Painting the Shed

Last month, my parents had a shed built in their back yard.  We went over a few times to help them move things from the garage into the shed.  I am happy to report that they can park both cars in the garage now!!  Yeah!!

Anyway, they asked us to come over and help them paint the shed so it would match their house.  Ethan was really excited because he thought it would be with rollers and brushes.  But my dad just bought a new spray gun thing with its own air compressor.  It was really cool but Ethan didn't want to do it for very long.  (Grandma and Grandpa have satellite TV.)

I got to use it though and it was really fun!  It makes painting so much easier although it was kind of a pain to clean up. 

When we were all finished, Ethan mowed the lawn and grass shot all over the fresh paint on one side.  We tried to clean it off but it was still there a bit.  We are going back to give it another coat of paint this weekend so we will cover up the grass with paint. )

Here is Ethan painting:

Halloween Lego Heads

A friend of mine called and had found the perfect Halloween costume that Ethan and Brennon (his best friend) could wear...Lego Mini Figures!!  She found it on pinterest and showed me the photo.  Ethan thought they were cute so...of course...Courtney thought they were cute also. 

Brennon isn't sure what he wants to be for Halloween but Ethan and Courtney decided to be Lego Mini Figures.  I went to work on their heads.  I found some trashcans with holes in them at the Dollar Store which had curved bottoms.  I used those and part of a pool noodle to make the heads.  I then used paper mache to cover over the garbage cans. 

 I primed them and then spray painted them yellow.  You can tell that it was my first time doing paper mache because they aren't as smooth as I would have liked them to be, but they turned out okay. 

I need to get some black see through fabric to put inside covering the eye and mouth holes so the kids can still see but can't be seen. And I need to make the bodies of the Lego Mini Figures but the heads were stressing me out so I'm glad they are finished. 

What moms go through for Halloween costumes!!

Piano Evaluation

Courtney had her first piano evaluation a few weeks ago.  I was teaching piano lessons, so my parents took her down to Dixie State College to play her recital piece for the judge.  I was a bit nervous because it was her first evaluation and I wasn't able to be there.  But we had talked about what was going to happen so I figured she would be fine.

A few minutes after I knew her evaluation had begun, I got a phone call from my dad telling me that Courtney had received a Superior rating and was invited to play at the honors recital Saturday afternoon.  I was really excited for her!!

On Saturday, we got all ready and took her down to the college again for the recital.  (It was REALLY LONG!)  She did a great job and sounded wonderful!!

Here she is before the recital:

Courtney's Piano Recital

Courtney had a piano recital on Tuesday at the St. George Tabernacle.  She had been working on her song for a while and was excited to play it.  She has only taken piano lessons for 3 months.  I was impressed by how well she did!

It was a crazy night.  Courtney had dance from 4:30 until 5:30, the recital began at 6:00, and Ethan had a flag football game at 6:30.  So we ran from one to the other, but got to all of them!

Here she is before the recital began:

 Warming up on the piano with her teacher:

 Our cute Courtney:

Here is the video of her recital song as she played it:

Sunday

We woke up on Sunday and decided that, instead of trying to fight the crowds and go back to the Tabernacle to watch Conference, that we would go down to BYU, walk around the campus and watch Conference there.  The kids LOVED this idea because they love Provo and BYU.

Campus was fun but it was cold!  We walked all over and couldn't believe how empty the campus was.  I think we only saw 2 people as we walked all around.  The Wilkinson Center was closed and locked up so we ended up watching the morning session at the Cannon Center.  It worked.

We loaded back into the van and drove home.  It was a great weekend!!

Here the kids are rolling down the hill by the library.

Conference

You would think that, after the REALLY late night the kids had, they would sleep in.  WRONG!!  I don't know what it is about our kids but they get up really early all the time, but especially on the weekends.  It's hilarious.

After putting them off and telling them to keep it quiet for a while, we got up and got ready for the day.  We drove to the closest Trax station to the hotel and hopped on a train.  We got to the Conference Center in time to see that there wasn't a way for us to get in stand by so we went over to the Tabernacle to watch the first session.

