10 on Tuesday

I got this idea from my cousin Janae.  This post is a random collection of things that have happened, mostly in the couple of months that I wanted to post about.  I lost my camera so I don't have any pictures:

1.  This was from back in July.  On Brooklyn's birthday weekend Reed and I went to the Great Canadian Barn Dance.  We went with my parents, Reed and Steph and Brittney.  They had canoes that you could take out on the big pond.  We had fun on those, especially when we raced Reed and Steph.  We almost tipped over so they beat us.  Then we played volleyball for a while and then we danced the night away.  It was a fun evening. 

2. In July our stake redrew the ward boundaries so we had a big meeting when they announced that.  It was the strangest meeting I have ever been to: they had each ward stand up one at a time and they released everyone in every position.  Crazy.  So Reed wasn't in the bishopric anymore and I wasn't the nursery leader anymore.  A couple of weeks later they asked me to be the Primary President - that was a shock.  Reed was a called as a gospel principles teacher and ward missionary.

3.  Our primary program was on November 9th.  I didn't realize how much work goes into one of those - I'm so glad its over.  Our kids did good on their parts.  Micah made everyone laugh.  His whole sunbeam class was supposed to stand up and say something that they like to do with their families.  When it was Micah's turn he barely peeked over the pulpit and announced loudly "I like to eat treats" and then turned and sat down.  At least he spoke from his heart!  Conner did great with his big words like "responsible to provide the necessities of life".  Alan did great on his talk.

4.  Brooklyn can be very stubborn but she loves to help.  If I ask her to do something she usually replies "Sure Mama, I will!".  I love it!  It is one of my favorite phrases.

5.  Something that I have not enjoyed about this age Brooklyn is in is her constant desire to draw on the walls.  Every time she finds a pen, pencil, crayon, or marker she makes a beeline for a wall and covers it in her "art".  It is driving me crazy!

6.  Alan earned his wolf rank in cub scouts in October.  His cub scout program is very organized and he has loved going. 

7.  A couple of months ago I noticed that the ceiling in our dining room was leaking water.  It only happened for a minute and then it stopped and nothing happened for a couple of weeks.  Then one day I heard the water on in the upstairs bathroom and went to check it out.  Brooklyn had turned the faucet on and watched as it filled the  sink and overflowed onto the floor.  I quickly turned it off and started to mop up the water.  I asked Alan to go to the basement and get some towels out of the dirty clothes to help soak up the water.  He came back quickly and said that he could hear a weird noise in the basement, kind of like footsteps, so he didn't want to go down there.  I had a sneaking suspicion that it was dripping water and sure enough I was right.  The water from upstairs leaked down the wall and caused the paint in our dining room wall to fill with a couple of large water bubbles and then the water continued on down and leaked through the floor into the basement.  Grrrr.   We called a plumber and found out that one of the pipes had a hole in it so we tore out part of the wall and the new vanity (breaking it in the process) so that he could reach the pipe and replace it.  I feel like the upstairs bathroom is sucking away all of our home improvement money and time. 

8.  Speaking of the upstairs bathroom sucking us dry: we replaced the lock on our upstairs bathroom lock a couple of months ago.  The door and lock are really old and kind of unique.  Anyway Brooklyn went into the bathroom and accidently locked the door.  I tried everything but I couldn't unlock it.  At first Brooklyn didn't care at all that she was stuck in there but after a bit she started to cry and then she started to cry really hard when she realized I couldn't open it.  I called Reed and explained the situation and he came home to rescue his baby girl.  He ended up just kicking the door until the latch finally broke.  He also did some damage to the door and the door frame.  Oh well, we got her out safe and sound.  Now we have to order a new bathroom door.

9.  Brooklyn has a thing about taking off her clothes.  I regularly find her naked at home, she is very good at taking her clothes off.  I took her to the church while I waited for Alan to finish cub scouts.  I was talking to another mom and realized that I hadn't seen Brooklyn for a couple of minutes so I started to walk around the church.  I couldn't find her anywhere until I suddenly saw a little arm opening the boys bathroom door.  Brooklyn walked out completely naked.  Sheesh!
There was no one in the bathroom, thank goodness, so Alan went in and got her clothes and diaper and I quickly dressed her.  I hope that is the last public nudity episode. 

10.  The boys decided they really wanted to get some fish.  At one of the fairs that we went to Alan saw a booth giving out fish as a prize and he has wanted a fish ever since then.  So Alan and Conner earned half of the money needed to buy a tank and some sand and decorations and we provided the rest.  Then Reed, Alan, Conner and Micah each chose a goldfish.  Reed's fish was Bronc, Alan's fish was Gilroy, Conner's fish was Finnix, and Micah's fish was named Micah.  Well after a week Micah's fish died so we bought him another one but I told him he had to pick a different name.  I could just imagine the kids going to church and announcing that Micah died last night, without clarifying that they were talking about a fish, not their brother.  So Micah named his new fish Knight.  Those 4 fish lasted about a month and then they all died.  Alan was pretty sad when his died but the other kids weren't too upset.  We will see if we try again.

