Called to Serve

Well, the day has finally come. My "baby" brother, Taylor, is going to serve a mission. Yesterday he got his mission call and we all headed up to be there when he opened it. He will be serving in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma mission and he enters the Missionary Training Center on December 3rd.


We have a tradition in our family that we all put in guesses whenever something major like this happens (don't even ask me about March Madness!). Here's the board with all of our guesses mapped out. Most of us picked out of the country, but there were a few that stayed inside the United States. And funny enough, my little nephew Branson, guessed Oklahoma, so he was right on! I think it was rigged since his Dad travels there for work all the time! :)


My Mom was on pins and needless all day long and I don't think she could hold still for anything. Of course Taylor had to take advantage of her nervousness and took his time opening the envelope, pulling out the papers, and reading it. Finally after we all were about to do something drastic, he finally told us where he was going.


My kids are so excited for him. I don't think they quite understand exactly what's going on, but all they know is that they are going to be able to send Uncle Taylor tons of letters, pictures, and packages. He's probably going to be the missionary with the most mail from home.

Now that Zach is in first grade, he has to write in his journal twice a week. When I asked him what he wanted to write about tonight, he didn't hesitate to tell me he wanted to write about how excited he was that Taylor is going on a mission. Here is his journal entry:


Translation: I have an uncle named Taylor. He is going on a mission. He will go to Oklahoma. I can not wait for him to go on his mission.

He also drew a picture of Taylor as a missionary - isn't it the spitten image of him??? Well, I can see it. Here's a close-up of the drawing. You'll notice the colored in part is his suit and to the right is his name tag.



We are all so excited and proud of you Taylor! Thank you for being an example to us all, especially the kids - they both want to be just like you!

(Thanks to my sister Kylie for taking these great pictures. Since I conveniently forgot my camera yesterday - again - I stole them off of her blog! Thanks Ky!)

At The Big Top

Is anything better than seeing the circus? I remember my parents taking us when I was little and to this day, I still remember specific parts about it. So, it's not a surprise that I really wanted to take our kids to the circus so that they had that experience to remember.

I was more than thrilled when I saw an advertisement that allowed us to get tickets for only $7 a person. How could we not jump on that? Well, needless to say, we did. And after what seemed like forever (ok, it was only a month and a half, but the kids thought it took forever), the big day finally arrived.

The kids were so excited once the show got going. They were pretty much "perma-grin" through the whole thing.


One of Zach's favorite parts was the human cannonballs. He was amazed that they actually shot two ladies out of the huge cannons (or canyons as he calls them).


Hailey was all over the place during the show. She sat next to me, on my lap, on Jeremiah's lap ...


And even spent some time with Nana and Branson.


The tigers were absolutely amazing. Their trainer had them jumping, rolling, and a ton of other things. It was so interesting and made me glad that I wasn't down in the cage with them! Zach, bless his heart, was so worried about the trainer and afraid he was going to get hurt. I kept trying to explain that he was their friend and that they were just playing, but he didn't relax until after the tiger show was done and no one got hurt.


Mine and Hailey's favorite part was the elephants. We loved all the tricks they did and how well they did what they were trained to do.


I couldn't help buy take a little bit of video of some of these huge animals. Even though we up above them quite a distance away, it seemed like they moved so gracefully!



What a fun day we had! We can't wait for the circus to come next year!

Seeing the Animals at the Zoo

Now that the summer is over and school has started, it's the end of our weekly get togethers with our cousins, Aunts, and Nana. It's been sad since we've had so much fun doing so many things this summer. Lucky for us, there were a few things that we still had planned to do, but didn't get around to doing them, so we have been doing a few things on Saturdays. This last Saturday, we finally made it to the zoo. The kids have been looking forward to this all summer long and couldn't wait to go!

It was a big day for the zoo - it was the first day that they were letting people see the new baby elephant born just a month ago. We didn't know about it, but were so excited to see the little elephant. He was so cute and we spent about 15 minutes just watching him play with his mom and with a little ball they had in the pen.


Here's a picture of Zach in front of one of the other elephants - it was really bright, so that picture is pretty dark. That gray blob next to the tree behind him is the elephant.


