puppy love

This is what happens when you aren't feeling well and you have a puppy that loves you sooooooo much.

backpack at breakfast

The other morning Joshua sat down to the table for breakfast before school with his backpack already on. I asked him if he was super excited to get to school. His answer was, "No, I'm just to lazy to take it off."

very first band concert

Joshua had his very first band concert ever. He is in percussion. They started learning the snare drum and now have moved on to the bells.(looks like a xylophone to me)

It was almost impossible to get any decent pictures so this one and only will have to do.

Leiandie's wedding

Cary and I were honored to be invited to Leiandie's wedding. Cary taught her in seminary and I was one of her Young Women leaders for years.  We are so proud of her and love her so much!

12/12/12

Just wanted to post the date...:) Next time that happens I'll be dead.

what's been goin' on

We decided Kate's room needed a makeover so we have been busy working away trying to make a few changes. She chose to paint over the lavender in her room to a very bright turquoise. I was worried about the color at first, but it has turned out very cute. Her new bedding is black and white. We have also repainted some of the white furniture black as well. I covered her old lamp with two different print ribbons and it turned out super cute. We still have work to do but it is coming along and she is very happy with the results.

Recently we had some friends over for dinner. I noticed that all three of our boys were so consumed with electronics. Each of them had their nose either in a phone or laptop or iPod or something. Anyway, I made some kind of comment like, "our kids are way to consumed with technology"....and from the other room I hear Adria say, "We aren't. We are old-schoolin' it". She and Kate were in the kitchen reading, writing, and drawing pictures. Definitely old-school...

The Beehives came over last Wednesday night to put together cookie plates and deliver them to several families in the ward. We sang Christmas Carols as we waited for the families to come to their door. It was a super fun activity.

St. Nick made a stop at our house. This is a tradition that I grew up with having lived in Germany for many years when I was younger. Every year on the night of December 5th the kids put their shoes out. If they have been good during the year a small treat will be left for them...if they've been naughty some coal or switches will be left behind. Somebody forgot to put his shoe out this year....he's lucky I've got connections. :)

12

Joshua is now 12. How did that happen?  Time is slipping by way to quickly and my kids will not stop growing up.

We started out celebrating with a date to Baskin Robbins on Friday night. Just me and him.  I love this boy so much.  He makes me smile and there is never a dull moment when he is around.

Taking him to get ice cream reminded me of this picture that I took of him years ago.  He still tends to eat this exact same way. I love that cute little face.

Saturday night we opened presents then went out for a celebration dinner to a place of his choice.

It has been a tradition now for the last few years that Joshua receives the latest Wimpy Kid book. He reads them in a matter of hours.

Joshua has wanted a fedora for quite a while now. Braeden found this one at Target and thought it would be perfect for him.

..and the thing that Joshua wanted most of all

Sunday morning, with his hair cut and new suit Joshua was ordained a Deacon in the priesthood.

Sunday afternoon, we invited some friends over for Joshua's favorite dinner which consisted of Tortellini Carbonara, homemade french bread, and not 1 but 2 chocolate pies.  He insisted on pies not cake.

We love this boy more than words can express. He has a quick wit and sense of humor....he always keeps us laughing. We are so very blessed to have him in our family.

brain test

Since Braeden's concussion about 5 weeks ago he has not been able to play soccer. We saw his pediatrician 2 weeks ago and he did not release Braeden to play because of some lingering headaches. Yesterday, we went to see a sports doctor. He administered several tests to Braeden to see if his head was completely healed. Braeden went through some balancing tests, hand-eye coordination tests, memorization tests, and a computer test. The Dr was so impressed with the results of his computer test. He said that in the last 3 years or so that Braeden had one of the highest scores he had ever seen. He scored better than 99% of kids his age. So, needless to say his brain is intact and is working just fine....oh, and he is super intelligent. Those were the doctors words..not mine. I already knew that. :)

Over the next 4 days Braeden has to gradually add in more exercise. If he is successful without having any symptoms he can go back to playing soccer next Tuesday. He is more than excited about that.

Thanksgiving 2012

Kate and Josh were given the task of photographer on Thanksgiving day. This is what they captured....

oh....and these were dubbed the "butt rolls" by my sweet and very lady-like daughter...

they can't live without each other

the saga is over

No more Twilight....Ever. I love that I can be silly with these girls and we can laugh at ourselves while we obsess over sparkly vampires and gigantic wolves. It was so fun while it lasted....Now what??

i'm so bored

First day of Thanksgiving break and I was already hearing how bored my kids were. So, I told them to get the car and this is what we did...

I love where we live. For some reason Little Elm tends to get a bad rap....but I think a lot of it is about attitude. If you aren't happy here, you aren't going to be happy anywhere. And if you don't like something...stop complaining and DO something about it.

We are surrounded by a lake with lots of things to see and explore. My kids love this. Our little town continues to make improvements and I am always excited to see what they will come up with next. Little Elm really is a great place to live.

opposable thumbs

Every Saturday we bathe Sammy. After bathing him this past Saturday I said to Kate that I bet he felt so good and refreshed and clean. She said to me, "Especially when you don't have opposable thumbs." What??

Proud to be an American

See that scarf Joshua is wearing? It's no ordinary scarf. It was given to him by a Marine. Right around Veterans Day a Marine came and spoke to the students at Joshua's school. They had a questions and answer session and if the students answered correctly they were given a prize. Joshua got this scarf. It is warn by soldiers who go over to the Middle-east. To say that Joshua loves this scarf is an understatement. I couldn't get him to take it off for 3 days.

Temple Walk

The Young women in my ward did an 18.1 mile walk to the temple. In the end it ended up being a few miles more than that because of a wrong turn but thats ok...that's how life sometimes turns out as well.

We started super early at 4:30 in the morning.  

We made some stops along the way and shared some thoughts with them about the temple.

One of our goals as young women's leaders is to help our young women understand the importance of the temple. I found this beautiful picture and gave one to each of the young women. We want them to "keep their eye on the temple".

We also had tons of fun along the way....

About halfway through it started to get hard.  Legs were tired, feet started to blister, and it was hot.  We started to slow down.

But as we got closer to the temple the girls started to get excited.  They even began running towards the temple.

Our families were waiting for us.  Friends were there cheering us on.  It was a moment I will never forget.

We did it! I am so proud of these girls.  This was a very powerful experience for me and one that I will cherish forever....... and never, ever forget.