New updates from the kids

Abby and Dallin have updated their blogs.  If you would like to see just click on their pictures on the side of our blog.  If you are not invited and would like to be just leave a comment with your email or email us at berthaboo@gmail.com.  Thanks!

The best way to end a month

Well, we ended July with a bang.  On the 24th, our stake had a breakfast and games to play for the kiddos.  That was fun and unfortunately I forgot my camera so sorry no pictures of that.

Then the next weekend, we were invited to go camping with our friends, The Reece's.  We all had so much fun and the weather was SO nice.  We never were cold and the high's were in the 70's.  We went to Pine Valley, just north of St. George. There was something for everyone.  Clint and the boys went up first and set up camp. (That was nice for me.)  Then the girls and I went up the next morning, when we got there we went fishing.  Dallin caught a fish, Elsa and Abby caught one too, with Dad's help.  They were so happy about it except when it was time to take a picture with the fish, Elsa did not want to even stand next to it let alone touch it.  But she loved to fish.  Calvin tried his best to catch one, but they always got away from him.  Maybe next time.  He loved it too, although it was a bit discouraging.  (Hopefully not enough to never try again.)
While we were fishing, the kids were playing and I thought I might go round them up.  On my way to go get them I saw The Reece's son flagging me down.  He was so close to two deer.  It was awesome!  Then I went to get the kids and told them there were deer, and to be very quiet.  I should've known that was impossible for a bunch of kids to be that quiet.  As soon as they were in hearing range of the deer, the deer were outta there.  Atleast they got to see them.  We then went back to the camp, ate dinner, roasted marshmallows for smores, talked a little and went to bed.  The next day, we went to a different lake and played.  Some of us rode in the canoe, fished, and swam.  Abby didn't have her suit on, but that didn't stop her from getting a little swim time in.  All the kids LOVED the canoe, and Dallin and Calvin took it out themselves to purposely flip it over.  We warned them that it wasn't all fun and games, but do you think they listened to us?  They ended up needing some extra help getting it back to the shore.  They had fun though!  Crazy kids!  It was pretty hot out there, I found myself putting my feet in the water to cool off.  Then the Schwann's man  drove by and Bro. Reece ran out and flagged him down.  I don't think I ever saw a man run so fast.  They bought a bunch of ice cream bars, cones, and sandwich's and we all had a nice refreshment.  Then we went back to camp, ate lunch, then went to a pool a few miles down the road.  It was fun!  We then went back to camp, helped the kids make bracelets and necklaces with beads while dinner was being cooked, ate dinner, talked, ate cobbler, then came home.  I think we wore the kids out because it was sure quiet on the way home.  We had fun and can't wait to go camping again. 

Abby was so excited that there were actual cherries.  She put them on her fry bread.

This was Abby and her new friend, Haley.  They were getting out of the rain.

Our 4th of july

 Our 4th of July was good this year.  It was filled with food, fun, and of course, fireworks!  Here are some pictures from that day.

 We made a cake to celebrate, and the kids each took turns blowing out the candles. 

Later that night, we went the our friends, The Reece's, and let off fireworks.  Calvin especially liked this.  He saved up all his money and bought his own fireworks.  Abby was a little timid with the sparklers at first.  She just wasn't sure about holding something that was on fire and "spraying" everywhere.  Then, later on as the night wore on she got braver and soon was lighting her own sparkler (With help).
Elsa loved it and was right there by Calvin's or Clint's side as they lit the fireworks.  Dallin loved it too.  Although I found him in the house with some of the others doing karioke (sp?).  He is definately not shy that boy and if he wasn't singing  he was shooting off some roman candles or something like that.   
Well, that day was fun and we can't wait for next year.

Then in the days following the 4th, the kids finished up 1st & 3rd grade.  Elsa got an award for A/B Honor Roll and Calvin got the same.

(Sorry Calvin's picture is so dark.   I think it was because Calvin was farther away than Elsa was.) 

We're NOT going private!

