Weekly update and the YW Retreat

What Ethan's plate looks like after lunch every day! He is my only kid who eat's two PB&J's! I'm going to have to get a job when he is a teenager just to keep him fed!

Ethan's other passion, besides eating, is cleaning. If only his future wife could see this!

Sophia's newest past time!

Whew! What a week, made obvious by my lack of entries. Monday the kids had off for Veterans day. We spent the morning getting caught up on responsibilities, piano and reading. Ben was going to join us at Chuck E Cheese, but got an emergency call so he wasn't able to join us:( I thought of bagging the whole thing, but the kids were looking forward to a surprise, so I sucked it up and took them all myself. I was mainly worried about Sophia b/c we went during her nap time. She did great! She sat in the high chair and ate soda cracker the whole time. The kids blew through their tokens really fast. Boston and Aubrie combined their tokens and dumped them all in one machine to see how long their ticket ribbon could get. They ended up with just under 200. Ethan found a machine of his own and ended up with about 80! He was so excited. I was, too, because we were in and out of there really fast and they were all as happy as could be!

I put Aubrie in charge of the FHE lesson b/c she skipped dance and had some extra time on her hands. She was really excited to do it. She did it on serving one another. She wrote "Serve One Another" on paper and cut out each letter. She put candy on some of the letters. She hid all the letters around the family room and even drew a map ( a pretty detailed one) so she knew where to send people to find the letters. She spend over an hour cutting, putting her Halloween candy on some of them (being mindful of our favorite candies), making the map and making sure we would find them in order. I was was proud of her enthusiasm!

Tuesday was Boston's birthday. We started it off by making his favorite breakfast, French toast! I then met him for lunch and went out on the playground with him. I never do that b/c I usually wait around for Aubrie, who has lunch right after him. He was so excited to have me out there. All his friends were gathering around me asking me questions and telling me about anything and everything. Boston was the center of attention. I love how, at this age, they think it's "cool" to have your parents visit. In a couple of years I'm sure they won't be thinking it's so cool! I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Tuesday night, Boston had his last T-ball practice, and afterwards we let him pick anywhere he wanted to eat. He picked McDonald's of all places. Definitely a sacrifice on our part, but the kids were happy about it. When we got home from dinner, Ben's parents came over w/ some presents. Boston had a full and happy day. I still can't believe he is six!

Wednesday was a normal day of getting stuff done (two trips go Target included), running the kids to school and piano, and Young Women's. This week was Young Womens in Excellence. It was definitely more enjoyable for me than last year, b/c I didn't have to plan it!!! Everything was very organized and focused on the girls uniqueness. It was great as usual.

Thursday...hmmm, I can't remember what I did. That's what happens when I don't keep up on journaling, ha! Oh, I remember now! I met up with some of the Young Women for lunch at one of my favorite places, Paradise Bakery. They just opened one by my house this past Monday and I have already been there 3 times! I love that place. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning house and trimming our tree's, ouch! We have Palo Brae's which are covered with thorns! Not my first choice, but the required "theme" tree by our HOA! Thursday night was me and Ben's normal TV night! We Tevo 5 shows (ER, Survivor, Smallville, Office and Scrubs) and watch them all; pathetic I know!

Friday was a very full day. It started with Bostons assembly performance. Boston did a good job; speaking clearly, remembering his line, and flashing his cute smile. I then headed over to the Cibola Vista Resort to help set up for our Young Women Retreat, that started that evening. The decorations were a Fall theme. It looked very nice against the rustic look of the convention room we had. The Retreat started Friday and 4:30 and ended at 4:30 the next day. It was such a great experience for the girls. I hope they know how lucky they are to have all these wonderfully opportunities that I never had. I'll quickly run through the schedule.

Friday

4:30 meet and mingle

5:00 dinner....steak, potato and salad. The Bishopric was in charge and several men in the ward (including Ben) helped serve

6:00 Scrapbook class by Becky Higgins

7:00 Concert by Sam Payne (great Mormon folk singer)

9:00 clean up and home

Saturday

My day started with Boston's last T-ball game. It ended with trophies and their pictures being handed out. Boston was so excited to have a trophy, and Aubrie was a bit jealous! Boston got home and put his trophy on his dresser and put his pictures up on his wall, even the paper inserts that were included in the packet..LOL!

Back to the Retreat

9:00am breakfast; eggs, pancakes and ham!

10:00 Cake decorating at Souffle's. I learned a few things myself. It was a lot of fun!

12:00 Back to the Resort for lunch and my bracelet class. I think it went well! During my class Erin and Becky took pictures of the girls. The leaders got roped into getting their pictures taken as well. I wasn't too excited about that but we had a fun time with it!

2:30 Ended the great weekend with speaker, from our ward! After cleaning up and sending the girls off with grab bags, we were out by 4:30.

It was a lot of fun, but I left there exhausted. Especially knowing I was going home to loads of laundry and no dinner plans. We went to Paradise Bakery for dinner and I did laundry while Ben went to his monthly "fight night". I actually got caught up on the house, laundry and email! Yeah!

Today Aubrie and I had to be to church early for choir practice. After church, we had an early fireside. Sam Payne spoke to us. He is a great speaker, too! He taught seminary for several years and was thinking how lucky his students were to have him! He played a few songs, too! What a great fireside. Aubrie came along and really liked it. She even teared up during the last song. I don't' know where she gets that from? ha!!!!

Well there is a weeks worth of my life, VERY condensed! I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week. Life is coming at me fast!

Happy Birthday Boston

B

Boston's Assembly