Saturday, April 18, 2009

Brocks Baptism

Okay, a week later, I am finally getting around to blogging Brock's baptism. Yes, I am a slacker mom, and I am blogging because my sister posted Brock's baptism before I got to it, so, Ashleigh, thanks for motivating me- and no, not sarcastically, really, thank you!!
We planned the baptism for 5:00 pm so my grandparents would be able to make it, because they are temple workers at the Jordan River temple on Saturdays. I didn't want to have everyone crammed into my house, so after the baptism, we ate and hung out at the church. I didn't really spend any time cleaning my house because everyone was going to meet at the church. However, several people showed up early, so I had about 30 or so people in my house in its "natural state"- so yes, now everyone knows how much work goes into me getting ready for as group! I was slightly embarrassed, but then chose not to care and put the focus on getting ready for the baptism. We started out in the Relief Society room, and the bishop asked if we had a program, since he was conducting. No, I didn't have a program, or songs picked out, or pianists, choristers, or prayers assigned. Hello!! I quickly jotted down who was doing what, called on grandparents to pray, and thankfully, Christine stepped in to play the piano, and I used my skills from 8th grade choir to muddle through leading the songs! I asked my brother Jared to give the talk on baptism a few days before, and he did an awesome job. He is getting ready to leave on his mission, so it was pretty special to have him participate. Brock really looks up to him, and he is a great example to Brock, as well as the his other nephews. After Jared's talk, we walked to the other side of the church to the font. Brock was baptized by Nate, and they both did everything perfect. Brock is such a great example to his brothers, and they were so excited to get to see him go under the water. We then went back over to the Relief Society room while they were changing, and our bishop said a few words about the important role everyone in the room plays in helping Brock make the right decisions, and to guide him in his life. I really appreciated the words from Bishop Houston. I had a hard time holding the tears back, because I have a niece and nephew that were there that have not been baptized, but are old enough to be, and I love them so much, and wish that they had the same blessings. My little nephew told his mom later, while we were eating dinner, that he wanted to get baptised. He is such a sweetie, and has such a strong spirit, but his family is not active right now, and unfortunately, that is holding him back. (They aren't against him being baptised, they just want him to understand what it means, and take it seriously if he chooses to get baptised.) I am glad that Brock was an example to him, and that it has never been a question for him. He knew he wanted to be baptised when he turned 8. After Nate and Brock came back in the room, I gave a talk on the holy ghost, and talked about repentance, then he was confirmed- also another special first for Jared to get to participate in. We all went into the gym after the confirmation, and ate and enjoyed each others company. After everyone left, and the cleanup was done, we headed home. That night, I noticed a different boy. Brock was so calm and peaceful- I had never seen him as peaceful as I did that day. It was so amazing. The next day was Easter, and still, this calm little boy, that now had the holy ghost with him. You could feel the Spirit so strongly! Sunday night at bedtime, Carter said to me, "but mom, what if we get scared?" and Brock answered, "it's okay Carter, we'll be safe, I have the Holy Ghost with me now." and yes, I am tearing up as I remember and type this. I hope that I can always be an example to my children, and that they will always have a strong desire to stand up for their beliefs, make good choices, and be an example to others. Brock also commented that night that he is glad he got baptized, because it is the first step to getting to heaven. If we could all remember those basics and simplify things in our own lives. Thank you Brock, for being an example to your brothers and sister, and also to your mom and dad!!
This is Brock with Sister Mirenaka, his Primary teacher. She is so sweet, and is such a great example. We love her!! She gave Brock a baptism pillowcase, and Brock was so excited to come home and color it and put it on his pillow.

Nate and Brock before the baptism- Brock was SO excited!


Sunday, April 12, 2009

Spring Break









I always love having a break from the schedule and having the kids home, at least for the first few days, anyway. I had big plans for getting the house organized this week- I thought maybe it would be easier without having to drop everything to go pick up Carter at 11:30, then Brock at 3:30. Unfortunately, I didnt get my house organized, but we did have a fun week. Monday the kids spent outside playing with the neighbor kids while I caught up on laundry. Tuesday was definitely the funnest day. When Nate got home from work, we went to the Hill Aerospace Museum in Roy. We have been there a few times, and love it every time. The best thing about it: its absolutely FREE!! Love it!! Anyway, anyone with kids, you need to go- it is amazing! Its right off the Roy exit- you can see all the airplanes outside from the freeway, and its super easy to get to. There are tons of airplanes inside and out. My kids love military/war stuff, so they think its great. Nate likes to read all the signs and learn the history side of things, so the kids and I usually end up a ways in front of him, but it all works out. My dad was always like that on vacation growing up, so it doesnt bother me. The kids just dont quite have the attention span to sit and wait, or to read the plaques at this point- someday though!! The best part was this room we found that wasnt there the last time we went- there are flight simulators, toys, computer games, and cute kid sized flight suits for them to try wear as they are "flying" the planes- so cute! We spent a couple of hours there, then went to West Valley to see Nates brothers new truck. He is a truck driver for CR England, and they have a truck leasing program, and he just got a brand new truck. He had a manatory 32 hour break, so we went out and saw him, and we got a little tour of the CR England facility- pretty cool- they have big laouge with big screens, workout rooms, arcades (why do truck stops always have arcades? I don't get it!!) and they have dorms for them to sleep in, a bank, a little store- I was pretty amazed!! Corey let us climb into his truck and showed the kids his bed, and tv, and let them all honk the big horn- Tyson just tryed the little one on the steering wheel, but they were all pretty impressed. I was pretty impressed, too! Its amazing how much space is really in the cabs of those trucks!! It was a lot of fun to see Corey, and he seems so happy! I guess he is just made to explore! We did have to cut it a little short with Corey to get Brock to scouts- its not really an option for him to miss scouts- he totally loves it! The rest of the week was spent at home for the most part. We wanted to get out to Antelope Island, but it was a little too cold. We did make it to our new favorite pizza place in Syracuse for the lunch buffett Wednesday. All you can eat gourmet pizza- can't go wrong with that (and the 2 youngest are free- so $18.00 total for unlimited pizza, salad, breadsticks, drinks and pasta- love it!!) Friday night, we had a cousin sleepover with Kristiana and Kaleb. We love having them over, and everyone plays so well together. They all walked to the school on Saturday to play on the playground, which happens to be across my back fence, so they played for a few hours there, and had a ton of fun. Saturday night was Brocks baptism, but I will save that for another post. It was absolutely amazing, though, and he seems like a different kid! He told Carter tonight that he didnt need to be scared, because "I have the Holy Ghost now." How sweet is that?? I'm so proud of my kids, and I so loved having this week with them, but I look forward to getting back to the routine tommorrow!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Conference Weekend and Hmong Food

