Tyler's Farewell

This weekend was Tyler's mission farewell.  He is on his way to the MTC on March 9th and then on to Wichita, KS six weeks later!  It was such a fun weekend to spend with Tyler and the family before he leaves for two years.  Tyler gave a great talk in Sacrament Meeting where he told us all about how he decided to go on a mission.  He will be a great missionary.

After church we took some fun pictures of the family.  Aren't we a nice looking bunch!  Ha I think it took us about 50 shots to get everyone to look semi-good.  Oh well at least we got some good ones.  As I was looking though the pictures, I found this gem:

Yep there is Uncle Paul photo bombing the group shot.  He seriously has a talent for photo bombing!  He knows just where to stand and just the right moment to be there to get in the perfect bomb.  I could not stop laughing with I found this picture.  I thought it was so funny!

This weekend all of the grandkids and cousins got to hang out with Tyler for one last time.  They had a blast playing in the sand, riding four-wheelers, and just plain getting dirty.  They will sure miss Uncle Tyler.

Another exciting thing that happened this weekend was Clint and Haley got engaged!!  I know, I didn't believe it either!  This is the only picture of those two I could find.  It is a little redneck but I guess it is pretty fitting for them because they like hunting together.

Here is the ring!  They went out shed hunting and sure got lucky when they found this engagement ring on one of the sheds they found.  They will definitely have a fun story to tell later in life.  Congrats Clint and Haley, and good luck on your mission, Tyler! 

Provo City Center Temple

In December 2010 the historic Provo Tabernacle caught on fire and was severely burnt leaving only the brick walls.  This was a devastating thing for the city of Provo.  After the Provo Tabernacle was tragically lost to fire, Church leaders contemplated the future of the building's empty shell and spires, and a decision was reached. "It is inspired to build a temple out of the ashes of the tabernacle," said Elder Holland.  On April 6, 2012, President Monson announced that the Provo Tabernacle would be rebuilt into the second temple in Provo, UT.  This was a shocking announcement but it soon turned into a celebrated event.  Finally, four years later, the new Provo City Center Temple was completed.  We had the amazing opportunity to attend the open house with the kids and my parents to see this beautiful temple.  

This experience visiting the temple was awesome.  The temple was rebuilt to reflect many of the same architectural elements of the original tabernacle including beautiful wooden spiral staircases, and many other breathtaking features.  We loved the baptismal font, the sealing rooms, and especially the awe inspiring Celestial Room.  

We were planning a trip to St. George that weekend to attend Tyler's mission farewell so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to see the temple on our way down.  My parents wanted to attend the temple open house as well so they drove up and met us there.  It was nice going through the temple with them too.

It was really fun taking the kids and letting them see what the temples look like inside.  They loved everything about it and were excited to see everything. 

The outside of the temple looks just like the original Tabernacle with the exception of the newly placed Angel Moroni.  After walking through the temple, we were able to learn more about the construction process of this temple from fire clean up, to building a parking lot under the existing building, to the finished product.  It was really cool to watch the process from start to finish.  The building was actually placed on stilts while the parking lot was built and was kind of just floating there!  It was really amazing to see the progression.  This was a great experience for us and we are so glad we were able to attend the Provo City Center Open House.

Baby #4 Coming Soon!

That's right you read the title correctly Baby Farnsworth #4 is on its way!   

As you can tell, we found out a while ago back in January but just recently went to the doctor for an ultrasound with real pictures!  Here is this little cutie:

It was so exciting to actually see the baby.  Ultrasounds really make it real for me.  Russell and I were really excited to see the baby.  I couldn't believe how much it had developed over the last 11 weeks.  The doctor said the baby was measuring 11.5 weeks when I was really only 10.5 weeks.  So he set the due date as September 4, 2016.  Traci was excited to hear that because that is her birthday!  We will see when the baby is actually born though...  

I have been feeling better lately but still have some bouts of nausea.  This pregnancy has not been too bad though in that I have not thrown up.  I just am way tired and if I am not eating every couple of hours, I just get sick to my stomach and wiped out.  As long as I am eating though I am okay most of the time.  I am not nearly as sick as I was with the boys so I am hoping that means I am having a girl.  I would love another girls to round things out but a boy would be fine too.  Emily was so excited to hear about the baby and told me she hopes it is a sister because she is tired of brothers!  The boys were also excited and it has been hard for them to keep a secret.  I think they are the ones who have told everyone so far!

Finding a new doctor up here was kind of scary.  I didn't know who to go to and if the one I picked would be any good.  I listened to my friends talk about their doctors and nonchalantly asked questions and finally decided on Dr. Horsley.  Russell and I were both really impressed with him on me first visit so I am thinking and hoping I made a good choice.

Well here we go again!  Time to get the baby stuff back out.

Sunny St. George

We had to get out of the snow and the winter dreariness.  Well at least I did!  So the first chance we got we headed to Sunny St. George.  Emily had a four-day weekend off from school on February 12th- 15th for a teacher prep day and President's Day.  As soon as she got out of school on Thursday we headed out of town.  It was so nice to see the sun and be warm for a change.  I really think I was getting so depressed but this trip helped my mood a ton.