Here's a picture of all 4 kids in front of the camels - sorry about the dark picture again. It was one of the few times we actually got all 4 kids to hold still long enough for a picture!


The monkeys were definitely a favorite - the kids loved to watch them jump, hop, and swing along the trees and branches.


Zach really loved this wall where he could measure up to a gorilla. He thought it was so funny that his arm span was so much shorter. Hailey of course had to measure herself too!


Hailey and Branson spent most of the day holding hands - those two are hilarious when they get together. Poor Branson is usually pulled along by Hailey, but he's getting wise and did his fair share of pulling Hailey around. One time there was actually a tug-o-war as they both wanted to go in different directions.


One of our favorite things to do at the zoo is see the Bird Show. They have all different types of birds that peform and fly over the heads of the audience. The kids love it and were so excited. Here they all are with Nana - waiting for the show to start.


They also had a baby giraffe out for us to see. Hailey loved all the babies and thought the baby giraffe and baby elephant were really neat.


The kids absolutely loved watching the giraffes eat. Zach, being the brave soul he is, really wanted to pet one.


Here's a picture of Hailey and Branson in front of the zebras. I tried to get a picture of Zach and Ashton, but they were too busy running from animal to animal to get a good picture - the ones I did get were all blurry. Hailey and Brans thought these zebras were really neat with all their stripes.


And lastly, a little family photo in front of the fountains.



We were definitely tired by the time we left, but boy did we have a great time!

Liberty Land

Labor Day was a really fun day for us. After a last minute cancel to got to the zoo, we brainstormed to come up with another idea of something to do that day. Jeremiah reminded me of the Liberty Land Fun Park here in Lehi and after remembering we had a coupon for a free unlimited day pass when you bought another one, we decided that's where we all wanted to go.

Liberty Land is a very small amusement type park hidden away here in Lehi. They don't have a whole ton of rides like Lagoon, but it's still fun and the best part is that the lines are nothing, so there's hardly any waiting time. The kids had a blast riding everything they possibly could.

The rode the airplanes about 5 times while we were there. Half the time there was enough room to ride in their own separate airplanes, but it was really fun to see them ride in the same plane. You could see them talking to each other and it was really fun to see them laugh and smile at each other.


They loved riding the train inside the building. The wouldn't sit anywhere but the front engine since that's where the bell was that they could ring as they were going around - and boy did they ring that thing over and over!


The Merry-go-round was a definite favorite. They loved the fact that they could choose whatever horse they wanted to ride. This was one of my favorite things to watch them do because I could see both of them with their Dad just having a fun time. During this ride they all would make a different funny face at me every time they went around - it was hilarious!


In addition to rides, the passes we bought included unlimited mini golf as well. It was pretty hot standing out in the sun, so we only did 1 round, but the kids had a blast. Zach did great with the golf club - you can tell he's been practicing out in our backyard.


Hailey on the other hand was a completely different story. First of all, she insisted on using the red putter, which was about 6 inches too long for her, but you know what it's like to change her mind after she gets set on something. Jeremiah helped her most of the time since she would either miss completely and hit the ground or actually hit it backwards (this was so funny to watch). But there were a few times where she insisted on doing it all by herself - of course we stood there for 5 minutes before she actually made contact with the ball!


Inside the building they had some blow-up slides, more rides, a rock climbing wall, and even arcade games. We couldn't help but use a few quarters to play a game or two. Hailey chose skeeball which turned into "I'll throw (not roll) it half way up the ramp" ball - it was so funny! And Zach chose a basketball game - big suprise! They both had so much fun.


But there were definitely two rides that were the most fun. The first was the go-carts. At first Zach went by himself.


And then he was gracious enough to take his sister for a ride. You'll notice that he has to slide all the way forward to even reach the pedals - it looks like the seatbelt is almost choking him. They loved every minute of the ride!



The other favorite was the water boat ride. The first time they went, we paid a bit extra so that Jeremiah could take Hailey. I couldn't stop laughing as Zach chased them around the pool trying to spray them with water.



The next time we got brave and let Zach and Hailey go together. It was funny since there was an older grandpa and his granddaughter in the group. He was such a good sport and let our kids continually spray him along with his granddaughter. Our kids laughed the whole time! I have to admit that he was quite drenched by the time the ride was over.



