The Rogers Family Epic Adventure

One of my very favorite memories of BYU is going to the football games. So when Dustin brought home the Rise Up football shirts for all the kids I told him that it was time to take the kids to a game. And the Homecoming game fell right in the middle of our Fall Break. EVEN BETTER!

Now the week before we drove up to Utah the weather in Arizona was in the 100s STILL. And Utah was hitting 80. However, I seem to have an ancient curse which means I being snow with me anytime I plan a trip. Especially a trip to Utah. I probably shouldn't have been surprised that the day we drove up we brought a horrible, dreary storm that alternated between snow, rain and slush. I personally do not enjoy being cold, but the kids got snowed on and they were really happy so I might forgive the state of Utah one day.

We actually left after dinner one night and drove up to Flagstaff so we wouldn't have to deal with traffic in the morning. I'm not sure this was such a great idea because Luke stayed up all night throwing a disco party in his pack 'n play.

Wednesday we rolled into town in time for dinner served with a side of insanity! Sadie, my sister (Kathleen/Lola) and niece Livy are all born within a week of each other in the month of January. This means they all belong to a very special made-up club: The January Girls Club. The month before our trip to Utah, Sadie *needed* to talk to Aunt Lola every night and tell her what was needed for their January Girl Club Party. Namely candy canes, candy corn and a shiny new table. Yes, Sadie is part elf (if you don't get that reference, you are really missing out on the greatest Holiday movie ever made). SO we walked into the house and there was candy EVERYWHERE! And balloons! Oh my the balloons. And STAIRS! Stairs which Luke could run up and then promptly fly down on his belly. It was a very fun evening. And my sister who usually cooks for two, managed to feed a family of 9 including very fancy vegetables.

Thursday we decided to hit BYU before it got too busy. Our first stop was the Bean Museum. The Bean Museum is pretty much a glorified trophy room of some hunter. There are loads of stuffed creatures, often in menacing positions and the upstairs is just a wall of heads. Case in point -- that "lion lunging at a gazelle" exhibit ROTATES!! And there is a Polar Bear "Bigger than Dad" in full attack stance. My kids LOVED it. Especially my animal obsessed Luke. He could not contain his excitement as he ran around that place. I kept trying to shush him when someone informed me that it was not a library, so he would be fine. Besides there were a dozen other children, all of them completely unattended and crawling under the ropes and laying on the displays. And one little boy following Livy around trying to beat her up. Where *WAS* his mother??? A little enthusiasm was not going to destroy the place. And really, can you ever hear "ROOOOOOOOOOAR" too much?

Next we headed over to campus to go bowling. I can't remember why, but one of the kids noted that "Everyone is so NICE here." Yes, yes they are. Nate and Sadie kept on pointing out all the "BYU"s they could find -- the banners, the door mats, the fliers. . . I had to remind them that we were in fact AT BYU. Sadie would then inform everyone, "Did you know my mom went to school here?" Even in the bathroom. They would then melt into a puddle at her dimples and beg to take her home. Just kidding, they're college students and totally self centered. They just melted.

We suited up in our very finest bowling shoes and Sadie was up first. By the way have you ever noticed how adorable Sadie looks in bowling shoes? I swear she's been bowling before, so I don't know what she was thinking when she took off running down a very waxy bowling lane. She slipped, fell and landed with a bowling ball on her chest. I was so freaked out that I took off running after her and proceeded to fall on my butt (back??? I obviously have a concussion from the event and can't remember) as well. This was also while Luke was running all over screaming, "BALL! BALL!" And shot putting 15 pound bowling balls all over the bowling center. It was not our best start.

Luckily for all the students in Bowling 101 who witnessed what their life will be like in exactly one decade, we settled into a groove and things only got better. Like we decided to let Luke and Livy take some turns. And Luke bowled MULTIPLE strikes.We used the little trainging slide which he loved and then we would all cheer as the ball very slooooooowly made it's way down the lane. Luke would literally jump up and down the entire time. FINALLY when it hit the pins we would all celebrate. Luke and Livy even had a little hand holding dance. And then all the male students in Bowling 101 got down on their knees and proposed to the first girl they could find because they could not WAIT ten years for their own cuteness.

After that we hit the Cougar Eat. At lunch time. It was chaos. I'm glad we didn't lose any children. I can't remember much else happened. Luke only ate ice and a roll. I ended up with orange soda all over me, but Kathleen had a Tide to GO! pen so all was saved. Someone was wearing a red sweatshirt and Nate almost booed them. We ran as fast as we could to the BYU Bookstore, where it turned out we did not own every BYU item ever made. But never fear because we do now. Actually that is a lie -- I think we were very restrained.

We managed to do all that before nap time. Actually it was well passed nap time, so we raced home and put Luke and Livy down. Then Ellie, Kathleen and I went up to Tai Pan Trading. They had all of their holiday stuff out and I was completely overwhelmed. I ended up just stalking people's carts and asking them where they got things that I liked.

For dinner we hit up Guru's, which is one of our very favorite places to eat in Provo. I think there was lots more non-eating and Sadie may have yelled, "This chicken tastes like barf," so we headed home for bed and Scribblish.

Friday was another cold and dreary day so we decided to spend it swimming at our Hotel pool. I did not actually step foot in the pool (because it was freezing and I'm from Arizona, so I only like the pool when it feels like a bathtub) and entertained the little kids in the hot tub instead. Dustin and Nate ditched us early on and went to hike the Y.There are loads of pictures form this hike and I wasn't there so I don't have too many cute stories to tell. All I know is that Nate wants everyone to come next time and his favorite part was having peanut butter pretzels with his dad at the top.Ahhh! They are so handsome.When they were done they hit up Burger's Supreme for lunch and shakes. Also one of Nate's favorite memories.

Back at the Funny Farm (I will skip the scene we made running through the hotel in our swimsuits and towels chasing Luke and trying to find a key since I wish to erase that from my memory) we had 4 heads of hair to dry so we didn't get anywhere too fast and hit up Smash Burger for lunch, put the little ones down for a nap and went to paint pottery.

The second we walked in, Nate sees a GIANT coffee mug (literally giant. It was larger than my kitchen sink) and says, "I want to paint that." Seeing as we were spending a small fortune at every meal on food that was not even being eaten and that I, in fact, do not enjoy coffee, I had to say no. I could have bathed Luke in that mug. We then spent thirty minutes trying to find things that I deemed acceptable to paint. Nate would later claim, "I just wanted to paint something for my mom," but I know the true story. His first choices included a surf board, a jet plane, a football and a race car. We finally settled on a monster cookie jar.
Sadie went for suck up value and picked a cupcake for the January Girls Club.
And Ellie painted a birthday plate. Aunt Lola very generously treated the kids to the whole experience. That is another reason why she is the BESTEST SISTER EVER! We can't wait to see how everything turned out. In December. Because nothing was going to be ready until Wednesday.

We went to Zupa's for dinner. This seemed like a good idea since I was dying for some greens at this point, but the place was INSANELY packed. I forgot how crazy it is to eat in Provo. On a weekend. Homecoming weekend no less. The line was out the door in the rain. I really hope we get one down here, though, because it was yummy. And then we went to my next favorite place: The Chocolate. Wait! You've heard me talk about it before? Like a million times?? Well this time even my sister, "The Chocolate is Overrated" Kathleen, fell in love. She is a big cazookie fan.

After that we thought, "We haven't spent enough money today!" so we headed to the mall. While the kids played at the play area my sister took me to the cutest clothing store: Urban Wear. I am so jealous of everyone in Utah. They don't even have an on-line store, but I did get some cute stuff and then the check out lady and I eloped because we loved each other so much.

So those were our first two jammed packed days in Utah. I'm kind of exhausted just thinking about it, so you'll have to wait for the glory that was Homecoming!

Just Today

How is it already the end of the first quarter? I can't believe August and September disappeared like that and I only have 3 Christmas presents ready to go. Pretty soon I'm going to be one of those slackers that leaves Christmas shopping until Thanksgiving weekend. Or even worse -- December.

