Allison's 18th birthday

Allison is now officially an adult.  When her doctor found out, he said, "You can smoke now." When her seminary teacher found out he said, "You can drink now." Both were joking, but nonetheless. Haha. On her birthday, she went to Los Hermanos with some friends (including her sisters) They also sang a birthday song while she wore the signature Los Hermanos sombrero. She loves Mexican food and had a great time.

Allison enjoyed her gifts.  This one is a piano book she had wanted.  She also received two shirts and a sweater.

In between each gift she had the boys wait to bring another gift until she had folded the tissue paper properly. *eye roll* :)

Ethan's 12th Birthday

Time just flies by.  Twelve years ago, this was Ethan.

 Now he is a young man.  Crazy!

Here he has just opened the birthday card and money from Grandma Elder. 

(Almost the same smile as above.)

Ethan also received a headlamp, finger lights, a marshmallow shooter, a new book by Rick Riordan (one of his favorite authors), and a Star Wars shirt.

Joshua and Eli enjoy handing the presents to the birthday boy or girl.

Halloween Costumes

With Halloween on a Saturday this year, the school parade and parties were on Friday.  That was also the night of our ward Halloween dance party, so the boys were dressed up nearly all day.  Allison and Erica decided not to dress up, though Erica had prepared a costume: Sadness, from the movie Inside Out.  Cherilyn dressed up in her gypsy costume.  She went to Salt Lake to help with a trunk or treat for kids who don't have a safe neighborhood to trick-or-treat in.  She had a great time with two of her roommates doing that.  She also wore her costume on Halloween; she likes it.  The boys donned their costumes again on Halloween night to go trick-or-treating with neighborhood friends.  The boys loved all the candy they got.

Joshua was a navy seal.  He couldn't bring the weapons to school, though they were (of course) his favorite part of the costume.

Here is Joshua with the mask (and matching coat) before going to the Halloween party.

Eli was a paintball zombie.  This is a "morph" suit.  It covers hands, feet and head.  He mostly kept the mask down, off his face.  This was due to the rule against wearing masks at school and the mask made it difficult to see.  He lifted the mask occassionally at recess, during the parade, or when he wanted to scare someone.

Ethan was a mad scientist. Many thought he was Doc from the movie Back to the Future.  Behind him is Super Jake, our dog.  :)

This picture is a little blurry, but I love his smile.  

He (and Charles) made the googles and bought and styled the wig.

2015 Pumpkins

Ethan

Joshua 

Eli's pumpkin

Eli with his pumpkin.

Allison was pleased that she did her pumpkin by herself, with no help from Dad.  She even cleaned out the inside.  Her pumpkin says BOO, with the ghost in the middle O.

Here you can see the top of her walking boot. This was the day before she got it off. Woohoo.

The pumpkins outside on the porch steps at night with Eli and Joshua sitting between them.

Updates Since School Began

Allison went to Homecoming this year with a boy she didn't know previously.  One of her friends, Carson, called one night and explained that this other boy was asking her and that they would be in a group together, so Allison would at least know Carson.  The boy that would be asking her has stage four bone cancer and Carson wanted him to go on a fun date, since so much of his time was spent at the hospital. Allison's date returned home from the hospital the day before the dance so they started out the date at his home for dinner. They went to the school to get pictures taken and went into the dance for a few minutes until her date was too tired.  After taking her date home, Allison went back to the dance with her friend and his date.  She had worried it would be awkward, but it wasn't.  After the dance, they joined back up with the original, bigger group and played games at one of the boy's house afterward. Allison had a great time, despite the fact that she had either a date who couldn't do much or no date at all.

On September 24, Allison had her new shoes on for Social Dance class and was jogging across the room, getting to her spot for her Waltz test. As she was moving, she stepped wrong and rolled her ankle, causing intense pain.  Her dance teacher called me and I hurried to the school.  By the time I arrived, she was in the athletic trainer's office.  He had looked at her foot and was putting it in a temporary splint.  He recommended seeing the orthopedist and made an appointment for us.  They were unsure if there really was a break, but put a cast on because of the strong pain she was experiencing.  It was a green half-leg cast.  She was given crutches and a prescription for a knee scooter (that she said she did not need).  That evening we went to her work party without her, enjoying the Red Barn's corn maze, hay stack, slides, and cars, along with treats, while she stayed home elevating her foot and writing an essay.

The next day Allison sent a text saying she may want the knee scooter after all.  By the time she got home she was in tears, mostly due to the exhaustion of moving about on crutches all day.  Charles brought a rented knee scooter home and she used that (and occassionally crutches) to get around for the next two weeks.  She drove the van to school nearly every day.  (Getting the knee scooter on the bus would not work and she couldn't drive the Kia Soul, her preferred car, because she couldn't push the clutch.

After the two weeks was up, the x-rays showed clearly that her foot had broken. It was small, but there was an avulsion, a piece broken off, and a small fracture. Since it was starting to heal well, she was allowed to be in a walking boot.  This was nice because it could be taken off.    She kept the crutches for a day because walking was different and a little painful at first.