The kids did an amazing job at being quiet.  I could tell they were getting tired and anxious to be out and running around but they were reverent and took notes in notebooks.  It was fun.  I was really excited to hear about the change in missionary age!

When the morning session finished, we booked it over to the mall for lunch.  I was glad we had run as fast as we did because the lines got really long and the place was crazy!!  But we ate and had plenty of time to walk around and get ready for the afternoon session.  We had 2 tickets to get into the Conference Center for the Saturday afternoon session so Ethan and I were going.  He was pretty excited, which surprised me because he was going to another 2 hour Church meeting.  But he hadn't been to a live session and was excited.

Bryan took Courtney to the lawn by the Tabernacle to listen while I took Ethan inside.  We were in seats on the 1st terrace, so we saw the side profiles of the speakers.  But we were there and Ethan loved it.  I was really glad.

Here was our view before it all began:

Bryan's brothers, David and Andrew, were in the session also but they were all the way on the other side.  Bryan had 3 tickets to the Priesthood Session that evening, so we met up with David and Andrew after the session so they could all go to the session while I took the kids back to the hotel.  Ethan had finished yet another book report and wanted Red Lobster, so we went to endless shrimp.  I learned that Ethan's endless shrimp is just one extra plate full.  Funny kid!

After dinner, I took the kids back to the hotel and we went swimming in a VERY COLD indoor pool.  We watched TV until Bryan texted from the train to ask us to come and get him.  It was a fun day!!

BYU Soccer and Football

After changing into warmer clothes at the hotel, we were off for Provo.  Bryan dropped Ethan, Courtney and I off at the Wilkinson Center while he tried to get good parking for after the football game. 

We went and found Andrew, who had a football ticket for us to use.  After seeing Andrew, we went to the bookstore to look around.  There were A TON of people there!!  Bryan met up with us there and then we went to the Cougareat for dinner.

Cougar Girl Courtney:

After we ate, Bryan went to try and park the car again (he had a special parking pass that was close to the stadium) while the kids and I walked down to the soccer field to watch the women's soccer game.  It was cold but we had brought jackets and hats so we thought we would be set.

We found seats (after a bit of hassle because the seats we paid for were in general admission and were taken although we paid extra for reserved seats) and settled in to watch the game.  Ethan had some money burning a hole in his pocket so we let him get some concessions.  It was cold so I figured he would get a hotdog and some hot chocolate.  Nope!  He came back with...ice cream.  And proceeded to eat the entire thing.  He gave a few bites to Courtney.
Freezing ice cream boy:

Trying to get warm (I think we are just whimps because look at what everyone else is wearing around us):

When the game was almost over (it ended 0-0) we left, found David and went over to the stadium for the football game.  My cousin, Ashley, had found us a student ticket and Bryan was given 2 from a man at the conference he attended.  So, added to the one ticket Andrew got for us, we all had tickets, just not in the same place.  David went with Courtney and me and Ethan went with Bryan.  David, Courtney and I had tickets in three different areas so we picked one and went there.  It ended up being right behind the cannon, which is really loud, so Courtney cried for most of the 1st half of the game and was really miserable.  My kids don't like loud noises and it was WAY after their bedtimes.

At halftime, I took Courtney up to meet with Bryan and figure out what to do.  I wanted to watch the game but Courtney was miserable.  Ethan was freezing and not having fun either.  After debates and fits thrown by Courtney, I decided to take her out to the van and sit there for the second half of the game.

Bryan had given us vouchers for free hot chocolate so, after stopping by the seats my cousins were in and saying "hi", Courtney and I got some hot chocolate and nachos.  We sat down by one of the entrances and ate while listening to cheers from the crowd.  Courtney loved being there and had a ton of fun until the game ended.  I was able to go into one of the portals and watch for a while too.

Whent he game ended, we met up with Bryan and Ethan (who had been sleeping during the last part of the game) and drove back to the hotel in Salt Lake City.

Airplane Ride

I LOVE pulling the wool over our kids eyes!  It's so fun and I am getting really good at keeping things from them.  Bryan had a conference in Salt Lake last Thursday and Friday so we decided to make a big Conference/BYU trip out of it.

Bryan drove up early (like 3:45 a.m. early) Thursday morning to be at his conference.  The kids were bummed that he was gone and had a small break down after we Skyped that night, but they did okay.

