Week #1 of Harvest Break

Well, due to the wonderful Harvest break, I get to have Brigham home for 2 weeks! Wow, I had to think of some things to do with the kids! 

First of all, we needed to get organized and get in the habits of daily chores. We started a 2 week sticker chore chart 3 weeks ago and we finally got a good thing going this week. The fact that I finally bought prizes for completion of their chore chart may have had some help in motivating them to actually clean up. But, we went from "No! We can't pick up toys without your help, Mom!" to them cleaning their room and the entire downstairs and putting everything in the right place by themselves!!! Awesome!!!!!

The boys earned some fun things because of their hard work. So, they earned playtime at the park, picking out books from the library, and a trip to the zoo! I have to say that though my kids are crazy and silly at times, grumpy and cranky at times (well they are KIDS!) they are really good kids and I am super blessed. 

Now, the task is what to do with them for this coming week? Especially if it rains! Which, please pray that the sun will come out and "dry up all the rain" so our farmers can finish their spud harvest. The grain was already ruined, please pray for the farmers to be able to harvest the spuds! 

The Tater Trot, Funeral, and a Date Night

Tater Trot: This year I had 2 cute little runners! What a fun event it is to see children racing. Brigham looks forward to this event every year. He pretty much starts a countdown for the next race as soon as his race is over. Ok so that's exaggerating a little bit, but the point is that Brigham LOVES the tater trot! Last year he was one of the oldest in his age group of runners and ended up being first place with a fancy potato medal. This year he was the younger of the age group and so I tried to prepare him that he should do his best, but it would be harder to win. He ended up in the middle of the group but he felt good and kept telling me, "Mom, I passed a 1st grader!".  

For Silas, I was just so proud that he ran the whole way! He was so cute! Those little legs don't move very fast, but he told me that he ran FAST! That was so fun for me to watch my cute little runners. 

The Funeral: Grandpa Harvard Bitter's funeral was on Saturday. It was such a heart-filling service. I was grateful for women who weren't concerned about spud day as they were watching small children during the funeral so we could actually listen and pay attention without having to deal with squirmy kids. That made it so nice. What a blessing it was to see how the chapel was filled with the posterity of Grandma and Grandpa. Big families are such a blessing. It was so touching to see a woman at a 4 way stop allow the entire funeral procession pass by (and it was a very long line of cars). She could have been in a hurry to go somewhere, but she put that aside and put us first. Whoever she is, I wonder if she knows how touched my sister-in-law and I were because of her act of kindness. Grandpa was also honored for serving our country in WWII. What a legacy of hard work and testimony he left for us. Thank you for example, Grandpa!

Date Night: It was nice to have a double date with Mark and Nicole. We had a half price deal for squealers and so we enjoyed go karts, mini golf, climbing wall and bumper boats. It was fun to laugh, compete, squirt each other, and test our skills and nerves. It was a fun night out! 2 hole-in-ones for my mini golf! I love go karts and rock climbing. The nerves came in when the first time you climb to the top and you are ready to go back down you just let go of the wall and the cord takes you down; letting go the first time is kind of scary! But then it was just so much fun. Nicole was on my tail with the go karts during one of our runs and I kept blocking her so she couldn't get passed me. Sorry, Nicole....but it was super fun!!! Doug's favorite thing was of course the Go Karts and he enjoyed blasting past everyone. Thrilling adventure!!! Loved it!!!

A Happy Birthday and a Tender Goodbye

Sunday was a very special day. It was a day to celebrate my baby being two years old! He is a sweet little boy. Whenever he gets caught doing something he let's out an"ahhh!" with a slight growl to it. He likes to replace the word "I" with "my" so he always says, "my done, mom" or "my do it!" He loves to play with his big brothers. He loves to sing twinkle little star. He always knows when trucks or tractors are coming in to the yard  and says, "hee comes da tuck!" 

Sunday was also a day to say goodbye. Great Grandpa Bitter (Doug's grandfather) was getting ready to leave this earth. Sunday evening we went down and told him we loved him and gave him our last hugs. It was very special and what a gift it was how alert he was. He was giving advice and joking. It was a truly beautiful gift for us to see him so talkative and alert. What a sweet last moment to see him and remember him by. I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing his body to have that last burst of energy to say goodbye to many of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. We feel so privileged to have enjoyed feeling of your spirit and visitng you, grandpa. We love you!

Fun at the Fair

We try to make it to the fair every year and last year we found out how much easier it was to make a date out of it instead of pushing a double stroller through the crowds. This year we made it even more fun by doing something we have never done before....we went to a live concert! 

We loved the food. I got my favorite thing from Reed's Dairy. A brown cow. I know that sounds bad, but it's the most yummy creamy ice cream (I got grasshopper and vanilla) in the best chocolate milk! It's like a milk shake. Anyway, love it! 

We decided to dream and tour the fancy trailer homes. Wow! One of them had a whole living room with a flat screen and a fire place, a full-sized fridge, and nice master bedroom. 

Then was our concert....Big and Rich! It was a new experience for us. We enjoyed the upbeat songs although they are kind of a crazy bunch. It was just fun to enjoy a concert with my hubby and have a great time at the fair!