Homecoming Sunday

On the 25th of September, my parents reported on their mission in their ward. There was also a young man in their ward that had his mission farewell on the same day, so my parents did not get to talk very long:( But, what they said was great! It was especially exciting to hear them both bear their testimonies in Polish. I'm grateful for the example they have set for me and for my family.

After church, they hosted a brunch at their house. My mom made a ton of crepes, something they eat a lot of in Poland, muffins, fruit salad, and other yummy breakfast dishes.

Aunt Cathy, Aunt Mindy, and her kids waiting for the food

My Aunt Tanya and Cousin TarraLisa. It has been such a long time since I have seen them. I wish I could have had more time to visit with them.

Uncle Byron, Aunt Colleen, and their gang! Cousin Jeff recently got married so it was fun to see him with his new wife!

Frank just hanging out:)

Lance with my Uncle Steven and my Grandpa Arnold. Grandpa Arnold has served several missions himself and is always so kind when we see him. It was nice to see everyone and listen to my parents speak about their mission. I only wish they could have had more time to speak. After the family gathering, we loaded up and headed back to Las Vegas. It was hard to good-bye...again! At least they can hopefully come visit soon!

Surprises from Poland!

We had so much fun having a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It reminded us about the "good old days" when they used to live in Las Vegas and we could visit them all the time.

One of the highlights of the trip was sitting around Grandma while she showed the grandkids some of the trinkets and memorabilia they brought home from Poland

The kids especially enjoyed the Matryoshka dolls (nesting dolls)

Jalia, Hallie, and Demarie were a great audience!

Beautiful pottery from Poland

Polish Nativity scenes, decorative plates, and jewelry

Polish Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, dictionary, and scarf. There is also pictured a copy of some of the primary songs that Grandma Moon translated into Polish! This was a big help for the primary children and leaders in Poland.

Easter eggs and Christmas ornaments

Wooden chest board and books about Poland

Doll wearing traditional Polish attire and other various polish toys and scarf

Hanging With Cousins

While we were in Utah, we went to the Children's Museum in Salt Lake City with aunt Mindy, cousin Brock, and cousin Makai. The kids had a great time! Here is Brock pumping the water. He was so funny to watch! He sure got into his imagination!

Fireman Broyden mowing the lawn!

Fireman Makai gathering eggs
Cowgirl Demarie riding her horse!

We also went to the Syracuse Fun Park with uncle Rett, aunt Susie, cousin Brynna, cousin Tean, and Grandma and Grandpa. The kids had a great time bouncing and sliding!

Brynna and Preslyn had a great time together. They were so fun to watch and listen to! One time, Brynna turned to Preslyn and said, "I'm not going to play with you anymore!" Preslyn said, "Ok! Who are you going to play with?" Brynna got a puzzled look on her face and said, "Well, don't you want me to play with you?" Preslyn said, "Sure!" and so Brynna said, "Well, then tell me you want me to play with you!"

Uncle Rett, Brynna, and Preslyn. Uncle Rett sure is a good daddy!

Broyden and Tean jumping!!!

While we were in Utah, we stayed at uncle Daren and aunt Cathy's house. I was excited to go to Cathy's workout class at the gym and attend a spin class with her! A couple of nights we went to the church parking lot and rode bikes with Mallory and Hallie. Aunt Cathy really worked hard with Demarie to try to teach her to ride a bike. She is getting so so close! Aaron flew in Friday night and we had a family party at uncle Blaine and aunt Mindy's house. We ate dinner and watched the BYU game.

Grandma and Grandpa Moon at the Airport

Wow! Is that really Grandpa Moon???
Grandma Moon taking it all in!

Grandpa making sure to say "hi" to everyone!

Welcome home Grandma! You look great!

Preslyn was two when they left! She was so excited to see them! Preslyn said, "Why do you look different than you did on skype?"

