Thanksgiving, Brennan's birthday, and anniversary weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is always a busy time for us. Brennan turned 10 this year!  

He was so excited to get a new fleece blanket. He got one just like this from his primary leaders when he was baptized to symbolize the Holy Ghost being a comforter, and he accidently left it at a hotel. He's wanted another one ever since.

He grew out of his old leather jacket, so we gave him a new one. He loves it.

 And finally, he got a lightweight backpacking hammock! He was thrilled.

We went to Kristen's house for his family birthday party. The apple pie was store-bought, and it wasn't nearly as good as homemade, but at least we had really good ice cream to go with it. We wanted to have everyone at our house, but it was just too crowded and messy from the flood. I'm sorry I couldn't bake you a cake, Brennan. I promise I'll make you any dessert you want when the kitchen is finished!

The kids were off school a whole week for Thanksgiving. Fun crafts, Levi!

For the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went on a 5-mile family hike in the rain. It was really fun!!

There was actually water in the creeks (even more on our way home from the rain), and Levi and Chloe played in every creek crossing. 

Tyler listened to Jane Eyre on the hike, since he waited until the end of the break to read it.

The whole reason we went on the hike was for Dallin's 1st class requirement in Boy Scouts. He had to use a map and compass.

We were going to go to Jamba Juice, but we were too cold for that. So we went to Cider Creek Bakery instead and got breakfast with hot chocolate 

We were quite a site in our soaking wet clothes. We got a lot of stares!

For Brennan's birthday dinner, he requested a Chinese buffet. The food was okay, but the whole experience was hilarious! 

Brennan had his first cavity filled right after his birthday. Here's his crooked half-numb face smile at Jamba Juice. 

We went to Windows on the Water for our anniversary dinner, and it was absolutely wonderful. We requested our favorite corner window table and got there just in time to watch the sun set behind the rock. I told Dave it's too bad we didn't get married before daylight saving ended, 18 years ago. As always, the food was incredible. Plus they gave us a cute dessert. If it weren't so expensive, we'd go there more than once a year!

 We got family pictures taken for our Christmas cards. I love these ones of the two of us!

Happy 7th birthday Levi!!!

 

Levi turn 7 last month! It was low-key, but he said it was his best birthday ever!

We woke up his big brothers early to open presents. Actually, it wasn't that early! 

 Levi is a hard worker, and he loves his work gloves! We also got him a kid-size rake and shovel.

 He is really into board games! He and Dallin are my 2 biggest board game kids right now. At least they have each other.

This is hands down the BEST stomp rocket. We've had a few over the years. It is durable and works GREAT! 

Every Sunday morning is board game time at our house. We used to have arguments over which game to play (some love Monopoly, the rest of us hate it, etc), but we figured out a good system. Whoever's date week it is with dad gets to choose the board game. This has solved many arguments!

Levi has decided that he doesn't like most desserts, like cake. He said he just wanted jello, but we didn't know how well that would hold burning candles. So I made him an apple crisp. 

We weren't going to do a big friend party for him this year, since he had one last year, but then he said, "Tomorrow's my birthday, and we haven't even sent out invitations to my party!" Oops. So I texted a couple friends and invited them to go to the pool with us after school one day. The weather was perfect! That worked out great!

Relaxing in the hot tub! 

We stopped at Rite Aid on the way home and got ice cream.

Gum is always a good gift for Levi! If you'll notice in the ice cream picture, he has about 5 sticks of gum in his mouth.

He bought spy night vision glasses with his birthday money from grandma. Levi wants to be a spy when he grows up.

Levi is a character!! He makes us laugh every day with the things he says. He works hard, and he's always busy doing something. He likes to write books, draw pictures and rake leaves. He is very independent, making his own food and doing homework. We love you, Levi!!

Back to school

It's always a bit of a shock to the system when the alarm goes off on the first day of school. 

Tyler (9th) started high school, so now he goes to early morning seminary with Spencer (11th) at 6:30. They leave seminary a little early and go to jazz band before school. Spencer plays bass guitar and Tyler plays alto sax. It's kind of amazing that he gets to be in jazz band as a freshman!

Dallin (7th grade) is our only middle schooler this year. Brennan (4th) and Levi (1st) go to the elementary school right up the hill from our house. Chloe's preschool started a couple weeks later than everyone else. That makes 4 schools!

She was so excited! It was hard for her to wait 2 weeks. She goes 3 mornings a week, and she wakes up happy every school day. Her best friends are Brooklyn and Dalby.

Tyler played water polo with his cousin Jacob (Tyler's the one with the lightest skin, Jacob's the one holding the ball). They started practicing in the summer. They didn't win too many games, but he made some good friends and  had a lot of fun!

They played a lot of games! They got out of school early 1-3 times a week plus had several weekend tournaments. It often conflicted with marching band, and Tyler had to choose between the two or go directly from one to the other. It was a little crazy, but he loved it!

Here's the JV team. Chloe went to one of the games with me, and when they got out of the pool, she said, "It's like their wearing their underwear! Don't look, mom." That cracked me up!

The middle school band joined the high school for one of the football games, and we took the little kids to watch. It was their first time going to one, and they all loved it!!

The middle school bands marched onto the field before and after the game and joined in playing the National Anthem, fight song and Alma Mater song. The ones wearing red shirts are from Dallin's school, and the ones in blue are from the other middle school.

We sat right next to the band. Don't Spencer and Tyler look handsome in their uniforms?

Their band teacher told them that if they went to they game she'd give them all nose whistles. That was a huge incentive, and all but 2 kids went.

Spencer didn't do cross country this year. He decided that band and school would keep him plenty busy. It was nice to have him home at 3:15 every day. He has even had time for side jobs, such as teaching piano and doing yard work. 

Future bearcats!

The two middle school bands also played in our town's Pioneer Day parade. Spencer and Tyler marched in it too, but for some reason those pictures disappeared. 

Chloe and I joined Dallin for one of the Lunch With Your Kid days. That's always fun. He hangs out with his cousin Peter and his friend Mason every day at nutrition and lunch. Mason is in 6th grade this year, and they are helping him adjust to middle school. They go to Chess Club and History Club together. The other day Dallin came home all excited that he actually beat Mason in Chess!

Dallin was in Cross Country again this year. I don't think he enjoyed it quite as much without Tyler, but he did have a few friends in it. We went to a couple of his races.

His favorite part was stopping with the team to eat at In-N-Out after all the races.

Brennan and Levi have loved riding their bikes to school this year!!

Have you ever seen a cooler biker dude?! Levi is in a 1st grade/Kinder combo class. I was not happy about it at first, but I think he likes being one of the few older kids in the class, and he's a great leader. Plus we love his teacher!