Allison, during this time, participated in all-state choir.  She enjoyed the training from a renowned conductor and the association with other singers throughout the state.  We all went to the Salt Lake Tabernacle to hear her perform.

Two days before Allison's birthday, she got the cast off.  She went around telling people she had two shoes on!  That was what she liked the most.  It is interesting what you miss when you are without something for a month.  She stretches and strengthens her ankle regularly and is limping less each day.

Erica now has contacts.  She does not like the feel of them, but they help her see a little better.  They are also almost no-cost because she has nystagmus -- a condition where her eyes move constantly.

Ethan went to BYU Merit Badge PowWow and is working on three merit badges.  He has a long list of homework to do in the next two weeks.

Eli had another, though minor, concussion.  At school he was running in from recess and ran into another girl also running to class.  They smacked heads then Eli fell back and hit his head on the asphalt.  He was quite the gentleman, blocking the girl's fall with his own body. :) He had a bad headache and sore elbows for awhile.  I watched him closely for the first couple hours.  He threw up a few times, but felt better after watching Star Wars.

Joshua has been entertaining himself for weeks by kicking balls in the backyard.  After several went over the fence into the field behind our house, he began attempting to get them over the house.  He would often hit the house, but kept trying.  In the past week or so he has been playing football more than kicking the ball.  This may be due to the fact that his best friend and neighbor is playing football on a city team now.

2015-16 School Year Begins

School seemed to start early this year.  We all would have liked more summer, but they all went to school on August 19th, except Cherilyn.  We are into our third week and they are all doing well.  There have been some complaints about not enough time to play, but generally they like school.

Cherilyn was home until August 26th when she moved into her apartment.  She continued to work full-time at the Hinckley Alumni building until she started school on August 31st.  She is majoring in pre-nursing, taking the prerequisites this year.  She will apply to the nursing program at the end of this year. She continues to work part-time.  She enjoys her singles ward and her roommates (Two were her roommates last year, but she likes all five of them.).  She is cooking for herself this year (Last year was cafeteria food.) and that has worked out fine so far.  Her roommates rotate days to cook dinner so that helps.

Allison is a senior at Payson High School this year.  She has a heavy load with AP Calculus, AP Pyschology, AP US History, College Writing, 2 drafting classes, Social Dance and two choir classes.  She also attends early morning seminary every other day and is on seminary and choir councils and in a service organization (National Honor Society). In addition, she is a shift leader at the Red Barn and works 4-5 days a week there.  Add 4 piano students to that and you have one busy girl.  She is handling it all well for now.

Erica is in ninth grade this year.  She started seminary and loves that.  She is doing her other classes at home again, mostly BYU Independent Study courses.  Other than Math and English she is taking Anatomy, Spanish, Keyboarding, and Becoming a Google Ninja.  (We don't know much about the Ninja class, but she chose it for her tech class.)

Ethan is in sixth grade, the last year at elementary school in this area.  His teacher is Mrs. Greer.  Ethan was happy his best friend is in his class.

Eli has Mrs. Dickie for his fourth grade teacher.  He has several friends in class and is enjoying spending time with them.

Joshua is in second grade with Ms. Camper as his teacher.  He also knows many kids in his class and has gotten to know some better.

Soccer 2015

Eli and Joshua played soccer this year.  They have enjoyed it more than baseball as they participate more.  They have both scored goals and become better players.

Eli (with the green shoes) was complimented by his coach as always being where he should be.  His team won the city championship.

The team after their championship win.  They are wearing "war paint."

Back row: Aaron, Ben, Katie, Oakley, Jared, Carson, Ben, Jason.

Front row: Tay, Kyler, Aiden, Alex, Emily.

Joshua (in the yellow shirt) enjoyed playing goalie.  He likes kicking the ball out of the goalie box as he just did in this picture.

Buchanan Family Campout

This year for a reunion the Buchanan Family met in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho to camp.  This was almost equal driving distance for Mom and Dad in Mesquite, and Ben and Stacy and kids in Washington.  Anslin, from Ohio, didn't factor in because she flew to Salt Lake.  It was a pretty area with lots of trees.

By the river

Of course, there was cousin camp, where Grandpa and Grandma take all the cousins over 5 years old.  They do a campfire, sing songs, tell stories, and have smores.  In the morning they do another campfire and a craft.  This year's craft was PVC pipe water guns.  They had a lot of fun making them, decorating them, and best of all shooting them.

Lucie, Matthew, Will, Aubree, Benson, Ethan, and Emma with their water guns.

Eli's 10th birthday

Eli turned 10 this year.

Reading the card from Grandma Elder with $10 in it.

His favorite gift was this big Star Wars ship lego set.  We had banana cream pie for dessert, which is a regular request of his.  He had it last year too.

Cherilyn's 19th birthday

Cherilyn celebrated her birthday as an adult: working like any another day.  Her coworkers decorated her desk, and each wrote on a card for her.  She was pleasantly surprised by that.  She is working at BYU in the Hinckley building.  She mostly updates addresses for the BYU alumni magazine.  Cherilyn recently decided to major in pre-nursing.  She is excited to be in a field where she will able to help people.

