I am behind again, but here's our catchup on our last two weeks. Noah loves the snow. Most of the time I walk to pick him up from kindergarten, but on the few days I am running late I drive. Noah loves it when I drive. He also loves walking through all the knee high snow to get to the car instead of walking on the dry sidewalk. What a crazy kid!
Daniel started basketball. This time all the practices and games are on Saturdays which is new for us. Daniel is the one in the bright yellow shirt. Surprising enough he is one of the tallest ones on his team this season. Wahoo Daniel!
Sarah has been begging to do the lesson for Family Home Evening lately. She finally got her chance a few weeks ago. She read through the Friend magazine and picked out a story to give a lesson on. It is so nice when the kids can read and understand things themselves! She did pretty well. The lesson was on prayer.
Two Wednesdays ago we went to Temple Square for a youth activity. We were able to ride Frontrunner and Tracks to get there and Matthew was beyond excited! It was a fun ride. Some of the youth had never even ridden Frontrunner before so it was fun for everyone. It was nice to ride Frontrunner down because it was snowing pretty hard by the time we got down there. The lights are always so pretty! Matthew made sure he wore his Union Pacific Gear to let everyone know that he loves trains.
It was pretty cold, but really pretty.
The snowstorm got worse the longer we were there. I am so glad we didn't drive our cars down!
Did I mention that Matthew LOVED riding the train?! He made sure he picked up train schedules beforehand to give to the Young Mens president just to make sure he knew what times the train would come. Little did he know that Matthew has all the times memorized! When we got back to the church we warmed up with some donuts and hot chocolate. It was a fun night!
Since the youth activity was down in Salt Lake we ended up leaving at 4:30 pm. Luckily, Aaron was able to pick up the slack without me being around. It wasn't easy because Sarah had dance at the same time Daniel had Pack Meeting for Cub Scouts. All I can say is it is a good thing we live close to our church building!
Also that night right after pack meeting and dance Josh had a Christmas band concert at 7 pm. I felt bad I had to miss all of those activities, but I don't think Matthew would have understood if he had to miss his chance to ride Frontrunner. Luckily, G&G T were able to make it to Josh's concert. Aaron was glad, too, because Noah got to sit and wiggle all over Grandma's lap instead of his--haha!
I had Aaron record the concert and take lots of pictures so I could see everything. As soon as I got home from Temple Square I watched Josh's recorded concert with him. You can really tell the difference in the band since the beginning of the school year. Josh is on the second row playing the trumpet:
My Grandpa Gee, my last living grandparent, died Sunday, December 13. His health had been declining, but it happened sooner than we had expected. The funeral was the following Saturday.
My sister Jennifer, who lives in Ohio, was able to come out for the funeral. She came in a day early so she could go skiing with my niece who lives in Salt Lake. That evening we had a big family pizza dinner with just the Terry side. It was fun to visit and catch up with my family. The next day was the funeral. My Grandpa Gee was not someone who liked attention. Before he passed away he made sure that there wasn't going to be a funeral, just a graveside service. Here's his three daughters which were his only children:
It was a nice service and we got to hear about Grandpa Gee and I also learned a few things I didn't know about him before. I had no idea he had a big sweet tooth. He fought in WW II, but the funeral home was unable to secure someone to do the military honors at his funeral which was kind of upsetting. Other than that it was a nice service.
We had been debating on whether to get a dog or not. On the way home from the funeral there was a big pet adoption-a-thon going on. Since we didn't want to get all the kids excitement up until we were sure we could find a dog that Josh could handle (since he has such bad allergies to them) just Josh and I went down to the adopt-a-thon to check out what was left. It started at 1 pm, but we didn't make it there until 3:30 pm and it ended at 4pm. We found one dog that looked promising for Josh. We took it around for a walk and shoved Josh's face into its coat to make sure Josh wouldn't react to him. He was part Yorkie, part terrier. While we were checking him out we heard some of his history. He was 10 months old and had been abused by his former owner with his kennel and spray bottles. I didn't realize how much that would come into play until we got him home.
The kids were so excited to see their new dog.
As the next few days happened Jaxon's personality really came out and this dog really had some issues. Jaxon really attached himself to me. Whenever I was around he had no interest in anyone else. It was pretty bad. I couldn't go anywhere without him or he would go berserk and start biting me and the kids. If I tried to go into my bedroom and shut the door without him in there with me he would bark at me, bite me and then nip at the kids. If I went out into the garage to get something out of the freezer he would flip out and do the same thing. Later that evening we had to go out for an hour and trying to leave Jaxon went absolutely crazy. However, there were times where he was very sweet, too.
Unfortunately, the craziness got too bad and we had to return him back to the Humane Society. I felt completely guilty and when I called to let them know the lady made me feel even worse. She brought me to the point of tears. After that I made Aaron return the dog because I felt so horrible about it. When Aaron dropped the dog off she then told Aaron that if she had known we had 5 kids they probably wouldn't have let us adopt him since they knew he had issues. They weren't able to return the adoption fee, but they let Aaron know that we had a credit toward another dog if one that we wanted came up for adoption. There was a promising one, but the lady in charge went on maternity leave and we haven't heard anything more about it. We will just wait and see if we get another dog from there. Hopefully we can find one that doesn't have such a rough history--the poor thing!