Current status update: Dustin is out of town. I'm knee-deep in planning two Halloween parties & Nate's birthday party. Sadie and I emptied out the toy room and hope to get it painted this weekend for a super secret project. Nate lost another tooth and we're packing our cold weather clothes for a trip up North! I love this time of year because there are so many projects, events to plan and lists to check off. I can't be the only person who loves making lists, right???

Today my do list looks like this: stay home, get some laundry done, clean the bathrooms, have some friends over for Sadie and wait for the big kids to get home from their half day. I thought maybe I should blog while I'm sitting around in my pajamas. Yes, I am in my pajamas. Who gets dressed when they won't actually have to get out of their car? The problem -- I have no pictures to speak of. I got out my camera to take a few and of course Luke is covered in yogurt and Sadie won't let me brush her hair, but here they are in all their cuteness.Have you ever seen her dimples? Of course you have. You can see them from space.
Also exceptionally handsome, despite being TROUBLE! Yesterday he repeatedly climbed out of his crib at nap time, took his diaper off and pooped on the floor. He's really lucky he is cute. And my last.
When I got the camera out, the kids were "sharing" Sadie's iPod (it's Fisher Price and so much fun if you're looking for Christmas gift ideas -- you can download songs straight from your iTunes account). It captures their personalities so well. Sadie is the performer and Luke is a "fixer."Last night the kids were suppose to be cleaning their rooms and I found Sadie playing in the bathroom. I totally didn't yell, "SADIE! Why aren't you cleaning your room??" I probably said, "Oh sweet Sadie, why aren't you making a good choice?" But whatever I said, Sadie replied, "Probably because I'm a scurvy pirate."

Defeated

We are HUGE BYU fans. And that may be a slight understatement. We also happen to have friends who are Utes fanatics. Naturally, the BYU v. Utah game is a huge deal and sometimes people's lawns even end up with a giant red U spray painted on them (and our FedEx man thought we were Utes fans -- the horror). This year we had planned a rivalry party full of red and blue. . . even the food. And then (cue ominous music). . . Stake Conference was scheduled.

Already we (mainly me) were torn. I told Dustin he could do whatever he wanted, but the kids and I were going to the Bryner's. Dustin was convinced BYU would lose if we didn't go to Stake Conference (not really). And then (more ominous music) . . . they announced a General Authority would be coming. Dustin had meetings with him starting at 4 and I had a dinner with his wife followed by the Adult Session at 7 pm.

I felt like I was living Sophie's Choice!! Church or BYU? And isn't BYU pretty much the same thing as Church?? To the less awesome out there, maybe not, but you obviously do not love BYU as much as we do and therefore do not love the Gospel, so why are even going to Stake Conference anyway?

I know you're dying to hear our decision! You probably feel like you're reading Harry Potter right now and you have to know -- is Snape really good or bad??? Never fear, I will not make you read 7 books to find out.

We ended up deciding to be righteous. And by we, I think we all know I mean *me* because Dustin is always righteous and was always going to attend Stake Conference. But never fear, I had my sister all set up to text me updates. I only checked them in between speakers. I swear!! And Dustin made "I'm annoyed" sounds anytime I checked. But I bet he's glad I did.

In the end, it turns out being righteous results in immediate blessings: I did not have to suffer through that miserable game. BYU was trounced 53-10. At one point I asked my sister if she was making it all up because BYU could not possibly be playing this poorly. Sadly no. Our Utes friends said they were even hoping BYU would score at some point near the end because it was so sad to watch. I am so glad I didn't have to see the disappointment on my kids' faces. And the point of this story is: The tender mercies of the Lord are REAL! Even when it comes to football. And while the score was 40-10 we made to executive decision to go out for dessert with our friends and deleted the game off of our DVR when we got home.

Sunday night we headed over to the preplanned post-game party. I had been expecting to celebrate our clear superiority, but obviously I needed to learn humility and teach my kids that sometimes even BYU loses to the U. But not often. And clearly not where academics are concerned. We made some cookies and I even wore a red shirt!! My kids said congratulations and that was about the end of the story because as our friends so lovingly pointed out, "You can't even gloat over a win like that." Thanks for being gracious winners!!!

