Job Well Done Kourt!

Kourtney just finished her first term in Junior High with excellent grades!  It has been quite different than elementary school!  Seven class and six teachers that all give homework on a regular basis. :)  Even with a lot of work, she says she really likes the change!  We are so proud of Kourt!  She expects the best out of herself!  She is self motivating as you can see! She is the type of person that will rise to any given expectation.  Great job Kourtney!  Keep up the good work!  :)   

Halloween Fun!

I was talking to friend the other day and she was telling me about a FREE pumpkin patch they had found, and said it was fun for the kids! The other evening we decided to take the girls and check it out. They had a petting zoo with goats, sheep, pigs, a pony, and a kangaroo. Makell loved the baby goat! Can you guess what she asked us...? The answer was NO! The kids loved crawling and jumping around on the large bales of straw. Made everyone feel like they were down on the farm. The corn pit was a favorite! They made "corn" angles, took turns burying each other, and hid a mini pumpkin from each other. After the corn pit, the girls found themselves weighing a few extra pounds. They had corn in every crack and crevice! :) Their shoes were full! There was a large and small hay maze. They tried both of them out. I had a little fun myself! I snuck in and snapped a picture of each one as I scared them coming around the corner. :) The girls went looking for the perfect pumpkin in the pumpkin field. Fun place for the kiddos!

An Evening Under the Stars

   I have been wanting to take the kids to the BYU Planetarium for some time now. I'm always looking for fun and cheap activities to do with the kids, and the planetarium is only $2! The kids and I have been to the Clark Planetarium in SLC several times and I think BYU's is so much better!  We saw the show called Universe Near and Far.  The narrators were funny! The kids loved that their seats reclined all the way back so they were lying down looking up at the stars.  I loved the BYU spin on it!  They told of the creation and referred to scriptures. The kids loved being able to see all the constellations!  I wished I would have counted how many times Makell tapped me on the arm pointing at different things!  All the kids LOVED it! It was a great activity and highly recommend it!  

Halloween Cruise

   Fall break was coming up and I wanted to make sure we did a few fun things as a family. I had heard about a Halloween Cruise down the Provo River and thought the kids might enjoy that! I jumped online to check it out and  to see how much tickets were. After calling and speaking with a lady, she said the cost was $8 per person. I guess after a long pause from me (thinking that was a little steep) she proceeded to tell me that they do offer a cheaper family pass , but don't advertise it. What...why? I decided it would be something different for us to do and purchased tickets.
   Anyone 12 and under were required to wear life jackets for safety reasons. When we boarded the boat, we could see the one hundred jack-O-lanterns lining the river, Halloween lights strung back and forth across the water, and dark silhouettes displayed in a house on the hill. Towards the end of our ride, we heard a loud yell from across the bank of the river. Directly behind us, a pirate swung out over the water and dropped into the river. He climbed into his boat and came after us! The kids were wondering what was going on.  As he climbed up and boarded our boat, he started passing out Halloween candy! He told a few funny pirate jokes and then left. The captain of our boat retold the story of Sleepy Hallow and the Headless Horseman as we slowly floated down the river. The ride was not as long as I was expecting it to be. Makell liked it a lot more than Kourtney and Kaitlyn, but it was a fun evening.

The Sister Sign

Kaitlyn makes me smile! Kaitlyn has been a card maker, note giver, sign maker or what ever you want to call it, ever since she could pick up a writing utensil. I had to smile the other night when I went to tuck the girls into bed. This is now the current sign that hangs on the door to Makell and Kaitlyn's room. She nailed it with her choice of quotes! These two really are great friends! They get along great with each other! Having a sister was something I never experienced, so watching and observing each of their relationships with each other is so fun! I hope the three of them will always be best friends!

Witches Night Out!

   For the past several years, the Heaton girls get together for "Witches Night Out" at Gardner Village.  It's a  fun time to get together with family and visit!  My girls decorated their witches hat's earlier in the day.  They were sooo excited!  Adam asked us if we were going to wear our hats while driving in the car? I reassured him that NO we were not, but I was going to wear it on our next date night! :) I'm going to make a prediction...our hats will come up missing after tonight! :)  We all met at Texas Roadhouse for dinner before we went to Gardner Village. So yummy!

This year there were so many people there!  I guess more people are finding out about it and it's becoming really popular.  I made the girls hold hands so they wouldn't get separated.  We enjoyed looking around in all the different stores and the girls bought some fun jewelry.  The girls loved looking for all the different Witches hidden throughout the Village and marking them off their list. After Gardner Village, we went back to Kasey's house to visit.  Teresa had a drawing with fun prizes for everyone!  I love talking and catching up with everyone!  I think that's my favorite part!  I am looking forward to doing it again!     

Payson UtahTemple Groundbreaking!

Back in January of 2010, President Thomas S. Monson announced a new LDS Temple that would be built in Payson Utah!  We were so excited because it is only ten minutes from us, and will now become the temple in our district!  When we returned from Texas my sweet friend in the ward told us that the bishop had announced he had twenty five tickets available for those who wanted to attend the groundbreaking.  Our family had been talking about this for months, so I was so excited to know that we now had tickets to be able to participate in the dedication! The night before the dedication, the rain began to fall.  I knew we would have to get there quite early and it made me a little nervous wondering how the girls would handle the long wait in the rain.  We did experience a few tears.  Not from the rain, just an itchy tag that bothered the neck of  the youngest. It was quite a sight with a blanket of umbrellas covering the congregation!  Even with the cold and damp weather, there was excitement and spiritual warmth that encompassed us! The dedication service began and the brother saying the prayer asked that the rain would subside for the remaining of the service.  A few minutes later the rain stopped!  It was so awesome!  Sister Janette C. Hales Beckham made the comment that the rain had fallen to cleanse the ground for this magnificent Hose of the Lord.  She also said that this temple would be special, and mean even more to each of us as we took part and participated in the building of the Temple!  Elder Oaks who was presiding talked about his ties to Payson, Utah. He was raised, attended schools, and was baptized in Payson.  He married his sweetheart (who was from Sp. Fork) who he had met at a Payson High School basketball game.  He said he was so excited  and honored when Pres. Monson extended the call to him to dedicate this Temple sight.  As the dedicatory prayer was given I couldn't hold back the tears!  The words were powerful, and the spirit was so strong!  He also spoke to the youth and told them that this could be the very Temple that they receive their endowments and be sealed for Eternity in!  After the turning of the soil with Elder Oaks, Stk. Presidents, government officials, 12 yr old deacons, he welcomed anyone who wanted to turn the soil to come forward.  The girls thought that was the most exciting thing!  Later that day I overheard Kaitlyn talking to a friend and sharing her experience.  Her voice was filled with excitement! She was talking so fast as if  the words wouldn't come out fast enough for her!   Sis. Hales was right!  I can already see that this experience has made this Temple extremely special to our girls!