Tinkerbell costume one more year! Mommy sprayed sparkles all over her hair and on her skin. So pretty!

At the ward Trunk-or-Treat

Broyden was really in the doghouse that night! I was in charge of the cupcake walk so I dressed up like a witch and had a great time scaring the kids as they walked around the circle.

Checking out the goods! Demarie and Preslyn were even nice enough to share some of their candy with Mommy and Daddy.

Halloween Night: Dinner in a Pumpkin!

Another tooth missing???

We were eating caramel apples for dinner one night and Demarie lost her 7th tooth! It was barely starting to get loose too! She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come, but in the morning her tooth was still by her pillow. This has happened several times where the tooth fairy seems to skip over our house so she was feeling pretty sad and said, "I feel like I'm always at the bottom of the list for the tooth fairy and she doesn't even care that I lost my tooth!" But the next day, Demarie had a special surprise waiting for her from the tooth fairy. She left her a necklace and a note in her tiny tiny writing! The tooth fairy explained that she had been making a special necklace to give to Demarie the next time she lost a tooth, but when she lost it so quickly, she wasn't done making the necklace! She worked all day and even into the night to finish it for her and she even got one of her tinker fairy friends named Helena to make a heart to go on the necklace because Demarie has such a big, caring heart! The tooth fairy also warned her to stay away from caramel apples! Demarie was all smiles after that and was so excited to wear her special necklace to school. It even matched her outfit that she was wearing that day!

Septoplasty

Aaron and I play in an over 30 co-ed soccer league on friday nights and a GIRL broke his nose! He had a septoplasty to fix his nose and then the next day he went to his class and did a 20-minute presentation in front of his graduate class about his paper. This is what he looked like when he left to his class presentation. Isn't he handsome? I'm sure a combination of the blood under his nose, the nose cast, and the still "glazed-over" drug eyes got him enough sympathy from his peers that he was able to walk out of there with an A!

The Pumpkin Patch

"Mommy look! An orange ball!"

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

Brave Demarie making friends with a goat

"Mommy! I touched the bunny!"

Broyden watching the chickens

Every year I like to take the kids out to Gillcrease Orchards to pick some pumpkins to carve, but this year we weren't able to go when it was open. I saw this pumpkin patch as we were out driving and decided to stop and get some pumpkins. There was a petting zoo and several rides so I got each of them some tickets and let them pick a few activities to do. Preslyn was too scared to go inside the petting zoo, but enjoyed sticking her finger through the fence to pet the little bunny. They jumped on the bouncy house and slides and we took some pictures with the pumpkins. It was a HOT day! After seeing the price of the pumpkins, I decided to go to Smiths the next day to buy some pumpkins to carve. Unfortunately, my camera was full so we couldn't take pictures of their masterpieces, but they turned out really cute:)

Backpack Party

I came home from work one day and Demarie practically knocked me over as I came through the door. She was so excited! "Mommy! Mommy," she said. "Can I have a backpack party?" She handed me a pile of papers. Demarie had made invitations for her friends, an agenda of activities and games they would play at the party, and a list of treats she would need. She had gone to a lot of work! I couldn't tell her no! Instead, I said that she could have the party, but that she was going to do EVERYTHING for it. It was her party, not mine. She agreed. So, we picked a date together and she put the date on her invitations. She had invited a lot of friends, but unfortunately(or maybe fortunately:) she didn't get them all passed out. She told all of her friends to bring their backpacks and she made up a lot of different backpack games to play. The day before the party, she made cupcakes all by herself and then on the day of the party she cleaned the house all by herself. I was so happy when she came up to me and said, "Boy mom! Having a party is a lot of work!" "Yes it is," I said, but inside I was thinking, "Yea!!! She gets it!!!" But all the hard work definitely paid off. Her friends came and Demarie was a gracious host. They had so much fun playing her games and decorating/eating cupcakes. I was very proud of my little girl. The next day, Demarie told me that one of her friends was unable to come to the party and wants her to do another one. This time, the answer was "no!"

Hopscotch

Musical Backpacks

Backpack Obstacle Coarse

Cupcakes

Happy Birthday Preslyn! 3 Years Old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

PRESLYN!!!!

THREE YEARS OLD!!!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

OUR LITTLE PRINCESS!!!!!

