It's A .....

BOY!!!

Just found out and am excited to share with you all. Of course we would love either, but I just needed to know! Now I can start thinking of cute things to knit and sew for our new little BOY! :)

Handsome's Big Win

Handsome and Gorgeous did the summer reading program through our library system and got the cool book and pen when they finished. I slightly remember being told their names were entered into a drawing, but thought nothing of it because we rarely win things.

So I was surprised when the story time librarian called to tell me that Handsome had won the prize for that library. And what did he win? To attend a party for all of his family, with all of the other county library winners (I think there were 12 in all?), at a local children's museum!

So we went to the museum and had a blast playing with all the cool different hands on exhibits. But that wasn't all. Handsome got a raffle ticket and won 10 story books that have a pen that when touched to the page reads the words for him (ok, each child from each of the libraries won the raffle too :). he also won tickets for the entire family to go to the zoo (ok, all the other winning kids did too). And he and Gorgeous both got bags with two brand new books as we left (yes they had them for all of the children that attended)!

Way to go Handsome!

Michaelmas Festival

Last Friday the kids and I enjoyed a fun home school party. The Michaelmas festival! I'd actually never heard of it before, so for those who are in the same boat I was in not long ago; it is a English celebration of Michael the Archangel leading the battle in heaven against Satan the Dragon. The story says, Satan was trust down to earth and landed in blackberry bushes and that is why you should never eat blackberries after Sep. 29Th (and the fact that they taste bad too!)

The boys dressed up as knights and the girls as princesses. They read Revelation 12:7-8 "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not: neither was their place found any more in heaven."

Then a children's story was read and they had a treasure hunt, followed by potluck lunch and play time. It was fun, and the kids had a good time. :)

The Fair

We did the Puyallup Fair this year with friends. Sorry, not much pictures taken by two pregnant women with 2 little ones each. But the kids had fun looking at the animals, checking out the ambulance, and fire trucks, and getting 4 bags of free cotton candy! I think the first time all 4 had cotton candy. It was a fun day with friends.



Milking the cow.

The younger ones not very sure about the whole milking thing.

9th Article of Faith

So now Handsome has the 1st to the 9th plus the 13th Articles of Faith memorized. I can't believe the memorization power that kid has! Now Gorgeous, not to be left behind, is starting to recite them as well. Her speech not as clear, but she pretty much has it.

Harvest!

So I planted a wonderful garden, then with the pregnancy got really sick. So I didn't do what I should to take care of the garden, and what did grow I didn't even want to think about eating! I let the kids have fun with it and told them when playing to help themselves to the fruits and veggies in the garden, which they loved. :)

Then we noticed that in the place we planted last year we still had two carrots growing. I thought I had gotten all of them, but apparently they grew during the winter and continued growing until Kent decided to pull them out this last week. We got two HUGE carrots! The picture is Kent holding the biggest one. Now that I have NO desire to eat it, I have chopped it up in hopes to feed it to my kids and other preschool friends. :)

More Creating

Current Reading

I like to be reading from a multitude of books at a time. That way if I need a change I just go to another book, then later pick back up where I left off. I tried to be clever and put pictures of the books in too, but it didn't always work. :)

Right now I am reading "Matilda" to the kids.

Personally I am enjoying:

The Kolob Theorem

VERY interesting!

Also a good insight! Helps me with choosing what curriculum to teach them right now and neat tips on how to do it. It is an older book.

I am LOVING this book!

An easy read, but love the insight too.

And I couldn't get a good picture, but I'm also reading "A Patriot's History of the United States" I love learning all this history!

creations

I've been having fun making lots of things I need (ok really want, and are convenient to have).


A nice wet bag with a pocket in the front to hold wipes and clean diapers, with straps to tie up. :) I like this one.

New placemats, as ours were very old and falling apart.

adorable baby shoes for a friend.

adorable hat for a friend.

and more adorable baby shoes. Did I mention I loves these things! ;)

"Queenie"

Queenie with Handsome after his baby blessing

Kent's grandma, as I mentioned earlier, just passed away and we were able to attend her funeral with the children. She died at age 98, and I meet her when she was a young 91.

Just some special memories of her:

* She flew up to attend our temple wedding, which was actually the first time I met her.

*Just after Kent and I were married she decided to throw me a bridal shower in Utah for her side of the family to attend.

*She insisted on seeing where Kent and I lived in Utah and didn't let 3 flights of stairs keep her away (and as I mentioned she was 91 years old!). She said she always liked to see where everyone lived so when she thought of you she could picture you in your home.

*She flew up to attend Handsome's baby blessing at age 94!

*She flew up to attend Gorgeous's baby blessing at age 96! And of course she insisted on seeing our home so she could picture us there. And she took the kids and I out to the kids favorite restaurant.

*Whenever she saw any of her grand kids or great-grand kids, she would give them money, insisting that they had more to spend it on than her, and refused to take it back!

* After Gorgeous' baby blessing she was so sad to have to say that she didn't feel she could fly anymore. But she looked forward to visits from family when we went to Utah.

*Luckily we were able to visit her once more with our trip to Utah 2 weeks before she passed away. At that time she was walking about, cooking, etc. living on her own. She even played a beautiful version of Book of Mormon stories on the piano that she improvised for the kids.

She was a dear grandma. I feel so fortunate that Handsome and Gorgeous had a chance to meet her and I am so blessed to have known her myself.

Utah Again!?!

