Real Time

I haven't given up on finishing up on the last few days of our trip, but life happens and this week has kept me hopping.

Monday, was James's open house at seminary. In the past, because it was family night, I took the little ones to the open house and we usually left early because...well you know. So now, we take James dinner early and have an early family home evening at the seminary building.



The kids absolutely love going to dad's seminary. He has a few toys in his office that now even Hyrum begs for as soon as he walks through the door.

Tuesday, Hyrum, Sariah, and I spent the day making birthday dinner and birthday cake.
I had real hands on help. Hyrum even held the mixer and Sariah broke the eggs.

Hyrum's balancing act, which both he and I thought was hilarious.

Our favorite restaurant is Cafe Rio, but it is only found in Utah (and I discovered in Twin Falls, ID this summer). However, my good friend Lizza is a fantastic cook and she has some Cafe Rio recipes that rival the real thing. She did most the work, and hosted the dinner of some 20 adults and 30 kids at her house.

Happy Birthday James!

The food was so good, I ate too much and got sick. (I haven't done that in a really, really long time.)

The next day was our Young Women Daddy Daughter Disco Night. I spent the morning running around getting gift cards as prizes for the evening's festivities. We also took lunch to James since it was his real birthday and that's our tradition. Thanks to my mom I had this fabulous costume which she made for my sister.



Best of all, I think the girls and their dads had a great time.

Catching up...

Today was Talmage's first day at Livingston Elementary in the Spectrum Program. The principal called on Tues. and having put much thought into it, and consulting with Talmage, we felt this was a great opportunity for him. He was excited but nervous. Plus, he got to ride the bus home! (That was the reason he wanted to go to kindergarten.)

Bryant just barely cried his was through his piano practice because he refused to do it earlier. He was so tired. I've been working for as long as I can remember trying to teach time management to the boys and have failed over and over again. I'm hoping tonight was miserable enough to motivate him to get it done sooner from now on.

Sariah and Hyrum went to sleep at the same time in the same room tonight! Sariah has about 8 sight words in a stack of flashcards that she can read. She doesn't let me miss a day of "school" and "homework".

Hyrum came stumbling out of his room crying on Sunday night after I put him to bed. When he woke up Monday, I found him pulling himself onto his dresser to try and get out. I moved the dresser and have avoided further catastrophe. He did get a good bloody nose Tuesday with a nose dive off the back of the couch onto the wood floor. Today, he got his head pinned between the other couch and the wall. He is such a cutie dragging his blanket and stuffed monkey around.



Last, but not least. We've harvested our first gourds and I've made my first gift baskets. Pictures don't do them justice, but I'll post some soon.

If you want to see some really fun pictures, you should look on facebook at BriAnne Walker Huwe's Photography of this link.