gratitude concert

sadie had her first dance concert with elements dance company. it is a new dance studio that just opened this year. we were so happy when it opened because sadie loves modern dance and the other dance studios here seem to be drill/jazz competition style or strickly ballet. this studio seems to be a great fit for sadie. it was a gratitude concert just in time for the holidays. i have missed watching sadie dance. she did a beautiful job and watching the tiniest dancers in elf costumes dance around a mini christmas tree made me realize how excited i am for the christmas AND thanksgiving.

two of sadie's close friends, my mom, and almost all of dave's family came. it was wonderful and sadie kept saying she had no idea so many people were going to come. it has been a long time since our family has been to one of her dance recitals and i think she loved it.

a good day!

i feel so good today! the last few days i've actually felt like myself. today i cleaned the garage and it felt so good to be outside in the crisp autumn air, working and getting organized from our move. dave hired someone to come and clean our house and even though it makes me feel like a failure, i am so glad he did because it was such a boost!

life is looking up!

plus, our favorite decoration in this fully furnished rental-- our chicken, miraculously laid an egg.

(silly abe! i love that kid!)

it is a good day!!!!

halloween highlights

our halloween excitement started over the weekend. we saw beauty and the beast at wasatch high school. despite it being a great performance, max fell asleep in his chair....i should have known it was the beginning of something! the next day abe said his throat was hurting a little, then on sunday he mentioned it again. since his behavior didn't slow down at all and he didn't complain, i didn't think much about it until sunday night when max had a super high fever and was up a lot of the night with a sore throat. so... halloween morning i asked abe how his throat was and he replied, "doesn't hurt too bad, i'm good to go." he was dressed for school and so off to school he went.

i took max to the doctor and they test him for strep throat--POSITIVE! right away i thought of abe, at school, and was sure he had strep too.

abe jumps in the car....our conversation went something like this:

me: "how is your throat?"

abe: "not too bad, i haven't thought about it."

me: "how was your halloween party at school?"

abe: "great! we bobbed for apples. they made me go first! it took me twenty-nine seconds."

me: "really? you bobbed for apples, with your whole class?"

abe: " ya. and they made me go very first."

me: "did you all use the same water?"

abe: "yep. some people took about a whole minute."

me: "awesome. max has strep throat and i think you might too. we are going to the dr to get you tested."

POSITIVE! i had to email his teacher and tell him abe has strep and i heard he had a great time bobbing for apples in your class :) maybe dave could give a "we gave this to you" discount at the clinic.

even with strep, we tried to have a little fun.

abe was a crazy byu fan, kai was a vampire and max was the cutest mummy i have ever seen. his rags started to fall down and so he was hobbling from house to house (with strep throat) determined to trick-or-treat.

we didn't see much of sadie since she enjoyed hanging with her friends, but she left me this photo on her camera since she knew i would want a photo of her. thoughtful girl!

Happy Halloween!!!!

B is for best!

way back in may, abe tried out for the only competitive soccer team here in our small town. soccer had been such a huge part of his life in flagstaff and i was worried about his first real, competitive try-out. it may sound silly, but i prayed and prayed for him. i know it's just soccer but i really wanted what was best for abe to happen. he tried out and the day before they announced the teams, i had this overwhelming feeling that we were going to coach the b team. later that night the phone call came and right when the phone rang, i knew what it was. they suggested abe could have been put on the A team but wondered if dave would be willing to coach and make a B team. with dave's schedule, i had visions of him getting caught up at work and me taking over the team moments before a game. another dad was asked to co-coach so dave could do it with his schedule. at first i was wondering how in the world this would work. dave was already a scout leader, sleeps at the hospital one night and works late another, and to add soccer practice a few times a week plus games and traveling for games, i wasn't sure it was possible. anyway, the last game of the season was last night, and even though we lost it felt like a huge success.

we went out after the game as a team and the boys each received trophies and a picture of the team. i sat watching the whole scene. abe walking up to get his trophy from his dad who loved coaching him and has been able to spend so many hours with him each week. with all the boys chanting, "abe! abe! abe! abe!"-- i re-realized that God has a hand in our lives, in the little details of our lives. i felt so grateful that i felt an impression that abe would be on B team and that we would coach. it made me feel like we could move forward with it and somehow it would work out and be the best thing for abe. he has had such a leadership role on the team, and has loved hanging with his dad! i have no idea what is in store for abe, but i have strengthened faith in the fact that Heavenly Father is watching over my kiddo.

dreamland

What could be better than falling asleep with a sucker in your mouth?!

this month has been a little bit like a dream, good and not so great.

we moved out of our house, into a little duplex just for the month. it was super hard due to the fact i am 12 weeks pregnant and feeling like my energy is being sucked out of me. we just moved back into our house and still have piles to organize...

but on a happy note,

i am excited to add baby #5 to our family!

I am extremely grateful for an awesome husband who works so hard and gives 200% all the time. he wouldn't let me step foot in that duplex to move out or clean because he knew the smell made me sick,

so he did it all (with help from sadie and abe).

my awesome kids are excited for this baby and they each help me in their own way...little things like, max gave me the cutest foot massage, or when i am having a not so great morning, they will say, "mom, you can do this." our family motto is 'i can do hard' and so we have this month. hard and good....and i kind of feel like taking a big long nap

with a sucker in my mouth.

swiss days

the buzz is all about swiss days.

it's coming up.

i was lucky enough to help with some of the prep.

shout hooray!

who's had a birthday?

joshua kai tullis!!!

and.....

guess

how

old

he

is

today?

SEVEN!!!!

or......

SEVEN!!!

(it's not a gang sign, it's a seven)

his impressive dad made him slightly blue-ish pancakes for breakfast. secret ingredient: frosting! it is a happy day!!!

max took time to write whom each present was from. look closely and you can see this one is from MAX!

sadie and abe worked hard to earn money to buy kai a huge lego pack. it was a hit!

birthday activity: we spent the day in park city. we rode the coaster and the alpine slide.

happy birthday, KAI!!!

we love you and your thoughtful, yet determined spirit!

(and that was a lot of exclamation points, but you only turn seven once, right? !!)