Owen's 6th Birthday: Snowboarding, Spy Games and Texas Roadhouse!

I can't believe Owen is 6. He is growing out of all his clothes and shoes. He reads like a champ, climbs the rope in gymnastics almost to the top, is linking turns snowboarding, and using all kinds of huge words. Owen is so sweet with his brothers. He would do anything for them. He is thoughtful and kind, and I love this boy. So, so much.

For Owen's birthday, I got to go into his class and read them a book. Of course we read "Owen" by Kevin Henkes. Then he passed out Phinneas and Ferb fruit snacks to his class. He was so excited. I am so proud of my big boy.

Owen's actual birthday fell on a Sunday, so we decided to party all day long on Saturday instead. First we went up to Beaver Mountain for some snowboarding and sunshine. It was nice to leave the inversion behind for a few hours!

BBQ in the parking lot, baby!

After the Beav, we came home for the coolest party since, well, since Owen's Harry Potter party last year. :) The boys came up with the idea for a Spy Party, and came up with most of the ideas. Here is Bennett, wearing what he wore to deliver the invitations to Owen's party.

Here are the invitations. I had so much fun making them. I even got to buy an old-school label maker!

One of the highlights for me was listening to the kids tell Bennett and Owen their secret code names through our old mail slot upon arrival. They were sooooo serious about it and CUTE!

Here's Nikolas getting his secret agent badge.

When the kids came in, they were fingerprinted and had their photos taken.

Bennett was way into it.

Looking good in their undercover spy wear.

Secret Agents!

Laser maze and tunnel crawl!

Target practice!

Agent Carson loads his weapon.

Agent Lambert prepares to lead the kids on a secret mission to discover who stole all Owen's birthday presents!

Looking for clues under the bench at the bus station.

Yahoo! They found all the presents along with cake and ice cream at the church! After opening presents and eating treats, the kids ran wild in the gym for awhile. It was such a fun party. I have heard lots of parents saying what a good time the kids had. That makes me so happy! It is so fun for me to come up with creative ideas along with my kids to create fun memories.

To top off the day, we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, where Owen bravely rode in the saddle for a big ol' Texas "YEE-HAW!" He was a good sport. Bennett was mortified, and hid under his coat, under the table.

Happy birthday, Owenator! We love you so much!

Baker boy.

Bennett saw me looking through a cookbook the other day, and told me he wanted to find a simple recipe that he could do all by himself. He found a recipe for Gramma Linda's delicious scones, and decided to give it a go. He actually did it almost all by himself, and they turned out yummmmmmy. An added bonus was that he worked on new math skills at the same time: fractions! It was so cute.

Art Days.

We do lots of art in this house.

It makes us happy!

Yay for big snow and clean air!

In case you didn't know, Cache Valley has a little trouble with bad air. What I mean by that is that occasionally throughout the winter, we have the worst air in the entire country. How depressing is that?????? So when a big storm comes through and clears out the nasty inversion, we are happy. We even like shoveling!

Crazy Hat Day

Each of the boys' classes earned a "NoTardy Party" at school a couple of weeks ago. The reward for the kids was to have crazy hair or hats for part of the day. We forgot about it until that morning, but check out the cool hats we made!

OUCH.

Jason broke his toe helping someone move a couple of weeks ago. He thinks it was his own fault, though, because he was cursing the chainsaw bear he was carrying when the accident occurred.

Jake's thoughts on prayers.

This is what Jake looked like the last time we went to the grocery store. He wore his snow goggles the whole time. This is a funny, funny boy.

Last night at FHE, Jason was talking to the kids about how you can pray anywhere you want, anytime at all. But he told them that sometimes it's good to find someplace quiet where you can really pray and listen for answers. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Jake: One time I went to the basement to say a prayer because it was quiet down there.

Me: That's so awesome, Jake. What did you pray about?

Jake: Jesus and the Holy Ghost. --pause-- And a samurai guy. --pause-- And a mouse.

All of us: Laughing hard.

Sledding in Paradise. No, really. In Paradise, Utah.

The Gateway Experience

After dining at the Gateway with the Jules Lambert clan, on a snowy December day, I ditched everyone briefly and made a stop into the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (for an apple pie caramel apple, of course). Everyone else went ahead to the fountain without me. Imagine my surprise when I found all the kids soaking wet, warming themselves by the fire. I was flabbergasted. "YOU LET THEM GET WET?!" I asked, having a little mom freak-out.

Now, this is a difference between me and Jason. (Maybe a difference between all Moms and Dads all over the world.) I would NEVER have let the kids run through the fountain at the Gateway during a snowstorm. But Jason thought it was great! And guess what? Turns out he was totally right. Noone came down with a terrible cold, noone got hypothermia... the only thing that happened was that excellent memories were made, and the kids rode home to Logan in their underwear with foggy windows in the LandCruiser. Thank you, Jason, for being such a great dad. I will try not to question your judgement so often. ;)

December highlights... the very abbreviated version.

How was your December? Ours was insane. In a good way.

We saw Natalie Cole perform with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir... Fabulous!

We finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family on Christmas Eve. The kids were really excited about this special Christmas gift to the Savior. It only took us about 2 years to do...

Family Ties

I have a lot to write about in my journal today. I have felt so full of sadness, joy, and love, love, love. Today was the funeral of my Grandma, Margaret Manning McCracken. There is too much to write here, and it is too personal, really. But for my siblings (who I love sooooo much), I wanted to post a couple of things that happened and were said that I want to remember.

First, let me say that I am so lucky to be part of this family. As Margie said at the funeral today, I feel like I won the jackpot in having been chosen to come to this family.

Last night, after leaving the viewing, I was listening in on a conversation being had by the kids in the back seat. Bennett said something so beautiful, it is worth sharing here. He said,

"Seeing a dead person is weird, huh, guys? It's like they are just sleeping there. And really, they are. Grandma Stick is like Sleeping Beauty, and she isn't going to wake up until Jesus kisses her."

Kids are amazing; they know more about most things than we could hope to.

Also, a special experience I had today came as I made a total mess of the piano piece I was invited to play at the funeral. WHILE I was playing, Jake came up and stood by me to tell me he had to go to the bathroom and the door was too heavy and he couldn't find Jason. So I was a leetle distracted, and missed some notes. Several, actually. But here's what happened: I didn't care! Usually after I have performed and I don't do well, I beat myself up and swear off performing ever again. But this time, the thoughts came very clearly to me that the song was a gift to Grandma, not to the audience. And guess what? Grandma would have loved it. For her, it was good enough. Perfect, even. That's just how she was. And I have felt so powerfully blessed by her love all day long. I will forever. May I be just a teensy bit more like her is my wish and prayer tonight.

News...

I'll try to get around to posting more later, but for now...

It's a GIRL!

(This post is for my blogging friends who don't facebook. Love ya.)