Happy Father's Day...From Brielle

Tonight Dad and Nathan went for a walk while Brielle and I stayed home. While reading the "Friend", we saw something about a treasure hunt. Brielle said, "Let's do one now!" So we decided to do a treasure hunt for Dad that led to his Father's Day gift. Brielle came up with the hiding places and helped me think of attributes about that place that we could put in the clue to help Dad find it. It was a lot of fun: The first "Welcome Home" clue on the garage door.
Clue #2 on the green dress she wore especially for Father's Day, since it is his favorite color. She has been planning it ALL week. You'd think Father's Day was Christmas the way she has been counting down to the big day. She loves her Daddy. She also loved singing to him in sacrament meeting.

"He guessed the fridge! That's right!"

Another clue

Spoons? Might we need these when we find the treasure?

"Happy Father's Day!" Pirate's Booty ice cream!

Jared did his research and was thrilled to find out you CAN still get his favorite Pirates Booty ice cream! But, only in a 3 gallon container. $25 of ice cream?!? We decided it was the perfect Father's Day gift. He got some jeans too. And good thing! Between Old Navy and home, the only pair he owned developed 2 holes in the knee. Ironic.

Today I interviewed Brielle about her Dad

I started by asking her what she loves about her Dad: "I love about dad cuz he gave me a popsicle in that movie (they had just watched a New Testament video together). He gave me an orange one. It was really yummy and really cold."

"And I liked about daddy that it is Father's Day and I am going to wear his favorite color."

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? "Watch movies with him."

What else do you like to do with him? "Play with him, have so much fun with him, and planting my seeds." (Jared and the kids have planted a mini garden behind our duplex. They watch it very faithfully. Unfortunately, between the slugs and the voles we will be lucky to get any full grown plants. Blast.)

What do you like about Dad? "I like that he chases me and tickles me."

What is your Dad's favorite color? "Green"
What is your dad's favorite food? "Umm. I don't know. What is his favorite food mom?"

Mom: "He likes roast beef and parsnips. "

Brielle: "He likes roast beef and parsnips."

What does your Daddy do for you? (She needed examples so I prompted her with "like at night and when he leaves during the day) "He reads me stories. He makes money so that we can buy food and keep our house."

Brielle's turn to type: "brielle mom"

What animals does he like? "Moose, deer and elk"
What does your dad like to do? "Go hunting and eat the animals."
What is his favorite story to tell Brielle? "About when I was born, I think."

How do you feel about your Dad? "Happy"
What do you want to tell your Dad? "That I love him."

LOVE, BRIELLE

Sidenote: At dinner when it was Nathan's turn to say what he liked about Dad he said "watch movies with him."

Our House

One of the decisions of the week was figuring out what we wanted the outside of our house to look like. Much to our childrens' chagrin we drove around many neighborhoods looking for rock, colors etc. We found a house that we LOVED:This house is actually for sale and we went through it a couple of times on our house hunting trip. We liked it. But the inside is a bit small (especially the kitchen) and it is all dark wood. I really want light wood. I feel so much happier when the world is light all around me. It is also on a small lot, without much room for a garden. So, we decided it wasn't the house for us, but we still love the outside. Isn't that rock beautiful?!?

So, after taking some pictures (of this and many other homes) we came home and Jared used paint and Powerpoint to create this mock elevation of our future house.

I was quite impressed with his skills. He just took different parts of the pictures we had taken and pieced them together and got our house. We played with the colors a bit and this is what we like best. We will probably add shutters to the far left window. We will do them the same color as the shake siding in the gables.

Swimming Lessons

I decided to take advantage having Jared off of work and get out of doing swimming lessons. Hooray! Jared enjoys the water so much more than I do, so he is doing the parent and me class with Nathan while Brielle does her first swimming lessons on her own. We go every evening from Mon-Thurs for 3 weeks. The kids LOVE it. We have one week left. They will be sad when it is over.

Jared is a bit out numbered. Only 1 other Dad...the rest are Moms. Nathan gets tired of singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm (truthfully, so does Jared). They want to SWIM for heaven's sake.When Brielle started 2 weeks ago, she DID NOT like putting her face in the water and wasn't very comfortable in water either. On the first day they played Simon Says and when asked to put their "whole selves" in the water, Brielle dipped her nose in while the rest of the class completely disappeared under water. I think her teacher may have been a little suspicious when a dry headed little girl came to give her five for going all the way under the water.

Our Bre has grown a ton in the following 2 weeks! This last Wednesday she spent 60% of the class time dunking herself in the water while the teacher did one on one work with each kid. Then on Thursday she jumped off of the diving board...THREE times. Others in her class chose to just do it once and required some coaching. Not Brielle. She walked right to the end of the board and jumped, again and again and again. Way to go Bre! We are proud of you.

