1 Nephi

I have now finished 1st Nephi.  Isn't my chart pretty?  I like it.

It has been great getting back into the habit of reading my scriptures everyday.  The kids have done fantastic with this.  Preston has absolutely blown me away with his enthusiasm.  We read 1 Nephi 13 during scripture study.  Preston wanted to read the LONGEST verse.  He was so proud of himself.  Maysen and Stockton are both past 1 Nephi 12.  That was the benchmark for the end of the week.  Mike is reading his scriptures in Portuguese.  When it is his turn to read, he either reads in Portuguese, or he translates what his book says.  Preston was cute as he went back and forth from looking at my book to looking at Mike's. Then he smiled and said, "Wow, they are different!"  He is adorable.

Susan

Yesterday I wrote about how Maysen's is planning on wearing her bow, named Susan, for who knows how long.  In order to receive $20.  Here is a picture of Maysen before school.

Maysen & Susan

I had a scary moment today.  Ange and her girls came over to go swimming.  I was about to head out the door to go Visiting Teaching. Actually my hands were covered with frosting as I was frantically frosting cookies to take to one of my teachees.  Anyway, about 10:00 the phone rang.  I noticed it was Lone Peak calling, so I answered the phone.  It was an automated message saying that Jorja was not at school.  She left to school almost two hours before this call came.  I frantically called the school back, pressed 1 because my call was about attendance.  I got another automated call asking to leave a message as to why my child wasn't at school.  I quickly hung up, called back, pressed 3 to talk to the office.  (I am hitting every number with my pinky finger because the rest of my hands are covered in frosting.  Well, not completely covered, but my hands were a mess.)  Anyways, by the time I got ahold of a person I was panicking.  I knew it was probably a mistake, but what if it wasn't.  The office lady was very nice as I blurted out my problem.  She contacted the teacher, came back on the phone and told me that Jorja was there.  Thank goodness!  Her teacher marked Jorja absent instead of George.  My heart was pounding for awhile after that.

Dissecting Cookies

That is what Maysen did in Biology today.  Needless to say, she has really enjoyed the class so far.  She really likes her teacher.  Yesterday Maysen told me that she (Ms. Dyal) makes everything fun.  I guess today proved her point.

Yesterday in Young Womens, Maysen's class made bows.  Apparently someone told Maysen that if she would wear her bow to school everyday for a month that they would give her $20.  (I really have no idea how long she was challenged).  Maysen took that challenge and wore a bow to school today.  She even set up an instagram account this morning. She plans on posting her bow pictures everyday.  I think.  She has also named her bow Susan.  I have no idea why.

Ms. Moon

I walked into the playroom about 5:10 this morning and this is what I found.  I looked at Stockton, who was already at his computer.  He shrugged his shoulders and said, "He was here when I got here."  I have no idea when he came upstairs.  I asked Preston, but he didn't remember either.

Preston

Jorja was all decked out in her frog paraphernalia today.  Frogs sure do make her happy.  Ms. Liao asked her if she liked frogs.  Jorja said she nodded and then started dancing in her seat saying, "Qing-Wa, Qing Wa, Qing-Wa".  Oh boy.  What a Porge!

Jorja Frog

 Jorja

Preston met with his Kindergarten teacher today.  Her name is Ms. Moon.  What a perfect name for a Kindergarten teacher!  I was able to sit in the back and fill out forms while she asked Preston questions.  He is so cute.  I laughed when she was asked him what sounds the words she would say started with.  When she said, "new", Preston said, "k - ka".  That even made the teacher laugh.  She said to me later, "Obviously he is very smart.  I will start sending him home books to read, but it will take me a few days."  No hurries here.  She asked me if there was anything she should know about Preston.  I told her that he had a hard time sitting still.  Usually he sits on his chairs sideways.  (The chair is on the floor and he sits on the legs).  I have no idea why he does that, we have been working on ending that little habit.  I also told her he was the baby of the family by four years.  So basically he has been the king.  Also, he has had no preschool, so this is his first school experience.  I hope it goes well!  We shall see.

Preston & Ms. Moon

First Day of School - Take 2

Today was Maysen and Jorja's first day of school.  Maysen forgot her glasses.  She sent me a text asking if I could bring them to her.  Preston and I brought them down and put them in her locker.  We walked by Stockton's first period class and saw him.  Preston loved that!