Yeah, you read that right.  After much thought and some research (of the blogger settings), I've decided not to go private.  I've toyed with the idea of going private for a couple of years but never did because it's been fun to meet up with long lost friends who found my blog.  Yeah, I realize that there are those crazy people out there who get to the blog though google search and whatnot, but don't they also go to the park, store, school, etc.  I'm not going to stop taking my kids to those places.  Besides, I have found out that you can actually go into the settings and take your blog out of circulation as far as web searches go. I think that's enough for now.  Plus, it's not like I'm going to post our personal information.  Also, my sisters husband said that there are at least 100 blogs created every minute, so that narrows the chances of some weirdo finding ours.  So I think we'll be just fine.

We're going private

After viewing a video on Youtube about how someone took a little boys photo off of a blog to use it for an adoption scam he was running.  I thought "scary!"  So now we're going private on July 20th.  So if you would like to still view our blog then leave a comment or email us your email so we can put you on the list. Thanks!

Every kid has his day

Today Clint, Dallin, Abby, and I went to see Calvin and the rest of his GATE class perform as "living statues" of our founding fathers and mothers of this great country.  The GATE class put together a little "museum" of living statues, such as Martha Washington, John Hancock, Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, etc.  Calvin acted as George Washington and did a great job.  (In my opinion....I might be a little biased.) They performed for the other kids in the school (so Elsa got to see him too.)   Calvin was so excited to do this and to wear his costume.  The day before, he was trying on his costume, he said, " You know, Mom, some of the other kids are just wearing hats."  I said, "Do you just want to wear a hat too?"  He said, "No, I want to wear my costume."  "Good boy!" I thought, "I don't have to strangle you."  I spent that whole day figuring out how to make his wig, ruffles on his shirt, and sleeves(which you can't see in the movie because he has his hands behind his back).  He was so proud to wear it!

In the video you'll hear clapping in the middle of his little speech, but they are clapping for the other kids as they finished their little speeches.  Sorry I haven't figured out how to get rid of background noises.  Anyway, both Clint and I are so proud of him.   Enjoy!

 

Breakfast Attack!

This is a movie that the kids and I made for our reunion in 2007, but at that time we could not put it on a disk for some reason,( maybe because our computer wasn't quite good enough.) to show it at the little talent show that we had.  So we had to resort to doing "The Invisible Bench" skit.  Which turned out pretty cute.  Well, now that we have a better, newer, faster computer, here is the movie that has been waiting for 3+ years on our video camera to be edited, and made into a film.  Hope you enjoy the movie.  Oh yeah, be sure to stay tuned at the end for bloopers.

Fathers Day

Well I think that Clint had a rather enjoyable day today.  We didn't give him breakfast in bed because he was the first one up and dressed for church.  Plus he doesn't really like breakfast anyway.  We all got up (the rest of us) and got ready for church and went.  There were some really good talks about fathers and my primary class went well.  By the end of church Clint was loaded up with sweets.  The R.S. made cookies for the fathers and the primary brought milky ways for the kids to give to their dad's.  So Clint got 4 candy bars and 4 cookies.  I guess it pays off to have lots of kids, huh?  When we came home the kids and I got our gifts ready for him and gave them to him.  Abby made a picture frame with her picture in it.  Elsa made a paper shirt and tie and a hankerchief with a baseball, mitt, and a bat painted on it.  (She made it in school).  Calvin got a rock and mod podge words like super cool, strong, smart, etc on it.  then he made a card.  (in school as well).  Dallin made a shirt that says "You Rock, Dad!"  and I made a card for him, then the kids and I signed it.  Clint was quite happy with all of his gifts.  I think he felt special today.  Oh yeah, and then he took a nap.  Later tonight we all played Wii sports together.  It was fun!

How was your Fathers day?  Hope it was a good one too!

What will they say today?

It's true!  Kids say some of the funniest things.  I just have to share this one thing that Elsa said the other night.