Yes, 2 weeks after arriving home from our Utah visit we had to turn around and do it all over again. I felt like I just barely got back into our true family routine and then off we were again. Why? you ask. Kent's Grandma, the one the kids and I just had visited, passed away. She was 98 and ready to go, but it still is sad to know that she is not with us anymore. I'll do another post later about Kent's dear grandma, she really was a sweet woman and a pleasure to know.

So our trip was a bit different this time, as Kent was with us and we were part of a caravan with his siblings. So no stopping to visit with family and friends this time. That meant we shared an RV. Which I'm not so sure I like better than just a car, perks and drawbacks, and I think my car has won. We left Thursday night after the guys got home from work. Gorgeous screamed most of the way because she was so beyond tired and couldn't sleep in a moving vehicle. It was a LONG night drive with a 3 hour rest for adults/drivers. Then on to Utah were we arrived just in time for the viewing. Then there was cleaning and organizing Grandma's home (where we were staying). The next day another viewing, the funeral, the graveside burial, and a meal, then swimming and a movie for kids, cleaning for adults, sleep. And the next day was a drive home all day. Gorgeous did better but threw up once, and I felt like I would as we hit the windy Snoqualmie pass in the big RV.

It was good to see more of that side of the family, although most of them I just know from stories and one or two meetings. It was sweet to be at the funeral and to know that Grandma's wishes were kept as no one was to talk about her and her accomplishments, all were to preach the gospel. And all obeyed her wishes and it was such a wonderful funeral!

I took my kids along of course, I know there are mix debates over this, but I want my kids to see and learn the gospel when it comes to death. And to not have to be faced with it suddenly with a tragic close family death. If it wasn't for Kent's other grandpa passing away before my father, my own dad's funeral would have been my first. So it was my second and it was still hard, especially since I was a grown woman and had practically no idea what to expect from a funeral.

It was so sweet at the viewing to have Handsome tell a family member "we are here to see Grandma's body." I knew the glove lesson had worked. And to have Gorgeous want to touch Grandma, which she did, she touched her hand. Which prompted an older cousin to do the same. and before they closed the casket Gorgeous said "Bye Bye, Grandma" as I had told her this was our chance to say good-bye even though it was just her body left. At the burial Handsome mentioned that he would save a flower petal that fell off of Kent's boutineer to give to Grandma when she came back in the resurrection. I know the concept of death is still an abstract one that they don't really grasp, but every experience and lesson counts in my opinion. So far at their young age my children have attended 2 funerals.

You ask about what if they are loud during the services? I agree, Gorgeous had to be taken out, where she immediately feel asleep on my lap (from not getting any sleep the day before in driving all night) So she slept on my lap as I listened to the services from the foyer. Handsome had his Sunday toys and knew he had to be even more quiet and reverent. It all went well, and I wouldn't have traded the learning experience for the convenience of not having them with us.

Family Reunion Fun!

My family reunion this year was in Utah and boy did we have fun! It started by me loading the 2 kids in the car and driving for a day to get to Idaho. (Kent was not able to join us as he needed to work). In Idaho we stopped and stayed with a cousin of mine (ok, second cousin once removed :) I think. We hadn't seen each other for YEARS. And it was so nice to catch up and see our kids play together and have fun.

Then it was on to Utah the next day where I stopped and visited with Kent's Grandma. It was so nice to see her, and fun for her to see the kids. She kept saying that Handsome was just like his daddy at that age. I am kicking myself for not taking any pictures of them together.

Then a tire blew out on me before we got to Spanish Fork for the reunion. And thankfully a kind passer-by pulled over and changed my tire for me. The kids were oblivious to the excitement as they were totally into the movie playing on the DVD player.

We arrived safely to our destination. The next morning was BYU Bean museum, and fun chatting and catching up. It was fun to see my two big brothers and their families again.

Thursday we did temple square. It was so wonderful to show my kids the temple, to have them touch it, and to show them the conference center and explain that that was where the Prophet stood to talk to us each conference.

Salt Lake Temple doors

Yes! They held onto the Iron Rod.

And picked the fruit of the tree of life!

The next day was the start of the real reunion and my mom was able to join us for the day, and my big sister joined us for the rest of the reunion. First was a visit to the Krishna Temple in Provo. There both Handsome and Gorgeous got to feed the llamas, walk the llamas, and ride the llamas.

Later that day we went canoeing. Handsome even got to row a little. Then feeding ducks and playing on the play ground.

The next day was the Family Olympics. I thought that by having the smallest and almost youngest family that we didn't have a chance. But that actually gave us an advantage and the Rowleys won! A clean sweep. Below my older sister has joined our team to make it more even. :)

We held onto our kids' medals and torches as they played, but then again we raised them, so don't we get some of the credit? :)

Cousin fun. I hope my kids remember this fun time. It was so wonderful for them to have time to just play with cousin's their age. I already can't wait until the next reunion for them to get together again!

All the cousins (minus 3 in Oregon) at the reunion. What a cute group! Too bad my oldest brother and family were not able to make it, as well as a niece in Oregon.

On our way home we stopped in Idaho again and this time stayed with an old college roommate. She had kids close to my kids' ages too. So more fun and catch up time. Then we were on the way home. Ready to be home, yet enjoying every minute of the fun. To get home we went over Mt. Rainer and after more than a week in the hot sun we got out and the kids touched and enjoyed the snow for a few minutes. Then home to see daddy once again. :)