We had lots of yummy desserts and hung out while the kids played. Luke decided to use an airplane as a spoon and Sadie and Logan reminded us that Red and Blue can in fact co-exist:

Ni Hao

Sadie is always thinking. Her mind runs a million miles a minute and she is always full of questions and profound insights. Sometimes I need a little break from my bundle of energy and that comes in the form of a nap. Especially on days when my own crazy brain wakes me up before 4 am.

On days like these I like to turn on the TV for Sadie while Luke takes a nap and pass out on the floor of the living room for 20 minutes. During this precious 20 minutes there is a show on Nick Jr. called Ni Hao Kai-Lan which Sadie LOVES to watch. It's like the Chinese version of Dora.
Yes, Sadie likes to run and talk and make a mess, I mean CREATE! She does NOT like to stop and pose for pictures.

A few weeks ago at Sadie's Pre School Open House, I introduced her to a little girl who would be in her class on Wednesday. It went something like this:

Me: Sadie, this is Kailyn. She's going to be in your class.
Sadie: Oooooooh! Hi Kailyn.
Kailyn just smiles
Sadie (in her sappy sweet mothering voice): Oooooh, don't worry Kailyn. I speak Chinese! Yi, er, san.

Sadie is not only a constant source of entertainment, but she is also very considerate of others! And brilliant. I mean, she speaks Chinese.

Whoops!

I'll skip the excuses and get straight to the fun!

Real school started (not just Ellie's Playroom School) and we got back in the groove of getting dressed before 10 am, packing lunches, homework, after school activities. . . I decided that since I had agreed to be the Assistant Coordinator for Art Masterpiece this year, plus Sadie & Luke still at home that I would volunteer less in the classroom. I only signed up to help at a few parties in each class and teach Art Masterpiece for both once a month. Then came the desperate plea for more classroom volunteers. And following that came the news that Ellie didn't have a Class Mom. So needless to say, I've already put in a good 20 hours of school volunteer hours already.

We celebrated the First Day of School with a fun themed dinner. The kids came home to find the kitchen table decorated which was slightly poor planning on my part.
Ellie already had homework and Nate wanted a snack and I didn't want them to mess up the table before dinner, so I made them use the bar. They were both disgusted with me because they wanted to be under the paper airplanes.
However all was forgiven when I introduced the cootie catchers. We sat at the table for hours after dinner filling them out and playing with them.
And of course no Back to School Bash would be complete without an ode the greatest institute of eduction -- BYU. Dustin brought home a Cougar Paw Cake Pan from his trip to Utah. I know that is the worst decorating job ever, but I tried a new frosting recipe and it didn't quite set up right. It was the Best Frosting I Ever Had recipe which requires a level of patience I apparently do not have. It was obviously not the best frosting I have ever had.

Some of our favorite neighbors came for a visit (and yes, we had just seen them a week before in Virginia Beach, but we really do love them). I love when they come because it's a great excuse to get all the old neighbors together. Amy had us all over for a swim party.Of course we always forget to take a picture of all the kids, so here's a portion of them eating dinner. The next week we had a night out with just the Moms so we could actually catch up instead of chase kids (we have 24 kids between all of us).Forgive the hideous angle -- our waitress hated us. I seriously think she was independently wealthy and did not care what we tipped her. I am also thinking that was a wide angle lens because it is HORRIFIC. However, I will suffer through it because I love love my "freighbors." I will, however, be going on a crash diet before any more pictures will be taken of myself.

Luke ate a sandwich. Could it be because it was on a cow plate?? Yes, yes it was. I caved and bought Zoopals. Worth every.single.dollar.Luke is obsessed with animals. He can make any animal noise from turkeys to fish to dinosaurs. This has an upside because he is glued to any book with animals. The downside is all sacrament meeting he makes animal noises.

Somewhere in all this, Dustin and I celebrated out 12th wedding anniversary. Lucky me! Dustin bought me a new dress, a new purse, and a new necklace. I got him nothing. Why do men never listen when you say, "Let's not get each other anything"?? I wish we had pictures, but our poor sitter forgot she was babysitting, and then we were running late for our reservation. . .

