MADISON is 9

 Madison turned nine this month. I can't believe how fast the years have gone by. She was my baby for so long. She still is my baby girl. I told her the other day she probably always will always be my baby girl. I am glad. She has such a sweet tender personality. She loves to please me. She loves being good. Her and James are the only children I have that spontaneously hug and kiss me throughout the day. 

She doesn't go to bed at night without listening to the scriptures. Some nights I can't let her have my phone and she hasn't charged the old phone she uses to listen to the scriptures, she gets very frustrated. I think she knows all the scripture stories better than most kids. She is so sweet with her younger brothers. The other day she was suppose to clean the bedroom. I told her take the boys upstairs and have them help. She came down and told me with a big grin that she had invented a game to pick and the boys loved it. She said, "It was like we were playing a game and not working!" She is very creative and helpful. I often wonder what I would do without her. 

She just seems to take life in stride. Her life isn't easy, but she doesn't seem to notice. Girls don't treat her nicely and girls that she thinks are her friends, won't let her play with them on the playground. She is often alone. She never tells me about these experiences in a self-pity way. She always tells me with a big grin. She will say today she got to just play basketball by herself or walk the track or jump rope and she had a good day. When I am concerned, and say you didn't play with any friends, she happily announces, "I played with Mr. Nobody, and it was fun!" I have realized it is more me that is injured by the way her peers treat her. She is so good and so sweet, why wouldn't the other kids love her and want to play with her? I have realized over the years she is happy in her own skin and she doesn't need the approval or acceptance of her peers. She knows who she is and she is confident. I am so proud of her. 

POINT of our TRIP

 The main point of the trip was to go and tour the Israelite Temple Exhibit at BYU. It was very interesting to see the progressing of temples throughout time. We loved learning about how the children of Israel worshiped Jehovah. The smell of the incense brought me back to the streets of Hong Kong. The burn a lot of incense there. It was interesting that the most holy part of the Israelite temple was the darkest part of the temple. Yet, the holiest parts or modern temples are the brightest most lite parts of the temple. The sacrificing rituals were so dirty, and the temples now are so clean. These contrasts seemed to point to the Savior, who at the meridian of time overcame darkness and death and poured his perfect light into the world. The similarities were also inspiring. The quality of the materials used were the finest the Israelite's could come by, similarly today we use the finest materials we can obtain. The Israelite temple was set up like a linear progression and our temples are set up in a way we progress through them too. Although, our progression is less linear and more of an ascension but that too points to the Savior of the world, who made that possible. It was really interesting.

We went to Jerel and Inez's afterwards and Nate got to reconnect with one of his best friends from when he was a kid and his roommate at college, Zack Gilming. It was fun to listen to Nate laugh, his deep laugh. The laugh he makes when he is in company with  people that know his soul.

BOY's in FALL

 My boys loved crunching around in the fall leaves together.

MADISON's BIRTHDAY

 We drove to Utah on Friday night. Aston screamed from Price to Orem. He pooped himself and I didn't realize it. He had a sore bum. He gets them so easily which is why I have been pushing him to potty train. Dang it. He didn't sleep well. He was fuss all Saturday. Sunday was Madison's birthday and so we asked her what she wanted to do. She really wanted to go to Color Me Mine. I don't think we will ever take the whole family there again. Next time dad can take the girls. The boys liked it, they were just done in about an hour and started falling apart. James could not understand why he couldn't take his cup home. Ashton was just melting down from the night before. I offered to take them for a walk over to get a carmeled apple. In the store Ashton got upset, I am still not sure why. Then he fell on the asphalt on the way back and started throwing a major tantrum. I had to  pick him up and carry him back to the car. It was ridiculous. I don't want to carry him while I am pregnant. 

The day was suppose to be about Madison and it was, but it wasn't . Later that evening, my sister Karalee put together a lovely birthday for Madison. She baked her a beautiful raspberry chocolate cake. She picked her up some presents. She got a stuffed animal and a new dress, shoes, and tights. She was thrilled. She is such a sweet girl. I am so glad she is mine. 

 

TWO SUPERHEROES

I know, I caved. I gave in and let the little one wear his super hero costume. Oh my, I wasn't prepared for the shear awesomeness. He was so into character. He jumped around the house in really impressive karate, punching moves. He chased his older brother all around the house. James did his best not to let him catch him. Ashton is Optimus Prime. He doesn't even know who Optimus Prime is but it was the only costume he wanted. James of course is obsessed with Spiderman. He told me he had to have spiderman gloves with his costume. I agreed and luckily found some on Amazon for $5.00. It really does make his costume. I now need to focus on making the girls costumes. I didn't want to make superhero costumes. There is too much spandex and detail for me to have the desire to tackle. These are the first costumes I have ever purchased. I hope they are my last. I like homemade costumes. The boys have no boy dress ups. I thought it was time they did.

