Ten!!

Hunter was able to invite a few friends over for a 10th birthday party (we do parties on the even years).  He wanted to go to JumpOnIt - which was great.  Shayne, the coupon king, managed to get us all in for under $15 - yeah, he's the best.  And then we went home to eat Ice Cream Sundae's - with toppings galore.  To top off the perfect 10 year old, they spent the next hour(s) playing Minecraft.  

Favorite Video Games: Minecraft and Halo with Daddy
Favorite recess activity:  Lightning (basketball)
Favorite Food(s):  Pepperoni Pizza and
What do you want to be when you grow up?  A video game engineer or an artist.
Favorite sports: Soccer, Basketball, and Tennis
Favorite thing to do: play with friends!

Special Visitors

My former orchestra director from High School came to town!  Yup, I still keep in touch with this amazing woman and what a treat to have a weekend with her and her husband with my chaos in action!  We enjoyed the fall colors in the mountains and even went to a live performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Sunday morning.  It was awesome!  My boys IMMEDIATELY loved these "special visitors" and Danny keeps asking me when we'll see my friend who loves kids again... she radiates love!

yummy

I finished lessons one night, and found these treat made especially for me.  It's 2 different yogurts decorated with freshly picked raspberries from our garden.  Cole can be the absolutely sweetest and most affectionate kid when he chooses to be!

And this is a new favorite photo - Skyler eating a peanut-butter banana, happy happy boy!

A dollar to burn...

In our church, we have 2 gentlemen who will come visit us monthly to share a little message and also offer their services should a need arise.  We call these our "home-teachers."  Well, one of our current home-teacher's knows EVERYTHING about electronics and computers and of course, has Cole MESMORIZED by his vast knowledge.  He also gave Cole some left-over computer parts - it was like Christmas.  So, I shouldn't be surprised when I hear about Cole's most recent adventure...

Cole and his best friend decided to find someone to take them to the store to buy a treat.  Connor had a dollar in his pocket and they were determined to get to a gas station.  But, I was busy teaching lessons and from what I hear, Connor's mom was busy with a project of her own.  The boys set off to Bro. Peter's house (our home-teacher).  He's not at home, but his wife answers the door and they ask her if she could take them to the gas station.  She's a little concerned about these two boys walking through the neighborhood and asking for a ride.  After she convinces them that she is not able to take them and they should go talk to their moms ("Oh no, our moms can't take us because Cole's mom is teaching lessons and Connor's mom is busy too) she makes a quick phone call to us both.  (But I didn't pick up the phone since I was teaching!)  The boys proceeded across the street and decide to ask another friend's mother if she could take them to the gas station.  She was very sorry that she could not help them since she was babysitting other little kids and it just wasn't a good idea for her to take them and they should go talk to their moms about this.  They said they understood and left, but only to the front yard.  They hung out there for 5-10 minutes and then came back to her door to ask if the kids had left yet that she was babysitting.  Thankfully, she thought it was funny and amusing and sent them on their way with a laugh.  I'm not sure if they asked anyone else in the neighborhood for a ride - but those are the two I heard from personally.

When I heard about this I was upset!!  First of all, that he was asking neighbors (and possibly strangers?!?) for a ride and that he was NOT where he had promised to be during my lesson time.  When I approached him about the whole incident (which unfortunately was a couple days after it had happened) Cole looked at me with that that "deer in the headlights" look and said, "oh, you finally found out about that?"
Yes I did.  Do you want to talk to me about it?
"Well, we really wanted to go to the gas station 'cause Connor had a dollar.  And our home-teacher promised to help me if I ever needed anything!"
It was hard to be mad after that...

Mommy vs Daddy

Cole says to Hunter:  Why are girls smarter than boys?

Hunter: They AREN'T!

Cole: Yes they are.  Mommy is smarter than daddy.  She knows more.  She always know what's going on, what's going to happen, and she always knows what we did.  It's interesting...

(me in the background, laughing to myself with a smirk!)

Crawling like a sniper...

Cole is responsible for teaching Skyler to crawl!  He kept putting out a little bell and every time he inched forward, he'd move the bell further away!  Skyler didn't seem to mind since it had finally clicked - "I CAN GO FORWARD!"  Up to this point it was a lot of rolling around and scooting backwards.  He's now a pro. and we have to be vigilent to watch that quick boy!

And I just wanted to show you that Skyler is not afraid of my vacuum.  He'll chase me around while I vacuum and he was quite happy to have caught up with me at this moment.  I saw the camera sitting there on my dresser and I took a few pics and a video of him talking to the vacuum.  (He also kissed it...)