Another fun night out with my girlfriends/our book club to see The Help. Have you ever tried to save 19 seats the weekend a movie comes out? Casey insisted it would not be crowded. I think we all know who was right.Loved the movie. Loved the book more. Love my girlfriend the most.

We learned to Hula at a fun Scout Activity at church. And since Nate hasn't gotten any face time, he gets to be the picture for this event.
Luke became the first member of our family to ever belong to an "Of the Month" Club. For Luke's birthday my parents enrolled him in the "Train of the Month" club and we have been having fun getting a new train in the mail each month. Between Dustin's church orders, Nate's LEGO club stuff and Luke's trains, the boys clearly get more mail than the girls. Someone send us girls a package -- PLEASE!

Sadie started preschool HOORAY! As enthusiastic as Sadie looks, we really do all love Miss Becky. Why else would this be the SIXTH year I sent a child there?She had a full month to wait after Nate and Ellie started school and everyday she would wake up and ask me what "fun" thing we were going to do today. Apparently running errands and going to the gym is not fun. On Sadie's approved list: going swimming, playing with friends, going out for lunch. . . About the only way I could appease her was copious amounts of trips to the library.She is much happier back with all of her friends. I vacillate between missing her funny little saying and sweet compliments and be glad she's not stealing food and leaving a hidden mess somewhere.

And then there have been the birthday parties, baptisms, temple trips, dinners with friends, game nights. . . It's been ridiculously hot so we have to make up our own fun to keep from getting cabin fever. Luckily there are always lots of swimming playdates and parties in Arizona. I can't wait for the three day weekend!!

Hats Off

Luke loves hats. My favorite hat he wears is this old cowboy hat. He gets out the stick horse and runs around the house saying, "neeeeeiiiiiigh" and "WOO HOO." Everyone once in awhile we'll remind him it's "YEE HAW" but we usually prefer to hear what he comes up with when he's a "Cooooow." Yes, he doesn't say cowboy either.

School Dayz

In case you forgot, we don't have summer vacation in Arizona. Truthfully, it's because if we did it would have to stretch from May until October. Don't worry, you can make fun of the fact that we live on the surface of the sun because while I'm sitting by the pool, I'm thinkng about how I'm going to rub our gorgeous winter weather in everyone's faces when they're shoveling snow in April.

OK, back to the whole school thing. Summer literally never ends in Arizona, so we have year round school which every mother I have ever met appreciates. The end of July, my kids headed off to 4th and 1st grade.

Last year there were tears, so I was convinced this year was going to be a repeat. Dustin kindly agreed to come up with me so we could divide and conquer with the kids. We got up to school half an hour before it even began, but you seriously have to if you want to find a parking space. I got to the school 3 minutes before the start of Meet the Teacher and had to park a good quarter of a mile away. Which might not seem bad, but remember, it's July in Arizona.

As we walked up Nate saw his best friend from Kindergarten, Travis. They got excited over their new Mario lunch boxes, put their back packs down and ran off. This was not the dramatic scene I expected.

Luckily for me, I still have one child who know how to make her mom feel loved. Ellie moped and refused to talk to anyone. Finally Grace showed up and announced that she had picked the desk next to Ellie and everything was better.

The next thing I know, the bell was ringing and the kids lined up and headed in. Nate was so excited and Ellie totally ignored me. Can you imagine? So I guess I've learned the official age you do not respond to your mother yelling, "I LOVE YOU," as you walk into school. In my defense, everyone I know still does this to their high schoolers, so I'm sure I'm not the most embarrassing mother in the world. I mean, I'm a cool mom, right?

Luke, Sadie and I headed off to celebrate/commiserate the first day with lots of friends at our traditional brunch. It luckily ate up the entire morning, so I didn't realize how lonely my house was going to be. By the time we got home and I put Luke down for a nap I was slightly excited that I didn't have anything to clean.

Everyone had a great day. They both LOVE their teachers and Ellie even proclaimed, "I GET to do homework." Best first day of school yet!

Christmas Card picture?

Dustin went to Utah on business and stayed an extra day to see family and friends. I think he might have spent more money at the BYU bookstore than I did on my last trip. We really do love BYU!!
We can't wait to take the kids to their first BYU football game this fall.