Dear Kids,

 

Here are our beautiful family pictures that were taken in October by Chelsea Searle.  I always look forward to these so much, and treasure how they capture your cute personalities.   Looking through them now, I am struck by how gorgeous my little girl is, and how handsome my boys are.  I am so grateful to be your mama.  I love you.

Love, 

Mom

Dear Keaton,

Not surprisingly, you were very easy-going with the change in schools this year.  You seemed to be content with either school that I put you in, and I was so grateful for your trust.  Not surprisingly either, you are doing remarkably well at APA.  I am your room mom so I know both of your teachers pretty well.  They love you in their class and are very quick to tell me so.  They tell me you are an absolute sweetheart and never give them any problems, which is totally your character.  You have already been moved up a math level, and are loving every minute of school.  I think you look so handsome in your uniform, and I love how you have never complained once about the white shirt and tie every single day.

We were going to have you stop piano and start taking guitar with Sam at the end of the month, but you recently told me that you wanted to stay in piano, and I am secretly very happy about this.  You are doing so well in piano, and I hated to think you would not be progressing in it anymore.  I love the sounds of the piano when you are practicing, and see you get better week by week.

You just earned your Weblos badge in scouts, and it looks like you will be getting your Arrow of Light next month! I can't believe you are almost out of Cub Scouts.. crazy!

You (and Sam) are totally into Minecraft right now, and sometimes that is all I hear you talk about. You are hoping for an Xbox for Christmas so you don't have to play Minecraft on my computer.  I love how you will cover every snack in peanut butter, sneak in to sleep in Jack's bed every night, sing the hymns with me in church every Sunday, and can be caught reading in the big chair without being asked.

You are such a good kid, and I am so very proud of you.  I love you, son.

Love, 
Mom

Dear Kids,

It was a morning that was unexpectedly sweet.  The first day of your fall break, and it was a cold and rainy day.  Rumors had been flying here and there about Angel Moroni being put on top of the temple, but to me they were rumors, and I had a very busy day lined out.  Then I got a text saying that Moroni was spotted down at the temple site and he was going up some time before lunch.  Everything was dropped, layers and layers of warm clothes were put on, and we headed down to join the crowd that was already waiting.  

It was quite freezing for an early October day, and the rain was threatening as we waited those few hours, but all of that melted away as soon as Moroni was lifted high into the air.  The crowd cheered, and it was a deeply moving experience to watch him fly so gracefully up to the top.  Even you children were mesmerized, watching alongside friends and neighbors.

I am quite certain that this was a once-in-a-lifetime event for me and maybe even for you.  How grateful I am that it was fall break.  (Whether or not they had planned it that way, I don't know).  It gave you the opportunity to be there and make an impression on your hearts and minds.

It makes me smile to hear Jack say when we pass by the temple, "Moroni is still on the temple!" as if he thought it was only temporary, and his "I sawed it Mama, I sawed it!" meaning that he remembers seeing him fly up there.  What a great experience for children so little.  Just now as I was watching the video of Moroni being lowered and the crowd singing The Spirit of God, Jack was in the room playing.  When I stopped the video he said, "I love that Moroni song!"  How we blessed we are to have been apart of it, to have such a beautiful temple in our own backyard. 

The last few moments of Moroni being lowered into place.

Dear Jack,

I am so grateful that you have adjusted so well to preschool.  You were excited to go from day one, and contiune to be so.  You want to go to school everyday like your brothers and sisters, so every day you do go is a treat.  It has been a blessing that you have a buddy going with you, and that Christian who just moved in across the street, is in your carpool and class.  At 3 years old, you seem way to young for a real friend or playmate, but you have had many play dates with Christian, and have amazed me at how well you both get along.  Every now and then you won't share or will be bossy, and your true age comes out, but for as young as you are, you do great.

