Temple Square Visit

Mark's cousin and her husband came to visit a few weeks ago.  We joined them as they toured Temple Square after attending The Music and Spoken Word on Sunday morning.  It was beautiful!

 Brian and Timmy loved the visitor centers, but I think they loved having so much attention from Daddy even more!

Silver Lake

A few weeks ago I took the boys up to Silver Lake again just to get out of the city.  I love watching them in settings like this.  They just seem to naturally fit in to nature.  They love running and climbing and pointing out new things.  It always brings a smile to my face and extra peace to my heart to get out into nature with these boys.

In Primary at church we have been working on the song My Heavenly Father Loves Me.  The pictures above make me think of the words, especially the last few lines.

Whenever I hear the song of a bird

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose

Or walk by our lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heav'nly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see

The color of butterfly wings.

He gave me my ears that I might hear

The magical sound of things.

He gave me my life, my mind my heart:

I thank him rev'rently

For all his creations, of which I'm a part.

Yes, I know Heav'nly Father loves me.

Brian Lost His First Tooth

Brian's first baby tooth fell out on Monday, September 9, 2013.  It of course is one of the lower front teeth.  It was loose for awhile, but it came out while eating  a chocolate popsicle.  We had ridden our bikes to a neighbor's house that has a big swing in the front yard.  They man that lives there loves to see the boys and always gives them a treat.  Today he gave them chocolate popsicles and they were sitting on the curb eating when Brian bit down on something hard.  He thought it was a piece of ice, but when I heard it I knew it was his tooth.  I made sure he didn't swallow it, and we saved it for him to put out for the tooth fairy.  He put it in a specially made envelope to hang on his door, because I highly doubt he would stay asleep for the tooth fairy to exchange his tooth for a dollar if it were under his pillow.

He was super excited about loosing his tooth.  At school they get their name on a big paper tooth each time a tooth falls out.  He is only the second student in his class to loose a tooth. He's very happy to show anyone who asks to see the hole it left in his bottom row of teeth.  A little interesting tidbit to me was that it came out on the same day as his picture day at school.  My first tooth fell out on school picture day as well.

First Days of School

 Brian has been in Kindergarten for 2 weeks now.  He goes every morning from nine to noon. I think he is doing well. For the most part he enjoys his time.  He loves making new friends and he already knows many of the kid's names in his class.  The other day as I dropped him off and watched him get in line, there was a chorus of "Brian! Hi Brian! Come stand here Brian!" from quite a few different students.  It made me smile and it makes me smile to know that he enjoys all the aspects of school.  He did ask me today when he would start learning things he didn't already know, and he has said a few times that he gets a little bored. I'm guessing with Kindergarten they have to start with the basics and then move on from there.  Brian says his favorite part of school is recess.  I asked him what he does at recess and he said, "I just run the whole time.  There is a girl who always wears exercise clothes who likes to run too.  Usually she's faster than me, but sometimes I'm faster than her."  Another of Brian's favorite things is the discipline system his teacher has.  Each child starts the day with a green light and then yellow light is a warning for breaking a rule, red lights get time out etc.  He loves telling me that he got a green light and then he likes to tell me all the kids who got a yellow light or more.  I'm glad he wants to follow the rules.

I think the picture below is cute.  This was Timmy's first day of gymnastics and he jumped right in the picture holding an Outback Steakhouse coaster, because it looked like Brian's sign.  That kid cracks me up.

Brian goes to school with his favorite friend from church.  He calls her his best friend.  They aren't in the same class, but we carpool, and they see each other every day.

Timmy started pre-school last week and has gone two times.  He goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  I'm not totally sure how this will work out for him, but I think he'll be fine.  He's done well the first two days and he wants to go and participate.  He sure is cute!  I love how he insists on buckling his waist strap every time he puts on that backpack.

I can't believe I have TWO school boys!  They are growing up so fast!

Payson Lake Fishing on Labor Day

Oh I am so glad we didn't miss our annual fishing trip to Payson Lake this summer.  It is always a highlight for me and the boys.  Mark and his brothers have mastered the art of catching fish at Payson.  I have NEVER in all the times we have been there seen anyone catch even close to the amount they get.  They know exactly where to go and how to do it.  It makes it so fun to watch them catch fish after fish after fish.  They had so many fish by the end they were giving them away to the people around us who were not catching anything.  Thank you Hsiao family for coming with us on Labor Day!  It was a beautiful morning!


Here are the Hsiao boys doing their thing. Brian is there ready to learn! (So is Jake's baby, Dean, in the backpack.)

Each kid got several opportunities to reel in their own fish.

Elder Hsiao Comes Home

Mark's brother Luke came home from his mission last week.  He's been serving in L.A., Chinese speaking.  Luke was an amazing missionary and we were lucky to be included in his e-mails home each week.  He has been an inspiration to me these last two years.  I loved hearing from him and talking to Brian and Timmy about his mission.  It has been so fun to have a missionary in the family.  However much fun it has been to have him serving though, it is even more fun to have him back!

Here we are waiting to welcome him home at the airport!

Because the Hsiaos have a family friend that works at the airport, Luke came down a secret back way and caught us by surprise from behind.

We were so excited to see him!

I know this picture is blurry, but just look at those smiles!

Elder Hsiao hit the ground running the second he arrived home.  He had a million things we wanted to do and to get in order before he headed down to BYU a few days after arriving home.  Here is Mark getting him set up with a nice phone before Luke even got released as a missionary.

I was sitting at the table having a little bit of food when I looked up to see Luke sitting here under his mission poster that we have been looking at for two years.  Brian and Timmy loved helping to put stickers on for each day Luke was on his mission and watching it fill up one day at a time.

The kids were so excited to welcome him home, that we just could not resist letting them surprise him with loads of silly string.  Well, it ended up not being much of a surprise because Timmy could not keep it a surprise.  He talked about the silly string since the second we saw Luke at the airport.  It was still fun to watch them get him though with all the squeals and laughter that came with it.

Welcome Home Luke!!!