8 Year Interview

I feel like I'm losing my little boy with each passing year. Sometimes I'll see Chet out of the corner of my eye and not even realize it's him because in my mind he's still five years old dressed up like a cowboy. This growing up thing is hard! 

Mom: What is your favorite color?

Chet: Green and Black

Mom: What is your favorite food?
Chet: Homemade Pizza

He still loves pretty much all food, as long as it isn't rotten or have bugs in it or anyone else's spit on it. Unless it's ice cream or candy, apparently sugar kills all germs. Who knew? 

Mom: What is your favorite animal?
Chet: Horse and Dog

The boys and Mariah used to fight over who got to have Gus sleep with them. It didn't take Mariah long to figure out that she would be able to sleep in later if Gus wasn't there to wake her up. Chet loves Gus and doesn't even mind when he jumps into bed with him. 

Mom: What is your favorite book?
Chet: The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter

He is really starting to like history and any war books I can find. 

Mom: What is your favorite movie?
Chet: The Apple Dumpling Gang

        

Mom: What is your favorite song?

Chet: Follow You by Imagine Dragons

Chet loves to sing this song and always laughs at himself when he has to make key changes. 

Mom: Who is your scripture hero?
Chet: Jesus

You can't have a better hero than that! He has been so diligent in his scripture study each morning and now that he has his combination scriptures, he often follows along during family scripture study.

Mom: What is your favorite dessert?
Chet: Certain Cakes and Cookie Dough Ice Cream

He has to specify with "certain cakes" because he has had to eat some of my fails. 

Mom: What do you like to do for fun? 
Chet: Climb Trees and wrestle and play downstairs

Mariah got Chet a watch for his birthday and he loves to time himself doing things like climbing trees. Chet is up for anything as long as someone else will do it with him. He's a big time extrovert. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mom?
Chet: Not School, Give me some ideas...read to me. 

Don't have to wonder how Chet feels about school...unless I'm reading something to him. He'll sit through straight up Shakespeare. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?
Chet: Play Basketball

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mariah?
Chet: I like when she reads to me and usually her presents are the best ones. 

Gift giving is Mariah's favorite way to show love so she always works hard to earn money for presents. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Austin?

Chet: Play with him and wrestle him

These two still fight a lot and they are crazy competitive with each other but they are also best friends. Austin was sick the other day and Chet kept saying how much he missed Austin and wanted to play with him. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Eliza? 

Chet: I like to hear her play

This one made me laugh to myself. Eliza isn't always the easiest to play with. She's not the most flexible but she does come up with some pretty entertaining scenarios as she plays. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Vivi? 

Chet: Lay down and snuggle her. 

He loves to help keep Vivi happy and will even get her out of her bed in the morning sometimes. 

Mom: Who is your best friend?

Chet: Everybody, at least everybody I know. 

Chet is a loyal friend. He wants to be a part of everything and to feel included. 

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Chet: Either a scientist that looks at dinosaur bones or a cowboy, the normal ranch hand. 

He was very proud of his bug hunting gear

He's getting quite the sense of humor, if 8 year old boy humor is your thing. It can be hard to get a normal picture of him because he's always trying to see how goofy of a face he can make. 

He's still very big for his age and is always thrilled when people think he is the oldest. Mariah and he are the same height but I don't think it will be much longer before he outgrows her. 

Chet and I are pretty similar in personality and clash quite frequently but we always try to apologize and do better. I feel like in a lot of ways it has made us closer. Chet often tells me how when he grows up he wants a house by mine so his kids can have sleep overs at my house. I hope he will always want to live by me. He is also planning on having cows, horses, and dogs. 

He loves to build things and legos are his favorite toy. Grammie has gotten him some Pokemon cards and he and Austin like to lay out their cards and talk about them. I know nothing about Pokemon but they seem to make my boys happy. 

We are so grateful for our Chet boy. He is learning how to be a good big brother and a big help around the house. I am so grateful for his big smile and desire to learn and grow. Here's to another year! 

Big Days for Chet

Chet is still a very big Harry Potter fan and knew he wanted a Harry Potter Birthday Party. My parents were here and my mom helped a lot with the cake. Chet wanted it just like the cake Hagrid made for Harry and had fun helping decorate it. He piped most of the writing and insisted on smashing it to make it as accurate as possible. 

He decided he wanted a mint chocolate cake. I never like to do the same recipe twice so I didn't recreate Austin's peppermint chocolate cake. I followed a recipe that called for peppermint extract but I only had peppermint oil. Which I now know are not the same thing. Boy did that cake pack a punch. It tasted like you were eating mouthwash...But the "snitches" falling out of the cake were a hit. And some people claimed they liked it. Still not sure if they were just saying that to make me feel better. 

