A Homesick Kind of Day

Today was a homesick kind of day.  Not necessarily for a place, but for people.  I saw a video posted on Facebook of a Garth Brooks concert and I was immediately transported back to my Grandma Atchley's living room.  I can see it so clearly, sitting on the floor surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family members while we all listened intently to Jim and Val singing "The Dance" and "The River."  My heart squeezed at the memory.  Listening to them sing was truly magical.  Those Family Christmases are some of my favorite memories.

Then Brinnley came home from school and told us that she is learning to play the bells in music class.  Again, I flashed back to my childhood.  The first thing that came to my mind when she said that was "Claymation Christmas" and the bells playing "Carol of the Bells."  I had to find it on YouTube and show it to Brinnley.  Then we watched all the other clips from the tv special.  There were the dancing walruses that always knocked over the penguins; the camels singing "We Three Kings"; the California Raisins singing "Rudolph"; the awesome dinosaurs acting as hosts.  I love that show!  Twenty-three minutes of pure awesome!

And for some reason my mind wandered to my wonderful Aunt LaVone.  She almost always gave me a VHS full of cartoons for any holiday.  Care Bears, Christmas shows, Winnie the Pooh, anything else awesome.  Most of the movies I had growing up came for her.  It was the ultimate collection of VHS mix tapes.  I missed her so much today it hurt!  I'm so sad my kids never got to know her, with her clip-on earrings and a pair of socks to match every shirt she owned.  

I know I must be homesick because I am sitting here typing this in front of my roaring fire and feeling a little upset because my parents had to replace their fireplace this year.  I'm not sure why that matters to me so much, but I've been upset about it since my mom told me.  It's still sitting there, but no longer usable.  It makes me sad to think of that old black stove never roaring with a fire again.  Thinking of that stove makes me think of my Dad wearing his standard uniform of his work shirts, hat, work jeans, and steel-toed boots stoking the fire and turning the knobs on the front to let in air.  It reminds me of days where it was so hot from the fire we had to open the windows to breath.  It reminds me of tight spaces when we first moved to our house and in years since Mom and Dad remodeled, of sitting next to the fire at our own Family Christmases and watching the kids run around the house, people roaming from the kitchen to the living room, laughter and stories being shared.

Here I am, upset about a stove.  Like I said, it's a homesick kind of day.

Happy Halloween!

 We had an awesome Halloween!  Downtown had trick-or-treating at the stores from 2-5, so as soon as school got out we took the kids.  We were there about an hour and a half.  It was so fun to be out and a part of the community.  I loved seeing friends, people from church, and other kids from school. It was such a fun event.  And the weather was perfect.  Not too hot and not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.  :)

 They were moving so fast from store to store Chant was lucky to get this picture.

When we were done downtown, we came home for dinner and to dump our buckets out so we had room to start all over.

About 6:00 our friends the Platt's came over so we could go trick-or-treating together.  Here is the whole crew:  Hunter, Brinnley, Porter, Ainsley, Chandler, and Jayden.  We had so much fun.  We went around our neighborhood then 3 more.  It was a two hour event.  I'm so glad we had friends to go with.  The kids were so excited to go together.  I tried to stay with the kids and keep them together and out of the street.  They were so fast!  Lots of energy!  But after two hours we were tired.  It was such a fun day!

 Since we both wanted to go, we turned on the light and left our cooler of candy with a sign saying help yourself.  When we got home the cooler was almost as full as when we left.  Guess we don't get many kids on our street.  Oh well, now we can stock the Bishop's candy jar.

 As per tradition the kids had to dump out all their candy and sort it into piles.  This morning Brinnley counted her candy.  Over 300 pieces!

 We had a great night.  But we all mentioned we were missing Gran, Jen, Oma, and Opa.  Good thing we have great friends or I might have felt a little sad tonight.  Love you family!

Pumpkins and War Wounds

Oct 25th we were talking to Gran and Jen on Skype when all the sudden we heard someone screaming in pain.  Chant said, "Gotta go!"  And he took off running.  We found Ainsley coming up the stairs crying.  This was her war wound from falling onto the treadmill.   Ouch! Now you guys know what happened.

 Gran sent me a thing showing how to decorate pumpkins with melted crayons.  It looked cool so we thought we would try it.  First we spray painted the pumpkins white.

 Next we melted the crayons with my hairdryer.  It took a while, but the effect was really cool.

