Charity's UNOFFICIAL last day

This is probably Charity's favorite friend....they were in the same Primary class too. They sure were cute with each other and I LOVED Maia's good influence.


Cute little Emma....she was so sad!! Charity will miss Emma I'm sure.



This was really cute...they didn't want to stand too close to each other much less putting their arms around each other like I suggested :) We started trading babysitting with his family a few months before we decided to move :( so sad to leave that too!!



These four returned from their Spanish class just in time to get a picture....they were lucky they got to miss out on the Sub and his freakishness.....

So, technically Friday was Charity's last day of school too. But it was SO not good enough

for me. Everyone's been using their blogs to vent lately, so I am going to do just that for a minute. I had arranged with her teacher to come and take pictures of her class. Well, when I showed up there was a substituted. Poor Miss Groom had gotten sick and gone home for the day (which I do not blame her for any of this, just to make that clear). So I walk in and the stressed out male Sub looks up and asks me what I need. I looked at the class and then explained that I was there to check out Charity and get some pictures of the class as I had previously arranged with the teacher. Now I have to point out that ALL of the kids are sitting perfectly (for a picture) on the floor in front of the calendar. Would have been a perfect moment to just snap a picture. Well, apparently the sub didn't notice the perfectness and he says to me, "Well, we are just about to do calendar, and then Math, so if you want to just have a seat and wait a few minutes..." DUH!!! No, I don't want to wait...and WHY? They're in the perfect position. Well, it seemed really tense between he and I, and I felt like he was really annoyed that I was there, so I just told him I would be back. So I went down to the office to get the forms I had forgotten that I needed to have the teachers sign. So the office ladies gave me the forms and told me I needed to get signatures from the lunch clerk and the librarian before they could be withdrawn from the school (to make sure we didn't have any outstanding fines). Which to me was really funny since neither one of my kids had ever brought a book home from the library and were actually on free lunch....ANYWAY! So, I head down the hall to the cafeteria and the lunch clerk is no where to be found. Then I go to the library and it's locked and all the lights are turned off. Granted this was at 12:00 (lunch time). So I go back to the office, explain that no one is around, and THEN they decide to check the schedule and see where they are...of course these ladies are at lunch. So the office Secretary tells me that they will be back in an hour if I want to wait.....WHAT?? No, I don't want to wait! an HOUR!! (We were in the middle of loading up our moving truck!) You can tell I was already a little overwhelmed because as I am typing this I realize how silly it is that I was stressed out, but just humor me for a minute. So then I decide to try Charity's class one more time. When I walk in the sub is even more stressed out....and more irritated. Now all the kids are at their desks working on a math assignment. He consented to letting me go around the room and take a picture of Charity with each kid, ONE AT A TIME.....do I need to explain how LAME this is??? So I proceeded to go from table to table with Charity while she picked the person she liked most first (and made the rest feel bad that they weren't chosen first...bla bla bla), then of course kids were walking around and being disruptive...seriously, this was NOT the most efficient way to do this, and I was really done. So then some of the kids started to cry. Poor, cute little Eric had his head on his desk, buried in his arms and wouldn't stand up to get a picture with Charity for me. He said he was too sad that she was leaving. Then Emma started to cry. By this time I had decided it was going to be better to just come back the following week (when we are cleaning the house) to get a picture of the whole class WITH Miss Groom especially, and I was starting to lose interest in the whole thing. Not to mention the Sub was totally FREAKING OUT!! He was yelling and getting mad at all the kids who were not in their seats....it was just a mess. The mom that was there helping seemed to be on my side and thought the Sub was losing it for no reason. He kept telling me that they had a lot to get done on the list of things the teacher had left and I had to keep from laughing. Sorry, but seriously...what will happen if you don't get it all done??? And isn't me taking a class picture of my daughter's class WAY more important :) HA! jk. I think I just kept thinking about last year, and how special that last day at Nunaka was. And how much of a big deal Mrs. Nyholm made of it all. She was so sweet and bawled with us all. It was just so different.....and I wanted it to be more special....spoil my cute little girl more.....

Yeah, so anyway. I was really annoyed with it all. I know I shouldn't have been, but whatever. I am going to go back and get a picture of the whole class (rather than having 25 individual pictures of each person in her class that I would have no room to save!) and her teacher. I'm too sentimental for this mess!! So anyway....there, now i feel like a dork for venting about something so lame. But it's my blog and I'll vent if I want to :)

Kelly's last day

Kelly and Mrs. Davis. She LOVES Mrs. Davis. She liked her so much she picked out matching glasses!!


