Buds

Ali is sure a fun sister to Jake. He can often convince her to play with him and they both have a blast.

Wrestle

It often ends badly, but they sure do love to wrestle.

Fort

Forts get built at lease once a week around here. The game is to build a fort that can withstand Jake trying to get in. Can you see Logan in this picture? (Hint:look between the two tan pillows.)

Perks

When your dad is in the Bishopric and your mom is the Relief Society President there are some things you as kids have to do that aren't so fun (waiting after church for meetings to finish, having parents pulled away for this and that, etc). But there are some perks: like they both have keys to the building so on a cold Saturday you can go play badminton in the gym.

Great Grades

Logan and Ali both got straight As their first semester of Middle School (actually, they each had a few A+s too!) and Eli and Jake are doing great (neither of their schools really have grades) so we thought a celebration was in order.

Mask

We thought this Avenger's mask looked so funny on Jake!

First Temple Trip

Ali and Logan turn 12 this year, so they joined the Church's youth programs and got their first temple recommends! We went the first Saturday we could and Jason and I loved being in the temple with our kids so much! They went a few days later for a youth activity so they're pretty much temple pros already. So proud of these two.

Train Tracks

Jake and I have been really enjoying making very elaborate train tracks (and buildings out of lego duplos). 

Last Pack Meeting

We has our last ever pack meeting! One of my callings for the last year was Cub Scout Committee Chair, so planning and running these pack meetings have been a big part of what I do. For our last one my friend help us get some guys from Animal Adventures come and teach us about 10 different animals. They did a great job presenting and all the kids had a great time seeing a hedgehog, snake, tarantula, skunk, weasel, cockroaches, turtle, bull frog, bearded dragon, and the creature in the picture below that I'd never heard of before and whose name I can't remember.

Eli really wanted to earn his Bear before we finished up with scouting, even though he only joined the Bear Den mid-October. He worked really hard, often asking what else he could do, so his dad and I spent a lot of our free time this last month working on requirements with him. We were really proud of him when he reached his goal!