Temple Square

Last night we took the kids to Salt Lake City to see the lights

at Temple Square. We hadn't been since Ruby was a baby,

and the weather has been warm, so it seemed like a good time 

to go. Before going over to Temple Square, we stopped

at The Gateway for dinner at Tucanos. The boys especially

love eating there, and all of the kids liked the FIRE outside.

Here they are trying to blow out the flames. It didn't work.

Instead of walking to Temple Square from The Gateway,

we drove over and parked at City Creek. The fountain

in the mall was choreographed to a piece from The Nutcracker,

(I think) and included fire in certain parts. It was pretty cool.

The actual "walking around Temple Square as a family"

did go at all like I had imagined. I kind of wished for

the days when the kids were confined to a stroller.

I knew that they wouldn't walk calmly next to John and

me and "ooh" and "aah" over the beautiful lights,

but I also didn't plan to spend what felt like our entire

time at Temple Square chasing after kids and trying to

get them to calm down, get down, stop touching that,

or stop touching each other. It was exhausting.

And I am writing it down so that in a few years,

when I tell John that we should take the kids to Temple

Square to see the lights, I will either change my mind,

or be better prepared for the chaos that is ahead of us.

Of course, we'll have teenagers by then, so we might

be in for a entirely new set of problems with family outings.

Water features are like magnets to the kids -

it is almost impossible to keep them out of the water.

I asked Maxwell to take a picture of John and me,

and then Jonah, Milo, and Ruby jumped in. I think Bentley

was just trying to get his own photos on his DSi.

The kids did sit still to watch and listen to the Nativity.

That part was actually like I had imagined it.

Milo got a little bored, but the other kids seemed to like it.

I didn't want to leave Temple Square without a photo of

our entire family together. It was harder than it should have

been to find someone to take the picture, to get the kids to

stand still, and to find lights that weren't surrounded by

mobs of people (it was crowded), but we did it!

And overall, I am glad that we made the trip.

Dinner was really nice and Temple Square is always

beautiful. One day the kids will think so, too. :)

Museum of Ancient Life

After a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving Day,

we decided to take the kids to The Museum of 

Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.
It's been years since our family went to the museum.
I thought we'd been one other time, but I could
only find pictures from one trip on this blog.
Bentley, Maxwell, and Jonah all look so small in those pictures.
Anyway, first we checked out the Listening exhibit.
The kids had a lot of fun in there. I think the favorite was
a small room with gravel that you walked on.
There was a display that told you how loud you walked.

Ruby and Maxwell took a nap in the excavator's cabin.

I wanted a photo of all five kids in front of the cave,

but they were running around and through it too

quickly for me to catch them all at once.

I got four of them outside of the cave,

and then three of them inside.

Jonah and Milo acted out the dinosaur scene above them.

This magnetic wall was a favorite for all the kids.

They used the magnets to build dinosaurs.

Another favorite is always the erosion table. They could

have played for hours there. I think Milo might have liked

the sensor activated hand dryer almost as much as the 

sand and water tables, though.

The kids agreed to a picture in front of the shark.

They wanted it to look like they were being sucked

into the shark's mouth.

The last part of the museum has sand pits with

"fossils" buried under the sand. This is another activity

that the kids could have spent hours doing.

It was really fun to take the kids to the museum

and to watch them play in all the different activities.

Whenever we go to Thanksgiving Point we have a great time,

and I always think that we should go back more often.

And then it's years before we make it back. :)

This time, I am pretty sure it will be a while till we go 

again. We're planning to be homebodies

(besides school, sports, dance, piano, scouts, etc.)

after the baby is born. :)

The Hoboken Chicken Emergency

Maxwell's school class put together a Thanksgiving play.

It was based on the book, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency.

Maxwell played the father, Papa. In this version,

the daughter, Arthuretta, is sent to buy a turkey

(weeks before Thanksgiving because Papa is afraid that 

the local stores will all run out of turkeys before Thanksgiving).

The local meat market is closed when she arrives,

and a strange scientist talks her into buying one of his

giant chickens. The family doesn't eat it for dinner,

but do end up keeping it as a pet. Maxwell did a great job!

Thanksgiving - Then and Now

 Our first Thanksgiving together in 2000.

And Thanksgiving tonight!

I'm thankful for this family of mine - the ones at the table,

and the rest of our family in NY, CA, ID, DE, and MA.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Baby #6 - boy or girl?

Today we had the ultrasound for baby #6.

I had a really difficult time deciding whether or

not to try to find out the gender. Ruby REALLY wants

a sister, and that ultimately helped me make a decision.

The tech was able to tell us the baby's gender, and at

 FHE tonight, the kids opened a little gift with some clues.

Impatient older siblings. 

They weren't happy to have had to wait all day.

And the clues:

The boys guessed right away, but Ruby held out hope

that all the blue actually meant she was getting a sister.

She tried hard to be tough, but was very, very sad.

There is another brother on the way,

and as far as the ultrasound tech could tell,

everything looks okay.

Profile shot, and one of the hands, arms, lips, and nose.

Hopefully, 20 weeks will be long enough for everyone

(especially our girl) to adjust to the idea of another boy.

We are so glad and grateful to have another sweet little one.

Cousins!

Charles and Laura stopped by last night on their

way to Laura's parents house for Thanksgiving.

The kids were excited all day and kept asking

when their cousins would arrive.

Ella, Ruby, and Milo started playing right away,

and were ready for dinner long before dinner 

was ready for them.

We were all excited to meet William.

(William wasn't really as excited to meet us.) :)

Ruby was especially happy to have the cousins here:

a girl to play with and a baby to hold. Double win.

Ella, Milo, Maxwell, William, Bentley, Ruby, and Jonah
Milo and Ella are just a few months apart.

Laura and I got a few pictures of them together.
And here they are when Milo was just five days old.

We love it when we get to see family!
Now if we could just talk some of our siblings
into moving to Utah with their families. :)

Celebrating Eleven

This year, Bentley opted for one BIG present

instead of several smaller ones.

For dinner, he wanted chiliquiles.

(The night before, when he got his Arrow of Light,

he requested Brick Oven pizza.)

He also asked for crepes with nutella,

strawberries, and whipped cream instead of cake.

He was pleasantly surprised to see that along with the

agreed upon DSi, he received a game to PLAY on his DSi.

The dilemma - eat crepes or play DSi?

He chose Texas Roadhouse for his birthday date with Mom,

because he wanted to go someplace that served STEAK.

(I was happy to go to the roadhouse because they

donated a bunch of meals to a school fundraiser last week.)

Sitting in the saddle for his birthday.

Eating steak and mashed potatoes with gravy.

At the school fundraiser last week, our friend Rachel performed

and surprised Bentley with a kiss during one of her songs.

He was pretty embarrassed, and the principal came over 

to me right away to find out why Bentley got picked on.

Doesn't everyone get a kiss from their former primary chorister?

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

The Difference a Day Makes

Thursday afternoon

Friday afternoon

Arrow of Light

The day before his birthday, Bentley was awarded the

Arrow of Light at our Cub Scout Pack Meeting.

It is the only award that the boys can transfer from

their Cub uniform to their Scout uniform.

(Bentley lost his Cub uniform months ago,

so this will go right on the new Scout shirt.)

Congratulations Bentley!

He hopes that Scouts will be cooler than Cubs.

Judging from the Scout activity on his birthday,

it will be. (fingers crossed)

Eleven

Today we are celebrating this guy.

photo by Raquel

For the past few weeks, he has been counting

the seconds (literally) until his birthday.

He is glad that IT is finally here,

and I am glad that Bentley is here.

I am so glad and grateful to be his Mom.