The family watching Cherilyn open presents.  (Joshua's balloons are in the corner.)

Joshua's 7th Birthday

We took two videos on Joshua's birthday.  And that's it.  Therefore we have some cute footage, but no pictures for the blog.  

Joshua had a great day.  He had some really cool balloons waiting for him when he woke up.  Dad picked them out.  We had to wait for everyone to get home before we could open presents.  That's what he waits for ALL day: opening presents.  "When will Cherilyn be home?", "When will Allison be home?", "When will Dad be home?", "When they get home can we open my presents?"
As he was opening gifts he said, "I'm getting so much fun stuff."

Baseball Season 2015

 All three boys played baseball this year.  The biggest night of the season was three games in three different cities.  Glad that's over...Phew!

Ethan batting

Eli was able to pitch occasionally;  he did well and really enjoyed it.

Joshua played coach pitch.

California: Disneyland and the Beach

We took our family vacation the last week of April.  Cherilyn had just finished her second semester at BYU, and we pulled the other kids out of 7 days of school.

We gratefully accepted Michael and Candy's hospitality again and stayed at their home.

We spent five days at the parks and two days at the beach.

Our favorite rides at Disneyland were Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (though the boys closed their eyes the first few times), Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain (for Allison, Mom, and Dad..though we only got to ride it once), Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear.

At California Adventure the favorite ride was Grizzly River Run.  Next up was Radiator Springs, then Toy Story Mania, Tow Mater and California Screamin' (for Allison, Mom and Dad).

We have lots of favorites. :)

We brought backpacks full of snacks and water each day that made the heat and lines more bearable.

The first day at the beach, Joshua said "If I was writing in my journal, I would write "I love the beach!"  Everyone likes the beach -- the sand, the waves, the sun.

Grizzly River Run was our favorite ride at California Adventure. We rode it ten times.  It was great when it was 90 degrees outside. And slightly less so when it was not.

The rafts fit eight people so it was just our family each time.

The Tarzan Tree House.

The boys by The Tiki Room.

Payson Temple

We've all been excited as we've watched the Payson Temple be built.  And it's just ten minutes from our house!

Our first experience with the new temple was a tour of the bride's room for young women and their mothers.  We walked up to the bride's room and then through a sealing room.  We were then invited to sit down and listen to one of the temple matron's assistants talk to us about the sealing room.  She told us how marriage in the temple was the most important decision we ever make and shared many other wise words.

We went to the open house with Grandpa and Grandma Elder.  We walked through the baptistry, ordinance rooms, celestial room and sealing rooms.  It is a beautiful temple, full of stained glass windows, apple blossoms, and leaves.  What a great experience to go with the family and talk of how we worship at the temple.

All three girls were able to participate in the Payson Temple Cultural Celebration.  Our stake did the maypole dance in addition to the songs sung (and signed) by everyone. Our stake had practices every Wednesday through April and May and several Saturday practices as well.

Erica and Cherilyn are in blue skirts standing together at the bottom left of the picture.  Cherilyn was a steady presence beside Erica throughout the practices and dance.  Allison is in the green skirt behind them.

It was very uniform: black pants and white shirts for everyone.  They also all had colored t-shirts underneath (each stake a different color)  for the rainbow that they revealed during the last song.

The young women and some leaders in our ward at the dress rehearsal.

The cultural celebration started over an hour late because of a thunderstorm around the field.  Grandma Elder, the boys, and I were soaked before the rain stopped.  Charles parked the car and avoided the worst of the storm.  The girls, along with all the other youth, went under the stadium soon after it started raining.  They sang and prayed while waiting for the storm to pass.

It was good to be there and watch the Celebration.  The enthusiasm of the youth was great.  The final song was the theme of the celebration -- Fill the World With Love.  In the final verse the youth removed their white shirts, revealing the rainbow in a wave of color.  The yellow bunches on the field by the model of the temple are balloons that were released at the end of the song.  It was very cool.

School Days

Here are some fun things the kids did in the last half of the school year.

As a fifth grader, Ethan participated in the Wax Museum.  Each student chose a famous person, then they researched, made a poster and a button, and wrote a speech.  As people visited their wax museum exhibit, the visitor would push the button and the student would deliver their speech.

Ethan was Harry Houdini.  His hands were handcuffed behind his back as part of the costume, and he freed them in the middle of his speech.

Allison went with her choir to Anaheim, California.  They performed in a festival and spent two days at Disneyland.

This is her with two of her goofy friends. :)

Eli's third grade class made a city out of shoeboxes.  Eli was elected mayor and made the town hall.

Ethan participated in Hope of America, a patriotic musical performance by elementary students in Utah.  He didn't enjoy the practices much, but after performing he said he would definitely do it again next year.  Here are all the students in their colored T-shirts.

Ethan also did a state float this year.  He made his "float" about Washington.

Joshua was a pirate in his first grade performance.  Mom and Dad missed it while they were in Hawaii.  All three girls went and oohed over how adorable he was.