A New Path

It's over.  Truly, finally over.  No more "except for this" or "waiting for that" phrases.  Done.  Fine.  The end.  

...

Cool.

It was interesting, as we walked in the Salt Palace to the room where Michael was going to be sworn in, how long and winding the route was.  We walked for what felt like a mile - turning corners, riding escalators, walking long stretches, turning more corners, going up stairs.  It seemed never ending!  At one point my Mom commented on how it was just like his path to become a lawyer.  Just when we thought it was done, it wasn't.  There was always a little bit more.  But then we turned one last corner, entered a room, and listened to the words that ended that path and opened up another.  Michael is an Attorney at Law.  His career has finally begun and the next chapter of our life opened.  We're excited for the opportunities ahead of us.  Most of all, I'm so proud of Michael and all his hard work then and now.  Love you Michael.

Six

Six years old.  Six years old!  If my oldest son is now six years old then I must be old enough to have a six-year-old!  How did that happen?!

While I may not like to think about the implications for myself, I love seeing how much he has grown and learned and experienced.  At six years Johnny is so big that he measures up to kids 4 years older than he.  And yet he has the most tender heart of anyone I know.  He's thriving in his kindergarten class and now reads and writes like crazy!  His favorite book at the moment is Green Eggs and Ham, which he loves to read to Damien.  I even stumbled upon Johnny whispering the words to Damien so he could "read" it on his own.  (*Proud Moment*)  Johnny is now an avid soccer player and fisherman.  Soccer had a slow start because of his reluctance to take the ball away from anyone (like I said, sweetheart) but that changed with the introduction of candy bribes.  I told him that I would give him an M&M for every time he kicked the ball and an ice cream scoop for every goal.  It was magical!  :)  I almost ran out of M&M's and Johnny scored twice and had another three very close shots on goal.  (*Pround Moment*)  Fishing, on the other hand, was natural to Johnny from day 1.  He goes about once a week with his Grandpa Wald and almost always catches something.  If it's big enough they bring it home to cook and eat together.  Johnny also loves to play games with his Dad and knows how to play Bohnanza all by himself.  He's smart, athletic, loving, and happy.  I'm so lucky he's mine!

Cabin Conference

Back at the beginning of the month we took a weekend off to enjoy the peace of the cabin together as a family.  It happened to be Johnny's birthday and Conference weekend as well.  As we drove we marveled at the beauty of the fall colors coupled with low clouds covering the mountains.  It was indescribable and, while I like the pictures I got, they don't do it justice.

My favorite part of the weekend was listening to Conference in front of the fire.  We pulled a couch over and all cuddled on it, feeling the warmth of the flames and listening to the words of our prophet and apostles.  The boys only lasted about 15 minutes like this, but it was priceless to me.

The boys favorite part was chopping the wood with Daddy.  We went out to the large wood pile to split some wood for those who would be coming up to the cabin during the winter.  Each of us found a specific job to do that seemed to work perfectly together.  Johnny stood on the wood pile and picked out a log for Michael.  Michael would split it with the ax, and then Damien would shout at the top of his lungs "Good hit Daddy!!"  Afterwards I'd take the pieces and store them under the cabin for use later.  We preformed this simple routine over and over for more than an hour!  (Damien was absolutely faithful with his "Good hit Daddy!!" every time - it was so great!)  They LOVED every minute of it and I loved watching all my boys being manly men!

Prepping for Halloween

See these innocent-looking berries?  These small, little, cute berries turned my small, little, cute four-year-old into this....

A nightmare that just walked out of a horror movie!

The bushes around our condo are full of blue berries, and when Damien and Emily saw them they figured out that they could squish the berries in their hands and make a mess which, as you know, is always a good idea!  When I looked out the window to see what they were up to all I could see was red.  It would have been terrifying (Who's bleeding?!?  What happened?!?) if I didn't hear their giggles at the exact same moment.  So instead of a first aid kit I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures.  Damien had a lot of fun making scary faces for the camera.  He's a little too good at it!