Ode to Cloudy

A few months after we moved to Colorado, Talie, our resident animal lover, adopted a Teddy Bear hamster and named him Cloudy. He was a good little hamster - pretty calm and hardly bit anyone, but like any pet, unfortunately, his time on earth did come to an end. Of course Talie was distraught, so we held a little funeral service for him in our back yard. Not trying to be insensitive to the loss of Cloudy, but it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. First, we scheduled a time that Dad could be there to lead the ceremony and dig a proper hole. Then the girls created a cute and very comfortable coffin for Cloudy to rest in (with his favorite wheel).
Talie wrote the sweetest letter to Cloudy to bury with him, and Dallin sang a solo of "I am a Child of God" (not sure what that has to do with hamsters, but it was very cute to watch him sing). Then Benson said a prayer, we said our good byes and with a few scoops of dirt, the funeral was over.
Here is the letter Talie wrote Cloudy:
Dear Cloudy,
I love you sooooo much. I miss you. You were so soft and white just like a cloud that's why I named you cloudy. You were so sweet, kind and I enjoyed playing with you on the Barbie house. I hope you loved me and thought I was a good owner. I picked you from the store because I knew you were different. Today is the day you died (Apr. 27, 2009). Tomorrow we are going to bury you. I have been crying for 1 hour straight and will probably cry myself to sleep! I promise I will never forget about you. Just remember you're the best hamster anyone could ever ask for. I hope you're in a good place.
I love you soooooo much.
Love, Talie someone who really, really loves you.

. . And now, a little over a year later, Talie has a new hamster, Macy, and has been able to find happiness again.

My Pretty Boy!

The other day, we had a freak snow storm in the end of April (which seems to be getting pretty common around here), and Dallin was at a friend's house, down the road. There was over a foot of snow on the ground, and Kennedi was asleep, so I asked Ashlynn if she would sit with Peyton while I ran to the neighbors to grab Dallin. I turned on a show for them, locked the doors, and ran. When I came back in, I went straight to the family room where the TV was still on with Ashlynn glued to it, but no Peyton to be found. "Ashy, where's Peyton?" I asked, when who should come around the corner? Yep, Peyton. Proudly showing me his new, hot pink toes. (A good reminder why 6 year olds don't babysit).


Of course it was a pretty cute moment, but before I could totally enjoy the moment, I had to dash to my bathroom and see what kind of damage was done. I looked around and to my amazement, there was only one tiny spec of bright pink polish on the tile - easy to clean up - and he even put the toe nail polish back in the basket under my sink! He's much cleaner than my girls are when they do their toes. After the quick check, I ran back and could enjoy the moment - complete with a photo shoot!


*Tonight, I was tucking the boys into bed (they are in bunk beds, but of course like to pile up in the same one), and as I was trying to tuck them in, Peyton says, "I want to sleep in the punk bed, Mom." (meaning the top bunk).

Bad Parking Job

The other morning, I was taking Peyton to play group, and we had to make a quick stop to the library to return some books. I pulled into a parking spot by the front door and was super excited to get such a good spot, especially when I usually have to circle the lot 2-3 times before settling for a parking spot in the pre school lot next door. Well, as my little buddies and I climbed out of the car, I noticed a number of people gathered around, taking pictures with their phones. I followed their camera aim, and this is what I found - Oops!

Apparently, the (mini van) woman's dog jumped on the gas pedal and vroomp, up and on top she went. (Another good reason, to tell my kids, why we shouldn't get a dog=).

Funny Quotes:

The other day, Peyton was praying and he said, "Heavny Fauder, Thank you for Mom, Benson, Talie, Dallin . . . ." Apparently they're on first name basis now.

The other night, Talie came down after being tucked in saying that she couldn't fall asleep. Benson asked her if she had tried counting sheep. To which she replied, "No, I don't have any."
- A true blond, and we love it!

Anchor Center for the Blind

I have the unique calling of service coordinator for the youth and RS in our ward. Because of this calling, I was motivated to start a service enrichment group, where each month I find a service project for a group of us to participate in. It has been pretty amazing. Already, I have learned a lot and have met amazing people in the community who give so much, and are so grateful for the little bits that we help with. This last month, the entire RS put together tactile boards for the blind children at the Anchor center for Blind Children, a school for blind children under Kindergarten and their families. We attached textured items to the back of clipboards.

We completed 53 of them, and Talie, Dallin and Ashlynn each made one as well. I was impressed with what a good job they did!

So, today, we delivered boards to the school. When Karen (the volunteer coordinator at the school), found out the my kids helped make the boards and were out for Spring Break, she invited Diane, me and my children to a tour of the school (I'm not sure she knew what she was in for=). It was an absolutely amazing program! The school works with the families of blind children and helps them know what types of things they need to teach their children that we take for granted. For example, blind children have to be taught that they have hands and feet and that they are theirs to use. The school has lights on the hallway floor and handrails along the walls for the children to be guided by, and at each "intersection" where the classrooms are, the floors change from wood to tile, so the children know where the classrooms are.

Dallin tries out a braille typewriter

The school has art rooms, music rooms, outside gardens, and I think everyone's favorite, the motor skills room.

We were grateful for all we learned at the school and for the services they provide! I think the kids learned a lot and Peyton even made a new friend.