Holiday Soiree Exhibit

It is time to celebrate Spencer's awesome art talent at the Scera Holiday Soiree Exhibit. They have a public reception and light refreshments with a guest artist on Saturday the 22nd from 6:30-8:00. We are so exited for him! The exhibit will be at the Scera Center for the Arts (745 S. State, Orem) from the 22nd until December 23rd. So, if you need a cheap date for Saturday night, this could be it!!!

The artist speaking this time is Tom Holman. He is a wonderful stained glass artist who has done work for many LDS Temples including this window in the Nauvoo Temple Baptistry.

Latest Pics Of Our Clan

Although I don't have a ton of pictures to share, it has been far too long since I took pictures off of my camera. These include Halloween and Brayden's birthday, so ENJOY!!!

UPDATE: I forgot to say---the cake was donated by some wonderful people who volunteered to make cakes for the kids in Brayden's respite group. It was so yummy! They did a great job. I have their info if anyone wants to give them a call.

Veteran's Day

I know the day is almost over, but I wanted to commemorate Veteran's Day. My Grandpa served in WWII. He never felt comfortable talking about what had happened to him. I do know that he served in the Europe as a foot soldier and kept in contact with some families in Holland for many years. He was "The Old Man" because he was one of the few men in his unit who was married and had children. My mom, her brother and sister were very young. He must have really missed his kids, because he always shared his chocolate rations with the kids he ran into. I have so much admiration for Grandpa and Grandma and how dedicated they were to their country. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for Grandma to send her husband off to war. Especially after her own brother's plane was shot down. He never made it home. Mom has pictures of his grave marker in a military cemetery in Holland. He made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I hope we never take it for granted.

Fronk Family Pumpkin Painting Extravaganza

Our kids painted pumpkins last night and had an absolute blast! Thank goodness we decided to let Chloe paint in just her diaper. She thought her tummy made a great painting surface as well!

Primary Program

We had the best Primary Program yesterday! Ir was so wonderful! The kids each stood and said their name and that they were a child of God. Then each child elaborated on a theme that their class was in charge of. The scripts were not written by someone else. Each child wrote their own. It was really nice.

But, the best thing of all for me was seeing my awesome kids up there. Spencer's class was first and he did a great job. This is his last time. He turns 12 in January, so pretty soon he'll be passing the Sacrament. Andraia did an awesome job memorizing her part. She had a little stage fright and wouldn't talk into the mic, but we know she is a beautiful daughter of God. And finally....for the first time ever Brayden participated in the program.

I have to thank our wonderful presidency for making sure that everyone was included. Brayden sat in the congregation with us (another accoomplishment---he usually panics in the chapel---too many people) and I took him up on the stand when it was his class's turn. I helped him hold up a picture of Jesus. His fabulous teacher Sister Kristy Peterman said "This is Brayden and he is a Child of God. And we love him." Of course, the tears started flowing immediately and are flowing again. It has taken us 9 long years to get him in a position where he could participate like that. He has been working on holding and passing things out at school, so that fit right in with what the Primary Presidency thought he could do.

It may sound silly to be so excited about a small thing like holding a picture, but when your child doesn't speak or sing, or hold still, or sit well with his class, it can be very hard to think of ways for him to have that same experience.

Our Bishop was wonderful. He stood up after the program and said "My name is Steve and I am a Child of God." He reminded us that we are all children of God. Sometimes that is very easy to forget when you are the Mom or Dad. I was amazed at how many children were almost as excited as I was to see Brayden up on the stand. Our Primary President said she held back the tears until she saw him up there, then she lost it. And my friends, Kristin and Ann, are music leaders in the Primary. They said they started crying immediately when they saw us headed to the stand and didn't know how they would be able to see to play the piano later.

I am forever grateful to all involved for giving us that special experience of watching our son, who is so close to the Lord, let his light shine for our ward family to see.

Throw in the fact that my parents were there to enjoy it with us, and I was just thrilled.

Heck, we might even be able to attend Sacrament Meeting as an entire family again. That hasn't happened since Brayden was very tiny.

Yipee!

You graduated........when?!?!?!

We attended Earl's 20th high school reunion last night! We really aren't that old are we? Well, at least I'm not. I tease Earl that he will always be older than I am! Actually, it was really fun!

Earl's high school (Box Elder-home of the bees!)was much more fun than my school! I had a great time listening to everyone at our table talk about the crazy things they did in high school! Especially Earl's friend, Lance's, stories about scout camp!

I really found it interesting to see all of these people who are the same age and how they have all aged so differently! Some look not much older than college-age while others made me feel like they could have been the much older siblings of these students!

It was a fun night! Earl was surprised to see how many people remembered him and wanted to find out what he was up to. He just doesn't give himself enough credit! He has really changed since high school. No one ever expected that he would serve a mission and get married in the temple. But after 15 wonderful, crazy, happy years, we're still here!

Ah, the memories!

Another 'Thankful List'

I've been meaning to post this since we came home from vacation but haven't sat down long enough to do it!

I was really overwhelmed with things to be thankful for while we were away.

First and foremost, the chance we had to go on vacation! I had been planning this trip for many months and had no idea that it would be so needed when it finally arrived! We all needed that break from 'reality' for awhile and being forced to hang out with each other was really wonderful!

I'm also thankful for my wonderful friend, Mindy, and her kids for taking care of our house and dog for us while we were gone. Max was well taken care of and didn't suffer at all for us being away because Joseph and Emily were very attentive to him!

One thing that I didn't expect to be thankful for is the kindness of strangers. We new this could really be a difficult trip because we had to take a double stroller and a wheelchair with us. In Disneyland itself that wasn't such a big deal, but getting them on and off of the bus was a real pain. Luckily there were many wonderful people who always offered to help carry them or gave up their seats to us when the bus was crowded.

We met many new 'friends' on this trip. Andraia is so outgoing that she would say "Hi" to just about anyone and always had a kind word and a smile for them. Being the introvert that I am, I always get a little embarrassed when she is so outgoing, but I really tried to just go with the flow this time. I didn't discourage her from being so friendly, and it was really great to see peoples' reactions! Of course, there were those who just said "Hi" and didn't answer any other questions, but most everyone would chat with her, answer her questions, and some even remembered her from day to day on the bus or at the hotel pool. It was really sweet!

“It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart.”