She was pretty cute with her friends, and I was able to snap a few pictures even though she made the rounds giving hugs pretty quickly.



Here she is with Abby. She is really going to miss Abby. They were such cute friends. I'M going to miss having a friend so close by. Sure was nice that they could just walk to each other's houses to play (all day long :)).


And here's the whole class. Hopefully Kelly likes her new teacher and class just as well....

When I went to pick up Kelly on Friday, I was able to get a few pictures of her class and Kelly with some of her friends and teacher. I totally HATE this part! I didn't cry although it was very difficult. Kelly seemed really okay with it all, and almost like she didn't grasp the concept, or maybe just had gotten past it all. She had spent several afternoons crying about it previously, so maybe she's just quicker than me. It felt like she was okay with it though and that was nice.

Dinner

Thursday night I got to go out to Olive Garden with a few of my old friends from Sandy. I had so much fun!! I seriously laughed ALL NIGHT LONG!! We stayed up way past my bedtime, but it really was so fun. I loved being able to catch up on everyone and it's fun to hear what everyone was up to. Thanks again for the fun night girls. We'll have to do it again soon! Kristen if you ever need a blog to make fun of...mine's always here :) HA! jk.

Can you tell I took these pictures with my timer and just sat the camera on the tv stand. Not the best, but I needed pictures!!

School lunch

Charity's teacher let her be the spotlight last week. As the spotlight she got to take a poster filled with things about her....hopefully I get that back sometime because it was really fun to see what she wrote on it. She got to take her favorite book to school for the teacher to read. The whole class made her a book of pictures and letters. AND she got to have her Mom come to lunch at school with her. (again the date in this one is wrong as well....it was Thursday) It sure was fun to walk down the hall to the lunch room, holding her hand, with her telling all her friends that I was her mom (not embarrassed by me at all- which I am cherishing since I know that will eventually come to an end). She showed me how to get my tray and food. She was a little goof ball most of the time and couldn't stop bouncing of the walls, but I love that about Charity. I wish I had HALF the energy she does. But anyway. We had such a good time. Drinking our chocolate milk (Charity's most FAVORITE thing about school lunch :)) Charity showed off some of her cute playground moves, and then I had to leave to go get the boys. It sure was fun though. I love the moments I get to spend, one on one, with my kids. Very fun.

Alaska Snow Trees

I call these trees "Alaska Snow Trees" because the first time I ever saw trees all covered in snow (or frost or whatever you want to call it) like this was in Alaska. Granted I thought it only happened in Alaska, so maybe it happened all the while I was growing up here in Utah too, I just never noticed it. Well, and in Alaska the trees are MUCH thicker, so it's even more fascinating. But anyway. The trees in Eagle Mountain do it too! I totally loved it when I would pull out of the garage and see the fuzzy, white trees everywhere. I think it's beautiful. Someone told me they think it's because of the river nearby? Not sure, but I love it and had to get a picture of them before we moved in case it's only something that happens in Alaska and Eagle Mountain (ha ha). (and just for the record, I believe this picture was taken on Thursday the 8th, not the ninth- still don't know how to set the date on my camera apparently! darn it....I'll have to try again)

Bradley's last day of Joy School :(

I love all their cute smiles in this one. And Brad has his arm around Olivia who he once said was "a cute little girl" :) How cute is THAT! jk. I am really not big on the whole flirting at age 4 thing....I know he's not.

Wednesday was Brad's last day of Joy School. We had had a few talks about how when we move he will have to be really friendly and make new friends really fast. So I am not sure if he was just practicing, or just didn't quite understand what I was saying, but I was told that he kept "making new friends" the whole time. He would go up to his already friends and ask them if they would be friends with thim :) Funny kid. Then for his "goal" that he had on his chart it said "To help people and make new friends". What a cutie. I'm going to miss Joy School. I would love to do one in our new place, but I'm told there aren't too many little kids in the neighborhood. So I will just have to look around a lot I guess. We'll see. But it's definitely been fun for him here. I've loved working with the moms and I love the kids. I'll miss it. Brad will too. I went and took pictures of his class and I had to post both of them because the bottom one was just too funny (even though it's blurry-sorry Jen- and nobody's really ready). I LOVE that Caden has the little viewer thing in front of his face because he's busy looking at it :)! lol These kids totally crack me up. And look how cute they are with their arms around each other!! Love it.

