Home for the Holidays

We've been promised 5 different times that the offer we made on a home in Layton would be approved (the first time clear back in October!). The 22nd of December was the most recent promise. Each time the day came and went with nothing happening. (The 22nd was Nathan's Dad's birthday, so we thought it would have been a great present to say we were moving out!) I felt a lot like I did when I was pregnant with Daniel. His due date came and went and still no baby. I felt wronged. How could they make me promises and not deliver? Well the 22nd, was a bit depressing. I resigned myself to the fact that we probably wouldn't hear until after the holidays. BUT....

Yesterday, I received a long awaited call that our offer has been ACCEPTED! We still need to do the inspection and paperwork for closing, but we couldn't ask for a better Christmas present! We will keep you posted on our status, but we will have a home of our own very soon. Merry Christmas!

Caleb's Favorite Things

While staying with Grandma and Grandpa Brady, Caleb has acquired a few unexpected favorites...
The 'wand' from Grandpa's juicer and a lid from Grandma's pan make the perfect sword and shield!

Caleb loves Grandma's 'rainbow' umbrella. Who says umbrellas are just for rainy days? And don't even start with the bad luck opening them in the house.

Playing footsie on the kitchen floor with Grandma is great.

Every time we went outside, Caleb loved running under the this evergreen.

I didn't find a picture of it, but another of his favorite toys was a little orange funnel. Seriously, why do even buy toys? It seems we are inhibiting such creativity.

Random Liam

Liam is a great reader. I'm so proud of him...the only thing is it can take an hour to get a few little pages read. Not because he doesn't know the words or can't sound them out, but because he gets distracted. His mind is going a million miles a second. Often times we laugh about the crazy places his mind wanders. The other day he said, "Mom and Dad, if I woke up on Christmas before you, and Santa gave me a tuba (a tuba really?? where did that come from????), I would go in your room and play Christmas songs on it to wake you up!" Liam, you are totally crazy--and I totally love you.

Santa Knows His Stuff

A week or so ago, we took the boys to see Santa, but, as we walked up, Caleb informed me that he was just a "fake Santa". I took it in stride and told him that this was one of Santa's helpers and that he still had to tell him what he wanted so he could pass it along to the real one. I have no idea where he got the idea that this wasn't the real one, after all, he's only three and his brothers weren't debating his authenticity. Oh well, we went up to take a picture and "Fake" Santa asked Caleb what he wanted. Caleb told Santa that he wants a Clone Trooper. Caleb can be a little tough to understand so I tried to clarify by saying, "You know a trooper from Star Wars." Santa turned back to Caleb and said, "Do you want a trooper from Tatooine or Hoth?" Caleb said,"Not Tatooine". Nathan and I looked at each other and grinned huge grins--Who knew that Santa was a Star Wars geek too? Liam requested a Star Wars transformer. Last of all Daniel talked to Santa. He told him he'd like a telescope. Santa asked him what he'd like to see with it. Daniel said he wanted to see the constellation Serius (we took the boys to the BYU astronomy star show when they did a Harry Potter version--very cool). So Santa says, "Oh you want to see the constellation of the dog..."and he went on about it! I don't know what the boys thought, but I'm a believer! I think it was something like the little girl in Miracle on 34th street who sees Santa sign to a deaf girl and speak in other languages to others--Wow!

Teaching Moments For Mom

I am always amazed when kids teach and reteach me. A few weeks ago I was helping out in Liam's kindergarten class. We were talking about our senses. After we'd gone through all of them, one little boy said, "There's one more." So I asked him what I'd missed. He said, "Well, there's the one that makes us feel good inside and helps us. But really it's the Holy Ghost." I loved that it. It is so fun to be surrounded by kids in the gospel. They know more than any text book--and what they know is most important. So my new goal is to allow the Holy Ghost into my life in such a way that He can be as accessible as any of my other senses.

A few days ago I was signing some papers for the bank (a little progress toward getting our new house in Layton). As a result I was just a few minutes late in picking up Daniel from school. I apologized and explained what made me late. Daniel just looked up at me and said, "Mom, we've just got to have more faith, like the Nephites who were waiting for baby Jesus to be born." I could have cried! He went on, "We'll get the house or if we have faith Heavenly Father will show us another one." I so often become impatient with our housing situation and Daniel so sweetly reminded me that, "through Him all things are possible." I'm so blessed to have angels round about me (remind me that I called them that next time they start fighting).