Two Saturdays ago there was an autism family party at the Bountiful Aquatics Center. Families with autistic children could come and swim for free after hours. It was a fun night. However, walking to the car after swimming was so cold. Flip flops, wet hair, and snow don't mix very well. It took the whole drive home to warm up again!
The Tuesday before Christmas Aaron had our annual wrapping party where we put the kids to bed a bit early, order a pizza and get the presents wrapped while we watch a movie. It is a fun tradition and I love having the help!
Christmas Eve we all got together for a nice dinner. It was nice visiting with everyone. Grandpa T got lots of lubs from Bree and Noah:
Later we went for a drive to look at lights. Afterward the kids got to open their jammies. I had just finished sewing them the day before so there wasn't a very good wrapping job done on them.
After getting our jammies on we read the Christmas story and talked about it.
Then we took some pictures:
The kids are getting so tall that I have to order extra fabric to make their pants fit.
THen it was time for bed. We put all the kids in Noah's room which was pretty interesting. Luckily, there wasn't too much fighting and they went to sleep fairly quickly.
Santa came--WAHOO!
The kids patiently waited until we got all the adults settled before they could see what Santa had brought.
Mark, set, GO!!
Let the present opening begin!!
Everyone takes turns so we get to see what everyone got:
After all the presents were opened we had a yummy breakfast and then got to check out the loot.
Sarah got a rubber band loom which took us a bit to figure out:
Since it had been a late night and an early morning everyone was a tad tired. Noah came over and crawled up into my lap with his Pillow. Then we both fell asleep. I had no idea Aaron took the picture until later. I love my Bubba and love getting snuggles especially when he falls asleep on me. That doesn't happen very often anymore!
Later that afternoon we met up with part of my family and saw the new Star Wars Movie. It was awesome!
We are still having fun checking out our new stuff. Josh got Just Dance 2016. I did it with him yesterday for a while and it was quite the workout.
Sarah's figured out her loom and has made everyone bracelets and then some.
Grandpa M's cousin knows that Matthew LOVES trains. She has sent Matthew a few train items. Then for Christmas she saw the train giftcard at Walmart and had to get it for Matthew. That was really sweet! Matthew was so excited! He was ready to go and use it as soon as he got it--funny kiddo!
Noah turned 5 this year and started kindergarten. He loves school most days and really enjoys learning to read. He still loves Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars as well as his Kindle games. He likes being my buddy for half the day since kindergarten is only half days. He loves being silly and is a happy kid.
Sarah started 2nd grade this year and loves it. She is my artist who loves to color, paint and draw. She started piano this year and really loves that she can start playing like her brothers. She continues to participate in dance and loves dressing up and performing at the recitals. She continues to be a thoughtful girl and loves to help me out.
Daniel started 4th grade this year. He loves school most days and continues to be a charmer. He enjoys playing soccer, baseball and basketball. His baseball team even won the championship this year. He loves participating in Cub Scouts and earned his Bear Award this year. He is my comedic relief and keeps us all smiling.
Josh had a big year this year. He turned 12 and received the Priesthood. He also started Jr. High as well and continues to grow taller faster than I can keep him in pants. He passed me and Matthew by in height this year and there's no end in sight. He is hoping to pass Aaron by, but hopefully that will take a few years, but who knows?! Josh started band in the summer of this year and plays the trumpet. He also continues to take piano lessons. He also loves being part of any and every club at school. He currently does the Lumberjack club where he gets to and have all you can eat pancakes every Friday morning. He also participates in Improv Club and Roblox Club. He loves attending the Young Mens program and the scouting program. He went on his first scout camp this year and had lots of fun. He continues to learn and love to cook. His favorite things to make are cookies and cakes. He also had another incredible opportunity to attend Camp Neuro this summer. It is a camp for kids with epilepsy. Josh loved it and can't wait to attend again next summer. Josh loves to stay busy.
Matthew turned 14 this year and attends 9th grade. He still really loves trains and likes to wear his Union Pacific gear to let everyone know. Matthew enjoys the Young Mens program and some of the scouting program. He continues to play the piano and loves to play the hymns in mutual. Matthew got his braces off this year and I love his smile. He also got glasses this year, too. He continues to participate in an afterschool program which he loves attending. He also did a summer program as well which kept him busy throughout the summer with different activities like swimming, riding Frontrunner, etc. He keeps us on our toes, but continues to have such zest for life!
I had a busy year just keeping track of all these kids and their activities! I got a new calling in Young Women this year. I am the Personal Progress Leader and the Assistant Camp Director. It was interesting planning and executing Girl's Camp for the first time as a leader this year. Good thing the Camp Director was awesome to work with! I am lucky enough to be able to volunteer in Sarah and Noah's elementary school classes weekly. When I get a chance I continue to love reading.
We had a busy year as a family where we got to visit St George, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Phoenix, Tuscon and the Grand Canyon which were all amazing to see. I am grateful for the many blessings we enjoy as a family and hope that 2016 will be full of many new adventures that our family will enjoy.