A baptism, Body Worlds, Discovery Museum, and a loose tooth

Last Saturday was a big day for us! In the morning we got to attend my neice Sydney's baptism. I just LOVE going to baptisms!! It's obviously the Spirit that is there, but it's just so neat for me! I loved that it was the day after the 21st anniversary of my baptism, and I loved being reminded of the covenants that I made. It was especially neat because Sydney was the last grandkid to be born before Nate and I got married. I guess it was kind of sentimental to me to have been there for her blessing and now her baptism. The first grandkid for me to have done this. I just love Sydney too, I think she's such a sweet girl. She's always so generous and loving toward Charity and Kelly, she'd do just about anything for them I think. She's been such a good example for them as well. Charity felt really privileged to be able to witness her baptism as well. I'm so glad my kids have so many cousins to look to and experience these things with them so that they know how things go. What a neat experience.
After the baptism we all went to Chuck-A-Rama and Jen treated us to lunch (so nice!). My kids were in heaven with the food choices, and with the endless icecream and treats....I don't think I've ever seen them eat that much food all at once. Bradley went from "I'm hungry. I'm starving. I'm hungry." to "I'm full. My tummy hurts." to "I'm bored." in under an hour! We were going to try and stay till dinner but....no, jk.
So after lunch we headed on up to the Gateway where we were going to meet Stephanie at the Discovery Museum. Stephanie and Chris (Nate's friends from school and OK and now our future game night buddies and work out pal) got me tickets to Body Worlds for my birthday AND offered to tend our kids while we went. So then Saturday Stephanie decided that she wanted to take the kids to the Discovery Museum at the Gateway (WAY NICE!!!) and then ended up getting us a membership since it "wasn't that much more"!!! So we left the kids with her and her mom, and walked, yes, WALKED up to the Body Worlds!!! It was like FOREVER AWAY!!! :) Nate's idea :) he didn't think it was too far. My husband is so optimistic :) The walk was actually really nice, and although we were shivering most of the way there, was really a pleasant break from the norm. So if you haven't seen Body Worlds (you probably won't since it's over in a few days and sold out) but if you haven't, let me just tell you....it was INCREDIBLE!!!! WAY BETTER than I had even imagined it would be! I don't know if anyone knows how obsessed I am with the human body and how much I enjoyed studying it in school, but this was like Christmas all over again. I was seriously just in awe at the whole thing. They had different "plastinates" (you'll have to look up what these are, or ask Nate, I couldn't explain it right) arranged in just really artistic poses to represent which muscles and organs are being used....then they had casts of the blood vessels in different organs and in a while body and in a CHICKEN!! JUST the blood vessels, nothing else!! Do you realize how incredible that is!!! And I think my most favorite thing was the embryos and fetus'. They show an embryo at I think the first one was 4 weeks and then had the following weeks. They had the beginning of the 7th, middle of the 7th and end of the 7th week and they all looked SO DIFFERENT!!! SO MUCH HAPPENS in such a short time in that first trimester. You could see teeny tiny little fingers in just the second month!!! They were so tiny and so cute!! Heavenly Father does some pretty amazing things....pretty miraculous. Totally made me want to have another baby......what else is new though! They also had the fetus' up to like 32 weeks which I thought interesting since that was the gestational age that both my nephews Marshall and Charlie were delivered at. Pretty crazy to think how small and helpless they are at that age and yet still have enough to survive. Just miraculous. The whole body is just so miraculous. It really gave me a greater appreciation for it again. Anyway...enough rambling, sorry. I just thought it was very impressive. I hope it comes to Utah again and that I get to see it again sometime. Very cool.
So then we walked back to the Discovery Museum and Stephanie and taken our kids over to McD's. She totally spoiled us rotten that day!! Thanks again Stephanie, if you're reading!! The kids totally loved the museum. They talked about it all on the way home. Along with Charity giving us minute by minute updates on the status of her loose tooth. I had been begging her to pull it (only because she kept crying about it hurting) for at least a week. And it was more than ready. I am not sure what we said that night, maybe it was Stephanie's influence as well (thanks for that too), but she wanted me to pull it when we got home. So first thing after we walked in the door and she had her jammies on, Charity came to me with a paper towel and her mouth wide open. I pulled her tooth! Crazy as that is. Kinda took me back to the days when I would wiggle my teeth and pull them. She was very brave, didn't even flinch, just got all excited for the tooth fairy to come :) So now she has lost 3 teeth!! I guess that's just how it's suppsoed to be, but I want her to stay little and the teeth pulling thing isn't helping with that. So anyway..... What a fun day for all of us.

Happy New Year!!

This was actually around 8:00 pm on New Year's Eve, apparently I didn't know how to set the date/time on my camera, but it's fixed now. The kids all fell asleep and took a nice little nap in the car on the way to the party....thankfully!


