We have a winner!

Grandpa Jerry brought us a coloring contest sheet for one of our local news stations.  Andrew drew a picture of the weather (I would have put a picture of it, but we turned it in and I don't think we'll get it back).  Anyway, it was a beautiful picture of a rainbow, a house with a star on it, the sun, a big backyard, and a blue sky.  And he won!  He just got his $25 gift certificate in the mail today.  We're so proud of him!  I think his dream is to be an artist.  He draws all day long -- to the point of me telling him he has to put it away and go to bed.

He'll be taking Grandpa out to eat tommorrow - his treat!

Great job buddy!

Tonight's Prayers

Tonight Gracie was thankful for:

"Having a great cowoby hat."
and
"Having water in your room."

Grace's Prayers

I just have to write some of the things Grace says in her prayers.  She says them very seriously. 

"Thank you for eating wiggly things."
"Thank you for not bumping into anybody and making them fall down."
"Thank you for eating eggs or whatever."
"Thank you for going for rides on cows or moos or horses or something."
"Thank you for going to a future."

I'm sure there will be more super Gracie prayers to come!

Joey's Second Gem of the Day

Two gems in one day!  Way to go Joey!

Here is how our conversation went.  It happened when I was doing the laundry and Joey climbed on my bed behind me and started rubbing my shoulders because he had earlier heard me say that my neck hurt.  Then he noticed something on my back.

Joey: "What's this gooey thing?"
Mom: "It's a mole."
Joey: "Moles are wiggly?  And jobbly?  And gooey?"
Mom: "Wow."

Gem of the Day

This one is courtesy of Joey.  We were getting into the car after preschool, and Grace accidentally bumped Joey.  He said, "Gracie!  I'm very dissapointed of you!"

Bandaids and Time with Friends!

I was cleaning the bathroom the other day, and I turned around and saw this:

She had an "owie" on her lip, so she did this by herself.  I love how she didn't take off the outside of the bandaid.  This lasted for about three minutes.

We had our favorite family over last night for music lessons and fun.  Best of all, Melissa got to run errands kid free!  Here are some pics of the fun.

Joey was corrupting Ryan, who wanted to be just like the big boys (all six of them!)

We always play the Wii, of course.  It gets a little messy.

Lydia and I spent a lot of time on the piano.

And Rachel was content just to draw.

Union Update

The Union has been trying to oust management this week.  Just yesterday alone, they sent their Steward on a mission to make the on-call manager lose her marbles.  Some of his actions of sabotage include climbing on the top bunk in the Union's quarters and trying to jump off, sitting on the stove top trying to turn on the buttons (I think he was trying to give management a heart attack), taking dirty diapers out of the trash can and spreading them around the house in various places, throwing away various important documents and perfectly good food, tripping an adult stranger, running away down the street, ear-shattering screams, and smearing tooth paste all over the bathroom.  At the end of her shift, this manager came close to running to the looney barn.

To better acquaint yourself with the Union and its Steward, please read posts titled "The Union" and "The Union Acts" in August of this year.

Halloween

This was a busy Halloween!  The kids got to dress up in their costumes three times.  On Thursday, we went to the church's annual Trunk-or-Treat and carnival.  We were blessed with great weather.  Then the boys went to a Halloween party and dressed up again.  They had such a great time, and Joey was so happy to have treats that he wasn't allergic to!  He wasn't left out of anything!  Thank you Kelly:)

Here are the kids posing before we left for the church.  Notice Grace decided to be a Power Ranger.  I don't think there will be any princess costumes in our future.  Andrew was a ninja, Joey was a knight, and Matt wore the warm Simba outfit (every child of ours has worn that one!).

Isn't that little lion face the cutest?!

On Halloween, we had to stop at Grandma's so she could get a picture.

Then we had to stop at Sister Harris's house because she's our favorite person in the world.  What would I do without her on Sundays?  Since Ben sits on the stand, it's not easy with five little ones.  But she usually has more of my kids with her than I do with me.

She gave the kids lots of treats, and Matthew was intrigued.  Ring the door and get candy?   Awesome!  I wonder if he'll always expect that.

This is our neighbor's house.  They always make a special bag of treats for the kids.

I thought this was just so cute, I had to take a picture.  Matthew would not put his candy in his trick or treat bag.  Everytime I tried to take it away, he screamed at me.  So he just carried it around to each house.  He tried to go into several of the houses, but he got it figured out.  After awhile, he was just happy to walk with daddy.

Scouts and Birthday Party

Last Thursday night was our Pack Meeting.  Andrew had a great time playing games, and was so glad to finally be able to see Jared.  It had been almost two weeks, for goodness sakes!  They played basketball, of course, and this game of blowing a ball back and forth on a table.  Andrew got some awards, and I'm sure they've been lost by now.  Most of his things never get to be put on his uniform because they are misplaced.  Oh well, less sewing for me!

Last night we were able to go out to Jill's house for Hiram's birthday party.  They invited his whole primary class.  I think there were around 12 kids there!  They began with a scavenger hunt around their property.  The kids found items that were later used to make slime and putty.  They did soda geysers, and had a great dinner, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream.  We had a great time, and the kids can't wait to go back.  They were already asking when they could go back before we were out of their drive way!

Ben and I were happy to sit on the couch, even though Haley was bothering us with the camera.

In Loving Memory...

This is a hard one...

Last Tuesday night, we packed up the car to leave the next morning to go to Utah.  When we woke up Wednesday morning, Ben learned that his best friend, Scott Shimamoto, was missing in a small plane crash.  He immediately left to go search for his friend, and I went to their house to be with Scott's wife, Melissa.  A short time later, we learned that Scott was killed, along with the pilot.  Scott and his family of six little children were our closest friends.  Just a couple of days before his death, Scott and Melissa had brought their family over to our house for another evening of talking and laughing while the children played.

Ben was looking forward to Scott joining him at work to be his partner in just a few weeks.  We have spent years having great times with the Shimamotos.  Whenever Scott was around, everybody was having fun.  Ben gave a beautiful talk at Scott's funeral last Saturday.  It was the hardest thing he's ever had to do, but he was honored to do it for his friend.

Here's some of our favorite photos of some of our times together:

July fourth on our front lawn:

Boating at Cooney:

Ben and Scott went camping with some Boy Scouts, and had a great time fishing and hiking.  Ben was always amazed at Scott's abilities on the water, and also at his ability to get Ben into all sorts of predicaments.  They got lost on their way back from a hike because Scott thought he had found a shortcut.  That shortcut ended up making them shimmy themselves against a rockslide across a mountain.  Good times!

Melissa and I always marveled at how similar our husbands are.  They did the same about us, and even joked that they must have gone together to pick out their wives in heaven and found Melissa and I standing in the same line.  Here is evidence, though.  We have a Christmas tradition with the Shimamotos.  We share going over to each others' houses to learn about Christmas in other countries.  Last year, Scott showed up wearing the same thing as Ben.  I just had to take a picture.  They hadn't even noticed until I brought it up!

Scott, we'll miss you so much.  As we remember our time with you, we smile and laugh, but now I weep as I type this.  We know you'll be watching.  Ben will keep his promise he made to you to take care of your family while you are working for the Lord and preparing a place for your family. 

Until we meet again...