Tuesday the kids had their final cooking class with Grandma.
They made a yummy corn chowder soup and pasta salad.
Bethany had her first speech appointment. It went well and I got a few new strategies to try with her. Then I picked up the kids (and Whitney) and took them to Sea Quest. This time we fed the lizards.
The kids pet a snake and a turtle too!
We fed the parakeets, which Anna and McKenna were less than thrilled to be a part of. Bethany only did ok.
Afterwards, the kids played a little at the mall play place and then we left by 2. We took Whitney home, then went and got Slurpees and drank them at Hogan Park.
When we got home I did a little cleaning since we were having guests coming. I made taco salad and we had Andy and Heather Olson over for dinner. Andy was one of Dan's mission companions in Canada. We haven't spent time with them in 5+ years, so it was great to catch up a little.
Kids rolling down the hill (and getting all itchy). ;)
Wednesday was McKenna and Ben's FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! McKenna starting 3rd grade, Ben starting 1st! (Anna wanted to pose in our cat costume.)
I stayed home while Dan walked them in to their classrooms. It's always so hard to see them grow up so fast! They both seemed pretty excited though.
The kids said they had a great first day! Ben said he had a scavenger hunt, was really hungry most of the day, played trains with Nate, and said he found out the boy he sits next to, Luca, is really sensitive. I made sure Ben wasn't the cause of Luca's sensitivity. ;) McKenna said she went over rules, made friends with Olivia and liked her instructor (like a teacher's aid). McKenna also had an Activity Days swimming party in the afternoon. I worked on my UEN class after kids were in bed.
Thursday Anna had Lizzie over to play.
I got this video of Bethany bouncing and shushing her baby doll. Pretty perfect considering she hasn't seen this in real like very much.
We ate lunch in the car, picked up the big kids, picked up Dan from work, then headed down to Provo for the new MTC open house. The new buildings- are beautiful and Dan said he got a lot more nostalgic than he thought he would have. Unfortunately our time there was a little overshadowed by the fact that Anna REALLY needed to go to the bathroom several times due to an upset stomach. Bethany loved the shuttle ride on the bus back to the stadium parking lot (NO carseat!). I shared a fun memory with the kids that I used to come to the MTC to the TRC (Teaching resource center) where I pretended to be an investigator and they missionaries in training would practice teaching their discussions.
We hit pretty back traffic on the way home which made me miss a parent meeting for Ben and Anna's music class. However, because of that, we ended up having a nice evening together as a family, eating out at Panda Express, then doing all the normal things to get ready for the next day of school.
Friday morning we found Bethany like this in her crib. She had somehow taken off her jammies (a snap up romper) and diaper! It turns out she wasn't too happy about her life decision. Thank goodness there was no poop or pee mess to clean up!
I also got this goofy video of Bethany at breakfast. I love how expressive her face is. Who knows what she was laughing at?
That morning I went visiting teaching to Shelly then Anna stayed to play with Lizzie. After I picked up the big kids from their half day of school, we met Ailin and her kids and Lara and Hailey at Hokulia (purple tongue in picture for proof)! Then we had Lola over to play for the afternoon while Ben went to Eli's house. We painted nails and of course played dress up. MaKayla Cardall also came over in the afternoon to do some cleaning to earn some money. After dinner that night we had cupcakes from a cute neighbor girl, Korie Brown, who was selling them. Bethany definitely liked them.
After kids were in bed, Mickelle babysat while Dan and I walked to a back yard reception for Dan's first counselor's son, Connor Koehler. We also watched the movie "Split" that night.
Saturday Mickelle babysat again while Dan and I went to my cousin Marianne's sealing at the Salt Lake Temple. It was beautiful and we were so happy to be there with family! My Grandma Jeanne has dementia quite bad and often clings to any man/male for comfort. In this case, for a few minutes during pictures, that man was Dan. :)
We went and picked up groceries at Wal-Mart and saw a couple tour buses full of middle-age tourists from England who were stocking up on supplies for the Total Solar Eclipse that would be taking place on Monday up in Idaho. Velda Ah Yen came to babysit in the afternoon as we headed to Marianne and Andrew's wedding luncheon. My parents also made it in town for that! My parents also came to town for the eclipse.
That evening Dan and I were lucky enough to have dinner with Elder Broadbent who was our visiting general authority for our Stake Conference, followed by the adult session of Stake Conference. I loved Pres. and Sis. Farnes' testimonies about not "adjusting" back to real life after the mission. They stressed the need to continually have the name of Christ written on our hearts.
Sunday McKenna sang in a senior primary choir for Stake Conference! They did a great job! I took an awesome afternoon nap, then we had my parents and Mickelle over for dinner. We went for a walk as a family in the evening. Here is Ben's drawing of the stage at Stake Conference. He was also super excited to go through a special delivery of Pokemon stuff from neighbor Sam Moulton. :)
Monday was the Total Solar Eclipse! Here are some of my favorite funny memes about it. I stayed home instead of going to Idaho with my parents and siblings. There were just too many unknowns to feel ok about going with 4 small kids. The big unknown being how long would it take to get home?
So, my original set up at home didn't work at all. I was trying to see if the eclipse would cast a crescent shadow on the white board, but I think the circle was just too big. Once we got some smaller circles out, you could definitely see the cool shadows the eclipse was casting.
So, my original set up at home didn't work at all. I was trying to see if the eclipse would cast a crescent shadow on the white board, but I think the circle was just too big. Once we got some smaller circles out, you could definitely see the cool shadows the eclipse was casting.
Grandma Sibber and Amelia came down to watch it with us. And thankfully my neighbors, the Gunnersons, called to make sure we had special viewing glasses (which we didn't), so they shared with us! The bottom pictures are taken through my glasses.
It really was amazing to feel how much cooler the temperature got and how dim everything looked. Dan was at a meeting with DCFS in Sandy and they all stepped outside for a few minutes to take in the sights.
I loved hearing about my parents' and siblings' experience though! They made the drive up to a small town in Idaho to see the totality. They LOVED it and said it was "freaking awesome!" There were cheers and it was a quite emotional experience! The Stewarts and Dave and Laurie's family also experienced it in Idaho.
1 comment:
I wish we had gone to Idaho.... If I had known about my school and the kids school, we probably would have gone :p Poor Grandma Jeanne... But I am glad Dan was there to help her feel more comfortable.
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