chlorophyll

"Chlorophyll" is the name of the color Brayt chose for his piano. Green has always been his favorite color hands down.

The idea of painting a piano was both exciting and scary. At "Time out for Women" one of the speakers said this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt- "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Do the thing you think you cannot do."

So we looked fear in the face and didn't look back. I thought to myself- this project could turn out really good or really bad. And I realized that if it turned out really bad, I was okay with it so we pressed forward. And it was ALOT of work. The boys were completely tired of this project by yesterday when they put on the last coat. But when we put the pianos back together today and they saw what they did they were really happy. The green piano turned out super cool! Way to go Brayton! You did awesome! Nicole, we can't wait to see yours when it's done!

the pumpkin piano

Ethan has always loved the color orange ever since he was really little. So when we had the idea to paint our pianos Ethan wanted orange. I tried to talk him into red, but I could tell he really wanted orange and I really wanted it to be "his" project. When we went to Home Depot to pick the color he decided on the color "startling orange". So we present the startling orange piano...!!!!
It'll still be out in the garage where I do lessons and I think it'll be really fun to have a Halloween recital at our house this fall. Maybe set up some chairs in the driveway and pop popcorn and have some dry ice going. And I must say that I was thrilled with how it turned out! It turns out, I love the orange piano. Awesome job Ethan!!!

Now our other kids can't wait to paint a piano. Where we will put 6 pianos, I don't know, but somehow we'll make it work. But as for this summer, we are done painting pianos for now, phew. :)

our fire crackers

Land of the Free

On 4th of July we went over to some friends for BBQ and fireworks. They also had a tractor and jeep we got to go for rides on. The kids wanted to go again and again!

summer fun

I love this trike because we got it when Brayton turned two and all of our kids have learned to ride on it. Zac just recently got the hang of it and loves to cruise around with Orion and his buddies - except the trike doesn't work so well on the jump.

Meri adores her new best friend. She named him "Sparks". We call him "Sparky" too. He's a really sweet puppy and even though we've had a few messes to clean up, he's really good with the kids and has been alot of fun. I never thought I could like a dog so much. :)

dream come true

Meri has been wanting a dog since I don't know how long. I have always been nervous to get one because of the attention and training they need. Earlier this year we went to two funerals for people who'd had their lives cut short. Last week a little girl who moved out of our ward a couple months ago died in an accident. She was in Meri's primary class. Heartbreaking. I just got to thinking, why not give Meri her wish and just go for it. I was also super nervous to paint the pianos and the boys and I had an evening of "what on earth did we get ourselves into". But life is too short and we never know when our time is up so instead of worrying, we are just going for it. I found this little dog online and looked at bunches of others, but kept coming back to him. He won't get very big and he's 4 months old they think. And after having him 2 days now, it's much easier than I expected. Meri and the other kids take care of him completely and all I do is supervise. So far it's going great and Meri couldn't be happier. Happy Birthday to our little 9 year old animal lover.

braces, pianos, and Ethan's first temple trip

We have two kiddos in braces now! Brayton just got his on a few weeks ago and Meri will get this phase 1 set off in August. Her bite is corrected now! yay! Ethan had his first temple trip with the youth to do baptisms. The temple is the place to be. It was really neat to be there with him. And yes, we started the big giant project of painting two of the pianos. Ethan and Brayton are each doing one for a scout merit badge. Let me just say, it is ALOT of work. But they are trooping through. Ethan is doing orange, and Brayton chose green. They are done with the really challenging part of covering and taping and sanding. Now they are starting to actually paint.

Memorial Day

If you are just starting to read, scroll down and start at the bottom because I am back into blogging baby! And I put a ton of stuff on here tonight. Boy, do I need to go to bed. Anyway, the last few months have been super fun. Of course we have the every day grind which is in fact, a grind at times, but mostly good. :) But these are our highlights, all the fun stuff we've been up to. I love memorial day because it means school is almost over. It has been a good year, but also has had many challenges, and frankly, I'm so so glad it's done! So bring on the summer! We spent Memorial Day with the Teares- swimming in Grandpa's pool, hanging out with cousins, playing with all Grandpas Legos, and eating his delicious homemade donuts. It can't get any better than that. Thanks Dad for all the great fun!

Hollywood Bowl - Star Wars in concert

completely amazing.

musicians

Brayton and Ethan are the middle school band and they had their concert last week! Sounded awesome! Even got to play at the high school graduation! Then last weekend we went to see Star Wars in concert. Unbelievable. I could've sat there a few more hours listening to them play. It was just so good. so good. We all loved it.