It made me laugh and then turned into a teaching moment for her, but mostly me.  I was doing the dishes one evening when Elsa came to me and said,

Elsa:  Mom, what can mom's say?
Mom:  What do you mean?
Elsa:  Well, dad's can say the "D" word, so what can mom's say?
It was at that moment that I remembered how kids are like little sponges, soaking up everything they see or hear.  Well, I told her that sometimes dad's (and mom's) get frustrated or angry sometimes and they let not-so-nice words escape their lips.  Then explained that that wasn't the right thing to do.  Later as I told Clint about our little conversation, we laughed, then agreed to try to watch our own language when we are frustrated. 

Calvin's 1st stop motion movie

This movie is called

Indiana Jones

and the

Raiders of the Lost Emerald
Enjoy!

Calvin wanted me to post this to the family blog, instead of his. (I don't know why).
Calvin's spelling is a little off, but the movie is still pretty good.

This movie is called

Weekend Update

Saturday was a good day! The kids and I stayed home and cleaned in the morning. I know what you're saying, "How does staying home and cleaning make a good day?" Well, it's the fact that my kids willingly did their chores when I asked them too and did a good job at them too. It was the best Anniversary gift for Clint and me. Thanks kids! Anyway, while we were home cleaning, Clint was with the boy scouts at Lowe's selling hot dogs to raise money for their scout camp this summer. He then came home at 2:00 so him and I could to the temple to witness one of our "sons" go through the temple for the first time in preparation for his mission. I say "son" because last year for youth conference we did a pioneer trek and Clint and I were asked to be a Ma and Pa over a group of kids and he was one of those kids. It was a nice session, ('course when is it ever not a nice session) and he was glad to have us there to support him. Anyway, after the temple, we came home, with pizza for the kids and babysitter, we changed our clothes then went to dinner at "The Cheesecake Factory which was delicious, then went to see "Iron Man 2", which was really good. All in all, I think we had a very Happy Anniversary. We've been married for 12 years and we're still so happy and love each other more than we did when we were married. We have learned so much from each other and continue to learn everyday.

Today, Sunday, has been a pretty good day. My primary class was good. (I teach the 11-12 year olds). They listened and participated pretty well. Most importantly, Dallin gave a talk in primary and did a really good job. He talked about tithing and shared a really good story about a little boy who had a hard time paying his tithing, but then finally paid it and felt good about it. Also, Abby gave the scripture and prayer in primary. I helped her and I could tell she was nervous, so I told her if she was brave enough to say her scripture and prayer that I had something special at home for her. She said o.k. When it was her turn, we walked up to the pulpit, she got right up to the microphone, saw all those faces looking at her and got a little stage fright. I ended up saying it for her, but when we got home she still got the
"key of courage" because she was brave enough to go up to the microphone. I guess I can't blame her for being nervous, because when I was about her age, I remember my mom giving my talk for me too. Anyway, she was so happy to get the key and I said, to her, maybe next time she will be able to talk into the microphone. She said, "yes." Then, Dallin got
"The key of Responsibility" he wore his around his wrist, because it would fit around his head.

because he took responsibility and prepared his own talk. He was happy to get it and they both get to wear them for the day. Now we're all home and enjoying each others company.

Calvin has updated his blog!

Go HERE to see what Calvin put up on his blog!
If you can't get there and want to, let me know in your comment and I'll grant you permission to go.

Little Smarty's

A couple of weeks ago, the kids 2nd trimester of school ended and we got report cards. I am pleased to say that these two have worked VERY hard and Elsa made the A/B Honor roll and Calvin finally achieved the A Honor roll, he has been trying to get all A's since 1st grade but always had all A's and one B. He couldn't bring that B up until this trimester. We're very proud of him for working so hard on that. Congratulations to our little genius'. We love you!

Can you tell he's excited!

Another movie

This one is of the kids at Halloween in 2007, but mostly for Abby who was a One-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. Enjoy!

New Giveaway

Dallin is having a giveaway at his Lego website called Lego Creations. He's got a pretty cool giveaway for the winner. So go and check it out HERE!

The A-TEAM

This is something that we played around with in Windows Movie Maker. We love that program and are learning more about it every time we play with it.
This movie is of us at Legoland in 2007.

