Black Island Farms

Abby’s preschool class went to Black Island Farms this week. It was FREEZING cold. When we were getting ready to go, Abby insisted on wearing her coat and gloves. It wasn’t that cold at our house, so I mocked her a little. I was glad that I had let her bundle up once we got there. It was overcast and windy and Abby was just about the only one there who had dressed appropriately for the weather.

There were loads of different activities for the kids. We went on a hayride out to the fields. Pedro, our tour guide, showed us giant carrots and a big cabbage patch and told us how to make pumpkin pie. Each of the kids got to pick their own little pumpkin out of the field. Abby was super selective and was one of the last kids to get back on the trailer. We spent the rest of the morning doing all of the activities they had set up for the kids. I was the chaperone for Abby’s friends Scott and Tess, so I mostly just followed the three of them around as they ran from one thing to the next. It was lots of fun, and really cold. Did I mention the cold?

Soccer

All four of our kids played soccer this season and Nate was the coach for Emily’s team. It took a little bit of juggling to get everyone to their practices and games, but we managed. Luckily both Ben and Elise ended up on teams with one of their good friends so we could carpool. That made things lots easier. We were lousy at taking pictures. We’ll do better next season. Fortunately they took team pictures early this year, so at least we have those.

Between a bye, a cancelled game, and missing a game for Kevin’s funeral, Ben only had four games this season. I couldn’t believe how well he played during the first game of the season. All of a sudden he had skills and some aggressiveness. I was impressed. Apparently it was just a fluke. He was back to our regular middle-of-the-road Ben for the rest of the season.


Emily had a few days where she proved my theory that the coach’s kid is always the whiniest kid on the team, but she was mostly good. There are a couple of really talented players on her team. They held their own during every game, but only managed to win one game. Nate is hopeful for a few more wins in the spring. He feels more confident in his coaching skills now that he has a year under his belt and thinks it is lots easier to coach girls than boys.


Athleticism seems to come more naturally to Elise than to our other kids. She has good instincts and plays with a lot of heart. She never complained about going to practices or games. It helped that her best friend is on her team, but she just really loves to play. She was sad when she had to miss a couple of games this season. Her team missed her too since she usually manages to score a goal or two during every game.


This was Abby’s first year playing soccer. She loved playing! Every time she would kick the ball, she would look over at us with a big grin to make sure we saw. She’s on a team with some super aggressive girls and some that cry and don’t want to play. Her coach told Abby one day that she was the happiest player on the team. She hasn’t forgotten that little compliment and reminds me of it whenever we talk about soccer.

Webelos Badge

Ben got his Webelos badge at pack meeting this week. It was extra cool for him because his good friends Korbin and Conner got theirs on the same night. I’m not sad to be nearing the end of our Cub Scout time, but it sure has been a good experience for Ben. He has had dedicated leaders all along the way and has learned lots of new things.



It was a special Halloween pack meeting. The kids got to wear their costumes and play a few different carnival type games. They loved it!

Fall Field Trips

Each of the girls had her first field trip of the year in the last few weeks. I was lucky enough to go with all three of them.

Abby’s preschool class had a nature themed field trip at the Ogden River Parkway. The kids made birdfeeders out of mini bagels, cream cheese, and birdseed. Then we took a nature walk along the river so they could collect “treasures” in their bags. Abby filled her bag with sticks, leaves, rocks, pinecones, flowers, and berries. She thought it was great. I had to head straight to Elise’s fieldtrip, so Abby got to go home with her friend Tess. As an extra treat, they went to McDonald’s for lunch on the way home. For a four year old, a fieldtrip AND McDonald’s makes for a perfect day!





I skipped the first half of Elise’s field trip since I was with Abby. I wasn’t too sad about it since the Nature Center isn’t my favorite field trip. She reportedly had a great time which is all that really matters. I met up with the first graders at the fish farm just in time for lunch. Elise’s class was the first group to get to catch a fish. It took FOREVER! Usually at the fish farm you have a bite within about 30 seconds of throwing in your line. This time it took us at least ten minutes to catch fish. Those fish were either already well fed or they had wised up to the bait on the hook. We finally buddied up with a dad who was having better luck. I helped Elise hold the hook just at the surface of the water, he threw in a handful of food, and we had a fish. Wahoo. Elise was not about to touch it. I really wanted a picture of her holding it, so I bribed her with a dollar. (I still haven’t paid up. Oops.) The rest of the day was a free for all. I left Elise playing tetherball with some friends and headed home.






