Memories....

Some fun things we want to remember from the last few days.....

We had fun making treats and "Boo"ing our neighbors. The kids love doing this every year. Gwen's little legs could barely keep up with everyone, but we didn't caught. Or so we think.

 Children invade our bed on a nightly basis! They are lucky that they look so cute and peaceful. 

 Tessa reads to Gwen almost every night. Gwennie loves having her big sister read to her. 

 Gwen got to run an errand to Costco with Daddy. She found something she wanted to bring home.

 The boys got to go to another BYU game this week. I was not a happy Mama to see they got Cupbop and I didn't. I seriously dream about that stuff. Adam is loving going to the games. Eric says he's their loudest fan. 

 On Saturday, Gwen got a fun surprise from Uncle Eddie and Aunt Dee. A giant Care Bear! She was thrilled and has been carrying it around with her ever since. I woke up Sunday morning and saw all this in my bed. Gwen is under the Care Bear. 

Grandma Nielson Turns 95!!

On Saturday, we got to spend some special time with our Nielson family, celebrating Grandma's 95th birthday! We were so happy to spend some time with Grandma, see Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, and the kids had a blast playing with all the kids there. But, we were reminded of how much we miss Mamma and Bampa. Family gatherings just aren't the same without them. 

We were at Grandma's party for about 2 hours and she stood at the door and greeted all of her guests the entire time! That chair back there behind me was for her to sit in, but she insisted on standing. Uncle Robert said maybe for her 100th birthday party we can get her to sit down for some of it. We love Grandma and are so grateful for the example she is to all of us. I hope I am as healthy and full of life as she is in 30 years, let alone age 95!

Haunted Trails

On Friday, we went up to Maple Dell Camp to go on one of their spooky Halloween trails. We went on the kids trail, which was a little less scary (or so we thought). The kids had fun seeing all the fun Halloween decorations along the trail. Then they heard someone talking in a bush and it was over for Tessa. She decided she did not want to be scared.  Luckily, it was at the end of the trail, so she was able to make it the rest of the way without freaking out too much. 

 After our walk, we got to sit around the campfire while one of the nice girls working at the camp read the kids some fun Halloween stories. 

It was a fun way to spend a semi-spooky October night.

Baby Problems

Caleb loves to play outside. And he loves to play on our tiny trampoline. But he always gets stuck in it. Sometimes being a baby must be rough. Especially when instead of helping you, your mom leaves you stuck while she takes pictures of you.

Conference Weekend

We had an awesome Conference weekend. We loved being able to spend so much time at home together and we were so inspired and edified by the messages we heard during General Conference. Conference weekend always goes by way too fast. 

 I think the kids love Conference because of our candy jars. But, they do make the kids listen. So I guess the cavities are worth it. 

 We all loved the talk on Ponderizing a scripture every week. Adam was the first one to take the challenge in our family. Before he went to bed, he typed up a scripture (Moroni 10;4) and hung it on his ceiling so he can see it every night before he goes to bed. We decided to take the Ponderize challenge as a family as well. This week, we are Ponderizing D&C 10:5. The kids have done so good with Ponderizing this scripture. I am so proud of them and am thankful for inspired leaders who give us guidance to help our family draw closer together and closer to the Savior. 

Mommy School

Last week for Mommy School, we learned about the letter B, the number 3, and Fall. Gwen is still tolerating staying home with me, but we had lots of fun this week, so I think (maybe) Mommy School might be growing on her. 

To learn about Fall/Autumn we did some of our favorite fall activities. 

We made acorns out of doughnut holes on Tuesday. Gwen likes frosting them, but only wanted to eat the ones that didn't get frosted. 

 She got to paint and made some beautiful fall leaves to catch the sun in our dining room. Adam and Tessa got home from school and insisted they be included in our activities. So they got to make some acorns too and paint a few more leaves for the window. 

 Tessa went a little crazy with the Nutella. 

 We read a fun book about a Bubble Bee and Gwennie mad a beautiful fall crown. 

She also leaned a new Nursery Rhyme (Hickory Dickory Dock) and wanted to play our Boom Chicka Boom Boom game a bunch. We are having a lot of fun together! 

What's Been Happening

 Life has  been so crazy lately. I feel like I can hardly stay on top of things. Mommy started babysitting for a family in our neighborhood a couple of days a week. So, on those days I am a mother of 7 and that keeps me busy! Mommy also got another calling (another, not new) and is now the Bear Den Leader for Cub Scouts. I love being with Adam, but this calling is a lot of work and I am trying to figure out the new program, which is taking some time. Our den is huge too, which makes things...interesting. Hopefully it will get easier as the weeks go by. Keeping 15 nine year old boys focused for an hour is not for the faint of heart. 

 So far, the kids are loving school this year and are learning so much. This past week, Tessa and her class recited the Preamble at their weekly assembly. 

 Gwen is still not a fan of Mommy School because we she doesn't get to go away to school. She is always so happy to have Tessa home in the afternoon to play with. They love playing make believe together. Gwen and Tessa's best friends have both moved away in the last few weeks. They are both pretty bummed about losing their friends, but have grown closer having each other to play with. 

 We had a lot of extra kids at our house last week and one of them was Baby Gia. Gwen was so happy to babysit her favorite cousin. 

 Caleb has had a rough couple of weeks. He was sick for like a week and a half with a tummy bug and then his molars all started coming in. He has been really fussy and not eating great and pretty much stopped sleeping again. I seriously am at a loss as to how to teach this child to sleep. But, he loves books and I find him a couple of times a day with his basket of books, just looking at pictures. He loves books with animals in them and gets so excited when someone reads to him.

We ended our crazy week by watching an awesome Lunar Eclipse on Sunday night. We were all amazed to watch it and see the moon turn red. Our earth is amazing!

The kids are anxious for General Conference weekend (mainly for the candy, I am sure) and for Halloween time! They have been saving milk cartons for weeks to make some special decorations for Halloween this year. Life is always exciting at our house!