Allison: Sweet Sixteen

After school I took Allison to get her driver's license.  She was excited to get that.  She hasn't said much about dating, except she will gladly wait until her friends turn 16 to go with her.  Cherilyn has plotted a date, but it hasn't happened yet.

Here she is at school on her birthday.

Cherilyn arranged for some friends to come and sing her "Happy Birthday" after Allison got her license.

Here they are: Brevin, Jaron, Brandon, Erica, Cherilyn and Alyssa, with an armful of balloons.

Allison wore the balloons tied to her arm or leg for the rest of the day and after school the next day.  Who knew that a 16-year-old would enjoy balloons so much.  She had a fun day.

Allison can usually be found at the piano.  She may also be reading, making cards, listening to music or playing pool.  She is helpful and kind.

2nd Trip to the Hospital Avoided

The afternoon of Halloween, Allison's birthday, I took Allison to get her license.  While I was gone Joshua tripped on Ethan's backpack and fell on his arm onto Ethan's birdhouse.  They said he screamed that his arm was broken.  When I got home he whined a bit as he told me, but was no longer screaming.  I checked it out and saw no swelling, bruising or cuts.  He complained off and on that it hurt, but with Halloween and a birthday he was distracted.  He was not using that arm when he could avoid it and would cry if he did use it.  By bedtime he was crying too much.  We were all glad that he went right to sleep.  I hoped that he was simply tired and his arm was fine.  When I checked on him before going to bed he was tossing and turning and starting to whine.  As he woke up he began to cry that his arm hurt.  So he wouldn't wake up anyone, I took him into my room and tried to console him.  He tried to sleep but was awakened by pain.  We were eventually able to get him to take ibuprofen.  He watched a movie and was able to sleep the rest of the night.  He stayed home on Friday so I could watch him.  I was pleased that he could write without pain.  He continued to guard his arm by not using it, but any complaints of pain slowly died out.  He began asking for medicine without complaining of pain so we stopped giving him medicine.  We were glad to avoid a second trip to the hospital for the week and more importantly that Joshua had not broken his arm.

Halloween

We had our ward Halloween party on October 30th.  The girls helped with the games and the boys had fun participating.  The young men did a spook alley which all the kids enjoyed.  I forgot the camera that night, but here are their costumes on Halloween.

Cowgirl Erica

Princesses Cherilyn and Allison

The back of their shirts have this poem:  I am a child of royal birth, My Father is King of Heaven and Earth.  My spirit was born in the courts on high, A child beloved, a Princess am I.

Allison wrote on the shirts and her friend made their crowns.

Phantom Eli and Skeleton Joshua behind him.  They loved being able to wear their masks at the Halloween parade at school.

Ethan was Half awake-half asleep.

The boys went trick or treating for the first time this year.  (They usually just go trunk or treating at the ward Halloween party.)  They decided they didn't like it.  They like trunk or treating better because they get to see the other kids.

Ethan's 10th birthday

Ethan turned 10!

He is very happy about it.

Because of the ward party that night and a meeting of Dad's Ethan opened presents after they were in pajamas.  After presents we enjoyed strawberry shortcake.

Ethan is a very compassionate kid.  He wants to help out and tries to always be nice.  He is super smart and can tell you interesting facts about many things.

Pumpkins 2013

We went on a hay ride to get pumpkins this year.  Cherilyn and the boys were especially excited.  Since Cherilyn works at the Red Barn we were able to do so without cost which was great.  

Here are the boys on the way to the pumpkin patch.

The hay ride stops at the pumpkin patch.  They have an activity area there with slides, an apple crate maze, a car track with bike cars, and a few picture spots.  The boys quickly headed for the slides.  Charles went down with Ethan once.  None of the girls went, though they walked through the maze.

Joshua on the smaller slide.

Charles and Ethan on the big slide.  Eli also on the big slide.  Joshua says he will try the big slide next year.

Ethan and Eli racing on the car track.  Charles helping Joshua get on a smaller car.

Ethan

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Allison

Joshua, Ethan and Cherilyn looking for pumpkins.

Charles and Erica waiting for others to pick pumpkins.  Erica painted a large pumpkin at Young Women's and decided not to do another one.

Ethan lifting his big pumpkin.

Joshua's Frankenstein pumpkin with a toothpick mohawk.

Allison with her painted pumpkin from YW and the carved one from the pumpkin patch.  Allison also carved the bottom of a pumpkin into a mask.  Then she hung it in the tree.

Eli with his pumpkin.

Ethan had Dad help him carve the phantom pumpkin (on the top step) then he carved a smaller one and drew on the smallest one.

Erica chose to spray paint her pumpkin black and then have it carved.  It had a cool effect.