Some of my favorite things that Skyler does lately:
-sniper crawl
-sucks on the edge of his blankets to go to sleep  (he never did take a binky!)
-he turns on his own music - his music mobile (which no longer has the mobile part on it) has buttons to play 3 different classical songs - sometimes when going to sleep and sometimes when we take too long to get him up in the morning/naps.
-he LOVES baths.  If I turn on the water, he'll go into "HYPER-drive" crawl and comes to the edge of the tub and hits on it babbling in his own language, "Let me in!!"

Back to School

2 Carpools

2 piano teachers

1 preschool music class

2 afternoons/evenings teaching private clarinet lessons

Chess Club, School Choir, and extra carpools to manage extra activities

homework and more homework

read, read, read, read, read, read

Here we go again..

PS I don't think that list really represents how busy we are - sounds so nice, and concise and it doesn't feel that way in action!

4th grade at school #1

2nd grade at school #2

Preschool with neighborhood co-op (2x's a week)

A Funeral and a Celebration

The day we arrived in Sunny California, Shayne's Grandma Hunter passed away.  We were terribly heart-broken and yet, relieved for her sake at the same time.  She had suffered a stroke only 6 weeks earlier and it had been a whirlwind of doctors, nurses, and hospice care.  The Dr. had said she could live for another 8-10 years in her condition because her heart was so strong and healthy.  I think most of us were praying that a miracle would happen that would allow her to return to her beloved Husband and Father in Heaven quickly and with relatively little pain.  On Thursday, August 2nd, Grandma awoke and was very lucid and conversational - she called her sister and told her to call her kids to let them know she was going to die that day.  A good friend came to visit her and asked her what she was in need of and she asked for a doughnut!  And bless that dear friend, she went to the store and came back (this was at least an hour round trip) to get her doughnuts.  If I remember right, she ate 2 which sounds ridiculous when you consider she hadn't been even finishing a yogurt since the stroke(s).  I guess it was her last meal and it was not typical of Grandma, so it makes us laugh to think of this.  She passed away two days later surrounded by the family who could get there fast enough.  I think that the moment she passed into Heaven, there must have been a HUGE celebration and a big-to-do that she had finally arrived.  And I also giggle thinking about her saying, "My word, that dying bit took TOOO long!"  The funeral was scheduled for the next weekend and family came from all over to celebrate this amazing woman.  Since the first time I met Grandma (and Grandpa too) they were grandparents to me - I just didn't get to meet them till I was in my 20's!  We named Hunter for their sake and it is such a blessing that all my boys were able to know their great-grandparents.  Grandma Hunter was a do-er and a perfect example of Christlike love.  Everyone was drawn to her because of her immediate  and immense love of those around her.  She loved her family dearly and left an amazing legacy of work, love, and devotion that I hope my boys will remember as they get older.  She has been welcomed home to the loving arms of her Savior and Father in Heaven and her family and friends.  She's happy, but there is a gapping hole in our lives - we will miss her immensely.

A couple years ago, she taught my boys how to make their own pies.

A few Christmas' ago, I made her a memory book of our family reunion.  Oh, she cried and laughed upon receiving this - it was the best gift I ever gave her.

This is a picture from a year ago - an absolute favorite of mine.

The funeral service was perfect.  The family who spoke had us laughing and crying - sometimes at the same time.  It truly was a celebration of her life.  

After the funeral, Cole and his 2nd cousins took to "rescuing" this stray cat outside the chapel.  They brought out bread crumbs and a bowl of water to help the poor guy.  I thought it was sweet, but I also made him wash his hands REALLY GOOD.

I spent the afternoon after the funeral taking pics of her house - the way I remember it.  I knew it was going to change quickly.  Here is a quick view of the front of the house.  I don't even know if that front door could open - all family, friends, and neighbors used the back door!

The back of the house (which was the front door)

Her raspberry patch.  I took MANY pics trying to get the immensity of this "patch"!

 Look how her garden grows.

Shayne's cousins Boyd and Wayne who came from Hawaii and Arizona.  There were good times shared this weekend despite the sad circumstances.

Cousin Sarah enjoying Danny and Skye - this was the 2nd time they had met (the first was only a few weeks earlier at the family reunion).

Cole made some famous "Raspberry Stew" and served it to everyone.  (smashed raspberries)

The stairs in her house - Grandma would be up and down these guys multiple times a day.  Another reason her heart was sooo strong and healthy!

We love you Grandma.  We miss you!  XOXOXO