This conference weekend we went to Brock and Christine's house up in Green River, WY. We always have a lot of fun with those guys, and our boys love their boys. Poor Christine is pregnant and is feeling pretty sick right now- I felt so bad for her! I can honestly say I don't miss those days, even a little bit! Nata and Brock made egg rolls, phu, sticky rice, and papaya salad. The egg rolls were awesome, as usual, the phu was a new one for us, and everyone tried it and liked it okay- it was a meat and noodle soup, I just tried a bite of one of the kids, but it was kinda bland without all of the toppings that get added in. the sticky rice was good, but we forgot the bamboo rice cooker, so we improvised with a pot and colander, and it took forever, so everyone was full by the time it was done, so we all just tried a little bit of it, but it was good! The papaya salad was an adventure. It smelled so gross, looked nasty, and I think 4-year-old Carson described it perfectly when he called it muddy, gooey stuff. No one, including Nate and Brock, ended up liking it. Maybe the measurements were a little off, who knows, but it was something I couldn't make myself try after smelling it. It was so great to get away and with the drive home, and sunny weather, I have a renewed sense of energy and optimism. I came home and cleaned and dejunked my room, and and hoping the rest of the house will follow. Today is laundry day, so haven't taken on any new projects yet today. The kids are on spring break this week, so hopefully it will be a great and productive week for all of us!! Thanks Brock and Christine for opening up your house to us, and putting up with us! It is always fun to get together with you guys!!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Happy Birthday Brock!

So better late than never, right? Brocks birthday was on the 21st, and I have just kinda spaced blogging it. We are baptizing him on the 11th, so it is a little bit of a spread out celebration. We kept the day pretty simple. He hasn't ever went to school on his bday because it is the end of the term at school, so they always get an exra day off. His bday was on a Sauturday this year, but he got the monday after off, too, so extra days to enjoy his bday. On the 13th, I went to school and had lunch with him at the birthday table. Our elementary school has one friday a month that they celabrate that months birthday, and the school pays for lunch for mom or dad to come have lunch with their birthday kid. SO fun! School lunch is not necessarily something to get excited over, but it was fun to have that special time with Brock. (I also love that our school have free breakfast in the mornings for all the students- even the kindergarteners- my kids can get up 10 minutes before they need to leave for school, and still get a healthy breakfast- LOVE it!!)
Nate and I went to our friend, Jeremys, surprise party on Friday night, the 20th, so my little sis Lindsay came to stay with the boys (and play American Idol on the Wii), and stayed the night, so she was here Saturday for Brocks bday. We told him he had to wait until 12:13 pm to open his presents, but didn't end up sticking to that! He was most excited about Cabelas Big Game Hunter (A video game for the Wii) and the gun to go with it. He has been having a lot of fun with it, and is getting really good at it. We didn't go anywhere that day- just vegged at home, and gave Brock unlimited game time. It was so great to just hang out together at home. Everyone was happy, and it was a heck of a lot cheaper! We decided not to do a party beacuse we wanted to keep the focus on his baptism, and focus on celabrating that. He was a little bummed for a minute, but he did have his bff, Spencer, here the Sunday and Monday after his bday, so that was good enough for him.
Here is Brock opening up his new game- look how happy!!
These are some Star Wars minifigures that Cater picked out for him. Also a huge hit

So Brock wanted a hunting cake- I went all over the place trying to find forest animals, but couldn't find them anywhere! I ended up at Walmart, and bought a $2.00 bag of safari animals and picked out the best ones. I was cracking up as I was looking through the bag of aniamls, because there was a little rhino that was smaller than the tiger, the tiger and the elephat were the same size, and the gorilla was bigger than the tiger and the elephant. So, yeah, I did have to be pretty selective to find animals that would work! I made a devils food cake, frosted it with vanilla frosting- I tinted a little bit of the frosting blue for my tiny little pond, then I took oreos with chocolate filling, and crushed them and coved the rest of the cake with the crumbs to look like dirt. I am a horrible cake froster, so I am a big fan of the cookie crumb coverup on cakes!


I still can't beleive that my "baby" is 8- I remember when Nate and I were first married, and I was in the nursery in our ward, and I would look at families with older kids, and I couldn't imagine ever getting to that stage. Now we are here, and the time went so fast! I always tell my kids they can't grow up, but they just keep doing it! We have the baptism in a week, then Tysons bday a couple of weeks later, then Carters a couple of weeks after that, so this is just the fisrt "birthday season" installment- hopefully I will be able to stay on top of it all!