The kids thought the plan on Friday would go like this:  I would pick them up and we would drive to Salt Lake, meet up with Bryan and then drive back to Provo for the women's soccer game and the football game.

The real plan was to pick up the kids, go to the St. George Airport and fly to Salt Lake.  This plan was VERY HARD to keep secret from a little girl who has bionic ears.  A few times I thought we had blown it.  We loaded the van (which Bryan drove up on Thursday) with all the stuff we would need so we wouldn't have to take luggage on the flight.  A few times we would say something about "carry on bags" and think she had heard but she never put anything together.

Friday, I picked the kids up right before lunch at school.  We went to Subway and got lunch and then got comfy in the car for the long drive to Salt Lake.  When we got to the freeway I saw the signs and thought they would comment when I turned going to "Las Vegas" instead of going to "Salt Lake."  But nothing was said. 

When we were on the freeway I expected my kids, who have drive the direction of Salt Lake MANY TIMES, to realize that we weren't going the right directions but again....nothing.  They didn't even say anything when I got off the freeway at the "St George Airport" exit.  And they still didn't say anything as we drove for 20 minutes on the road toward the airport which they have been on before.  Ethan had actually laid his seat back and was getting comfy for the long drive.  He asked how long it would be and I told him we would be in Salt Lake in about 2 hours....but he didn't say anything about that being 2 hours quicker than usual.

When we got to the end of the freeway and had to turn toward the airport, Ethan leaned up on his elbows, saw the "airport" sign and said, "Mom, can't we just fly to Salt Lake?"  I looked at him and said, "You know, why not?  Let's fly to Salt Lake."  The kids freaked out!  I asked Ethan why he thought we were at the airport and he said he didn't think about it.  He just thought we were on way to Salt Lake a round-about way.  They were so excited!

Here are our unsuspecting children:

When we got to the airport, we parked, got through security and boarded the airplane. Courtney was a bit nervous about flying on a "commercial airline" because she has only flown one time on a private plane.  When we taxied out to the runway Ethan held her hand to help her feel better.  When we stopped to wait for our turn to take off, Courtney turned to me and said, "That take off wasn't so bad."  I had to tell her that we weren't moving yet.  It was cute.  Ethan held her hand and she loved it, once we were in the air.  

 Our ticket said it took off at 1:15 but we left at 1:05.  The ticket also said it would take about 1 hour 20 minutes to get to Salt Lake City....it took about 35 minutes.  So...Bryan wasn't at the airport yet when we got there but it took us a while to walk through the airport and get outside.  He soon met up with us and picked us up and we were off to the hotel.

Exciting day!!!

Her Hero

Last week when I helped in Courtney's class, they were given the assignment to write about their hero and why that person was their hero.  I wondered who Courtney would pick as her hero but didn't give it too much thought.

This came home today and I thought it was so sweet.  I showed it to Ethan and it meant a lot to him.  He gave her a huge hug.  She is a sweet girl.  I hope Ethan realizes how much he means to Courtney.

"My hero is my brother.  He is my hero because he helps me with my spelling.  And he tells his friends to stop being mean.  He is the best hero."

I agree!!

Courtney's Soccer

Courtney has been loving soccer!  She gets right in there and is aggressive.  She made 3 goals for our team in the 1st half of the game on Saturday!!  I thought this picture was pretty funny.  Courtney is chasing the ball. 

Football Game

Last Thursday Ethan's flag football team had a game and only 5 players showed up.  They were a bit worried because they were all going to have to play the entire game.  But these boys rose the challenge!

They were exhausted, sweaty and really gross smelling, but they played so well (better than they ever had before.  Ethan made some outstanding catches (one of which is pictured below and you can see the ball coming at him) and he pulled some great flags!  He was lightening quick and had a great game.

I guess the secret is to make all 5 guys play the entire game.  hahaha

They did really well at their Tuesday game last night too.  They had a full team so they didn't have to play the entire time, but they did well.  Ethan is really getting the hang of it and is hustling.  One time a kid's flag wouldn't come off and Ethan ended up pulling him almost off his feet.  It was pretty funny!