I was hoping Stockton would have 1st lunch and Maysen would have 2nd lunch.  I was also hoping they would have lunch together.  What did they get?  Maysen has 1st and Stockton has 2nd.  Drat.  In their school the 7th graders have a bell that rings five minutes before the 8th & 9th grade bell.  Kind of confusing if you ask me.  Although it is pretty cool that they are able to get to lunch first.  Except Stockton.  He has 8th grade math before lunch.  He is let out on the 8th grade bell and has to be in class at the 7th grade bell.  I hope he gets a chance to eat!

Who's excited about the first day of school?

Certainly not Maysen!

 That's more like it!  It also helps if I tell her I'm taking her picture.

 Jorja wore these shoes all summer without taking off the tag.  Funny.

 Jorja - 4th grade

 Maysen & Jorja

 Maysen - 9th grade, Stockton - 7th grade, Jorja - 4th grade

 Preston, put up a zero!

 Or be a puppy.  Come on now boys!

 I'm going to keep taking pictures until you smile!

Can you tell Maysen was ready to be done?

 Jorja getting on the bus.

Yeah, there are a lot of kids in our neighborhood!

Preston and I met Mike for lunch.  Before we left, Preston and I went to Zurchers.  Preston found a toy that he wanted to get for one of his goals. He earned a small reward a long time ago, but has been waiting to find the perfect surprise.  Preston LOVES Yoshi.  This Yoshi is kind of like a pez, except it dispenses smarties.

Preston & Yoshi

When the girls saw that I took Stockton to Iceberg, they decided they needed to go somewhere special too.  I told them I would if they agreed on a place.  When I got in the car and asked them where we were going, they both said, "Maggie Moo's!"  I did not see that one coming.  I said, "You realize that is a half hour away."  Maysen said, "I've got my ds." Jorja said, "I am going to watch a movie."  Well....okay....I guess that is where we will go then.

Jorja 'blue-teeth' & Maysen

On the way home we stopped at a craft store called The Wood Connection.  It is a pretty cool place, but I went to the wrong store first. I went to the furniture store also called The Wood Connection. Anyway, we got to the right store minutes before they closed.  I was able to get some blocks I wanted for a project that is on one of my goals.  I hope it turns out like I want it to.

I printed up a whole bunch of random Book of Mormon charts.  The kids each picked one.  Preston even wanted one.  He also sat through our scripture study and read a few verses for the first time!  He has never been willing to read a verse before!  Mike and I were shocked!  Then he asked to read more. He wanted to cross off more circles on his chart. We will see how long this lasts!

Scripture chart wall

Book of Mormon Challenge

Stockton had a Court of Honor tonight.  He got a ton of merit badges. School starts tomorrow.  We have been looking for his backpack.  At the Court of Honor they had a ton of things on the piano that was left over from camp.  Stockton's backpack was there!  Perfect timing!

President Back with all the boys Stockton's age

President Back also met Bubs today.  He came up to me and told me he met Spencer.  I was a little confused.  It was funny I didn't connect that Spencer was Bubs until Mike pointed it out.  President Back has two kids in Bubs' ward.  One of them was speaking today.  Small world.

Stockton getting his merit badges from Brother Masters

 Stockton & Stephanie

Today we started a Book of Mormon challenge with the Young Men/Young Women in the ward.  They have been challenged to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.  If they read three pages a day they can do it.  I was in charge of making up a weekly challenge sheet.  My dad helped me and I was quite happy with it.  I hope the kids like it.  I might have to go to only one challenge a week if I don't get any responses, but hopefully they will like the different choices.  We will see.  So far I have received a text from Maysen, Darby and Bowie. Although Darby and Bowie are in the same family.  But my beehives seem to worship Bowie for some reason.  When I brought him his plate of cookies I told him to put it on instagram and make my beehives jealous.  Anyway, here is my challenge.  It is quite long, so feel free it skip it, but I wanted to write it here anyway.

1 Nephi 1 - 1 Nephi 12

1 Nephi 1:20

Elder Bednar gave a talk in the April 2005 conference titled The Tender Mercies of the Lord.  He described tender mercies as very personal and individualized blessings.  Often, the Lord's timing of His tender mercies help us discern and acknowledge them.

