Adam's Super Date

Tammy and I like to take each of the kids out on "dates" a couple of times each year.  It allows for some fun one-on-one time and we all really enjoy them.  Every few years we try to do something extra special that we call a "super date".  Last month, I got to take Adam on a "super date" to Utah.

The first day we spent in Provo at BYU.  It was fun for me to show Adam around all the places I used to hang around during college.  It was also fun for me to see everything new about campus ... a lot has changed in the 14 years since I was there.  Being a sports nut, Adam was especially interested in the sports facilities.  Here he is at the soccer field.

Here's Adam in front of the Maeser building (the first building on campus where the original Brigham Young Academy was started).

Since I was a computer science major, I had to take him to the Talmage building computer labs where I had spent much of my college life.  I was surprised to find a giant Kung Fu Panda in the lobby.  BYU has one of the leading computer animation centers in the world and I guess the guy that created Kung Fu Panda was a BYU grad, so he donated this statue.

After a fun day on campus, we met up with Tammy's grandparents and aunt and headed to the BYU versus Utah State game.  It turned out to be a defensive game with not a lot of points, but in the end BYU won so we came away happy.

Saturday and Sunday was our church's general conference. Tammy's grandpa managed to get us tickets to two different sessions - the Saturday evening Priesthood session and the Sunday morning general session.  Here is Adam with his great-grandpa outside of the conference center Saturday evening.

Adam and I enjoying the evening together.

When we arrived Sunday morning, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was practicing and warming up for "Music and the Spoken Word".  One of the best parts of being there in person is to hear the choir (especially for Adam because of his great love of music).  It was fantastic (and the speakers were great too of course!).

 Heading out of the conference center, we got this great shot of the Salt Lake temple.

Here's Adam practicing for the future!

Sunday afternoon, all of Tammy's extended family gathered for a meal and game night.  We had a fantastic time and it was fun to see everyone again.

On Monday, we had planned to head up to go hiking in the mountains, but Adam decided he'd rather spend
the day with Grandma and Grandpa, so we stayed at their house and played a rousing game of ethnic rummy (during which I had a amazing come-from-behind victory).  Grandma & Grandpa were great hosts for us all weekend.

The whole weekend was a fun and memorable time.  I appreciated the time I could spend with my boy whose growing up much too quickly (can you believe he'll be 14 in February!).  I'm proud of who he is and the way that he lives his life.  He's a great example for his little sisters and brothers and really helps shape our family for the better.

Ben's Baptism

One of the special things about turning 8 in our church is that you get to be baptized.  We do not baptize children until they are eight because we do not believe they are accountable until that time.  We believe the atonement saves all children who die before they are 8 years old.  That is a beautiful thing to me.  Our wonderful Ben chose to be baptized and make a commitment to keep the commandments and try to be like our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He also received the gift of the Holy Ghost which will help guide him throughout his life.  He was also welcomed as a member into our church.  It is an occasion to be celebrated.  
Ben was born on the same day as his cousin, Lawson so it was only natural that we celebrate the day with my brother's family.  

We asked Ben and Lawson if they wanted to get baptized together on the same day or have their own separate services.  They both wanted to do it together.  We traveled to Wisconsin so we could all be together for their special day.  Ben was baptized by Greg and Lawson was baptized by his father (my brother) Todd.  We were thankful that my grandparents could be there and also, my sister-in-law's parents, the Fromms.  We have seen them enough they seem like family, too.

The service was great.  Todd, Deanna and I sang.  They are pros so it was really fun for me to sing with them.  Then Lawson's Grandpa Fromm talked about baptism.  The boys were baptized by their dads.  Then I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  Then the boys were each given a special blessing and the gift of the Holy Ghost.  We enjoyed a great lunch prepared by Deanna afterwards.  The Ebberts had many friends who traveled to be there as well as many friends from church.  It was fun to sit around visiting with family and celebrate these two wonderful boys.  It's funny because Lawson and Ben are about as different as two boys can be, but they still get along well.  We are so grateful for Ben and we are so grateful for the Ebberts.  We have loved having them in Iowa for the last several years and now Wisconsin.   

My awesome sister-in-law, Deanna, made this great announcement for us to send out

We arrived at the church before anyone else so we had some time to take some pictures

The fabulous five

It is rare for Greg and I to get our picture alone together.  this is pretty close (note Jacob and penguin in the background)

Adam bribed Jacob to stay out of the picture.  We are so proud of you Ben!

Lizzy

I love this picture.  I could have cropped it, but I like that I am in the background with my kissy face too.

Having a little fun

The most wonderful family in the world

Greg and Ben dressed in their whites

Todd, Greg, Lawson, and Ben

Cousins

Ben with his Great Grandparents.  They have made it to all of children's baptisms and baby blessings.  How we love and appreciate their love and support of our family!

What a great day!

Finches and Ebberts Sunday after church

It just wouldn't be an Ebbert event if we didn't have a picture like this.  I especially love Todd's crazy face.

