family time

Today while Mercedes was at gymnastics,

 I visited our local Goodwill Store.  

I'm always looking for treasures, and today I found one!  

Most of the store was filled with junk... 

until I reached the book section.  

One of my first discoveries was an "almost new" blue leather quad (for $1.99)!  

The best part was that it didn't have a name engraved on it.  

So Cooper now has his very own set of scriptures.  

We're lucky that our kids like scripture time.  

Tonight, Coop couldn't wait.  

We usually read a little while before bed.  

By four o'clock he was asking, 

"is it time to read scriptures yet?"

Daddy helping Coop find his spot.
Lincoln's using Brent's mini military
version of the Principles of the Gospel.

Mercedes likes to pretend she's giving a talk when she reads.

Lincoln following along.

Movie Night

Mercedes placed this note on the refrigerator tonight.  

In case you are not fluent in 2nd grade literature, it says:

"Do not buy Reese's Puffs (it's a cereal)

because they are already gone."

by: Mercedes

When Brent is at Target he likes to see which cereals are on sale, 

and sometimes he'll buy one or two boxes.  

Last Saturday it was Reese's Puffs (Cooper's choice), 

and this morning Mercedes opened the box.  

What you may not know about Lincoln is, 

that he is like a 2 year old Neal Caffery 

(if you haven't seen "White Collar" on USA, he's an EXCEPTIONAL thief).

Lincoln can get into anything, anywhere.  

He is very sly and quiet and sneaky.

And today, he downed the entire box.  

Mercedes was appalled.  

Brent wasn't surprised.

Tonight we're enjoying a family movie night.  

"Kit Kittredge: an All American Girl" is playing, thanks to our local public library.  

Brent is patiently sitting on the couch while the kids devour popcorn 

on the floor with their pillows and blankets, 

and I sit here at the kitchen table and type.

A great end to a tiring week 

(two snow days and a late start on top of a federal holiday does not 

make Mercedes a content little girl).  

We've had our share of fighting and whining and hitting and crying.  

It's nice to enjoy some peace time.

***WARNING***

Those of you who own a ceramic cook top are probably a LOT smarter than me.

But just in case, I'm here to warn you:

If you are boiling water with a lid on the pot, 

and then you take the lid off of the pot in order to place the whole wheat pasta in the boiling water 

and you put the lid face down on your ceramic cook top and leave it there, 

after a few minutes you will hear a very LOUD BOOM.  

And maybe if you live near a military base you will think that the BOOM 

was just another cannon or something going off.  

And you will most likely be ALARMED and GREATLY DISAPPOINTED to discover, 

once you've picked up said lid in order to wash it, 

that THIS (see pic above) has happened to you.

I was EXTREMELY relieved that we didn't have to replace the entire stove.  

We simply spent a few hundred dollars (that I could have found a MUCH better use for)

on a new cooktop.  LG shipped it to us and Brent installed it in about an hour.

The two weeks without a cooktop showed me just how reliant I am upon it.

I hardly ever use the oven.  

But the cooktop? 

Morning, noon, and night.

As my wise father says, "Life is just a bunch of experiences."

I hope to learn from this one... and never repeat it.

a month in pictures

Yumola Fruit Pizza for my birthday.

Mercedes and Daddy just before her baptism on December 18th.

Christmas Morning.  No rest for the wicked.

It's a Bethers' family tradition: the pinata.
Maybe if we had one of these at home our
kids would hit each other less often?

Uncle Chris and Mercedes, baptism morning.

They love each other.

Birthday Boy is FOUR years old!  December 13th.

Brent got creative with the cake.
It's a "funfetti" baked in a bundt pan,
topped with whipped cream
and some Toy Story characters.

Coop and cousin Britton sledding in Midway.

Suzannie and David, aren't they cute?

Gram and Grandpa Bethers.

Kimball, giving it his all.

Lincoln is spoiled again.
He spent most of his time in Utah glued to Grandpa.
Now he thinks that I should hold him all day and night.
Thanks alot, Dad.

Lincoln had more fun playing with Coop's birthday cake
than he did eating it.

A live Nativity is an Allphin family tradition.
This year Mercedes got to play Mary.

The whole Bethers clan.

we're back!

We had a blast in Utah, but we're happy to be back home again.


We've got lots of pics to share... just as soon as we upload them :).  


Here's a plug for Discount Tire:  We bought new rims and tires in mid-December, just in time to drive to Utah and back.  (Our old rims were chrome and failing - ugh.)  This morning Brent noticed that one of the rear tires was almost flat.  He immediately took the Yukon back to Discount for service.  Turns out there was a CHUNK of CHAIN in the tire, but since it's been less than a month since we bought the tire, they replaced it free of charge!  


And now a plug for Target:  We bought Mercedes a new coat for Christmas, just in time to go tubing with her cousins.  The second day she wore it, however, the zipper broke off completely.  I hadn't kept the receipt, of course.  I took it back today and they looked it up with the card I'd purchased it with!  Yay!  I love good customer service policies.  I probably won't buy another Target coat, but I'm happy that I got my money back!  


Mercedes had so much fun in Utah, that she had a "fun hangover" this week.  She was too sick for school on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Brent and I think it had something to do with large amounts of sugar and small amounts of sleep.  She's feeling like herself again.  In fact, she's happy to have her pink room all to herself!  


We finally have a "girls" room and a "boys" room.  This really just means that Cooper and Mercedes are no longer sleeping in the same room.  We moved the bunk beds into Lincoln's room and the boys are still in the process of adjusting to the new arrangement.  To me, life feels infinitely more organized; boys toys in they boys' room and girls toys in Mercedes' room.  Since Brent threw away our "guard-rail" this summer, we just put Lincoln on the top bunk.  He doesn't much like being put in his bed (he's to the stage where he just wants to be glued to mommy), but they sleep well in there!  Cooper likes being on the bottom again.  


Our family's new year resolution?  NO YELLING OR FIGHTING!!!  Of course we still yell with joy or glee or excitement.  Just no more venom.  The consequence of violating this rule is a date with daddy (who will fill the offender's mouth with soap).  So far, just the threat has had a great effect.  I can see the kids working really hard not to yell or talk mean to each other or to us.