Sleep!

One evening I found Rebekah sleeping like this.

She had a hands propping her head up. I wonder what she was looking at when she drifted off to sleep!

Not too long after the above mentioned incedent I found Hyrum sleeping half off his bed with his head resting between the bed and a chair next to his bed. Luckily I found him before he found the floor! I just thought this was funny and wanted to share!

First Day of school Pictures

Rebekah was excited, but nervous about going to school, now she loves it.

Brigham pretended to not like school for the first week. We'd ask him how school was and he'd get smile on his face, and then try to hide the smile!

Look Who's FOUR!

Rebekah had her birthday last week, and what an event that was!

A huge flower cake

A party outside

Brothers in the ball pit!

And new clothes with a doll to match!

Some random info about our beautiful girl:
♥She loves to help
♥She pretends to be shy in large group settings, but in home-like settings, she's very outgoing and lively.
♥She is very strong (she can knock me over if I'm not looking and she bowled over both her brothers in one shot today.)
♥She is learning to sound out words and is getting good at spelling them too!
♥She can count to 13.
♥She can say her Alphabet forward and backward.
♥She knows at least 2 articles of faith, but could probably recite most of them with a few little prompts.
♥She loves acting out scripture stories.
♥She is observant and notices when someone needs something, sometimes before they even notice themselves.
♥She is the best little table washer in our household. She can get the kitchen table clean in 5 seconds flat. (And it's cleaner than when her brothers spend 5 minutes cleaning it.)
♥Her favorite toy right now is her doll house, if we let her she would sit in front of it for hours at a time. (assuming her brothers didn't come in and bother her)
♥Her favorite clothes are anything Mom doesn't like. (She seems to lean towards tom-boy type clothes.)
♥Her favorite foods are pancakes, quesedillas, and macaroni and cheese.
♥She is a great blessing to our family, and we sure love this little four year old!

A tired girl

Rebekah fell asleep at the dinner table for the first time that I can remember. It was kinda funny. She nodded for a few minutes and then finally just gave up and laid her head down. She must have been very tired.

A Bike Riding Summer

Ready, set, go!

This summer we have gone on a lot of bike rides. We've collected enough bikes for the daycare kids and my kids to each have one to ride, so 2-3 days a week we ride our bikes either to the park or just around the neighborhood. The kids love it.

Hyrum only lasts about 1-2 houses down the street before he gives up trying to keep up with the kids. Then I stick his bike in the triple stroller with him on it and he pretends to ride while I push him in the stroller.

Mommy's little "Big Helper"

Rebekah has always been a good "helper". But, she is getting to be an actual help more and more. This picture above is a picture of her and the oranges and carrots she cut up (with a butter knife) for dinner a few days ago. It saved me time cutting them, and she was so proud that she had done it! I hope her desire to help continues as she grows.

Sensory play

The children have really been into sensory type play lately.

We recently expanded Hyrum's ball pit from Christmas to the swimming pool- adding two more bags of balls. It's not quiet enough to fill the pool, but they sure have fun with it anyway and they can all fit at the same time which solves a lot of problems.(The extra legs in the pictures belong to a little friend.)

They also have been very interested in playing with some old, expired beans. I pulled these out and set them on the floor with a few measuring cups and bowls and they were content while I made breakfast.

Hyrum is so excited about the beans, the ball pit, and also play dough. That he's constantly asking to play with one of them. It's nice to have him interested in something other than getting into my things. This morning he asked to play with the beans and I told he needed to wash the table and then put his blankets on his bed - then he could play with the beans. So, he promptly washed the table, put the cloth away and then ran (without prompting) to the living room, gathered his blankets and put them on his bed, and before I knew it he was back in the kitchen asking for the beans. I was very impressed that he remembered all those steps and got them done so fast!

Christmas Back-log #1: Graham Cracker Houses

Brigham's preschool hosted a "Sugar Plumb Cottage" night. Where the whole family got to go and make a Graham Cracker House. So Mommy and Bekah made one and Brigham and Daddy made one, and Hyrum just ate the crackers and candy.

Bekah and Mommy made a traditional house and had fun decorating it. Bekah also found a hole in the roof support piece and stuffed larger pieces of candy inside. So,when she ate her house, there was a surprise when she took off the roof-more candy!Brigham and Daddy made a non-traditional house (note the inverted roof) They piled a bunch of candy and coconut in the crevice.
We had a good time and it was good to spend some time working as a family.

Rebekah

I just noticed I haven't posted much about Rebekah lately. She is a mostly happy little 3 year old who is trying very hard to keep up with Brigham. She recognizes about 20 letters of the alphabet and talks like she's four. She told a lady in the grocery store today (with a very stern face) "Those are our eggs." :) The lady only looked at them. She likes to help me with my work and is beginning to actually help more than hinder. She has FINALLY learned to stay in her bed and go to sleep at night!! (It only took 14 months.) She recently got a new bed. We got her a twin when Hyrum grew out of the crib and gave her toddler bed to him.

Rebekah is such a blessing in our lives. She has a very strong will, so we are trying to teach her as much as we can while she's little so that she can be a strong force for good when she grows up.

Future Missionaries

We've finally found suits for all our boys! Gotta love thrift stores!

What you see before you is four future missionaries! We belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All of them are carrying copies of the Book of Mormon. They're almost ready to go out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world! (Well, maybe in about 15-18 years when they've grown a little more.)



