Preschool Trip to the Humane Society

So this year I am doing a co-op preschool with my sister and we are having so much  fun.  This week our theme was pets and we had a field trip at the Human Society.  It was so nice when we went.  It wasn't busy so we had plenty of time to hold some cats and pet some dogs.

The Human Society had a little presentation for our group.  A worker talked to our children about different pets and then brought in a few animals for them to pet.  I was able to capture a few pictures with the rat when I remembered I had a camera on my phone.

Then the worker brought in her own dog that can do tricks, and had her dog do them for the us.  It was so cute to see the kids laugh when the dog "played dead".

Then she taught our preschoolers pet safety so they could prevent getting bit by a dog or scratched by a cat.

It was a fun trip me and my boys loved it.  We fell in love with a big gray, lop-eared bunny.  In fact, me the anti-pet person called back to see if the bunny was still available and someone had adopted it.  So sad but at least it saved me from having a new pet.

I Need to Vent....

Okay so this is not me in my situation today.

But it was the best  I could find online.  

I can't post without a pic. 

Typically most things that bug me come and go but this one I had to blog about.  Today I was at my mom's visiting with my sister.  While visiting, a car pulled over in front of my mom's house.  That isn't too unusual because she lives on a somewhat busy street and there is a church across the street.  So random things with traffic happen.

A few minutes later I noticed the woman was coming up the driveway.  I went out to meet her and she informed me she had run out of gas and would not be able to have someone come help her for a few hours.  I asked if she would like us to help her push it over to the curb because it was somewhat blocking my parents driveway.

She was afraid that it would be ticketed or hit so she wanted to know if we could try to maneuver it to the church parking lot.  It wasn't too far but certainly not a quick step or two but I told her my sister and I would be happy to try.  

With the help of my sister we pushed and shoved getting the car rolling.  Slowly it moved and we started coasting in the right direction.  As we pushed it toward the parking lot I noticed a car parked in the lot.  Inside was a man and woman talking.  I said to my sister in a very loud voice, "What the heck!  I can't believe that guy is watching us and has made no effort to come and help."  My sister told me to lower my voice or he might hear me.  I said, "Good!"

Anyway I helped the lady and her three young children get to their home so they didn't have to walk or wait in the cold and all was fine.  But I just HAD to blog about how bugged I was at the callous attitude of this man.  How he could sit in his nice warm car as a woman with three young children had two women help push her to safety.  There now I feel better that I have blogged that and I can let it go.

Abstract Art

My kids love crafts.  We decided to paint pumpkins.  Here are the results:

Elijah enjoyed mixing the colors.  He ended up with a blue-gray color.

I should have taken a before and after picture.  This is the beginning of painting time when Elijah was all clean.

David just liked making his pumpkin colorful.

Once again David is giving me his silly faces for the camera.

Lexie did try.  This is supposed to be a vampire.

If you know Lexie this is a typical face she pulls when having fun.

Anna took a lot of time on her vampire.  Good job Anna.

Here is the first picture with the teen's true feelings about having me take her picture.

This is her pleasing me and giving me a smile.

It's Autumn Time!

I absolutely love the fall. The colors, the scents of the season, the cool crisp air. Today we went outside and raked leaves upon David's request. He wanted a big pile to jump in. I couldn't help but think of Charlie Brown as I made a giant pile for the boys to run and jump in to.

Here is David, Elijah and their cousin Lizzie enjoying the fresh raked pile of leaves.

 

I had to post this picture because of David's silly face.  He now makes these silly faces when I tell him to smile for a picture.

I love, love, love seeing my little ones have such fun.

Mr. Fearless himself.  We live in a cul-de-sac and Elijah and David would get a running start from the other side of the circle so they could get full momentum before they jumped in.

Finally a real smile!  What a cutie.  Note the outfit.  His costume came in the mail today and he was so excited.  Needless to say there will be no surprise as to what his costume looks like this year.

Preschool Fieldtrip

Our first preschool fieldtrip was to Discovery Gateway.  It was a perfect day to go.  There was hardly anyone there so the children had a great time playing.

My boys are all-boy.  Most of the time was spent in the construction zone.

Johanson Family Reunion

The highlight of my summer was my family reunion with my siblings and parents in St. George.   I love spending time with all my family.  My children love their cousins.   They spend from sun up to sun down playing together.

Thanks to my brother Joseph we got to go boating.  My favorite place to boat is Sand Hollow.  The water is warm and we spent the entire day there.  Note to self:  Have boys wear old swimming suits.  I can't get the red dirt out of their suits.

Seminary Graduation...Way to Go Emily!

Wow.  I never knew how stressful it would be to get Emily to the finish line of school.  On Sunday was Seminary graduation.  We were all holding our breath as she pushed to make up her tardies so she could graduate from Seminary.  I am so proud of Emily for graduating.

She not only graduated from seminary, but in order to fit Seminary into her schedule she had to take early morning seminary.  I remember trying to do that my senior year and dropping out and taking it during the day because it was just SO hard to get up that early.  I noticed some of her friends were missing from the ceremony. Which means they didn't have the stamina to push through the four years so they could graduate from seminary. Which is just another witness of what to me of how much dedication it took for her to finish seminary.

I was a bit teary-eyed as they handed her, her certificate.  I am so blessed to have the privilege to be her mother.  I know by paper she is my stepdaughter but there is no way she is a step.  She in every way is my daughter.  Steve and I married when she was only 5 and she has lived with us most of her life.  So she in every way is my daughter.  

While I was sitting there during the program my mind flashed to a picture I remember of Emily when she was about 8.  This small little girl was standing with her hand on her hip and she had a look of determination in her eye.  Although her body was small and skinny, it in no way does describes her spirit.  She is strong and immovable.

My mind also reflected on a time when she helped Sadie.  It was when Sadie was in 3rd grade there was a boy that walked the same way they did on the way home.  Often he  would say cruel and crude things to her on the way home.  One day Emily was walking with Sadie.  This boy made crude and cruel comments to Sadie.  Emily (her being in 6th grade) stood up to that bully for her sister.  She let him know he could not talk to her sister that way.  And if he didn't stop he would have her to deal with.  

This small girl had great courage.  The boy probably could have beat her up but her determination saved her sister and after that Sadie was not bothered again by the boy.   She had more strength and courage than someone three times her size.

That is the young woman I see as Emily is growing up.  She is growing up to be a beautiful woman.  Emily's mom is completely inactive and lives a life opposite to our standards.  Yet Emily has made the gospel her number one priority.  She has found friends to pick her up so she can go to church on her mom's weekends.  When we have counseled her she has tried to live our standards at her mom's too.  Often if we counsel with Emily, she will follow our counsel.  She has had many opportunity to choose a life opposite to the gospel but she has found her testimony and stays true to it.  I am so, so proud of her.