Autumn 2010 Catch up Part 2- Come Little Leaves Said the Wind One Day..

Come Little Leaves Said the Wind One Day,

Come, Come Along and Let's Go Out and Play.  

Put on your dresses of Red and Gold,

For Winter is Coming, Oh so Cold.  

Scotty and I went on a little walk on a spectacular perfect Fall Afternoon. 

We were blessed to have the most beautiful Fall this year...  It stayed warm late into the season. The trees gently and slowly turned crimson red and gold.  The colors were so vivid!  

I love hanging out with this boy.  

Just a few more shots so we can hold Autumn 2010 in hearts.  We were spoiled this year.  

Autumn 2010 Catch up--Part 1 Steve's Birthday

We took a  Family Bike Ride along the Jordan River Parkway....to celebrate Steve's birthday.

Yes, Jonathan is texting while riding his bike!   We can barely tear this boy away from his friends!  We love him and we know he loves us....he is loving his social life these days.

It was so nice to get out together and enjoy the beautiful Fall Day.

Half way through our bike ride we ended up at Gardner Village....  This is such a fun place!

 Happy Birthday my Sweet Man!  WE love you!  

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving Day Feast Guests:
The Genti family from France
The Schmidt Cousins

 Highlights of the day, laughter, good food, Three kernals activity to count our blessings, games, singing around the piano, amazing apple cider, pumpkin pie and whipped cream and plain old relaxation, chatting and fun.  Cozy house, warm happy times with family and friends.  So grateful !

  Menu:  Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sweet Potato Pie, Stuffing, Relish tray, Green Bean Casserole, Rolls, A special French Dessert and Pies.  Yum!  And amazing apple cider to wash it all down.

After dinner, we did our three kernals activity.  Everyone is given three kernals of corn and everyone expresses 3 things they are grateful for.   It was a warm, happy time.  Even 3 year old Scotty got into telling everyone what he is grateful for.

There was lots of thanks expressed for family, friends, home, freedoms, divine revelation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ,  food, diversity, so many great things, some very original. I wish I had written them all down.

After dinner there were lots of games.  The kids played "Signs" downstairs for probably an hour.  From waht I could tell from all the "hoopin and hollerin" they had a great time. We played Pit and Monopoly got started.    

At the end of the day, there was more pumpkin pie and plain old relaxation, laughter and talk... And Singing around the piano.   It was a wonderful day!
 
I must say that having Grandma Knudsen with us made the day so special.  Her mere presence anchors us, helps us remember who we really are, where we come from and our hearts beat with gratitude for all the love and learning, lessons she has given to our family for so many years.   It was so delightful to be with her.  Absolutely wonderful to stand next to her and sing around the piano....  precious times.  And dang!  I didn't take a special picture of her...  I need to hire a photographer for these events!  And since that won't happen, I just need to do better.

We also so enjoyed the Genti's.  It was so great to have them with us.  Along with the Schmidt's our wonderful fun cousins.  

And here is a great thought about Gratitude:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns 
what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, 
chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a
house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of 
our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Catch up --Scotty is an official Pre-Schooler

This little darling started preschool!

Goodbye Summer 2010!

We have had a very nice, long extended Summer.  All of September was very warm....sometimes close to 100 degrees.  It has been nice.   

So here's a tribute to Summer 2010 ...goodbye..... parting is such sweet sorrow....

I will miss the flowers.....

And those beautiful summer evenings.... when the kids in the neighborhood would play and play...  

I will remember Cub scout Day Camps..... and all that "man training" going on....

We won't forget the joy of climbing trees....

Or lazy Summer afternoons when boys are free to create and imagine.....  Like these two boys who created their own weapons..and then had very spirited fights...and set up forts....    

And oooh the joy of running around shirtless and barefoot in the warm summer air!

Hanging out with neighborhood friends morning, noon and night.... 

And stealing Mom's camera and taking random pictures with friends you hang out with morning, noon and night...

We won't forget the homemade waterslide made with a  ladder, particle board and a tarp or two.   Oooh the fun!

And more random pictures....taken with Mom's camera ...just for fun...

Oh the magic of summer days when you are 8, 9, 10 and 11!  There's is a secret world.....just like I remember.   Forts, games, anything they can imagine.  Lemonade stands, trips on their bikes to the grocery store to buy candy...with their own money!!   Few things make me happier than seeing my children experience the magic of childhood...  They have their own plans, own agenda, and played all day until they were exhausted!

 They played with water in the dirt, created dams and tunnels. And when a thunderstorm would roll in...it was pure excitement!  These kids would run out in the rain and scream in delight at the thunder!  Oh the magic!  