And if you're wondering how much fun they had, just check out these faces!




You can bet we'll be heading back to Liberty Land again really soon. We spent about 5 hours there and the kids had a wonderful time! Jeremiah and I are realizing that once you have kids, you have more fun watching them have fun than doing anything else for yourself. We definitely realized that on Monday as we had a blast just watching the kids get excited and have fun and we wouldn't rather have been any other place than there with our kids.

Where are the Kangaroos?

Well, if you were with us on Saturday, you'd realize that the kangaroos were with us! That's because we spent a few hours at the Kangaroo Zoo and the kids jumped and jumped just like kangaroos. My kids absolutely love the Kangaroo Zoo and get so excited when we tell them we're going. They have a bunch of blow up slides, jumping houses, and anything else you can imagine that's fun to jump on. Look at these faces - are they happy or what?

Hailey

Zachary


Our Cousin Branson


Our cousin Ashton



They sure had fun climbing, jumping ,and sliding for hours!





We can't wait to go back and play some more!

First Spelling Test

Ok, I'm a mom and since I'm using my blog as a family history of sorts, you'll have to pardon me if I brag just a little bit. Today Zach took his first spelling test - technically his first test ever and he did great!




That's right - that would be a 100% grade on the top of his paper! I know it sounds silly to be excited over something like a 1st grade spelling test on such easy words to the rest of us, but he's so proud and we're so proud of him. These are words he already knows how to read, but has never been tested on writing them. We worked on it all week last week and were so happy to see the effort pay off. When we picked him up, he ran to the car with a big smile on his face and couldn't wait to show us his paper. I know there will be times when he falls sort of perfect, but I'm so glad for him doing so well this first time, it's been such a confidence booster for him!

Way to go Zach - Daddy and I are so PROUD of you!

It's the Simple Things in Life ...

that are the most important.

I was reminded of this fact by my children this past week. Since school has started, I really haven't had a whole lot to blog about. Life is still settling into a routine and the unimportant things in life have been taking up more time in my life than I'd like.

Well, I thought I'd share an experience I had last week. For some reason, one day Hailey became fascinated with flip-flops. I'm not exactly sure where that came from, but for about a week she would sneak into the garage (which she's not allowed to do, by the way) and grab her dad's flip-flops to wear around the house. At first I got pretty mad at her, but after her doing it a few days in a row, it just became something I decided wasn't worth the fight. If you know our stubborn little girl, then you know it's virtually impossible to make her do anything different once she's made up her mind. Well, after a few days of tripping over very big flip flops and me worrying about it damaging her feet, I decided to just go buy her a pair of her own.

That was easier said than done since first of all, we had to track some down. Now that school has started, all of the summer clothes and shoes have been replaced by back to school items. After searching a few stores, we found a pair of little girls flip-flops at Old Navy (should have looked there first, don't know why I didn't). She of course chose herself a pair of pink ones and pair in blue for her brother - it's never a good idea to come home with something like that for one and not for the other.

Needless to say, they were both in heaven! The wore their flip-flops the rest of the day and I literally had to rip them off their feet when it was time to shower and go to bed. I figured the novelty of it would wear off after a couple of days. For Zach it did - he still likes to wear them, but isn't quite as attached to the like Hailey is. When Sunday rolled around, she was bound and determined to wear them to church. After a hour long heated battle, I had her finally convinced to wear her church shoes, but only becaue I promised she come right home and pur her flip-flops on. Even now, she still gets up in the morning, comes downstairs, and puts on her flip-flops which she wears all day long. She absolutely loves them!




I have chuckled quite a few times as I've seen both of their excitement during the past week. More than once I've marveled at how something so small and insignificant could cause such a tremendous amount of joy. Then I realized that these flip-flops are not insignificant, life is full of small things that make us smile, fill us with love, or make us feel important and it's those types of things we need to relish in. When life gets crazy and out of control, which it often does for me, I find that I'm not taking time to smell the roses or in this case enjoy the flip-flops and appreciate those little things that make life fun. Thank you to my two sweet children for reminding me to take time for the little things!