Broyden was a newborn baby when they left, but even he recognized them and was so excited to see them. In fact, when he woke up that morning, the first thing he said was, "Go see Grandma and Grandpa!" He loved wearing his Polska t-shirt to welcome them home.

So good to see family again!

WELCOME HOME GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!

As soon as we arrived to the airport, I went to buy some flowers at a small giftshop. As I was walking back to our group, I heard shouts of excitement, "There they are! There they are!" And suddenly there was Grandma and Grandpa walking out of the gate! It all happened so fast! We barely had time to pass out the posters for everyone to hold up! We all stood around enjoying the moment, and then each took our turn giving them a love and welcoming them home from Poland. It was a long flight, but Grandma and Grandpa Moon were so excited to see everyone and they had plenty of energy! We were worried they wouldn't recognize some of us because of the changes that have taken place in two years, but thanks to Skype, they definitely recognized everyone! It was a wonderful moment!

Getting Ready for the Big Homecoming!

Making welcome-home posters at Grandma and Grandpa's house with the cousins!

Cayden putting his artistic skills to work
Brynna and aunt Susie making rainbows

How's it looking??? Do you think they will like it?

Tah Dah! All done! Do you like my X's and O's?

Broyden's masterpiece!

Every day for the past month, my kids have been asking "Is it time for Grandma and Grandpa to come home yet???" Finally, I was able to tell them "Yes!" We loaded in the van on the September 20th and headed to Utah to greet Grandma and Grandpa Moon at the airport as they came home from their mission to Poland. Before going to the airport, we met at their house to decorate and make posters to hold at the airport. We were so excited and filled with so much anticipation!!!! Boy time flies!!!

Scripture Power Carnival and Primary Program

A carnival wouldn't be a carnival without popcorn and cotton candy!

2000 stripling warrior face painting
noah and the ark's balloon animals

adam and eve's apple bobbing

jonah and the whale's fish pond

knock samuel the lamanite off the wall

children of israel manna toss

scripture treasure chest jewel toss AND

daniel and the lion's den bean bag toss

pin the rock on goliath's head

sailing to the promise land boat race

king noah's bouncy castle

(and my wonderful counselor and her son!)

the theme for primary this year is "I know the scriptures are true." we have had so much fun learning about the scriptures. each month the children have received a reading chart so they can mark off the days they read the scriptures. at the end of the month, they draw a picture or write about something they learned that month in their scripture study and bring their paper back to primary. as a reward for bringing their paper back, the children get to put a "jewel" (a sparkly fuzzy) into the scripture treasure chest. they can also put a jewel in the box each time they bring their scriptures to church, are reverent in primary, or memorize a scripture.

our primary program was held in september. the sunday before the program, the primary children filled the treasure chest with jewels! to celebrate, we held a SCRIPTURE POWER CARNIVAL!!! on saturday, we met in the chapel and practiced through the program. after we were done practicing, each child decorated a prize bag and then went into the cultural hall where we had lots of carnival games, prizes, face painting, popcorn, and cotton candy. members in the ward volunteered to run the games so that the teachers could enjoy the time with the children in their classes and not feel like they had to help out with the activity. we also had the cub scout boys help out by making signs for all the games and helping clean up. all of the games were related to a story in the scriptures. the highlight was the large "king noah's" bouncy castle! everyone had such an amazing time! there was so much help that it wasn't a stress to plan, execute, or clean up. in fact, the whole carnival was cleaned up in twenty minutes because everyone pitched in.

the carnival was a great motivator for the children to sing and do well in the primary program and then on sunday in primary i used the carnival as an object lesson. i told the children that they were rewarded with a carnival for reading and bringing their scriptures to church, listening, and being obedient. if they remember to do these things throughout their life, then Heavenly Father will bless them abundantly...even more than a carnival!

i am so grateful to all the ward members that were so willing to help out. it was so fun to see all the children having such a great time. i forgot to take pictures until the very end of the event and had my husband hurry and snap a few. i wish i had more pictures of the children participating in the games and activities. it was an activity i hope they will never forget!