November 2018

Our little Kaleigh started off our November with her 8th birthday.  She has been waiting patiently for 3 years until she turned 8, so that she could get her ears pierced.  She LOVES more than anything on this earth, to be pretty.  She researches online all the new make up techniques and then she practices them while she is sitting on our bathroom counter with her feet in the sink.  One night she ran very hot water into a mug and put her colored pencils in the water....  after they had been in there for a minute she took them out and used the melted pencils as eyeliner.

She is always telling me that my makeup collection is inadequate and on every birthday and holiday gift list, she asks us to get her makeup remover wipes.

Finally, the big day arrived for ear piercing.   She was so excited, but also a little nervous.   She asked if she could take Bokee with her to help her be brave.  Bokee is her most prized possession...  she is her Blanket and she has been with her since minute 8 of her life and hasn't missed a day/significant event since.  KK will often sneak Bokee into her backpack and take her to school.  She knows she can't take her out of her backpack, but just knowing that she is there at school with her makes her soooooooo happy.  "Of course, we will take Bokee with us,"  I said.  "She must be with you on this day for sure."

 She carefully chose the most expensive earrings

 And sat perfectly still while they pierced her ears.

 She thinks she looks so beautiful and so do I.

She takes such good care of her earrings.  She always remembers to clean her ears every day and she twists her earrings all the time just like they told her to do.

It is SO great to be 8

She is the sweetest girl in the world.  And it is so fun to celebrate her.

Raleigh continued to work on his list of home projects.  This week was a bench for the end of our bed.  He will use it to sit on it when he puts his shoes on like Mr. Rogers.   The materials called for only 8 - 2 X 4s.    It weighs 100 pounds.  But it is so cute.  And he is so amazing.  I love it. 

 The Primary Program was Mid-November.  Ryker and Peyton had really difficult speaking parts.  I kept trying to get them to memorize their parts, but they said they were too hard.  They read them perfectly however.  The songs were magnificent.  And Nana and I bawled through the whole program.  They were all three on different parts of the stage and I kept looking back and forth at all of them feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude that I was able to have them in my later years with no complications....  and also that I get to be their mother.  They bless my life every single day and they bring me daily joy.  I am the luckiest girl alive.  They are spectacular children, so smart and well behaved.  And they are kind to each other and to other kids as well.  They are obedient and thoughtful.  I could go on and on...  but our entire family is so blessed by them and their sweet little spirits.

 Parker and Morgan were with us this weekend too. 

Morgan was having some pretty serious health complications.

So, Parker called his dad in the middle of the night from Provo and asked him for some advice and Dr. Thompson said that based on her symptoms, he would suggest that she go over to the emergency room...  so instead, she and Parker jumped into her car and drove down to St. George.  Good thing her appendix didn't burst in Fillmore.  There would have been nothing worse than that.  

She made me go to Dr. Thompson's office with her the next morning.   While she was laying on the table getting examined, her phone rang and Dr. Thompson said  "oh...  my son is calling, I should answer it and make him nervous."  

Morgan said "do it."

So he said  "Hello, Morgan's Phone"  in a weird man voice.

And Parker goes....  "oh hey dad."
Like it didn't trick him at all.

And then Parker said, "what's wrong with my girl?"

And Dr. Thompson said....  "I can't tell you that because of HIPAA?

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA...........  so professional.

Whatever was wrong with her went away.
For now

Probably because she was back with her mother where she belongs.

PS....  they are both moving back to St. George in December.

Which is where they should have been this whole time.

I simply hate homework.

It's SO annoying.

But, it is kinda fun to watch them do it.

Especially, that left handed boy.
He is a math wiz.  He is seriously SO smart.  Things just come so easily to him.
It's like he doesn't even have to think about it.
He is also very competitive with the other little boys in his class with their Ninja Math Books.
He's on level X and he is by far the furtherest along.
He LOVES being a math dominator.
He was chosen to be honored for his hard work with Habit #3
Put First Things First.
He was chosen because he works so hard and always tries to be the best.