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways

Our family thought that we'd be staying here with Nathan's parents in Orem for just a few weeks while we found a home. We thought we'd likely be in a home of our own before the school year started for the boys. We never dreamt we'd be here long enough to go trick-or-treating, let alone prepare thanksgiving dinner. Mom and Dad Brady have been very patient and made every effort to make us feel at home. That being said, we've still been very anxious to buy a home and move on.

About two weeks ago, I noticed that a new fish of Dad's looked sick. It was not moving and it looked like it might be stuck by the filter. I asked Dad to come up and check him out. As soon as he came upstairs, the fish decided he was fine and swam off. Dad started to talk to me about fish but in the middle of the sentence his words slowed down and he began to slur them. I asked a few times if he was OK without a response. I knew something was wrong. Then he slowly said the next word and sped up to normal conversation as if nothing had happened. I wondered if I'd just seen a stroke. I was really worried but I didn't think Dad would believe me if I told him he needed to go to the hospital. He obviously didn't remember anything strange happening. Mom was on her way home from work and I called Nathan who said I might be right about a mini stroke. When mom got home I told her about the episode. She said that a week before Dad had fallen at night and been strangely disoriented, but she'd brushed it off because it was night, and he'd been really sick with the flu the night before. I told her I didn't think Dad would believe me, but I was worried because Dad was now talking about driving off to go rock hunting. Mom called his doctor who told her that he needed to be taken to the ER immediately. That night we found out that the major artery in Dad's brain is completely blocked. The doctor told him, he didn't even know how he was still conscious. Dad had lots of tests done at the hospital. They found that other arteries are compensating for the blockage, but three others have some partial blocks. He is now on a very low cholesterol diet as well as medication, and exercise regimen to keep things flowing. It is too dangerous to try to remove the blockage.

Dad hasn't felt sick at all through all of this. He has no recollection of the episode. It is scary to think that if he'd stayed downstairs in front of the TV, we'd never have known about his serious condition. Being here right now was not our plan--but the Lord sees the bigger picture. I am so grateful that I could be here so that Dad could get help before it was too late. I am a little nervous right now. I get after Dad if he mumbles at all. He says I'm now the enunciation police. He also says he doesn't want to discuss fish with me anymore. It's amazing how all of the little things worked together so that I could be present for that little, very telling, conversation. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Hopefully, we've done what we need to do so now we're ready to move.

From the Mouths of Boys

One night at dinner Nathan told the boys that if they didn't beat "Mommy" eating, they wouldn't get any dessert. A moment later Caleb asked if I would come help him on the potty. As I left the table, Daniel put his hands together (like in traditional prayer) and looked up at the ceiling and said very sincerely, "Thank you Heavenly Father". We are told to thank the Lord in all things right? Well, Daniel was thankful that I'd been called away from the table so he could finish in time to get dessert. I think we'd do well to follow suit. The Lord is in the details of our lives.

On Halloween day before trick or treating, Liam asked me what holiday came next I explained that next was Thanksgiving and then Christmas. He was thrilled. "Tomorrow we get turkey and then we get Christmas!" He didn't like hearing that there were a few weeks in between, but I assured him that he'd need the time to eat his Halloween candy. As a mom, I feel like from Halloween to Christmas seems to fly by in fast forward--almost as fast as Liam.

Today Liam told me that if I'd let him play his game he'd be "as quiet as a jelly bean". I've never heard that analogy, but it made me smile. Why not? Jelly beans, in my experience, are extremely quiet. I guess the Halloween candy is still on the brain.

Caleb told me that someday he wants to be human. I laughed and told him that he already is. He responded, "No I'm not human, I'm just a kid!" I believe there is some truth to that statement. Actually, I'm not sure which is better, to be "human" or to be a kid.

Caleb just came in and asked me to help him wash chocolate off his hands. ( That means that while I was typing, he was silently scooting a chair into the kitchen and climbing up to the treat cupboard.) I asked him where he got the chocolate and he responded, "I'm not going to tell you about that!" Actually, it was a dumb question. The chocolatey hands and smile say it all.