Hanging out. Waiting for class to start.

A Young Boy's Dream

Doesn't that look like the face of little boy who has just had a dream come true?

Which dream you ask?

Let me zoom out.

The company that is building our house had a family fun day and invited us to attend. Part of the fun...rides on 2 different bulldozers and 1 digger. Nathan rode all 3.Jon Huss, the owner of the company, and his father were the operators of the equipment.

Brielle REALLY enjoyed it too. He let Brielle take complete control of the wheel for awhile.

Face painting was part of the fun.Isn't he good?!? Brielle turned into a cat.

Another hit was the treasure hunt. They made a huge sandbox for the kids and hid pennies, nickels, and dimes in the sand. Brielle made quite the haul. Her piggy bank is completely full.

"My favorite part was finding the money, but riding the tractor sure was fun!" -Brielle

Happy Birthday Mom!

Most people believe they have the most wonderful mother ever. I don't just believe that I have the most wonderful mother, I know it. She is the perfect mother for me.

I am reminded of what a lucky girl I am when I see my mom with my children...how she listens to them, how she reads to them, how she plays with them, how she lets them put their fingers in the frosting bowl, lick their fingers and then put them dip them back in for more. She is so loving, patient and caring. How lucky I am to have been raised by such a good mother.

I was a handful...a very busy little girl who refused to nap and always wanted to PLAY! (I realize now how tiring that must have been!) Just so you can see what she put up with: One morning when she was 9 months pregnant and I was 2, she told me we were going to the grocery store and we left the house to get into the car. I didn't want to go to the store. I wanted to play. So I took off running down the street to my friend's house and she, 9 months pregnant, took off after me. When she realized that I was gaining ground, she used her last resort. She swung her purse around and flung it at me, knocking me off my feet and allowing her to catch up. Thanks for putting up with and loving me Mom.

My Mom has always been a selfless example to me. I remember in high school I was keeping a very busy schedule. I had an early morning choir class that required getting up around 5:30. My Mom has always been a night owl and early mornings are not her favorite. One particular night I went to bed dreading the morning as our water heater was out and I knew I was going to have to wake up to a cold shower instead of a hot one. (I hate cold showers!) When my alarm went off I was surprised to hear footsteps upstairs, as I was usually the first one awake. So, I went upstairs to see what was up. I found my Mom heating water in large pots on the stove, carrying them all the way down the hall, and dumping them into the bath tub...all so that I wouldn't have to take a cold shower. Thank you for your service Mom!

My Mom has always been my best friend, especially through high school. I could (and did) talk to her about anything. My mother has the unique and wonderful talent of listening. She is the best listener. No matter what time I got home from watching a movie with friends, a date, or an out-of-town trip for a basketball tournament, she was up waiting for me. Often we would talk for another hour or two before going to bed. She knew everything that was on my mind and helped me work through any worry or stress. Even now, my initial, subconcious thought when I face something difficult is "I want my Mom! She can fix it." (Yes, I called her in the middle of the night when my water broke with my first pregnancy. I panicked and needed her reassurance that I could, in fact, make it through labor.) Ironically enough, I tend to get a phone call or email from her just when I need it. Thank you Mom for your caring, listening ear.

I also admire my Mom's commitment to and testimony of the gospel. I see her studying the scriptures, the words of the prophets, and hymns. I see her living her testimony in daily life. And I catch even deeper glimpses into the depths of her soul when I get to listen to a sacrament meeting Christmas program that she has written and organized, attend a Relief Society lesson that she teaches, or attend a Keynote program that she has written and directed. Through her amazing musical talent and teaching ability I see more of the amazing woman that she is. I am grateful to be raised by such a noble person.

Tomorrow is her birthday and I found myself wishing I could do something to show her how much I love and appreciate her. I couldn't come up with anything sufficient. So, I decided to tell you how much I love and appreciate her instead.

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you!

Our Lot

I should be unpacking. There are boxes everywhere. Jared is hard at work. But, quite frankly, my back hurts and I just want to sit down. So, I am blogging.
(Hey, family history is important too! :) )

Here is the future site of our new home.

It is in a subdivision of 36 lots, all of which are 1-2 acres. There are currently only 5 homes built in the subdivision, so we will be #6. The subdivision is surrounded by farmland and offers quiet, country living. It is a perfect fit for us. It is only about 10 minutes from all the basic shopping that I will want to do, 13 minutes to church, and relatively close to friends. Jared’s favorite part of the lot is that we have heard pheasants several times, there are many other birds (many currently nesting) and possibly deer. One of the trees in the back looks like an apple tree too! We look forward to the peaceful mornings and the glorious evenings under the beautiful night sky out away from the lights of town. We love Wisconsin.