As an example, Elder Bednar explained how he felt the first time he spoke at conference as the newest apostle.  He was feeling the pressure of his new calling.  The intermediate hymn, sung right before he was to speak and chosen long before his call was issued was his favorite hymn.  That was a tender mercy.  Elder Bednar immediately felt comfort and reassurance.

The first three people to text Stephanie Smith the name of this hymn will receive a plate of cookies.

Hint: lds.org --> teaching tab (top/right) --> General Conference --> in the 'search conference' box type: tender mercies bednar --> click on The Tender Mercies of the Lord

1 Nephi 3:7

Sing "Nephi's Courage" to one of your YW/YM leaders.  Many of your leaders have one candy bar to give to the first person who sings to them.

1 Nephi 4:10-18

Nephi was obedient to the Spirit and did something very hard for him that he didn't want to do.  Think of a time in your life when you obeyed the Spirit (or your mom, or your dad, or your Bishop, or your youth leader) and did something hard that you didn't want to do.

1 Nephi 8 (also see 1 Nephi 15:24)

In Lehi's dream, those who clung to the iron rod safely made it to the tree.  What do you need to do in your life that would represent clinging to the iron rod?

Leave your answer in a comment on the blog post titled "Lehi's Dream" at crescent18.blogspot.com

1 Nephi 11:16

Look up "condescension" in a dictionary.  It has both a negative and positive meaning.  How does the positive meaning of the word "condescension" apply to Jesus?

Bring your answer on a piece of paper to church next Sunday.

1 Nephi 12:17

What are the temptations of the devil that the youth of the church have to deal with today?

That is all of this weeks challenges.  Hopefully the kids like them.  I think they should be fun . . . we shall see.

Suda

We went to my niece's house today.  She lives in Springville with her husband.  She had a house warming party with deep fried lovin'. Everything was deep fried.  We were boring and brought biscuits to fry. They taste like donuts.  They had scones, more donuts, zucchini, apples, cheesecake, snickers, chicken, cheese, and probably more - I just can't remember.  They have a cute little two bedroom house.  My kids were great.  The house was crowded and they didn't know anyone there, but they didn't complain.

Melissa and Derek have a giant picture of an elephant in their front room.  It looks like a child's drawing.  They have it framed really pretty. I loved it.  Anyway, on their honeymoon they went to Thailand.  They got to do a ton of cool things.  This picture that is framed in their front room was actually painted by an elephant!  Haha!  How awesome is that!  They even have pictures of the elephant as he is painting.  Now that is something that you don't see everyday!  I'm guessing the elephant was named Suda.  Love it.

Mike didn't come with us to Melissa's house.  He had a work party to go to.  We all got home around the same time.  Jorja has been begging to go camping all summer long.  We tried to schedule a camping trip with her cousins, but our schedules just didn't line up.  Mike set up a tent in the backyard.  Jorja doesn't think it is fair that both Maysen and Stockton got to go camping and she didn't.  Although I don't think you can really call Maysen's girls camp 'camping'.  Just because camp is in the name . . . . 

Anyway, this was Mike and Jorja's compromise.  So tonight Mike, Jorja and Preston slept in the tent.  I tried taking pictures of them, but it just didn't turn out.  I hope the kids have fun and they don't get rained on.  If they do, at least it will be easy to come home!

First Day of School - Take 1

We will have three different start dates for school this year.  The first one was today.  Of course, my boy who despises school started first. That didn't cause any problems at all.  At least today was only a half day.  The middle school had the 7th graders start early.  They were able to go through their schedule.  Each class taught them a little about the school, how the lunchroom will work and they even spent an entire period opening their lockers.  I actually think this is a much better approach then what Maysen had.  Maysen didn't even have her schedule on the first day of school.  I am so glad we live here now!

Stockton - 7th Grade

 Stockton successfully finished his first day!

Only 179 more days to go!  Not that he's counting....

 Iceberg

Chocolate, chocolate chip, hot fudge, brownie milkshake

To make this day even better for Stockton, he had a scout camp today. Haha!  Poor guy, everything he loves piled onto the same day.  If only I were able to schedule a doctor appointment and get him some shots as well......

Mike had a work party here.  Jorja and Preston had a 'meet your teacher' event at the school.  It was too chaotic to get any pictures of them with their teacher.  We rushed home, got Stockton to scout camp and took Jorja and Preston to the stake primary activity.  The activity lasted longer than I thought it would.  By the time we got back, Mike's party was over.  Jorja was disappointed.

