Happy 9th birthday to this wonderful boy. I truly can't imagine life without him. He brings so much love to our home. At nine, Asher loves giving and receiving hugs from Mom and Dad. He LOVES all things science and would love to only study that subject. He loves his sister and sometimes his brother. He likes hiking and camping. He really enjoys cub scouts but wishes he could go to boy scouts with JJ. He wants to fast forward his life and I want to push rewind and keep him little just a bit longer. He doesn't have a best friend yet. He longs to find someone who likes the things he likes but he is so unique I am not sure that person exists. Asher sometimes has days where he is really sad and nothing I say to remind him of all his blessings makes a difference. We do our best to help him have things to look forward to and point out the good things in life to him. He loves having one on one time with Daddy.
In a moment of weakness I said yes to being our elementary school PTA co-president. Our PTA had planned a swim night activity to kick off the school year so of course we went to support them.
I wasn't really ready for school to start because I love summer so much but new beginnings are always exciting. Hannah is in 6th grade this year and gets to rule the school! She has a new-to-our-school teacher, Senora Marin. She is growing up and changing from a girl into a young lady. In many ways she still wants to be a little girl and I constantly have to remind her about the things she has to do hygiene-wise now that she is growing up. She just groans. She still loves her Ever After High dolls and her American Girl dolls, LEGOs, music (piano and flute), musical theater, reading and giggling with her best friends: Abbie, RegAnn, Annabelle, and Erin. She decided to take on the challenge of reading ALL the Battle of the Books books for her age group. By the end of summer she was about half the way through the long list of books.
Asher is in 3rd grade this year and has one of our favorite teachers Miss Burton. I am excited for him to learn lots of new things but not excited about browbeating him into doing homework. He really hates doing homework. He is taking piano lessons and signed up for soccer. This year in his class he has made some new friends, unfortunately they live too far for him to walk to their house or even ride his bike. Asher's favorite activities are outdoors-related.
JJ is in 8th grade this year. He is very excited for his classes this year. He has Spanish, 3D Art, Debate 2 among other things. He got contacts this year but only uses them once in a while because he doesn't have the patience to put them in all the time. JJ spends a lot of time with his best friend Josh and still is the ultimate nerd. He loves all things Star Wars and Star Trek. His favorite thing to do is go to Space Camp. He spends way too much time on his various electronic devices playing games. He squeezes in some fantasy or sci-fi reading time here and there. He binge-watched Star Trek the Next Generation in it entirety this summer. Hence the reason he is so pale. ;) He also participated in some scout hikes. One of which was to Kings Peak. It was a tough one but hopefully someday he will look back on it and realize all that he was able to accomplish and learn. He is the Deacon's quorum president and I think he is a really good leader even if he is pretty stubborn at times.
For Asher's birthday this year he wanted to go camping. It was hard to find a campground that wasn't all full but we lucked out and got a spot at Payson Lakes. We spent a nice evening with Grandma, Grandpa, and Charlie and Mary Ellen. Asher got to try out his Bear Grylls survival kit. He was determined to start a fire with his flint and steel and quickly found out it isn't as easy as Bear makes it look on Man vs Wild. Asher stuck with it for hours though. Charlie, Grandpa and Lance all helped him. He could get sparks but couldn't get the wood and paper to start.
It was a beautiful night for fishing but we didn't get a bite. I think I am a bad luck charm for fishing!
The next day the kids had fun playing in the water even though it was a bit chilly. Grandpa's little raft sprung a slow leak and that put an end to deep water play.
Asher brought his rope to do who knows what with. He had fun tying lots of knots and trying to make different shelters at the campsite.
Woofums are a tasty campfire treat!
Asher's hiking outfit consists of his favorite Hogle Zoo hat, his backyard safari vest and his back pack filled with all his survival essentials and first aid kit.
Asher wanted Grandma Carolyn's apple pie instead of birthday cake. It was delicious as always!
The wind kept blowing out his candle before he got a chance to make a wish.
Since we were just going for overnight I let the kids pack their own bags without much supervision. Asher only brought the essentials.
Asher isn't a huge reading fan but he did enjoy reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
One thing about Mom being the PTA president, kids get roped into lots of projects. Of course you also get to eat the extra candy.
The PTA sponsors a summer reading program called Reading Rocks. The finale is a party after school starts - which is a huge amount of work for the PTA but really fun for the kids.
Our principal Mr. Miller got dunked at our Reading Rocks party! It was pretty cold that day too!
Hannah and I went and got manicures and pedicures. I love having a daughter that I can have girl time with. Hopefully someday she will enjoy going shopping as much as I do. I really miss having my mom to go shopping with. It was one of our favorite things to do together. It isn't the same without her.
We've made some great friends through our association with the Lehi Arts Council. I'm so glad we've gotten to know Ashley McKinnon and her family! We got to see her in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She made a great Lucy.
Asher and Hannah have started requesting notes in their home lunches and leaving notes for Lance and I around the house. Lance is always great about leaving notes for us too.
With Lance being a Webelos leader and me being the Cub Committee chair and Asher being a cub scout - we are heavily involved in the program. This year we tried doing a space derby instead of a pinewood derby. It was a pain in the butt. We won't do it again if I have any say. Winding the rubberbands on the space ships took forever and then they rarely made it the length of the course. The boys had fun but I think the pinewood (difficult as it is) and the raingutter regatta are better options.
This photo makes me want to cry every time I see it. Asher is growing up too fast but he still wants to hold our hands.
Hannah had fun at back to school night holding babies and paling around with the son of my co-president Brandon. They are both such good and helpful kids!
Hannah holding the PTA secretary's baby Kellan. He is adorable!
We attended Lance's niece's wedding this month. We don't get much time with Vance's family so I wanted to get a photo of Lance and Vance together.
Alex was married in the Logan Temple. It is where my parents were married. It is such a beautiful building!
This puppy is so funny. If his boy isn't around he will make do with cuddling with his shoes.
JJ got contacts and new glasses because his frames got broken. Asher's frames were too small for him and he needed an updated prescription. We waited and waited until Lance's new job insurance kicked in.
Hannah and her love of babies and children. She and I got to visit my niece Holly and hold her new baby Ammon. Hannah is going to be an amazing momma someday.
This might fall under TMI but I do want to remember it. I have been plagued with various cysts in my arm pit, back and chest. It is hereditary I think because I remember my dad having them too. The one on my chest flared up really bad this month. The photo really doesn't show how huge it got. It was incredibly painful. I finally went to the doctor and got some antibiotic which made me feel even worse. I got a different antibiotic and finally the infection started to abate. It took at least 3 months for it to fully drain and flatten out. Definitely NOT fun.
Asher decided to join Hannah in doing Suessical at the Lehi Arts Council. He remembered when JJ and Hannah had done it at the elementary and loved the music. It was great to have both of them in the play together and they had a wonderful set of directors and cast. Hannah was a Wickersham Brother and Asher was a citizen of Who.
Annabelle was in the play too and Abbie came to see Hannah in the play.
Hannah and one of her Wickershim brothers.
One wonderful Indian summer day we got to hang out with Charlie and his family at Highland Glen Park. We even got to see Mary and Dean who live in Washington!
Posts