Trip to the Hospital

Ethan, Eli and some other boys in the neighborhood like to get off the bus at the top of the hill.   Then they proceed to ride fast down the hill to our house, trying to beat the bus.  Partway down last Tuesday Eli fell off and onto his head then his hands.  The bus driver saw him and stopped, allowing Ethan, who had forgot his scooter that day, to get off and assist Eli on the bus and put away the scooter.  As they entered the house Eli was crying and holding tissues to scrapes on his head and arms.  Ethan explained what happened.  I put down the load of laundry in my arms, grabbed cream and medicine and guided Eli downstairs in front of the TV.  I had to stop him from screaming.  (He tends to be overly dramatic.)  He was quickly distracted by Kung Fu Panda and I was able to tend to the wounds and get him to take ibuprofen.  He soon calmed down.  I went up to cook dinner.  Shortly Eli came up crying that he couldn't see.  He was able to see when he tried, but he complained that all was blurry.  He mostly kept his eyes shut.  As he went to eat his snack he complained in slurred speech that his mouth wasn't working and then that his hands wouldn't work.  He made quite a mess.  This caused some concern.  I got online and looked things up and contacted our neighbor.

Thankfully our neighbor is a nurse practitioner.  She came over and determined that a CT scan would be necessary.  She wrote up an order for a head and face scan, saving us a doctor's visit and a trip to the ER.

Ethan offered to sit in the back by Eli on the trip to the hospital  As Ethan, Eli and I headed out, Eli continually cried "I can't see.  I don't know what is happening."  It was too much for Ethan and eventually for me too.  I called Charles out of one of his meetings scheduled for that night.  After a blessing and Eli trying some food we headed out to the hospital.  Eli felt sick and was on the way there.  When we got to the hospital Eli felt sick again.  We found a garbage can and with many people in the general area Eli threw up again.  We were shown the small bags that hang on the wall throughout the hospital for that situation and used several for the remainder of our time there and one on the way home.  Then we had to wait.  Eli passed the time throwing up and trying to rest.  After the scan we waited again.  Charles and I watched some Brian Regan and Eli continued his resting and throwing up.

We were all pleased to find that he had no fractures or bleeding.  He slept soundly and other than a headache for a couple days and some difficulty focusing at school the next day he was fine.

While I took care of Eli, Allison took over dinner and fed the kids.  (Cherilyn was at work and didn't know anything had happened.)  The kids cleaned up the kitchen.  Ethan read to Joshua and listened to him read his book.  They were amazing.

Allison's Award

The day before school started Allison finished reading the Book of Mormon for her Virtue project.  That was the last step in earning her Young Womanhood Recognition Award.  For her other projects she indexed family history names, typed recipes, embroidered one of Dad's favorite quotes, made a quote book (from the quotes on her wall), and organized closets and pictures.  Way to go Allison!  That is no small task and we are very proud of her hard work.

This summer Allison also passed driver's ed--she completed nine hours on a driving range, and passed the written test (with one hundred percent) and the road driving test with almost that. :)  She also finished 30 hours of daytime driving; fifteen of them were to Oregon and back. She now has to complete 9 hours of driving in the dark and wait to turn 16.

Erica's Room

Erica's room was formerly known as "the chocolate room" for its deep brown color.  She had been wanting it painted for awhile so the Saturday after school started we tackled that project.  Her original choice of color was pink.  Due to her hot pink dresser and quilt, I suggested another color would be best.  Charles brought home color swatches and she chose this pale bright green.

Even with help from Adam, Allison, Ethan and Eli this was an all-day project.  The chocolate brown had to be covered with a primer.  When this room was originally painted we extended the brown color under the stairs and around the storage room door.  That, and the built-in shelves, all had to be covered in primer and then painted.  It took two cans so we had to run to the store for the second cans.  We painted the walls outside her room the same color as the rest of the basement.  (We had to finish up the next week when we got more paint in that color.)  After the paint dried we put her room back together, just in time for bed.

The boys have also been wanting their rooms painted, but after this project we took a break, from painting.  Since then we did take down the swingset, slide and shed and get a puppy.  So we have been busy.

Back to School 2013

This is a big year for us with many firsts.

Cherilyn is a senior this year!

Allison is in 10th grade, which is her first year at the high school.

Erica is in 7th grade, her first year at junior high.

For the last eight months Erica has been telling people she didn't want to go to junior high.  (Yes, I have been a little nervous about it.)  Allison came with us to Orientation and helped Erica find her way to all her classes.  After her first day Erica said she liked all her classes but the halls were so crowded and she didn't know where she was going.  After a few more days she had it down.  She really likes that her teachers don't give much homework.

Now the girls ride the bus together.  Aren't they beautiful?  Look at those smiles.

The boys had to pose together even though Joshua didn't start this day.  What fun boys!

Ethan started 4th grade this year.  His teacher, Ms. Klein, was hired three days before school started.  It was great to get another 4th grade teacher so they had smaller class sizes.

Eli is in second grade.  His teacher is Mr. Anderson.  He is new to the school this year.

Joshua had to wait a week before he started school.  He was very excited.  Though he gave Mom a hug before getting on the bus he had no hesitation.  He had to bring this poster the first day.  It will be displayed when he is the Soaring Student for a week.

Joshua is in kindergarten, his first year of school.  His teacher is Mrs. Love (perfect name for a kindergarten teacher, we think).  Mrs. Love is also a new teacher.  The boys have noted that all three have new teachers.

