Herriman Fire- What we did.

Well, I'm sure everyone has read all they want to about the Herriman Fire, so I'm not going to re-cap everything. We simply packed up our goods that meant something to us. And that we sat in camping chairs outside and watched the fire burn down the mountain till about 2:30am. We had a great time visiting with our neighbors, family and friends. We eventually decided to just go to bed because we felt we were safe. It honestly was an amazing blessing and miracle that so many homes were saved. With that being said, the very next day the kids were working on "thank you" cards for the fire fighters. We consider them our hero's around here. So for Family Home Evening the kids wanted (I promise it was their idea) to make cookies and bring them to our heros. So that's what we did. Alayna brought her card and off we went!

"Police, Firefighters, Soldiers...Thank you very much for saving us."

We decided to bring the cookies to the policeman and soldiers that were stationed just up the street from our house. I figured the Fire Fighters at the station were well taken care of by all the other mom's and kids out there so we decided to take it to them. Anyways, they were GREAT to the kids. They let them turn the lights on in the cop car, the siren, climb in the Hummer, shake their hands and just visit with them. It honestly was wonderful to tell them "thank you!" It was a great experience of service and gratitude. I loved it and so did the kids!

Dilemma of being a girl

Welcome to Alayna's 5 year old little life. What shoes will she wear? We were on our way out the door the other day and I found her in the corner looking like this. Who knew picking shoes would be so difficult and take SO LONG??? Certainly not me! I have two pairs of flip flops, 1 brown and 1 black. (Currently, my black is missing so, it's the brown where ever I go.)

I made her smile just because she has such a cute little face when she's smiling.

As I am warning her that she will have to go with out shoes because she's taking too long she finally picked her favorite pair. Her brown Reef sandals that were given to her. They are finally getting too small after being worn for two years in a row, but they are her first choice. Oh, I think she is the reason our oh so unsightly shoe basket is exploding everyday!

Life of a toddler

Let me introduce you to Caleb. He is (I think) 16 months old. He is Mr. Trouble around here. The kids call him, Coo-Coo or Fee Fee Love. Really, where do my kids come up with these nicknames. I like to call him Crazy Man. Because simply he is. If he's not strapped down in his car seat, high chair or caged up some how. You will find him on top of the dining room table, standing on a stool reaching anything that is NOT meant for him on the counter, finding my jewelry in my bathroom cabinets, touching any electronic in sight, remotes to the television, my computer, anything in the office, pulling books off the bookshelves, etc. The list can go on and on.

Things I do that I shouldn't...Oh, eat markers...even though this messy face was created by Jake sharing some M&M's with him. He normally is FULLY covered in markers. He has learned to take off the lids, chew on the marker point and pull it out. Which ends up in your fingers and it turns everything on you PINK, BLACK or BLUE! Oh, you find everything you shouldn't!

Alayna's favorite job on her job chart is when it's "Help with Caleb" - she is the BEST big sister. She will get him milk, a cracker, play with him outside and entertain him while I am cooking dinner. I have GREATLY appreciated Caleb's vocabulary growing. It's amazing how much "AHHHH" and "SCREAMING" we have been enduring lately...so with even a few words being used we LOVE to hear them. "Down, Don't, No No, Mum...Dadda, F-oohn (Phone), Uh-Oh, Out, All Done, Mmmm-k (milk), Ah-Na-Na (Alayna), Isaac (We think he means this for Jacob...because he's always yelling it at him. Maybe it's just because Jake and Isaac are always together, but it's easier to say than Jake). My favorite moments in the day with Caleb is when he arches his head and neck up and says, "Mum...and stares at me than he begins to ramble baby gibberish..over and over again" But he is dead serious, that I should know what he's talking about. It's hilarious. I can't wait to get it on camera!

But Jake said it best, "We just love him, huh mom." Yes, we do. Even though you are causing us to lock every door and continue to child proof everything, over and over again. Yes, we love you Caleb! (Who couldn't just want to hug and kiss my big toothy big eared baby??)

BYU Football should be Jacob's middle name

Here is one little dude who loves BYU Football! When Jake heard that a "real" BYU football player would be coming to our house on Sunday he ran right upstairs and put his BYU football shirt on and hasn't taken it off since. Thanks to his Aunt and Uncle Brian he has plenty to wear! :)

Here was a dream come true...meeting a "real Football Player" - This is Walter #71 (I won't even attempt to spell or say his last name!) He's dating our really good family friend, so they came to dinner and pretty much made every little boys dream come true!!!

Here's Conner thinking he's pretty cool stuff with the football player!