Arrow of Light....

Look at my sweet, fresh faced little Cub Scout....just starting out.  I swear I took this picture just yesterday.

But no...sadly, it was 4 years ago and tonight Ian graduated from Cub Scouts.  He received his Arrow of Light award.  Look at what a difference 4 years makes!!  I am so proud of him.

Here is the whole den.  I love that he spent his entire Cub Scouts with just about all of these boys. It's so nice for kids to have something constant like this to remember.

 Proud Mom and son :)

Ian and his AMAZING den leaders...and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.  Without them, Ian would definitely not have been here today.  They have been so helpful to me since I have been an epic failure at being the good scouting mom.

 He worked hard to get here....now its on to the Big Boy Scouts!!!

Ian invited his best friend Gabe to come to the ceremony.

And here is pretty little Addison....with the rose Ian gave me tonight :)

Misc Stuff....

I cannot believe how behind I got on my blog.  School is really taking up a lot of time now that I am almost done.  Here are some pictures to catch up the past month....I'll try to be better about updating in the future!

We went to the Gateway for some shopping and ice cream!

We went to Barnes & Noble with my best friend Shannon and her daughter Hannah and after that had lunch at the Olive Garden

Denver was in town this past week and after a yummy birthday lunch at Chuck-o-Rama we went to see the strange sculptures at Gilgal Gardens.

I went to the Opera "Fidelio" all by myself and loved every minute of it!!

Halloween!....

Halloween was lots of fun this year for the kids.  Mainly because Daddy was in town.  This year we had a 20's style gangster, a Hollywood starlet, and an Army guy.

We joined the cousins Soren, a.k.a Metro Man and the cutest little teddy bear you've ever seen.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Ian is 11....

Every time one of my children has a birthday I go on and on about how I can't believe they are already however old now.  How time passes so quickly and where does it all go?  But I'm not going to do that this time.  Ian has hit an age now where more than ever I am trying to enjoy every bit of little boy he has left.  He truly is turning into a young man right before my eyes!  I love him so much and his mommy's boy personality.  I love that he isn't your typically aggressive, competitive boy.  He is quieter and attentive to others feelings.  The best part though is that in spite of the fact that he is 11 and trying so hard to be a teenager, he still holds my hand in public.  Isn't that great!?  I sure do love him.

For his birthday this year we kept it low key.  We went to Nathan's house and ate soup and rolls and had a caramel apple making station completely with yummy toppings.  Denver was in town also which made it extra special for Ian.

We gave Ian an acoustic guitar this year.  I was so happy when I told him he had to choose between  yet another handheld gaming system and the guitar.  Ian says to me after about 10 minutes of "thinking about it" that it didn't make sense to get another Nintendo DSI when he already had one that worked just fine....so he chose the guitar.  Much better gift!  He is very musically inclined and has dabbled in a fews instruments so far.  First was the piano which he still tinkers on.  Then he took a year of violin through his school.  Right now he is taking Cello lessons at school and probably next Spring we will look into some guitar lessons.  He also is taking some theater classes and of course there is always singing.

We brought his best friend Gabe along to the party as well.  Gabe plays the electric bass and this year for the talent show at school Gabe and Ian are going to perform a song together with Ian singing and Gabe accompanying him.  I can't wait to hear it.

One more thing that Ian is into this year is Poetry.  He is quite the accomplished little poet and his teacher gushes about it every chance she gets.  Ian told me the other day that when he grows up he wants to be a Poet.  Well, I can't say I am disappointed about that!!  Although I may have to continue feeding him into his 30's if he really chooses to do that, haha.

 It was a fun day and I am just happy to say that I still have 2 years before I officially have a teenager!

10 Years.....

It is hard for me to believe that ten years have passed so quickly.  So many events have happened since that day which have altered my life in some way but none have been quite as monumental as the attacks on September 11, 2001.  Ian was just 10 months old and I had discovered only 4 days earlier that I was pregnant with Evan.  It was a very significant time in our lives in all the good ways....with this horrible day sandwiched in between.

Today I had the opportunity to go to Ian's school to watch an assembly about that day.  It was very moving and sadly took an individual teacher setting it up because the administration didn't think it was necessary.  And even worse, only the classes in Ian's ELP (gifted & talented) program were allowed to attend.  The rest of the children in the school were kept in class.  Evan's school didn't even mention it! After school I discussed the circumstances of that day with my 2 oldest children.  They have seen the images.  They have heard some of the stories.  They wanted to know what I was doing and how I felt about it all, so I shared that with them.  The fear, the uncertainty, the desire to do something about it.  All of those feelings that caused me to feel helpless at the same time.

I remember the very first thing I wanted to do was go home to my family.  But within seconds of that another desire; the desire to drive as fast as I could to the Air National Guard base so that I could join my old unit and do something.  I had only been out of the military for 10 months and I felt so left out in that moment.  Left out of being able to do something to help.  Anything.  It shook me a little because I had been so ready to leave the military - and here I was wishing I was still in.  We also discussed the Winter Olympics which were held in Salt Lake City that following January or February.  I remember distinctly asking Denver if we couldn't just go on vacation...leave the state completely as there was talk of another attack during these Olympic games. The fear was still very fresh.

The entire experience was surreal and to this day still rattles me at my core.  Such a tremendous loss.  I hope that schools will continue to teach about the attacks.  As depressing as the subject may be, it is absolutely an important part of United States history and has changed the course of many aspects of our lives in this country... forever.

 I want to share this poem that Ian wrote on a card for the Utah division of Urban Search & Rescue who assisted in the recovery process at Ground Zero.  One of their members came and talked to the kids today.  It was tough...he had a hard time talking without getting choked up.  His life was forever altered too and I pretty much just wanted to give the guy a gigantic hug after he was through.  The kids all made thank you cards and posters for them....

I completely forgot to post Addison's first day of school picture! I cant believe she is in kindergarten already. I officially have no kids at home :( So far she loves school. I hope that feeling lasts a while!