Our “Welcome to Wisconsin” Party

We had to celebrate our arrival to our new home state today. Each of us chose a food from Wisconsin that we love and that is what we ate at our party.
Brielle chose chocolate MILK (surprise, surprise) Nathan chose “hot dogs” (BRATS) My selection was BRIE CHEESE, broiled on French bread with a green apple on top (a favorite from our “cheese of the week” last summer – Thanks for the suggestion Joan and Sarah!) And Jared’s choice was…you guessed it…ICE CREAM! His only regret is that we couldn't get "Pirate's Booty Ice Cream". (The favorite ice cream of the month from last year...and the Wisconsin State Fair winner)

I didn't get a picture, but many times throughout lunch one of the kids would count to three and we all had to yell "Welcome to Wisconsin!!" It became quite the fun game.

Bre eating Brie. She liked it!Too cute"Maybe it is easier this way?!?"And corn on the cob...we needed SOMETHING healthy! :)

Pictures of our place for the summer to come…if we ever get unpacked.

Moving In

Our first breakfast in our new place. Brielle helping put our shelves back together. A treat…Otter Pops. We told the kids they needed to eat them in the backyard. Unfortunately, it decided to rain. I don't think Nathan minded being obedient though.

Visiting Colorado Granny and Granddad

I must begin by apologizing for not using my camera nearly enough!! I don’t even have a picture of Granny. I think I was just too tired from the craziness of getting packed and on our way and enjoying my break so much that I didn’t even pull out the camera.

We loved spending time in Colorado on our way across the country. As always, Mom treated us to delicious meals and we loved having time to chat and play with her and Dad. We relaxed and enjoyed their company. Thank you Mom and Dad.

Nathan refused to let me read to him. He insisted on having Grandad do it. They bonded watching race cars together the first day!

Jared and the kids spent several mornings catching crawdads on a homemade fishing pole with bacon on the end. "Check out my catch!"Not scared a bit!Brielle? Well, maybe a little bit scared.

Some Good-byes

We were able to visit our Utah family before heading off to our new home.
Brielle stayed a whole week all by herself with Grandma Kay and Grandpa Ken. She LOVED it. She felt like the queen of the universe. (I think she pretty much was. Grandparents are the BEST!) Thank you for taking such good care of her.

We stayed with my parents a couple of days when we went to pick Bre up. It was so nice to spend time with them and go to my Mom’s Keynote concert and her voice students’ recital. We thoroughly enjoyed both. Nathan’s highlight was the Marbleworks.

Jared and Brielle got to spend a Sunday afternoon with Mike and Ann and family (Nathan and I couldn’t go because Nathan had strep. Blah.) We have loved living close to them and will miss our occasional visits. We also got together with Sean and Lisa a couple of times, but neglected to take a picture. We will miss seeing them every week!

All the cousins: Brody, Kynan, Lilly, Bronwyn, Ella and Brielle. Brielle will miss them. She was very upset when they had to leave.

Look at those gorgeous girls!

And Handsome Brody!

Ky with his Dad

Goodbye to our beloved mountains. We will miss you!

The morning before we drove out of town I said my final "hurrah" with a visit to the temple. Throughout my whole life (besides about 8 months of my mission) I have lived within 10 minutes of a temple. I didn’t realize what an immense blessing that was until we moved to Wisconsin last summer and realized that in order to attend our nearest temple (in Chicago) we would have to plan an overnight trip. I recommitted to going to the temple every week during our last 8 months of school to get in as much time at the temple as possible before moving away. Jared and I would do an endowment session together each month (thanks to Jamie and Justin for watching our kids for us), and the rest of the weeks I would do initiatory work in the early morning before Jared went to school. When first introduced to this idea I thought it was crazy. While living in Idaho we were struggling to get to the temple once a month when our stake president issued a challenge to every family to have a “temple experience” each week. I must admit, I had a bad attitude about that challenge at first. I didn’t think it was possible. Then a friend (and wonderful example) suggested we try going to do initiatory work in the early morning hours every Friday. I reluctantly agreed and came to love and look forward to that time each week (Thanks Heather!). I really missed that blessing when we went back to school and the habit got lost in the busyness of our first semester of Jared’s MBA. Now, I will miss it again. I am so grateful for the peace and strength that I gain from temple attendance. I look forward to our next overnight trip to Chicago! Meanwhile, those of you close to a temple, please enjoy it for me!

I love this early morning view of Provo!