Giveaway at Lily and Thistle

For any of you who didn't know. Hannah has started a new and awesome blog. It's called Lily and Thistle...girlhood illustrated. Where she gives ideas, advice, and just good old inspiration for raising girls. (Cause she'd know, right? ;D She also has, for months now, been working on a paper doll collection called Mini me paper doll boutique. She has worked so hard on them, aside from raising her three LITTLE girls. She is in one word AMAZING and her paper dolls are no exception. So go here and see these beautiful dolls and the VERY generous giveaway that is going on right until Saturday.

Visiting Ivin's

On our way home from Utah, a couple of weeks ago, we decided to stop and visit Clint's Mom and Dad's grave site. A few days earlier I was putting Elsa and Abby to bed and was telling them stories of when I was little, then we got on the subject of Grandma and Grandpa Singer. I guess I mentioned them in a story about when Dallin was a baby or something. I can't remember how they were brought up. Anyway, Elsa asked where they were, I told her they were in the spirit world waiting to see us again. Then we got to talking about how they were in the hospice before they died, and of course I had to explain that a hospice is where people who are going to die go until they die. So, naturally, her response was, "Oh, so they're bones are there?" I said, "No, we had them (their whole bodies) buried in a little town near St. George." "Maybe we can stop so you can see their graves when we're in Utah, would you like that?" They both were excited about that. So on our way home, we stopped and put flowers on their graves.

Will she ever learn?

I'm totally convinced that Abby is gonna be a hair dresser when she grows up. I thought that the last time she did this she learned her lesson. We were in Utah visiting family this time. I was going into the bathroom when I was the bathroom door closing right in front of me. I hurried and grabbed the door and pulled it open, to find none other than Abby holding a pair of kid safety scissors and some hair laying on the floor, and her looking at me like "UH-OH! I'm caught." Well, this time since my hair cutting stuff was in Vegas, I decided to take her to get a professional cut. I must admit she does look cute, but I HOPE this is her last "fling" with the scissors. We gave her a little stacked A-line cut.

What a trip it was....

Last week, on thursday, we took a trip to Utah for a couple of reasons.

1. To witness Uncle Cedric graduate from B.Y.U.It was a wonderful celebration and we are all very proud of him and want to wish him good luck as he ventures into his next stage of life; law school.We also came to see Cedric and Sarah's little son, our new little nephew and cousin, Baxter, who was fortunate enough to be born on Elsa's birthday. We were able to be there on Sunday for his blessing. What a cute babe! Congrats again to Cedric for marrying a wonderful gal and having a beautiful family.
As for reason #2:We came so that Clint could look for jobs. He was able to get some resumes passed out and we'll see what happens with that. We're keeping are fingers crossed.Another thing that happened while we were there was Micah's birthday. They had a dinner at 8 p.m. (after the kids bedtime), and it was fun visiting with everyone there. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures. We got to see their new home and it was awesome. Here are some pictures that I did get....These were the cousins enjoying each others company. Scout and Nigel enjoyed the bike trailer/stroller, Scout's daddy took them for wild rides outside around the house. It wore out Cedric but the kids loved it. Dallin, Calvin, Elsa and Abby enjoyed Papa's jokes and stories. Scout, Laurel, Maisy and Abby enjoyed the chalkboard that Clint and I made for Hannah and Jeff's family. (Seriously, I think it took them 30 seconds to fill the board with scribbles, great fun.) Nigel (and all the other kids) enjoyed the great climbing tree in Jeff and Hannah's back yard. Baxter looked cute in the hat that I made for him. On Saturday, our family and Hannah and the twins, went to Salt Lake to see temple square, conference center, and the I am a Child of God exhibit in the church history museum. It was so fun and the weather couldn't have been better. We hung out with Hannah, Jeff and their family most of the time.
We also went to IKEA for the first time. I guess on Mondays IKEA has a lady come and do balloon animals and face painting for the kiddos. So of course, the kids got balloon animals. Oddly enough they didn't want their faces painted. Calvin and Dallin got dogs on leashesLaurel and Maisy got butterfly'sElsa and Abby both got a cat and mouse
All in all, it was a great little vacation for us and I think we ALL had a blast and can't wait for next time we get to go to Utah.