Halloween 2013

We had such a great Halloween this year.

Scott really got into it.

He was loving the dressing up and the scary stories and the creepy decorations and freaky and funny monsters.

Everyday about 20 times a day he asked if it was Halloween.

We would look at the calender and change the count down everyday but he still hated the wait.

We got to go to a Halloween party for his school at Gardener Village and then have a trunk or treat after.

Oh how he loved that and I considered it a great rehearsal for the real thing.

Last year it was a complete head ache to get Scott to wear his costume and to walk up to houses and see people he didn't know.

After a while he learned it could be rewarding but it was quite stressful for Mark and I.

This year it was the opposite.

Such a relief.

We went to the Smith's up in Ogden on Halloween with many of our other friends and had a soup party for dinner.

After we all went trick or treating together.

Eventually the older kids got ahead and most of the husbands went back to the Smith's for some game that was on.

Oh but not before Scott got scared by the warewoves.

So I'll tell you how bad of parents Mark and I are.

Scott looks at life as facts.

He knows that there are dinosaurs that eat other dinosaurs and some that eat plants.

He doesn't look at the T Rex as being bad just that he needs to eat.

He knows that animals eat other animals and even that some attack people.

He is fine with this.

Well with Halloween he started asking questions about monsters.

What do they eat and where do they live are the most asked questions.

He just likes to learn and know that kinda stuff.

So we told him, having confidence that he would except it the same way he takes dinosaurs and animal.

In our defense we also let him know that the monsters weren't real, they were fake.

So he knows that Duracula is a vampire who drinks blood and lives in a castle.

He knows that zombies eat brains and live in the graveyard.

He knows that ghosts don't eat anything but they just go around saying boo (we got less creative coming up with answers after a while).

He also knows that warewolves eat people and live in the forest.

He has had no problem excepting these things and not batting an eye or having bad nightmares or anything.

So on Halloween night when he saw the back of two teenage boys big hairy masks he was very excited to tell us they we warewolves.

But when he turned back at them at the exact moment they turned around to reveal the front of their full face masks that looked all too real he screamed bloody murder and ran right into my arms crying.

Mark and Melissa and I were stunned for a milasecond and then started laughing.

We had never seen Scott scared and we had never seen such a poster child of scared outside of the movies.

It really was funny.

But sadly not to Scott.

Looking back I feel bad as his mother that I didn't take it more seriously.

He was genunionly horrified.

It took probably a full minute, maybe more, to get him to stop sobbing.

Then another little while for us to explain it was just fake.

He eventually started back up again but he was much more cautious and had a harder time with houses that were decorated a lot.

He got scared one other time by a girl with some very realistic skeleton make up on but she was nice and took the long ruit away from the house so he wouldn't see her again and her friends came over and said sorry and even gave him a piece of their candy.

It was a sad and still kinda funny Halloween memory that had to go down in the books.

Anyway, as usual, we were so busy having fun and taking care of the kids that I didn't take any pictures.
But here's one from the trunk or treat.

School Pics

Scott having one of his preschools in an elementry school means we get to take school pictures.

This and the bus are some of my favorite things about him already in the public school system.

Here's this years.

Last year it fell on a day that wasn't his normal school day so I took him in and helped him through the anxiety that new experiences bring.

This year it fell on a school day and I just sent him off.

I can tell you exactly what they said that brought this smile out.

"Smile!"

Now if they had said "cheese" they would have gotten his normal smile but over the last month or two he has picked this to be his smile on command.

I thought about doing retakes and trying to get the natural smile out of him but seriously this is cute.

I love this snap shot of a memory that I might have forgotten down the road.

Let's face it, every child practices fake smiles.

I just can't help loving this kid and all his quarks.

Autumn

Look at this cute kid.

I just love this boy so much and I love the little person he's turning into.

One of the favorite things is getting to experience life with him.

Welcome Autumn!

More Cousins for Scott

Luke and April had their third baby.

Look how perfect this little guy is.

His name is Owen Griffin McEvoy.

He was born October 15 weighing in at 7 lbs 3 oz.

I got to go visit him a week later.

Can I just say holding a brand new baby when I'm pregnant was a weird experience.

I just can't wait to be done and have my little guy out of me.