 The only sad things was that there was no way to carve the pumpkin without the crayon breaking off.  So we got a few more pumpkins for carving.

 Two fun nights with pumpkins and our porch looked awesome!

Halloween Party

 Oct 22 Porter lost his second tooth on the top.  Now he really will be singing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."  I love listening to him talk!  So funny with the "ssss" sound.

 October 25 was our ward Halloween Party.  This year Brinnley was an Army girl, Ainsley Miss Karate, and Porter Pirate.  They were really excited about the Halloween party.  Our little buddy Hunter stayed with us most of the evening. First we had a chili cook off.  So good!  Then we had carnival games.  Each auxiliary was in charge of helping run a few games, so both Chant and I were busy doing that.  That left our kiddos by themselves to go to the different games.  But they were just fine going alone and when they came through my room they were behaving so well.  Hunter, Porter, and Brinnley stuck today.  Brinnley was the little mother hen ushering her little chicks along.  So sweet to watch!  It was a little bittersweet for me.  My kids are growing up so fast!  I was a little sad not to feel needed.  But it made me proud to know they could be trusted to be good.  It was such a fun night and all the hard work the Primary (the auxiliary in charge of the event) put into it was well worth it!

October Happenings

We got a few truck loads of wood delivered and Chant asked the kids to stack the wood.  Before they got very far, Chant had to run an errand.  Porter and Brinnley went with him and Ainsley and I stayed home.  Ainsley wanted to continue stacking wood.  I went out to check on her and this is what she had done.  I thought that was so cute!  I would call it standing wood not stacking wood.  But with a little direction, the kids figured it out.

 Oct 18 and 19th was a very busy weekend for me.  We had Youth Conference at my house Saturday. We had a ton of delicious food, laughed, talked and watched Tangled.  It was a lot of fun and I am so glad they made the effort to come.  (Amber, Jace, Taylar, Katherynn, Bro. Clark, and Bishop.)

Then Sunday we met at Bishop's home and he delivered a wonderful message about Spiritual self-reliance.  It was a great weekend and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of it and that Chant was a willing to be a single parent for the weekend so I could be busy with other things.

First Day of School 2014

 September 2nd was the kids' first day of school.  We had gone shopping at JcPenney a few weeks earlier and all their kids clothes were on sale.  I let each child pick one new shirt for school.  We didn't do any "back to school" clothes shopping this year, thanks to amazing friends who have given us their hand-me-downs.  But they wanted one new thing to wear the first day.  Porter chose his button down shirt.  He is so funny, almost everyday that is his go-to look:  button down over a T-shirt.  There were a ton of shirts for the girls to chose from but they both loved the owl and thought it would be fun to match.  Fine with me, I think the shirt is adorable.  But then I love owls myself.

 The night before I braided about 10 small braids in Brinnley's hair so she would have the wave she loves.

 Both girls wore their baptism necklaces.

 Porter's "1" for first grade.

 Chant was not able to be there to take the kids to school with me their first day, so the 4 of us went alone.  Ainsley wanted to go to her classroom first.  This school is much smaller than their last one, so it was fairly easy to find our way around.  We found her room and her teacher was standing by the door.  We went in and Ainsley told her teacher her name.  Her teacher said "You just moved from Utah."  Ainsley looked at me with this big smile and a look that said, "How did she know?"  My heart melted.  I know how nervous my kids were to be starting at a new school and this just made her feel a little bit less alone.

 Next was Porter's class.  His room is right across the hall from Ainsley.  All 4 of us went to meet his teacher.  She was helping another little girl find her seat, so we waited our turn.  When she came over and Porter told her his name, again the teacher said, "You're new from Utah."  Again, my heart swelled.  They were going to be okay.  Ainsley and Porter decided to go to recess together while I took Brinnley to her classroom.  I gave them big hugs and kisses and they went off together.

Brinnley's teacher is a ball full of energy.  She welcomed us in and told Brinn to pick any chair she wanted to sit at.  Brinnley looked at me with a huge smile and took off to find the perfect seat, not in the front, but not in the back.  When she found out they would have a snake for a class pet, that sealed the deal.  The perfect teacher for Brinnley.

The day was a little strange for me.  I kind of wandered around for a few minutes absorbing the silence.  But then I cracked down and crossed off quite a few things from my to-do list.

When it was time to meet the bus, I was out the door and ready to get my kids and see how their day was.  But I kept waiting and waiting.  Finally after the bus was 20 minutes late I called the school and she told me to sit tight because the buses left late.  A few minutes later the bus pulled up and my three  beautiful children ran towards me with big smiles.  Phew!  They were together and they were happy.

The second day wasn't quite so seamless with coming home.  Their school lets Kindergarten through 3 grade out 20 minutes before 4-6 grade.  That is so they can take all the younger kids on the bus first and then come back.  When I talked to the transportation department, I was told that they would keep Porter and Ainsley on the bus and only drop them off when all three kids were together.  So about 20 minutes before I was expecting them, Ainsley and Porter ran through the door.  The driver didn't keep them on.  I knew immediately Brinnley was going to be upset.  I was just grateful the kids knew their way home!  So all three of us walked back to the bus stop.  When Brinnley got off, she was almost in tears worried over where Porter and Ainsley were.  Sweet girl!  The bus driver has since dropped the two younger ones off first and then comes again with Brinnley.  It works out well because Ains and Port aren't on the bus forever, and they get home early enough that we can finish their homework before Brinnley comes home, and then I help her with her homework.  The 20 minute gap has turned out to be better than I thought it would.

Almost a month in and they are doing great and loving school.  They are making friends, loving recess and "Wall Ball."  The girls both have music and they are learning to read music and soon Brinnley will start to play the recorder.  Brinnley is still in love with the snake.  Ainsley is loving the cool art projects they do.  Porter had a rough start, but things are better now and he is happy and making friends.  I prayed so hard that this would be an easy transition for them.  They have done so well with every aspect of this move and I am so grateful for that!  I have pretty amazing kids!

The Twilight Zone

Saturday, August 30 I was feeling an itch to see something new, and to have one last adventure before school started.  We decided to take a Twilight tour or Forks.  I got on the city of Forks' website and printed out the official Twilight map.  We were all set!  

The drive from Port Angeles to Forks is gorgeous!  The road hugs the side of a lake for a good majority of the time.  It was just beautiful!   

 When we got to town, we had to stop and get our picture taken by the famous welcome sign.  Right behind us a legit Twilight tours bus pulled in.  They paid for their tour.  Ours was completely free and probably just as good :)

 This is the house Stephenie Meyer based Bella's house on.

 The hospital where Carlisle works.

 The house the Cullen's home was based on.  It's actually a bed and breakfast.  Beautiful place!

 This amazing castle carved out of a log sits in front of the home.

 We visited a few gift shops and the girls had to get their pictures taken with Edward and Jacob.

After seeing as much as we wanted to in Forks, we headed for La Push.  Chant almost wouldn't take me because I kept saying it like the guy in the movie.  So he said to me "I'll take you if you stop saying that."  Awesome!  I have a keeper!

 This is La Push.  It was a foggy day, but beautiful!

 I love these pictures of the kids.  They almost look photoshopped in, but they aren't.

 My little man lost that front tooth just a few hours before this was taken.  I love his little lisp.

 This amazing fallen tree offered a great view of the ocean.  It was perfect until a man fishing caught a fish.  The kids were all excited to see it.  Then the guy took the fish off the hook, put it on the tree, and stabbed the fish in the eyeball with a massive knife.  And he left the knife it there holding the fish to the tree.  It's tail was flopping all over the place.  I got a little woozy and Brinnley was freaking out.  "Did you see what he just did?!?"  Yep, and I wish I hadn't.  We moved on after that.

I loved this beach with the waves and their rhythm.  It was just beautiful and so peaceful even though a lot of people were there.

It was a great way to spend the last free weekend before school started.

Non-Stop Fun and Adventure

(Ediz Hook.  Brinnley, Gran, Porter in orange, Kasey, Ainsley, Grandma, and me)

 My Mom, Kasey, and Margi flew into Seattle Friday 8th in the evening.  By the time they arrived at our house it was about 1:00 a.m.  Saturday was an early morning because Ainsley's baptism was at 9:00 a.m. Friday afternoon the Stake President called and asked if he could meet with Chant at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.  We got to the church about 8:15 so we had time to change Ainsley and set things up before meeting with the Stake President.

The Stake President asked if Chant would be willing to serve as 1st Counselor in the Elders Quorum for our ward.  Of course he accepted.  We went straight from the interview to the Baptism.