For our last and unexpected first we got a golden retriever puppy.  As Joshua finished lunch after his first day of kindergarten, Charles came in with Jake.  Is that timing pure coincidence?  I don't think so.

Jake and Joshua on the first day.

A week later.

Jake has been fun for everyone.  He is obviously adorable and also soft and good-natured.  He sat on Cherilyn's lap and watched part of a movie.  He runs around with the boys and chases the toys they throw for him, some of the time.  Erica has been great with Jake.  It is her job to brush him each day.

Summer Parties

Last summer I told the boys that they could have summer parties with their friends, but it never happened.  This year we pulled it off.  In between family vacation and back to school each of the boys had a party with their friends.  We played games, had a treat and played water games outside.  (Cherilyn and Allison had many fun activities over the summer with their friends and often had them at our house.  Erica had a late night with her best friend and counted that as her summer party.)

 Eli's party was first.  Here is Eli getting through the laser challenge.

Getting ready to pop balloons with tootsie rolls in them.  Joshua, Britton, Eli, Tyler, Hunter P., Braedon, Ethan, Hunter H.

Ethan also did the laser challenge.

Ethan and his friends didn't just pop the balloons.  They tied the balloons to their ankles and then tried to stomp on another person's balloon.

Ethan and Eli and their friends also threw paper balls at a spider web made of painter's tape and played water games in the back.

Duck, Duck, Goose was the essential part of Joshua's party.  He had been wanting to play all summer.  He and his friends also popped balloons with tootsie rolls -- some sat on them and others needed help from a pin or scissors.  Then they went outside to play water games and slip n' slide.

Eli's 8th Birthday

Eli's birthday was the day after we returned home from Oregon.  

 After church he opened presents -- a scout shirt and book, a scripture case, a glow-in-the-dark puzzle 

and...

a new bike.  

That is what he had been asking for since his bike had become too small.  

On August 3rd Eli was baptized.  Both grandmas were there and gave the talks.  Grandma B talked about baptism being like a white shirt.  We spill and get spots on white shirts (just like we make mistakes in life), but when we try hard we can get the spots out and have a clean white shirt again.  We liked the connection to a white shirt.  It is an oft-seen reminder that we can be clean again through repentance. 

What a great boy. Sometimes with just his laugh he can get everyone laughing. He also likes to make noise.  If someone is screaming just for fun it is Eli.  He likes to ride bikes and scooters, play video games and trade and play with Pokemon cards.  

Oregon

For our family vacation we left Bear Lake and headed for the Oregon Coast.  We drove in two days (in two cars (because the trasmission in the van was clunking and we didn't want to risk driving it)).  We stayed in a small house 20 steps up from the beach.  It was a great beach house with big windows facing the ocean.  Eli and Cherilyn said they wanted to live there.

We arrived on Charles' birthday. Cherilyn and I ran to the store to get groceries for the week and some cake, ice cream and cookies.  The boys got right in the ocean.

This is the Oregon coast, hence Joshua's jacket.  It was not warm, but it was still the beach.  This explains Ethan's excitement.

I am not sure if this just Eli posing or if he is showing his toughness by braving the cold water.

We worked together to build this sandcastle complete with army men and a car.  We went back out at high tide and watched it wash away.  It was a lengthy process.  

After building the castle we buried Joshua, Erica and Allison in the sand, at least their legs.

Joshua, Charles and Erica.

We also flew kites.  We brought three kites and brought only one home.  The other two, including our stunt kite, broke in the wind and with bad flying.

In place of a sandcastle Charles built this fort on the third day there.  The wall to the left provided protection from the wind.  There were seats along the wall and steps to enter.  The tide carried this away during the night so the next day we built it again.  That night we even built a fire inside and prepared for smores.  It didn't turn out as we hoped.  The smoke blown by the wind was too much to bear.

We hiked along Seal Rock beach and were able to see tidepools with anemones and starfish.  Allison did not like the barnacles and mussels that you walk over.

The forest along the coast is beautiful.  So green.

Throwing rocks in the creek is always a family favorite.

We hiked to this old tree. The tree began growing in a fallen tree and grew around it.  The fallen tree eventually rotted leaving the space to crawl underneath and through.

Joshua was a little nervous to crawl under, but with Erica in the lead he tried it.

We went on a few hikes, especially when it was cloudy at our beach.  We watched several movies.  They had several VHS that the kids hadn't seen.  The boys realized they like The Lion King.  It is now one of Joshua's favorites especially the hula part where they sing about bacon.  We also did puzzles, walked along the beach, collected shells and played in the ocean.  We went to several art galleries and shops in the area.  The woodworking and glass were impressive and had price tags that were fitting their beauty.

This outlook was a short hike from the parking lot.  From here we could see Devil's Churn and Spouting Horn, two places we had hiked to previously.

We went to Neptune Beach, this cool one, the last day we were there.

The last night we were there was clear and we were able to see the sun set over the ocean.