The third graders took their annual field trip to Salt Lake City at the first of the month. So many parents signed up to chaperone in Emily’s class that I got to spend the day just one on one with her. It was great! We rode Front Runner down to Salt Lake and headed to Discovery Gateway. We checked out all of the exhibits/activities. Emily’s favorite was the rock wall. She climbed it over and over again. We had a lunch break and then went to the Planetarium. Emily loved the Newton’s Daydream exhibit, the pendulum, and finding her weight on other planets, but her favorite part was watching a movie in the domed theater. She thought it was so cool. We barely made the TRAX train back to the station (her teacher got yelled at for holding the door open for the kids who were behind us), and then headed home on Front Runner. It was a good day. Emily can be a stinker at home sometimes, but she is really well behaved whenever we are out doing stuff. It makes being with her lots of fun.

Our New Conference Tradition

Nate and I picked up a few puzzles at the DI last week. Ben really wanted to build the one we got of Salt Lake City, so we set up a table in the playroom and built it while we watched conference on Sunday. It was great. The kids were quiet and seemed to be listening to the speakers. I stayed awake for both sessions (hardly ever happens), and my mind didn’t wander like it does when I am just sitting and watching. Somehow having puzzle pieces in my hands made it lots easier for me to attend to what was being said from the pulpit. I think we are going to make puzzle building our new conference tradition.

General Conference Primary Choir

Emily had the awesome opportunity to sing in General Conference last weekend.* It was a big time commitment and a lot of work to get ready for the big day, but she really enjoyed it. The choir director was Vanja Watkins, who has written several songs in the hymnbook and the Primary songbook. I stayed and listened to a couple of their practices, and Sister Watkins was absolutely amazing with the kids. I’m so glad that Emily had a chance to meet her and learn from her.

The Primary choir sang in the Saturday afternoon session of conference. Nate and I were lucky enough to get two tickets so we could go down to Salt Lake and watch Emily in person. I’m glad that we did. Seeing the look on her face when the Prophet walked into the Conference Center was priceless. It made all of the hours of practice worth it (at least for me and hopefully for her). We saw her on the screen a few times which was cool, but I’m glad we were there to see her the whole time. There were some squirmy kids in that choir and I was very happy that she was not one of them. She did just what she was supposed to do and I was so proud of her.

This is a picture of the whole group at the dress rehearsal the week before. Emily isn’t actually in it since she was at Kevin’s funeral, but her seat was the third one from the left on the fourth row.


Here is Emily on Saturday morning when I dropped her off at the church. I had been worried all week about her waking up sick or having some other tragedy keep her from going. Nate tried to reason with me, but I’m a worrier. It’s what I do. Luckily, Emily doesn’t take after me. She was totally calm. Not one bit nervous (and perfectly healthy).


These are all of the kids that went from our ward. They are such good kids!


Nate recorded the conference broadcast so Emily could watch it later. The rules for the Conference Center say that you aren’t supposed to take in cameras. Lots of people did anyway, but we didn’t. We pulled a couple of screenshots from the broadcast instead. They are probably better shots than our camera would have taken anyway.



It has been a long time since Nate and I have gone down to General Conference. Once we had parked the car (holy traffic, Batman!), it was neat to be there with thousands of other people to listen to our church leaders. We were both amazed (again) by the Conference Center. It is such an impressive building. We also realized that there are things you see in person that you don’t see from home. Nate caught President Eyring flipping through his binder during the opening prayer. Of course that means that Nate wasn’t being particularly reverent during the prayer either, but he thought it was funny that a member of the First Presidency would be using that time to look through his papers when he wasn’t even conducting that session.

Our other kids got to hang out with their cousins while we were gone. They had a great time. Jacob added to the excitement of the day with a football injury that earned him a ride in an ambulance. He’s okay. He just some pulled muscles in his back, but it made his football game quite a bit more interesting for everyone.