The Baptism ended about 10:00.  We came home to change and then start the adventures.  First we took them out to Ediz Hook.  It was so strange.  It was beautiful and clear when we arrived and as we stood there a curtain of fog rolled in and over the top of us.  It was so thick and heavy!  Mom was getting a little freaked out.

 We got these few pictures of Ediz Hook and then it was like we totally forgot we owned a camera.  This was all we got!  Kasey has all the pictures on his phone.

 But even though we don't have visual proof, we had a great time.  After Ediz Hook, we visited the Pier.  Everyone was pretty fascinated watching the big ferry from Canada come in and dock.  Next was lunch at an amazing pizza place called Gordy's.  We were stuffed!  Next we spent some time swimming at East Beach.  The kids love it there!  Kasey was right out there with them!  Then we went on to Salt Creek.  That water was a lot colder but it had some awesome creatures for Kasey the Scientist to poke at.

Sunday we went to church.  Chant was sustained and set apart.  Mom, Margi, and I were invited to be there for that.  I couldn't stop crying.  I felt so overwhelmed by the Spirit.  I just felt again that this is where we are supposed to be.

After Church and lunch we took a drive out to Dungeness Spit.  It's quite a walk down, so Margi stayed in the car.  The kids were so funny!  We were chasing the waves, tempting Mother Nature.  The capris kept getting rolled up higher and higher and we were getting wetter and wetter until a sneaker wave came in and we all had wet bottoms.  So fun!  Porter was content to stay dry on the sand and throw rocks.  Funny kid.

Chant's birthday was the 14th, so Margi made an amazing cake for Chant so we could celebrate with everyone here.

Chant left with a car full of visitors at 4:00 a.m. Monday.

We were so grateful they could be here and that we were able to show them a little bit of our beautiful new home!

Ainsley's Baptism

 (Ready to leave for the Church)

My sweet Ainsley Jean was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on August 9.  This is a day that we have been talking about and anxiously anticipating for months.  Watching Brinnley get baptized really helped prepare Ainsley so she knew what to expect.  We have had Family Home Evenings and individual talks with her, helping Ainlsey to really understand the importance of baptism and the promises we make to Heavenly Father when we are baptized.  As a mother it has been a truly amazing experience to watch Ainsley grow and ask questions.  I am so proud of my daughter.  I know that she will be more prone to questioning things but I hope that she knows she can turn to Heavenly Father in prayer and He will always answer her.  I am just so proud of my sweet girl!

This day was even more special because we had a few visitors who were able to come for the occasion.  We didn't think we would have any family here to be a part of Ainsley's big day, but because of the generosity of our siblings, both Chant's mom and my mom and brother, Kasey, were able to come.  Ainsley knows that all those who weren't able to make it were thinking of her and supporting her.

Brinnley was so excited for Ainsley!  She was excited for her sister to feel the way she did when she was baptized.  Brinnley, with permission from Ainsley, wore the dress she wore for her baptism.  My mom has bought a dress for each of her granddaughters for their baptism, and my girls were no exception.  But because Grandma didn't think she would be here, she took Ainsley shopping in Utah the day before we moved.  (I was invited to come too.)  They chose the dress and the necklace.  It was such a special experience for all three of us.    

 My sweet girl had the smallest jumpsuit available and it was still too big.

 Ainsley chose Gran to give the talk on baptism and Kasey to give the talk on the Holy Ghost.  Both talks were wonderful and I knew she felt loved and special as they both spoke directly to her.  Brinnley also shared her testimony about how she felt when she was baptized.  It was very sweet and tender.

When Ainsley entered the waters of baptism, my heart was so full!  I was so filled with joy for my sweet daughter and her decision to be baptized.  I did shed tears, but mostly I just felt peace and joy!

Ainsley's baptism group was small, but special.  Her Primary teacher Brother Wolfley played the piano for us.  A boy from her class, Caleb, was baptized the week before and he and his family came. We also had the second counselor, Brother Shaw, and the Primary President, Sister Noble, and her counselor Sister Lindley.

 The men who stood in the circle to confirm her:  Bro Keith, Bro Shaw, Uncle Kasey, Dad, and Bro. Wolfley

 Sister Lindley, Sister Noble, and Ainsley girl

 And the family who loves her!  Grandma, Kasey, Mom, Dad, Gran
Brinnley, Porter, and Ainsley

Ainsley and her grandmothers

Thank you to everyone who called her.  She felt so loved and special and she knew you were thinking of her.  It really was a special day!