Sex Education (rated PG 13)

Troy and I have spent a lot of time talking about how/when we will talk to our girls about certain subjects and I thought we had a pretty good system worked out. When Hallee turned 8 we took her on a special date night and explained a few things gently and vaguely.

Then a few nights ago all that changed.

While driving in the car the other night Hope said something that I didn't like (can't remember what it was). Anyway I asked her where she had heard that and she said that her friend at school had said it. Which led me into the whole "just because your friends do it/say it does not make it okay" discussion. I then started in on "Hope, don't you remember the talk in Stake Conference today when the woman told the story about the boy who..." and then I paused realizing what I was about to say.

EDITORS NOTE: The woman told a story about a college boy who was in a leadership training exercise where they asked them a series of questions and then they had to go to an area of the room marked "strongly disagree, strongly agree, agree or disagree." They then made the statement "I believe in premarital sex" and everyone in the group went to the agree location except for this one boy. They all mocked him a little and thought he couldn't be serious but he stood his ground and stood up for what he believed.

Back to the story. So I pause and look at Troy with a "what should I say" face. He looks at me and says, "just tell them". I hesitate so Troy just fills in the gap and says, "it was the boy who didn't believe in premarital sex." He barely got the words out of his mouth before Hope chimed in. And so it goes....

Hope: "Dad what's sex?
Me: Laughing. "Well, there ya go dad." I say in the whole "I-told-ya-so" kind of voice.
Hope: "DAD!" What is sex?
Now any of you who know Hope know that she is a very detail oriented person and asks a million questions until she is satisfied that she understands the topic.
Troy: "Um, Hope it is just something you will learn about when you are older."
Hope: "DAD!! I'm serious! What is sex?
Hallee: "Hope, just don't worry about it!"
Me: Hysterically laughing.
Hope: "What is it?"
I was totally unprepared for Troy's split decision explanation. Warning: it might make you blush!
Troy: "Hope, boys and girls have different parts and when you put those parts together that's called sex and it helps you to make a baby."
Me: With a look of horror, shock and laughing hysterically. "What the what?"
Hope: "Wait? I'm confused. Like you put your parts together?" And like rub them around or something?"
Troy and I are both struggling to compose ourselves now.
Troy: "Something like that Hope."
Short Pause....
Hope: "Well why don't you and mom put your parts together so we can have a baby then!"

Holy crud. I seriously thought I was going to wet my pants. I could barely function I was laughing so hard! So much for our delicate way of talking about it.

And that's when the reality of it started to set in. I could hear the phone calls coming in from parents wondering why our daughter was teaching their child what sex was. Time for some damage control.

I did my best to compose myself and then took the spiritual approach and explained that it was a very sacred and special thing that Heavenly Father has created to help bring children to this world but we also know that it is only to be done after we are married even though Satan tries to convince people otherwise. That seemed to suffice her inquisitive mind and the conversation ended with Hallee asking, "Can we please just turn on the radio now!"

So, just in case any of you were wondering how to break it to your children you MAY or may NOT want them to hang around Hope for the next little while. Or maybe you just want Troy to take care of it for you. I'm sure he'd be happy to help out.

Fall Fun!!

We LOVE fall. Can't get enough of it actually. And yet it always seems to go by way too fast. So we try to make the best of it and take in everything it has to offer.

{LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON}

Last Sunday was our Stake Conference which meant earlier church and no meetings for Troy leaving us an entire day to spend as a family. So we took a drive up Little Cottonwood canyon and let nature be our guide. It was absolutely breathtaking!

{CORNBELLYS}
Caymbree's preschool had a field trip to Cornbelly's. It was a beautiful warm day and the kids loved it. I think the highlight was this corn box (corn kernels instead of sand).

{PUMPKIN PATCH}

While in Logan for UEA weekend my mom and I met up with my cousin and took all the kiddos to the Pumpkin Patch.

We like to party!!!

My friend Tara and I planned the party of all parties for Halloween this year. Okay. Maybe that's just a little dramatic but as we talked a million times a day about the million little details of the party and made a million to-do lists in preparation it sure as heck felt like it. It was SO much fun and SO worth the work.

So just in case you were wondering what makes up a fabulous party I'll let you in on all of our secrets....

1) FOOD. FOOD. and MORE FOOD. Oh and did I mention food?
2) Before you mock our covered pop bottles let me just say....totally made the whole party! (Alright, maybe not but they sure looked cute!) 3) PRIZES!! Seven $10 gift cards were handed out for things like "Best Halloween dish," "Best Female costume," "Best Male Costume", "Best couple costume", and prizes for game winners as well.

4) DECORATIONS. We held the party at the Sansom cabin which was an hour and a half drive away. We couldn't have a Halloween party without decorations could we? We borrowed and stole from our own houses, both of our mom's houses as well as Tara's sisters house. It only took seven bins and five hours to set up but what can I say. We are a little crazy.

5) COSTUMES. Oh the costumes! How could I not share. So for your viewing pleasure and maybe to spark a little creativity of your own I now present the costumes....

BTW- Troy took runner up on "best FEMALE costume."

Jeremy and Shantell came with their 4 day old baby boy. Yep. Now THEY know how to party!

I think I am missing a few so I will have to add them to the next post. Such a fun group. We ate, we laughed, we played games, we laughed, and then for a few who stayed the night we stayed up till 2:30am, sat around a bonfire and laughed some more.

Sudden Death and Minute to win it

Do you ever wonder what we did at parties before Minute to Win it? Gotta say though that Minute to Win it in costumes makes it that much better! I mean how many times in your life will you get to see a bull and a inmate bounce around the room trying to shake out ping pong eye-balls out of a tissue box tied to their waist??

We also played sudden death where if the "killer" winked at you, you had to instantly die in the manner described on your game card when you entered the cabin. This resulted in frequent outbursts of screams and squeals as someone would drop to the floor in a sudden death. Pretty funny to watch someone be beat to death by a ghost, or fall off a building, or drink poison. HI-LAR-I-OUS!!!

We also played "How's Your...." which kept us all in stitches!

I am laughing just thinking about it. Gotta love it.

Only at the State Fair....

Only at the State Fair are the PEOPLE you see almost as entertaining as the animals! Although I have to admit these little piglets were pretty darn cute.

Only at the State Fair can you ride this GIGANTIC yellow slide and call it the highlight of the night. Our entire family went down together leaving no one to man the camera so of course I had to let Hope and Hallee do it again for documentation purposes.

Only at the State Fair can you find PRODUCE bigger than you are.

Only at the State Fair can you see bunnies that may just give you nightmares.

Only at the State Fair can you get an up close and personal glimpse of the royal wedding represented by 700 pounds of butter and oh ya, COWS. Did you know that you could butter 19,200 slices of toast with that? You could. Just saying.

Only at the State Fair can you see a Sea Lion show in Utah??? Yes sir. Actually quite entertaining.