The kids were so creative in planning this party. Mariah brought out her old witches hat and after showing the guests a clip from Harry Potter with the sorting hat, all the kids were "sorted" into a house. We then decorated "wands" using big pretzel sticks, chocolate and sprinkles. After that we went outside and attempted to play muggle quidditch. I decided a bunch of kids probably shouldn't be running around with sticks between their legs so we left those out. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and we're definitely going to have to do it again sometime. 

Chet has some great friends 

Chet has been looking forward to turning 8 for a long, long time. Years ago, I told him that he would get a suit when he was baptized and so he would often say that he was excited to get baptized so he could wear a suit and have his own fancy scriptures and case. As he got nearer to his Baptism, he started to understand the importance of the ordinance itself. A couple weeks before his Birthday, Chet came to me and said he was feeling guilty for the way he had been treating his brother but that he prayed and asked for forgiveness and felt so happy and full of peace. He was so overcome with the Spirit and it was so special for me to be a witness to that. He was ready. 

Auntie Em made these invitations for Chet to share with people. He wanted to invite all his friends. 

We are so grateful for Brother Caldwell putting a program together and handing the programs out to people. He even had some people write special notes for Chet on the back of their programs. I was so grateful for his thoughtfulness.

Pretty sure Chet has been telling the Havards about his Baptism since we moved here so he was thrilled to have them there. Our Homeschool supervisor Miss Robin came as well and he was so happy to see her. The Hilton's drove half the day to get there and the cousins even sang with our kids for a special musical number. 

Such a great group of people who love Chet

We are so proud of Chet and his decision to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is such an important step on his journey back to his Heavenly Parents. 

Oregon

Tanner has been talking about a trip to the Oregon coast for years, so when we realized this would be the last year he had paid time off we started planning. Ok, I use the term "we" rather loosely, Tanner planned. I just packed, which was still very important. 

I was stressed about our connecting flights because we had a very short time to make our next one. But then there was "air traffic control problems" while leaving Des Moines and then we flew around in the air over Denver for over twenty minutes because of "wind patterns". So instead of rushing to our next flight we just missed it. We were then able to take our time and wait over four hours for the next flight. The older kids had fun going up and down escalators and Vivienne was happy when I finally caved and let her lay down on the airport floor. I was nervous about the next flight because it was going to be way past their bedtime but everyone did great. Eliza and Austin slept the whole flight and Vivienne cried a lot. But she has a quiet cry so it only stressed me out. 

We finally arrived in Portland around 11:30, which was 1:30 our time. The kids were troopers walking down to get our bags and setting up our rental car. Before our trip I thought it would be a really good idea for my sister to track down some free car seats for us to use so we wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of using our own. But that meant Amanda had to meet us at the airport at 11:30 at night, drop off the car seats, and say bye as we headed to Tanner's cousin's house. She was a gem though and did it and now I know that it really wasn't a good idea. We'll deal with the hassle of car seats next time. 

Angie and Dan have a little Airbnb above their garage so we snuck in and got some good sleep that night. The next day we had a blast on their awesome property. Angie helped the kids rock climb on their climbing wall and our kids had so much fun. They're already planning the wall we'll have one day. 

Chet and Mariah both made it to the top.

Angie suggested I make it harder by climbing a certain route. I tried that for about 1.5 seconds and decided the easiest way would be challenging enough for me. It's been a while. 

That night we went to a lake by the Wunderli's house and went out on Kayaks and a long board. 

And there I am in the background, being totally epic on my knees on the long board. I had no desire to fall in fully clothed. 

It's been a long time since we've been with the Wunderli's and it was so fun to see the kids together. 

The next day we went on a beautiful hike. Mariah and Chet went super fast with the older kids and Austin walked with me. Tanner was in the back walking at Eliza's pace. When we got to what I thought was the top of the trail all the kids asked if they could walk down to the rocks. I said yes and then started to doubt my confidence in my own children. But they made it down and began climbing up towards the waterfall. They were trying real hard to keep up with the teenagers and I finally called them back because I didn't know how far back Tanner was and I knew I wouldn't be much help getting them back on the trail with a baby strapped to me. They came back reluctantly and then Angie found us to let us know that we weren't actually at the waterfall yet. 

This was the waterfall and it was so cool. There was a log that had fallen down into the rocks and the water ran down it. After that we walked down where the kids could play in the water. 

You can see how disappointed Austin was when he realized you could in fact make it up to the waterfall by climbing the rocks. Yes people, sometimes mom is wrong. 

Eliza was a trooper on the hike considering she's an Iowa girl and mainly goes on saunters through the rolling hills. 

Right as we were leaving Chet banged his shin on a rock pretty hard but he pulled himself together and set a pretty fast pace back down the trail. Heaven forbid his younger brother finish before him. Anyone else's hikes go that way? Just us? 

We left from the hike and headed to Amanda and DJ's. It was so wonderful to be at their house. They were amazing hosts. DJ bought us way too many VooDoo Donuts and took Tanner to the special Nike Store (I can't remember what made it special) We went on a walk down to a beautiful park and after playing the cousins showed us a secret beaver dam.  

