Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had Thanksgiving dinner at Grammy and Grampy's house, as usual, but we were missing Grammy and Grampy. With thoughts of them, Jono cooked a very large turkey, all the extras and everyone enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a great Thanksgiving Day spent with those we love.

This is the best picture we took of all the crazy cousins.  They were quite well behaved this year and we all enjoyed our Thanksgiving feast.  After dinner, the older cousins sang a song about "turkey dinner" or "trunkey dinner" as Coleman says.  Coleman has gourmet tastes for a three year old and put lots of fresh ground pepper on his food.

One of the best things about the week of Thanksgiving was that my sister Rebecca was in town with two of her girls, Aly and Maddy.  We had so much fun!  During the day,  Rebecca, Laura and I would get together and the little cousins would play.  We also called upon every babysitter we knew to tend while we went to dinner, lunch, a movie and another lunch.  It was mommy heaven!  And, only one time when we arrived home was the babysitter in tears.

My favorite lunch was at Nordstom Cafe.  I have never been there without a child or two in tow and the food is very good.  I also loved going to see Twilight; Haley joined us for that outing. The four of us laughed and laughed, it's not a comedy, but we found it very funny.  I'm sorry that Sara and Andrea were unable to join us in our fun adventures.

This is a picture of 3 little monkeys "helping" me make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  The other picture is Maddy Boo with a hurt nose.  She insisted on wearing a band-aid.

We also had a Thanksgiving feast with the Oettli family.  We cooked another turkey and had more pumpkin pie.  We are blessed to have wonderful, loving families.

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A Grandpa and A Great-Grandma

Last week at Oakwood Elementary was Grandparents day.  Papa Donut, Jono, Coleman and I joined Bud and Rosie for a yummy lunch of fried chicken and baked beans.  We had so much fun visiting and laughing. Of course, we had donuts for dessert!  Afterwards, we went to the bookfair and all the kids picked out a book.

Doesn't Bud look handsome in Papa Donut's hat?

One day, Laura, Sara and I packed up our kids and drove to Utah County to visit our Grandma Summerhays.  We had a wonderful time visiting her and telling her how much we love her.  She is almost 92 years old!  She was very bright and happy.  She loved to see some of her great-grandchildren.  It was a great experience for us all.

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The Biggest Game or Coach Whit's Prediction Comes True

The anticipation for this game has been huge, ever since the Utes' devastating loss last year. Jono and Bud saw Coach Whittingham at a banquet last spring.  Bud asked him if we were going to beat BYU next season.  Coach answered, "We will beat BYU, I guarantee it!  Write it down. But don't tell anyone."  

The week before the game, Jono and Bud were very nervous.  The day of the game they were very, very nervous.  By the fourth quarter they were very, very happy and Jono kept his promise to Bud and took him on the field after the big victory.  Bud said it was the best day of his life!

The rest of us had a great party at Laura and JD's house.  They went all out with lots of yummy food and JD was such a great sport.  It was another great day in Utah History!

This is a picture of the Oettli family before the big game.  I don't know why Rosie is so sad!  Earlier in the week, I checked Bud out of school for 2 hours so he could attend a Utah Booster Luncheon.  He was so excited to see Coach Whit and Brian Johnson.  Jono got him a replica of a Utah helmet and Bud has carried it around with him everywhere and sleeps with it by the side of his bed.  Isn't it a shocker that he is such a big Utah fan?

This is a picture of us before going to church the day after the game.  Yes, that is Jono's letterman's jacket and he wore it the whole 3 hour block schedule.  He also took the time to shake every BYU fans' hand.  I was a little embarrassed.  Bud looked very cute in his Utah vest and a tie.  His primary teacher wisely vetoed any talk of the game at the first of the class.  In the primary class Jono and I teach, however, we gave out prizes to the Utah fans and discussed the game at length.  

GO UTES!

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Reflections WOW...

...And The Winners Are:  Rosie and Bud!

We love the Reflections Program in our family and were excited about the fun theme this year "WOW".  Bud and Rosie both created awesome 3-D art projects out of clay; Bud's was a dinosaur park with many dinosaurs, nests with eggs, trees, a volcano and a lake made of melted jolly ranchers.  He painted the ground green and spread crushed lava rocks over it.  Rosie made a "Wheel of Wow" with brightly colored fish, a circle of beads and a whole bottle of glitter. Both kids also entered the photography category.  They took pictures of Grammy's beautiful yard. Rosie took pictures of the fall leaves and bushes and Bud took pictures the day it snowed and snowed.  We turned those pictures into collages.  Bud and Rosie were so proud of themselves!

I am the Reflection's Chairperson this year for Oakwood.  It was a lot of work, but it was very rewarding to see how excited the children were at the assembly.  I showed a slideshow of everyone's project and played the music entries in the background.  The winners received a trophy and got their picture taken afterwards by a swarm of parent and grandparent photographers.  When Rosie's name was called for winning in 3-D art, she ran up to the front of the auditorium and hugged me, hugged her friend and then held up her trophy.  It was her "rock star" moment.  Bud won for both of his projects and proudly held both trophies for the picture.