My boy, Brayden also turned 24 this month.

Oh my, how is that possible?

I remember his birth day like it was yesterday.

I can't believe it was that long ago because it doesn't feel like it.

I remember 4 days after he was born.  I was EXHAUSTED and so emotional. 

And I was laying on the floor next to him and I just burst into tears and sobbed.

And my mom said "oh my gosh, what is the matter?"

And I said,  "I can't do this....  I can't be in charge of him for 18 years.

It's too overwhelming.  What if I forget to feed him"?

And my mom said "oh my word, HE WON'T LET YOU FORGET TO FEED HIM

I promise".

Allie works at Crumbl.  And sometimes she has to work at the Crumbl Kiosk in the mall.  And when she does, we kill two birds with one stone and shop and get a free cookie.

She is so funny.  She doesn't love working.  But she LOVES buying new Nikes.  And so she only works enough each week to buy a tank of gas and a new pair of shoes.

Our cute missionary made it safely to Omaha and then moved on to South Dakota.

He is so happy and full of the spirit and is fully embracing his mission. 

His letters are to die for. 

I can't wait to read them each week. 

Traditionally, Raleigh takes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off every year and takes the kids on adventures.

This year, they decided to go see a movie.

They saw Ralph Does Something to the Internet or something like that.

They loved it. 

After the movie, they came and picked me up at work and we went out to the village and swam in the heated pool and played X-box and air hockey.

Nana also took the kids to the Jubilee of Trees.

They didn't think they were going to have that much fun looking a trees...

but, they really did.

They have commented on that outing several times this month.

 We had a full house for Thanksgiving.

Minus our missionaries and Savanna.

And Brayden and Crysti.

Mom worked so hard to cook the most delicious meal.

I think this year was the best I have ever had.

 We all wrote 23 things that we were thankful for each day of November and put them in jars.

Then we poured them out and read them and tried to guess who had written it.

It was such a fun thing to do.

 Cute Sisters

 Games

 I made Raleigh take a picture with me because he looked so cute and I didn't want to forget what he looked like on this day.

 Oh.....  the Rivalry Game.

Everyone knows how this ended up, so we don't really need to talk about it.

We were so hopeful.

But, I don't know why we were.

 We made posters for Garrett's Homecoming

  

Here is another look at the SAME decorations that we do EVERY year.

I'm yawning.

The good news is...  we have done them so many times, it only took us like 23 minutes to throw everything up.

The better news is....  next year IT WILL LOOK DIFFERENT.

We finished up the month with Kaleigh's baptism.

It was a wonderful day

We woke up to a very foggy day.

She was the only one in our ward being baptized, so our family WAS the program.

 Peyton gave a talk on baptism

 Ryker gave a talk on The Holy Ghost

 I played the piano

(which I don't suggest for the mother of the baptistee because I was 

stuck in the corner and couldn't socialize or really hear very well

and I felt like I was a little frazzled)

But, there weren't too many other options

 The Hydes were there too, but Kori had to 

"dunk and run" as she said....to go to a training meeting with

the General Young Women's Presidency

Lucky her.

What a wonderful month for our family.

We were able to feel so blessed the entire month.

I am so grateful for this wonderful family and for the genuine love we feel toward each other.

We have so many blessings

Some of my 23 things that I put in my jar were....

My fabulous husband and our equally fabulous marriage

I am so grateful for a good marriage.

7 beautiful, smart and healthy children

A warm home

2 cars that get us to our....

VERY good jobs

I feel so blessed to be members of the church and for the knowledge that

we have a Heavenly Father who knows each of us individually and has a plan for each of us.

I am grateful for the atonement and the blessing that it is in my life personally.

I am so happy my family lives so close to us and is so supportive of our marriage and our family and our children and doesn't miss a single event or birthday or holiday or crisis or emergency or activity.

What a wonderful life.