Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving was very fun this year! We decided to skip the whole turkey thing and go to Disneyland. We had a blast! Brandon is tall enough to go on all the rides now, so he and Ainsley had to do Space Mountain a few times (her favorite). Buzz Lightyear is still Brandon's favorite. It's a Small World is Whitney's favorite, especially at this time of the year when it's all Christmas-y. Ryan loved all except for Teacups. He hates the spinny rides. We thought Thursday was busy - that is until Friday came. Thursday was nothing. Friday was a mad house, but we were lucky enough to have Sally (Whitney's sister with us.) Saturday we got to see Cassidy (the kids' cousin) and the entire trip was just wonderful. However, a couple of months ago our friends wrote about their trip to Disneyland and how one of their kids threw up the whole way home. Well we laughed about that (sorry Britt!) and on the way home Ainsley started throwing up! I guess she and Cassidy ate a whole can of olives right before we left. I learned never to laugh at others misfortunes. Yuck!

Halloween

Okay, so it's been forever since I updated this thing. Sorry. I thought I would give a little update on Halloween. We had a wonderful trip to Utah, and loved seeing our family and friends. For Halloween, Ainsley was a Fairy and Brandon was Superman. They had fun trick or treating with daddy, but it wasn't the same without all the family home waiting. We always had our little party after and definitely missed it. (And Chili isn't the same when it's still warm out.)

Soccer and talents

Saturday was Ainsley's first soccer game. The score was something like 85 - 3. Ainsley's team is called the Pink Panthers and even though they lost, she was thrilled to make the last goal.

Brandon had a talent show at school. It was very low key. Some kids did smiling or sommersualts for their talents. Brandon wanted to show that he was good at sharing. He brought his favorite toy, but when he saw all the kids and their parents there, he got so nervous, he didn't do anything.

9/4/06 - Labor Day

This was a week of firsts for Ainsley. She learned to blow bubbles with bubble gum, whistle, and she counted to 1,000. That was really fun for Whitney to listen to all day long. :) School is going great for her. She is doing different classwork than the rest of the class because she is ahead. Friday was PE and they joined together with a class of 2nd graders and practiced hula hooping. Ainsley was the only one in both classes to do it (and she did it with two hoops!) Everyone was way impressed.
Brandon is just my happy boy. He likes to go grocery shopping with me and just hang out. What a sweetie. He went into the doctor for his swollen glands. They've been REALLY big for about 3 months. We are going to have to bring him into an ENT sometime this month.
We also let the butterflies go on Saturday. As one went flying happily into the distance a bird flew out of a tree and chomped it up. Thank heavens the kids didn't notice.
Whitney is busy getting ready for the Primary program this month. It's the chorister's busiest time of the year! Ryan was hoping to get a call in Young Mens this month but was sorely disappointed. The CubMaster was sent to Iraq and Ryan is now in charge of all the meetings. If you know him at all, you know this is WAY WAY WAY out of his comfort zone. I think it is hilareous. He's not exactly sure how to handle boys this age.

Birthday Party

Ainsley was invited to a birthday party that will be on a Sunday. Oh the joys of living outside of Utah. This brought back memories from when I was a little girl. Anyway, we discussed what we should do during family home evening, and before I could say anything, Ainsley started crying and said, "Why would she do that? She should know I can't come!" We didn't really need to have the talk. She had already made the right choice. What a sweet little girl. I guess they do listen and learn sometimes!

Last week of August

Ainsley's new tiger costume. SCARY!

As we wrap up the month, a few fun things have happened. Whitney and Ryan had the "opportunity" to speak in church on Sunday. It went really well and we had tons of compliments.

Ainsley's catterpillars are finally in their cocoons, wrapped nice and tight. The kids are eagerly awaiting the butterflies (we are hoping this works out or we will have some pretty disappointed kids.) Brandon has a great ant farm that is full of tunnels and it is really fun to look at. In case you are wondering, yes, the kids were wanting pets. If you know Ryan, that will NEVER happen, so insects work just fine.

Brandon has been having a little problem in preschool I just found out about. Privacy is apparently not a word in his vocabulary and he has wandered completely naked into class from the bathroom a few times. Whoops! Whose side of the family does that come from?

Last Week

Last week was a crazy one!
Whitney and Ryan got tired of tan walls and decided to paint. Oh was it terrible! The ugliest color of blue you have ever seen in your life. They spent more time cleaning up the disaster and repainting. We missed having the tan walls after that!

Ainsley started her cooking class. This week she made pizza all by herself. She loves to cook, but can't wait for soccer to start. She is outside every day with her dad playing and she is AGGRESSIVE! The first season doesn't start until the end of September, and her cleats, shin guards and ball are already well used (and pink of course!)

Brandon has been a little terror this week. All of the changes in life are catching up to him. He found the scissors and cut up his shoelaces, Ainsley's UNO cards (and who knows what we haven't found yet!) He and his friend Logan flushed many things down Logan's toilet and their dad had to take it apart. He also poured a pitcher of water on his bed. For fun. Whew! He's really been a handful!

Brandon's First Day of Preschool!

What a handsome boy all decked out in his new clothes. I love having to school shop in Arizona. I just buy all of the summer clearance i tems online. It's cheap and they can wear them year round!

Here is Brandon outside Mrs. Harkey's house. There are 10 kids in this class and he loved his first day!

Ainsley's First day of School

Walking down the hall, on her way to Miss Beazers class. Why was I there? Of course, after she got o n the bus I HAD to follow in my car to make sure she made it safely. Overly cautious mom with a kid in school for the first time. I know.

These five girls are in Ainsleys class at Primary, and at the same bus stop. Two are in her class at school. Fun!

Ainsley was so excited to go on the bus, she had to walk to the bus stop by hersef. Of course I followed in the car!

We wanted to start a family blog so all the family could see what is going on with the kids while we are far away. We hope you enjoy looking at it! We'll try to update it as much as we can.