Time Out for Women

The weekend after Ben's birthday I had the opportunity to traveling with my dear friend Leah to St. Louis for Time Out for Women.  It has been 7 years since I have been able to go.  Leah's family lives across the river in Missouri so we spent some time there with her family.  It was really fun to see Leah "in her element".  It was quite amusing really.  It was so much fun.  There is this crazy sculpture Leah's sister, Tara, just had to show us.  This kind of sculpture just begs for a picture like this:



Next stop was this awesome football stadium at the college where Tara works.  It made national news with its maroon and gray turf.  It really was pretty amazing.  I knew Adam would be impressed, and he was.  Touchdown for me!


A quick peek of the arch as we cross the river.


Tara improved our look with a little makeup and jewelry.  She is always so generous and I am glad I have gotten to know her through Leah.  She really would do anything to help anybody.


So we went to this local Italian restaurant for dinner.  I ordered a salad for dinner.  This is what I got!  It was absolutely enormous!  I didn't even eat half of it.  Leah ordered pasta with the same result.  Totally huge plateful with no possibility of even finishing it.


At "Time Out for Women".  It was such a fantastic event.  It really filled me up.  I was so grateful it worked out to go with Leah.  We enjoyed having time to talk.


Because there was only two of us, it made it easier to find awesome seats.  On Saturday we sat right on the front row in the middle.  It was amazing!  It enabled Leah to get pictures like this one of "Mercy River".  If you ever get the chance go to "Time Out for Women"! It is really a wonderful weekend that will refresh you and charge you up to be better.  Thanks for a fun time Leah.

Ben turns 8!

Our wonderful Ben turned 8 years old!  Our children are growing up.  

Ben is such an important part of our family.  He has such a strong desire to do what is right.  I love that about him!  He is responsible and quick to do his chores.  He is so patient with Jacob and really does a lot to help Jacob.  He is really interested in learning new things.  Adam likes to tease Ben because one of the most common phrases we hear out of his mouth is "I read in a book that...."  He doesn't read a lot of fiction, but he really enjoys non-fiction.  He has thrived as Greg has taken the time to teach both Lizzy and Ben some computer programming.  Greg held class for them for several Saturday mornings.  It was something Ben really looked forward to and really did well at understanding.  I think he thinks a lot like Greg.

Ben also really enjoys playing the piano.  He really took off this summer and probably sits down to play more than any of the other kids.  He was student of the week a few weeks ago and he put on his information sheet that he wanted to be a pianist when he grows up. It makes me so happy that he loves music so much.  I used to worry that he would have a really hard time playing piano because of his hand tremors, but he hasn't had any problems with it.  In fact he is getting so good sometimes I am unsure who is playing, if it is him or one of the girls.

Ben is kind, loving and responsible.  He is pretty quiet outside of our home, but comfortable and happy as can be at home.  He really is an amazing kid.  We are so thankful to have him.

True to form, Ben enjoys being with or family so much more than playing with friends, so he wanted just our family to go to Incredible Pizza.  Eight is a very special birthday so we obliged.  We went on his actual birthday, a Tuesday night.  It was awesome.  Saturdays are packed at Incredible Pizza, but Tuesday there was hardly anyone.  We got passes so the kids could do all the rides as many times as they wanted.  It was really fun for all of us.

The kids are enjoying the bumper cars.  Even though this was not their favorite, it was still fun, especially for the younger two.  I love Adam's face in this one.  

One of the favorites for the night-- a motion simulator.  There were a few different courses it would take you through so the kids all tried to experience them all.  

More Motion Simulation

After Incredible Pizza we had a quick present opening session and then some cake and Ice Cream.  It was a late night, but a fun one!

Below are some random pictures Anna took of Ben one day while they were playing outside.  I love this boy!  Happy Birthday Ben!

 

 

 

My 37th Birthday

Jacob, Ben and I all have our birthdays smooshed together so right after Jacob's comes mine!  This year I turned 37!  I am inching closer to 40 everyday.  I feel so much better than I did last year at this time.  It was a super hard year last year.  Lizzy's surgery really took me through the ringer and I also experienced a lot of health issues and stresses.  I was tired all the time and having really weird, unsolvable symptoms.  I felt as if I was slogging through life.

This year I have done a lot of things different.  I got Invisalign Braces.   I started seeing a chiropractor (an hour and a half away) who helps you see the relationship our emotions have on our bodies, and help us heal from the damaging emotions we have experienced. This really helped me get on a path of healing. I started on a major diet (Medifast).  More recently I started a program called, "Dressing Your Truth" (which has helped me know what hairstyle to get, what makeup to wear and what clothes to wear.  It has also helped me know who I am more).  

Since January I have lost about 80 lbs.  Many of the maddening symptoms have disappeared.  I have more energy and I feel better about myself.  Lizzy's health is stable.  I feel like my relationships with my family are good.  I feel like my relationship with the Lord is good.  I feel thankful for all of my blessings.  I feel thankful for change and the possibility of change.  We are never stuck with who we are.  If we want to be different we can change (usually with help from the Lord and others).  37 feels great.  It gives me hope for the future and what I still might become. 