I also want to remember:

• Nightgames!  Played until as late as we would let them!  
• Trips to the Pool...  How much these boys love to swim!
• The endlesslessness of remodeling...we remodeled our three bathrooms this past summer.....   How torn apart the house was for about a month...it was crazy!
• Steve was gone for more than a month between scout camp, the National Jamboree and the 50 miler hike. I didn't like this too much....
• Jon and Joseph went with their Dad and a bunch of Uncles and Cousins on the National Boy Scout Jamboree (100th Anniversary of Boy Scouts...very cool)  
• Steve took a group of young men including Jon, Joseph and Eric up Kings Peak-50 miles hike.  
• Our splendid family reunion and send off of Mom and Dad on their mission to the Washington DC Temple Visitors Center
• A wonderful day trip with Barb and family up to "the Weber" their cabin up in the mountains in an area I had never been to...which is soo beautiful. It was a really great day!   

So goodbye Summer 2010.....   All good things must come to an end.... 

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Catch Up...First Day of School....

Hard to believe that it was time to start school again....

I think this will be the year we remember that we "slummed" our way into the first day of school.  Look at those clothes!  Who dresses those children?   I think I was a little distracted in getting Eric ready and off to college.  Plus these boys will do anything to get out of shopping for clothes!  And, I guess it worked!   Well, atleast they are darn cute!  So, maybe no one noticed that they look like little urchins...lost and forgotten by their mother.

4th Grade!  How can it be that this boy is starting 4th grade!  And he got the teacher he wanted..hoped for..Mrs. LeFevre!!!

Michael and his good friend Brandon.  They both made it into Mr. Cook's class...and this made them very happy!

Yes, they are the cool 6th grade boys..the top dogs..the big cheese..... 

And ...with some coaxing..this young man let me take his picture on his first day back as a JUINOR!!  Holy Cow!

And, well, I am sorry to report that the 9th grade boy was  too anxious to get to school early and therefore would not pose for a picture.  Jon will be the new boy on the block at Albion Middle after going to Churchill Jr High for the past two years. He decided he wanted to be with all of his friends ..and football team ...so he was one excited boy, anxious to get his foot in the door and make a great first impression.  I am happy to report that he went to school with just the right clothes, his hair combed just right, and ready to be the big man...  (He is fun  ..funny...to watch)  I know he will make it a great year!  And we are happy for him!

So, after school I tried to be a cool mom and have cookies and milk ready for them.  It will probably never happen again, but at least I was really cool one day this year.    

I love these boys and here's to a great year!  And now we are off and running into a great year!  

Catching up.....The Big Send off to College .....

So ....I didn't even want to write about this..... It was  a happy, exciting, wonderful and very sad day...

This was a day I knew would come....

It was a day every mother begins to dread from the minute  you hold that new baby in your arms--you know it is coming, way back in the back of your mind.  You know it's there every time you tuck him in, every time he starts another school year,   each time you celebrate his birthday,  each time you go on vacation....there is a little thought in the back of your mind  reminding you  that one day your child child will fly.......out of your nest and begin a life of their own.

We don't own our children.  We only borrow them for a while and teach and love them the best way we know how, but ultimately they are responsible for their lives.  And as they go, you just hope they remember all you tried to teach them and hope with all your heart that Heavenly Father will make up for all you didn't teach them....

And you hope that they know who they are and that their Heavenly Father and Savior love them and that they are never alone.  So many things... on this day if Eric had asked for the moon I would have tried getting it for him.    I am sure every mom feels so many emotions as she sends off her oldest to college.  

And so after 18 years of knowing just about everything they do from what they ate for breakfast to how math class went that day to who they are hanging out with....they go and you have no idea whether or not they are starving to death, brushing their teeth, hanging out with good people....nothing!  Poof!  Gone!

And I text this boy and he just texts back, "don't worry Mom, I am fine!"  And you suddenly feel like you really shouldn't ask too many questions...and let them get their feet on the ground and begin a life of their own on their own.  And it is exciting in many ways and so sad in other ways.


Here are some pictures taken the night before Eric left for college.....

The night before Eric left, we celebrated his birthday!

And he finally got what he has been asking for for the past 3 years...a laptop!!!  

Since, he left, I am happy to say that he seems to be doing just great!   He is rooming with a cousin and has a couple of other cousins close by...and seems to have a fun social life.  He reports that he has all A's, well, one A-.  We will keep our fingers crossed for him that his final grades are so good.    He is getting along well with all of his roommates except one ...and has learned to "just give him his space," and everything goes ok.  He seems to be making new friends....  !  He made Men's Chorus!  This is his favorite class.  He also just auditioned for a show choir with his cousins and they all made it!  Yippee!  BYUI is such a good place to be......so uplifting, testimony building....I hope everything continues to go well...  We are happy for him!