In October, our sweet little Preslyn turned 3 years old! I can't believe how quickly time flies by. Preslyn is such a special little girl. She has a very spunky attitute and fun personality. She naturally comes up with her own jokes and humor in every situation (even when I am getting mad at her!). She knows her colors and numbers and loves to read books. Her favorite book right now is Pinkalicious, which she will sit and "read" to me before naptime. She wanted a pink cake so I made my little princess a beautiful pink and purple castle cake. It took 3 cake mixes and 5 batches of buttercream frosting! When I was decorating it, she kept telling me, "Ok, Mommy! That's enough! I just want to eat it!!!" When Daddy came home from the store with pink icecream, we sang to her and I dished her up a nice big piece of cake with lots of pink icecream. After four servings of icecream, Preslyn announced that she was done and got down from the table--not even touching her cake!!! We are so glad that Preslyn came to our family!

Hangin' with Preslyn

With Demarie in school, Preslyn has become my little hang out buddy. She really likes the attention and being the oldest at home. Sometimes she even bosses me around! It has been a lot of fun having some more one-one-one time with her and watching her learn and grown. Here are a few pictures of some things we have done together:

Preslyn and Broyden at a Halloween play date. Preslyn was dressed up like Dorothy and Broyden was a dog. She loves to get together with her little friends.

One day, Preslyn's friend Isaac was going to come over to play but he was sick. Preslyn was so sad that he couldn't come and she wanted to make him a card. After she made the card, she wanted to take it to his house. So, I loaded her and Broyden up in the van and she put the card on his front porch all by herself. It was so cute. I wanted to take her picture so I would remember the card and she insisted on making a funny face. That's Preslyn... always silly!

Preslyn loves to paint and play with play dough. We go to the library for story time and a Mommy and Me Preschool class. She is such a smarty!

OK, SO I HAVE TO BRAG...!

Our Wonderful Primary Children:

SR. PRIMARY

JR. PRIMARY

JR. PRIMARY (Can you find Demarie???)

Last week, our ward had the Primary program during sacrament meeting at church. I just have to say that they did an AMAZING job!!!! I was so proud of each and every one of them! It has been a week and I am still on a high from the beautiful Spirit that was felt during the meeting. First of all, 400 people showed up! They had to open up the entire gym! Usually our ward averages between 280-300 people for a Primary program and that is our largest attendance during the year. The children did a great job being missionaries and inviting their friends and family to come. Demarie even walked across the street and gave an invitation to our neighbors that we carpool with and she gave an invitation to a boy in her class and her teacher. She was pretty sad that nobody she invited came, but I told her that is sometimes what it is like to be a missionary. I encouraged her to continue inviting because you never know when someone is ready and willing to listen to the gospel. Anyways, we were pretty excited about the attendance. Second, Aaron is the pianist in our primary (thanks to an inspired Primary President Tammy Jolley) and he did a great job on the piano. I am so proud of him! He started the year only knowing 2 primary songs. When it was time for the primary kids to come up to the stand, he played a beautiful arrangement of "Reverently Quietly" by Paul Cardell while they quietly walked up to take their places. Then, we went right into a beautiful new song that the Primary learned this year called "I Know My Savior Loves Me." That alone set the tone for the entire meeting! He played all the songs with such beautiful dynamics and we ended with "I Believe in Christ" with the congregation joining in. My friend's mom was visiting from Utah and she plays the piano at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and is a very accomplished pianist. She wrote him a thank you note and said, "I thoroughly enjoyed your piano talent today in Sacrament meeting. I marveled at the way you took the place of an entire orchestra! It was truly a gift to me and the whole ward. I love beautiful experiences. Thank you." I thought that was pretty neat. I know how hard he worked all year and he really helped bring the Spirit into the meeting. Third, the children sang so beautifully! Sis. Gubler, our primary chorister did a great job teaching the children the words to the songs this year. Each class also had a special solo verse that they got to sing and each of them did a wonderful job. I was especially touched with Valiant 10 and 11 when they sang the second verse of "I Believe in Christ" and CTR 7 singing "The Fourth Article of Faith." Fourth, each of the children knew their speaking part and said it loud and clear in the microphone. I sat at the microphone ready to help them with their parts, but every single child did their part all by themselves! I didn't have to help a single one! Nobody yelled in the microphone or mumbled or got too scared. They just did a great job bearing their testimonies. Fifth, the words they shared were so touching. This year in primary, each child has kept a journal and at the end of the month, they get to write their testimonies about the topic we talked about that month. So, when it was time to put the program together, I went to the church and read all of their journals. I was able to pull something from each of their journals! I then went home and typed them all up and cut and pasted them in order of their topic. And that was it! The program fell together all on it's own and it was all from the testimonies they had shared in their journals. A few of the speaking parts were also taken from special talks that the children had given in primary or experiences they had shared. We had a missionary activity earlier in the year and the children were encouraged to give out a Book of Mormon. All the children that gave one out were able to tell about their experience and how they felt sharing the gospel. It was a very spiritual experience for me to put the program together. I just felt like Heavenly Father was behind it 100% and guided me in the direction to go. The final result was an incredible Sunday filled with warm fuzzies, sweet tears, and big smiles. Later, during Sharing Time, I asked the children how they felt during the program. One young boy raised his hand and said, "I felt sad. I don't know why, but I started to cry." It was cute. The Spirit touched his little heart and he knew that crying was associated with sadness. It was neat to teach him that we can also have tears of joy when we are moved by the Spirit. Sixth, all the children sat so reverently on the stage! Even the cute, wiggly Sunbeams were perfectly still! It was crazy how perfect they were! Seventh, our Primary President Kata Dean did a wonderful job sharing the story behind the song "I Know My Savior Loves Me." She opened the scriptures and told about when the Nephites sent their children up to be blessed by Jesus. It was a beautiful image and as I sat on the stage with all the children, I looked around and I knew that Heavenly Father loves and knows each one of those beautiful spirits. I am blessed to have the opportunity to not only teach them, but to learn from their sweet testimonies as well. Seventh, of course I have to be so proud of Demarie. She shared a Book of Mormon with her friend Chase and was able to tell about her experience. She is always such a good little missionary and example to me of service and love. She truly loves Heavenly Father and tries so hard to do what is right and be like Jesus. I just love her so much! What a perfect Sunday! The only thing missing was not having our own family there to be a part of it. It's moments like these when you wish grandparents and other family members could see your children (and in this case your wonderful husband too) and appreciate how much they have grown and changed!

Happy Birthday Broyden!

HEY, EVERYONE! GUESS WHAT!

Broyden turned 1 year old!

We celebrated by getting pizza and going to the park to play!

Broyden is getting to be such a big boy! He is a great crawler and can walk along furniture or holding someone's hand. He loves to stand on the play equipment and look out from the bars as he yells at his sisters. He can even climb up the slides all by himself! Broyden LOVES balls and dogs and says, "Ba!" or "Woof woof!" all day long! We don't need to get a puppy because we already have one! He loves to rough house and wrestle, especially with Daddy. He also loves to tease his two older sisters. He has truly changed the dynamics of our household! As much as Demarie is 100% girl, Broyden is 100% boy! He definitely keeps us on our toes!

Broyden, Demarie, and Preslyn at the park for Broyden's birthday!

Broyden's Choo Choo Train Birthday Cake!

I was pretty proud of how Broyden's birthday cake turned out. Probably not the best choice for a first birthday cake (a definite choking hazard!) but it was alot of fun to MAKE...

and alot more fun to EAT!!!

After cake and icecream and a nice clean bath, we opened presents. Lucky for Broyden, his two older sisters were there to give him a hand!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!

Skyping with Poland

One of our favorite things to do on Sundays after church is skype with Grandma and Grandpa Moon on their mission in Poland. They are getting ready to go to bed and we are just starting to eat lunch! We are so grateful for the technology we have today. It has been such a blessing to be able to look at each other face to face, even though they are on the other side of the world! They can catch a glimpse of their growing grandchildren and their grandchildren can continue to get to know their grandparents.

Our family has been blessed in so many ways because of their decision to serve a mission. It is so fun to hear about the people they meet and the places they go. There is a family with a little girl that looks similar to Demarie and she has a little sister that looks like Preslyn. We love to hear about their visits to this family and we pray that they will continue to be activated in the church.

Labor Day... Hiking Mt. Charleston

For Labor Day, we took the kids up to Mt. Charleston to do a little hiking. We found a little trail off the side of the road and after about five minutes of walking, we realized we have raised city girls! It was a pretty pathetic little hike, but we had lots of fun. Broyden really enjoyed it. Too bad he's not walking yet!

First Day of School...

A new backpack, a matching lunch tote, sparkling pink shoes, toothless grin... Watch out 1st grade, here comes Demarie!

Saying "Good-bye" in the courtyard.

It is nice to have so many of Demarie's friends from the ward at her new school, even though she misses her friends at her old school too. Here she poses with Sarah and Bailey Stirling.

Demarie and her 1st grade teacher, Ms. Hardeman!

Preslyn missed her sister so much! She got teary as she watched Demarie walk through the doors to her class and was sad all day. A new Strawberry Shortcake doll helped to cheer her up... a little. Unfortunately, Preslyn wasn't the only one who missed Demarie. It's hard to have my little girl gone all day!