Chess

 

Ryland's teacher recently taught his class how to play chess.  Ryland loved learning and was really anxious to teach Spencer how to play too.  I've been very surprised to see how much fun they've had playing chess together.  I'm not convinced they always play by the official rules, but they do try and they do enjoy it.  

A letter from the Tooth Fairy

 

Ryland lost yet another tooth, and being the curious guy that he is, he decided to write a letter to the tooth fairy to ask some questions.  

This is the tooth fairy's reply.  She was pretty vague with her response, but that's okay.  Ryland was very excited to read it and to share it with anyone who would listen.  

Some More Spencer Art

 

Carrot Harvest 2021

 

I know it's not much,  but it's much better than last year's harvest.  The boys were SO excited to harvest these carrots and were equally as excited to eat them.  Haha!

Conner Prairie

Grandma and Grandpa invited us to go to Conner Prairie with them in September.  It was a beautiful day to explore a fun new place.  Malia, Ryland and Spencer had never been to Conner Prairie, so they were looking forward to seeing it up close and hopefully even riding in the giant helium balloon that they see regularly as we visit Grandma and Grandpa.  Sadly, it was a bit too windy, so they weren't taking the balloon up that day.  The kids were disappointed, but settled for a photo in this stationary balloon instead.  Actually, Spencer was very happy that it was a little windy, because he was pretty nervous about riding in the real thing.

I think we could spend days at Conner Prairie learning about all kinds of things, but on this day, the kids were trying to squeeze everything in, so we were moving through the exhibits pretty quickly.  

There are many hands on experience for kids at Conner Prairie, as well as opportunities to use their imagination.  Who knew a wooden canoe on land could be so much fun?

A highlight of the day for the kids was riding this tram to the Civil War area.  It really is the simple things that seem to be the biggest hits.  

I had no idea Conner Prairie had these cool treehouses and rope bridges.  The kids would have spent all day playing here.  

The boys really enjoyed trying to race these hoops.  It's definitely not as easy as it looks!

To finish off our adventure, we checked out the Apple Store, where they were selling caramel apples, cider, apple fritters and more.  

We definitely didn't get to see all that Conner Prairie has to offer, so we're hoping to go again sometime soon.  It's kind of crazy that we've lived so close and have never really taken advantage of 

Lily Doodles

Lily had fun drawing these during church a few weeks ago.  She has such a funny sense of humor and she's SO creative!  Ryland wears a paper bag?  Ryland as a tie?  Ryland eats chips?  Where does she come up with these ideas?  I especially like Ryland has a bad hair day, Ryland potato and the Ryland carrot.  Hahaha!!!

Walking to School

 

A Little Spencer Drawing

 

BYU Adventures

Wow, saying goodbye was REALLY hard!!  I love my girl so much and know that she’s where she needs to be, but I am seriously going to miss her! 

Emma and I had a great time getting her out to Utah and settling her into her first apartment.  We drove 22+ hours in just two days.  I was very proud of us!  I enjoyed letting her play DJ (most of the drive) and seeing the varied landscapes along the way.  We left Indiana on Tuesday morning and arrived in Utah on Wednesday evening.  Thursday we shopped all day and Friday she got the keys to her new place.  Her apartment complex is really nice...maybe too nice?  She has her own bedroom and three roommates with their own bedrooms.  They share two big bathrooms and a common living space/kitchen.  The best part of the apartment, in my opinion, is that they have their very own washer and dryer in their unit!  I can't even imagine how nice that will be.  I always had to lug my laundry down to some scary basement laundry room shared with far too many people.  

We had a great time setting up her room.  We moved around the furniture a little bit and started decorating.  She was very excited and grateful to have some new things for her room.  I think it turned out great!

As we were putting everything in it's place, I had this feeling over and over that we were setting her up for success.  I sure hope so!

Her apartment complex is pretty new and very nice.  She's lucky to have a room on the first floor.

Some of the over-the-top features that she has access to, include this indoor pool.  Crazy, huh?!

There's also a ginormous common area with game tables, the biggest couches I've ever seen and a full size kitchen.

On Friday evening, Alan arrived.  He flew out, so I wouldn't have to drive home alone.  What a wonderful and thoughtful guy he is!!  I don't even want to think about how long and depressing that drive home would have been alone.

That evening, we took Emma out to Leatherby's for some ice cream.  This is a place we went to during law school, so it was fun to go back.  We definitely didn't remember the sundaes being so big and out of control though.  There was NO way Emma was going to finish this.

On Saturday morning, it was time to say goodbye.  This was SO hard for me.  Utah is very far away from Indiana.  I'm excited to see what the future holds for Emma, but man, it seriously felt like part of my heart was being ripped out and left behind.

