Happy Halloween!

Halloween was spent trick-or-treating in downtown Logan and trunk-or-treating around the block. My top 5 favorite things of the day-

1. Both my girls loved their costumes and LOVED wielding their swords. (If you look close Sarah's is the wrapper for her glow stick sword that she insisted on using earlier in the week and we could no longer find the sword)

2. Visiting with the neighbors at the trunk or treat and being able to drop in on friends for a visit.

3. Eating chili cheese dogs! This is a long standing Mons' family tradition.

4. We didn't need to take a stroller this year!!

5. Watching the girls run and play and be kids!!!

Thanks to Barbie, Sarah has been planning to be a musketeer since the new movie came out!

Ellie wanted to be a pirate! Her costume turned out great thanks to a friend and the DI!

What would Halloween be without Cora and Ellie dressing up together and trick-or-treating. It is so fun for me to watch Ellie with Cora. She makes sure that she gets a treat at every stop.

SWINE FLU!

I have become quite a germophobe since the outbreak of swine flu. I know that some of this has worn off on Ellie and she is now the expert on the symptoms, the effects, and how many friends in her class she thinks has it. The following is a conversation we had in the car on our way home from school the other day.

Ellie-There were four kids in my class out today and Mrs. Dutson was also out. Mom, what is a swine anyway?


Me-It's a pig but that doesn't really have to do with anything with the sickness.


Sarah-"I'll never kiss a pig! I want to but I won't!"

This must still be on Sarah's mind. Last night, while my friend Kandyce was babysitting her she had this conversation with Kandyce.

Sarah- How did your dog Max die?
Kandyce- He got sick.
Sarah-What did he get sick from?
Kandyce- He had cancer.
Sarah- So he didn't kiss a pig!

PRICELESS!

$17 tickets, $4 cotton candy, spending the day with the family PRICELESS!

One of the reasons we love living in Logan is all the benefits of living in a college town. Ellie sings with a group that has student teachers from Utah State. We love being involved with community by going to the football games (fun atmosphere, getting better team) and basketball games (crazy fun atmosphere, awesome team)!

The most PRICELESS part of living here are the amazing college students that eat dinner with us on Sundays. We appreciate the good example they are to our girls. It is PRICELESS to give our girls an example of people that are hardworking, involved with church and school activities, laugh, are service oriented, and are getting a college education all at the same time! Thanks- Bridget, Steve, Nat, Kim, Malory, and Logan for the example you are providing to my kids it is PRICELESS!
Ellie and Big Blue at Family Fun Day- lots of great activities for the family and that day everything was free.

Sarah at Family Fun day! Thanks go out to Grandma and Grandpa Pratt for getting the girls the great outfits for their birthdays!

DRAMA QUEEN!

This afternoon Sarah sang us song after song! Sarah is definitely a child that can make me laugh and cry. Sarah is currently the family drama queen.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

This was Ellie's first year of community softball! She played coach pitch and loved every minute of it. In the first game, Ellie wanted to hit a home run so bad, that when she finally made contact with the ball she run pass two of the runners before her and missed touching 2nd and 3rd base. Coach Larson was my hero that day, he never let Ellie know that she got out and let her believe that she got a home run! (The next time at practice they worked on running the bases.)

Ellie hitting the ball!
Ellie is playing catcher! Just like her Dad.

Can't wait for next year!!

While You Were Away....

For the last eight days we have been off adventuring through Canada. When we left I plugged in my cell phone and left it at home. We brought Jason's just in case we might need it. Five days later we checked Jason's phone. It makes you nervous when you receive texts like- "Are you guys ok?", "Did your house receive any water damage?", "Do you need help?" Jason had multiple voice messages- "Brother Mons bring your shovel and meet at the church!" Jason quickly called a neighbor and found out that the mountain side three doors north and three doors west had a landslide, flooding over a dozen neighbors homes, trapping and killing three neighbors! Upon our return it has been amazing to learn of the number of volunteers that overran our neighborhood. Over 1,00o people came out on Sunday to move rock, mud and clean out peoples basements. It was frustrating to only be able to pray for our neighbors and friends.We are grateful that our home was ok! I am grateful to live a community where people help people.

The other message we received was letting us know that our dear friend Vance Thompson died. Vance is the neighborhood Grandpa! Telling Ellie about Vance's death was heart breaking. In her short little life she has seen death up close more than Jason or I did until we were into our teenage years.

Ellie and Vance had a very special relationship. During her kindergarten year Vance would do Ellie's nightly reading assignments with her. Vance has attended a number of her birthday parties at her request, he never missed stopping at her lemonade stands, he joined her at the schools Veteran's day assembly as her guest.

Last year the neighborhood kids planned a parade and had Vance be the grand marshal. The kids took great care to decorate his scooter and make sure he had a cape to wear for the big day! Ellie dearly loved Vance and she will miss him!

When I think about what I learned from Vance there are things that will stay with me forever and I hope that I can be like him!

-You can be friends to anyone no matter how young or old they are! At 88 years old, Vance has touched our families life forever.

-It is ok to be proud of your family! Vance always talked about the accomplishments of his kids, grand kids, and great grand kids. The way he talked about them you knew what was important to Vance.

-You are never to old to make changes and teach others by the mistakes that you have made. For many years of his life Vance was an alcoholic. He never made excuses for what he did but would tell you how it ruined relationships and work. Vance used his life experiences to teach those around him.

-Vance never missed an opportunity to tell us that he loved us!

Thank you Vance for letting us be your friend! You have forever touched our families life. I am so grateful that I have a firm belief that I will be able to see Vance again.

Don't forget to take time for the little things!

Summer fun!

What could be better than spending my favorite holiday with family that we don't get to see very often. Over the 4th of July weekend, Tyler and Robyn (Jason's brother) and their cute family came for a visit. The little kids and the big kids had a great time together playing!

The kids loved shooting off Aunt Heather's "fireworks"! I will read the label next time before I buy anything. Tyler had a great time shooting off his illegal fireworks that he picked up on their way through Wyoming.

Tyler's goal was to spend time in the mountains. The kids loved roasting hot dogs and marshmellows and throwing rocks into the river. I think their favorite part was putting out the fire with cups of water from the river!

Robyn has a great tradition of spending one on one time with each of the family members. Sarah enjoyed a trip to the temple and feeding the ducks. Ellie went to the park and had her fingernails and toenails painted red and blue. (I hope some day that I will think like a blogger and remember to bring my camera with me more places. Hopefully more pictures to come.)

Happy Birthday Ellie!

It is hard to believe that my baby turned seven last week! Eight years ago our bishop asked Jason and I to come in and meet with him. He told us that there was a special spirit ready to come live with our family. He couldn't have been more right.

Ellie- Your dad and I think that you are amazing!
We love how creative you are! There is never a day that passes that you are not using your creativity to decorate, entertain, and keep us busy. When ever you are asked what you like to do with your dad, you always answer "Work in his wood shop!" For Christmas this year Grandpa Pratt bought you your own sander.

Ellie you have a compassionate heart that daily teaches me to love more and serve more. At school I watch you protect those that can't protect themselves. I am in awe watching you with your friend Cora. You are always willing to include her and teach those around you that every person is important and has value.
Ellie we love your adventurous spirit! You are willing to try anything-rock climbing, swimming, motorcycle/4 wheel riding, roller coaster riding, skiing, bike riding, cheer leading, concert singing. There is nothing that you won't try at least once!
We are so proud that you do your best work in school! You have an amazing ability to set goals and work hard to achieve them. It is neat to see you learn new things and come home and tell dad and I about what you have learned.

We hope that all your wishes come true! We love you!
Ellie is currently on a health kick! (thanks to her 1st grade teacher) Instead of cake, Ellie requested that we have "pink drinks" fruit smoothies for her birthday!

Ellie's lesson of the day!

Ellie: "I won $10,000 at school today but Mrs. Dahle wouldn't let me collect it!"
Dad: "How did you do that?"
Ellie: "There was a flashing sign on my computer that said that I could instantly win $10,000."

Ellie thought she had it made. Not only do Jason and I give her everything that she wants but the computer has picked her to be the instant winner. Ellie probably had the money all spent already!

Skiing the Beav!

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted this. If I am going to print this as a journal I decided to post it right now anyway!

Jason and I have spent many winter hours skiing and having a great time. Ellie has decided that she loves every minute. Jason has done an amazing job teaching her and she loves to spend time with her dad. On the last day of the season the whole family went together. I am glad that Jason was there, he spent all day carrying Sarah down the hill.

Yes, I know that my eyes are closed but I needed to post the picture so my kids will know that I do fun stuff with them also!

Jason and Ellie watching "Big Air" day. I think some day Jason and I will be watching our kids doing the pond skim.

Ellie the snow bunny!

Sarah loved the ski lift! She also really liked Jason's pocket treats.

Watch out Beaver Ski area the whole Mons' family has ski passes for the 2009-2010 ski season!

Sweet Sarah!

Sweet Sarah Michelle Mons

Today was Sarah's first time getting her photos professionally taken. It has not been for the lack of trying. In her first year of life had could not imagine paying for pictures of a crying baby. (I wish now that I would have paid for those pictures. It was just who Sarah was until she got healthy.)

Sarah is now an amazing three year old. She loves playing with her My Little Ponies, Pet shops or anything else that has a lot of little pieces for us to step on. Sarah can play for hours with her toys, jump on her bed listening to Ellie's I-pod or watch Mamma Mia her favorite movie over and over.

Sarah has taught me many things. Her first year of life taught me patience and when my patience ran out, she taught me that it was ok to ask for help. (Thank you Julie! You saved my life and Sarah's life.)

We love you Sarah and we are so grateful that you are a part of our family!

I am still learning to post video/pictures. Sorry that it is the wrong way.

Let's Go Aggies!

Thanks to the tickets that Jason gets through work, our family has spent many nights at the Utah State basketball games this winter. Yesterday, the cheerleaders had a fund raiser where Ellie and 300 other girls were able to go and learn a dance in the morning and perform during the half-time show.


In our house Ellie is the huge Aggie fan!! She gets upset if we are late to the games and gets even more upset when Sarah chants "Go Cougars" (this usually ends with one of the girls in time out for hitting the other). During the games I try to curb Ellie chanting things like "you suck" or "stupid" but last night Ellie sat across the stadium with the "cheerleaders" and from across the way I could see her out of her chair participating in all the cheers that are not mother approved.Thanks to cousin Bridget Ellie got to meet one of the players. He was more than happy to have Bridget take the picture and he also talked her into a date after the game. (Does that make Ellie the match maker?)

This is Lexi, one of my girls favorite babysitters. Also a former aide at the school. Ellie was in heaven!

Even better the Aggies won and it was an awesome game!! Let's Go Aggies!!!

Christmas Traditions!

After Christmas Jason and I talked about our favorite part of Christmas! We both decided that the night we spend in Salt Lake is the best part of the holidays! For the last three years we have spent one night in the down town Marriott and played until everyone is tired and grumpy!

This year for the first time we took the girls to Build-A-Bear! I was surprised by much they loved it and that they still sleep with their animals! (I wish that I would have thought of the idea instead of paying for it!)

Jason's favorite part of the trip is hanging out in the hotel trying to maintain control of the remote and eating at the all you can eat breakfast in the morning!

This year the whole family was able to go ice skating! Sarah and I were first timers. (Yes, I was very proud of myself!) By the end of the night Ellie looked like a pro! I love this picture of Sarah and Jason, it is no wonder that Jason was hoping for some hot tub time. He didn't get it though, he had to play dolphin in the pool!!

My favorite part of the trip is facing the crowds at Temple Square! (Sarah and Ellie couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to go swimming.) I love the spirit at Temple Square and I love thinking about the true meaning of Christmas! Mary is one of my heroes and I love to think about the kind of mother she must have been.