Happiness

I give up What I want For what God wants- Which is oh so much better.

The paper 12 caught on fire so we decided to take them off! Ethan and Jonah turned 12 on Monday! How crazy is that? They had fun helping make their own cakes this year- which was a first! Ethan frosted and decorated his with chocolate spirals and Jonah fully supported me making a tie dye cake.  Some favorite presents were juggling sticks, a light frisbee, headlamps, some rubber band guns and a few kites. Oh, and Bahama Bucks certificates too since one just opened in Draper (they sell shaved ice and we loved it in Arizona). The boys had been wanting rubber band guns for a while now and it's so windy here so the kites were perfect! Ethan loves reading and is often found with a book in hand. He even reads books twice if he doesn't have anything else to read. He likes scouts, camping and playing video games- your typical 12 year old boy! I love you, Ethan! Jonah loves making crafts and whenever he is bored he is found building something out of paper. He is really good with Declan a...

Mother's Day was wonderful! Josh cooked dinner for us- Chicken Parmesan Soup- and the kids gave me handcrafted gifts made at school. Even Declan made a card for me at Nursery. It did start out strange though. The day before, I had dished out food for everyone at dinner and was just sitting down while grabbing a bite of watermelon when the watermelon got lodged in my throat. I kinda started freaking out and the kids ran to get Josh who was upstairs saying "Mom's choking". I wasn't really choking so when he came down I said "I'm okay" to reassure him. After quite a few attempts to get the watermelon dislodged- drinking water, laying upside down, coughing and a blessing- we headed to the Urgent Care. It was pretty painful too. After an hour wait the Dr said he couldn't do much and sent us to the ER. On the way there, it slipped down my throat and everything was back to normal, except for some soreness. We were so glad not to have to go to the Hospit...

Declan is TWO! These two years have flown by super fast. It's kind of amazing!  Declan loves: -trucks. Garbage trucks, car carriers, cement trucks, any truck in general. He loves to watch for trucks when we drive anywhere and points them out. He also loves to watch videos of garbage trucks on YouTube. He finds them scary and intriguing at the same time. -Eating "Life" cereal in the morning with his brothers and sister. He even drinks the milk at the end. He also loves apples, juice boxes, dried fruit and the occasional  fruit snack. -His green Brazil shirt. He calls it his green shirt and would wear it every day if I let him. As of now, I only let him wear it twice a week. -Nursery. They have a good assortment of truck toys which he makes a beeline for and he has several friends in there too. -Dad. He likes going outside with Dad, playing on the trampoline or checking out the inside of Dad's car while I cook dinner. -Dad's car. He loves sitting in the drivers seat...

For Valentines Day, the 6th grade had a social dance. They had been learning all types of dances in PE and this was their chance to practice it! I didn't get to go since Declan was napping, but I heard that it was a success! Jonah said that a teacher pulled him away from the refreshment table and made him dance. These boys are growing older!  For Family Home Evening, we made paper hearts and wrote down something nice about each person in our family. Someone must have said something really funny! Asher and his Valentines Box. Flowers from Josh! Ethan and Jonah and their loot! Declan helping me cook! He loves to stand by me and mix things! Elizabeth got contacts! We went in to get a new pair of glasses and walked away with contacts! She loves them and has done really well wearing them. A clay rose Elizabeth left for me. So sweet! What a great Valentines! 

We knew the snow would be gone soon, so the first Saturday in February we packed up and traveled the 2 minutes to a nearby park for some family sledding time. Declan lasted about 20 minutes but we had a great time getting some sledding in until then. I wore this same hat when I was little! The boys at times would wear their pajamas under their snow pants and go out early in the morning.  It rained a few days after this and it melted all the snow so we were glad we went!