Dollar Theater Craziness

Kris and I don't go out on dates as much as we should, not as much as we'd like to.  This year, we tried to make it a goal to go out more, which we've done, but rarely do we get an entire date.  Usually it's just dinner and we head back home.  This night, we planned ahead and got a sitter for the full evening so we could go to dinner and a movie.  What do we see as we get to the theater?  Total chaos!  The line to buy tickets was wrapped around the building and even though we got there early, the movie we came to see was sold out.  We saw something different, though, because we were more excited to just be together.  The dollar theater...who would have guessed it was so popular?!

First Day of School

Because of my new position at Challenger School, my children have the fortunate opportunity to attend this private school.  Challenger is an excellent school that provides an amazing education that I could never afford on my own.  I'm so incredibly grateful that they can attend this school, and I'm excited for the progress they will make and the things they will learn while attending.

Bear Lake

While we go to Bear Lake often, this trip was different.  I haven't had time with my niece and nephew at the lake in a long time.  Both brought their significant others and it gave us an opportunity to get to know them better than we ever have before.

Ironically, on our first night of family bonding, the power went out.  Because we are away from the city at the Lake, when we turn the lights out it gets pretty dark.  When the power went out, it was complete darkness.  I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.  We used this unique opportunity to have a little fun and we used our cell phones as light.  We played some music and used the lights from our phones into strobe lights.  After that, we decided to go outside and pose for pictures there.  The thing that is so funny about that is that it was so dark, we couldn't see what we were taking a picture of until the flash went off.  Surprisingly, the pictures turned out okay, but pictures in the dark are never very clear.

After a nice evening of rest, we had little time to enjoy the sun and sand in the short weekend.  We set to work building castles, mermaids, and dragons in the sand.  At one point we buried Josh and we laughed hysterically when he tried to get out with no avail.

The fun didn't end at the beach.  Carol, Chelsie's girlfriend, brought lazer tag guns.  Kyson and Kodi had never played lazer tag before, but they showed us how to play.  We played boys against girls, and turned off the lights.  It was so funny watching people doing army crawls across the floor to avoid getting hit.  In one game, Kodi was the last one standing.  In another game, however, she was killing off her own teammates.  They've been talking about lazer tag ever since we left and we may have to invest in some guns in the future.

I'm so grateful for the chance I had to have a quaint weekend with family.  It's been so good for us to be reacquainted with everyone with some uninterrupted time together.

Everybody Loves Reading

I'm grateful for some of the new activities of my kids now that they don't have the television.  One of them is that they want to go to the library regularly and check out books.  I love looking around and seeing my children engaged with books.  It warms my heart.

Princess Grandpa

My parents were gracious enough to take the kids one afternoon.  We're lucky enough to have both of our parents take the kids fairly regularly which, is nice for us for some time away, and nice for the kids to have time with their grandparents.  On this day, when we went to pick up the kids, My dad came out wearing Kodi's garb to get a reaction from her.  He had on her princess hat, and carried her purse and pony.  He wasn't the prettiest princess, but he was a good sport.

Families are Forever

Well Rusty and Amy have officially sealed their entire family together for eternity.  It's always something special to witness a sealing of a couple, or a child to their parents, but we've been privileged to see each of their children, one by one, be sealed to the family.

For this sealing, we saw each of their 5 boys dressed in white, enter the sealing room.  Rarely are children allowed into the temple, but all of their children were.  After the sealing session, we went outside and took pictures of the family.  I couldn't help but notice all the smiles of people as the Hansen family walked by, all dressed in white.

 

My New Challenge

Well, it's official - I'm a Challenger teacher.  And not just any teacher.  I'm an elementary school teacher.  The youngest grade I have ever taught to this point is 8th grade.  The last place I ever wanted to be, or thought I'd be is a 4th grade teacher.  I can say, however, this is definitely the Lord's plan for me.  Hopefully I'll agree with him by the end of the school year.

I survived my beginning of the school teacher training.  Two-weeks before school starts, all teachers spend a could of weeks retraining and preparing for the school-year.  It was intense and terrifying.  I feel completely inadequate and unprepared to complete this assignment.  I'm now teaching 11 different subjects including history, science, math, and logic, along with the subjects I know.  This is going to be a very challenging year.

I'm grateful for this job.  It is providing an amazing education for my children - one that I could never afford to give them.  I feel good about the year, and hope that the job will be as good for me as it will be for my children.  I'm also upstairs so I have to go up and down stairs A LOT.  Not only will my kids be smart, I'll be more well-rounded and better trained, but I better have a nice booty by the end of the year.

Cheap Entertainment

Who knew that no television could be so much fun.  All of us are coming up with new things to do.  We still have a tiny television in our bedroom and I'm an addict to the television show, "So You Think You Can Dance" and I didn't want to miss it.  But I knew that if I let the kids go unattended, something terrible could happen downstairs.  So I invited them to watch it with me, because they LOVE the show as well.  It was a lot of fun.  We started on the bed, and Kodi moved to the floor so she could mimic all the dances.  Then she grabbed Kyson as her partner.  She seems to be a future dancer.  We took pictures of us bonding in the bed while watching our 18" television.

 

Along with watching a microscopic television, we've been playing games, and coloring.  I find the kids regularly pulling their chairs up to the coffee table and creating a nice environment for their coloring.

Swimming

Having no television is challenging, but I think it has been a blessing.  We've been looking for new things to do together and because my schedule at work is so easy because I'm interning and not writing lesson plans or grading, I have no work to bring home.  This opens up time for fun activities like swimming.  I love the pool near our house and because we have a yearly membership, it's free for us to go swimming.  You'd think we'd get there more often.  The kids truly enjoy swimming and I've noticed so much progress in Kyson's abilities.  He even went on the big water slide.  This is a new thing for him because he had to be 6 to go on it.

Stolen Camera

Because the television is gone, our main source of entertainment, we've all been looking for new sources of amusement.  One evening, without my knowledge, Kyson stole my phone and was playing with the camera.  He had a private photo shoot.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.

 

Broken Television

A few years ago, we bought a 50" flat screen television to have for the family room.  It has been a great sources of entertainment for the family for years and I've loved it.  We used our taxes to buy it because it cost $2000.  The other night, Kyson and Kodi were fighting over what they each wanted to watch and Kodi got mad.  She picked up the remote and threw it at the television.  While it doesn't sound very threatening for a 3-year-old to throw a remote control, but Kodi is no ordinary 3-year-old.  This girl should play softball when she grows up because she has an amazing arm, and great aim.  She hit the television.

Kris and I were upstairs folding laundry when Kyson came running upstairs screaming the the television wasn't working.  We got mad about how much he was freaking out - little did we know what was awaiting us downstairs.  Kris went downstairs with Kyson and noticed that the television would only show lines through the picture.  We couldn't get it.  Then, Kris noticed a star-shaped shatter in the screen or the television.

It's funny how the loss of a television is so devastating.  That night as I was saying my prayers, I had to look for the little things to thank the Lord for, like not beating up my children that evening.

Cinema in the Park

I love how Herriman shows movies in the park a few times every summer.  I try to go, because I think the kids really enjoy it, and I have to admit, I do too.  This time, we invited Rusty and Amy and all the kids to come.  We ate pizza at our house and just talked and played.  After our casual dining experience, Amy and "the littles" headed home, while Rusty and "the bigs" came with us to the park.  Before the movie started, the kids went to the playground and played. I think they really enjoyed the entire evening.  They played "Gangum Style" and the boys were all dancing, and we ate snacks and goodies while we watched the movie.  We didn't prepare very well though, and we should have brought blankets.  Who would have guessed it would have gotten so cold in August.