September Happenings

September here and here's a few things we have been up to: 

After the toilet paper fiasco of the early pandemic days, and the looming uncertainty of the upcoming election, Tyler and I decided to update our food storage and financials. I spent so much money on groceries this month, but we are well stocked for whatever the future holds (even if we have to pay a small amount of gold for a loaf of bread... inside joke for Tyler).

We headed up to Hanna Land for Labor Day. The Jones family joined us, but Terry and Craig stayed home because now that the kids are in school they don't want to get exposed to any germs. I think they just didn't want to be exposed to Jerm. Ha ha!!

So funny story, Brynnli was hanging out by the trailer and she told us she saw a bat or a mouse or something. We all went out to look and there was this small animal hanging on the tree. It wasn't moving, so we thought it might be a dead bat. We inched closer and closer, until it flopped on the ground. We all screamed, and Tyler let out the loudest, girl shriek I have ever heard. The kids ran away and we started laughing so hard. We didn't know what to do with this dead, or maybe alive bat, when all of a sudden it hopped off the ground and flew into the tree. We screamed (Tyler shrieked again) and we laughed harder. Can you see it hanging upside down in the tree? 

Aside from the bat fiasco, we had a great time floating down the river, and playing all weekend long with our family. 

Can you believe we are still in school? I thought we would only make it a week or two before they schools would be shut down again because of Covid, but not yet. I am so relieved. The kids seem to thrive in school, and I love that they are able to go still. On Fridays the kids don't have school, but they will occasionally have to go in for small group work with the teacher. This particular Friday the girls were at a friend's house playing, so we went on a lunch date with Caden. 

Aunt Karen was cleaning out her closets and found this mosaic toy she thought our kids would love. She was right. 

Have you seen this beauty? Tyler and I were looking for something to accent our bar-b-q arbor and to try to cover up our neighbor's window. We went to Craig's work and they gave us all these flowers for free. They have blossomed so well and I love looking out the window and looking at these flowers while I do dishes. 

 Makyla was the Student of the week in her class and she got to make a poster. 

Sometimes in the morning I come out and see Caden sleeping on the couch. 

We had an early birthday celebration for Grandpa Craig and Brynnli. 

Yep... Truth. So here's a selfie on a good makeup day so you don't forget who plans all the family fun. 

Hey did I tell you I have a job now? I decided to be a substitute teacher. I was thinking about how hard it can be to be a teacher, then add in all the stress of the pandemic. I wanted to do something to help the teachers out, but I'm not able to go back to work regularly yet, so I thought subbing would be the perfect solution. I love it! I work about once a week and it's perfect because I can choose what day I work and where. I usually just do middle schools and high schools, but it has been the perfect job for me right now. 

Tyler has to get the kids ready for school on the days I work, and I usually try to check in with him in the mornings to see how things are going. He sent me this cute picture of the kids as they were heading out. 

So Makayla had to do a report on a county and she was assigned Box Elder County. We decided to take a day trip up north to see the Golden Spike. 

How cool are we going on an educational field trip? The Golden Spike is the joining of the railroads. It is the spot that marks the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad that happened in Promotory, Utah on May 10, 1869.

Is it sad that we had to explain what this was? The kids had no idea this was how people had to make calls back in the day. 

During her research on Box Elder County, Makayla learned about the Spiral Jetty and wanted to visit it. The Spiral Jetty is a man made sculpture in the Great Salt Lake. Kind of weird, but fun to visit. 

Guess what happened on September 30? After 13 months, Makayla finally got her braces off!! Here's the before: 

And the gorgeous after!! Seriously her teeth look so good!

This was Makayla 13 months ago before her braces... quite the difference!

At the end of September there were 73,042 cases in Utah and 459 deaths. Worldwide there are over 34 million cases of Corona (25 million have recovered) and 1 million have died. 

A "Jasbin" Party for our 6 Year Old Princess

Our cutie Brynnie turned 6 years old and we celebrated big with her "Jasbin" party. 

This was Brynnli's first year to have a friend party. She was so excited. She invited Josaphine, Madalyn, and Abagail Moffat, Addison Lovell, Devri Lake, Alexis Wicker, her cousins, Kenzee and Camden,  and of course her brother and sister. 

We started off by letting them color their bags for the treasure hunt. Then we had pizza for lunch. 

After that we played Magic Carpet (Musical chairs, but with towels)

Then they went on a treasure hunt around the house and yard. 

Finally it was time for presents. Brynnli got lots of toys and treats. 

Caden made her the cutest comb made out of Legos. He said she was a girl and every girl needs a comb.

To end the party fun, we played freeze dance.

Brynnli requested cupcakes for her dessert. We sang happy birthday and she blew out her candle. 

Abagail clearly enjoyed the cupcake. 

We cleaned up the friend party and got ready for her family party. 

How cool is Grandpa Craig? Brynnli told Grandpa that since they were birthday buddies he had to dress up for the party and that he should be "Jaffart" (Jaffar). 

Makayla would look great with long, black hair. 

We had hamburgers for dinner, then Brynnli got to open more presents. She got a Belle doll from Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bob, a fridge from Grandma Terry and Grandpa Craig, and lots of clothes and toys from our other family. 

Caden gave Brynnli a fuzzy friend that warranted this adorable hug between the two. 

Makayla gave her cup and candy. Look, they really do love each other. 

This year Grandpa Craig turned 66 and Brynnli turned 6. 

The kids played freeze dance. 

Then we had dessert and sang happy birthday again. 

If you think we were done celebrating Brynnli, you were wrong. We still had lots of fun things planned. Brynnli has been telling me for months that she wants to get her nails done like me, so I took her to my nail lady. Brynnli wanted Minnie nails. They turned out so cute!

The last picture of our 5 year old. 

On Brynnli's actual birthday, she woke up bright and early and we let her open her new outfit. Then we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. 

Brynnli got to go to school and give treats to all her classmates. 

When the big kids got home from school, we opened more presents. Brynnli got a kitchen set for her dolls, clothes, and Jasmine headphones. 

Brynnli chose Red Robin for dinner, but she was mad at us during dinner and wouldn't sit by us. 

Once her food came out she was much happier. 

Makayla had to go to tumbling, but when we got home the Jones family and Grandma Terry and Grandpa Craig came over for ice cream and brownies that Makayla made and decorated for Brynnli. 

In honor of Brynnli's 6th birthday, here's 6 things we love the most about Brynnli. 

1. Your imagination. You can play in your room for hours with your toys. Some times your room gets very messy and you always tell me that you can't clean it up because you just love all of the toys in your room. 

2. You can always make us laugh by dancing, or saying something funny. You are also very animated when you talk and use your hands to really help us understand just how important what you're saying really is. 

3. You are so smart! You are doing so well in school, even though you don't like going. 

4. You are amazing at dance and tumbling. 

5. You are very spoiled and somehow manage to talk us into getting lunch, or a treat, or a drink everyday. 

6. You love to snuggle and give kisses.  

Happy Birthday to our baby! We love you so much!!