For the most part, it is you, me and Birdie around the house all day.  I can tell in that you are getting older in the way you are not as content as you used to be, just to stay home with me.  You ask to play with Christian or to run over and play with another (older) friend, Matthew, or as you say "Maffyou," when he is outside.  You are a great help with Birdie in talking her outside, and for most the day, she is your wrestling partner.  Often I will turn around in my office chair to see the 2 of you tangled on the floor behind me.  For the most part she is pretty gentle with you, until she has had enough.

You are determined to go to the next BYU football game with me and your dad, and it is all you can talk about.  Your dad is trying to bribe you by telling you that you have to go pee-pee on the potty first.  I am not sure that even that will be enough to get you to go on the potty, and I already know that I will have to give in and take you either way.  Oh, it would be so nice to get you out of diapers though.  Your diet is mostly fruit because you are such a picky little eater and your bum pays a price because of it.  I am really tired of the rashes.  One of these days you will do it.

I have realized that if I keep your brothers and sisters in APA, that means that you will be able to go to all day Kindergarten in less than 2 years.  The idea that you could be gone all day truly makes me sad.  I need to make sure I cherish each day I get to spend my days with you and having you for lunch.  You are my little buddy right now, and my shadow.  You have recovered fully from your tonsillectomy, and snore no more.  I have not noticed any change in your voice or in your eating habits, but maybe that is yet to come.  I am glad that is behind us.  

I love that still everything blue is "cookie monson" and I noticed this week that you have Christian saying it as well.:)  I love that you have to eat everything covered in cheese, that "chips and sauce" is your favorite lunch (chips and queso), that you are picky about what songs you like and make me turn it if you don't know it in the car.  I love how you insist that Birdie ride with us to pick up the kids, that you refuse to say the dinner prayer even though I think you could do it, that you never feel ready to go anywhere unless you have your brother's old BYU hat on.  I love you to pieces.

Love, 
Mom

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Dear Emmi,

Dear Emmi, 

Those first few days and even weeks of school were so hard on you.  You left that first morning looking so cute, but you called me crying from the office that day, wanting me to come and get you.  I hated the tears in the morning getting ready the next couple of days, and it broke my heart to send you anyway.  I was so happy to see you like it more and more little by little.  We don't have the tears now, and I find it funny that your only real complaint is that it is "too long."  Coming from Kindergarten, that is very understandable you would say that.  Already you have gotten used to it.  

I love how you tell me about P.E., which you have twice a week now, and how you "killed the red team" every week.  I love how you eat all your vegetables and fruit in your lunch and don't eat your sandwich, how you somehow manage to come home every day with what looks like chocolate milk spilled down your blue dress, the songs that you have been learning and sing to me every night such as "The Ants Go Marching," how out of the blue on the way to school the other morning you said "my favorite part of school is rocket math!!" with your fist in the air, and how all the teachers that watch me drop you off from school look at me and say how adorable you are.  

I will never forget the morning I took you and your brothers to the bus stop to ride into school, with the idea being I would just be picking you up in the afternoons.  You were crying before we even got there, but I had hoped you would settle down when you got on the bus.  You rode buses all year last year, so it was not a new thing.  But no, the bus driver was somehow in no hurry and you all sat there on the bus for what seemed liked hours.  I could see you sitting with your brothers, still crying and waiting.  It broke my heart to see you still crying as the bus pulled away, and the scared look on your face.  That was the first and last time you have rode the bus this year.  

I did not put you in dance this year either, and pulled you from gymnastics.  You didn't want to be there unless I was there with you, and had your share of meltdowns at gymnastics this summer. I realized that with a new school this year and all day, I didn't want to overwhelm you and thought this was a good time to take a break.  I am very glad I did just that, since school seemed to be hard enough in the beginning.  I will miss seeing your cute smile on stage in a recital, but you have plenty of years ahead for that if you want to.

Sometimes I just want to squeeze you.  You are just so adorable.  I love your toothless smile, and how you will tell me how cute your smile is.  I love your cute curly head, and your feistyness.  

Love, 
Mom