BYU Football Fans

This is a rare post - written by Nathan. Michelle bought me season tickets to BYU football . . . she definitely knows how to score the points. I thought it would be really cool to go to the games with Daniel, Liam, and Caleb. Daniel and Liam attended the BYU/Utah rivalry game (not a good outcome for BYU) and I was worried that it would sour the boys on Cougar football. Daniel kept saying to me throughout the game "The Cougars HAVE to win, they just have to win!" That was a humbling game and a hard lesson to learn that your favorite team can't win all of the time, every year. The rest of the games, however, have been significantly better. Daniel has been to every game since and he's really catching on. He knows to yell loud when the Cougars are on defense and to be quiet when they're on offense - but to yell loud when they make a good play. His face lights up and he jumps around when the Cougars score points. He loves to take pictures of the players, look over the edge of the stadium to the people below, and get a souvenier at the game. But his favorite thing to do? It is lining up to high-five the football players as they leave the field after a win. I cannot do justice to the joy and elation that Daniel displays after each game when he gets to high-five the players. I thought he would never wash his hand again after the first time. Even if we don't get home until after 11:00 pm, Daniel won't go to bed until I've showed him on the computer the picture of each player he got to high-five.

Liam is Two-Wheeling!

Last week we took the boys to the church parking lot to ride their bikes. We insisted that Liam bring the bike without training wheels. Nathan and I took turns supporting him and each of us tried letting go a few times, but as soon as Liam realized he stopped. He rode for a few seconds, but Holding onto the back of a bike seat + running = Backache! We didn't get far that night. The next night Nathan was working late so I took the boys myself. I tried to help Liam, but didn't last long before I needed a break. I told Liam to push off his pedal and keep trying while I went to help Caleb with his pedaling. Honestly, I didn't think he'd do much on his own, but as is so often the case--he surprised me! I hadn't been helping Caleb for more than a minute, when I looked up to see Liam riding away on his own. Within a few minutes he was riding over the curbs and bumpy gutters, racing around on his two wheels. This kid is fearless. It is so fun to see my boys learn new things. If only I learned as quickly as they do. Way to go Liam!

On My Honor...I Forget the Rest

Anyone who knows me very well probably knows that I've been avoiding the scouting program since I got married. At one point, when I was called to be Primary President, I called a counselor just to handle 'all things scouts' so I wouldn't have to figure it all out. I actually told her that I didn't care if she didn't do anything else, so long as I didn't have to go there. It's not that I'm against scouting. Both of my brothers are Eagle Scouts and so is my husband. In high school I helped some of my friends with their scout projects. Scouting is great and I want my boys to participate in the program. I just don't get the program. Scouting is a language all of its own. I think it includes wolves, bears, eagles, and I want to say chipmunks, but that can't be right because all of the other creatures would eat them. I think scouts are supposed to learn to light fires and sing songs about peanut butter and jelly. I was always jealous of the food (especially the pudding snacks and trail mix) that my mom would buy for my brothers to take on their scouting campouts. I also wished that the young women would have a pine wood derby night and get to paint up blocks of wood into race cars. Who wouldn't like that?? And that nearly sums up my knowledge of scouting. I was planning on learning the rest of the stuff when my boys got to be older. So just imagine my surprise when, in this temporary ward, I was asked to be a leader of the "bears". Really?????? I thought I was off the hook until Daniel was 8. (That is less that a year away! Yikes.) So I'm not really sure what I'm doing. The book seems to be in code. Since I was never a scout myself, I could really use an interpretive manual. It skips all over the place and talks about someone called Akea or something. Why don't they just make scouting straight forward. Could someone just give me a list of requirements. What is all of this talk of belt loops and beads and arrows?? Maybe this will give me the chance to figure it all out, so I'll get it right when my own boys are involved. Oh well, here goes nothing...Now would be a great time for us to get that house we're waiting for.

Daniel and Liam are Cascade Cougars--for now!

We were hoping we'd be in a home of our own by now so that we wouldn't have to uproot the boys from another school, but the school year is beginning, so Daniel and Liam are attending here in Orem. Actually, it is the same school that Nathan went to (just for Kindergarten and 1st grade).

The boys were really excited for school to start. Grandma bought the boys new backpacks and lunch bags since everything we own is somewhere, in some box, in storage.

It's hard to believe that Daniel is already in second grade. What a handsome kid. His teacher sat him next to a very difficult student in the class. Daniel can be such a perfectionist and a bit of a policeman, so I worried about how this might turn out. (Oh 'me' of little faith.) But his teacher has been very impressed at how Daniel does not allow himself to be distracted or off task through it all. Good job, Daniel. And what is Daniel's favorite part of the school day??--Recess of course. Specifically, tag. I worried a bit when Daniel couldn't tell me the names of any new friends he'd made, for a week or two into the year. Then he started pointing to kids and saying, "They're not in my class, but we play tag everyday at recess." I guess there's not a lot of time for formal introductions when playing tag. Now I think Daniel knows more kids than most in the school--although many are not in his class or even his age!