All of my boys (and Uncle Rob) waiting for the New Year.



I think Brad had to hold his head up to keep it from falling off, he was so tired.


Awww!!!! Noah didn't quite make it to midnight with the rest of us.

2008 is over. We had a fun time celebrating. I got to spend the day hanging out with my good friend Sherry. Then I got some packing done. And THEN it was time for the much awaited Maynes family party. My kids seriously get SO excited for the family parties. I love it. We were a little late, but not too late to load up on all the food. The kids spent most of their time downstairs but came up frequently for drinks and food and to watch Mommy play games :) I had a really good time playing games with all the moms. Charity joined us too- she was so cute playing the Oodles of Doodles game with us (fun game btw). At about 5 minutes to midnight we turned off Wall-E show that everyone was glued to, to watch the ball drop. I totally thought it was fun that EVERYONE was gathered around and counting down the last 10 seconds together. Charity and Kelly were smiling, so I think they got a kick out of it too :) And Lukey.
2008 has definitely been a good one. Lots of things happened, and lots of things didn't (I'm grateful for that). We've been very blessed. I look forward to 2009 and what it holds.


On New Year's Day we headed on up to Grandpa's to get things ready to move in...I took this picture while the boys were walking back to the car from the store....aren't my boys the cutest!! (I think Luke has my ears. lol.)
2009 HERE WE COME!!!!

Charity Marie 2009

Charity is 6, turning 7 on March 9th. She is very excited for her birthday and she always talks about how she only has one more year before she is baptized. She loves to rollerblade, ride her bike, read, write letters to friends and family, and hang out with Grandpa Hatch. She is learning to play the piano and wants to start gymnastics soon. She is way above the reading level that she needs to be as a First Grader and constantly surprises us with how well she can read and understand what she's reading. It's fun to watch her progress and learn so much. She loves to learn. She's a fun big sister and is always so helpful to her parents and brothers and sister. Charity is a huge part of our family and adds a nice little burst of energy to our lives.

Charity and Kelly's Play

Sunday night, Kelly and Charity put on a play for us. I was the narrator...Charity wrote it.



Then Charity was Mary, Kelly was Joseph...

Nate was the 3 wise men....

And Brad was the angel :)

They did a pretty cute job though!! I was pretty proud of them and how much they actually remembered....it has been a few days afterall :) I just like it when kids come up with stuff like this on their own...means a lot to me. Cute girls.

Noah was the audience...does he look impressed OR WHAT?!!

Yesterday I got go to lunch with all my old friends from Taylorsville. I don't know why I call them "old friends", we stay in touch really well and see each other fairly often, but anyway. I just love hanging out with them. It's really fun to watch each other's kids growing and keep track of what's new in the old ward. It's just a really fun group of girls. Thanks again Julie for arranging it and for coming all the way up to Utah to visit me (because i know that's the whole reason you came up here :)). Someday we'll make it down to see you I PROMISE!! Such a fun day!

The Day After

So we had a little extension of Christmas on Friday, my Mom, Brent, Sarah, Charlie, and Heidi came over for a little gift exchange and some Spaghetti (cooked in my brand new pots and pans-thank you Pappy!!). My Mom spoiled me with Birthday gifts galore....felt like it was my birthday all over again :) And Brent and Sarah spoiled us with a little taste of Sweden. It's so fun that Brent and Nate share the Sweden thing...Nate can't get enough of all the food...Thanks again guys. I made a complete fool of myself for Charlie and he totally wouldn't even crack a smile for me....must take after his Daddy. But I'm going to be practicing up, so start greasing the smile crackers!!! It was sure fun to have everyone over...thanks all for coming!!

The Most Wonderful Day of the Year!

Christmas morning the boys came in our room as usual (possibly having forgotten that it was Christmas) and since it was already 8:00 we told them to go see if Santa had come. Their cute little voices from down the hall were so priceless! Bradley was way cute about it all. He came running back in our room to tell us the news. They could hardly contain themselves when we told them to go get the girls and that they could all look through their stockings.


Kelly is really good at savoring the moment :)


Charity in amazement. She does the most perfect "surprise" look EVER!

She had a really interesting story for us about her coming upstairs to see if Santa was here, and actually CATCHING him in the act of leaving our presents!! She actually "saw him"!!! Try to wrap your brain around that! I had to make sure I document that event :)

Santa sure spoiled us this year. I think they would have been content with just the stockings...well, almost :)....Santa sure has some pretty awesome little helpers. They sure made our Christmas nice, and we are very grateful for all that everyone did for us this year.