Mike spent the rest of the day in pain.  His random piercing headache is back.  I hope it is gone tomorrow.  It is so sad to see him in such pain.  I wish we knew what was causing it, or how to get it to stop.

10 Meter

Today I took my kids and Shannon's boys to Cottonwood Heights Swimming Pool.  They have platforms there.  Stockton did the 3 meter springboard (his favorite) a couple of times, but didn't want to go off the platforms.  The line was really long.  Jorja was playing with Preston, so I decided I might as well do it.  First I went off the 3 meter.  I was surprised how high that was!  That one kind of scared me!  So naturally I decided to try the 10 meter.  They also have a 5 and 7 meter, but I figured I might as well do the tall one.  Jorja and Preston saw me climb up.  It was a long climb.  They make everyone wait at the bottom while the one person climbs to which ever platform they want.  When I finally got up there and walked to the edge I about chickened out.  I was so scared.  Preston & Jorja were cheering for me.  I still almost walked down.  I thought, "Well, no one has died here yet so I will make it.  How bad can it be?"  I jumped off.  On a scale of 1-10 of scariness I thought it was a 10.  I can't believe those Olympic divers.  It hurt a little when I landed.  Maybe a 3 on the 1-10 scale.  I did get a ton of water up my nose and had to cough it out a little.  Stockton was playing with his cousins in the other pool.  They were having a contest as to who could hold their breath the longest.  He said when he got up he saw me on the 10 meter. I think he couldn't believe it.  I'm glad he got to see me.  Then he knew I really did it!

Later, Stockton and Brandon both went off the 10 meter.  That was their first time.  Stockton said it hurt more than it was scary.  Brandon also went off the 7 meter.  Stockton didn't, he was going on the waterslides then.  I was proud of Brandon, he did a flip off the 3 meter!  There is no way I would do that!  Preston got on the 3 meter, but was quite scared. He ended up coming back down, which is okay.  Jorja wanted to go off the platforms really bad, but you had to be 10 to do that.  Two more months . . . Jorja did a dive off the 3 meter.  She was a little sad when she finished because the dive wasn't perfect.  It was kind of a C shape dive.  I was worried she was hurt, but she was sad because she said she thought she could do it.  I am so proud of her for trying something like that.  I have never done that before.  You will never get to be good at things if you are afraid to fail.  I'm afraid to fail, so I'm just mediocre at everything.

First Paycheck

Maysen received her first official paycheck today.  Except that it was written out to me.  She evaluated a book for Covenant.  She received 60¢ a page.  Not too shabby, especially for a 14 year old who likes to read. Maysen evaluated one book for them.  I hope they ask her to more in the future.

Mike and I took Maysen to play racquetball after the other kids went to bed.  It is nice to have more than one built in babysitter.  My life has gotten quite easy.

Temple & Waterfall

Grandpa, this is definitely a post you won't be able to print out for Grandma.  Sorry about that.

Mike took the day off of work today and we sure made the most of it.  We started out by leaving early this morning to go to the Open House of the Brigham City temple.  We have a rule in our house.  No one is allowed to wake up before 5.  Last night we told the kids they could wake up at 4 so we could get out the door on time.  After consulting mapquest, we determined we wouldn't have to leave until 6. The kids were already tucked in bed, but we told them that they didn't need to get up at 4, so please sleep until 5.  Oh man!  Tears were shed!  Boy were they excited to get up at 4!

The drive to Brigham City went smoothly.  The kids had all charged their DSs the night before.  They played Mario Party the entire way up. They were so cute!  Preston was so excited to go to the temple.  He has never been in one before.  He points them out all the time and has been asking when he could go inside.  He was completely adorable the entire time.  He was excited about everything.  From the bus ride (shuttle), to the temple carpet, to the cookies afterwards.  That boy is so happy!  And not shy at all!

Jorja & Preston on Preston's FIRST bus ride

Preston kept telling us that the entire ride

When we were in the Celestial Room, Preston laid on the carpet and said how cozy and beautiful it was.  Preston and Jorja both got to look in the mirrors in the sealing room, they liked that a lot.  I loved being in the temple with my entire little family.