Liam is now officially school age too, making his debut in kindergarten. I worried that he would be the class clown a little too often but his teacher keeps telling me just how impressed she's been as Liam has been a peacemaker in class. (I know that he is both a clown and peacemaker... let's just hope that the peacemaker is a stronger trait than the clown.) Liam is already reading Daniel's first grade booklets. It is still hard to motivate him to do it, but I have to remind myself to be patient, Daniel has only now started understanding the concept of getting homework done fast so there's more time to play. He may not love it, but this kid's got skills!

I would normally be starting joy school or preschool with Caleb right now, but I think I'll just work with him at home for a while until we get our own place. Then when we're settled I can find somewhere that feels right. Caleb is a funny kid. He has gotten a little clingy through this move. He can tell you all of the sounds of the letters in the alphabet and even some words that start with a specific letter, but he can't remember all of the names of the letters. It's all a little backwards. I guess that shouldn't surprise me because Caleb loves to be upside down. He's always hanging off of his chair and loves for me to swing him upside down like a pendulum. I wondered if he was color blind for a while because he can't name all of his colors. (I'm pretty sure both my other boys had them down by this age.) But lately, I've discovered that although he doesn't get his color names right he know what they are. Instead of yellow he says banana. Red is stop and green is go...I guess the right label will come eventually.

When I found out that I was pregnant with Caleb, many people commented on how easy it would be because I had two other boys and I'd know exactly what to expect. WRONG! It doesn't work that way. Each of my boys is so different. I guess, in all fairness, I'm different with each of my boys. So I guess this education thing is not just for them but perhaps even more for me.

Loving Liam

Liam is my little peacemaker. He is always concerned for his brothers. When he was little and I'd take Caleb in for shots, Liam would come out crying. Caleb would have a dry face and so people in the waiting room would ask if Liam just got shots. I'd explain that he didn't, but he was crying for his brother. It was really sweet. Now, if I leave to go anywhere, Liam worries that Caleb will cry or be sad. If Caleb starts crying because he wants a toy that Liam has, Liam will almost always hand it over to make him happy. This week Liam built Caleb a few lego spaceships. After inspecting them Caleb was sad that his didn't have guns. Liam looked for some, but didn't find any so he took some off his own spaceship and gave them to Caleb. Liam shares his treats from Primary with his brothers, without being asked.

Now that Liam is in kindergarten others are starting to notice how sweet he is. His teacher told me that a few kids were fighting over jump ropes at recess that day. Liam said, "It's OK I can wait. It's just a jump rope!" She said he earned all of his gold stars that day. A day or two later she told me that when they visited the library, all of the kids were fighting to get Star Wars books. Liam said, "It's all right, we can take turns. There are lots of books." Wow! A golden child!

Yesterday, Nathan took Daniel and Liam to their first BYU football game. I think they had fun despite the miserable loss. Nathan told me that when everyone was very upset by the opposing teams' scoring, Liam turned to him with a quizzical look on his face and said, "It's just a game!" There's perspective. I was at home worrying that my boys' first introduction to BYU games with their dad was ruined, but I think Liam kept things real. (It might have helped that he fell asleep before it got even worse in the end.)

Liam is the sunshine in my soul today. He is doing very well in his kindergarten class. I am so proud of him. He doesn't like doing homework (one of the few things that makes him grumpy), but he loves playing Lego Star Wars, so he will do homework for the chance to play. Liam loves being here with Grandma and Grandpa. When we went to Nathan's office family picnic he was sad that Grandma wasn't there. He cried one morning when Grandma had to leave for work. He often tells me, "Mom, you're beautiful." He also says, "____(insert name ie. Grandma, Grandpa, Caleb, Daniel, Mom, or Dad), You're the best." After doing something he likes he often says, "This is the best day ever!" He also says, "This is not any fun!" when he has to go to bed, or stop playing Lego Star Wars.

Liam is also has a very clever sense of humor. He definitely adds a lot of laughter to our family. I don't know how to describe it, but a while back, I was talking with one of the boys (insert Daniel) about why it's important to do homework. Unbeknownst to me, Liam was standing behind me doing the "Snoopy". That sounds weird and if I attempted to describe it, I don't know that I could make it sound any better. For those of you who have seen Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, there is a point in which Lucy is scolding the cast about responsibility and doing a good job and how it all takes practice, work, and patience. Snoopy is standing behind Lucy, pretending to scold the cast by mimicking everything that Lucy does. Well, that's what Liam was doing and we all started laughing so hard. Just yesterday, we were all sitting at the dinner table when Nathan said to Liam, "Daniel is eating his all of his food and is about to win". Liam's response? He started to rub his eyes and pretended to cry. We all started to laugh hysterically. Liam makes me smile. I love him so much.

What Does Santa Do During the Summer?

Caleb informed me and Grandma Brady this morning at breakfast that Santa cries every night. When I questioned why he said simply, "He misses me!" Caleb is so cute and so funny. I would cry too if I only got to see him once a year.

Caleb tells anyone who'll listen that he wants a house, a dog, and stairs. He also added a snake this past week. He tried adding a "kitty" to the list one day, until I reminded him that I am allergic. So, he changed it to a "cat". I told him that I was also allergic to cats. Now he has a revised list, "a house, a dog, stairs, a snake, but not a kitty or cat." He also asks if I could get him another birthday. It sounds like he thinks I could just run out and pick one up at the store.

Caleb still loves his puppies (both the stuffed animals and the make believe). The other day he got out bowls for dog food and insisted that Grandma (pretend) pour them some apple juice over and over again.

Leave it to Liam

Today we read in the scriptures about wicked King Noah. After he killed the prophet Abinadi he too was burned at the stake. Liam's comment was great. "Ha Ha, he was burned like a steak! That is so silly." I guess it's true that you can read the scriptures over and over again and always get something new out of them.

Out of the blue, on our way up to Logan Liam asked, "Is God Spanish?" (I had no idea where that came from. It cracked me up a bit.) I tried to figure out what he was talking about. Did he mean what language does God speak or what His nationality is? I told him that God may have a perfect language, but he can understand everyone that talks to him in any language. I asked why he thought God might be Spanish. He said he was remembering the missionary movie that we've watched. I think he must mean The Other Side of Heaven--one of my favorites. It's actually not Spanish but Tongan that they're speaking. I think any language that is not English right now he calls Spanish. I guess the most important part of the answer to his question would be that we are made in God's likeness. We are his children and he know and understands us all. I love it when Liam lets me in on what he's pondering.

Fortune Cookies Never Lie

The other night we had Chinese and gave the boys our fortune cookies. Caleb's was something generic like, "happiness can be found close". Liam opened his to read something like, "A romance will soon blossom". (We laughed, but then Kylee McDonald came to town from CA this week and it was really fun to watch the two together--who knows). We read Daniel his fortune which said, "You will succeed in the career path you have chosen." We explained to Daniel that it meant he would do well in the job he picks. (In this job market that is a great fortune to get!) His reply, "Yes! I'm going to be a Jedi!" I wonder what kind of pay a Jedi gets? Do they have good benefits? (They should, afterall, it wouldn't cost the Jedi Council much since they're not supposed to become emotionally or romantically attached--no family health care.) Could we be reimbursed for all of the Star Wars stuff we've bought--just call it job training?!

Pirate Island Dinner

Grandma Brady took us to Pirate Island for dinner. We didn't put money in the games, but the boys had fun with them anyway.

Every restraunt should have something like this to entertain while the kids wait for their food.

Thanks Grandma! We had so much fun.

Dinosaur and Bean Museum

In July John and Jamie came out with their three girls (actually due to a manditory evacuation for the big fires in Los Alamos--nothing was harmed). While they were here we had some fun at the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum.

Our paleontologists unearthed some great fossils. Caleb made a new friend.

They loved the sand and water station, where they built lots of dinosuar islands and created dams and waterfalls.

There wasn't any sign saying, "Please don't feed the dinosaurs!" Maybe our group needed one.

Dinosaurs can be dangerous--but so can we!The boys were fascinated to watch a paleontologist working on a fossil.

There was a part of the Science Discovery Museum (from San Diego) there on temporary display to play with.

Science is hard work.

We also went to the Bean Museum. The three bears are some of our favorites.

Daniel loved looking at the BYU cougar. It is so fun to explore with cousins.