Owen's older brother is really close in age to Scott and Owen and Scott's little brother will be even closer in age.

I can't wait for these two cousins to start playing together.

Halloween Fun

Last year we went to the pumpkin patch and sure, it was fun but all we did was pay way too much to walk around a muddy field and pick out a pumpkin.

This year I wanted more.

So we went to Cornbellies and Thanksgiving Point.

It did NOT disappoint, as if Thanksgiving point could.

We went with the Krommenhookes.

We all have the best time with them.

There was so much for the kids to do and it wasn't cheesy or boring for the adults either.

I was a bit worried that Scott might get over whelmed but he was a champ.

This kid is walked in like he owned it and had no problem going from one activity to the next.

The only fit we got that night was when it was time to leave and say goodbye to Jeff, Amber, Jade and Tatum who he always hates leaving.

I think I loved most of all that Mark got to see Scott have the time of his life and play with him.

I take Scott to the fun places usually and get to see the happy Scott and by the time Make comes home Scott is all tuckered out and cranky.

The other nice thing was that Mark and Jeff took charge of the kids and left Amber and I to just fall back and chat.

For those who haven't been, you really need to put it on your holiday to do list next year.

I think it just became our Halloween tradition.

Quick Trip

October is full of trips for Mark.

Two business trips and hunting with a lot of hunting prep days to take Mark away from us.

Not used to sharing him so much and Scott and I weren't happy about it.

So in between all the trips was a long weekend that we wanted to make the most out of.

We originally thought we would go visit a National Park but then the government shut down and so the parks closed.

Don't get me started on the injustice there.

But my parents rented a cabin for us at Yuba Lake.

I'd never even heard of it.

It was too cold to swim but we got to take a beautiful and kinda cold walk around the lake.

Scott loved being with Grandma and Grandpa and Natalie.

It felt good get away, even if just for a night.

We had such a great time Mom and Dad are thinking of making this the place of our next family camp trip this summer.

I sure hope so.

Fun with Carter

This sweet little guy next to Scott is Carter.

He is one of Scott's favorite friends and one of his few friends that are boys.

Carter is very special to our family.

Not only does he make Scott so happy but his mom helps me to be happy.

While Scott was growing up and we started having questions it was hard to get answers from those around me.

All my friends that had children Scott's age were girls.

I heard lots of, "He's a boy, boys develop slower then girls."

But something that always helped was when Sedra would post something about Carter, she was one of the few friends that had a boy.

Our friendship began when my family moved to Utah and she was in my Young Womens group at good ol' Alpine 4th Ward.

She was a year older then me and we weren't incredibly close then.

But thanks to facebook we reconnected.

Our boys we found out were very similar.

Eventually we got together and started to text and call back and forth.

We have helped one another through some pretty rough spots that few understand.

The great thing about these boys is that they are so easy for us to love because we have come to understand them and when we don't understand them we still love them.

It is such a blessing to have a wonderful friend like Carter and Sedra.

They totally get this Crazy Ellis Family.

Daughter of God

Today is Saturday and conference is going on this weekend.

I love conference time.

This year some things are happening that are kinda bugging me.

At the last conference six months ago we experienced women giving prayers in conference for the first time I guess.

I've never noticed that they have not prayer in conference.

This year will be the first year that the Priesthood session will be broadcast live on the internet (this makes Mark very happy since he hates to get dressed up on a Saturday evening and is usually late0.

What do these two things have in common one might ask?

Well apparently there is a growing movement in amoungst some of the women of the church that there is a great inequality between men and women of the church.

Some women have had demonstrations of this by going to church in pants to prove some kinda point (though I don't know what that point is, I love wearing skirts and dresses and find them to be more comfortable then pants most the time).

Some women have gone as far as saying they want the priesthood and hate that the church is run by men.

To be honest I haven't done much research into this growing movement.

In some ways that makes me ill qualified to speak on it.

But the reason I haven't looked into it doesn't mean that I know nothing, it means that this movement bothers me so much that I don't even want to add to the number of people that are entertaining the articles written.

I have heard things from friends and family and our short conversations on the topic have made me so angry that I find myself here now, writing in this blog/ family history to let my posterity know where I stand.

