The Boys

Tonight I got a phone call from one of our missionaries from Missouri. It was awesome! I didn't realize how much I missed them. Chant was ward mission leader in Missouri for 18 months. We got to be very close with our missionaries. Chant talked to them every night to see how things were going. We celebrated birthdays, had suit burnings, and even met the family of one of our Elders when they came to pick him up at the end of the mission. They were lovingly dubbed as "The Boys." Having missionaries in our home was common and our girls sometimes ask about them. I still have a hard time remembering they have first names, even though they are all home now. Elder Martinsen's (above) birthday is the day before mine. He got a special dinner were we attempted to make one of his mom's favorite recipes. (One of the few times I cooked for the Elders. Most of the time they made us dinner. We asked what they wanted and we'd have all the ingredients and they would cook. It was awesome!)
We were lucky enough to get to celebrate Elder Goudie's birthday with him too. Goudie is married now to an amazing lady and they live not very far from us. We actually get to see them tomorrow while they snap pictures of our family.
I am ever so grateful for these wonderful missionaries who humored Chant during his monkey-fist-making phase. They even made one with a bowling ball as the core. Now that was something to watch! Crazies!
Hobbs and Goudie. Good times! Thanks for the call Hobbs, you made my day!
Tolman and Patty (Patterson). Tolman is married with twins and Patterson is a recent newlywed.

These are just a few of our favorites. Sorry Morrison and Burgoyne (totally slaughtered the spelling, sorry) your photos are buried in my archives.

I am so thankful for the friendships we made, the spiritual talks we shared, the spirit they brought into our home. You taught my family and me personally so much. Thank you for everything!

Create

Over Labor Day weekend my mom, two sisters-in-law, and two of my nieces came to spend the weekend. We went to Swiss Days in Midway. And it was amazing! I am totally addicted and plan on going every year if I can. I saw a lot of things that inspired me and it started a spark in me to create. I have even been inspired to try new things with the girls' hair. I got this idea from a magazine. This was only my first attempt at a backwards braid, but I am getting better. I am learning the art of twists and french braids and combos in between. It helps that Brinnley has gotten over her "no ponytail" and "just pulls the sides back" phases. She actually lets me experiment and gets excited about new things. Yay!
So back to Swiss Days. I saw this thing that I fell absolutely in love with. It was a ball covered with rosettes. Gorgeous! Also selling for $150. Um no. But last week I had a friend come over and she showed me how to make rosettes. Since then I have been on a roll. My first few weren't so great, with hot glue showing all over. But I am getting better. I have a variety of sizes of styrofoam balls that I plan on covering in rosettes and hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom. I am so excited to see the finished product! And I have many more ideas circling in my mind for what I can do with these beauties.

It feels good to create things! It feels good to not limit myself. Often what holds me back from trying something is fear that it won't turn out. And the first few times it didn't, but I kept practicing and now I am liking what I am making. And even if they are imperfect, there is beauty in flaws too.

Porter Williams

Last Sunday my little man was looking so handsome that Chant had to snap some photos. Can I just say how much I love this little boy. He is changing and growing so much! I recently went through his clothes and pants than fit just a month ago are suddenly way too short. He is just getting so big! He is a sensitive little man and gets his feelings hurt easily. But he is quick to give hugs and smile. He loves playing with his girls. He loves preschool! He is so excited that now his buddy Caleb is in preschool with him. He knows most of the letters in the alphabet, he knows his phone number, and he can spell his name.
Porter loves Church. His favorite song is "I Love to See the Temple." He loves to play with trains and cars. His favorite movie is still Tangled and he can quote full scenes. He is very picky about his clothes. He wants to pick them out. But I guess I should have expected nothing else considering his sisters were the same way at an early age. He loves to read books and snuggle. His favorite stuffed friend is his horse pillow pet. He eats most anything but is starting to become a little more picky. He talks so well! He is easy to understand and have conversations with. He says "fajamas" instead of pajamas. He says his name "Porter Lillams." He says that he and Daddy are handsome, Mommy and Ainsley are pretty, and Brinnley is always beautiful. He is quick to compliment, always saying he likes something.
I love my handsome little boy!

Pumpkins!

After a week of sickness, we were ready for a little fun distraction. So October 7th we got some pumpkins and set the kids loose with markers. They seem to enjoy this better than carving because it is more hands-on for them. And they didn't leave much ground uncovered.
I thought this kind of looked like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter.
A face started out somewhere in here but I am not sure where it is now :)
They had a great time and so did I. It was nice to sit down and watch them have fun without anyone being sick!

Fun Run

(I took this picture to show how short Jean Bean is compared to the rest of her class. Sweet girl.)
September 23 was the school's Fun Run fundraiser. The parents could come and watch. Lucky for us Brinnley and Ainsley's classes ran at the same time. Also nice, my parents were in town. So we were able to go watch our girls run their little hearts out. And run they did! Ainsley was a running machine. She was even outrunning her teacher. And she didn't stop to walk once. She just kept trucking along. Even during the last lap where they were supposed to walk she still ran.

Brinn was so cute. She was getting into it. But after a while she slowed down. And she waved when she passed us. It was fun because they had a few laps where the parents could run with the kids. Chant, Grandma, and I took turns running with the girls. It was pretty funny when Ainsley left Grandma in the dust. We were laughing pretty hard. It was a great time!


Even Porter had fun listening to the music and watching the crazy kids. And the ice cream cone at the end was a nice bonus for him.