Mae's Primary Program...

The best Sacrament Meeting all year! I worked a night shift last night, got home at 7:00 am, then went to church at 9:00---the program made it all worth it (not that our regular meeting aren't worth it). Mae did amazingly with her part and got many compliments from our ward members. I was sitting on the back row and when they sang "I am a Child of God", I could hear her voice, loud and clear, over all the other kids. I was amazed, especially this year for some reason, at how strongly I could feel the spirit, and how refreshing of a testimony strengthener the program was. To have 5 year olds speak about The Proclamation to the Family and how how they are grateful for eternal families. With all the talk in the media about the definition of marriage and people's rights, I got emotional when these young kids talked about how having a mother and a father for children is the essence of why Heavenly Father created families and marriage. These kids don't watch the news, but to them, this was both important and uncomplicated.

The program had the classic kids who had the part memeorized and zoomed through it while staring at their shoes. The one who messed up mid way through, chastized themselves and started over, the ones who's cute way they talk make it a little hard to understand but leave you with the biggest grin, and of course the poor 12 year olds who are sooooooo ready to be out of Primary and show their complete lack of interest in the songs and their parts.

Ahhhhh...like I said, this program was great and put me on a spiritual high that will totally get me through this next week--hey thats what church is for right?!

With no further ado, here is the star herself...

Because the fire engine video (below) was so boring...

... here are a couple videos of the kids you might like.

The first one is of Noah having his first taste of applesauce (we have another, funnier video, but the file was too large to post).

The second one is of Ian asking to watch Ronan Hood (a.k.a. Robin Hood). I managed to get him to say "robin" alone, but he can't seem to say "Robin" and "Hood" together (I thought it was funny).

Anyway... enjoy!

Oklahoma State Homecoming...

Homecoming in Stillwater is absolutely CRAZY!!... but lots of fun too! The night before the game all of the frat houses team up with different sororities and they build these huge structures in front of their houses which they then decorate with different themes The one above is, obviously, a 007 theme, but there was also a Indiana Jones theme, a Dr. Suess theme, a Pirate theme, and a variety of other creative works. The celebration is called the "walk around" (creative, I know), and not only are there great decorations and LOTS of people, but there are also a variety of overpriced foodstuffs and goodies.

This one is Mae's favorite, the Dr. Suess theme. Most of these things have moving parts, and the kids get to watch them all and see what they do.

This one is the Pirate theme, and Ian thought it was pretty cool--he even tried to go under the restraining rope and play on the makeshift beach that had been created. He actually dropped his new BYU hat there and luckily someone picked it up and gave it to some guys running a nearby booth. About a half hour later we realized it was gone and re-traced our steps to find it--Ian HAS to wear it whenever his dad wears his.

Ian is pointing at the shipwreak on the beach--admittedly, this one was pretty cool.

The '80s theme was the one we liked the most. There was an NES, a boom box, a TETRIS screen, MTV allusions, and other favorites from the '80s.

When we left the walkabout this float was parked in front of the exit to the parking lot we had parked in. The guy who parked it there had locked the keys in it and we had to "offroad" in our Pilot in order to get around it--so, we felt like we had to take this picture this morning at the homecoming parade.

Had to get a picture of this horse and cowgirl queen. That is all.

Below, I posted Ian's favorite part of the parade. I had to restrain him from running out in the road for a closer look.

Catching up...

Well, with grad school in full swing, a couple of quick trips to Utah, and Mae's kindergarten underway, we haven't posted much in the last month. Sooooo....

Here are a few pictures to catch everybody up:

Yeah. The crazy pilots let Ian in the cockpit--I am sure you can all imagine how fun it was dragging him out of there. He did have fun, though.

At least once a week we have a family movie night. We pop some popcorn, make some brownies and watch something together. It is always fun and the above picture is what eventually happens--Ian with the popcorn bowl finishing off every last kernal.

Noah was getting pretty shaggy.

But after a quick trim-up he looks great!

Ian's HAPPY birthday...

So...

We visited the fire station early today to let Ian have a private tour of the station and the trucks--guess what he liked the most?!... The BIG engine, of course. The on-duty firefighters were VERY cool, and they let Ian crawl around in their trucks to his heart's content--they even pulled the BIG engine out of the garage, raised the ladder for Ian to watch, and honked the horn too! Ian of course loved EVERY minute of it and did not want to leave (practically throwing a fit). What a great beginning to a great birthday!


On the way to the station we stopped at the train tracks and let the kids walk around, and have a quick break. Ian was SOOOO excited to get to the fire station that he [I kid you not] ran the whole way there, which is saying something because the fire station is close to a mile from our house--he simply wouldn't stop. As many of you know, Ian loves anything to do with trains, and while playing on the train tracks doesn't seem like something a normal kid would do for his birthday, Ian absolutely loved it. I mean, c'mon, throwing rocks and waiting to see a train--how could it get any better?


This is Ian's birthday "cake". He wanted train, so we got creative and it turned out well.

Ian's gifts were great! He loves the hat and shirt Grandma and Grandpa Foster gave him, the cape aunt Jeni gave him, the "Robin Hood" movie and "James" engine Grandpa and Grandma Campbell gave him, the new CD player/singer and Lightning McQueen boots Grandma Terry and Grandpa Wendell gave him, and especially the $2.50 airplanes we got on clearance for him at a local toy store!

Ian--obviously loving his planes and boots! In addition to all of the above, we also went swimming, BBQed hot dogs wrapped in croissants, popped some popcorn, ate Ian's train cake, and watched Disney's "Robin Hood" before hitting the sack. Below is a quick video of the fire station. We took a longer video of the truck as the ladder rose, but it was too long to post. Anyway, Ian had a GREAT birthday--even as I type this, he is playing with his planes in his bed, "trying" to go to sleep.

Mmmmmmmm, Brownies!

Seriously, is there anything better?

Okay, maybe the cupcakes where Carly works in St. George..., or the Reece's peanut-butter chip/chocolate cookies.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Mae and her first day in Kindergarten...

She was definately excited and anxious for the few days before class began. Every morning she would wake us up by reminding us that there were only "X" number of days before school began!

I love how her bookbag is nearly as big as she is!

Thanks to her cousin, Kate, Mae has a new collection of beautiful skirts to wear to school this year! Thanks, Kate, for growing out of all of those cute skirts--Mae absolutely LOVES them!

The video below is a quick take of her getting on the bus. The bus was almost 20 min late the first day (leaving to school) and Mae forgot to get off the bus at our house after school, so for us the bus was almost an hour late getting home--we were pretty worried about our little girl! Anyway, not pictured in the video below is Ian's reaction to Mae going on the bus when he actually thought that he was going to be able to get on as well. Every day Ian cries on the floor because Mae has gone to school on the bus and Dad has gone to school on the scooter--and lucky Mom gets to stay home with him (poor kid)!

Anyway... enjoy!