November 2015

We had our first snowstorm of the season on November 10th.

The kids built a large snowman!

We played at our favorite hangout: Nickelmania.

And spent some time at the Museum of Curiosity with Grandma Diane.

We picked up leaves.

And cleaned up rocks.

Built racecars at Lowe's.

And schoolhouse banks at Home Depot.

Hung out with our cats Rosco and Gizmo a.k.a. Fat Gus.

Thanksgiving was spent with the Bjarnson side and what a yummy feast and pies were had.

Then we held a grandkids' talent show where Lincoln played the harmonica.

Sterling showed his artwork.

And Makayla performed some Thanksgiving poems and songs.

What a cute turkey, our Makayla is!

Top 10 Scariest Moments of My Life: Lincoln Gets Lost

I had a visiting teaching appointment with my friend Shirlene on Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 11:45 a.m.  Things were going well.  I had given her some homemade festive sugar cookies and we ushered Shirlene's daughter, Katie (5) and Lincoln (4) to their large fenced backyard.  We didn't think anything of it and sat visiting for ten minutes.  We noticed it was pretty quiet back there and the kids were nowhere to be found.  However, the gate was wide open.

Shirlene thought they probably walked to her mom's home 2 doors down.  I checked the bedrooms and the bathroom.  No kids, nothing.

We put her 1 year old son, Jason, into a stroller and headed to her mom's home.  They weren't in the yard and weren't in her house.  Then it dawned on me that they asked to go to my house and play on our swingset when we arrived.  We had said "no".

I took off in my car and headed home, frantically checking both sides of the street and looking for them: a little boy in a red shirt and green pants and a little girl in a pink jacket and black pants.  Nothing, no kids.

I drove back to Shirlene's and knew it was time to call 911.  We called and gave descriptions of our kids, and I went to the neighbors around Shirlene's home and frantically told them the situation and asked for clues.  An elderly lady across the street said she saw the kids walking south and thought it was strange they were alone.

At least we knew what direction they went now.  And thank goodness they went the opposite direction of Bengal Boulevard, a large, busy, fast road between our houses.

I hopped in my car once again and stopped every person I could find and asked them to call 911 if they came across 2 little kids walking alone.  I told a mother walking with her 2 young kids; a highschooler listening to music on his headphones; a tree trimming guy and his worker; and a jogger.  I was on my way back to Shirlene's home when I noticed Shirlene's car, a police car, and another car up the street from me.  I stopped and parked my car and ran up to the scene.

Lincoln and Katie were in the extra car that had two older ladies watching over them.  The 2 older ladies noticed our kids walking and thought that was strange they were all alone.  They drove around the block and still noticed the kids.  Then they ushered the kids into their car and called the police.

The policewoman made the connection between the missing children's reported call and the found children, and let Shirlene know that they were safe.  Shirlene had my cellphone since hers wasn't working.  I just happened to be driving by when I saw her car.

There was Lincoln and Katie happily licking their Tootsiepops given to them by the cop.  They acted unphased and if there was nothing wrong. (Lincoln teared up when he saw how upset I was.)

The cop said it's scary how easily they hopped into the older ladies' car.  Thank goodness they were trustworthy, helpful people.  What if they were bad people who wanted to take advantage of little kids?

I am very thankful that my son and his friend were found.  I know that it is by the grace of God and angels watching over us and them that they were found.

What is sad is Lincoln still doesn't understand the problem.  He feels as if nothing he did was wrong.  He claims it was all Katie's fault.  That she made him leave the fenced backyard and tugged on his arm when he didn't want to go.  Although that might be true, no one can really know.  And Lincoln is at fault for going along with the plan.

Looks like I have some work to do.  This also brings back a haunting memory of Sterling who in 2011 got lost in SuperWalmart and they had to do a Code Adam Lockdown until he was found.  Yeah, that is 2/3 of my kids being lost in very real and scary situations.  Mother of the year right here! (Not) Wow, I really have much work to do.

P.S.  The kids ended up walking nearly half of a mile!

P. P. S.  Lincoln got this fortune at dinner that night.  I completely disagree with it.  Ironic though!

P. P. P. S.  This was my fortune.  And a miracle indeed was seen.  I know it.

October 2015

We started off this month watching the "Shaun the Sheep"movie.

We built haunted birdhouses.

Wendy's baby Hazel was blessed.  What a cute picture of the babies and grandmas.

Makayla helped at a science library show.

Sterling saved his money and bought a new race-boat. (We paid half.)

And he also found a great deal at a yard sale.  This fancy racetrack was 7 dollars.  He is a good budgeter. When he sets his mind to something, he is disciplined in saving his money.

We played at a park.

Lincoln laughed with a praying mantis.

We saw a movie at Clark about fish and reefs.

And Scott and I went on a date!  Although this crazy restaurant was a bit too weird.  Check out the octopus leg and the shrimp with eyes looking at me!

At least the last half of our date was fun at the spook alley. We love a good scare!

We attended a fire station party and it was cool.  The kids each got to shoot the fire hose, and we dressed up and practiced safety.

Halloween festivities included:

 Ran the fishing booth at the Hebdon party.

Our outfits.

Visited the witches at Gardner Village.

Really enjoyed trick or treating at Grandma B's care center.

Carved pumpkins.

Created festive cookies.

Had fun at our city's Halloween carnival.

Participated at our ward party.

Visited Aunt Lisa on Halloween night.

The highlight of the month was visiting Black Forest Farms.

From bounce houses,

To slides,

And shooting corn husks,

To seeing a goat bridge...

And a corn sandbox,

And some mazes, this place was a blast!

To top it off, we each picked out a pumpkin from the patch.