Fall

Winter is an etching, 

Spring a watercolor, 

Summer an oil painting, and 

Autumn a mosaic of them all. 

- Stanley Horowitz - 

Utah State Fair

Every year when I was young, our family would always go to the Oregon State Fair and I loved going.  Melina asked me today if there was anything that I really looked forward to with the fair when I was young and I don't think it was anything specific but I loved that day every year.  

For some reason, we have never been to the Utah State Fair!  So this year I decided that we were going to fix that and go!  

Last night after Mark got off work, we headed down to Draper and stayed the night at my parent's house.  We had a nice breakfast this morning with them and Megan came over too and then we headed up to the fair!

The kids were so excited!  They could not wait.  The only fair they have ever been to is our little county fair and I knew this would be quite the upgrade (I actually love our county fair - but it's obviously much smaller in scale).  

It was a smokey (my heart is so sad for all of those affected by these fires) and windy day but we didn't let that slow us down.  The kids could not wait to get started on the rides.  And Jacob and Sarah were both so brave - they were up for everything!  They can't wait until they are bigger and can go on everything!  

It was lots of fun to have Melina with us and she joined Mark, Jacob and Sarah, while Benjamin and I were their cheerleaders on the side.  And let me just say, Benjamin was an absolute gem the whole day.  He was so good to just cruise along with everything we did.  

We rode rides for a little bit and then grabbed some corn dogs and headed to the circus tent.  I've never been to a circus before so this was a first for all of us.  It was really fun.  And there was only one segment where I was convinced something horrific was about to happen...think... three motorcycles going in a small cage at the same time with a girl dangling in the middle!  AHHH!

We came back and did some more rides and games and then headed over to the animal section.  They were in the middle of doing the auction so things seemed a little confusing.  But they had a section for kids where they could see animals at different stages of growth and pet them and learn about the specific animal's life cycle.  It was actually really interesting.  Sarah was in heaven.  

The heat was starting to get to all of us and we felt ourselves dragging so the obvious solution was to get some ice cream.  Sarah was not happy about the rate in which her ice cream was melting but the rest of us loved the treat!

By this time the wind was really starting to pick up and we wanted to be on the road by dinner time so we told the kids they could each pick one more ride.  Jacob and Sarah both wanted to do this one ride, which isn't really even a ride, but has different slides and things you walk through.  Kids are funny.  So they went through that twice and then we headed out.  

It was such a fun day and we have unanimously decided it's going to be a new tradition!  We can't wait for more state fairs in the future!

Sarah's 4th Birthday

Yesterday, we got to celebrate our favorite little girl in the entire world.  Sarah has been so excited to turn FOUR and we were so glad to celebrate all things Sarah.  I feel like I say it every time I talk about Sarah but this girl has had a gift since the moment she was born.  She makes people happy.  Her brothers adore her and she is everyone's favorite playmate.  She is kind and she notices people and their feelings.  She is the first to say she is "sorry" (even if she doesn't need to) and the first to give hugs or put an arm around someone.  

Sarah isn't all sugar.  There is definitely some spice in the mix too.  She has some spunk and sass to her which is all her own.  Most of the time is can be really funny but we are working on reeling her in a little bit too.  ;)

Sarah loves to read, dress up, dance, learn, swing, swim, play games, sing songs...pretty much she is up for everything!  She loves to make friends.  She is great at encouraging people, especially her brothers.  She is a great cheerleader for everyone and loves to see people do their best.  I love that about her.  

Some of Sarah's favorite things are:

Books:  Madeline in Paris by Ludwig Bemelmans, Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, and the Frozen Little Golden Book.  

Activities: Playing legos with Jacob, riding her bike and reading books. 

Food:  Pancakes, popcorn, peanuts, strawberries, and blueberries.

Game: Hungry Hungry Hippo

Songs: If You're Happy and You Know It, I Am a Child of God, and The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. 

It came as no surprise to any of us, when we asked Sarah what she wanted to do for her birthday party and her immediate reply was PRINCESS.  We love our little princess.  

Our little princess was the first to get up (as always) and she was so excited that it was FINALLY the day!  We had her birthday breakfast of German Pancakes with strawberry sauce, bacon, and orange juice.  We then started to get ready for her party!

Sarah was so lucky to have so many people come and celebrate with her.  Grandpa and Grandma, Gramps and Grammy, and Aunt Melina and Aunt Megan all came up to party with her!

We played (while I tried to get things up and going!) and Sarah got to open one of her presents early.  A new Aurora dress up!

We then played kiss the frog and Grandpa Berning was the winner of that one!