SWEETEST BOY

 While we were driving around the other day James said, "Mom, I want to grow up to be just like you. Will you teach me how to be just like you?" I thought it was the sweetest thing any of my kids have ever said to me. 

He is obsessed with Spiderman. I ordered the DVD's he has been begging to watch a Spiderman show. I know he is a bit young. I will have to edit the movies. I love how much he loves Spiderman. My uncle Andy always loved Spiderman and drew him constantly. I love my uncle Andy and I love that they share a common love even though they have never met. I have thought about taking James over to his house and asking him to draw Spiderman for James. He is an amazing artist. He is so fast. James would die. 

CANDICE

I have been so grateful for this girls help this week. Candice has helped me get rid of so much junk. I still have a lot more to go but I am grateful for what is done. Thank you! Thank you!

KIMBERLY AND CALEB's VISIT

 They came out because sweet Kimberly was working on a picture for Leslie and her family for the past year and they needed to bring it to her in person. I will attach a picture of her work later. It is beyond breath taking and it has filled Leslie's soul in indescribable ways. I feel blessed to have been apart of that moment. She also brought us our new van. We have really needed a better family car. I was having anxiety thinking about fitting all my kids into our GX470. The backseat is hard for Sierra to sit in now. Her knees are too her chin. There was no way to fit all three boys in the second row and have access to the third row. I would have had to put the two older boys on the third row. Sierra would have had to sit in the middle despite her complaints about being squished. Madison would have had to squish in next to the baby, which would even be tight for Madison. There is hardly a middle seat in the second row. There is hardly a middle seat in the third row. I would be crawling all over the car trying to buckle little ones in. I wanted a mini-van. Nate and I argued about for two years, possibly longer. Every time we hit a point where we need a new car, I beg for a mini van and he gets angry. We settled on a full size van. It is huge. It sits twelve. It is a Sprinter. I don't know if we will ever fill it. I mean with friends, not with our own children. Although, I am open to that too. Wink, honey. It has taken a lot of humility to drive it and courage. I am certain I need more of both, so it is a good thing we bought it. Regardless, I know it is a good investment. They don't loose there value, hardly at all and you can drive them for over half a million miles. James calls it the moon van, because it is the color of the moon. I love how excited he gets to ride in it. He excitedly asked often, do we get to go for a ride in the moon van? I hope he is as excited to ride in it when I take him to high school or football practice, because this car is going to be ours for next twenty plus years.  

We took Kimberly and Caleb up to the Monument and were pretending like we were all in a tour bus. We got a few laughs.

Kimberly's back was hurting her. Nate insisted she go and see his chiropractor. While I was waiting I was chatting Caleb's ear off. I wish I was a better listener or question asker. I am bad a both. I am really good at talking. I want to change that about myself. Anyway, I was telling him about my family and I mentioned my sweet brother-in-law Spencer who was married about ten years ago and had his heart broken so badly he told me he would never marry again. Caleb said, "I use to not understand people like that until I met Kimberly. I now know the depth of love you can feel for another human being. If anything ever happened to Kimberly, I don't think I would ever recover. 

CONFERENCE WEEKEND

 We got to share Saturday morning conference with the Sister Missionaries. We loved every minute of it. We really enjoyed the whole weekend. I made a really nice Sunday dinner because we didn't have 1:00 church and I had the whole day to prepare it. We invited Patsy Nix from the ward over for dinner. She is a widow in the ward. She got lost and was a half hour late. I felt so bad. She said it was fun to get out of the house and be around people for a change. My two boys hardly know Patsy but both ran to her and gave her a big hug when she pulled into the driveway, even my Ashton. They don't typically hug strangers. She was so flattered by their attention. I was surprised by it. I thought it was a tender mercy that my family made her feel so welcomed. 

JUMP

 I thought I had the perfect plan to get Ashton to poop on the potty. I took them to the store and let the boys pick out their favorite superhero costumes. I told them when they pooped on the potty they could have them. James got his within the hour. (He is totally potty trained.) Almost a month later and Ashton still hasn't pooped on the potty. I don't know what to do if he doesn't poop on the potty by Halloween. He may just win this battle, but I will win the war. Just not today.