Labor Day

Labor Day we spent working. First Charles cleaned the fish tank while I did dishes and laundry and the kids did homework (Cherilyn and Allison slept until ten and then did homework:)). Then Erica asked, again, when we would paint her dresser. She has been wanting to paint her dresser since Joshua moved out of her room into the boys room. The dresser was blue and the paint was chipped in several places. Erica recently got this quilt that her aunt Anslin made for her and she wanted her dresser to match it. Charles decided that was a fine time to get paint. They brought home three cans of berry pink spray paint. After our other projects were under way (more below) and Erica cleared and emptied her dresser, they took the dresser out on the grass and painted it. Here it is all put back together. It does match the quilt well.

While Charles was buying paint for the dresser he also bought paint for touching up the main walls throughout the house. He also bought paint for the wall in our living room. Quite awhile ago my visiting teacher, who is an interior designer, suggested (when I asked her for design tips) that I paint this wall as an accent wall. I brought home handfuls of paint swatches a few times and at one point we decided on a color called cinnamon. Soon after we decided that we might prefer the tan as it was. Nevertheless at the store yesterday Charles picked up this color. He came home and did the prep work, a good portion of the painting (everything that required the ladder) and most of the touch up too. Allison also spent the day helping to paint, even following Dad around while he did touch-up paint throught the house. Now that it is all done we all like it. It is a warm color and makes the room feel more calm. Maybe more paint projects are in the future? The boys are so eager for their room to be painted that they said we could paint it red because we had that paint yesterday. They think they really want blue or green.

Back to school already!

Cherilyn is in ninth grade (The first year of high school, but she still goes to the junior high.) She was planning on taking Perfect Harmony (choir) and orchestra along with seminary and some required classes. The music teachers scheduled Perfect Harmony and Advanced Orchestra at the same time so she decided to take Perfect Harmony and continue with violin lessons. She enjoys school and is glad that it isn't too hard yet. Her favorite class is seminary.

Allison is in seventh grade and now attends the junior high with Cherilyn. She likes it and is only disappointed that one of her best friends, Taylor, has no classes with her. She is taking band, where she plays the flute and art.

Erica is in Mr. Griffith's fourth grade class. Allison also had Mr. Griffith. Erica likes her class, but was not happy that her two good friends are in other classes. She gets to see Kinnely and Abby at lunch and recess. Erica got forearm crutches this summer. She likes them much better than her walker. The crutches are generally easier to use and get around with.

Ethan is in first grade. Miss Dooley is his teacher. His favorite part of all-day school is lunch. He has tried many school lunches and likes bringing home lunches, especially when we have cookies to go in them. Ethan is very interested in sea creatures right now and learns all he can about them and other animals.

Summer Birthdays

Five of our family members have birthdays in the summer.

We start out with Joshua. He turned two on June 11th. Sam, Erin and their boys were here to celebrate with us. When he opened his truck book he sat right down and started looking at it. He likes trucks. In the picture the book is open to our favorite page, "This truck is enourmous." Two year olds saying enormous has been cute with all our boys.

Joshua also received a lawnmower so he can "lawn the mow" with Dad.
Joshua was fascinated with the "fire" on the cake.

Some cute things about Joshua: He likes to go anywhere. He often says "I go with . . ." and "I ready."; He talks clearly in complete sentences with adorable pauses. "Mom..where is my blankie?"; When he needs a number it is always 48. I first noticed this when he went into the corner and started counting 8, 48. When Dad asked the time the other day, Joshua said "48."

Four days after Joshua's birthday, on June 15th, Cherilyn turned 14!

She is opening a camera which was her favorite gift.
She went to a dance the week after her birthday and was glad to be able to stay overnight at youth conference. (Allison and the other 12-13 year olds had to come home.)

Eli's birthday comes between Dad and Mom (Both of whom had nice birthdays, but no pictures are necessary here.)

Eli turned five. Here he is modeling his new sunglasses (which Joshua continously tries to take and claim as his own.) Eli got "the best present ever" from Dad, Super Smash Bros Brawl. Ethan and Eli were literally rolling on the floor with excitement. They have enjoyed playing with Charles because they can beat him at least half of the time.

The Summer

Cherilyn and Allison started out their summer at ward girl's camp. They enjoyed getting to know everyone better and all the fun activities. They went on an exciting river rafting trip where they stayed safely in the raft. Two weeks after girl's camp was ward youth conference. The highlight of that was rockclimbing and rappelling. Cherilyn wowed everyone by doing both. She loved it and looks forward to going again. Allison also went rockclimbing, but didn't rappel.

Again this summer, Ethan played T-ball and Eli played kickball. They are both improved and enjoyed playing. They are excited to move up next year to coach pitch and T-ball.

The weekend of the fourth of July all the kids but Joshua went to Grandkid Camp. Charles and I took them to Gartin Caber where we had smores and Charles lit our fireworks. The next day Grandpa and Gradma B drove them to Mesquite along with Emma and Matthew (the only Buchanan cousins old enough to attend Grandkid Camp). For two days they decorated visors, made ribbon weave pillows, swam and generally had fun. Grandma B drove them back home and now they are looking forward to next year's camp. (And Teen Camp for Cherilyn and Allison because they spend much of Grandkid Camp helping with the younger kids.)
While they were gone Charles, Joshua and I drove through Santaquin canyon to the Nebo loop and had a slip and slide. One day Joshua spent at Grandpa and Grandma Elder's house while Charles and I went golfing. I also made an apron. It didn't turn out as cute as I thought it would, but I made it in a day and a half and it works great.

We only did a few outings this summer. We played lots of games, read books, went to the library, watched movies and played with friends. We saw Toy Story 3 in the theater. We also went to Payson Lakes one day to swim and had our picnic lunch by the creek. One summer day Charles went and bought water guns and we all went out and got wet. We also got out the slip and slide and wore it out. Allison made a scavenger hunt for the younger kids (a suggestion from The Friend). She wrote cute clues and Ethan, Erica and Eli had a great time reading them and finding them.

Next summer we are planning on taking a trip to Seattle. We are all looking forward to that!