I am a Daughter of God!

I am loved by a Father in Heaven and a Mother in Heaven.

I know that I am important in this Church.

I know that I have a great work to do.

I don't feel belittled or less of a person next to Mark or any other man in the Church.

But at that, I also don't feel equal to Mark or other men.

I feel quite different actually.

But feeling different, again, does NOT make me less.

If anything (confessing my pride)I feel more.

No I don't have the priesthood but in my heart I feel like I have so much more.

For I am a mother.

Mark and my father and my bishop will never gain this privileged.

Being a mother is a divine calling given to me as a women that no other man has yet claimed.

Yes, men can be fathers but a father, no matter how amazing, can never be a mother.

While pregnant with Scott I experienced motherhood the moment I knew of his existence in my belly.

 It was the hardest thing I'd ever gone through up till that point.

I have had many hard times since pregnancy, many of them proving to be harder then pregnancy.

Every single one of my challenges I have had in the past 4 years 9 months have been because of motherhood.

I'm not trying to complain, I'm just stating a fact.

Hard times that I have had were just that, hard, but they were nothing compared to the demands of motherhood.

This being said, motherhood has also been the source of my most happy moments in my life.

Being Scott's mother is the best thing I have ever done.

Watching him learn and succeed in life has proven to make me happier then my own successes in life.

Watching him struggle and make mistakes and get hurt have been more painful to me then any of my own old hurts.

I know that Mark feels similar to this.

But as hard as it is to be pregnant I would not trade this blessing for anything.

I feel sorry for Mark for not being able to experience this.

I am a big fan of feeling as little as possible during labor but there is one feeling that I would suffer any pain for and that is the amazing feeling of holding my baby for the first time.

When Scott was given to me I felt like it was my Heavenly Father himself was handing him to me because I knew at that moment that this was a miracle, this was a gift, that this was my son and I would do ANYTHING for him.

Every time I experience an annoance with this pregnancy I remember that I soon will have the veil lifted again and will once again get a sweet and perfect child of God handed to me, entrusted to me.

There is so much responsibility given to mothers to raise these children of God and help them on there path.

To guide and teach them on their paths back to Heaven.

Not only am I supposed to get myself to Heaven but I am now responsible for helping my children get back.

I am so grateful that I don't have to worry about the responsibilities of the priesthood in addition to the responsibilities I already have.

I simply get to support my husband in his priesthood responsibilities and partake of the blessings it offers.

While Mark shares these responsibilities of teaching our children with me, I feel a grater responsibility and a grater understanding of how to help our children.

I have felt and received revelations on ways to help our son thanks to many prayers that Mark and I have both offered.

While Mark does receive answers to prayers and revelation, I know that I have received more in regards to Scott and I know that this is because of my divine nature of being a mother.

I am by no means the best mom and I often believe that Scott deserves more of me.

But this I do know, Heavenly Father gave Scott to Mark and I and my Heavenly Father trusts Mark and I do what is best for him with the help of my divine nature as a mother and Mark's divine nature as a Priesthood holder in our home.

I dream of having a daughter someday, not that I would trade my boys for anything.

I want to do all those girly things like dresses and hair does and playing dolls and dress ups and princesses.

I don't know if I will get that blessing.

But while feeling sorry for myself for not yet getting that blessing I am reminded of the joys of having boys.

I now have a new goal and dream and that is to raise boys that grow to love and respect women and to know of their divine nature.

I may not get a daughter of my own but I pray for my future daughters in law to know of their divine nature and desire the miracle of motherhood.

For there is no better work a woman can do then to raise a righteous family.

To conclude I have to state how grateful I am to my parents who were wonderful examples to me of motherhood and priesthood working together.

I never understood the love they had for me until I had Scott.

Thank you mom and dad, I love you so much.

  

Sweet Story

Weird picture, yes I know.

But this has such a sweet story behind it.

Cold season is coming on us and I like to be prepared.

That and Costco had these on sale.

Well I came home and set thes by the storage room so I could find a place for them in there later.

Later on that evening Scott brought me the whole pack of twelve boxes and and said, "Look mom, I got you flowers."

See what I mean, sweet story.

And created by such a sweet boy.

Thanks for the flowers Scotty.