Bounce Planet

My grandma has hosted Thanksgiving for years. This year is to be her last and as only grandma can do...she wanted to go out with a bang. With 50 plus people she rented a place called Kangaroo Zoo for 2 hours so everyone could bounce their dinner right out of them. My grandma never wants anyone to feel left out so she requested we have a similar activity here in Indiana. We headed over to Bounce Planet for a day of bouncing. The adults were free but if they'd have known how much Dad and Nathan were going to jump they might have reconsidered. Bonus....we could come and go all day.

We bounced some in the morning then headed over to Dick's Bodacious Barbecue for some super yummy food. Alexa claims it as her new absolute favorite restaurant. After eating we headed back over to jump some more. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Toone. It would have been so fun to be there with you but we did have a good time.

The Experiment

Friday night Mackenzie asked if she could do an experiment if it didn't make a mess. Why not? So she set off with a bottle of bubbles, some dish soap, towels, paper and pencil, and a dream. Her creation was tellingly called "hand bubbles." You could take the mixture and make bubbles with your hands. She bottled them up with labels for future reference, a recipe of ingredients with exact amounts, and a smile of pure satisfaction. Experiment...successful.

Mackenzie's "10"

10 years ago I ate and enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner, went to the airport to see Matt Page come home from his mission and then drove to the hospital. I delivered Mackenzie the next morning just after 8:30. A whopping 8 lb. 14 oz. kid almost 2 weeks early. Ten years...really!?! I swear every year I feel older. Just saying Mackenzie's name brings a smile to my face. She has brought us so much laughter, eye rolling and opinion. She came home recently requesting to join a sport. When asked what she wanted to play she had no suggestions and a number of excuses as to why the various suggestions we made would not work for her. She was the only one of her friends who did not participate in a extra-curricular sporting activity. She did, however, participate on the spell bowl team and is on the math bowl team. We explained to Mackenzie that there are lots of ways to participate in extra-curricular activities and they don't have to be sports. We would be happy to sign her up for something but not because she wants to be like her friends. She should be involved in the things she wants to do.

This year, Mackenzie's birthday was on Thanksgiving. We usually head over to my parents house for Thanksgiving but this year they came to us. It was a great day and weekend. Mackenzie requested a turkey cake. She drew the turkey and I filled it in with the frosting. She got a scooter, some earrings and a new pair of shoes, converse...those were popular when I was a kid. Maybe I'm not so old after all.

Mackenzie developed a real love of little kids this past year. Partly due to our time at the Dayton family reunion this summer and getting to spend time with lots of younger cousins. She has a particular fondness for Gavin who was almost one.

Now that she is two whole hands old we can't wait to see what is yet to come.

We love you Mackenzie. Happy Birthday!

Indian

Dayton has been learning about the Native Americans. At school they made costumes by decorating dyed t-shirts with beads and feathers and coloring patterned papers. He was so excited to come home and show me. Dayton kept requesting maize for Thanksgiving dinner and was impressed that I actually knew what maize was, apparently he wasn't listening or forgot when his sisters came home with the same enthusiasm. All things considered I think he makes quite a cute Indian.

Sarah Horning

As a teenager I babysat for the Horning family. Sarah, Andrew, Michael, and Emily. I must admit that babysitting was not my favorite thing to do but I loved these kids. I left for college, got married, started a family and eventually moved back to my home ward. I was able to teach Andrew in Sunday School, interact with Michael at mutual and be with Sarah in young women's. Sarah was the only option when it came to someone watching our kids. She was actually the only person we would let sit our kids except for my parents for a good 2 years. My kids LOVE Sarah. She was the best! Our kids would ask us to leave so Sarah could come over. Well Sarah got married yesterday. We took a quick trip to Canton to be at the wedding reception. The look on her face was priceless. She was not expecting us to show up but we wouldn't have missed it. Having people who are in my life and in the lives of my kids that are a good influence and example is something for which I will always be grateful. Sarah is one of those people. As she sets off on this new phase of life I wish her all the happiness and joy during good times and bad. One day, Alexa and Mackenzie would love to babysit for her.

Trumpet

Alexa has been playing the trumpet this year and has actually developed quite the talent for it. Although at times it drives me crazy to hear the trumpet blaring in the next room she really enjoys it. Nathan is convinced we should encourage this talent and interest and she can get a musical scholarship to BYU and perhaps play in the BYU band and have a free pass to all the football games. I'm not sure that I want her to head down that path but it isn't about me so lucky for me I don't have to decide.

Alexa enjoys practicing. She rarely needs to be reminded and plays ahead in her book. She and Hannah Norton spent a good 30 minutes playing random songs together and had a blast. The best part for me is seeing a love of music in Alexa. Music and being able to loose myself in an instrument has brought me great joy and I couldn't have wanted anything more for Alexa. I secretly wish it would have been with the piano but she is still playing that too. I think her trumpet playing has increased her piano playing ability as well.

Hair Cut

Mackenzie has been wanting to grow her hair out for as long as I can remember. She has not been blessed with hair that grows really quickly but it has grown quite a bit. Imagine our surprise when Mackenzie comes home from school wondering what she might look like with short hair. What? Really? So we let her think about it for a while and after a couple of weeks she still really wants short hair so I cut it. It was a little hard to take at first. Seeing these long strands of hair falling into the bath tub. After a few tears...due to how drastic the change was, she was all smiles and tossing around her hair like she ruled the world. It also happens to be quite versatile. She can't quite wear it in a ponytail but it does curl under and flip out allowing for some variety. I was starting to wonder if cutting her hair gave her an extra dose of attitude but then it could also be attributed to her almost turning 10.

Passing Time

Alexa's new favorite past time is embellishing family photos.

She has spent a lot of time on some and

I think it is fair to say that all of them make me laugh.

Enjoy!

Sneaky Stealer

This morning after Nathan had made his breakfast, he was putting his shoes on and had placed his cup of cereal on the floor. Since we had our carpets cleaned I've been kind of strict about not having shoes on the carpet...so he put his cereal on the ground while he was putting on his shoes so he wouldn't have to walk on the carpet with his shoes on.


Well....while he was putting on his shoes Harley decided to have a little taste of Nathan's breakfast. Nathan yelled at her but only after she'd had a taste of his Cheerios. She apparently thought it was pretty good because even after she got yelled at she was still licking her chops.


To say the least...Nathan was not happy but Mackenzie, Dayton and I had to laugh.

Braces

I have a set of pictures just like these in my scrapbook. Alexa had her braces put on yesterday and although she claimed a lack of excitement, I think it was just an act. She told everyone she could that she was getting braces. She was able to pick her color of rubber bands. She chose blue and green. Her mouth has been a little sore, she woke up last night begging for Tylenol, and we have a little less money but the end result will be worth all of it.