Do A Good Turn Daily

Josh received his Bobcat award at Pack Meeting this month. When they awarded Josh the Bobcat, they explained that as a Bobcat you should do a good turn daily.  So when I pinned on his award they turned him upside down so I could put on the pin right side up. 

When Josh was was put upright again, then pin was then upside down.  He was told he couldn't turn the pin correctly until he did a good turn.  It didn't take long for that pin to get turned right side up!

Josh and his awesome leaders Sister Boren and Sister Nitchman.

Give Kids A Smile Bowling Night

We have had a bad case of cabin fever over the last few weeks.  Man it has been cold!  We needed a night out.  A great opportunity came up when the Provo Dental Alliance had a charity bowling night at BYU.  We took all the kids and went.  It proved to be very fun.  As we pulled up to the Wilkinson Center, Kayden asked me, "Mom, did you remember to bring our bowling balls?"  I laughed as we do not own any bowling balls.  Then it dawned on me, Kayden does not remember EVER going bowling.  Let me just say, he loved it.  Kayden was even sad when he had to give his cool shoes back at the end of the night.  Every part of it the boys loved.  What was not to love?  There was a liter of root beer on each table, all you can eat pizza and pasta from Brick Oven and bowls of candy on the table as well.  Then the bowling.  The first round of bowing we just did our best--and I did.  I bowled a 130, my best score ever.  Jeremy only beat me by a couple of pins.  The second round of bowling had us doing all sorts of maneuvers and tricks:

One time we had to bowl while sitting down.  Above you see Jaxon and Jeremy taking their turn.

Jaxon laying on the floor after he was done.  Off to the right, you can see Jeremy trying to get up while he is getting a hug from Kayden.

Me bowling between my legs.  At the very least it didn't go in the gutter.

McKay trying a different approach to bowling between the legs.

Josh bowling while sitting down.  Lucky kid, he had bumpers!

Kayden giving his ball a nice "toss" down the lane.  He thought he was pretty awesome.

Jeremy bowling between the legs.

Bowling backwards.  Looking good, eh?

At the end of the night they had a raffle drawing.  We won a pocket knife and then won the last prize of the night which was a huge basket full of BYU stuff.  The boys were past excited: 

They also loved that they came home with extra root beer.  It was a fun night and it was great to be out of the house together as a family. 

12 Things At Christmas

Christmas was a busy time of year as always. So I decided to wrap up our Christmas Break as "12 Things At Christmas". Here is our count down:

12 Grandkids (and one great grandkid) in matching pajamas made by Grandma White.  This is fun tradition that my kids look forward to each year.

11 foot tall Christmas tree (10 foot tree with a 1 foot stand).  We were in need of a new tree this year and decorations.  We loved sitting in the family room at night with the tree lights on.  It was so relaxing after a crazy day.

10 minutes until the house was a wreck Christmas morning.  The kids (and Jeremy and I too) enjoyed unwrapping presents and surprising each other.  Below are some present highlights.

Kayden unwrapping with much enthusiasm.

Jaxon checking out some signatures on the basketball he received.  His ball was signed by BYU's Tyler Haws, Brandon Davies and Anson Winder.  He was very excited.

Josh and Kayden seeing what Santa brought them in their stockings.  Santa also brought them a bow and arrows.

McKay and Jaxon seeing what was in their stockings and checking out their gifts from Santa.  McKay received a Christmas Cactus and Jaxon also received a bow and arrows.

No one noticed for a few minutes, but Santa also brought us a Doodle Bug motor bike.  Jaxon wandered over to the tree and said, "What's this?" in disbelief.  The kids got to ride it Christmas morning but we haven't had any good weather since then to be able to ride it (even then they were riding it in the snow).  It will be fun this spring and summer to cruise around.

Kayden opened up a BYU football uniform and immediately put it on.  He is one cute kid.