Preston, Maysen, Stockton enjoying the complimentary cookies

 Jorja

 Preston, Stockton, Jorja, Maysen, Mom

Brigham City Temple

 Stephanie, Preston, Stockton, Jorja, Maysen, Mike

 Jorja & Preston

Around lunchtime we started for our hike.  We wanted to go to the First Waterfall in Bells Canyon.  (I always thought it was Bell Canyon until our GPS told me otherwise.)  This is one of Mike's favorite places in the world.  He spent many days hiking on these trails as he was growing up.  Sometimes he would stay overnight with a few friends, sometimes he would go by himself.  I can't even imagine.  Anyway, we started out by parking in his old driveway and going through his backyard.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to the waterfall.  The kids did great!  Mike was so happy about it.  This is not an easy hike, but it was so fun and beautiful.

Stockton

The kids loved sticking their heads in the water.  They all loved filling Mike's hat with water and putting it on their head.

Preston, Mike, Maysen

 Stockton

 Jorja, shortly before she was stung by a bee

 Mike

 Preston, Maysen

 Preston

 Preston, Mike

 Haha Mike - no wonder my kids are crazy

 Stockton - the kids loved drinking out of the camel

 Preston, Stockton

 Stockton, Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Mike

 Preston, Stockton, Jorja, Mike, Maysen

 Jorja Porge

 We'll try not to hang glide

 Preston

 Mike & Preston

 Mike & Maysen

 Preston

 Jorja & Stockton

 Mike & Preston

 Mike, Preston, Stockton, Jorja

 Jorja, Preston, Mike, Stockton

 Maysen and I had no desire to climb the big rock

 Jorja & Preston who just discovered he was bleeding

 Preston with Mike who convinced him that
water was just as good as a bandaid

 Stockton, Maysen

 Stockton

 That's my boy!

 Preston, Stockton, Maysen

 Jorja, Preston, Maysen, Stockton

 Preston, Jorja

 Jorja, Stockton

 Maysen

 Preston, Mike

Why did we come so far?  Because this waterfall is beautiful!  For the record, my iphone takes much better pictures than my little red camera! I only took two with my phone the entire trip.  I bet you can tell which ones!

Mike & Jorja, Preston, Maysen, Stockton

 Mike & Preston, Jorja, Stockton

 Preston, Maysen, Stockton

 Stockton looks extremely impressed

 Maysen - now there's the enthusiasm we were going for!

 Jorja & Mike

 Mike & Preston, Jorja, Stockton

 Maysen

 Stockton & Jorja

 Maysen

 Preston & Mike

 Stockton & Jorja

 Stockton, Jorja, Mike

 Mike & Preston

 Maysen, Preston, Jorja, Mike, Stockton

 Preston - he might have a little bit of a dirty face

 Jorja & Preston

Preston feel into the freezing water here

 Wet Preston

Preston brought Shiver, even though we told him to leave Shiver behind. He claimed he didn't realize he was holding him.  Jorja was nice enough to carry Shiver in her backpack.  We let Preston take Shiver out for some pictures.

Preston & Shiver....okay, he is adorable

Preston that is.  Shiver has been very loved.

Preston is now wearing my shirt.  Luckily I had a shade shirt on underneath.

 Maysen

 Stockton, Maysen, Stephanie & Preston, Jorja

 Maysen

 Jorja - what a view!

As we started our hike back, Stockton went to climb on some other rocks.  They were slippery and he fell.  The entire thing was in slow motion, but it scared me to no end!  I screamed so loud!  Mike yelled, "Don't panic!"  I'm thinking, "How can I not panic?  My little boy is falling down steep rocks and I can't stop it."  Stockton luckily didn't get hurt and claims it was his favorite part of the hike.  Not mine.  I will be completely fine if I never experience anything like that again.

Stockton and Mike after Stockton's fall

 Preston & Maysen

 Preston & Stockton - it's getting darker....

 Maysen - love that girl!

 We're almost down....still the view is incredible.

 Maysen, Preston, Mike, Stockton

Mike said when he was little this part was filled with wild flowers

We got home just in time to head to Young Womens.  Luckily tonight was a combined activity.  A swimming party.  The perfect way to rest your feet after a long day hiking.

Maysen

 Stockton

When they called everyone to go eat, Maysen and Stockton were only too happy to skip that part of the activity.  I think they enjoyed having the pool to themselves.

Well, that is the end of our fun day.  Mike and I are going hiking on our anniversary.  The hike will be past the first waterfall and about three times as long.  We are going to the second reservoir.  I have never been there.  Mike has always wanted to take me.  I hope I can make it!