The weather turned out to be pretty windy so we moved inside and opened presents.  This is one lucky little girl.  She got loads of new dress ups (with accessories!), lots of new books, a beautiful nightgown with a matching nightgown for her baby, a new sleeping bag for her baby, and pretend pots and pans so she can "cook".  

While we were getting lunch put together, Jacob and Sarah melted everyone's hearts with their special relationship.  Jacob asked Sarah, "If you want to put on your princess dress, I'll dance with you."  And Sarah put it on, while Jacob picked her a flower and put it in her hair while they danced together in the grass.  It doesn't get much better than that.  

Sarah picked out our menu for her birthday party: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (in the shape of a heart) with strawberry yogurt and a pink drink.  You got it!

And to top it all off, a strawberry cake!  Sarah loves the book, The Poky Little Puppy and in the story it talks about strawberry shortcake and so kept saying that's what she wanted for her birthday.  When I showed her pictures of what strawberry shortcake was she informed me that that was NOT right.  Finally, I pulled up a strawberry cake recipe and she approved.  ;)

Sarah frolicked around in her princess dress all afternoon soaking in the freedom of no longer having to take a nap.  She said she wanted quesadillas for dinner and so we headed to Cafe Sabor for dinner.  To end the day, Mark and the kiddos joined me at young women's because we were having a daddy daughter pinewood derby.  It was great and the kids loved watching the action!

We love this girl so much.  She is one of a kind and we love every bit of her.  We know she will do great things in this world...because she is already doing them.  

Keep being you, sis.  And know how much you are loved.  And that you will always be our little princess.  

First Haircut

This little girl was so brave today.  I have never cut her hair at all.  We love her blonde curly locks and I just never saw a reason to cut them.  But the last several months we thought it was probably time for a trim to even things out a bit.  Anytime I brought it up she was very against it.  

Finally, a couple weeks ago I got to the bottom of the problem.  She thought her hair was going to turn brown.  I am sorry to any brunettes out there but Sarah was absolutely CONVINCED that her hair was going to turn brown when it was cut (thanks Tangled!) and that was not a happy outcome for her.  

But after much convincing, I was finally able to reassure her to get it cut.  She was great and still has her curly blonde locks.  She is growing up...and as excited as I am to see all the good she will do, I really want her to stay little forever.  

Camping

We finally squeezed in a family camping trip!  

WOOT WOOT!

Mark actually took Friday off so that we could go camping but then we found out our ward was doing a camp out on the same night and so it worked out perfectly!

The kiddos were SO excited to go camping and sleep in their sleeping bags.  We stayed up at the Sunrise Campground at the summit of Logan Canyon.  It was a beautiful campground and our first time staying there.  We pulled in around 5:00 and get settled in.  

There was a great turnout for dinner and it was fun chatting and relaxing with friends.  The kiddos had a great time running around and playing in the trees.  Sarah could NOT wait to go to bed - she was begging to just play in the tent.  What a goof.  

While I was in the tent helping Sarah and Ben get changed we were talking about sleeping in the tent and Sarah goes, "Well...I thought it was going to be amazing."  I love her.  

I felt like it got really dark, really FAST!  We put Sarah and Ben to bed and Sarah was out really fast (which is completely opposite of what the norm is) while Ben gabbed away.  Jacob and I played some "Go Fish" (WOOT!) and it was fun to have some one-on-one time with him.  

Jacob headed to bed and then Mark and I played Skip-Bo with Stu and Lindsey.  Their awesome family shared the site with us and it was fun to get to know them better (even if we did get hustled by Stu ;))  

The night was COLD.  And I knew it would be chilly but I was kind of miserable all night.  I seriously don't know if I slept at all.  I could not manage to get warm.  I was in a long sleeve thermal shirt, jacket, Mark's jacket, and under two thick blankets and was absolutely frozen.  As I was laying there all I kept thinking was that the kids MUST be just as cold as I was but they all said they were fine.  Sarah said she was a little cold but the kiddos all slept great.  Meanwhile, Mark slept in a t-shirt and about half a blanket.  Apparently, I have a problem.  

We did put Benjamin in between Mark and I when we got settled into the tent because he was cold in his pack n' play but he slept fine after that.  Except for when he woke up in the middle of the night whispering, "Daddy" over and over in the sweetest voice you've ever heard.  It was adorable.  

BUT we survived the night and the kiddos had a good time!  We ate a pancake breakfast and packed up our tent fast because it was starting to rain.  It was a quick little camping trip but I am glad we made it work!