Now back to our count down:

9 Days of illness (at least).  It started with Kayden who was sent home from school early the day before Christmas Break.  He was sick for 3 days.  They Jaxon got sick while skiing on the slopes:

 

He lasted half a day on the slopes before calling it quits.  He was down for 3 days or so.  Then Josh got sick (again--he was sick a couple of weeks before) and was down for several days and also had pink eye.  McKay got sick at the end of the break and ended up missing a day of school as well.  Thankfully, Jeremy and I stayed healthy.

8 hours spent in the car (really a little less) driving to and from Idaho Falls.  We spent New Years with my brother Paul and his family who live there.  My sister from Houston and her family were there too.  It was a nice relaxing holiday.  We all had a good time up there--despite the freezing temperatures.
 

7 nights of wrapping presents.  At least.  Jeremy was a little help.  He put the gift tags on the presents after they were wrapped and a bow placed on top.  I am just thankful he wrapped my presents.

6 Boys at a belated birthday party.  McKay's birthday party kept getting pushed back waiting for the Space Center to open.  It is now closed until further notice with no reopen date.  McKay decided to invited some friends to Chuck-A-Rama (yum?) and then to the Movie The Hobbit for his belated birthday party.  It was a fun afternoon for them.

5 people (pictured) skiing.  Jeremy took McKay skiing with Samantha (my niece), Bryan (my nephew), his brother Brady and Brady's wife Kelly (the one not pictured).

4 tired boys on Christmas Eve.  We took them to a trampoline hot spot called Hang Time.  We wore them out so they would be nice and tired come bed time.  Above they are all rested on Christmas morning.

3 Christmas Parties.  We had a party with Whites on Christmas Eve, the Culley party with all my cousins and their families as well as a party with my family the Haackes.  The kids received presents from their cousins and grandparents:

Josh got a cool Darth Vader jacket that zipped up and over his face like a mask and...

...Jaxon received a Storm Trooper jacket.  They both loved the gift and wouldn't take off their jackets.

2 boys with BYU basketballs on their wall.  A fun gift from Grandma and Grandpa Haacke.

And when all was said and done, there was 1 tired mom ready for the house to be put back together and ready for sick kids to be well.  It was a wonderful Christmas with lots of memories made.

Christmas Sing In

I love the tradition at the boys' school of a sing in. They do it a day or two before Christmas break. Each grade takes a turn singing a song to the parents. I headed to the school last week and left with the Christmas spirit!

Here is Jaxon with his class getting ready to sing.  Jaxon is on the top row, in the middle, white shirt with a Santa hat on.

They sang Santa Got Stuck In The Chimney Again and Hot Cup of Cocoa.

Post-performance smile.

Oh Joshua.  What would we do without his priceless facial expressions?  Here he is sticking his tongue out at me (second row from the top, white shirt).  I may or may not have been sticking my tongue out at him too.

They sang Haul Out The Holly and Jingle Bell Rock.

Josh's post-performance smile.  I was glad that I could be there to hear the boys sing with their class and grade.  It made me smile.

Chocolates!

One of our favorite family traditions at Christmas time is dipping chocolates with Grandma and Grandpa White.  This year was just as fun and yummy as to be expected.

Grandma White is one serious dipper.  She had Maddie and Savannah helping her out with the marshmallow centers this year.

McKay was the expert chocolate chopper.  He chopped the giant block of chocolate into small pieces so it be put in the oven to be melted.  He said he would love to do this as a real job any day.

Josh and Jaxon were the expert tasters.  They filled their own boxes of chocolates.  Grandma White had also prepared sloppy joes for lunch.  Josh couldn't wait to dig in.

Having fun with Melodie and Jennise, my sister-in-laws.

Jeremy even got in on the dipping action.

McKay couldn't resist licking his fingers.  Tasty stuff!

In the meantime, the younger kids had fun doing who knows what.  Above Josh dressed himself up as a princess.  I don't know his line of thinking there, or here:

A ballerina?  He certainly had fun being silly.

Kayden wanted to get in on the silliness too, but refused to leave the bathroom wearing anything girly.

It was a fun day and we appreciate Grandma White for all the hard work she does so that we can enjoy a great family tradition.

Great Grandma White

Jeremy's Grandma White passed away a few days ago. She was 94 years old and lived a full life.  We were able to attend her funeral yesterday. It was a nice day to remember her and honor her legacy.

We went to go and visit Grandma in the spring.  This is the last picture we have with Grandma as a family.

I know this picture is a little blurry, but I want to include it.  Jeremy's Aunt Carol is in this picture with us.  She is an amazing woman and took such great care of Grandma.  She is a great example of love and sacrifice.  Here is her obituary:

1918 ~ 2012
Midvale, UT-Vida May Fowkes White, age 94, passed away Dec. 5, 2012 with loving family by her side. She was born March 20, 1918 in Evanston, WY to Charles Mortimer Fowkes Sr. and Edith Louise Bell. Vida had the privilege of growing up on a ranch in Almy, WY. She was an outstanding student at the Utah School for the Deaf in Ogden, UT. She earned a scholarship to Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., the only four year Liberal Arts University for the deaf in the U.S. Vida and Jack were married in the Salt Lake Temple and enjoyed 67 years of marriage. She loved gardening and nurturing her beautiful flowers and house plants. Vida was an excellent cook and will be remembered for her fabulous meals and peanut butter fudge. Her cakes won blue ribbons. She served in numerous callings in the LDS First Ward for the deaf and completed a mission at the Family History Center. Vida loved to cook, read, and make quilts for loved ones. She and Jack enjoyed watching the Jazz games and eating out. Mom is loved dearly and will be missed greatly.
Vida is survived by her children, Carol (John) Mathis, Jack (Jo) White, Sherri (Robert) Berntsen, 10 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Preceded in death by her husband John "Jack" F. White, one great-granddaughter and eight siblings.
Funeral service will be held Monday, Dec. 10 at 11:00am at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary (3401 S. Highland Dr., SLC). Viewing from 9:30 to 10:45am on Monday prior to services. Interment at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.

This is Jeremy's dad, Brady (Jeremy's brother), Weston (another brother), Jeremy, McKay and Jason (another brother).  Jeremy and McKay were able to be pallbearers.

All the pallbearers: Dan (Jeremy's cousin), Brady, Weston, Jeremy, McKay, Jason, Robert (Jeremy's uncle) and Carl (Jeremy's cousin).

McKay placing his pallbearer flower on Grandma's casket with Jeremy and Weston nearby doing the same.

So glad that we all could be together as a family to remember and honor Grandma.  She was a wonderful woman.  I can't wait until I can actually talk with her and have a real conversation.  (She was deaf and it seemed like the only conversations we had were small talk.)

Jeremy's Dad's cousins were there at the funeral.  They still live on the ranch that Grandma White lived on as a little girl.  They are placing this plaque on the corner of the property to mark where the original ranch was.  They are dedicating it around Memorial Day next year.  I am hopeful that we are able to make the trip for the dedication and to see where Grandma's roots are.  I feel like there is such a great legacy that we need to learn about and know.

Josh Is Baptized!

Today Josh was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He has been waiting for this day for a long time!  Josh was the 20th baptism in our ward this year and he patiently waited all year for his big day to come.  However, Josh started out the day a little rough.  He woke up this morning with a temperature of 102.6 and he wasn't quite his jolly ole self all day.

Josh was baptized by his dad.

We are all so proud of Josh.

Almost everyone that was in attendance at Josh's baptism.  A couple of people snuck out before we could get a picture.  So many people love Josh and support him.

After the baptism we had a luncheon at our house.  Grandma and Grandpa Haacke gave Josh a picture of the temple by our house.  (You can tell Josh isn't feeling well in this picture and the ones to follow.)

He received a nice gift from his cousin Tre and a nice letter too.

Grandma White made Josh a Cub Scout quilt and gave him a sock monkey.  Josh loved both and cuddled with them the rest of the day.

It was a really nice day (other than Josh not feeling well) and we loved being surrounded by our family and friends.  We are proud of Josh and his decision to be baptized.