Grandma Dee

Delores Hansen Auger

Nov. 24, 1922 - Dec. 3, 2014

My Grandma Dee had a stroke on thanksgiving day 3 days after celebrating her 92nd birthday and passed just shy of a week later. She was a very special lady and was always so great at making me feel so special as if I may have been her favorite grandchild even though in reality I had to share the favorite spot with 41 grandchildren and 74 great-grandchildren. Her memory was sharp and she had a smile that won hearts. I will miss her greatly but am so happy she is now with my grandpa whom she has been separated from for nearly 11 years. I  am also very grateful I was able to see her and say goodbye before she passed. 

Fall 2014 Soccer Season

This was a fun and busy soccer season. I loved that both of the boys were able to play this year and each of them did so well. Carter is a timid player. He plays really well, but is not an aggressive player. He is however an awesome defense player and does a really great job at keeping the ball away from the goal. It's too bad they don't play with goalies until U10 because this kid would be a great goalie.

GOAL!

With coach Roberto.

Braden is a real natural talent. He is aggressive, fast, and has a killer left foot! He loves to play both offense and defense. When playing defense he does a great job at keeping the ball off his half of the field and when the opportunity presents itself he will take off and usually score without the other team knowing what hit them. Braden was one of the strongest players on his team and got the MVP award at most games. He also scored the most goals for his team!

Go Zombies!

Braden was fortunate to have an awesome coach this year. 

Coach Luke did a great job teaching the kids to play well and to be good sports. 

Halloween Fun 2014

We had a really fun halloween this year. It helped that we were able to begin our celebrations with our family while they were all in town for Braden's baptism.

While my sisters and I worked to get ready for the baptism the kids headed out with Grammy the dads to the trunk or treat at the kids school. Braden and Carter were sad to have missed dressing up at school but dressing up with cousins was much more fun.

The following day after the baptism we all dressed up and headed to the Springs Preserve for the Haunted Harvest. This has become a tradition of ours and it was so fun to share it with everyone.

Because Nevada Day falls on halloween the kids didn't have school so I planned some fun activities we could do together during the day. Unfortunately the most looked forward to activity of carving pumpkins didn't turn out as every store was sold out of pumpkins! Really?! The boys were sad, especially Braden. We did have a scary dinner of mummy dogs, witches fingers, monster teeth with troll snot, maggots on a log and dried worms.

The best part of the day was definitely dressing up and trick-or-treating. Riley was really into it this year. She Found out really quick at the ward trunk-or-treat the week before that it was worth wearing a bulky costume if everyone she put her hand out to gave her candy. She also did a great job saying "trick-or-treat" (wee-weet) and "thank you" (ah-new) to everyone too. Carter and Braden wore their same costumes as last year, a race car driver and a werewolf, and Riley was a zebra. (Side note: all 3 of my babies wore this zebra costume. I added the bows so people would hopefully know she was a girl. It only kind of helped.)

I dressed as a hobo (thanks Abi for the idea) and...

...Kam was a track star! 

He turned a lot of heads and many didn't even recognize him. At first Riley hated that daddy had hair and kept trying to get him to take it off. She was ok with it after a while though. 

For trick-or-treating we all piled into the back of the van with our friends and stopped at a few houses in our neighborhood and then we all drove over to our other friends neighborhood to trick-or-treat with them. It really was a fun night. Happy Halloween!

I Like to Look for Rainbows

Leading up to Brady's eighth birthday we spent a lot of time planning special family home evening lessons to prepare him for his baptism. We talked about faith, repentance, what baptism is and why it's an important step, the holy ghost, the sacrament and other lessons. Braden is an amazing kid and probably could have taught all the lessons. His testimony is already so strong and his understanding and faith is so beyond his years. At his baptism interview on his birthday he whizzed through the interview questions with ease and after only a few minutes our bishop stopped to tell him that he has never had a baptism interview with a kid more ready. He also shared this text with following the interview:

Photo's from his baptism photo-shoot:

Brady's big day was really special and he was smiles all day long. We had most of our family staying at our house with many others joining us for the festivities. It was so wonderful having so many people there to support Braden for this big step in his life. Plus, it was really nice having so many helping hands to help decorate and prepare for the festivities.

Our stake had a really nice program before the baptism and after Braden was baptized our family and friends went to a private room for the confirmation. While we waited for Braden and Kam to join us the primary president handed out paper and pens for everyone to write a note to Braden that she presented to him the following day in primary. Following the confirmation our bishop took a minute to talk about Braden. Most of what he said I've heard before, but I was really moved when he mentioned that he felt very strongly that our Heavenly Father is preparing Braden to be a great leader in His kingdom in the last days.

Following the Baptism and Confirmation we all headed back to our house for a luncheon. My family did a great job making my vision a reality. We had balloons everywhere and all the food had a rainbow theme (from the I Like to Look for Rainbows primary song).

My dad helped me finish these fun CTR cookies...

...and Gramma Lucy Made this delicious CTR cake for Braden.

Brady with his Grandparents

We are so very happy Braden chose to be baptized. He is an awesome big brother and great example to his little brother and sister. I feel so very blessed to have him as my son. He teaches me so much about faith and helps to strengthen my testimony everyday. He truly helps me to not only be better but want to be better. A few days after Braden's baptism the boys were in the shower getting ready for bed. I overheard a little commotion and later found out that Braden had hit Carter. Kam and I left the boys alone to work it out for themselves and I was amazed with what followed. Braden, after dressing into his PJ's, immediately went to kneel at his bed to pray and then after went to tell his brother he was sorry and give him a hug. Like I said, this kid is amazing and truly teaches me everyday.