Valentines weekend

We had a fun Valentines this year. My mom, dad and sister Lindsey came to spend that weekend with us, but I have no pictures to prove it.  Time flew so quickly when they were here, I forgot to get out the camera! Saturday morning, Jared and I gave the boys some lego starwars and Allie got a little purse with necklaces in it. She loves to empty my purse any chance she gets so I thought I would get her her own. I gave Jared some new shoes for work! I know, very romantic! And Jared gave me a card with $500 dollars in it to spend any way I want no questions asked! I'm pretty excited about that, and am still thinking on the million ways I could spend it! We made a yummy Valentines day breakfast and then Lindsey, mom and I went shopping for a few hours. We went out to dinner that night and came home and watched movies. Sunday, they came to church with us and then they flew home. 

Brycen and Blake making their Valentines for school!

Can hardly wait to open their Valentines
Blake decorating heart cookies at preschool.
Blake's preschool class.

Snow Sledding!

Jared took the boys sledding with the YM in our ward a few weekends ago. Since we live in the land of rain and no snow (usually) we didn't have any snow gear. So we had to buy Jared and the boys snow boots, pants, and gloves, and sleds for this outing which wasn't cheap. I made Jared get everything 3x too big so at least we can use it for a few winters! It was a gorgeous day on Mt. hood and the boys had a blast with their dad!

Pet Fish!

Brycen has been asking for some sort of pet for a long time.  Finally I told him if he studied and did well on his midyear spelling test I would buy him a fish. He only missed 4 out of 100 spelling words, which I thought was pretty good.  Last week while he was at school I went to the pet store and got a blue betta fish. Brycen likes it a lot, so hopefully we won't have to get a dog anytime soon. Brycen decided to name the fish Rainbow and then we started talking more about the fish and had a funny conversation that went like this.

Brycen: Is this a boy fish or a girl fish?

Mom: It's a boy fish, the girl fish aren't as pretty as the boy fish.

Brycen: Then that means they are the opposite of humans huh?

Mom: Thats right!

Dad: laughing.

Mom: They told me at the pet store that these kind of fish only live for about 1 or 2 years.

Brycen: Burst into sobbing tears.

Mom: (Thinking oh great! shouldn't of said that) We can just get a new one if this one dies.

Brycen: But I only want this one. Can we do anything to make him live longer?

Mom: No, I don't think so.

Brycen: Where will this fish go when he dies?

Mom: Probably fish heaven.

Brycen: Will he be resurrected?

Mom: Yes

Brycen: Then after he is resurrected I'm going to buy him again!

Macey's Baby Blessing

Emillie (Jared's sister) blessed her baby and couple weeks ago.  Macey Brooke, is what they named her. She is such a sweetie and I have had fun holding her. We decided that since church started at 9:00 a.m. we would go stay in a motel room close by and just let the kids go swimming and find whatever fun there was to find. 

Macey Brooke on her blessing day

We found a Family fun place and let the boys drive bumper boats, they loved that!
Allie didn't care for the water much! Can you tell?
Don't be jealous of my great tan! 

Going Private

I've decided it's time to go private with our blog. Let me know your email address if I don't have it so I can include you on my list. 

Brycen 1st grade

Here is an update on Brycen's 1st grade year so far.

I love this picture of Brycen, he just looks so sweet, and he is so tan from the summer sun.

I was so excited to hear that Brycen was going to have Mr. Kauffman for his teacher.  From what I'd heard he was the best 1st grade teacher. Brycen hates it when a substitute teacher comes. He says that the sub can't read stories funny like Mr. Kauffman. 
Some of Brycen's friends in his class are Ammon, Casey, Keagan and Leif. 
 Back in November, the day we were trying to get moved, we got a call from the school. They told us Brycen had hit his head at recess and needed stitches. We had to stop in the middle of our move and go get Brycen from school and take him to urgent care to get stitched up.  When we asked Brycen how he hit his head, he said he ran into a pole he didn't see. Silly kid! A week later after Jared took out the stitches, like the Dr. said to do, Brycen decided to pick the scab off. It ended up leaving a pretty good scar despite the stitches.  I thought this picture was silly cute! You can see the scar on his head on the right side. I'm sad he has such a big scar on that cute face, but hopefully it will fade with time.
Brycen played an awesome year of soccer. Most games he scored about three goals. He played with his friend Justin, who's dad was the coach.
Every Monday, I go and volunteer in Brycens class. It is fun for me to see him in the classroom. I am so lucky to have such a good kid. Brycen is in the top reading group at school. This past week he had a half yearly test on all the spelling words for the year. He only missed one word out of 100 and that was people spelled peopole. In these pictures, the kids are making their gingerbread houses. 

Brycen's Primary Talk

Brycen gave a talk on Families this past Sunday in primary. He read his talk while dad showed the pictures. Mom got to sit in the back and listen, I was so proud. Here is what he said:

Families are a very important part of Heavenly Father's plan. Our prophets have taught us that the family is sacred.

This is a picture of my family. Heavenly Father created families to bring happiness to his children.

This is a picture of Adam and Eve. They were the first family on earth. God commanded them to have children. Since then, each of us has been commanded to marry and have children.

This is a picture of me when I was a baby. Heavenly Father wants each child who comes to earth to receive a body and to have a loving mother and father.  Mothers and fathers are responsible for teaching their children the gospel.

This is a picture of my mom and dad getting married in the temple. One of the blessings of being married in the temple is that our families can be together forever.

This is a picture of me with my brother Blake and my sister Allie. We have been taught that we must be kind to our families. We should never do or say anything that would hurt each others feelings.

I am very thankful for my family. I love them and I know they love me. I'm glad Heavenly Father made it possible for us to be together forever.