Well there is random look at the last couple of months. 

August summer time fun

Here are some random pictures from August.

Micah playing in the mud:

 

My cousin Janae came to visit one day.  Our kids built a fort in the backyard:

I went in to check on the boys one night after I put them to bed and found that Micah had climbed up on Conner's bed and fallen asleep next to him:

Alan built a tower that was taller than himself:

We went to the local fair.  Alan and Conner had fun doing a tractor pull:

They divided the kids up by age and as they pedaled these tractors the weight at the back got heavier and heavier.  It was fun to watch and the boys said it was hard work:

Micah on one of the rides:

Reed and Conner took a selfie while on the ferris wheel:

Alan tried a hang glider ride and liked it:

One of our local parks put in a climbing rock.  The boys had fun conquering it:

 

Trying a couple of different routes:

 

Aunt Brittney stopped by one evening and played with us:

Me and the boys at the top:

Micah doing some climbing that was geared to his level:

Whee!

Brooklyn loves to swing:

So does Micah:

We went to the Fort Benton Fair.  It was much smaller than our local fair but they had a few family activities and many of them were free.  Alan spent a ton of time at the free laser tag center.  Reed and I tried it with him and thought it was a lot of fun.  The fair also had kids' races where the kids raced in those little power wheel jeeps.  Alan and Conner ended up in the same heat, racing against each other.  Here comes Alan with Conner right behind him:

They are bumper to bumper!:



Alan came in 1st and Conner came in 2nd.  That meant that Alan got to compete in the finals that evening during the monster truck show:

 

Alan standing next to one of the monster trucks.  The show was very loud but the boys really enjoyed watching the trucks do jumps.  Alan placed 2nd in his age for the final for the jeep races:

Alan had a cub scout pack meeting at the end of August.  They raced sail boats.  The kids provided the wind power.  Alan won that race:

One of Alan's friends couldn't make it so Conner raced for him.  Conner beat Alan in this race:

Bassett Family Reunion

 The whole Bassett family got together at the end of July.  We stayed at a cabin just outside of Yellowstone National Park.  It was so nice to see everyone and get reacquainted!  The cabin was a short walk from the river - we went down there one evening to explore:

 

Becky digging in the sand:

 

Brenda skipping rocks:

 

"Did you see that?"

Scavenger Hunt!

We decided to do a photo scavenger hunt.  We divided into 2 teams: the boys against the girls.  Here was our list:

 

Reed and I were on the boy team.  Here are some of our photos:



 

All 12 of the boys in our group in front of the Yellowstone sign.  They ranged in age from 1 to 11 years old:

 

A silly picture:

Trying to get a pyramid:

 Reed and Austin helped us to get a silly picture:

 We also named our group the white tigers so we took a picture with our white van to get a picture of a "tiger".  Also, the boys named a tree "Dead" and we took a picture by it and tried to spell the word "DEAD" with our bodies.

Exploring Time!
We also had fun exploring Yellowstone together:

Girl power!  Hannah, Kailyn, Kelcie and Kyla

 

Kelcie, Kyla, Bentlie and James sitting in front of a store:

We went fishing one morning.  The kids were more interested in playing in the sand.  I remember one of them made a penguin petting zoo:

 

Here is a shot of all the grandkids, except Lincoln:

We saw Old Faithful while we were there:

We also visited some falls:

Our little family, squinting into the sun:

Family Time at the Cabin!

The cabin was cozy with all of us there.  That meant that everyone heard us haul a screaming Brooklyn down the stairs and outside after everyone had gone to bed.  I don't know why she was so mad but she was shrieking mad.  She finally settled down and went to sleep.  Brooklyn and Micah ended up in bed with Reed and I most of the nights. 

Jacque and Baer snuggling:

playing bocci ball:

 

Alan getting a lesson from Uncle Andrew:

Kyla on the zip line:

Grandma holding Hannah:

Cute little girls - Brooklyn, Ava and Kyla.  You can't really tell in the picture but they are filthy dirty.  They had fun playing in the dirt behind the cabin:

 

Micah wanted in on the action:

Jordan and Gracie in the hammock:

 

Aunt Jacque and Gracie:

We did smores once or twice.  Andrew was our smore master - he helped everyone put theirs together:

 

It looks like Shelly is expounding the mystery of how to make a perfect smore and all the kids are paying close attention:

So good and so sticky!

We also had a family devotional each morning and evening and then we had a testimony meeting on Sunday morning.  It was so nice to get together with everyone! 

Family picture using the timer:

Grandma taking the picture:

We hope to see you all again next year!