Payson Temple Open House

Not too far from  us, a temple was recently completed.  This means we had the opportunity to go to the open house, when it is opened up to anyone who wants to come see the inside, whether they are members of our church or not.  It is a great experience and there is a joyful peace inside the building.
The kids, who are not old enough to attend the temple and participate in temple ordinances, were very excited to get to see what the inside of a temple is like.

This particular temple is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.  We were happy for our children to see that our chapels are simple while our temples are beautiful, but not gaudy, because they are built for our Heavenly Father and we want to give Him our best.

James was not too keen on pictures but we had to try anyway.  We've got a fun group of kids here.

There are published pictures of the interior for those of you who didn't get to see it in person.  Here are two of my favorites:

This is a sealing room, where families are joined to be together for eternity and marriages also take place.  It is special to kneel with your companion in this beautiful, peaceful room and make promises that will last forever.  Having a supportive, intimate gathering of the most important people in your life there with you makes a temple marriage unforgettable.

This is called the Celestial Room.  It a representation of heaven and is the perfect place for reflection.  Even with the bustle of open house attendees, this room has a different, more powerful peace than even the other areas of the temple.

I think the kids had a wonderful time even though we had to wake up early to get to the temple in time for our tour.  I hope we get the opportunity to attend another open house soon.

(If you want to know more about why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints builds temples, read this or watch this.)

Hiking

Since we live so close to many beautiful mountains and child-friendly hikes, I decided one day to take the kids up a particularly rocky canyon.  They were thrilled.  

We packed lunch and headed out.

We had been studying rocks and rock formations in  home school, so this canyon was a good choice.  The kids got to see some unusual rock patterns in real life.  I was excited for them to have some good hands-on learning time.

Not surprisingly, the kids were much more excited about meeting all the dogs (and dog owners) passing by us on the trail. 

However you slice it, a great time was had by all.

The trees hadn't greened up much yet but it was still pretty and peaceful.  The kids loved climbing around on anything they could find.  They also enjoyed being with each other.

There is something about physical activity that takes the itch to fight right out of my kids.

The higher, the better.  All of them were worried about snakes lounging on sunny rocks, slithering across the path, or jumping out at them from dark crevices.  But I don't think any of the kids were worried about falling.

Even James was not deterred by height.  He climbed after the rest of the kids and never slowed down.  "Just call me mountain-climbing Tyrannosaurus Rex!" he repeated enthusiastically.  James never once complained about the walking or the heat or anything else.  He was just thrilled to be alive and participating it what must have felt like a very grown-up adventure.

Everett would have climbed much higher if I had let him.  Visions of broken necks precluded me from encouraging the kids on too extensively.

Even Ashley, our resident fearer-of-heights (and water, and loud noises, and the dark), climbed nimbly and unabashedly.

William, our big imagination guy, filled our time with questions like, "What would you do if suddenly a hundred snakes came out of these rocks and tried to attack you?  Could you survive?"

Getting down was almost as fun as getting up.  The kids each fashioned themselves a walking stick, and Ashley instructed her younger brothers in how to use them for proper downhill sliding.

The little boys preferred to use their walking sticks as boomerangs (a term adopted by James), and tossed the projectiles joyfully from the top of their perches.

This is how Charlie enjoyed the hike.  We did find a nice place to stop for a snack, which meant Charlie could finally get out of his baby carrier and wander a bit.  It also meant my poor shoulders could get a rest from the poundage of a chubby toddler plus a backpack full of food and water for six.

What hike is complete without an intimate visit with Mother Nature?  The boys were thrilled and Ashley just rolled her eyes, glad she is physiologically compelled to be left out of that stunt.

We left the canyon after three hours and having grown a desire to return the very next day.  Unfortunately, life has gotten in the way and we haven't been back.  I think we are due for another hike very soon--probably one that will be just as new and exciting as this one was.

We're glad to be back in hiking territory!

Fun at Grandma Burton's House

We have been living with my parents while we decide exactly where we want to be.  It has been great and really made our transition easy.

Charlie learned pretty quickly that he could open the pantry door and get himself a box of cereal.

We started keeping a chair in front of the door but it didn't take him long to figure out how to push it away and get to the goodies inside.  There is a recycling bin at the bottom of this pantry so I have caught Charlie pulling empty cereal boxes out and putting them back on the shelf.  

There were only a couple of months left in the school year, and we weren't in a permanent place anyway, so I decided to home school the kids to finish out the year.  This picture shows the day we made igneous rock (chocolate) over foil volcanoes.  

Home schooling has been. . .a challenge.  I am not sure if I would choose to do it again.  It took the kids a while to accept my role as a teacher.  At first they were resistant to any constructive criticism, but now we can usually discuss errors without anyone blowing their top.

Living with family has its perks.  One Friday, Joel took the boys up to the Johnson's house and left Ashley and me to spend an evening alone.  It was very fun.

We bought special treats and watched Racing Stripes on Netflix, after which Ashley had me video tape and time her while she pretended to be a zebra racing an obstacle course.  Ashley didn't quit until she completed the course in a time she deemed impressive.  

It was fun being buddies with her, and Ashley finally got what she had been asking for:  a night where she got to sleep in my bed with only me.

Another perk of living with family is that Joel and I can easily go out together.  Sometimes we even sneak out after the kids are in bed to do exciting things like run errands together.  But it has been a very long time since we were able to do that and we are really enjoying it, even if it means we share a candy bar in a grocery store parking lot after a purchase of diapers.  The above picture was when we rode bikes up the canyon, which is five minutes from my parent's house.

The kids slept outside in the playhouse one night, and even though it was a little cold, they lasted pretty well.  William and James joined us inside sometime during the early morning hours, but Everett and Ashley stayed.

I let them have lots of books and we strung up little battery-operated lanterns.  They were cozy and warm and entertained and I think they had a lot of fun.

William was skeptical about the whole thing, but I knew if he stayed inside, he'd regret it.  I finally convinced him to try it out and he ended up really enjoying it.

Ashley and Charlie share a room now, but sometimes she sleeps on an extra bed in the little boys' room.  I think she just likes having options, but she is very proud of being Charlie's main caretaker (at least, in her opinion).  But I still can't get her to change a messy diaper, so I'm going to have to work on that.

All of the kids are thrilled to be able to see their cousins more than once a year now, especially James.  He has latched on to a couple of his girl cousins who are several years older than him and are very sweet with him.  He often asks if we can go to their houses.

Our move has been the toughest for Everett, who misses his best friend (who he saw almost daily).  Everett also is not too fond of change, so moving has not been comfortable for him.  He is getting used to being in transition but still has his moments.  It is during those moments that I wonder if I am doing anything right to help him as a mother, but inevitably the steam dissipates and Everett returns to his loving, helpful self.

It will be fun to get more settled and keep re-discovering why it is so fun to be near family.  

Selling our Ankeny Home

Well, we moved!  That's right, we sold our house, packed up, and moved to Utah.  It was stressful but we are so glad we made the decision.  Joel is working for a Solar Energy company in Salt Lake City and we love being near family.  Joel and I have spent nearly our entire married life away from family, so it is nice to live close again.  

We decided to sell our house without a realtor.  This was also stressful, but it ended up being a great, money-saving decision, and it only took a couple of weeks to find a golden buyer.  

This home was our second home and one we bought so we'd have room to grow.  Charlie was born in this house.  We filled it with kids and laughter (and tantrums).  We had fantastic neighbors who let us play in their pool and whose kids walked to school with Everett and Ashley.  Ashley's best friend lived right next door and Everett's best friend lived only a few houses down the street.  They all enjoyed having the luxury of not waiting for a mother to drive them to see their best friend.

We went through a lot of popsicles in the summer.  With so many of our own Johnson kids, it was an instant party at our house with any guest.  Our sweet little neighbor kids were over often and it was well worth the extra dollars to have an outside-only treat.  I'd send all the kids out, shut the sliding back door, and just. . .sit, and let the quiet wash over me.  Only lasting ten, fifteen minutes, tops, it was a luxury.

Here are some house pictures I took to put it on the market.  I thought it showed pretty well.  I wish I had pictures from when we first moved in--I don't think there is a single room we didn't change during the two years we lived there.

(This one was actually taken by the tax assessor, but our picture was wintery and dour and I thought a sunny picture would be better.)

See?  Gloom.

Our front door and stairs.  Do you spy the 40's era piano I got for free?

First change:  Wall color from purple to gray.

Second Change:  New white baseboards and door headers (the trim was a medium oak).

Third Change:  We had a minor flooding incident and needed to refinish our wood floor.  It is a red oak hardwood floor and it had a natural finish but we chose to go a little darker.  It turned out much darker than we thought but still looked pretty good.

Our living room/ library.  I have always wanted a library and this barely counts, but I ran with it.  

Downstairs bathroom.  We painted and switched out the mirror. 

Kitchen

The kitchen wasn't fancy but it was roomy and comfortable.  We didn't change much besides the paint color (it was cream; we went gray) and darker floor.  My favorite change was the lighting.  For only a small amount of money, we took out the big ugly fluorescent light and replaced it with a simple track light.  You'll just have to trust that it made a BIG DIFFERENCE.

I bought this kitchen table, which I love, for this house.

Family room off the kitchen.  There was a big purple wall in this room.  For simplicity's sake, we painted everything gray.

My favorite change in this room was the fireplace surround (which we completed shortly before moving).  It was a honey oak color so we stained the top darker and painted the rest to match the trim.  I loved the result so much I couldn't help kicking myself for not getting to it sooner.

We had a comfortable, bright master bedroom.  The walls were cream-ish.  Well, they were really a pale blue but the color was so light you couldn't tell.  At that point, I figure, why bother?  So we went dark.  It took some getting used to but I liked it.

All new trim up here, just like on the first floor.

The cabinets were the same medium oak color as the kitchen.  It just looked like too much going on to me, with the new double mirrors and wall color.  I wanted a relaxing, calm feel so I painted them gray one day while Joel was at work to "surprise" him.  I was very happy I did.  

See?  Soothing and mellow.  Just how I need my bathroom to be.  My house has a surplus of noise, so I think I feel the need to balance that brightness with something else.

Ashley's room was the biggest change.  The wall by the door was not there when we moved in.  A banister was there, leaving an open office space looking over the stairs.  We needed the bedroom so we finished it off.  It added value to our house, so why not?  Then we painted it a fun color and got decorating.  Ashley loved having a girly-ish room but did not love sharing it with James.

Ashley bought the gold butterflies you see on her wall with her own money at a garage sale.  She was very proud of them.

Everett's room did not really change much.  We didn't paint or change the trim but I liked how it looked.

Everett loved having the top bunk but he constantly tried to convince us that he is old enough to have his own room.  No such luck.

Charlie did have his own room, though.  We painted this room with blue paint we had sitting around, and it turned into a pretty cute little space.

The kids' bathroom was an awful dark reddish clay-brown color.  It was like being in a cave, a bad thing when there is no natural light coming in.  Painting it the same gray that is downstairs made a huge difference.

The laundry room, aside from painting the trim white, didn't change.  But our buyers did negotiate for the washer and dryer, which I loved for their simplicity and extra large capacity.  I was sad about that but Joel was happy we didn't have to move them.  

We bought this house for the yard.  It was great.  The lot is over a third of an acre, but the way the home is situated meant almost all of that land was in the back.  We played many games of kickball, freeze tag, and red rover in this yard.  The only thing it wasn't good for was hide and seek.

I wish I had a picture of the yard in the spring.  It was pretty and green and flowery, but it did snow quite a bit this past winter so this picture is at least true to life.

It didn't take us long to get our first offer.  A very nice family came through and loved the house.  They gave us a decent offer and even asked for Ashley's toy ride-on horse as part of the deal.  But it was not to be--the high property taxes in our city drove them away.  Joel and I were disappointed.  We had more interest in our house but it slowed a little.  A few days before we moved, we contacted the first family, gave them our very bottom number, and asked if they wanted to reconsider to give us the convenience of not thinking about our house after we moved.  They asked for 24 hours to think about it, but again said no.  

At this point, Joel and I seriously considered hiring a realtor to handle things after we were gone.  But a kind friend of ours stepped up and agreed to show the house for us.  The day after we arrived in Utah, we got a very excited call from the couple who turned out to be our buyers.  Apparently they were in the process of putting an offer on another house but the husband happened to drive by one of our for sale signs and asked to see the house right away.  Thanks to our friend, we made that happen, and they called about an hour after seeing the house.  For almost thirty minutes they raved about the house, said everything was perfect, and begged that we not show it to anyone else.  

Then they asked what we were willing to sell it for.  After hearing their undisguised excitement, what motivation did we have to give them a deal?  We asked that they submit their best offer in writing.  They did, and we ended up only two thousand below asking.  

It was the happy ending we were hoping for, and almost everything else went well, with the exception of the home inspection.  

All the building stuff came back fine, but the inspector left the upstairs tub on during his visit.  Since no one was in the house, it was on for almost a week before our friend discovered it.  25,000 gallons of water later, I called him up and stayed on the phone with him long enough to get him to commit to paying half our water bill.  I should have pushed for more but I didn't actually have proof that he was the one who left the water on, other than the fact that the house was vacant and had not been entered without our knowledge.

We loved that house, and the neighbors, and the schools, and the area, but we are onto new adventures and we are thrilled!  

William is FIVE!

William was excited to turn five, but he wasn't talking about it much.  Ashley and I fixed that with a paper birthday countdown chain.  Ashley hung it right over his bed and William took great pleasure every morning in telling us exactly how many days were left until his birthday.

William woke up the morning of his birthday with great enthusiasm.  He asked for french toast for breakfast, which we granted him, along a rare treat of chocolate milk (which happens to be the only milk William will drink).  When we asked William what he wanted for dinner, he said, "roasted hot dogs!"  He asked for oranges along with the hot dogs but quickly changed his mind once he saw the delicious fruit salad Grandma made.  We gave William several options for a birthday cake, but all he wanted was s'mores.  Done and done.  

I think William had a nice day.  He asked to go to the museum, much to the other kids' delight.  We love this museum.  It is filled with exciting animal exhibits.

They had fun messing around outside near the bronze statues.  William greatly admires Everett.  He becomes interested in everything that Everett has been interested in: legos, pokemon, and lately, minecraft.  William tries to sneak onto the ipad minecraft game Everett did chores to pay for.  This does not make Everett happy.  But William can't help himself--he just wants to be like his big brother.

We decided to drive up the foothills on the way home from the museum so the kids could get out and admire the view.  We have only been in Utah for a little while so the mountains are a wonderful novelty.  Everett and Ashley were happy to do whatever William wanted on his birthday and they tried their best to pamper him.  We love birthdays in our family--the birthday kid gets to decide the meals and activities for the entire day.  With five kids, having a day where you get to decide almost everything is really special.  When else does that happen?  The kids count down to their own birthdays but are always thrilled to celebrate those of their siblings.  It seems we never pass by too much time without stumbling upon a birthday.

William is starting to lose some of his little boy look, but I am glad he is still only five.  He will start kindergarten in the fall, and is happy about it but not overly excited.  He loves friends, though, and jumps in eagerly to any group.  He recently went to a birthday party where he knew no one.  He joined in the activities without a backwards glance and came home asking to go back again.  "What are the names of your new friends?" we asked.  "I don't know," he replied with a casual shoulder-shrug.  It didn't matter to him.  William just likes being with other kids, no matter who they are.

William is earnest and sweet and reliably happy.

He is also reliably silly!

We all love William's enthusiasm.  When he is happy, he goes about the house rhythmically making up nonsense words and songs and rhymes.  I smile every time I hear him do this.  Even when he was a small baby, he took great pleasure in jabbering nonsensically.

It is always easy to get William to giggle.  He loves to laugh.  I sing him a little lullaby each night that I've sung ever since he was a baby.  William likes it when I tickle him during this song so much that he calls it "the tickle song."

William woke up the day of his fifth birthday and proudly announced to me that he is so much stronger than he was when he was four.  We all were appropriately impressed.

James and William have a special bond.  They are pretty good buddies but they can also get on each other's nerves.

It is always nice to see them enjoying each other.  Only occasionally do I have to get after William for bothering James.  When I do, William gets huffy and refuses to let anyone touch him or look at him.  When William was littler, he'd always cuddle when he'd been corrected or reprimanded, but I suppose getting older has heightened his indignation and sense of being wronged.

William has a special love for Charlie.  He always brings Charlie his special blankie, carrying it around his shoulders like a superhero cape, and triumphantly tossing it down to our giggling and clapping baby.  William loves giving Charlie cereal or anything else he wants to eat.

When Charlie is upset, William takes it upon himself to fix the problem.  If he can't, he brings Charlie to me.  This is generally ok, but too often William ends up banging Charlie into something on the way through the house.  Today Charlie ended up with a bloody nose.  William is always dismayed at the injuries he causes but can't help himself the next time Charlie needs help despite our repeated reminders to not carry Charlie through the house.

William still loves dinosaurs.  He knows a lot about each kind of dinosaur.  He really loves dino trucks.  There is a specific brand he has been very fixated on.  William loves these trucks so much that he has watched all of the product videos on amazon multiple times.  He loves these trucks so much that when my Dad pulled up a bunch of pictures of dino trucks online and asked him about them one day, William could tell him all the features of each truck, what the sizes were, and how they worked.  

William has also become very interested in legos.  He can  build for hours and hours.  He has great focus.  He loves building with other people but is often just as happy to build by himself.  He loves creating any vehicle he can add "speedy boosts" to along with a lego dinosaur to ride on it. 

William is also my only child who will even semi-regularly put his clothes away carefully in his dresser.  His preschool teachers affectionately called him a "perfectionist" because he painstakingly finished all of his work as carefully as he could and hated to move on unless it was completed to his satisfaction.

William's favorite amount is "google-infinity."  As in, "No, you mean it is google-infinity times better!" 

William still loves to come sneak in bed with me for a snuggle.  He nestles calmly into me and thrashes his feet into Joel all night.  My kids know that I am always too tired to walk them back to bed and they take advantage of that.  I am just trying to enjoy the snuggles until they are too old to want them.  And William gives exceptional snuggles.

William is excited and proud to be five years old.  We are excited and proud that he is a member of this family.