Noah's first Christmas turned out to be a big hit! He was not so much into opening the presents himself, but he was really good at playing with whatever we handed him :)

This ball popper is what Luke gave Noah this year (we drew names within our little family this year). I think Luke got it mostly for himself...he hasn't stopped playing with it since. Noah likes it too, just not as much as Luke does...

Here's Lukey talking to Grandma Ruthie on the phone.

I got a special little package for Christmas as well. It was probably one of the biggest highlights this year, mainly because of how it was given. I sure wish I knew who it was, and could thank them personally, but if you know who you are, and I assume you frequent my blog, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! It sure meant a lot to me (and Nate!). We just feel so blessed this year.

Here are some shots of me playing with my new camera! It has a really cool feature with changing the color really easily... it's my new toy.

Nate was so awesome this Christmas and hosted a family dinner with my Dad and brother and sister. He made the most incredible turkey EVER!! Thanks again Sweetie for all your hard work on Christmas day especially!

You're not supposed to cry on CHRISTMAS NOAH!!!! Poor tired little guy. He sure had his sleep all messed up that day....spent most of the day sleeping....

I am not sure why I like this feature so much, but isn't it cool!

my dad is probably laughing at me if he is acutally looking at this post :)

Halfway through the day my Dad, Pam, Steve, and Heidi showed up to play with us and have a nice Turkey Dinner. They were so generous and loaded on the gifts (as if the kids weren't already spoiled enough :)). Kelly got lots of good drawing tools for Christmas....that's all she's done since :)

While the turkey was cooking my Dad, Charity, and I (and later, Nate, when we needed his bulging muscles) made the most awesome snowman EVER!! It was SO HEAVY!!! Even rolling the bottom section was difficult. But we did have to call in for reinforcements when it came time to put the middle and head on. The thing was HUGE!! I think this is the biggest snowman I've ever helped make. It's kind of leaning now, but hopefully the new tenants appreciate the beauty of it.

We did have to use a hotdog for the nose and the arms are measley, but other than that- isn't he cute!

Halfway through the evening I realized I hadn't seen Luke in a while and when I went to check in his room, this is how I found him. It must have been an accident because he was laying in Brad's bed. Christmas can be pretty tiring!!

Aunt Heidi had fun trying to get Noah to let her hold him. He's such a Momma's boy (yes, I do love it :)). But aren't these the cutest jammies EVER!! I love the two piece jammies on baby boys, with the collar....so cute! Thanks again Jen...you really did spoil us this year....

And last but not least, the beloved birthday cake!! I have the best husband in the world! He worked so hard all evening and then still had time to spoil me with a cute birthday cake! He's so good at making my day special. I really appreciate that. I did have a nice birthday in case you were wondering. My cute kids are so sweet to constantly wish me a happy day and giving me birthday hugs and kisses. It sure is fun to feel so loved! I can't believe I am 29!!! I feel so much OLDER!! Well, I guess you really can't go off of maturity level with me though- I have always acted much older than my age. Thanks everyone who wished me a nice birthday and especially to the people who REMEMBERED it, not just had it show up on their Facebook homepage :) LOL!! Totally kidding. That's still special. But there does have to be something said about those who actually REMEMBER a birthday on Christmas day. Thanks everyone who has called too. I do love the love.

Nate is so funny. He accidentally frosted the cake before he took it out of the cute pan, but it was a snowman cake, and he bought the pan and cake mix just for me!! Now that takes some planning and that is something I love about this man!!! So thoughtful!

no we don't wash his face...EVER!!!

This was the present that Daddy gave Kelly, she LOVED it...it's her "favorite". I think it's because it was from her Daddy. Charity gave a really fun gift to Nate this year. She got to go to "Santa's Secret Workshop" and pick soemthing out on her own, with her own money. She came home and was telling me about what she had picked out for Daddy, and these are her exact words, "Guess what I got Dad, Mom?!"

Me: "What?"

Charity: "A truck keychain."

Me: "That's cool! He will love...."

Charity (cutting me off): "AND it says 'GRANPA' on it!!!"

Me: "Really? That's cool. What made you decide to get one that says 'Granpa'?"

Charity: "Because they didn't have any that said 'Dad'!!"

How cute is that :) It makes me smile. When Daddy opened it we discovered it has a measuring tape on it TOO!! WOW, now that's cool :)

So, yep, that's our Christmas Day. Pretty fun day if you ask me. I love Christmas and love the memories and the traditions that it carries with it. I hope you all had a very nice Christmas.