Welcome Home

We welcomed home Grandma and Grandpa Randall from their mission in Kenya on Sunday night. It was so good to see them. They look great! We visited for a bit at the airport and then we took our tired kids home.
On Monday, we gathered for dinner and Family Home Evening at my sister's house. It was fun to visit and also watch a video montage of my parent's mission. The kids really enjoyed the Safari pictures.
We are looking forward to a fantastic summer and enjoying Grandma and Grandpa until they leave on their next mission.

Enoch Made It!

Every morning I read to Enoch and Kate from the Book of Mormon scripture reader. They sit and listen, but don't ask many questions, so I wasn't sure how much they were really understanding. Enoch was soaking in more that I thought.

Our conversation in the car tonight:

Enoch: Mom, I'm holding onto the rod right now.
Mom: Good job, Enoch.
Enoch: Are you holding onto the rod?
Mom: Yup.

A few minutes later.

Enoch: I'm in the darkness now, but I'm still holding onto the rod. Real tight.
Mom: I'm proud of you. What are you doing to hold onto the rod.
Enoch: I'm holding onto it!
Mom: Are you making good choices.
Enoch: Yeesss!

A few minutes later.

Enoch: The people in the castle are being mean, but I'm still hanging on.
Mom: Keep going.

A few minutes later.

Enoch: I just ate the fruit.
Mom: What did it taste like?
Enoch: Didn't you eat it? You should hang onto the rod tighter so you can eat it too.
Mom: Okay.
Enoch: Is the fruit really real?

A long discussion about symbolism and eternal life.

I don't mean to make light of this, but it was so great to know that Enoch is really paying attention and that he is starting to understand the scriptures. He mind is constantly going and it is a challenge to fill it. I hope he will continue to love to read the scriptures.

A Big Bonk

The victim

The culprit
Poor Kate. She was scraped up pretty good this morning. Her and Enoch were outside playing in the backyard while I was doing the dishes. I heard Kate screaming - not a mad scream, but a really hurt scream. I hobbled out there and found Kate sitting on the grass clutching her face and Enoch standing next to the swing. Enoch looked like he was in shock. He was completely pale and wouldn't talk to me. He just kept staring at Kate and trying to speak to tell me what happened.
I grabbed Kate and rushed her inside and tried to stop the bleeding. Her nose and mouth were both producing a lot of blood. We finally got the blood under control and cleaned up her face as best we could. I gave her some Advil for the pain and a binkie for comfort. Pretty soon she wore herself out from the screaming and was asleep (it was nap time anyway).
Enoch came in a few minutes later. He was still white and shaking a bit. He asked if Kate was okay. I said she would be fine. He was trying very hard not to burst into tears. He finally said, "Mom, it was an accident. I don't want Kate to be hurt. I feel so bad Kate got hurt. And then she was bleeding and I didn't know what to do." Apparently, Kate climbed into her swing and asked Enoch to push her. Enoch gave her a big shove and she flipped out of the swing and scraped her face on the edge on the decking. Kate didn't think to buckle herself in and Enoch thought she was already buckled in. Oh well, an accident.
Kate has been telling me all day that she is a big girl who is brave. That "Kate in swing, off, down! Big bonk!" Big bonk indeed. I hope she heals quickly.

I had a rough night.

Lehi Round-Up

Our family loves the Round-Up - our favorite part is the parade. Every year we watch the Friday night and Saturday morning parades. The floats are great, the bands fantastic and the kids love collecting candy. A lot of candy!
This year we splurged and bought a canopy. What a great idea. It was so nice to sit in the shade. We ate breakfast and visited while waiting for the parade to start.
Kate wearing her cute hat I made for her.
About half way through the parade, Grandpa Dee came by on his tractor. Enoch decided to ride the rest of the parade on the tractor train. He had a great time.
We really enjoyed the parade. Can't wait for next year.

Graham Crackers, Anyone?

Our family loves Graham Crackers. Really, we do. When they go on sale, we stock up. Macey's had them for a great price last week, which was perfect since we were out.
When I told the cashier how many cases I wanted, he was dumbfounded. Yes, I told him, we go through a lot of Graham Crackers. The boys like them with chocolate milk.
This was our haul:
9 cases of crackers
54 boxes of crackers
3,240 sheets of crackers
12,960 individual crackers

By my calculations, these crackers will last about 6 months.

Amazing, Isn't It?

Okay, it's not so amazing that the kids thought to put the hose at the top of the slide and go down. But it's pretty amazing that they are all playing together and not fighting, hitting, biting, arguing, etc, etc, etc.
They had so much fun. They would shoot off the end of the slide and just fly and then skid. They thought it was hilarious. Kate was a bit scared at first and would only go down with Gavin, but once she got use to it she loved it.
I treasure moments like this - my kids playing together, working together, helping each other. As a mom, times like this make it worth it!

Enoch's Two-Wheeler

Enoch has finally decided to learn how to ride his bike without training wheels. This was a big decision for Enoch. He loves his scooter. He rides it everywhere. However, he learned that he can't keep up with his bike-riding friends on his scooter.
Enoch was quite determined to learn how to does this in one evening, or about 20 minutes. I think he was disappointed that he still couldn't do it after a few tries, but he has kept riding.
Greg obviously got the job of running behind him since my foot wouldn't be able to take that quite yet. They went up and down the cul-de-sac numerous times and Enoch thought it was great fun. Greg thought he was exhausted.
Kate just tried to keep up. She can't reach the pedals on her bike yet, so she scoots. Where's her helmet? What kind of parents does she have?!
Enoch hasn't had any major spills yet. He is doing such a great job and is so proud of his 'big bike'.
What a milestone in a boy's life - a bike with two wheels. Good job, Enoch!

Rescue Heroes

These are my kids every night at 8pm - laying in my bed memorized by Rescue Heroes. It's their motivation to come inside, get bathed and in jammies. They love watching Rescue Heroes. Enoch started watching it about a year ago and Kate, of course, has to do whatever Enoch does, so she watches now too. I think for Kate it's more about being with Enoch that the actual show, but whatever it takes to get her inside and her summer stinky body in the tub works for me.
I must have mommy mush brain, but this show is actually quite entertaining for a kid's show. The jokes are completely stupid, but the story lines move quickly and I love that it is teaching my kids to, "Be a Rescue Hero, Be Safe!" Enoch absolutely needs that drilled into his head every night!
This show has been around for a while. Gavin got Rescue Heroes for Christmas when he was about Enoch's age. Enoch 'discovered' them a bit ago and they are his new favorite toy. Since they no longer sell them in stores, we have scoured Ebay and have found some great deals. Enoch now has an entire bin full of them and their vehicles and loves it.
Enoch is convinced that he is going to be Captain Billy Blazes for Halloween this year. Hmm - not sure how to do that. Have you seen the size of their feet?! My kids have big feet, but not quite that big. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Be sure to check out Rescue Heroes on Qubo at 8pm (I think it's also on at 2pm) weekdays.

Dad makes everything better

I've know for a long time that Dad makes everything better, at least in our home.
Working around the house is easier with Dad, going places is more fun with Dad, things are calmer when Dad is home. It's just better with Dad.
The kids love Greg. Kate can hear the garage door open in any room in the house and she tears off running for the door when she hears that sound. She wraps herself around Greg's legs and won't let go until he picks her up. Then she gives him a big hug and rubs his back. It is so precious. Greg loves it and smiles contently.
Greg truly enjoys being with the kids. He plays with the kids. He does what they want to do. He doesn't control or try to talk them into certain activities that are more enjoyable for him, but he just enjoys being with them. They are his top priority and he makes sure the kids know that. Greg asks questions and then he listens. He rarely rushes the kids; he is content to go at their speed. He understands that his children are people with amazing thoughts, emotions and contributions. That is an incredible gift he has given Gavin, Enoch and Kate.

Father's Day was very low-key this year. I was in bed with a stomach bug all day, so Happy Father's Day, Greg! Greg fixed his own dinner of cream cheese chicken and then we had homemade ice cream. The kids gave Greg the KitchenAid Ice Cream maker that attaches to our mixer. We made the ice cream on Saturday and put it in the freezer to harder overnight. Wow! It was good. I have a feeling we are going to be making a lot of ice cream this summer.

Happy Father's Day, Greg. You are the best blessing in your children's lives. We are lucky beyond thinking to have you with us.

Maple Dell

Well, I got home from maple dell this weekend and it was a blast! Here's my schedule: got up at 6ish and made breakfast( well one patrol does it but we have 3 with seven in each). then we went to cope at 9. Cope is team building activities like having 11 people scale a 12 foot wall with no hand holds.then at 10 off to merit badges or in my case a free hour. at 11 merit badges mine was wilderness survival. then at 12 lunch STUFF YOUR FACE! then at 1 nothing. then at 2 we had merit badges i had archery which was 2 hours. and at 4 more merit badges mine was tracking. at five free time. six: dinner STUFF YOUR FACE AGAIN! and at ten lights out. then it started over and repeated itself. now on Tuesday and Wednesday I ran with my scout master to wakara ridge and saw Utah lake. but he had to leave Wednesday night. and the food was awesome! Also on Tuesday night our troop held a spiritual campfire and it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.
PS - Mom thought I was quite stinky when I got home!

Dear Grandma & Grandpa

Dear Grandma & Grandpa,

I am so excited to have you come home from your mission in Africa. Okay, I really don't remember you, but Mom, Dad, Gavin and Enoch keep talking about you coming home, so I'm excited too. Anything Enoch is excited about, I'm on board. Truthfully, I'm mostly looking forward to going to the airport and seeing the planes!
Please don't be offended if I don't want to hug you or even look at you at the airport. I'm quite shy. I'll just stick close to Mom and Dad until I get to know you better. Once I've been around you a few times, I'll feel better. I really don't like new situations and it takes me awhile to figure them out.
Also, please don't be surprised if I cry a lot. What can I say? I'm two and a girl. I've been a bit cranky lately. I keep trying to do things on my own and it just isn't working out the way it should. Plus, I have these brothers who like to tease me. I love them lots, but really, how much can a girl take?
Mom keeps telling me that we get to go camping with you in a little while. I love being outside. I especially love taking walks. Mom says that Grandpa loves taking walks too, so we can do that together. I also love reading books. You gave me some really fun books for Christmas. Maybe Grandma could read them to me?
I'm happy that you are coming home. I'm excited to show you my twirly dresses, my bike and play oven with food. I can't wait to see you.

Love,
Kate
PS - If you take me out for ice cream, I'll be your best friend in the world!

Flood Fun

Due to the quick jump in temperatures, Utah and Salt Lake Valleys have experienced some minor flooding recently. While coming home from Grandma and Grandpa Fowlers on Sunday evening we stopped at Lehi Elementary and watched as water gushed into the parking lot and field, completely covering it. A bit closer to home at Hidden Park, the creek was overflowing its banks and flooded the playground and field. The kids were dying to play in it, but we were not prepared with towels and suits, so we promised we would come back in the morning.
After bribing the kids to get their jobs done, we suited and sunscreened up and drove over to the park. The kids had so much fun running through the water. Kate wasn't too sure what to do at first, but she figured it out soon enough. It was just the right amount of water to have fun in and not have to worry about the kids. Since I'm still in my boot, I sat on the sidelines, read my magazines, took pictures and laughed.
I felt a bit guilty that some people were experiencing flooded basements while we were playing in that same water. But, the water was there and the kids had so much fun. After we went to lunch at Carl's Jr. It was a great morning!

When I Grow Up

A few weeks ago Greg asked Enoch what he wanted to be when he grew up. Enoch quickly replied, "A dad!". Greg asked what he wanted to do for work. Enoch said, "Can't I just be a dad? That's work." (Only if you have a son like you, Enoch!)
We started talking about occupations and Enoch has been thinking very hard about what he wants to do. He has mentioned a police man and rancher, but he really wants to be a forest ranger. Not just a forest ranger, but a ranger who has a gun and can put bad guys in jail for shooting animals. Nice plan, Enoch.
Notice not one of these jobs involves sitting behind a desk. He has too much of his Grandpa Randall in him!

Too Soon!

I cried this morning. I dropped Gavin off at the Junior High and I cried. It's not even real school yet and I still cried because he is so grown-up and independent and he didn't even want me to come in with him and he shouldn't be this old yet and I worry about him and I love him so much. I know, I'm needier than he is.
Gavin is auditing Algebra during the month of June. He scored high enough on his ACAD test to skip Pre-Algebra and advance to Algebra. A few weeks ago his counselor called and invited him to this summer school class to solidify his math skills and prepare him for Algebra. Gavin wasn't sure he wanted to, but Greg and I talked him into it. It will be a great intro to Algebra, familiarize himself with the Junior High and give him something to do. Besides, if he gets higher than a C, he gets a free trip to the Space Center.
Starting next week, Gavin will also have summer band right after Algebra. He has been practicing his saxophone and he sounds great.
I'm thinking this is a good thing for Mom too. I can gently ease myself into the Junior High scene and not completely fall apart on the first day of school!

Greg's Journey to the Unemployment Office

My employer has decided that they no longer need my help. I was let go about a week ago. But the story starts long before that. On May 7th, I decided that I needed to talk to my manager about the hours that I am working. He needed me to work that weekend, but I had told him previously that I had a wedding on Saturday and Sunday was mother's day. I told him that I wasn't willing to work overtime without compensation. Although the pay was in the right range for someone with my experience and skills, the company has NO benefits. No insurance, no retirement, no overtime, no vacation. I told him that if he wants extra effort from me, he should provide extra compensation. I wasn't really looking for extra money, I just wanted to spend more time with my family. My manager told me how the company was running low on money and how he had taken a pay-cut so that his developers would not have to take a pay-cut. He also went on to describe how we are a "start-up" and that means that the employees are supposed to work long hours for little pay. To be fair to my manager I did spring this on him at the end of the day on Friday. He said that he needed some time to think about what I had said and we would talk about this on Monday.
We did not have our talk on Monday or Tuesday or on any day that week. This was fine with me, because I wasn't working all those extra hours any more. I had told my manager that I wouldn't and I wasn't doing it. I was very happy and getting a lot of work done. The meeting didn't happen until Wednesday, a week and a half latter. This time it was much more formal. He had brought in the office manager to take notes so that they could put them in my permanent record. My manager gave several critiques of my performance and we discussed them. The meeting was interrupted by "the big boss" who needed the office manager for another meeting. When the meeting was resumed we talked some more about what we should do. My manager thought that it would be bad for the team to have one person putting in 40-50 hours a week when everyone else was required to put in more time. We agreed on this, but our solutions differed. The managers decided that they needed more time to think about this. I was pretty sure that I was going to be fired. I had been thinking this since our first talk. So on Monday, May 24th I was fired. I packed up my thinks and said goodbye.
We have a stand-up meeting every morning with the developers and QA. My manager told me I didn't need to attend this meeting today so I waited around so that I could say goodbye to all of my friends. I was expecting my manager to say something about me not being on the team anymore. But he completely ignored the issue during the meeting. When I went to say goodbye to everyone, they were all surprised.
I should say that I was expecting to be fired, but I also knew that they were having a very hard time finding Java developers. They had been interviewing programmers for months and had only hired one person, and he was a .NET guy, not a Java programmer. Since they were already short-handed and could not hit a target date, I thought that they would rather have a programmer working 40-50 hours a week than nothing at all. But they have only so much budget and so they are probably cutting down on staff. And since they couldn't hit a milestone anyway, that won't change. It will just mean that they miss the target dates by more. So now I am looking for a better job. I hope I find one soon.

Greg Fowler