Girl Scouts Bridging

Last night Bethany had her bridging ceremony for Girl Scouts. She advanced from Brownies to Juniors. They had it at the Clearfield Community Church. The boys were amazed at how different their chapel looks compared to ours. This was probably their first time in a non-LDS chapel.

We had cupcakes afterwards. Bethany got the most frosting on her face, even more than Jorgen. She looks good in her new Juniors vest.

There are probably only 3 or 4 girls who have stayed in Bethany's troop the whole time she has been in it. They seem to have a lot of turnover. She really enjoys the activities and has made new friends and learned a lot of new things.

Taylor Swift Concert

We surprised Bethany with an early birthday present - tickets to the Taylor Swift Concert. She was so excited! It was a great concert and we had fun counting how many different dresses and guitars Taylor used. She can change pretty fast! It was loud, and got over late, especially for a school night, but we still had fun. There were 2 opening acts, and they were both kind of lame. Bethany looked bored (I probably did too). But once Taylor finally came out, she was all smiles and was literally bouncing in her seat the whole time.

The revolving tree was kind of cool.

You know the encore was planned when there are stage tricks and confetti.

We did have a great time, but I decided that I like the classical concerts better. Because when it says 7:00 it starts at 7:00 (not 8:30!) and is over in 2 hours. I guess I like predictability :)

Grandma's Birthday Party

My mom turned 70 yesterday, so we all met up at Maddox for a yummy lunch and visiting. We had 19 people there! We got a whole corner to ourselves.

The kids filled up on rolls before the food was brought out. Jorgen especially liked the raspberry butter - he ate it by the spoonful:

Annie, Nicole, Javier, Bethany


Bethany, Andrew, Josh

Josh, Lance, Grandma

Ellie, Abby, Debbie, Adam (in their Aggie gear for the homecoming game - which they lost)

Grandma, Ellie, Mickelle, Bekah, Katy

Grandma and Abby

Grandma got a free slice of birthday pie with a "candle" (candy stick)

The kids' meals come on frisbees, which ended up as hats.

Sorry Debbie, I couldn't resist posting this picture :)

Katy with a frisbee hat

Proof I was there:

Growing Up

My kids just keep growing up, without my permission! Jorgen has been doing a little bit better with his potty training. So we decided to stop buying Pull-Ups (except for night) and ditch the diaper pail. We let Jorgen do the honors:

This doesn't mean he has been accident-free, but he is getting a lot better. The average is one accident per day, at least the last few days.


Andrew, on the other hand, has recently learned (finally!) how to ride on two wheels. Bethany was slow to catch on with a bike, too, so I guess it's a family thing. Dan found a cool invention called the Gyrowheel that helps keep the bike up. Andrew was fascinated by using a cool scientific invention, and after about 2 tries, he was riding on his own. After he gets really good on this wheel, he should be able to ride on a regular bike no problem. I am really excited, because that means Bethany will have someone to ride her bike to school with, no matter what track she is on. Which means less driving for me! It will probably have to be next spring, when he is more confident, so I am hoping for a warm and dry spring.

This little stinker will not wear a helmet, or even shoes. Which means he can only ride on the sidewalk in front of our house. What a goober.

And not to leave her out, but Bethany has been growing so fast that all her dresses and pants are too short. I have to stand on a stool to do her hair (or have her sit down). She is only a couple inches shorter than me, although that isn't hard. They just keep growing and growing!

L-3 Work Party

This past Saturday (Sept. 17) Dan took the kids to his work party. I was up in Logan with my sisters for a women's conference, so he bravely took the kids and they were great for him. The party was at "This is the Place" park in Salt Lake. They had a lot of fun, at least it looks like it in the pictures.

If you look carefully at the picture on the bottom left (below) you can see how Jorgen felt after the train ride broke down. He was heartbroken!

Hike and Dinosaur Park

2 Saturdays ago (Sept 10) we decided to go on a little hike that was featured in the newspaper. It was the Birdsong trail near the mouth of Ogden Canyon. It was one mile, or two miles round trip. The kids did really well. Jorgen was the only one who complained about tired legs, and only some of the time. We went a little too late in the morning to hear any birds. Mostly we just saw grasshoppers, as far as wildlife goes. Since we were so close, after the hike we went over to the Dinosaur Park and had lunch and walked around looking at all the dinosaurs. It was a fun day, and I took a ton of pictures, so here are a few:

Labor Day at Grandma's

We spent Labor Day doing labor - at my mom's house. We helped her out with several yard projects, and the grandkids all played together. I only got a couple pictures of actual working, because I was working too. Javier brought his chain saw and cut down some of the plum trees, and Dan and Ben chopped those up smaller so we could load them in Javier's truck.

After lunch, Mickelle and I took all the kids over across the street to the new park. This used to be the Clover Club factory, no kidding. Now it is just a big park with grass but no playground. So we played kick ball and frisbee. There's a lot of pictures, mostly so I can share with family easily.