Take good care of her, BYU.

Landon's Drivers License

 

As Emma and I were driving out to Utah, Alan took Landon to get his drivers license.  We couldn't have timed this better, since we were losing our extra driver right at that moment.  Landon is and always has been a very cautious and responsible driver.  As soon as he was licensed, he jumped right into carting his siblings around, running to the grocery store and driving Lily and himself to early morning seminary (which is the BEST!).  Landon is an exceptional young man and I am SO grateful for him!!

Last Dinner with All Six Kids

 August 23rd, 2021 -

Last dinner with all of the kids before Emma leaves for college

Best Young Women's President and Friend

 

We couldn't let Emma leave for college without saying goodbye to Nancy.  Nancy is much more than a Young Women's President to us.  She has been such a friend and support to Emma (and me) over the years.  She's a great listener, advisor, fashionista, hair dresser, dancer, entertainer and more.  I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that we are SO grateful for Nancy! 

Stake Conference Flowers

I was asked to arrange flowers for Stake Conference in August.  I've arranged a lot of flowers over the years, but never flowers for a pulpit.  I found some photos online to use as a template and ordered some containers online.  I knew it had to be a long, but short arrangement.  Heidi and Kim met me at the church to help put it together and I was very happy with how it turned out.  The only problem was how top heavy it was when we placed it on the pulpit.  The woman who arranged flowers for these events in previous years recommended putting Command strips on the pulpit for this very reason, so we did.  Sadly, it still wasn't enough.  

Thankfully, Kim and Heidi were there to help me hold it up while we recruited help.  A few men that were in the building, Alan and our amazing missionaries helped us jimmy rig it up there with fishing line, more Command strips and tape.

I was holding my breath that those flowers would NOT fall during the the next three meetings.  Every time they adjusted the height of the pulpit I was nervous that flowers would tumble to the ground and completely fall apart.  Thankfully, they survived all of the meetings and afterward, I was able to give them to a friend to deconstruct in order to make smaller arrangements for people who could use a little extra love.  If I'm ever asked to do this again, I am definitely using the many of the strongest Command strips they make.

Totally unrelated, here's a goofy photo I found on my phone around this same time.  Silly kid!

Malia's 12th Birthday!

August 20th -

Happy 12th birthday to this beauty!  Malia is my angel.  She is kind, thoughtful, humble, generous and so many other wonderful things.  This year she started public school for the first time and she’s doing SO well!!  In her spare time, she loves sewing, playing the piano, drawing and spending time with family.  I am so grateful that Malia is in our family.  I have always said that everyone needs a Malia in their family.

The gift she wanted most of all was her very own sewing machine.  I have a nice sewing machine, but it doesn't have all of the fun bells and whistles that Grandma has on the machine she's been teaching Malia on, specifically, the turtle foot.  She was very happy to open this gift and is so excited to sew more.

Emma made her birthday cake with a KitKat focus, since that's one of Malia's favorite treats.  It was certainly a fun and delicious cake.

Spencer Happenings

This year our school district decided that the youngest kids should go to school earlier than all of the other kids.  I strongly disagree with this decision, because these littles have tiny bodies that are still growing and they need more sleep than the older kids.  Plus, it doesn't matter if the older kids start school later in order for them to supposedly get more sleep, because really, they'll just stay up later. Anyway, with this new arrangement, Spencer and Ryland have to wake up at 6:30 everyday, which is an hour and a half earlier that they usually wake up.  They go to bed at 7:30, but they just need sleep.  I think elementary aged kids need 12 hours, but they're lucky if they get 11.  Poor Spencer not only has full day kindergarten this year, but he also has to wake up crazy early.  I feel so bad for him!  

Well, after just one week, I found him like this on the couch one day after school.  He hardly ever falls asleep anywhere but his bed, but he was totally out!  When he finally woke up sweaty and disoriented, first he wanted a hug.  Then he looked back at where he had been sleeping and said, "I just took a nap in the head house."

Sure, buddy.  Whatever you say.

He's such a little angel.

That very same week, Spencer also lost his first tooth!  He was a little creeped out, but also kind of excited.  

By the way, check out his AMAZING eyelashes.

What a week!  My baby is really growing up.

A Friendly Deer

We had a surprise visitor a few weeks ago. He let Emma get really close. She said he probably would’ve eaten out of her hand if she had something to feed to him.

A few days later he came back and let Emma and Malia take lots of pictures.  He wasn’t interested in Emma’s bread offering, but he did consider it for a little while.  Eventually it started to rain, so he ran away.

This deer really likes Emma.  He came back AGAIN a few weeks after that and almost licked her hand!