So another reason we made the trip south was for Tyler.  Tyler recently got his mission call to Wichita, Kansas (Spanish speaking).  He leaves on March 9th!  This weekend he was able to go through the temple for his endowments so we were able to go to the temple with him.  This was a great experience and it was so nice to have all of Russell's family in the temple together.  It is times like this in the Celestial Room that really makes me realize what Heaven will be like with all of our family together.

Along with the Spiritual stuff, we also had a lot of fun.  On Friday, Russell went shooting with Keith and Tyler and they had a little too much excitement for my taste.  While cleaning up the guns and things, Russell's gun accidentally went off and fired a round into the tailgate of Keith's truck.  It left a nice little hole in the truck and a story that Russell will never live down.  Luckily it was the truck that got shot and not one of them.  Before we left home, I noticed that Russell was bringing his guns.  I told him I didn't like the idea of shooting and I thought something was going to happen.  Russell told me they were going shooting whether I liked it or not.  Well, I guess he should have listened to me because then we wouldn't be fixing a tailgate of a truck!!!  (Remember rule #1 Russell, "Yes, Dear!")  So when Russell told me what had happened, I was pretty mad and it was one of those "I told you so" moments.  We were all just glad no one got hurt.

Saturday, after the temple, we spent the day enjoying the sun and the red rocks of Dixie rock.

The kids had a blast climbing all over the rocks pretending they were rock climbers scaling large mountains.  Colby even got tricky balancing in the air in a crevasse.  It was exciting to not have to wear a coat!  We soaked up as much Vitamin D as we could.  It is always fun when we get together with the Farnsworth, Stewart, Gardner, and Maxwell cousins.  

Here are all of the cousins with Uncle Tyler as we explored the new Desert Garden on the Red Hill.  

Sunday we spent with the Morwood cousins hanging out.  Then on Monday we visited Grandma Morwood before starting the long trip back to the cold north.  This was a great trip and one I needed pretty badly.  When we got home, the snow and cold didn't seem as bad as when we left.  It was still there, but it was easier to deal with somehow because we were able to get out of it for awhile.  Before we went down, Russell and I met with the Stake President to get our temple recommends renewed.  When I told him where we were from, he just looked and me and said "I'm Sorry!"  I had to laugh.  Then he said "Now is a great time to go visit down there."  He was right.

Valentine's Tea

On February 11th, the Room Parents put on a Valentine Tea Party for Emily's class.  All of the kids dressed up in their best clothes for this special activity.  

For the Tea, the students were paired off in girl/boy couples and the boys escorted the girls to the Library were the tables were set up and decorated.

Emily's escort was Kenji.  During the Tea, we talked about manners and how to act appropriately in different situations.  The boys served the girls the snacks and the girls politely said "Please" and "Thank You!"  It was so fun to watch how they acted.  The girls were so excited but the boys were so embarrassed!  They all seemed to take it seriously though and they did a great job together. 

After the Tea party, each of the girls gave the boys a heart sucker and told them "Thank You." Then the boys escorted the girls back to the classroom.  They all seemed to have fun even though the boys wanted to act tough!

Emily has also been having other fun days in school lately.  The pictures below are from the 100th Day of School.  

Mrs. McBride took a picture of each of the kids and then used an App to transform them into a 100 year old person.  So this is what Emily should look like as a 100 year old lady!  Emily was not too sure about this picture and was really concerned that she was really going to look like this.  I think she looks pretty good for a 100 year old!  The next picture is of Emily and Mrs. McOldie (or Mrs. McBride dressed as a 100 year old lady).  Emily had a good time on 100 Day.

These next pictures were taken at the school's Girls' Night Out.

It was just Emily and me and we had a great time.  We cut out hearts for Heart Attack kits and danced to some Zumba.  We also had fun dressing up for these funny pictures.  We need to do more girls nights together.  

Happy Birthday, Logan!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Logan!  I can't believe how big you are getting.  More of a little boy than a baby anymore.

So now that Logan is three he is big.  He tells everyone that he is three now and can do big kid stuff.  Well he already knew he was as big as the other kids and could do anything they could but now I guess it is official!  He also shows everyone three fingers when he says he is three.

So I always though Logan had a Spring birthday because in St. George, he did.  But now I realize that February 1st is really a Winter birthday.  The day before Logan's birthday, it snowed 2 feet at our house.  We celebrated Logan's birthday by playing in the snow!  Then we came inside and have hot chocolate and cake.  Logan wanted a dinosaur birthday so that is what we did.

Logan loved his dinosaur/volcano cake.  He especially loved the toy dinosaurs on top.  All of the kids liked wearing the dinosaur masks all day.

Along with the dinosaur cake, I also made dinosaur fossil cookies.  Each cookie had an imprint of a dinosaur or a footprint.  Even the dinosaurs liked eating them.

Logan's favorite part of the day was of course opening presents.  He got new Lightning McQueen shoes, a flashlight and binoculars, a train from Emily, new clothes, and his very own Camelbak.  He was so excited.

Time to blow out the candles.  This cake chocolate cake was so good.  It was even filled with Chips Ahoy cookies.  

As you can see, the dinosaurs loved eating the cake as well.  This was such a fun birthday.  It was very low key because it was just us but sometimes those are the best birthdays.  Logan had a great time.

Happy Birthday little buddy!  We love you!