September 2014 Happenings

Timmy started Pre-K

 Timmy goes to preschool Monday-Thursday mornings.  He loves school this year mostly because his teacher has tree frogs in the classroom.  Timmy is turning out to be quite the animal lover.  He still has to say hello to those frogs first thing each morning at school.  He is doing great in school and he's learning to read at home.  I'm so proud of him!  And I think he's the cutest four year old on the planet.

One of Timmy's art pieces from September.

This is one of Brian's art pieces from September.

Mark finished his really sweet motorcycle

It is a 1982 Honda 450 that looked nothing like it does now when he bought it.  I wish I had a picture of the before.  He did an amazing job with it and loved every minute of working on that bike. Here he is heading off to work.

Labor Day at the Ranch

 Silver Lake outing on a Friday afternoon

Practicing super human tricks at the Hsiao's

Speaking of the Hsiao's, I have fallen in love with this little donkey across their fence.  I could seriously take him home with me.

Goblin Valley Camping Trip

We went to Goblin Valley with our friends the Cookes.  It was one of the best camping trips yet!  The kids were so entertained playing together.

August Catch Up

Here's a few more August happenings.

Brian started First Grade

 First Grade was definitely a bigger adjustment for all of us than Kindergarten.  Brian started the Chinese Immersion Program where he has two different first grade teachers.  He goes to Chinese in the morning where he learns mostly math and science all in Chinese and then in the afternoon he has a different teacher that teaches him reading in English.  He is doing great and loves the Chinese.  The biggest adjustment was going all day.  He is still super tired when he gets home and needs to go to bed very early.  Timmy and I miss him all afternoon.  We wish he could be home with us.

The first day of school was a party at school!  We arrived and our faces looked liked Brian's below.  We were wondering what was going on.  Then when we realized that the Jazz Bear and The Bees Bee and some Jazz players came to help us kick off a fun school year, Brian turned to all smiles.

We went for a family bike ride on the parkway

The kids finished swimming lessons

Mark's parents opened their mission call

They will be going to the Taiwan Temple!

The boys milked a cow at Wheeler Farm

Brian experienced his first emergency

Brian was smashed by the ramp to our trailer.  He and Timmy were playing on the utility trailer and they each took out a pin that held up the ramp.  The ramp moved out just enough so that they could not get the pins back in place.  The boys knew they were not supposed to mess with the pins, so instead of coming to tell me, Brian went down below the ramp on the outside of the trailer to try to push it back into place so they could replace the pins.  As he was down there the ramp came crashing down on top of him.  We are not totally sure, but we think Timmy pushed it a little on accident. It smashed Brian's face into the ground and hit his back and his head pretty hard.  I was outside already and got him out of there as quickly as I could. His nose and his head were both gushing blood and Timmy was screaming like a wild man.  I think Timmy thought he had killed Brian.  I assessed the damage in probably not the most calm way possible, but in my defense it was a lot of blood.  Timmy grabbed towels and Brian's blankie to help calm him down and we headed to the Instacare.  It seemed Brian was fine except he had a cut in his scalp that I assumed needed stitching.  After the doctor checked him out and we monitored him for any head trauma issues the doctor concluded he was fine to go home with just two staples in his head to hold the cut together.   

Each of us learned a lesson or two from the experience.  Brian and Timmy learned the importance of following rules.  At least they will never mess with the pins on the trailer again.  I learned that my natural reaction in a time like that is to kind of freak out a little, which I know doesn't do anyone any good.  I want to be more aware of my emotional state and remain calm if an emergency happens again.  We are so so so grateful that it was not any worse and we all learned to be more grateful for our blessings and our bodies.

Ogden Temple Open House Day

On August 20th I took the boys up to Ogden for the temple open house.  The Ogden temple was completely renovated and before they rededicate it they let people walk through.  I'm so glad we got to go!  The boys really enjoyed it and had lots of questions about the temple. Brian's favorite room to see was the baptistery and Timmy couldn't decide between the celestial room and the sealing room.  It was a great opportunity for them to see the inside of the temple.

Following our beautiful morning tour of the temple and grounds, we met my mom for lunch.  She was in Ogden babysitting Mandy's daughter Ellie and she was so nice to treat us to lunch! We loved spending time with her and with adorable Eleanor.

After lunch we still had all afternoon with no plans and we were already in Ogden, so I thought I would take the kids to the old Union Pacific Railroad Station, which has been turned into a few different museums, the main one being a great train museum.  The boys were in train heaven.  We stayed there for hours!

They loved all of the train museum, but I think their favorite part was the model train exhibit.  I seriously tried numerous times to get them to look at me for a picture, but they were so excited to chase the model trains through the hallways that these were the best I got.

There was also a small car museum in the building which the boys enjoyed as well.

Before we left for home we explored the train yard section.

Timmy's face shows how they were as we walked through those gigantic trains.  Both boys just kept looking around in wide eyed wonder saying, "wow, look at that!"

That day was definitely one of my favorites from August.