Elise was so sweet with Eliza and did whatever she asked her to do. And Mariah wants to grow up and be just like Elise now. They had fun sleeping together each night. Eliza kept calling Ethan her "little buddy", even though he's a lot bigger than her. 

The boys had a lot of fun on the tramp. Chet and Austin learned the importance of holding your head erect while on the tramp, no matter how big your head may be. Emerson shocked and amazed us with his yoyo skills and magic tricks. Saturday night the kids got to watch a movie on a big blow up screen out on the driveway and Aunt Mandy kept them all supplied with popcorn and m&ms. 

My parents flew in on Sunday and met us at church. My friend Sarah Willie also came from Utah with her niece and they spent the day with us. It was so wonderful to see her again. She even gave Tanner and DJ a ride in her uncle's Tesla. We had such a great time that I forgot to take a picture. 

Amanda and DJ left that night to head to a concert for the next day. I tried to convince DJ to just take Tanner as his date instead but he didn't feel like Amanda would be ok with that. 

The next day, Grammie had her traditional tea party and pudding drop. Grandma drops spoon fulls of pudding off the deck and the kids try to catch the pudding in their mouth down below. There were lots of giggles. The next morning Chet woke up and said there was something around his ears. I about had a heart attack thinking he had blood draining out of his ears until I realized it was dried pudding. Grandma and Grandpa let Tanner and I leave for a little date that night. We went to dinner and enjoyed some uninterrupted conversation. 

Grammie playing games with the boys on the tramp. 

Grammie and Papa Ralph walked the kids down to the ice cream shop two times in the short time we were there. Ice cream is their love language. 

Tuesday morning we headed for our first beach destination at Rockaway Beach. My friend Petra and her kids met up with us there. 

Petra came even though her kids first day of school was the next day. It was so wonderful catching up with her and seeing her beautiful kids. 

Tiesha and Steve met us there a little later in the day. Elizabeth was a trooper and decided to become a "sand star". 

I love how kids can hit it off so quickly especially when their mother is one of my dearest friends. We really lucked out with the weather that day. There was very little wind and it was sunny and warm the whole time. 

That night we headed to our Airbnb with Tiesha and Steve. We woke up early the next morning to make low tide at Cannon Beach.  

Eliza was amazing on this trip but about halfway through she started asking to go back to our "real home". She also asked if I would drive home real quick to get her Kitty. 

Right at the end we found a crab. I had to hustle to take some pictures before one of the patrollers caught us "touching the wildlife". 

We then headed to Ecola State Park and did a little hike. There was a lot of cheerleading to keep Eliza motivated but with a little packing by dad she made it to the top. 

We got to the top only to see clouds. It basically looked like it does when you look out an airplane window. But Tanner found one spot where you could see a little bit of beach and that seemed to satisfy all our happy hikers. We weren't able to see Tillamook lighthouse but I looked it up online to show the kids what it looked like. 

The sun came out right in time for us to head down to Indian Beach. Even though the water was icy cold the kids were in it all afternoon. 

And that was about all the boogie boarding Chet did that day. A mouthful of seawater curbed his enthusiasm. He did feel really cool walking down to the beach in his wetsuit and carrying the boogie board. A surfer even asked him if he surfed. Basically the coolest day of his life. 

Someone "accidentally" dumped sand on Vivi's face but she didn't let it ruin her day. She did however, have a surprisingly large amount of sand in her diaper the next day. Too much? Sorry. 

The next day we headed to the Tillamook factory. The kids enjoyed the tour and were really excited for the ice cream after. 

Our Airbnb had crabbing pots in the garage so Tanner and Steve decided to try a little crabbing. After some Youtube videos and chicken legs, we felt more than prepared. 

They caught some crabs but none were big enough. But Tanner enjoyed talking with the locals and getting all the best crabbing tips. He and Steve even went out early the next morning to try again, but it just wasn't in the cards. 

The kids were a little disappointed so Tanner picked up two freshly cooked crabs and some deep fried clams. Mariah and Chet had fun helping them get the meat out of the crabs. Chet was excited to break open the second crab's body but that ended quickly when he saw how much junk was inside it. I'm pretty sure he didn't eat much meat after that either. He got a little too close to the source. 

These cousins had so much fun together. On their last night the girls started singing songs together and they sounded so beautiful. It wasn't long enough and we're looking forward to the next time we can be together. 

We headed back to my sister's to spend one more night with them. We had to wake up at 4 the next morning but had no complications on the flights home. 

The kids were tuckered out after all the adventures but they made it through Costco, mainly because we promised them pizza after. 

It was an exhausting, wonderful trip and now we can't wait for everyone to come visit us here in good ol' Iowa. We'll take them on a walk through a corn field, the views are breathtaking.