Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Our family had the opportunity to tour the Oquirrh Mtn. Temple. The tour was super organized and a few highlights for the children were the cart ride to and from the car and the cookies and water at the end.

The tour is silent, so they asked everyone to turn of cell phones etc., but they said that we could keep the children on. I appreciated this comment, as it acknowledged that they understood families.

Carter walked with his hands in his pockets, silently, the whole way through. Serena was also fairly reverent, just fast. There are many ushers, so she kept saying, "this way, this way?" Aleeya just took it all in.

The temple has beautiful chandeliers and marble staircases. I noted that it is wise to have durable easy to clean stairs, I think carpet is a pain. (I think I might need to change my focus to something more spiritual!)

It was a nice time together as a family and I am thankful that we could tell our children that mom and dad are married for eternity.

Aleeya is eight months old!

Our baby is growing up! She is crawling everywhere and pulls herself up on furniture and climbs up the bottom stair. She is now sleeping in her own room in the crib, not the bassinet.

Her favorite noise is a machine gun sounding laugh. She is also very good at showing off her tongue. Smiles, love and joy describe Aleeya.

She is eating fruits, veggies, cereal etc. in a mushy state. She also eats Cheerios and bite size green beans. She has not yet tried meats or dairy.

We have had so many people marvel at how cute she is! I have been told frequently that she looks like a doll and she usually responds with a smile that makes her look even cuter!

I continue to feel so much gratitude for her in our lives. If you need a moment of peace and joy, just come and hold Aleeya.

Comparison pictures at eight months

Carter

Serena

Aleeya

I think it is fun to compare how the children look alike and different! I had them all wear the same robe and do bathtub poses at eight months.

School Bus! School Bus!

We have had the chance to load and unload Jeffrey from the school bus each day. His mom, Jenni, had knee surgery on one leg and then broke her foot on the other leg, so she is in a wheelchair.

The kids love watching for the school bus and visiting. Serena sounds so cute saying, "Jeffrey, school bus?" I just have to say "let's go to the school bus" and they run to the van.

I have also enjoyed the chance to chat with Jenni on a daily basis, the adult interaction is great and she is such a fun, uplifting friend.

Nature Park in Syracuse

No fear of water or heights, at least for the children,

mom does worry!

Tyler Roe, Serena, Carter, Wyatt Jensen,

Hannah Roe, Caleb Moulding

We had the chance to get together at Lora Moulding's home in Syracuse. It was great to see many of our friends from the Summerfield Ward that have moved or that we don't see as often anymore.

Lora is close to a nice nature park that has a pond and trails and a waterfall that the children loved throwing rocks into.

Social Work Conference

I have to attend Social Work conferences occasionally to earn continuing education credits (CEU) to maintain my LCSW. I attended a day workshop on "Creative Approaches to Dealing with Psychosomatic Symptoms." It was nice to focus my brain on things besides children, but the creative approaches were really things I do everyday with kids; art, singing, dancing, writing, drama.


I took Aleeya with me and she was fabulous, as usual. She was welcomed by all of the class and during one of the projects they used her hands and feet to make prints. The look on her face was hilarious when the paint was put on her, usually stuff is being wiped off of her hands, now it was being wiped on!

Taylor took the day off work and stayed home with Carter and Serena. He did a great job and even kept the house clean. We got Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner, so it really was a complete day off from mom duties!

Play School Graduation

Carter and Serena have been participating in a neighborhood play school. There are seven children and each of the mom's have taken turns teaching. We have met once a week since September 2008. We rotated homes and the babies and younger siblings played in one area with most of the moms and then the "teacher" for the week did a lesson with the preschool children.

Each lesson had a theme and a letter was highlighted. There was usually singing, books, activities, a craft and always a snack! We also went on field trips to a pumpkin patch, Great Harvest Bread, Krispy Kreme Donuts, Hogle Zoo, and the Layton Fire station.

To end for the summer, we had a graduation night at the church. We had a potluck dinner with the Dads and showcased the children's singing and dancing. Megan Wiseman made a video of the activities from the whole year and the kids loved watching themselves. They laughed at every picture!

Part of the festivities was the children doing interpretive dance. Carter was stealing the show with his dance moves. Serena was not so much into dancing, but would occasionally go up to Carter and then she sat on the side and clapped.