I am going to take my "rock star" moment and thank Jono for helping the kids be so creative with their projects.  Thanks to Laura and Sara for judging the literature and babysitting Coleman.  And thanks to Mom for being such an example of service and volunteering.  She was the Reflections Chairperson at Woodstock when we were growing up. Mom, you will be here for the 2011 Reflections Assembly, WOW!

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Awesome Owls

These two awesome Owls got 100% on their spelling tests this week!  This is a very big deal at our house, they both have challenging spelling words and study every night.  It's Friday, so they have on their school t-shirts.

Bud and Rosie were both picked by their teachers to be on the Student Council.  They have meetings once a month to discuss school issues and problems.  The older Student Council members get to make the daily morning announcements.  Last week was Bud's turn and he did a fantastic job.  (I was at school one morning and got to hear him.)  This is a great learning experience for the two of them.

 

Bud recently completed a very long and challenging science-fiction novel called The Softwire.  It took him one month to read and he got 100% on his AR test.  We are so proud of him!  He reads to either Jono or I every day and I was excited for him to read another genre, science-fiction is not my favorite.  Guess what book Bud choose to read next?  The Softwire 2.  (It's even longer!)  Bud finished out his flag football season as quarterback, and it was a great experience.  He improved in every game and scored on plays called "the naked bootleg" and "a fake reverse".

Rosie has finished several books this term, she is a very good reader.  She recently lost another tooth.  This is her first time pulling out her tooth herself!  (She has resorted to drastic measures since her Grampy is not here.)  She is taking Jazz dancing and tumbling lessons.  She likes both, even dancing.  Remember last year, she hated ballet and I signed her up for Jazz without her acceptance?  This year I told her how happy I was she liked dancing and she replied, "It's not dancing, mom, it's Jazz!"  

Last month I took Bud and Rosie to the eye doctor.  They both have bad eyes, Rosie's are a little worse than Bud's.  The eye doctor recommended I wait another year before getting them glasses and have their school teachers move them to the front of the class.  Here is a picture of the two of them in their dark glasses after getting their eyes dilated.

I can't forget about our little Coleman.  He still loves school and is learning many fun and interesting things.  He loves to scare everyone by shouting out "Boo" at random times.  He still has to answer the door anytime the doorbell rings.  He is not afraid of older kids and will pound on the scouts when they are here for den meeting.  He found one of Rosie's magic wands and walks around the house shouting, "Pocus, pocus, you're pink!  Pocus, pocus, you're blue!"  Coleman is hilarious and is always saying very funny things.  He is my little friend everyday while the older kids are at school.  This is a picture of his artwork from school and home the last two months.  

I realize how blessed I am to be a mom, and I thank my Heavenly Father daily for my precious children.

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Black-Out!

It's the biggest game of the year and Jono is in Seattle on business; his only business trip in four years, by the way.  So look who got to go to the game...  Bud!  The Utes took on the TCU Horned Frogs in a Black-Out game.  Bud has been looking forward to this night for a long time.

We drove to the game with Jonny and his friends and Bud wowed them with his football player knowledge.  On the 4th floor, I had pre-game enchiladas and Bud enjoyed his hotdog.  He says that the Scholarship Box has the best hotdogs ever, an honor I'm sure they are proud of.  He left me eating my chips and salsa to watch the team warm up.  After the game started I chatted with Bud and he said, "Talk to me during half-time."

It was awesome to watch the stadium fill up with black.  The Utes looked strong and powerful in black, but they had their share of ups and downs.  Regardless, the second largest crowd in stadium history was on it's feet cheering the last two minutes and the Utes came out ahead! Bud watched in awe as the crowd jumped onto the field and it was a sea of black celebration.  It was a great night and I'm glad to have shared it with Bud.

This is the number 1 fan saying, "I'll be back to watch the Utah-BYU game!"  (Doesn't he have the nicest mom.)  Jono promised to take him on the field after a Utah victory and a 12-0 season.  GO UTES!

PS. Can you believe that when I met Jono I didn't know the difference between offense and defense.  I've come a long way, baby.

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A Surprise in the Tub

Last night we watched Macy while Laura went to a sewing class and JD worked late.  She was so delightful; she just wandered around watching the commotion of our family.  

About 7:00, I took Rosie, Coleman and Macy upstairs.  Coleman got in the tub with I listened to Rosie read in her room.  Macy was playing with Rosie's stuffed animals.  Then, Macy went into the bathroom. Coleman casually calls out, "Macy's in the tub."  I thought maybe she had stuck her arm in the water.  But no, Macy really was in the tub! Rosie and I laughed and laughed, and I had to snap a photo before getting her out.

I am so sorry about Macy's cute suede boots, Laura.  I hope they are not ruined.  I especially hope that you will let us tend Macy again.  I will keep the bathroom door closed next time.  We all really love that little sweetheart!

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