In our church young men are expected to serve a full-time mission for 2 years they can apply for this when they are 19 years old (at their own expense). Young women aren't expected to serve missions because their primary responsibilities are to become a wife and mother. But, if they don't have marriage prospects by the time they are 21 they can apply to serve a full-time mission for 18 months. Young men and women are sent all over the world preaching the gospel in many languages.



They teach that Christ was born on this earth!

That he atoned for our sins, died for us, and was resurrected making it possible for us to return to God our Heavenly Father after we die.

They teach that there is a LIVING PROPHET on the earth today! President Thomas S. Monson (who is pictured below in the center, the other two are his counselors) is the prophet of God on the earth! He teaches us under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the head of our church. Oh how we love our prophet dear.
Brigham, Rebekah, and Marc love to sing the song, "Follow the Prophet" as they march around the house. They recognize pictures of him and when asked who the prophet is today they replay with "Thomas Monson" or "President Monson". Well, most of the time... A few months ago I asked Marc "Who is the prophet today?" He said "Thomas the train." : ) Well, I guess for a three year old that's close... maybe.

Brigham, Rebekah, Marc, and Hyrum are preparing for missions not only by dressing like them, but by learning about Jesus. They are learning to pray, they are learning the scripture stories, they are learning the articles of faith.

Brigham's favorite article of faith (which he has memorized along with about 4 others) is "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Marc's favorite one is "We believe the bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

Rebekah's favorite is "We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, namely apostles, prophets, pastors, teacher, evangelists and so forth."

Hyrum's favorite one is, as he says: "Holy Ghost" He doesn't have his memorized yet, but he's still really young. "We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

We officially have three 3 year olds in the house now. Rebekah turned 3 on August 26th. (Brigham is 3 years 11 months, and Marcus is 3 years 4 months)
She said she wanted a purple cake for her birthday, so I decided to make a purple butterfly. For my limited cake decorating experience I think it turned out pretty good.
"Nana and Papa" and their family came over to help her celebrate. All the kids were so excited! They kept asking when we were going to eat the cake and the boys were excited to give Bekah her gifts.

Gram-Gram, thanks for the card you sent... this is the outfit she picked out from your birthday money.

Silly things kids say and do

The other day as I was buckling the children into their seats in the van Rebekah found the little ash tray thing that opens. She said, "Look, Mama, garbage." Apparently she thought it was for garbage. A bit chagrined that she discovered the ash tray I said one of my creative expletives- "stinkles!" The next things I know Brigham is sitting there singing, "Stinkle, Stinkle, little garbage, how I wonder what you are." It was funny!


Rebekah got out a cookie sheet and sat on it and said "Put me in the oven." I laughed and took a picture of her so Brigham thought he'd get some attention and do the same thing. :)



Brigham dressed up in a friend's hat, sister's and his own gloves, jacket, and Mommy's shoes.


Three kid pile up!


Somehow, Brigham's head got sat on by Rebekah.
Not sure how they got into this position.


While Daddy was showering, Rebekah went behind the curtain of our big glass door in the kitchen and took off her clothes when I discovered her there I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I taking a shower, I taking a shower like Dada." :)

When Rebekah wants to know where someone is she says, "Where you are you?"

Brigham has started to run and dance when he has to go to the bathroom. Just this week he'll start dancing and we'll get him into the bathroom and once he's over the baby gate (to keep Hyrum out) he used to be able to handle going potty by himself. But, lately he's been running laps up and down the bathroom after we get him over the gate and won't stop until he wets his pants and starts screaming. Silly boy!

Brigham has a new responsibility now that he's getting a bit older. His job is to wash the table after meals. He hasn't quite figured out how to do it without actually getting on top of it yet. :)

The power of powder

Brigham and Rebekah got into the pantry and decided to make "muffins" for me. They mixed the rest of my jar of baking powder and the rest of a salt canister in mixing bowls. Later (after the photos were taken) they added left over muffins, crumbled. Tasty!




Hyrum got into the pantry and got out the cocoa. He decided to taste it too.


Brigham and Rebekah got into the baby powder in the bathroom and managed to cover the bathroom with a fine layer of powder.



Rebekah had wanted to put some baby powder on her bottom, hence the almost naked girl. Brigham saw the fun she was having and decided to join in. It took me a half hour to get the powder cleaned up and there was still a layer of powder that wouldn't wash up coating every surface in the bathroom.




Rebekah climbed onto the counter and decided she needed a little more salt in her life.

(This was actually a few weeks ago, and happened over a two day span, but we've been busy so I haven't had a chance to post it yet.)

Blessing Day

In our church when a new baby is born the family usually gets the baby blessed in the first few months. A Melchizedek priesthood holder (usually the father) can give the baby a name and blessing and that's part of creating a record for the child in our church. Then, when children of record turn eight they can be baptized and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.



Well, since we adopted Brigham and Rebekah we were able to have Timothy bless them and create a record for them. We had to wait until the adoption was final and then we were trying to find a time when the family members who wanted to come could make it out here. So, everything came together for the children to be blessed on Sunday, November 29th.

We dressed Brigham and Rebekah all in white and Timothy blessed them, assisted by his father, Loren; his brother, Dan; and our bishop. We were able to get a few pictures afterward.




These are the same clothes they're going to wear to the temple when we get them sealed to us. (As I've mentioned before, we're waiting until Hyurm's adoption is final and then we're going to seal all three of them to us.) We're looking forward to that blessed day!