*There is a bit of a back story on how Emily’s whole conference singing experience came to pass. We found out way back in June that our stake had been invited to participate in a special Primary choir for the October conference. There was quite a bit of discussion among our ward leaders about how to pick which kids would get to participate. There are 25 kids in our ward between the ages of 9 and 11 and only nine kids could participate. Ben and Emily were both super excited about the opportunity to go. We tried to keep their expectations low so they wouldn’t be too disappointed if they didn’t get picked. After looking at different options, our bishop decided that the oldest nine kids that wanted to participate would be chosen. That meant that Ben would be able to go and Emily would not. When we broke the news to the kids, Emily did her best to be happy for Ben, but her little lip started to quiver and when I gave her a hug she started to cry. She pulled herself together and by the time we left for church, she was doing fine. What she didn’t know was that when I was getting ready, Ben came into my bathroom and said “Do you think I could give Emily my spot? I want to go, but it will be okay if I don’t. I think Emily wants it more.” That sweet kid brought me to tears. I was wishing that I had the wisdom of Solomon to know what to do. Nate and I both talked to him to make sure that he knew he didn’t have to give up his spot and that we didn’t want him to have any regrets. He was sure. We met with the bishop that day and Ben told him that he wanted to give his spot to Emily. The bishop gave his okay. We let Ben tell Emily when he got home. She was thrilled. I was so proud of him. In a big way it ended up being just as good of an experience for him as it was for her. I’m glad that when we look back on it we will always remember Ben’s willingness to sacrifice something that he wanted just to make his sister happy. I’m glad my girls have such a good big brother.

Mom Miss Movie Night

Emily and I got to attend the Mom Miss Party for Activity Days last week. I’m a big fan of any party where you can go dressed in your pajamas and lounge out on a pile of pillows and blankets the whole time. Her leaders had converted the Primary room into a mini theater complete with popcorn, soda, and candy and we watched Soul Surfer. We both really liked the movie and had lots of fun together. I love one-on-one time with my girl!

Kevin's Funeral

I’ve tried to write this post several times in the last week, but I just haven’t found the right words. Lots of the feelings and experiences that we have had over the last couple of weeks are just too personal to write about here. This was the first time our kids have ever dealt with the death of a loved one and the first time that Nate and I have lost someone we were actually close to. Needless to say, it has been quite an emotional couple of weeks. My heart hurts when I think about all the things Kevin will miss out on and all the people who will miss him, but I am grateful that he has been part of our lives for all of these years.

I feel like I learned a lot about Kevin in the days after he passed away. Some of it (like the picture of him in his sister’s leotard and another with a Napoleon Dynamite perm), I wish I would have known about earlier so I could have given him a hard time about it. Lots of other things made me respect and admire him more than ever before. When Jody was putting together memorabilia to take to the mortuary, she pulled out an old newspaper article from when Kevin was a high school senior. It was five years after his accident and the local paper had interviewed him about how he was “beating the odds.” I was so impressed by his optimism. No looking back. No bitterness. Just an eagerness to move ahead and make the most of his life. He had such an amazing perspective on life even at that young age. I have a lot to learn from his example.

Over the past few days, I have been listening to the audio recording from Kevin’s funeral and transcribing it so Jody and Sarah can have a written copy. Nate and I don’t go to many funerals, so I don’t have a good basis of comparison, but we both came away from Kevin’s funeral service feeling like it was an absolutely perfect tribute to a great man. I’m glad that my kids will be able to read the talks again when they are older. I’m sure they will all remember their Uncle Kevin, but I want them to understand what an exceptional guy he was and how much he influenced everyone who knew him.

One of Kevin’s friends from college spoke at the funeral and shared this funny story. It is a perfect example of Kevin’s personality and made me (and everyone else) laugh out loud.

I met Kevin my freshman year in college. He was our social coordinator and was always lining us out for barbecues and theme parties such as our annual hippy party; we had a "hat, boots, and shorts party"; we’d float the Boise River in the summer. There was one trip we were talking about last night, floating down the river, and the raft he was riding in got into some willow branches and flipped over. His cousin Curtis shouted "Everyone for Kevin!" We all swam to save Kevin and some of the other folks that were on the river there were trying to help us. Curtis was able to catch Kevin and he was holding him in his arms while we were righting the raft and getting ready. There was a woman there that we didn't know but she asked Kevin if he was OK, and his response was, "I can't feel my legs!" Which put Curtis in an unfortunate position of having to explain that he was already in that condition before he got in the boat. He just had an incredible sense of timing.

That is just so like Kevin.

Nate and I put together a slideshow for the viewing. I think it was therapeutic for both of us. It helped us to see that even though Kevin’s life was cut short, it was a life well-lived.