Greg is always great on my birthday.  We went out to lunch that day and I let myself eat anything I wanted that day so I could really enjoy it.  He also made dinner for me.  He also made my favorite cake, Mexican Chocolate Cake.  Then he and the kids showered me with gifts.  I think my favorite part of the day, though, was when at Family Home Evening that night everyone went around and said what they loved about me.  The kids were so thoughtful and sincere.  It really made me feel special and made me feel like I actually have made a difference in their lives.  I have the best family ever!!!  What a great year it has been for me personally.  Here is to many more great years!


We love games at our house.  Adam, Greg and I have been playing 10 Days in Africa every Sunday night after all the other kids are in bed.  I was gifted 10 Days in Asia to shake things up a bit.  
 

Since I don't buy a lot of junk food or crackers or snacky foods, for birthdays we usually get each other those kinds of things as a special treat.  Well I am not eating those things so all the kids got me a bottle of Diet Soda (except Liz who got me sugar free gum)!  Now I know diet soda is not the best thing for a person to drink, either, but I am OK with it for now.  I don't usually keep a lot of it around either, but the kids stocked me up.

 
Aren't these boys handsome?

 

 

My favorite present was tickets to a few things I wanted see.  Greg and I went to see Ballet Folklorico at ISU already (the pictures below are at Stephens Auditorium at ISU) and in the spring we have tickets to see Blue Man Group, also at ISU.  I have wanted to see that show for so long!  It's even better because it is a great date with Greg.

 
In these pictures you can see my Invisalign Braces and I am sporting my new Type 1 hair, clothes and jewelry.  Greg keeps telling me, "You keep surprising me!" .  It's fun!

 

Happy Birthday to ME!

Jacob's Birthday

Well it happened.   My baby has turned five and leaves me everyday to go to Kindergarten.  On August 20th Jacob turned five years old.    He is such a fun kid, full of life and energy.  He is such a blessing to our family.  He has everyone wrapped around his little finger!  He worked hard this past year and is reading quite well now.  It was a real challenge for us at first, but once he decided he liked his "reading lessons" he really took off with it.  He is enjoying Kindergarten and likes to play with his friend Jeffery at recess.

He loves all things Scooby-Doo.  He has watched every Scooby-Doo DVD at two different libraries multiple times.  His favorite shirt is Scooby-Doo and his favorite books are Scooby-Doo.

He loves running, jumping playing, and getting his way.  He will still snuggle with us sometimes and he still makes us all laugh.  He thinks of his siblings as his best friends.  Now that Adam is out of the boys room, he and Ben have gotten to be good buddies.  He loves to play "Kick the Can" when it is his turn to pick the activity for Family Home Evening.  He is happy and good natured, but also quite opinionated and stubborn.  I guess those things help balance each other out.  He has a very limited diet, eating Nutella sandwiches with cheese (gross, huh?) usually twice a day.  He has follwed Lizzy's lead and doesn't eat meat (sometimes he will bend this rule for a hot dog).  Thankfully he does eat fruit and salad, too.  We love Jacob and are so happy to have him in our family.

This is Jacob when he is happy and enjoying life.


This is the other flavor of Jacob.  He makes life interesting.  We never know which Jacob we will get :)

Lizzy presenting her gift of Scooby fruit snacks to Jacob (a real treat at our house).  Lizzy is still somewhat of a little mom to Jacob.  Sometimes I will leave Adam or Anna to babysit, but when Jacob is having a hard time, it is Lizzy who knows just what to do and how to help Jacob.  She has always known what to do to help him.

Jacob wanted a cookie cake.  This is the recipe the kids like best.

I know this is not the highest quality photograph, but I love this picture.  I love that he still likes to snuggle his mom.


Adam and Jacob have a very playful relationship.  Even though Jacob is so much smaller they are wrestling buddies and Adam knows how to motivate Jacob with competition.  He gave Jacob several packs of gum.

 

Ben gifted Jacob the favorite gift of the evening.  It was one of those punching balloons but it was in the shape of an animal.  Ben is amazing at teaching Jacob.  He sets up all sorts of reward systems to help Jacob with his behavior.  He helps him with chores in fun ways and even has taught him things like how to pour his own drinks.  Ben puts up with a lot from Jacob and continues to amaze us with his longsuffering and kindness  towards Jacob.  They also have a lot of fun together, though.  As the older ones are gone more and more they still have each other.

Anna is the activity director of the four younger children, Jacob included.  She always has a fun idea or game for them all to play together.  She can get everyone excited about something no one else has ever thought of before, and Jacob loves it.  He is at a great age for pretend play and I never get tired of hearing what they are up to that particular day.  Here is Anna presenting her gift to Jacob.

Ben and Greg made a treasure hunt for Jacob because that is what Jacob wanted.  He had a great time reading and searching for clues.  The cake was his treasure. 

I love the part each of our children play in our family. I love the unique relationships they have with each other.  I feel like they are helping so much in the raising of each other.  I am so proud of all of them.  I love birthdays because we get a chance to spotlight the place "one" has in our family.  Jacob we love you.  We love the sunshine and fun you bring to our family.  You are a blessing to us all.