Fall is here

Maybe it is just me, but it seems that the days and weeks are getting shorter and faster, so that when I think back on events from this past week, it all seems a big blur because so many things were going on. My boys are growing up way too fast in front of my eyes. Isaac had his 3rd birthday yesterday. I can still remember when he was born and had to spend a few weeks in the NICU. And now he is talking and running and climbing and is a big 3 year old. He had a party with friends last night that was really fun. Steph had made a really cute Wall-E cake. We let the kids run around and play in the basement and they had a great time.

Steph spent the day yesterday helping to build a house for Habitat for Humanity. Our church has teamed up with another local congregation to try and put this family in a home before Christmas. At this stage in our life, we can’t contribute much financially, but we thought we could help with volunteering time, so Steph spent the day painting and building, and I spent the day with the boys.

Today in church was the program that is put on once a year by the Primary (kids ages 3-11). They were each given a line to say and had all been practicing hard to say them memorized. Kolby’s was: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, might have eternal life (John 3:16);” Eli said, “My love for Jesus Christ grows as I pray and read the scriptures;” and Camdens: “I can follow the prophet by going to church.” They were all so cute as they got up to recite their line. And then the kids sang several songs they have been working on memorizing this year. It is so neat to see these kids express what they believe.

The 3 oldest had a practice for that program yesterday morning at the church. While they were singing, Isaac and Courtland helped me to make some peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses in the center. They had so much fun rolling the dough into little balls. We got some Halloween surprise gifts on our porch this week, so we are going to pass on the fun to other homes with the cookies this next week.

Friday night Steph and I were invited to a birthday party for someone in the ward, so we got a babysitter. We met at Paneras for dinner and then did games at one of the homes. It was so much fun to hang out with people we have not spent a lot of time with before.

Thursday night we attended the class the missionaries in our ward are putting on for discussing The Book of Mormon. We talked about 1 Nephi chapters 16-19, where Lehi is given the Liahona and Nephi is commanded to build a ship in order for his family to make it to the promised land. The discussion centered on how God sometimes gives us tasks that we may feel are impossible to complete, but just like Nephi and Lehi, we have been given tools to help, and if we turn to God, he will make it possible for us to accomplish what we thought couldn’t be done.

Wednesday afternoon we took the boys to JC Penney so we could get Halloween pictures of the 3 youngest (Steph’s mom is making costumes for Kolby and Eli and they should be here next week). The boys decided on a “Wizard of Oz” theme, so Camden is a winged monkey, Isaac is Toto, and Courtland is the Cowardly Lion. They all looked so cute – I can’t wait to get the pictures back.

Tuesday we had dinner with the sister missionaries. One of them is gluten sensitive, so we made a meal without gluten that turned out great. The boys really enjoy spending time with the sister missionaries and we love having them here.

Earlier this week I had an afternoon where I was able to come home early, so I got the leaves raked and the lawn mowed. Camden was a great helper in raking the leaves and taking them out to the curb. There are several large trees in our yard and in the neighbors’ yards. I can’t believe how many leaves they hold (and how many more I will still have to rake).

For family home evening on Monday we went to a pumpkin patch and let each of the boys pick out their favorite. There was also a free mini-corn maze and a playground for them to play on. We are going to carve them tomorrow.

Kolby and Eli are doing really well at school and they both seem to love it. They are always working on “homework” projects at home, giving each other assignments of things to write or draw. They are also both doing really well with piano.

Work is going well for me. I finished my month of covering consults from the inpatient side of the hospital and am now back rotating through the outpatient clinics. There is still so much that I need to learn, but I am having fun and really enjoy what I am doing.