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!

Birthday Boy! Two Years Old!

On the Sunday before Broyden's birthday, I squeezed him into his little suit and then tried to put on his black sunday shoes. They didn't fit! Since we were late, I just threw on his new sketchers and out the door we went... in clothes too small and tennis shoes... so stylin'! I guess my baby boy is growing and no longer a baby! He came home from church with a gift from his nursery teacher, Sister Barney. He wanted to carry it around with him the whole rest of the afternoon, telling everyone, "My birthday!"

And a great birthday it was! It started out with a playdate at the park. Afterall, boys love to run around and play...

and play and play! We ate his birthday dinner at Burger King and played on the toys. Broyden was so excited to go down the really big slide.

Then we celebrated with cake and icecream. Here is a picture of Broyden's cake I made. I found the idea on the Family Fun website and thought to myself, "Oh, that is so cute and simple!" Ha! When I finally finished decorating it at 3:00 in the morning, I thought to myself, "Wow! Not sure if I will ever make this cake again!" Luckily, I took some pictures that night because the cake was too big to fit in the fridge and the house got too warm. When we came down for breakfast, the barn had tipped over! Do I admit that I wanted to cry???? Oh well! Luckily he is only 2 and didn't even notice:)

Barn and silo: Twizzler pull-aparts, frosting, cereal, and pretzels

Duck pond and pretzel fence

Farm animals: Cow, Pig, and Duck

I love you Broyden! All the work was worth it for my handsome boy!

And it tasted good too! Moo!!!!

I didn't realize Broyden knew the toy story characters, but when he opened his presents he exclaimed, "Woody!" He also liked his race cars.

Every day when we leave the gym, Broyden has to go and look at the motorcycles. He loves them! So, when he opened his presents and saw that he got his own motorcycle, he jumped up and down! It had to be put together and Broyden was so excited to help. He kept saying, "Hurry Daddy! Hurry Daddy!" Maybe we will have a handy-man in the family afterall!

I love how he covered his ears:)

So happy! Vroom Vroom!

And at the end of the day, the birthday boy got a birthday haircut... the only kind that Mommy knows how to do! He was worn out and slept so good in his new birthday jammies!

Broyden truly changed the dynamics of our family two years ago and each day is an adventure with him. He is an active, adventurous, happy little boy with a very tender heart. I wish I had a video camera on him every minute of the day!

WE LOVE YOU BROYDEN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Surprise Visit from Milin/ Labor Day

Labor Day weekend, we received a surprise phone call from Milin and Jake! They were on their way back from Mexico and wanted to visit and spend the night! They joined us for some swimming fun before heading back to Idaho.

Milin and Tean. He was especially excited to see Preslyn:)

My little dolphin and her ball

Enjoying the kiddie pool:)

Broyden didn't last long... the water was a little colder than normal. Fall must be just around the corner!

THANKS FOR VISITING MILIN AND JAKE!

VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME!