Substance of Faith: Moving Right Along...

What a week we have had! It has probably been one of our busier ones in a long time... It seems like we have had one thing happening after another. Monday was Labor Day- it was really nice to have a 3 day weekend. It seems like that extra day off makes a big difference. Monday was a packed day all on its own- Dave and Nick (our neighbor) finished most of the framing in the basement. We are now to the point where we need to run the electrical! We have to figure out where we want outlets and also the light fixtures. After the electrical goes in, then the sheet rock (the walls) go up! And that practically makes it a complete room!

The Furnace Room- the wall angles in to make the room larger.

Part of the ceiling framed in.

More awesome framing around the ceiling & furnace room.

The fully framed in Furnace room. Emery loves to run between the studs.

Monday afternoon I took the boys over to Grandma's house for the last swimming day at her pool (we let Dave recover from the morning). Grandpa & Auntie joined us. Ethan just loves swimming with grandpa. He loves the "Shark" game. Emery has a little tube that he can sit in and float around, but like everything else, Emery wants to do everything that Ethan does. Em is not big enough yet for his own pair of water wings, so that means I have to carry him all around the pool. Monday evening we had a sort of summer end barbecue with our neighbors & their family. It was fun to let the kids run around and enjoy some adult conversation.

Tuesday marked the day that all of the kids in our neighborhood started back to school. It was fun to see everyone's "back to school" pictures. :) In our own celebration, I took the boys (yet again) to the Splash Pad. They have a sign up saying that that it closes on Labor Day, but last year we were told it would stay open as long as the water was nice, so I was testing that out. And because everyone else was in school, we had the place to ourselves (later a few other little kids showed up). It's nice for the boys when there aren't as many big kids running around. We also went to watch Daddy's Soccer game that evening. Ethan is really big into playing soccer with Daddy. We'll definitely be signing Ethan up for a soccer league next year. In the mean time, he'll just have to practice with Dave.
Wednesday was a big (read: long) day. There was a temple built in Brigham City- a town about an hour north of where we live. When a temple is built, there is usually an open house for it for about a month after it is completed. This is when the temple is open for visitors (LDS and non members alike) to tour through it- check it out here: Brigham City Temple. I love these opportunities to see the temples and especially to take the boys. The level of craftmanship and artistry that goes into these temples is amazing! I was looking forward to the opportunity to talk to Ethan about the temple and to remind him of the time that we were all sealed together as a family. We often walk together as a family around the Bountiful & Salt Lake Temples, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for Ethan to see the inside of one. It was also a fun opportunity to spend some extra time with Grandma- she came with us. The original plan was to drive up after dinner (after traffic), tour the temple, get some ice cream, and head home (and hopefully the boys would fall asleep on the way back). It seems like everyone else had the same idea as well. We got up to Brigham City after a quick drive, parked, and rode the bus to the temple (for the open houses, there are multiple parking lots and everyone is bussed to the temple). Ethan was absolutely stoked about the bus ride. We sat right behind the bus driver so Ethan could see everything. It was probably the one thing he talked about the most the rest of the night (he kept asking if we were going to ride the bus again). As we pulled up the temple we were surprised to see a GIGANTIC line. Granted, it was moving fairly quickly, but it was impressive. Whenever I am at an amusement park, or anywhere with a big line, I am always reminded of this scene from the Simpsons where everyone is at Itchy & Scratchy Land and they end up on the "Line Ride" which is just a two hour line that ends in nothing. Anyway, about 90% of the line was made up of young men & young women with their youth groups from church. For the size of the line, it was never bottle necked, nor were we ever just standing around, so it went quickly. There was a short video before the tour. The video talked about the history of temples and of the Brigham City temple specifically. After that- off the see the temple! I wish we had had more time to wander through it- the walk was steady through it and there were so many people that I didn't feel like I could stop and talk to Ethan or Grandma about the temple much. The rooms were beautiful though. The attention that is paid to every detail is amazing. Ethan had been handed a brochure about the Brigham City Temple, he thought it was a map. So every room we went into, Ethan had to stop and look at his map to see where we were (he compared the pictures in the pamphlet to the actual room). It was actually quite cute. Ethan loved the ordinance room (there were painted pictures of deer on the walls) and he loved the sealing room (perhaps he remembers from the Bountiful temple?). I loved that we ran into our neighbors from around the block- the DeWaals- they'd had the same idea (and the same surprise by the line) that we did. By the time we caught the bus back to the parking lot it was already 9:00 pm. That meant ice cream was out. Both of the boys were still awake and the adults were ready for bed. We finally made it home at about 10 PM- it made me laugh that the one night we'd allowed the boys to stay awake extraordinarily late was the night before Ethan's first day of school.

Dave & Ethan waiting in line for the bus to take us to the temple. Ethan is a sharp little dresser.

Grandma is a sharp dresser too..

Ethan on the bus. He was so excited.

Dave & Em looking out the window of the bus (Emery was pretty tired).

The exterior of the temple as we were waiting in line. There were apple trees planted around the temple, growing the most perfect looking apples. It was just funny to see the apples growing right next to the sidewalk.

A view of the front of the temple from the bus.

And Thursday! Thursday was the big day we all had been waiting for- Ethan's first day of school! We have been preparing Ethan for school for the past few weeks- reminding him that he was going to to go school soon, what school was, how much fun he would have. Finally! Finally, the day arrived. Grandma and Auntie came over that morning to help take pictures. Grandpa was on a business trip, but he even called to wish Ethan luck on his first day. We all walked Ethan down the block and waved at him as he walked into the house. Ethan didn't cry or get scared- he turned around once to wave at us and that was it! He was in school! I wasn't feeling that great so I stayed home from work that morning, which turned out well because we all were able to pick Ethan up. Ethan came out with his class with a big smile on his face- I could tell he loved it! Ethan talked about all his new friends and drawing and how they were going to the Dinosaur Park for a field trip. Ethan also brought home a little decoration from his first day- a picture of himself on the first day of school and a tracing of his hand that he had colored (it's on the fridge right now so that he can show it to everyone who comes over). I am really so happy that Ethan is going to enjoy school. And he has a book order! Anyone else remember how awesome it was to get the book order flyer?

Ethan on his first day.

Showing off his school bag.

Trying to get the boys to take a picture together.

Waiting outside the preschool with Ethan's classmates.

By Friday I was done... I had no clue what to do with the boys. I was ready for the weekend & Dave being home and being given a break. I love the boys and I love being home with them (most of the time), but Friday I was just done. I had no energy and no ideas on how to entertain them. All things considered, the day went pretty well.
And Saturday- Saturday was one of the crazier days we have had in a long while. Dave had to finish up a bunch of homework Saturday morning, so I had the boys out in the yard & garden with me. At 11 AM, Dave's mom showed up to babysit the boys. Dave & I went to Park City to the outlet mall up there to buy Dave some new work clothes. Dave's work recently changed their dress code- including for their systems people. I understand the need for a dress code when dealing with other people, and I understand that implementing one where there had not been one previously is hard, but I've never heard of a dress code requirement for Systems (IT) people. Dave's office is housed with the rest of the campus's IT people and they are the only office required to wear professional wear. Cest La Vie. It was a fun shopping trip (no kids)! By the time we got home, we had enough time to play with the boys for a little bit before heading off on a double date with our neighbors Brittany & Nick. We went to the Texas Roadhouse. Dave had never been and I had only been once before. It was so tasty! We'll definitely be going back. It was great to be at a restaurant with other adults and no kids and to go at our own pace. It was just an awesome evening. It was also the first time we had hired babysitters for the boys- usually we just call in a favor from Grandma or Auntie. We hired our nephews, Adam & Jacob to come over and watch the boys while were out. Ethan & Emery love them and Adam and Jacob are so good with our boys. It worked out well for us to hire them because that night Dave was doing a game night with Adam & Jacob, so they were going to be over anyway. Every year for Adam's birthday, Dave takes the boys out to get a Keva (fruit smoothie) and they come over and play video games. It's a fun chance to spend some time with them. It was a busy day. And now I am so thankful for a quiet and restful Sunday.
The boys are doing well. Ethan is going through a difficult stage right now- he has been exercising his ability to say "no" not that it does much for him. He has also started yelling at everyone- he hates it when anyone yells at him (including when he thinks that Emery is yelling at him), so he yells back. It has been a difficult and draining past few weeks. Emery has been Mr. Fussy Pants. He doesn't sleep well at night and he's fussy all day. It's been draining for me (I have to say I am guilty of sometimes trying to hide from him). Finally on Friday night I noticed a new little white spot in Emery's mouth- he's got his 5th tooth! Yay! It explains so much. :) The past few weeks have also illustrated for me some of the differences between Ethan & Emery. Since having Emery start walking and become more independent, I have learned that Ethan was quite a cautious little boy. Ethan was never the little boy with bruises on his forehead from falling down or climbing. In fact, Ethan was never a climber at all, unless someone was right there with him showing him what to do. Emery, on the other hand is all over the place. He has enough bruises to make up for both him & Ethan. Case in point- Friday evening, Grandma was over dropping some stuff by and the boys were running around in the drive way. Emery picked up enough momentum going down the driveway that when he tripped he couldn't catch himself- he pretty much landed on his forehead. Poor kid had the biggest bump and scrapes on his forehead. It's going to take a few weeks for those to heal. Baby #3 is getting bigger and bigger, I can feel him kicking about more often and it's easier for Dave & the boys to feel him kicking.
Dave stays up way too late studying at night (and I stay up with him to work). But school is going well for him. He learns so much more every day. Anyway. That's been our week. Hopefully next week is a little bit slower. :) Dave's birthday is next week so don't forget to wish him a happy birthday.

And now just for fun pix of the boys: